Pictures and Highlights

1st Week:
Five Team Members- Two Peruvians, Three Americans; One Plane, One Boat, Two Rivers(I think), Two Communities, Three Machetes, Several Dozen Asheninka, “Bastante” (Lots of) Farm Animals, One Wedding, Two Different “Houses”, Three Outhouses (and Plenty of Tall Grass), Too Much Luggage, Lots of Babies Scared of White Faces, Three Futbol(soccer) Games—Five Goals scored by ME, One Possibly-Broken Toe, One Night of Illness, Six Bathes in the River, One Million Bugs, Several Beautiful Sunsets

2nd Week:Same Boat, Two Different Communities, One Fiesta, Half Dozen Tarantulas, Five Bathes in the River, Several More Beautiful Sunsets, Eight Baby Chicks, Two Lives Changed for Eternity!, One Leaky Roof, Three Different “Houses”, Two Very Refreshing Cold Showers in Atalaya, Same Plane to Pucallpa


This is a video of our take-off from the Jungle Runway. Don't you just feel like Nate Saint--oh, wait, that would be me--I feel like Nate Saint.


And these are the kids in Galilea singing in Asheninka. No matter how loud you make your volume you still can't understand the words--SORRY! :)
The following are a few of the couple hundred pictures I took while out in the communities:

Asheninka ladies cultivating the community walkway with machetes. I was able to help with this a little...it is very hot and tiring work.

The cutest little baby. I love this child. Her older sister (age 5) took care of her most of the time and was always willing to let me take her off her hands for a while.

This was my bathtub in Puerto Esperanza (the third community we visited)

These were my toilets in Pensilvania (the first community I visited)

This was my house in Pensilvania

The plane that took us to Atalaya (small town/village on the rivers-- we took a boat from Atalaya to the communities)

I will try to give a more thorough update later. I have been online since 6 a.m. this morning trying to get out my Newsletter and put pictures online for all of you. Dial-up makes the whole process pretty slow. It is now 8:15 p.m.

I'm going to Lima on Tuesday where I will have access to fast internet. I plan to upload alot of my pictures onto a website while I'm there. Just keep checking back for updates! Thank you all for your prayers these past two weeks!

I love ya'll!!

Whoa! Can we say "CRAZINESS"?

ok, so last night i went to a concert here. the group is Christian. they are like rappers from Honduras. they are MKs -- se llama (called) DC Reto. they are like the most popular band in Peru right now, which is really cool since their whole message is Christian.
so Autumn and i go to the concert, right...of course, i mean this has the potential to be a cultural experience of a lifetime! and boy, i think it was!

first, the tickets say the concert starts at 8:00 -- yeah right! we are in South America! but being the grigas that we are Autumn and i showed up at 7:45 to get our spot in line... and it is a good thing we got there at that time because the line started backing up for blocks after about 30 more minutes. so, as we stand in line and begin talking to the people in front of and behind us. the guy in front of me was named Omar and the girl behind Autumn was Milagro (meaning miracle). i believe they let us inside the park area (soccer field i think) at like 9:00. we get inside and there is all this space and so we just kinda walk toward the front with our new friends Omar and Milagro. then Milagro keeps wanting to get closer...and so we go with her...at this point Omar stays back. we end up standing about 3 rows back from the front---CRAZINESS i tell u. we are squashed in there like sardines. so we wait there all smashed up for like 45 more minutes. i think the band finally came out at 10:00. and then it was pure craziness. we were jumping mosh pitt fashion surrounded by Peruvians. after a few songs the white guy (band guy) says, "how many latin americans are here" and all the Peruvians go crazy screamin' and stuff. THEN, he says, "now i see some faces like mine out there, some gringos...how many gringos are here?" and me and autumn are jumping and screaming....haha! then he says, "and i bet alot of you gringos are missionaries...how many missionaries are here?" then we scream louder. it was way fun. after a few more songs these crazy guys came pushing through the crowd and squished us, so i grabbed Autumn and we headed farther back where we could breath. we had a great time....very much a cultural experience.

Okay, so Tuesday I leave for 2 weeks. I will be out from September 12th - 29th telling Bible stories to the Asheninka. I'm all packed and ready to go.

this would be my clothes for the next 2 weeks. that is right 3 outfits, one waterproof bag! and this is my trusty Kelty and my sleeping mat-- which will be strapped to my pack. oh, and my fancy new shoes from buffalo peak!


Now for the reflective side of Lane. I have spared ya’ll up until now by not being all self-reflective; however, I was listening to a song yesterday and it made me want to write in my journal. And now I want to share that journal entry with ya’ll.

Oddly enough the song I was listening to was “I’m Movin’ On” by Rascall Flatts.
These are the words that made me begin my journal entry: “I never dreamed home would end up where I don’t belong…I’m movin’ on…I know there are no guarantees but I’m not alone [God is with me].”

Here goes:
I’ve always known I was a little different. The first clue was when my mama told me I was at the age of about 8 or 10. However, I’ve also always known that God wanted to use that “different” part of me for Himself.
The trip that I’m about to embark on in 2 days is something I have only read and dreamed about. And for many years I thought that Missionary biographies and National Geographic articles would be the only places I would be able to experience this stuff. But, lo and behold, God has brought all things together – my quirks, my love of the outdoors, my hardships, my experiences, and my zest for the extreme – to bring me to the Ashéninka people of Peru! How exciting!
Finally, I am not reading about my dream, but living it. Now, I (not a yellow magazine) am the author of my story!

So there you have it friends… please continue to pray:

That God will give me super-natural Spanish speaking abilities
That the hearts of the Asheninka will be open to hear God’s truth
That I will be a blessing and encouragement to the Asheninka and my team
That my stomach will be calm and my back will be strong

“Praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ… that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.” Colossians 4: 3 & 4

Arive Paasoonke!

Mostly Pictures--That's all ya'll care about anyways!

WARNING!: to those of you who do not like long posts (i will not mention names--johnny!) you will not want to read this! it ended up being longer than i had planned. But there are some really fun pictures...so do as you wish!

The following are pictures of the past several days. Beginning with our trip on Saturday to the Waterfall.

On Saturday we went to a Waterfall. It was 3 and 1/2 hours away by car. The roads were bumpier than anything i have ever experienced in my entire life. i'm talking MAJOR holes in the road and instead of being made out of gravel the roads were made out of like BOULDERS...it was insane. The above picture was our first stop. This construction worker lady was all decked out in orange. She decided if she had to wear it she was going to make it look good. She had on orange earrings and a sparkly orange belt. She was also steady eating her breakfast (notice the leaf she is holding filled with something). Cars were lined up behind us for quite a ways, but no worries b/c there was plenty to be bought and eaten on the side of the road. Everyone unloaded out of their cars and the vendors got very excited at the sight of so may cutomers.

This is Dena buying tamales from one of the roadside vendors! She is all about getting the food sold on the side of the road! I garantee you she did not pay the original price offered her by the lady--she is quite the bargainer!

Here is all the cars lined up on our return trip. This is just as everyone was hopping back into their vehicles.
Here is the waterfall. It is known as the bride's veil. We had lots of fun swimming and sitting under the waterfall. Sadly, however, I did not get much of a tan.
This would be my first experience with the squatty potties in Peru. Regardless of what that sign says, there was NOTHING "hygenic" about that experience. The little plastic gave you "un poquito" (a little) privacy, but no worries because the smell scared away any curious onlookers!
Autumn and I bundled up during our Asheninka lesson (We have been studying Asheninka every afternoon at 3 o'clock-- so far I'm not very good; Autumn is the language expert between us). The temperature at that moment was 75 degrees F. Haha! We were seriously COLD! The wind blew our dry erase board over and spilled my Orange Fanta (which you can see on my clothes in the following picture). The temperature was in the 70s for two days and it was VERY refreshing--it felt like football weather!! (Hotty Toddy!)
Here you see Jetta (the McAnally's dog) with her sweater on as well. You also see the wet spots on my clothes from spilled Fanta. Jetta sleeps with me several nights a week-- please do not tell Gus, he will be jealous!
Here is the beloved plumber who brought HOT water to our lovely casa! That is our shower wall torn to pieces before it was retiled and after he put the pipes in. After I took this picture he shut the door---ooops, maybe he's a little camera shy! Elbert told me I should ask before i take photos! but Elbert, that eliminates all the candid shots!
This is one of the fruit and vegtable markets in town. Notice the truck coming down the narrow road! I would hardly call this road one-way, but somehow Peruvians are capable of driving trucks, motortaxis, cars, and fruit-stands down this ally all at once! These people are amazing!
This is at a restaurant--i forget the name, where we can get roasted chicken. This is the chickens roasting--obviously! mmmmm, good stuff. that was my supper last night (well, actually mine was fried last night!)

And finally my bed! That would be an OLE MISS blanket! Go Rebels!! Ya'll made me proud on Sunday as I listened to the game on the internet.

My first trip out to the Asheninka communities is on September 12th. That is 6 days from today. We will visit three different communities during a two week period. I have been given the responsibility of sharing my testimony (in Spanish, of course), teaching 1 story to the adults, and 1 or 2 stories to the children at each of the 3 communities. Please pray for my Spanish ability and that hearts will be open to God's truth. Also pray as I prepare these stories over the next several days that I will know what words to use. Pray that my nerves will be calm and that my STOMACH will be calm as well. This is what I have dreamed about and I want to take the truth to these people with joy and not with aprehension or nervousness! Please pray for boldness!

1st Video (and what I did while it loaded)

the picture is my team. the mcanally's(dena, jacob, and marty) and my partner autumn beside me



Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing

i hope this thing works! i waited an hour and a half for it to upload to the internet! ya'll better stinkin' enjoy the traffic in Pucallpa! :) j/k. this is a video of us riding back home from town on a motor taxi. motor taxis are self-explanitory...just watch the video and u will see a million of them. we did almost get hit by that fruit truck and we ran a red light too--fun times! don't worry, my life really isn't in danger:)

while i waited for this video to upload i watched the plumbers (someone has to be here with them), talked a little to an Asheninka lady and her son (they passed through on their way to Lima--he has to have surgery). They walked to days to catch some kind of bus and came here and now are taking a bus to Lima. Be thankful you can drive to a local hospital!

i also ate a bag of cheetos...or should i say chizitos (that sounds like our made up language courtney!--hizzy kizzy!) anyways, all the while my roommate has been at the McAnally's house helping prepare for Marshall's(the volunteer from the States)going away party which is in 30 minutes! Let me go try to wipe some of the Pucallpa dirt off my body before i go to the party!