Apartment Makeover part 1- ¿Pór qué? [Why?]

Having cepillados (Venezuelan version of slushies): Right to left- Braulio, Jackie,
David, Aleko, Mom, Dad, Beatriz, and Emily in front

Right now we are in a time of transition. We graduated from our course and we are still in Peru, working on several projects until the rest of our team (Braulio, Jackie, Emily, Aleko, and Beatriz) get here at the end of February to study the same course we just finished. [Note: They don't know about our plan to have their apartment ready, so if you know them, please don't tell them! :) ]

One of the reasons we decided to stay and wait on them is so we can have their apartment ready for them- cleaned, furnished, decorated, equipped with food and other household items, and maybe even with some cow patties waiting for them. So, why is this so important to us?

Making funny faces. I told you they share some common ground.
(Aleko, Dad, David, Braulio)

Well, because they are very important to us. Braulio and Jackie have been mentors and dear friends to us these past few years. They are such an example for us. They have lived with the Yukpa people for 12 years, and- despite so many trials that they need to seriously write a book- they continued to live with the Yukpas and they learned the language and the culture, and earned the trust and confidence of the people. We really admire them and we are so thankful that God has allowed us to be part of their team.

When my parents came down to Venezuela for our wedding, Braulio and Jackie were the ones who drove my parents around Maracaibo and spent time getting to know them. And even though I had to interpret most of the time, there was a communication without words and the beginning of one of those special friendships that will last a lifetime. Partly because Braulio is the Latin American version of a Redneck (for reasons that I will explain in a future post), and so he is so interested in the Redneck culture and wanted to know all about bluegrass music, so had some major common ground with my Dad. (For those of you who don't know my Dad, he is a redneck. Oh yeah, and he has a bluegrass band.)

Charlie's Angels (Mom, Sarah, Emily, Jackie)
Check out Emily's facial expression

This picture still gets me. Somehow Braulio and Dad seem to
be in a deep conversation without an interpreter. I wonder
what they were talking about.

And then, there are the kids, Aleko (14) and Emily (5) who are both Yukpa kids, who Braulio and Jackie adopted (Aleko when he was a toddler and Emily as an infant). I'll save those adoption stories for another blog post. But I will say that those two had a huge part in my parents' smooth transition into Venezuelan culture. I think Emily had already my won my parents' hearts when they met at the airport.



The same day that they took us to drop my parents off at the airport to go back to the US, they were in a car accident. Long story short, Jackie lost her arm. To say that it has been a hard year for them would be an understatement. To say that everyone was supportive is an overstatement- unfortunately they recieved lots of criticism. And even after that there were still other difficult situations.

But, they never skipped a beat. Jackie is definitely one of the strongest women I know, and she never lost her faith. When David and I went to visit her in the hospital, we prayed that God would give us words to encourage them. But every time, we were the ones who left humbled and encouraged. They are still coming to study at CILTA, with Beatriz, the other member of our team. They continue to fight for the Yukpa people, and for them to be able to have God's Word in their own language. Maybe you are starting to see why they are such an inspiration for us.

So yeah, we figure the least we can do is have their apartment all ready for them so that they can have as smooth a transition to Peru as possible. So stay tuned as we prepare their apartment and I try my hand in the art of decorating!

Does it look like they've bonded yet? Yeah, my
parents wanted to put the kids in their suitcases.