How I ended up in Peru :)

I will try to keep this reasonably brief since this whole process took place over several months, but I can't help  sharing how the Lord brought me to Peru because just a year ago I never could have imagined how I would be spending these next two years. 

This past fall I started thinking about where I would apply for teaching jobs after graduation, but getting a job close to home or even in a neighboring state was really beginning to lose its appeal. I started looking at different mission organizations with little in mind of what I was looking for but I definitely knew that I didn't want to settle for less than what God might have in store. So, after some time I got in touch with Amy Keyser (who you may know), who was (and still is) teaching at a school in Kenya with the Network of International Christian Schools. I had never heard of NICS before but, as you might guess, she convinced me to at least apply to the organization and check out their schools all over the world. At the time, they had openings for science teachers in several countries particularly in South America, which was the most appealing to me. Peru was not included in this list at the time, but I was getting really excited at the thought of moving to teach in Brazil or Venezuela. 

But, as some of you may know, I had a mission trip to Peru planned for my Christian break with 50 other Penn State students. When I saw that NICS had a school in Lima, I contacted them to see if I could visit the school just to get an idea of what a NICS school might be like. Well, this led to a phone call from the principal who proceeded to interview me for a science position that had just opened up. After numerous phone interviews, a visit to the school during my trip in January, and a lot of prayer over such a major decision, I was offered and then accepted the position with full assurance that this was God's will for me for the next 2 years. I never even had the opportunity to speak with the other schools listed as my top choices, which was such confirmation to me that God had chosen Peru, not me.

It was absolutely no coincidence that my trip in January, which was planned a year in advance, was to a small town only an hour from the International Christian School of Lima. Most NICS teachers never have the opportunity to visit their school prior to accepting the position, so I'm really thankful for this unique experience. It is so comforting that there will be familiar faces even though I will be so far away!