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	<title>Grace for the moment</title>
	<link>http://gracemichel.wordpress.com</link>
	<description>Pursuing justice, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2009 04:35:07 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<item>
		<title>PUTIS</title>
		<description><![CDATA[When she began to wail, a knot formed in my throat and my eyes welled with tears.  I didn’t understand her native Quechua other than three words in Spanish that ripped into my ears with the sharpness of a switchblade.  Terrorista—terrorist.  Innocente—innocent.  Justicia—justice.  We are not terrorists, she said.  We are innocent, she shouted.  [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gracemichel.wordpress.com&blog=2266962&post=53&subd=gracemichel&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
		<link>http://gracemichel.wordpress.com/2009/09/03/putis/</link>
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		<title>Reflections on my new home</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Reflections on my new home&#8230;
When the afternoon sun streams in through my apartment window, I feel the grace of God.  I’ve been living here in San Juan de Lurigancho for nearly 2 months now, and I continue to have these moments of pure gratitude where I just thank God for the little miracles that [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gracemichel.wordpress.com&blog=2266962&post=51&subd=gracemichel&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
		<link>http://gracemichel.wordpress.com/2009/06/11/reflections-on-my-new-home/</link>
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		<title>I am a hopeless idealist</title>
		<description><![CDATA[At the risk of sounding cheesy I want to write about how excellent my trip to Uruguay was.  There are some events in my life that stick with me as pivotal experiences, turning points that mark a new beginning in my life.  My trip to Uruguay was one of those moments. Something about [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gracemichel.wordpress.com&blog=2266962&post=49&subd=gracemichel&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
		<link>http://gracemichel.wordpress.com/2009/06/04/i-am-a-hopeless-idealist/</link>
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		<title>nephesh</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I just finished watching the movie slumdog millionaire.  It reminded me of the darkness that exists in the world.  Are there really people out there who trap innocent children in vicious cycles of violence, greed, and addiction—people who do things like burn out kids eyeballs to use them as street beggars?  I [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gracemichel.wordpress.com&blog=2266962&post=47&subd=gracemichel&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
		<link>http://gracemichel.wordpress.com/2009/04/03/nephesh/</link>
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		<title>open arms</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I spent Christmas with Cameron in a small city in the Peruvian highlands.  From the balcony of our guesthouse you could watch the clouds roll in and out over the sturdy Andes mountains.  The rain came and went and the sun dropped in and chapped my lips till they hurt, and the 3,000 meter altitude [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gracemichel.wordpress.com&blog=2266962&post=40&subd=gracemichel&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
		<link>http://gracemichel.wordpress.com/2008/12/30/open-arms/</link>
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		<title>to say Gracias</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Happy Thanksgiving!  This year my housemate Anna and I are celebrating on Saturday instead of Thursday, since today is not a holiday here in Peru and we need all day to cook the fixins.  We&#8217;ve invited about 17 of our Paz y Esperanza associates over to eat with us, if they all show up we&#8217;ll [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gracemichel.wordpress.com&blog=2266962&post=37&subd=gracemichel&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
		<link>http://gracemichel.wordpress.com/2008/11/27/to-say-gracias/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>Top Fives</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Top 5 things to buy on the streets of Lima

Choko Soda&#8211;chocolate covered soda crackers, I love them so much that I plan my walking routes so I can pass by a street stall that sells them.  I don&#8217;t know why America hasn&#8217;t discovered this delectable treat.
Chifles&#8211;chips made from bananas or plaintains, salty, not sweet, and [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gracemichel.wordpress.com&blog=2266962&post=33&subd=gracemichel&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
		<link>http://gracemichel.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/top-fives/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>Reflections on the mission of the church</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve been in Lima for a little over 2 weeks now.  It&#8217;s been good so far.  I know that people are praying for me because I haven&#8217;t had any of the overwhelming anxiety or lonliness that I felt the first couple weeks that I was on my own in Chile when I studied abroad there.  [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gracemichel.wordpress.com&blog=2266962&post=28&subd=gracemichel&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
		<link>http://gracemichel.wordpress.com/2008/11/04/reflections-on-the-mission-of-the-church/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>Poems</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m trying to write more, so here are some poems I wrote last night:
What shall keep me
from a continuous fountain
of gratitude to God
and pure ecstatic joy?
What is &#8216;real life&#8217; anyway,
if not to be completely
consumed
by the love of God.
So why do I dwell
so much on evil
Why let the darkness
get to me
When the light continually
beckons me to [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gracemichel.wordpress.com&blog=2266962&post=24&subd=gracemichel&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
		<link>http://gracemichel.wordpress.com/2008/09/11/poems/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>While attempting to wrap up the Trek&#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[When we walked into Jhan’s house I wondered what the students were thinking, do they feel uncomfortable entering into this family’s life all of a sudden, is this strange to them, do they feel intrusive?  But we entered quietly and took seats on the bed next to Jhan’s.  He lay in the dark corner, shadowed [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gracemichel.wordpress.com&blog=2266962&post=22&subd=gracemichel&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
		<link>http://gracemichel.wordpress.com/2008/09/08/while-attempting-to-wrap-up-the-trek/</link>
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