This month, my team took a double decker bus across the border in the middle of the night. In a mid-sleep stupor, I survived a 2 a.m. passport check and proceeded through kilometers and kilometers of desert and tumbleweeds until we happened upon the bustling city of Trujillo. A jolly, bearded man welcomed us in a van which we piled all fifteen of our 50+ lb packs into, along with ourselves. We drove out of the same busting city into a gang neighborhood and arrived in front of a brightly painted concrete wall bearing the words “L. K. Wolter Academia Cristiana”. This would be our safe haven for the month.
Later on that evening, more guests arrived—four college girls from the World Race Exposure program that allows them to join our team for one month of ministry. It has been so exciting to welcome more into our family! They bring fresh energy and new perspectives that are really good for us.
The first morning of ministry arrived. After our fried eggs and fried potatoes, we were thoroughly greased up for a day’s work. I dreadfully miss my job with the preschoolers at Harding Academy and babysitting, so I was eager for the opportunity to be with the kids.
The moment I walked into the five year old class, all eyes were on me (nobody around here really has red hair or blinding white skin). Immediately they began telling me everything they knew in English, which consisted of shouting “Hello” and all the colors. The eventful morning progressed as a girl threw up in class (her sister had given her bleach to drink, apparently a common phenomenon). At recess, there were ten five-year-olds against me in a tickle fight when I looked over to some boys playing with rocks and saw blood. Little Manuel was grabbing at his head, and his fingers dripped red. I inspected the gash and ran for his teacher who would be much more helpful to him than I could with my Spanglish. She managed to get him to the bathroom, strip him down and stick his head under water as the rest of the class watched in terror.
I found myself surrounded by a circle of the little munchkins all asking about Manuel, and I told them we could pray for him. They loved that idea so I asked them who would pray. They all volunteered at the same time and then looked to me. I remembered back to class that morning when the teacher would say a few words of her prayer and wait for the children to repeat. Here goes nothing, I thought. “Dios,” I said. “DIOS,” echoed their baby shouts. “Ayuda Manuel.” “AYUDA MANUEL.” “Cura su cabesa.” “CURA SU CABESA.” …and I had reached the end of my capablities…“Que mas?” I asked them. One of them said something else and they all echoed. I was so proud of them.
It was assurance that this school is accomplishing something. The work of the Lord is being done here, and these kids are being brought up knowing their Maker.
One of the teachers asked me about my perspective on their behavior because of my background in psychology. I told her that aggressive behavior at school is something they most likely see on television or experience in their homes. She introduced me at a parent meeting as a professional psychologist and had me speak to them about the importance of a positive home environment. There have definitely been problems with abuse and negligence with the children in this poverty ridden neighborhood, so even if lessons seem elementary to us, they are necessary to share here. In the past, they have even done parent lessons on how to shampoo their children’s hair.
Thus far, I have wiped bottoms, blown snot, and cleaned up blood, but despite all of this I really love these kids. Their simplicity. Their willingness to trust and love unconditionally. Their eagerness to learn. It’s no wonder Jesus said “Unless you become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:4).
In other news, we have done lots of advertising for free English classes and the church service times. We hit up the park, the supermarket, and the University. We’ve stood outside the church on the sidewalk and yelled about the free English classes that night. We performed skits in the plaza downtown in order to draw attention and we hand out more fliers! The fliers have allowed us numerous opportunities to pray with people, share the gospel, draw in tons of new students for English three times a week, and visitors at all three of the church services.
At the English classes, I have generally had three students to myself explaining English to them using my Spanish. It has been a really fun exchange and they are learning so much while I pick up a bit more Spanish in the process. I have been teaching a 53 year old woman and a 65 year old man who are the cutest couple I have ever seen. They are picking up so much, are really invested in the English classes, and have started attending church services.
We had two of the first time visitors say they want to accept Jesus, so we have given them each a Bible and are in the process of discipling and walking them toward baptism. One was my English student and one was a man I met in the park. It has been awesome to see how the Lord is using me in writing their salvation stories.
I have had lots of wonderful conversations now that my Spanish has improved. We went to a local park one morning to play sports and hoped to draw in some of the neighborhood kids. I ended up sitting on a bench chatting with a woman for a good half hour and praying for her. I made friends with some kids who lived nearby. Their 3 year old little brother Amazon asked me to walk him home because he was scared of a big dog, and he introduced me to his dad as his “new friend”. I got to chat with the father and explain what we were doing here in Peru. If nothing else, these chance encounters are a time to plant seeds. It definitely peaks interest seeing a group of Americans who love Jesus so much that they are living in this sketchy neighborhood thousands of kilometers from home in order to spend time teaching and playing with their children.
Suffice it to say, we are staying busy with the Lord’s work here in Trujillo. And somehow in between all this, we have had opportunities to visit the beach and try sandboarding! God is good. All the time!
