Hola from Lima, Peru!! We’ve been here about two weeks at this point and what an adventure it has been! Here’s an overview of what my team and I have been up to since arriving in Lima and a few random things I’ve experienced so far!
After a few hours of sleep Monday morning, we set out with our translator Rob to explore the local area (ATM, food, water, etc.). We ended the day with a prayer walk at the beach…which is only about a 10 minute walk from where we are staying in San Miguel!
For the first half of the month, my team has been living and partnering in ministry with another team from our squad – team Undertow. For the first week (Tuesday through the following Wednesday), we rode the bus an hour north everyday (except Monday) to our ministry site in Ventanilla. We worked with the extremely generous and amazing people of Gospel church. The first few days were focused on preparations for a children’s program we led on Saturday afternoon for the kids and teenagers in the local community. We ended up learning dances to a few songs to teach the kids including a dance to Hillsong’s Alive. Unbeknownst to us on Thursday, we ended up ‘performing’ our little dance to Alive in a local park…in front of other people. I’m fairly certain it didn’t look that pretty but I had a blast learning and dancing! We were then able to talk to a few locals in the park, and my teammates and I were able to have a really meaningful conversation with a family about what we are doing and what we believe and answered some of their questions. We ended the week with a wonderful time Saturday at the children’s program, joining our brother and sisters in worship at Gospel church on Sunday, and helping out with VBS on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon.
This past Thursday was our first ‘Adventure Day’ where we got a chance to explore Lima a little bit. We went downtown to the Plaza Mayor where the president lives and explored the surrounding area a bit including the catacombs at the Monastery of San Francisco! And Friday we started our second ministry for this month working with a new campus of Gracelife Church here in Lima….more on that later!
My experience so far in a nutshell (in no particular order):
- it’s hot, hot, hot! we are basically in the desert in the middle of summer….except the last few days have been overcast and it has felt so nice and cool!!
- we walk everywhere…but that just offsets all the rice!
- rice, rice, and more rice. it comes with everything. as does chicken of some form….
- chacos are amazing! I’ve walked all over and finally have them broken in with minimal damage to the feet – just a little tender, no blisters!!!
- cow heart tastes like a really good steak 🙂
- flexibility is definitely important: I have actually been perfectly fine not really knowing what will actually happen….we usually have a plan and schedule but for the most part, end up doing something slightly or completely different.
- our words are our most powerful weapon against the enemy (prayer, our testimony, just talking to people and not being afraid)….but this language barrier is rough, so grateful for wonderful translators!!
- We are all here and together for a reason. Ministering to each other is just as important as us being here serving the nations.
- I feel as if I’m starting to get better at recognizing and processing my emotions (relatively quickly in some cases).
But by far the biggest surprise for me personally since leaving Atlanta: being a pretty solid introvert, I fully expected to feel constantly overwhelmed living with 12 other people and being around them literally all the time and not really knowing what to expect in every aspect of life. But I haven’t once felt that, not even close. I’ve actually felt pretty comfortable and more connected to God through growing these relationships. Pretty cool stuff in my opinion! Praise Jesus!
Thank you so much for reading!
