I have always wanted to live in “the olden days” during the pioneer era. The Oregon Trail has always beckoned my Spirit. The combination of adventure, risk, simplicity, true abandonment…but I think that I over looked one aspect: the reality.
This past week in Utupampa my dream was kissed by reality. Make-believe came to life. Or maybe you could say my dream was “awaken” to reality. The dream became 3-D. It is no longer a dream, but a memory. A very vivid memory that will not soon fade away.
So, last week Team Nessa ascended even higher to a small puebla (est. pop. 200) called Utupampa. (The above photo overlooks Musho and Tumpa – where we have been working the other two weeks) We were warmly welcomed by the community and loved by all. For Utupampans it’s all or nothing – whether working in their fields, cooking or healing our infirmities. (Putting your own urine on your throat to cure a sore throat. Or putting a quarter on your forehead to heal a headache.) Their universal love language: Service. Service. Service. While their bodies may be broken by physical labor, their hearts are broken by love. Never have I been “loved on” as much as I have this past week.
Just like in “the olden days” they know they need one another. They share resources. The most valued resource in their culture: time in the form of physical labor. One of the most popular forms of labor: cooking! We even got to help out at the community “pollada” (chicken feed). Food for the entire community. All the proceeds benefited a young lady who needs leg surgery.
Life was hard. It was the bare necessities. Everything took time. Just like in Utupampa.
Cooking over a fire.
Squatty potty.
Sleeping on a dirt floor.
Herding your sheep, pigs, donkeys, etc.
Mashing your peppers.
Life in Utupampa is simple. For the most part the people are simple. They are who they are. But their love…their love is simply complex. I don’t know if they realize it. But they serve with a love that is not of themselves. Their love is real. It is what it is. That is reality. So, while I took a step back into history this past week, I was awaken to reality. Not only the reality of another lifestyle, but the reality of love – a lifestyle in and of itself.
