Almost. This month I haven’t done an amazing job at keeping up with my blog or posting things about ministry in general. This actually was for a reason. This month, my team and I have been stationed in Cusco, Peru. This was lucky because we were not but 2-5 hours away from some amazing sights like Rainbow Mountain and Machu Picchu. However, this was also a problem spot—actually it’s nicknamed “the missionary graveyard”. Things were working against us since before we even arrived.
Let me fill you all in a little.
Our travel days from Ecuador to Peru added up to over 75 hours of bus rides in hot and smelly territory. As we were about to board our last day long bus ride, one of my teammates, Val, began to complain of her stomach hurting. She quickly went from a little pain to losing all color, not being able to stand, and barely staying conscious. This split our team as half of us got on the bus and the other half stayed back to take her to the hospital/watch bags. Laurie, a nurse, made the comment that she was scared for Val’s life because she’s heard many patient speak that way right before something went terribly wrong. Luckily, Val made it out ok with the diagnosis and successful treatment (without surgery praise God) of a bowel obstruction.
After a day and 5 hours, the team was reunited and we took a little down time, then started ministry. A few things to note, the altitude here is about 11,150 ft above sea level which makes it soooo hard to breathe here, let alone hike up mountains like we have haha! It takes a while to adjust. However, there is also a lot of spiritual weight here that our team has battled against. We have experienced division, spiritual warfare, home sickness, actual sickness, and personal warfare all in this place. Our ministry hosts have been battling against apathy, complacency, and lack of motivation in the church as well. We were here to help ignite or brighten the fire under Cusco (and the church). Turns out, it’s a bit of a fight.
Those and other reasons made me feel the need to plug into the ministry we’ve been doing this month. Every morning has been a battle of getting into the right mindset and heart posture to do the work of the Lord. I love the Lord and serving Him, which makes me realize the feelings I’ve been fighting have not been those of just me being lazy or “done” but rather true death trying to come around and smother our flame. I was not going to let that happen.
Ministry wise, this month has actually been great after choosing in. Sure, there have been problems here and there and lack of communication at times—South American time is a real thing..but not as bad as Africa time you’ll see—but for the most part, ministry has been life giving. We’ve been a part of prayer and worship nights weekly, putting together youth services, giving a week VBS, driving to the mountains to play with kids and talk about Jesus, forming relationships with the girls at an orphanage/girls home, and have even been able to plug in with our hosts during a bible study and even some worship nights. My favorite part, though it’s hard to choose, has been the girls at the girls home. You could visually see a transformation from day one to week 3. They just wanted someone who loved them and genuinely cared to get to know them, even if that meant sitting in silence because of the language barrier and just playing with each others hair. One of the older girls told me “I don’t want you guys to leave. It’s been such a longtime since I actually heard from God and felt like He loved me and cared, and now since you guys have talked at youth, I finally feel like I’ve heard from Him in anew way”. This broke my heart to leave, but pushed me to trust God to love on them and continue to water the seeds we planted. What an opportunity to be a part of relationships like those. It’s been such a privilege to be used as a vessel for Gods kingdom work.
Personally, I’ve had a lot of struggles this month, but all with God at the end of the trek. I’ve had questions, doubts, and identity crises. I’ve also had some of the most beautiful moments of worship with God, with my team, and some great moments just hearing from God. He’s taught me about disagreeing with people and how to go about that in love and still choosing the person. He’s taught me how to check with Him first and let Him speak light into the situation. He’s protected me from taking things harshly. He’s giving me beautiful days, experiences, and friends. We’ve even written a few songs together. There have been many ups and downs this month. If there is one thing I learned from Peru, it’s that life is what you make it. You get what you give! You can either sit in a really dark place and choose to close your eyes and get swallowed up in the darkness, OR you can choose to cling to the speck of light and do everything you can to make it grow. Clinging to the light is always the better option. What a joy it’s been to see Gods protection and glory is such a place as this.
So, there goes Peru! Now we are on to India for the next month! And I am so expectant of what God is going to show up and do! I can feel it in my bones, He’s about to move!
PS- hopefully next time I won’t make you wait this long to hear about what life on the field is like! Also my hair is green
