This month has been filled with so many false starts and uncertainty I sometimes still forget that we’re in month ten of our race! So in honor of how much my team LOVES Harry Potter (we’ve watched all of the movies at least three times through in the past five months), I’ve dubbed the past few weeks “month 9 3/4”. But good news! We’ve finally found our place here in Cusco!!
On our way to Peru, a girl on another squad messaged me, telling me about a host that her team had been with at the beginning of their race this year. Honestly, I kind of dismissed it, because at that point we were thinking we would only be spending a couple of days in Cusco before heading to Brazil. I decided to message them anyway, explain our situation, and see what happened from there. We kept getting delayed in our plans to go to Brazil, so we planned some ministry to do in the meantime in the center of Cusco, right in the heart of Plaza de Armas. We had some great days of ministry, getting to know some of the local vendors, and making some hot meals to pass out to some of the homeless that stayed around the plaza area. We were just getting settled into our hostel (which was our 7th move in just a little over a month), when, in perfect form for this month, we heard back from the hosts we had contacted and realized we would be moving again.
We prayed about it, but our new host family made it clear that we were a direct answer to prayer for them. It is the COOLEST feeling to not just feel okay about where God had moved us but to feel AMPED because you know that He has put you in a place for a reason and this is IT! We prayed, we worked through what it looked like to feel like we had ministry still in Cusco, but also know that God was asking us to move yet again. We left the next day and moved into a house in the farmlands on the outskirts of Cusco. We were greeted by a wonderful family (Tim, Holly, and four of their five kids), three dogs, two cats, and a goat. It was amazing. The next morning we started ministry, working with the family and others in their community to host a giant community yard sale to raise money for their partnered orphanage. It was a long day but amazing to get to help out in such a practical way so fast.
Let me tell you how cool it is to realize that in all of the chaos, you can get confirmation that you are hearing God’s voice and you’re doing what He wants you to do. When I started corresponding with Tim and Holly, there was a certainty in my heart that this was the reason for all of it. It didn’t make sense, I was hesitant to be too excited, but the feeling kept prodding at me that this was the reason we were in Cusco, Peru a month early while the rest of our squad remained in Bolivia. To make it even more clear, as me and my team leader continued to talk with him about coming to partner with them, we learned that this was exactly what they had been praying for. That even in the moments when we were being denied our visas and were still stuck in Chile, they had just started praying for some short term help in the exact time frame that we would be there. Unable to take on a team for the full month, but really needing help for a couple of weeks, our rerouting was the perfect answer to prayer that we didn’t even know about.
So now we’re almost a week into living and getting to work with this awesome community. The days have been long because we are up early and out all day doing hard, fun, work. Helping neighbors clear rubble, building fences, moving tires, starting a retaining wall, whatever is needed! Then the days end up going long because we stay up talking and talking. Our first full day of ministry was spent talking for 12 straight hours about everything under the sun. Getting to know each other, learning more about the enneagram types, telling stories, seriously everything. We get to help with an orphanage started by Holly’s parents, with some of the CUTEST kids ever. There’s a girls home that two of my teammates are working with constantly while we are here. Just in these past two days, me and my teammate, Jessie, have helped build a fence to keep the chickens out of the house so that they can be free range in the yard. If you ever want to feel like a boss, just spend a couple days with a giant nail gun firing away at some hardwood, it’ll do the trick.
We only have about another week here, and then we move back to the city to start our mini-debrief with the rest of the squad. I’m already dreading saying goodbye to this place and these people. I’m thankful that this time is forcing me to “disconnect” more from social media and the comforts of my phone. It’s shown me just how comfortable i’ve been over the past couple of months having so much access to the rest of the world, it’s been a little too easy to check out. But with only a month and some change left on the race, I’m so thankful that i’m being forced to stay present. I feel a little like I’m at sleep away camp. We’re busy, but it’s FUN. We’re learning something every day, whether it’s practical construction lessons, or lessons about myself. I’m just loving every minute.
Month nine and three quarters was a hot mess. But it just goes to show that sometimes God will allow you to deported, deny your visas five times, bring you somewhere early, not let you get anywhere else, and at the end of the day even when you’re out of patience and confused as heck. He’ll still get you where He needs you, all to answer someone else prayer. He’s good like that. I’m pretty glad that I get to follow Him for the rest of my life.
