Lush green. Then desert mountains. That’s what I saw a couple of days ago in Pisac when listening to the Lord on where He wanted our feet next. Okay, what God? These two are polar opposites. You can’t have lush green and desert mountains. It’s one or the other! Are you telling me to go two different places? It must just be my imagination, I thought. I brushed the vision in my head aside, and we went to Arequipa because it seemed to be the path of least resistance and because it was in route to our next destination in Iquique, Chile. I had quite honestly forgot about the green and contradicting barren mountains I had a vision of as we journeyed from Pisac back to Cusco, and then Cusco to Arequipa, and when we decided to take a team hike through the mountains that was supposed to reach a waterfall, I didn’t even give it a second thought. But God guides. He lives within those who believe, gentle whispers guiding us along, if only we turn my ears to listen. And it was on this day that the vision he gave, the lush green, the desert mountains, came to life.
We left our hostel early in the morning on a mission to find a taxi to Yura, where we would begin our hike. In doing our research, we came across a random post of a couple who went on this same hike had found a bus to Yura from a particular stop near the main square, so we made the quick walk and waited. The bustling of the city and the crowds began to cave in…which bus was the right one? Was a bus even going to come? Where, God? Where’s the one we are supposed to take to Yura? It was about the time of desperation that a red taxi with a large plaque labeled ‘Yura’ came barreling around the corner. There it is! That’s the one! Thank you, Jesus. God guides. We loaded in the taxi, minus our teammate Sabrina who was mending a bad blister on her foot and stayed back at the hostel (we missed you, Sabrina!).
Without our fluent Spanish speaker, Sabrina, we gringas were on our own for negotiating the taxi price and telling the driver where we needed to be. Allison took the lead on this one, and thanks to her, the taxi driver understood the trailhead we were trying to reach in the little desert village of Yura. We arrived, and began our trek, first up over the canyon ridge, and then back down the other side. We quickly lost site of the trail we were on, and just decided to follow the riverbed. After all, if it was a waterfall we were after, it would be in the riverbed, right? We wondered through the windy maze of the canyon, stopping frequently for water and to admire the sites the Lord painted for us that day. We reached a fork in the river…which way? It was left we agreed. Left was the way. We didn’t pass a soul. I saw a random piece of trash and it was comforting to me. Life! There was life here! Yes, we have to be going the right way. We spotted the trail again, and followed it climbing out of the canyon to a ridge overlooking the endless desert mountains for miles. Desert mountains. We were in the desert mountains! It was barren and vast and magnificent. God guides.
We reached a dirt road and another dilemma. Left or right? It was about this time that we saw an old rusty truck making its way down the windy path. The truck stopped in a cloud of dust in front of us, and we were welcomed by the friendly faces of a Peruvian couple, and another elderly gentleman in the backseat. Allison (with her awesome Spanish speaking skills) asked, “Donde esta el Rio?”. With smiles and some Spanish I couldn’t catch, they motioned for us to the right and upwards. We thanked them, and off we went. God guides.
The road seemed endless. Were we even going the right way? All around were barren, beautiful mountains, but there couldn’t possibly be a waterfall in this vast landscape, could there? We walked and walked and walked. I began to doubt that our journey through the endless, beautiful mountains would lead anywhere. And then there it was: a plush valley of green, looking as out of place as a snowman in the middle of Nevada. How could something so vibrant and full of life exist in a place so barren? We quickly made our way down to the oh so welcoming valley of green, the sound of the rushing stream like music to our ears. God guides.
We traversed through the thick green brush on the shore of the stream for as long as we could until the canyon walls caved in so much that we actually had to enter the river to continue further. The way the gentle stream winded through the canyon walls, bending around every corner, was like nothing I had ever seen. The cool water washed away all of the dust from our morning hike as we eagerly made our way upstream. The irony of where we had been that day hit me. We had walked through a desert all morning, and now, here we were, walking through a glistening oasis to an enchanting waterfall. You really never know the places that God is going to bring you to, but he’s always there to guide us through dry seasons in the desert. He’s always there to lead us to abundant streams. Even in the times when we doubt the journey or maybe even doubt he is there to guide us, he’s still there, leading u
Around the final bend in our trek up the stream, we heard the roar of water crashing down, and as we peered around the corner in anticipation, mist encompassed the most beautiful waterfall, spilling over the canyon wall into a pool of crystal-clear blue. We had made it! Through all of our wonderings, God got us there. What was more is that, though on our journey we hadn’t passed a single soul besides the friendly people in the truck who helped us along and a few farmer’s in the distance, in the midst of this desert oasis we had found two new friends there waiting for us. We quickly got to know Sabino and his nephew Jhordin. We pieced Sabino’s broken English together with our broken Spanish, and an instant bond of companions who had made the same trek through desert and stream was formed. We were also greeted by two four-legged friends, who Sabino said were their guides and had accompanied them all the way from Yura.
We enjoy the raging beauty that fed the river for a while with our friends and decided we would make the journey back together. We got to know Sabino and Jhordin as we traversed down the stream and back up through the mountains to the village of Yura. We talked about each of our travels, where we had been in life, farm animals in Texas, the differences between Catholicism and Christianity, learned all of our middle names, and much more. It was an instant friendship that could have only have been orchestrated by the Lord. We did get a bit lost on the way back and had trouble finding our way down from the mountaintop into the village. I’ll admit I did fear for my life as we literally slid down the dusty mountainside to get to the bottom, but hey, we made it back. Thanks, God, for showing us the way and for giving us a good laugh.
We sat with our friends as we waited for our taxi back to Arequipa, all equally exhausted and exhilarated by the journey we had just made together. Sabino was kind enough to buy us some snacks as we waited. We agreed to all meet up back in the square in Arequipa for dinner that evening to spend more time with our new friends. Right when we were getting ready to leave our hostel for dinner that evening, a rainstorm blew in. I’ll admit, in that moment, I would have probably much preferred to stay in to avoid getting soaking wet, BUT we had made a promise to Sabino and Jhordin. So off we went, into the pouring rain. We were soaking wet and cold when we arrived at dinner, but every moment with our new friends was so worth it. We got to hear their stories and even share about the World Race and what God was doing in our lives. It was a day that will live in my heart forever.
I am so grateful for this incredible adventure, new friendships, and the lessons that I learned. This is my takeaway: God guides. Even when we don’t see it or feel it and feel totally and completely lost and out of place, he’s always looking out for us. He’s always there to direct us, if we can point our ears to him. When wondering through a desert, we can TRUST in the Lord to lead us through. We don’t know the mountains he’s moving our behalf. We might not know where he’s leading, but we can trust that its good. I also realized the importance of living each day intentionally. You don’t have to be wondering hiking through the mountains of Peru to do this. You can be intentional when going to the grocery store, washing dishes, or meeting friends for a game night. You can be intentional when talking to your husband, wife, friend, child. Today is all we ever have. Today is the day the Lord has made. So, make the most of it. Step out into the unknown. Show love to your neighbor. Be brave. Make new friends. Embrace every single, God-given moment.
