The past few days our team has been given the opportunity to spend time on a few different farms. The views from them are crazy beautiful and I am so thankful for this time because God knows how much I love the mountains. The mountains we have spent time in are filled with colors of green, red, brown, and yellow. If you look across the way, over Huaraz, (on clear days) you will see snow-capped mountains that tower over 20,000 feet. The highest mountain is called Huascarán, at 22,205 feet. Being surrounded by God’s creation has been such a blessing. Yes, it’s been about 40 degrees when we have spent the night on the farms, but the opportunities we get here outweigh being freezing at night and it’s a nice change from all the humidity and high temperatures in Florida.
This is real. I am on the World Race, living among different cultures, sharing the Gospel, loving on the people I come in contact with. I am constantly in awe of this because of the amazing places I have already seen and things I have gotten to experience. As we were driving up to a village the other day, we got to drive along the mountain side with these views. I had a window seat, so naturally I rolled down the window. I had my headphones in and was listening to music. In that moment it really hit me. I am almost two months in to such an amazing opportunity that the Lord has placed in my life. He knew that I would be here in this moment way before I even knew who He was. Just that alone is crazy to think about. God knew that in November of 2019 I would get to serve Him through learning songs (in Quechua) to sing to Quechuans living in remote villages up in the mountains. What an opportunity.
The first few days here in Huarez included learning how to pronounce and sing a few songs in Quechua. Since learning them we have gone to villages, churches, schools, and markets wearing Quechua clothing, singing these songs. The songs include: Waymaker, Nothing but the blood of Jesus, and Open the Eyes of My Heart. These aren’t songs that you can just pull up on iTunes or Spotify (the Quechua version that is). The Quechuan people haven’t heard these songs before, so it has been really special to not only sing for them, but with them. It was only 3 months ago that the Bible was actually translated into Quechua so that people could read and understand the Gospel in their own language! We have also gotten to preach and share testimonies in these places.
One night at dinner, during our ‘Yay God Moments’, our host mom, Nancy, mentioned that her God moment had happened up in the office earlier that day. When we were practicing the songs in Quechua she was reminded of Revelations “…from every nation, from all tribes, and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb….” We speak different languages and are from different cultures, but here we are singing songs in another language with those who can’t normally understand what we are saying.
A few weeks before leaving for the Race I prayed that we would get placed in the jungle somewhere where we could serve in remote villages. When we got our first month locations I didn’t think that my team would get another opportunity in South America. God answered this prayer and it has been difficult, but amazing to get to live amongst the Quechuans. My hope is that we are able to share the name of Jesus with them, while showing them the love the Lord has for us. Many of the Quechua people are ashamed of their culture and don’t like admitting that they speak Quechua, so it is a privilege to get to wear their clothing and show them that they have nothing to fear or be ashamed of. God doesn’t just speak English, but all languages. He thinks, speaks, hears and He loves in all languages.
Until all have heard,
Kristen Duguay
