ALL PEOPLE AND BAGS ACCOUNTED FOR IN
PERU!
We definitly made it safe and sound to
Chincha Peru. Our plane arrived around midnight on the 5th. We
quickly made our way to a hostel in Lima and settled in for 5 hours
of sleep before beginning our first Race day.
The Race went a little something like
this; we had to find our way around the city of Lima, collecting
experiences such as learning about Peruvian historical figures, and
places, eating strange delicacies such as raw seafood (which I really
liked!), Taking a series of buses and taxis to find “off the map
destinations”, they were’t really but it seemed like it, weaving
through mountains to find very small villages. We were required to go
white water rafting, but our team arrived a little too close to dark
so we will catch this adventure on our first day off, which will mean
backtracking a couple hours into the mountains, YAY!
The race was an incredible experience,
I would have never been able to exprience the culture in this way had
I been exploring on my own. My team had a blast! As we were racing
around I realized that even though I have never been to South
America, and this experience was new and incredibly unique, I was not
satisfied, but to my surprise this was a good thing! I do not ever
want to be satisfied by earthly or selfish desires, I want to live on
a hunger for God. If my needs are fully met on this earth then how
will I ever have a need for Jesus. I was relieved to know that I have
not been caught up in the adventure of Peru, but in the adventure of
abundant life in Christ, thirsting for His presence instead my own.
Our first day ended well, besides a few
lost racers, including myself, who got dropped off at the wrong
Church and with no spanish at all we pieced together why we were the
only racers there and had our host Pastor come fetch us.
Yesterday we visited the areas that
have been the most devastated by the earthquake. It was an
overwhelming experience. I have seen devestation on TV but when you
are walking through it and looking into the eyes that have felt such
trauma, it cuts deep. Its a natural reaction for me to try and
disassociate from upseting sights but this time I felt that I had no
righ to do that. The point of me being here is to be broken for the
things that break God’s heart and allow Him to work through my tears
and compassion. It will be a stretching thing to let Jesus come out
of me in this way, but this is what these people need, and
understanding heart to love them amidst their hardship and heartache
with no reserve.
These pictures are from a town called
Tambo de Mora, a prosperous fishing village that was brought to the
ground. Thousands lost their homes, most are forced to live in
refugee camps, others are trying their hardest to rebuild their
precious homes. We also visited a refugee camp and had the chance to
pray over a sick baby and her Grandparents. The baby was born with
fluid on her brain causing pressure (if in America this would be
cured with a shunt) she had a blank stare but yet her eyes drew me
in. At the time she was in womb both her Grandparents went deaf and
mute, a sure sign of oppression on this family. We will continue
praying for this family as teams will be ministering in this camp
over the net few weeks.
Today we will be assigned areas in
which we will be ministering, one goal is for every racer to adopt a
family and spend time caring for them and getting to know them.
As for our living quarters, stay tuned
for an explanation of the gaseous goats living a few feet from my
tent…
