Last week my mom got to come visit me in Lima for 4 days. We had a great time together and I’m so glad I got to show her what life as a World Racer is really like! Here are her thoughts on the adventure…
As
I sit in the Lima
airport preparing to board my flight home, I am filled with a multitude of
emotions and thoughts. The past 5 days have been surreal to me and I wonder if
in the next 24 hours it will have been only a dream.
Coming into this, I had no preconceived
ideas of what to expect or what was expected of me. I did my best to prepare
emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and physically for what was ahead. I prayed
for God to lead me in His purposes for me, His reasons for me making this trip.
I prayedto be a refresher and an encourager.
As I touched down in Lima, I had a
difficult time believing I was actually going where I was going and doing what
I was about to do. But, there Bri and Kari were waiting for me at the airport.
Hugs and kisses went around and then weimmediately went to McDonald’s in
the airport for ice cream. 🙂 Bri and I then left for the hotel while Kari
stayed back to wait for her boyfriend, Bo, to arrive. The following morning,
Sunday, I entered the church with Bri where the WR’s were eating breakfast. As
we entered, everyone applauded. All of you who know me well, know I don’t like
being the center of attention much….but one by one the racers came up to me
welcoming me with hugs and Joy even wanted a “mom kiss” on her cheek.
🙂 It was awesome for me to see one dimensional faces on blogs jump to life.
Even though I had never previously met any of them, none seemed a stranger to
me after having read about their adventures for the last 3 months. I will say,
from this point on for the next 4 days, I do believe all of my 5 senses were
assaulted in about every possible way as my life as a World Racer began.
– Taxi rides: Up to this point of my life
I had ridden in only 1 taxi. I was amazed at Bri’s proficiency in Spanish as she
“wheeled a deal” with the cab drivertime and again, complete
with directions. My “1” taxi ride quickly rose to a total of about
9-10. Bri informed me in advance that some of the worst taxi driving you will
endure is in Peru.
She asked me to please not scream during our rides. Wow! That is all I can
say-what an experience to be invehicles where no one uses lanes to drive
in, everyone uses their horn continuously, and brakes are abused to the max to
preserve the shocks when going over speed bumps which seemed to be every 10
feet. 🙂
–
Bus rides: Bodies piled in both standing and sitting….and yet there’s always
room for one more at the next stop. Everybody jostles back and forth into each
other, then tries to scamper to the front before their stop is reached as the
driver yells for you to “hurry and get off;” barely giving you enough
time before he takes off again.
–
Heat: Though it was considered “fall”, SPF 50 sunscreen applied twice
throughout the day still produced a killer sunburn and some really goofy tan
lines!
–
Taste: How many ways can you eat eggs, chicken, & rice?
–
Sight: No words can explain what it is like to be continually
bounced back and forth between opulence and beauty to abject poverty and
bleakness. It does strange things to your mind and your heart.
–
New smells: How do you describe the smells of 21 people all living
under 1 roof where showers are about every 2-4 days or longer. You cannot flush
toilet paper so it all goes in a bag beside the toilet until the bag is
overflowing. Or the smells of working with a populace of people who have no
running water in their homes, live in a sand dune that doubles for the city
dump, and the litter box for every stray animal around?
Yet,
there was no one more blessed then me to be dropped into the life of a WR for 4
short days. I was able to be a part of the very first church service held at
the new church in Lomo de Corvina which the WR’s helped plant and construct. As
I stood in that building on Sunday – 4 crude walls of particle board with a
temporary blue tarp roof and a floor of sand – singing praises to God, I had to
marvel that God’s Spirit was in that place. Though the simplest of structures
in the midst of a garbage filled sand dune, God was in the midst as much if not
more so then in our multi million dollar facilities. Was it not to the poorest
and lowliest of His time that Jesus’ birth was first announced and they were
the ones who were the first humans ever to gaze on the face of God?
Sunday night I was able to attend the
WR’s final church service in Villa el Salvador – atthe Shalom
church – (the mother church of the new church in Lomo de Corvina). The WR team
participated with songs, drama, and preaching. At the end of the service, all
the WR’s were brought to the front of the church, acknowledged for their work
and ministry the last 5 weeks, given gifts, prayed over, and then the entire
church came forward to hug and kiss them and say goodbye. What a blessing for
me to see how God used this team to impact a community. And then the party
began! My first ever “praise dance to Jesus” complete with a disco
ball and lights. The joy of the Lord was everywhere….on all the faces and in
the singing. I felt like I was watching David and the children of Israel after a
battle victory. It was quite amazing.
Monday we headed back up to Lomo de
Corvina to paint the new church. It was kind of tough painting with sand
everywhere. I guess you could call it the textured look. 🙂 I can honestly say
that I have never painted walls before that moved. I was hoping that when the
permanent roof was put on, it would add some stability. Monday night the YETI
team along with Bo and I went into the city for a nice dinner at a Japanese
restaurant. It was quite the assault on the senses to go from being all day at
the shanties in Lomo to a mall with HD TV’s on display. As we attempted to
leave around midnight and flag a taxi….the bartering began for the best deal.
I think we ended up with about 6 taxisgathered around…..it was almost a
traffic jam until we found someone to give us the ride for the price we wanted.
It was my first ride with 8 people in one taxi. I learned the technique of
“left cheek down, right cheek up” to cram as many people as possible
in the back seat. The 3 guys all sat in the hatchback.
Tuesday was back up to Lomo de Corvina. I
spent the day with Amalia, one of the translators, doing some door to door
ministry. I met a little 10 year oldgirl named Naomi and her grandma.
Naomi’s parents had both abandoned her and her little 4 year old brothera
week or so earlier. Her mother had told her to “just forget about
her.” Naomi was trying to have a semblance of control in her out of
control world so she refused to obey her grandma. We were also told she had
attempted suicide twice. She felt unloved by everyone. She was refusing to go
to school as it was a new school and she had no uniform and no way to pay for
registration and books. The grandma didn’t have the money as she was the one
who worked to try to provide for herself, the 2 grandkids, her 24 year old
daughter Kelly, her husband, and their 3 year old twins Marco and Luciana.
Though I didn’t understand one word
the grandma spoke, the language of being a
grandma spoke loud and clear and we just hugged each other as she cried into my
shoulder and our hearts united in our love for our grandkids. Laterin the
afternoon, Amalia and I walked with Naomi and her brother through the heat and
the sandto the market and bought Naomi her uniform and a new pair of flip
flops (she had been wearing her grandma’s.) We also bought her little brother a
new pair of flip flops. Once a grandma, always a grandma…all I had to hear was
him pointing into the bin and saying, “Spiderman.” 🙂 Naomi’s smile
was from ear to ear as she modeled her new uniform for us. She told us she
wanted to be a teacher.
We returned to their house, and
discovered Luciana had had an asthma attack that morning. They took her to the
hospital,she was given three shots, and was resting when we
gotthere.Her mom, Kelly was quite upset and wanted Bob Cooley, the
AIM missionary, to pray over her daughter. Bob, his wife Becky, Amalia, and I
gathered around as Bob prayed for Kelly and Luciana. Amalia then began speaking
to the father, and from her facial expressions and intensity level, I gathered
she was sharing the plan of salvation. When she was done Bob asked him if he wanted
a relationship with Jesus and he said, “Yes.” They prayed together as Kelly’s
husband prayed to receive Christ. Wow!! The rest of the day Naomi was pretty
attached to me. She asked me when I was coming back and telling me she didn’t
want me to leave. With Bri translating, I told her that even though I would be
leaving, God wasn’t…He would always be there for her. He loved her and she was very
special to Him…never forget that! It was quite the day, being the hands and
feet of Jesus.
Tuesday
night was a thank you party for the family that had housed Bri and about 20
others for the month. Wednesday Bri and I double dated with Bo and Kari and
experiencedthe sights and sounds of down town Lima. We visited 2 malls, took a carriage
ride around the square, did some shopping, visited the monastery and catacombs
where 25, 000 bodies were buried, and then after a quick trip to Starbucks it
was back to the airport.
My Impressions:
As
the WR worship team sang a song about “the earth is filled with His
glory…..” what a unique blessing they will have this year to see the
reality of those words as they travel around the world seeing God’s glory
everywhere….filling the earth.
Pouring yourself out is very wearying.
The WR’s are ready for debrief and rest. It is time for them to be nourished.
Community
living is a challenge that God can use to purify us of our selfishness as it is
a continual calling to put others first.
God’s
presence and work is very present in other places besides the US. It is so easy to think we have
the handle on it all; that our church and our country is where He moves and
works the most. It was quite interesting how it hit me when Amalia shared with
me how in Isaiah God says that if His people call on Him and repent and turn
from their ways, He will heal their land. She said, “God is healing Peru.”
Wow!! I had only ever heard that verse used in reference to the states. 🙂
God’s
purposes and plans will stand. His will WILL be accomplished. He uses the
simple to confound the wise.
My
Accomplishments:
I
navigated international travel by myself without any mishaps!! PTL
I
did not get sick – I was struggling when I left. PTL
I
did not scream during any taxi ride!! 🙂
I
delivered a myriad of gifts to people including a requested carpet sample in
which faces, fingers, and toes immediately dove into. (guys included!)
I slept on a concrete floor 3 nights
without my 50 year old bones getting stiff and achy!!
I
remembered to NOT put toilet paper in the toilets and back up the entire septic
system.
I
survived without my curling brush.
I
learned how to navigate around in a bedroom without an inch of empty space.
Prayer Requests:
Protection:
The WR’s are in harm’s way many times. One of the young female translators was
assaulted on her way to the goodbye house party on Tuesday. This was not the
first assault or robbery attempt experienced on this trip. (Psalm 121)
Health: Many of the WR’s daily battle
intestinal issues and are faced with parasites and fungi. Physical weakness
makes them more susceptible to other illnesses. (James 5:15)
Emotions:
The lack of privacy this month coupled with the reality of the difficulty of
relationships in the best of circumstances, not to mention in the not so good
of circumstances, has brought on anxiety and stress. (Philippians 4:6-7)
Strength
in all areas as weariness has set in. Pray for times of refreshing during their
debrief and a continued awareness of who their strength is. Then not only an
awareness, but a desire to draw from that strength and not function in their
own strength and abilities. (Philippians 4:13, I Peter 4:11b)
Discernment:
Though they are God’s children, they are not immune from satan’s attacks on
them. Pray that they will “dress for success” daily by putting on the
armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-17) and that they will be alert for seeds of
deception and lies that satan will try to sow. (Philippians 1: 9-11)
Alertness:
Open eyes and ears to the opportunities God puts before them. (Galatians
6:9+10,
Ephesians 5: 15+16,
Colossians 4: 5-6)
Finally,
pray for the churches at Lomo de Corvina and the Shalom church in Villa el Salvador….for
God’s continued movement and drawing of people to Himself. That God will bring
forth the fruit from all the seeds that have been sown. (Isaiah 55:10-11)
Blessed
to be a WR!!!! (Short though it was…..)
Vickee
