My team has been in Peru since September 8th. The Lord has been showing up in so many awesome ways. After two overnight bus rides through Arequipa, Peru, my team settled in Cusco, Peru. We stayed in a cute family-owned Airbnb. My first time ever booking one SCORE! The owners of the house lived in this house for over 20 years. They had a family restaurant down below our house. Each morning I got to go out and play in the “ZOO.” I told the sweet worker, Juan, that I love animals. He would open up all of the cages and let me play with the animals. There were chickens, guinea pigs, dogs with short legs, and one fat, mean duck. I was so happy! Every morning I was reminded of my childhood dream to be a zookeeper. I felt like the animals knew what I was saying, but probably not. While I enjoyed my time playing with the animals, it brought up sweet time for conversation.
(Photo: praying for people on the streets of Cusco
So my team’s time in Cusco was an action packed 10 days. We did not have a ministry host, instead we did Ask the Lord ministry. One day in particular was my very favorite day. My team put all of our food budget money together for that day and fasted. We used our food money to buy from local vendors and pray for them. Then we gave the food to people in need. Our team split into groups of two, where I was with my teammate Ashton (Paige). Check out her blog about our experience at ashtonmueller.theworldrace.org. We had two apples and two bananas left when we felt the urge to walk into a sweet Peruvian market. As we made our way back to this market, we came across this sweet Peruvian worker named Equalea. When we walked up we said, “Hello, how are you today?” Her face lit up and she quickly invited us into her booth. We got to tell her why we were in Cusco. We told her we are traveling missionaries. She immediately pulled out her Bible. Her Bible was in her native language, Quecha. Then she pulled out her other Bible in Spanish. I then took out my Bible in English. It was really cool to explore the text with other believers in other countries. She told us she had pain in her back and neck, high fever, and bronchitis. We got to pray for the Lord to heal her, and to bless her store. At the end of the prayer, we were all in tears. I definitely felt the presence of the Lord all around this shop. At dusk of that night, our team came together with another team and broke the fast with partaking in Communion. It was a really special time as we got to come back together as the body of Christ and remember the sacrifice made for us. Then we all cooked dinner as a team and played games. Awesome Fellowship. A few days later, we brought her back letters and flowers. We thought we were going to bless her, but was I wrong. When we returned, she gave us free socks, jewelry, and beads. She told us to remember her when we wear these.
Now my team is back with our entire squad in Lima, Peru for 10 days. More updates to come soon.
I also got to visit Machu Picchu. Pictures do not do justice. One of my favorite places in the world!!!!!!
Blessings,
Catie Collins
