During our time in Peru we were split between two cities. The first few weeks we spent in Cusco and the second part of our time there we spent in Lima.
Yet another long bus ride leading us to another new city. How exciting it was to come into Cusco, Peru! We were able to cram all of our bodies and packs into two taxis which drove through the winding roads. Up, up, up we went. Finally, after pulling onto a one way (very skinny road) they came to a stop. The taxi driver got out and pointed up the hill to our right. There was our hostel, about half way up the hill. Normally in the states this would not be a problem. Yes the pack makes it a little more difficult but the real killer was the elevation. We fund that although we may be in decent shape back home running up hills, or even walking quickly, was out of the question here!We grabbed our packs and headed up the hill.
Our time in Peru was going to be a little different then our first month was. We had a month of “ask the Lord” (ATL). According to Adventures in Missions, the organization I am traveling through, it is a month where you pray through what your ministry will be. You wake up every morning and ask the Lord what he wants for you that day. At times this may look like him calling out a specific organization for us to partner with, it could be a person(s) that he highlights for you that day to talk to and possibly pray over, or it could be something more along the lines of just living a daily life and its activities and just building relationships sharing God with all those you encounter. For me this is a scary way to live life. I love to build relationships and be with people but at the same time there is a language barrier, Catholicism is huge in South American and I am not well researched in it, plus it is just not the normal for me.. But the wonderful thing about our God is that he is bigger then all of that! My little worries would never stop him from carrying out his plans. During my time in Cusco we lived as “Life is ministry and ministry is life”. This was our motto. Some days we felt called to the market, meeting with the same people day after day at their stands asking about their lives and buying fruit from them. How sweet it was after the first few days to see the smiles on their faces when they would see us walking around the corner. Other days we would walk around praying over people who were blind, deaf, or crippled. One day we spent worshiping in the square talking to people and sharing with them what we were doing.
A specific calling I felt while in Cusco was to offer to take pictures for people. Due to how close Machu Picchu is to the city of Cusco there is a heavy flow of tourists from all over the world. Through taking pictures I was able to not only share a smile and a “have a good day” with people but there were times that it led to great conversations and at times even prayers over them. This was one way that God allowed me to conquer my fears and sow me that even in the smallest acts I can help in furthering his kingdom. Another way that God made himself apparent to me was through the people he put in my path. Like I shared earlier the language barrier was a huge fear for me. I speak very little Spanish and although I have learned a lot in my time in South America I struggled with remembering and saying the right things at the right times. God took that fear and demolished it. Each person I felt led to as I walked down the street, the taxi drivers he sent me, and even the people who worked in some of the grocery stores I shopped in spoke little to good English. God provided for me. He took my doubts and insecurities and broke them down.
We then traveled to Lima where we met up with the entire squad, leaders, and our mentor. It was there that we were able to go deeper into some of the training that we had prior to launching onto the field. These were great tools to have as we continue to serve those around us and live in community. We would sit through trainings in the mornings and then in the afternoons have an opportunity to sit through other trainings that dug deeper into the bible and things of the Lord. These were amazing and allowed me to dig deeper into my beliefs and also question things I had never really thought about prior to. In the afternoons we would again pray and see what the Lord had planned for us. We would spend time at the local coffee shops getting to know the baristas and then spending time with others around the community.
During our time in Lima there was quite the doom and gloom around the city. Many of the people on our squad felt spiritually attacked and like there was just a weight about the city. As my team and I prayed for each other and the city I felt the Lord calling me to something bigger. He laid on my heart to do 24 hours of prayer for the city. I shared this with the leadership team and got the ok to present it to the team. I was so uplifted and affirmed by the team through this. I set up a sign up sheet and in a matter of minutes almost all the entire sheet was full. We started at 7pm at night and prayed until 7pm the next day. People were up through the night praying, singing, speaking God’s word over the city. We then began a dry erase board in the prayer room and people began to write words, scripture and prayers over the city. IT WAS INCREDIBLE! The power, the spirit, the outpouring that you could feel just walking into that room was unreal. God showed up in so many ways and although we may never see the results of our prayers the Lord heard them and the devil knows he no longer has a hold on that city.
These times were so great to refill ourselves and to grow together as a squad and also to be strengthened as teams. What a great outpouring from our leaders and mentor into us!
