Month one has ended and month two has begun. When I pictured Peru, I imagined lush green mountains. What I got? The desert. Where dem llamas at? Those closest to me know of my dismay for sand and heat. Ironically, the Lord sent me on the hottest route.
Currently, it is all squad month meaning that I am living in a tent on the roof of a compound in a ghetto of Trujillo, Peru. Oh, with 57 of my closest amigos. This week we have met the evil of sickness and now have designated sick & healthy bathrooms. The community, however, is something I wouldn’t trade. P-Squad is filled with some of the most amazing and God-filled human beings I’ve ever met. For Valentine’s Day our 11 guys gave all 46 women pedicures, long stem roses, and Valentine’s notes. They got prayer and specific words of affirmation. Impressive, to say the least.
Currently, my team and another team are combined to serve with a local church. Iglesias Antorcha (website nonexistent). We have been doing a VBS, putting together shelves, painting, organizing, teaching English classes, playing a ton of outside games, and whatever else makes the missionaries’ lives easier. Pastors Auden & Wendy are incredible. Auden grew up in Mexico, studied in the U.S. and became a missionary to Peru. Wendy came to Peru to teach English, became the director of an orphanage, and when the two Met, they began ministry together. They have two small children that are brilliant and fun.
Wendy jokes that the church attracts ruffian boys (like Mogley from the jungle book) and I can attest that it is true. These kids are crazy, but I feel the Lord is doing something here & in them. In a nation where most church attendees are women, I believe through Auden and Wendy God is raising up a generation of men to step forward in the church.
Coming to Peru, I knew that I was not only being sent to the desert physically, but spiritually as well. I felt that the Lord would meet me here and use it as a time of testing and growth just as God had done for Christ & others in the bible. The desert is teaching me so many things, most of which I am still processing and trying to figure out. However, I have been given two scriptures to cling to. The first, Isaiah 51:3-
The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing. (?NIV)
I have found myself singing more in the desert. Both on my own, in front of others & with my squadmates. Singing is something I do often, but mostly alone. With the encouragement of my squadmates I have been singing more.
The second is Lamentations 3:19-24
I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” (?NIV)
This race has been so many things. A joy. A pain. A struggle. A blessing. A trial. A reward. There have already been a few days where I want to just be home. I want to leave and go back to what is easy & what I know. There are days I miss laughing with my friends, hugging my boyfriend, calling my family, and deciding when and what I eat. The best way I can describe it is a spiritual incubator & hot box. But each day, I choose Jesus. I remind myself that this journey is worth it and such an incredible blessing. I get to see and help build the kingdom of God and share this with all of you, my friends and family who loved and believed in me & the Lord enough to help make this journey happen. I won’t be coming home until the end, but know that I miss you all so much. I am thankful. I am growing. Jesus is working.
Life is beautiful.
Love you all.
