Greetings amigos. I apologize again for the prolonged absence… I have just finished 10 days of walking on the Camino de Santiago in Spain… more will come about the Camino soon… Let me fill you in on our time in Peru.
We crossed into Peru in the early morning and made our way to Mancora, Peru for a leadership development weekend and team changes.
My new team is Team Philly Philly…
Team Philly…
You may be wondering how such a great team name came to be this is the story…
We’re sitting in Mancora, Peru sweating and hungry. We just had a small 2 egg sandwich breakfast and the team name discussion started or… kinda didn’t. We sat around looked at each other. An idea that had to do with our initials was thrown out but didn’t really get anywhere. The timeline of coming up with a name was coming to an end and I threw out Team Philly Philly.
I am a big fan of the city of brotherly love and miss it frequently, so throwing out a name like that was expected and I let it sit on the table. I proceeded to explain that Philadelphia meant brotherly love in Greek, was biblical and since there are males and females on the team, repeating the name would serve as sisterly love as well. No other ideas were thrown out and surprisingly it was given the nod and we became Team Philly Philly.
What I wasn’t expecting was how God used Team Philly Philly in the months to come to encourage and love believers He put in our path. As a team we studied 1 and 2 Peter and brotherly love was a theme that kept coming up.
One of my favorite verses was from our studies is 1 Peter 2:17.
“Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.”
I believe loving the brotherhood is something my team did very well in Peru.
Name explanation part 2…
After 22 hours of one of the most comfortable bus rides ever, we arrived in Lima, Peru. There we met a couple from Venezuela, Isai and Christina. They had come to Peru to escape the problems in Venezuela. As a squad we spent a night worshipping with them and Isai gave a word at the end. It was awesome to see those who were strangers hours before worshipping and fellowshipping together later.
Later in the week Rodolfo, mentioned that Isai wanted to show us the area where he was applying for a job in and extended the invite to the team. A couple days later we hopped on a bus with Isai and made our way to Miraflores.
We spent the afternoon walking through the city, along the beach and through parks and let the conversation flow like the landscape. We talked to him about his story and shared why we had come on the race. He told of us the struggle his people were having in Venezuela. He recalled discussing the same corruption for 20 years and that enough was enough and he and his wife left everything behind to start a new life. He also told us about his former job in Venezuela and how he was in line for a promotion. He however felt a peace about leaving and thanks God for that. When he went to tell his boss, that he’d be leaving the country, his boss exclaimed, “Why, you’re next in line here.” He said, he would rather wash dishes in a foreign country and have enough money to put food on the table than to stay in Venezuela with that job and not have enough. Those words stuck with me and I admire his faith and courage to step out into the big unknown.
We shared a meal, Venezuelan style with them later that week. Isai and Christina showed us how to make arepas (a signature Venezuelan food) with cheese and butter. The main course was eggs covered in vegetables with peach juice on the side. We enjoyed conversation and the fellowship together. I was blessed by seeing their faith and joy despite their circumstances and how they continued to love God and people through it all. As we left Peru, Isai and his wife prayed for safe journeys and a great rest of the year. Again I was touched by their heart for others.
Isai and Christina & Team Philly Philly…
We spent some time in Cusco, Peru working with Calvary Chapel Cusco. Stay tuned for a blog of our time in Cusco coming soon. In Cusco we stayed in the church with two gentlemen who worked with the church and community. Their names are Leo and Miguel.
Miguel (left), Leo (right)…
Leo and Miguel with Team Philly…
We were guests in their house and they made us feel so welcome. It didn’t take long before we started joking, laughing and enjoying life together after the days work. One night Miguel and Leo stopped by the kitchen for some tea and started talking to us. We talked to them about their lives shared about ours. We showed them our states on google images, talked about family and laughed at comical Spanish grammatical errors. They would sometimes sit in on our devotions and discussions. It felt like they were a part of the team and I enjoyed their company. One night Rodolfo and I played soccer with Leo at the local neighborhood field and had to hold it down against a group of insanely in shape 35 – 40 year olds. The higher elevation definitely worked in their favor.
During of our conversations we found out Leo was a chef and Miguel quickly suggested that should Leo cook a meal for us. We agreed to Lomo saltado, a classic Peruvian dish, on Sunday and we pulled our food money together and made our way to the market. Leo knew all the good places to buy the most economical and best ingredients.
The market…
When it was time to cook, Leo put us to work cutting and prepping the different ingredients. When it was all said and done, it was by far one of the best meals I’ve had on the race.
Chef Leo…
Jesus spent a lot of time around the table during His ministry. He shared meals with a lot of people… his disciples, tax collectors, the 5000… After sharing meals with Isai & Christina and Miguel & Leo, I think I can see why meal sharing was so popular and effective. It gave us and opportunity to break bread with fellow believers to encourage and enjoy each other’s company. I was blessed tremendously by the new friendships that came to be in our time in Peru. I miss them already and look forward to seeing them again someday.
After our time with Isai, Christina, Leo and Miguel, I look back and thank God for them and for orchestrating our crossing of paths. We were blessed by the time we spent with them as a team and hope we reciprocated the same blessing to them. I admire the openness of each member of my team to reach out to the brothers and sisters in Christ that we met along the way. Each of us were open and able to build a relationship and love them well despite the language barrier for some. Cheers Philly Philly.
Please be praying for Isai, Christina, Leo and Miguel and their work and families, thank you!
