February 25, 2013
Month two is basically over. It is crazy how fast time has gone by. After two overnight bus rides, from Quito, Ecuador we arrived in Trujillo, Peru. Here in Trujillo, the entire squad spent the month together at an orphanage that is scheduled to open sometime this year, part of the Organization Inca Link.
The area we are located in is the most dangerous part of Trujillo, called Victor Raul; it is know for its gangs and crime. In fact it is nearly impossible to get a cab to the orphanage after 7pm when the buses stop running in the community. The area may seem fairly safe, but the reality is gangs are using the children here to do their dirty work. There is a water tower we can see from the yard where gangs train young kids to use guns. We were informed that the punishments for youth who commit crime is very minimal so gangs will recruit kids between the ages of 10-15 to kill people, many times for as little at 40 sol or $16 USD. It is really sad to hear about. Because of the circumstances, Inca link has a focus on youth, both with the children they plan on housing at the orphanage and the programs they have for the local kids.
Each of the three weeks we were here we participated in a different ministry. Based out of Inca Link, our ministries included working in the Dump, Sand boarding and Construction.
The Dump Ministry was the one that captured my heart from the very start. We spent the first week in Peru here. We held two art classes with one of the Inca Link Interns, did a lot of manual labor, including leveling the property by hand to create a soccer field for the kids in the community. It was such a joy to be able to help create something that will be in the community and used indefinitely. Along with the manual labor and art, we spent each afternoon just loving on the kids, playing soccer and volleyball with the kids. The last day at the dump we also put on a children’s church service.
The dump ministry aims at helping the children in the community know that there is more for them then working at the dump, sorting trash for very minimal pay. They are trying to break the generational cycle of working in the dump; it is common for children to work with their parents in the dump and to not attend school.
I was really surprised at how much about the dump didn’t affect me like I thought it would. I was warned about the smell and how dirty it would be, but I honestly hardly noticed those things. I was however very convicted as to how much trash I create in my life back home, and how unsafe the environment is. Many of the families will bring food home from the dump to feed their families, and there are medical supplies littering the ground everywhere, I can’t even tell you how many glass medical vials I saw and syringe parts.
The Sand boarding Ministry is called Inca Thakhi, which Thakhi means road in Quecha, a local indigenous language. They are based off Isaiah 43:19, which says, “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the dessert.” It is a powerful program that targets the youth of the community, ages 6-14 in order to keep them out of the local gangs. The leader Joca takes the kids sand boarding, (think snowboarding on the sand) and skim boarding four times a week. He shares the love of Jesus, through the use of extreme sports. (I actually learned that Florence, Oregon has a big and quite popular sand boarding park from the leader, which I think will be fun to go and visit when I am back home)
Construction for my team this last week here consisted of a lot of sand, we spent the majority of the week moving sand, to create a new garden area and to create a new driveway entrance that construction trucks would be able to use easier than the current one. It was really fun to see the road take place and know we helped with a project that would have been both time consuming and expensive for the orphanage to do without us.
This month the Lord has been teaching me a lot. He has really been working in my confidence in who He created me to be. A lot of the time I have a hard time having confidence in myself and/or my abilities to do things. But this month God has been stretching that, especially in regards to my Spanish speaking abilities. I have had to step up my willingness to speak in Spanish and to even just talk to people I don’t know. My first day here in Trujillo, I was placed in charge of taking a group of 14 to the beach for the day. I not only had to navigate the public transportation system, but I also had to use my Spanish to get us there. It is funny to look back on that day and to think about all that happened. On our way home from the beach that day, we actually ended up getting lost trying to get to the store and then again on the way home from the store. But we thankfully made it safely back. The same day I found out I would be translating for a small group the next day during door-to-door evangelism. I was so nervous the day I found out, because I really didn’t want to mess something up like sharing someone’s testimony. It in turn was a great experience, because God really showed up in my willingness to mess up and to just try something I am not very good.
He has also been teaching me a lot about living in a community, I didn’t realize how hard it would be to open up to new people and to pursue relationships with teammates. But God is great and I am learning quickly.
This week my squad will be heading to Lima, Peru from the 26th until the 3rd where we will be meeting with our Squad Coaches from the United States, they are a great couple named Randy and Betsy Garmon, who are part of our support system. They come to the field every two months and pour into us, through teachings, talks and just spending time with us.
Next month is our last month here in South America. My team and I are really excited for this next month in Bolivia. We will have a very unique month; we are doing what is called ATL or Ask The Lord for our ministry month. In other words we don’t have an actual contact or host in Bolivia but will be relying on the Holy Spirit to lead us to where he wants us to work for the month. Paired with ATL we will be working on what is called The Unsung Heroes Campaign, where we will be working on finding new contacts for Adventures In Missions and The World Race to use in the future. This should be an exciting month, I will be having to rely on my Spanish a lot more this month, as we won’t have a translator with us or have a schedule, and will be largely making our own plans. We however know that we will be staying in La Paz for about a week during the first part of the month.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Pray for guidance on where to go in Bolivia, and who we will make contact with. (If you have any contacts in Bolivia or know any ministries in the country, please let me know of their name and/or contact information. We need all the help we can get in finding ministries in Bolivia)
- Pray for health, with being in third world countries staying healthy is a very important thing. I so far have been very blessed by the Lord and have not gotten sick, but many of my team members and squad mates have gotten really sick. We have had a few people in the last two weeks be infected with Salmonella, due to the food we are eating.
- Pray for Safety, we will need the Lords protection greatly in the next month, both for all of the traveling we will be doing, but also because we will be in a variety of places that may not always be the safest. Like I mentioned before we don’t have a contact or host for the month and will have to rely largely on people we meet and contacts our friends and family have. It would be easy for us to get into a situation that isn’t the safest be it because of people we encounter traveling, or the locations we have to stay in.
- Pray for Unity, this month will be a challenge; we have a lot of different personalities on our team, and will be in situations that will most likely be stressful. So please pray that we can grow in unity as a team and that we can use this unique experience to grow as a team.
- Pray for Relationship, we all want and need more of Jesus in our lives, please pray that we can continue to grow in our relationship with Christ and that we can grow in Him throughout the month.
- Pray for ______________, I know that there are many other things that could be prayed for so please don’t limit yourselves to these prayer requests and pray however the Lord leads you to for my team and I in the next month.
Thank you, all so much for everything, including reading this. I know my team and I have been in your prayers and that is such a blessing to know that my friends and family are praying for us at any given time. I look forward to sharing with you how the Lord works in my life during the next month.
Blessings,
Katrina
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