This week, Team Luminous and Team Favoured joined forces to help out with Inca Thakhi—a sand boarding ministry. Sand boarding = snowboarding on sand. Our ministry contact, Joca, has formed relationships with a group of youth boys from the community—the youngest is 6 and the oldest is 15—through sand boarding. His next step is to introduce the boys to skim boarding. (We helped dig a huge, shallow hole just outside the compound, so the kids could practice. We’re in the desert, but with a very large plastic covering, some water, and soap, it’s possible.) With more funding, Joca hopes to teach the kids how to make the skim boards themselves, too; doing this would create jobs for them and enable them to share the sport and God's love with other youth in the jungle regions of Peru.
Joca is really like a big brother to all of these kids. It’s almost like watching Peter Pan lead the Lost Boys. They respect him so much, and he has such a heart for each one of them. Though we only work with this ministry for one week, I have grown to really love the vision that Joca has for the young generation of this area.
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it spring up do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:19).
This is the theme verse for Inca Thakhi. The area that we’re in really is a desert…like, sand-dunes-everywhere desert. Earlier this week, Joca took a group of us on a 6 AM hike to the top of a small mountain/big hill, where we could clearly see three separate regions: the valley to the left, the ocean to the right, and the desert right in the middle. Joca had one of the interns, Courtney, read this first part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount as we looked down upon God’s creation:
“Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:1-10).
From our distance, the view was gorgeous and totally worth waking up at 5:30 AM to see. But Joca told us to look closer, to look past the view. Maybe when Jesus was teaching, he was on a mountain similar to the one we were standing on, overlooking the dwelling place of many people. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t just looking at the land and sea, but at each individual life of the peoples below. Yes, from a distance, the landscapes of Trujillo look postcard-worthy. But being in the city, especially in the desert, the view is a little more disheartening. There is trash literally everywhere, and it’s evident that people—very young and very old—work hard every day just to have food for sustenance.
Earlier in the week, our squad went out into the streets and shared our testimonies and about IncaLink, door-to-door. With the help of translators and broken Spanish, we were able to pray for many people and give them words of encouragement. It may not sound like that’s doing much, but I’m constantly being reminded that we don’t and cannot bear the burden to save the world. Only God can do that. We can just be obedient and serve faithfully in where He does call us.
Unfortunately, I don’t have close-up pictures of the neighborhood, since it isn’t really safe to carry around anything that looks expensive. Trujillo is actually the third most dangerous city in Peru. Our squad is living in the security of the IncaLink compound in the desert region, and we’re not allowed to leave the compound alone nor can we be outside of the compound after 7 PM.
To be honest, the desert of Peru has already proved to be a tougher challenge for me than the jungle of Ecuador, especially with all the sand and heat and mosquito bites (don’t worry—it’s a low-risk malaria region). It can be physically taxing at times, but knowing that He is using me to serve here and to send word to all of you spurs me on. I believe that God is “making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” I am really hopeful for what He is doing through IncaLink, here, and it’s exciting to be a part of it all.
(Unfortunately, at the moment, the internet is too slow to upload pictures, here. Please see Facebook =).)
