We flew into Lima, Peru on the night of the 15th and arrived at the local missionary´s church at 2am. We were greeted by about 15 church members with open arms and lots of kisses.
The next morning we started our race, which was set up by the local missionaries… They wanted to incorporate local culture and sight seeing into our race, sending us all over Lima in a 6 hour time frame. We walked, ran, swam, rode horse carriages and taxis. We all had a blast!
Leg 1 – Find the statue of this man on foot, find out his name and how he died. We had to ask locals to find out how he died… a bell was dropped to execute him… ok, next stop a taxi to Parque de Amor.
We had to find the name of a specific couple that was written in the beautiful mosaic tiles. The park over looks the pacific ocean and it didn´t take us long to figure out why the park was named the Park of Love.
From the park we ran down to the water and had to choose 4 team members to swim out to the orange float and back relay style. There were only 5 of us to choose from and 2 didn´t feel comfortable swimming that far in the ocean. I guess all those years of swimming in high school paid off, I swam first and last in the relay. The second picture is just prior to the swim… ¨wait, how far to do I have to swim, twice?!¨
And the perfect follow up to a nice cold swim is a run to a resturant to eat an order of Anticuchos – or cow´s heart. We had to finish our entire plate before moving on to the next leg of the race. Actually, it was pretty good, the only bad part was having to stuff it all down as fast a possible.
Next we had a nice 30 min taxi ride to the SanFransisco Cathedral to find a well of skulls among the catacombs. It was an eerily beautiful place, I only wish we could have roamed the catacombs at a more relaxed pace.
Mmmm. We ran to the China Town district of Lima, asking directions from the locals the entire way there. We even had one guy run with us for a short distance to point us down the correct road. We had to find a shop and buy some sweet rolls before running on to the next place. The Peruvians are so nice, willing to help us out anywhere we went. We had people cheering us on, giving us directions, maps and lots of smiles. We might have looked a little strange running through the streets, but we all loved it.
Our next quest was to ride a horse and buggy around the central park. There was only one horse carriage running that day, so the team that got there first had a significant advantage for the next and final leg of the race…. make it to the top of Cerro San Cristobal. We had to ask about 5 different taxis before we found one that would take the steep and curvy road up to the top.
We were the second Squad B team to reach the top, but we ended up getting FIRST because the other team had an incorrect answer to the first leg of the race. Team ZEO wins again!
We are having a great time together as a team. We are learning to live together, laugh at ourselves and each other, cry together and most importantly LOVE each other. It´s not always easy, but it is always worth it.
Maybe we´re a little crazier/weirder than when we left the United States, but it sure is a whole lot more fun!
Just wait till you see where God has brought us for ministry for the rest of this month and most of April! Here is a hint… Musho, Peru at the foot of the Cordilla Blancas.
To HIM be all the GLORY!
