The ticking clock: 2 months and 10 days
It’s finally starting to sink In that in no time at all I will be back on American soil. Back to what has always felt like normal life. It feels pretty crazy to look back at these past nine months and recognize that I’ve been away from home all this time, living this absurd life. So many parts of it already feel like a dream.
I think my internal body clock recognizes that summer is just around the corner. Never mind the fact that I’ve been stuck in an eternal summer since April of 2017. (In North Carolina I personally think summer starts in April, as soon as you get the first accidental sun burn) Something within me knows now it is actually time for summer. I wake up feeling the warmth of the sun streaming into our dormitory, and I hear the birds chirping, telling me that joy comes in the morning, especially summer mornings. I can almost smell dad’s back yard barbecues and mom’s peach cobbler after a trip to the farmers market. Everything in me wants to run and grab a swimsuit and hit the beach that I literally hear roaring only four blocks down the road.
But then there is reality and reality says there is still work to be done, in the here and now. And reality that also says I have zero freedom to walk those four blocks because I am living in a violent Peruvian gang and drug cartel territory, and that walk could be the most reckless decision.
This month we are living in a slum neighborhood on the outskirts of Trujillo Peru, a coastal city in the northern region. Before any of you start to panic and call my mom wondering about my safety and will I be shot by gang members and such, I’ll have you know that I’m perfectly safe! We live on a super secure concrete compound above the school, tight security, a night watch, cameras and barred windows. Kinda like a prison but much more natural light and primary colored walls.
And even more, it’s really beautiful because the neighbors, yes even the criminal neighbors, respect and love this school and ministry because it is bringing hope change, and free education for all of their children. They know that if they mess with this place they mess with the future of their children. For many years teams have worked at this ministry and have had amazing impactful times without any problems. If anything I’ve probably never been safer in my life because some of Peru’s most dangerous mafia members have my back. (Haha?)
There are about 80 kids at the school and not one of them pay tuition. Many of them are sponsored by American families and many of their own parents are working as prostitutes, gang members, or are alcoholics that can’t hold down a job. On an average day here we work at the school in the mornings. Some of us help teach, some make hundreds of copies of teaching material (by hand of course) and recently I have been working on painting murals in the new classrooms. (My favorite type of ministry!) In the afternoon we build relationships with the neighborhood kids by playing games and soccer. In the evenings we go to one church or another and preach, worship and pray.
In the coming weeks we will be doing street evangelism, and house visits to pray for those in need. This weekend we will be traveling with our ministry host and his wife to the mountain village Cajamarca, that his ministry is currently expanding to.
So as you can see life here fully demands my attention even if recently I’ve been dreaming of summer.
It’s easy to see the ticking time and start to eagerly think of backyard barbecues, running water and hot showers, fluffy white towels and, a BED?! A real life bed all to myself.
But each morning as I look out the window and feel the warm summer breeze on my face, I see the children, all lined up outside the gate eagerly waiting for their school day full of snacks, giggles and ABC’s, and I know I’ll just have to set aside the ticking clock for another day.
Because today these kids and so many others need to see love, to know love, and to be reminded of the one who will absolutely always love them, even when the world tries to tell them otherwise.
Pray for these sweet kids, for their parents to find change, for their parents to find hope, and for our travels to the villages this coming weekend!
Xoxox
MC
