Dear Mom,
It’s hard to believe that we only have two more days here in Peru; I’m sorry that the Wifi access has been so terrible and I haven’t been able to communicate more or upload pictures. I’m hoping to get some up during debrief when we get to Ecuador.
I remember Dad quoting Dr. Richards over the years: “When you do ministry, you expect to change people, but you never expect them to change you.” I can’t help but feel my usual ephemeral sense that I haven’t done enough here, that there was always more I could have done. My team tells me I love people well, but I struggle to see it sometimes.
Odalis and Veronica asked me the other day if I was going to come back when the race was done and I told them that I didn’t know. I told them that I couldn’t promise anything for the kids’ sake because that wasn’t fair to them, but that God had brought me here once and He could do it again. These people have become so dear to me in the brief time we’ve spent together, and it breaks my heart to be leaving soon. A month isn’t enough. I worry that all our years of moving have made me too callous; that I will worry after them for a while and then forget to be concerned after a while. I do worry for them now, though.
Banderly (Veonica’s daughter) is brilliant. She’s athletic, driven, and incredibly intelligent. If she lived in the States, she would easily end up in a gifted program or something. This little Peruvian girl at ten years old has the ability to be a world changer, and she lives in the slums of El Milagro, with a red light district 6 blocks west and the nexus of the city’s gang crime 10 blocks south. I don’t want the world to take the shine off her penny. She has so much potential and I’m heartbroken at the thought that she might not be able to live up to it.
Emerson – Odalis’ son- is so funny. He loves Plants versus Zombies. I got a good chuckle out of that. Here I am in the middle of nowhere and this kid has the same favorite game as dad. He wants to do construction when he grows up, and he spent whole days at his house where a government program has allowed Odalis to build an add-on to their tiny brick home.
Luis is their neighbor. I had to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating earlier this week when I got sick and had a fever; no, they really did bring a juvenile peregrine falcon into my bedroom to show me. Luis had caught it and was training it. Paris has been teaching him the guitar and he picked it up so fast. I asked him what he wanted to do when he grew up, and he told me he wanted to be a doctor. We explored that thought process together, and he told me that he wanted to have the power, but he wanted to use that power to help save people. (Thank you for that lovely segue, Luis. Let’s talk about Jesus.) We talked about Jesus, and then I helped him with his English homework.
We took down the wall behind the church a few days ago. ( I say we, but that was Sean-and-Alexis-and-Wendy-are-down-with-the-crud Day, so really everyone else did it and I stayed in bed until my fever broke.) Auden and Wendy are expanding their ministry and were able to buy the lot behind the church. We spent a couple days cleaning off the bricks to reuse them for the new wall, which went up two days ago while Mike and Luis finished plumbing in the two new bathrooms.
The 3 little neighbour boys were saying hi, and I tried to give them a game to clean up their yard while we were working. They misunderstood, and suddenly I was talking with their mother, Karin, aka “the screaming lady” from next door who suddenly came to Jesus about 10 days ago. We got to talking, and it was one of those moments where you know God put you in that place for a purpose.
She’s from Chiclayo, a few hours from here. The boys’ father used to beat her regularly, but she left him and all her family behind in Chiclayo and came to El Milagro. She’s trying to get by and is working on call cleaning houses and offices. She is so worried about her kids and how to get them through school. I feel for her because she obviously cares for her kids, but she also seems to be struggling with how to manage them effectively. (A common theme in Peru, as I hear it.) We prayed together and I was blessed to spend some time encouraging her.
Seriously, though: look at this woman! She has already done such hard things: leaving her abusive partner (which all the U.S. Research says is the most dangerous time in the entire relationship), setting up a new life for herself and her kids, leaving her family behind. Such strength! Such tenacity! And then she offered to cook lunch for us. I have such esteem for this woman. All she needs is someone to help her and guide her along with her kids. I’m so glad she has Auden and Wendy next door.
Auden and Wendy. You’d love them mom. We’ve only been here a month and I already love them to pieces. They’re just such solid, caring people. Auden has a wicked sense of humor, and Wendy is the exact same, but her delivery is so dry. She kind of reminds me of Aunt Liz. It’s like living in a BBC TV series some days (except, you know, cleaner language. Because missionaries.) Wendy made us some Tollhouse pan cookies- with Peruvian chocolate, of course- for our movie night. They’ve loved us well since we’ve been here, and we’re going to miss them.
I love this team. As the month has gone on, we’ve gotten to know each other better and have gotten used to each other more. We climbed Alcero, the mountain in our front yard. I hope to post pictures soon, because it was amazing. Pure desert from the ground up, and then just above the cloud line, it turned so lush with plants. Rebekah and I hung out and danced, and Talia and I sang “The Circle of Life” 1,000 feet up. Paris spotted me when I was climbing blind through a section of rock face. It’s nice to know I can rely on him in a pinch. Alexis and Mike hung together most of the day; she wasn’t feeling good but stuck it out til the end!
I saw some tall plants growing huge stalks out higher than the rest; I thought of you and your love of trees standing alone in the field. Also, lots of hummingbirds. I thought of you and dad a lot. I missed Jonathan; I think he’ll like the fact that all the pictures are being taken with his camera; he’ll get it back at the end of the year and it will have gone everywhere I have. I feel bad I haven’t been able to speak with him much. I HATE the lack of wifi. Say hi to Grandpa for me – I tried to call and it didn’t work. I could hear him but he couldn’t hear me. Still, good to hear his voice.
The trust is slow in coming, but it is coming. 25 years of sparse relationships with my peer group is catching up to me; I’m not entirely a millennial. At times it is hard to relate to the others -apparently my all my Christian music is old school – but they’re as much out of their element as I am, so we have that in common, if not much else. Pray for wisdom and grace. I’m trying to be patient with the process, but you know how I struggle with that. I’m really missing Isaac. I found a copy of “Ferdinand” in Spanish and had a good cry after reading it. Wasn’t expecting to find a piece of my childhood on a shelf in Peru. Trying to remember that it’s okay to be different in the moments when I feel the pressure to conform.
I got your email; Thanks for your help getting the Pasta Express fundraiser set up (and please thank everyone for me who is helping with selling those coupon books). I know you worry about how it’s all going to get paid for Mom, but God is so good; I know He has plans for the last $6,500.
I should probably wrap this up. I hate to be so wordy, there’s just a lot going on. I’ll talk to you soon. Like I said, fingers crossed for good wifi at debrief. Hope all is well with you; we’ve been praying for your prayer group at work. Give my love to Florence and Deana, and say hi to Pastor Matt and Les for me. Be sure to give AJ and Christy hugs too.
Love always,
Me
