Half built houses, dusty road, dangerous traffic and no toilets…
Peru…
It was absolutely, so incredibly beautiful.
Our journey in Peru began up north in the big city of Chiclayo where the streets are defined by business and chaos. Our week became a routine of absolutely no routine. From racing between schools, clinics and joining Max with Occupational Therapy sessions, our first week was at most times extremely chaotic…. I loved it. We preached, testified, did countless dramas and shared the gospel.
Unfortunately, somewhere along the line I let the chaos and busyness get to me and I began to miss so many of the opportunities God had for me in Chiclayo.
It was our very last night in Chiclayo just before we left for the Andes Mountains. I had just finished off my kitchen duty for the night and went to join the rest of the team in helping Pastor Jorge and his family move houses. Pastor Jorge definitely made the biggest impact on me in Peru… His strong willed Spirit so on fire for Jesus… & nbsp;
We loaded up the one car with furniture and little odds and ends. I climbed into the front seat where I got piled up with books to mirrors and Pastor Jorge’s brother drove us to the house. With me speaking broken bits of Spanish and him speaking broken bits of English, we began to talk. Barely understanding half of our conversation, God allowed me to see a glimpse of his heart. There, sitting next to me in that little car was such a compassionate and God filled man who had been with us most of the week, yet I’d never taken the time to really know him. After two more loads and many laughs at my terrible attempt at Spanish, he took me to meet his entire family, from his wife to Joshua, his 6 month old son.
It was the same night I met many of the children in the street where we had been staying all week…
The same kids i ran past daily...
The same kids who would play soccer up and down the street...
nThey had been there all week, the pure and innocent hearts which brought many smiles to my heart that night as they helped us move even the heaviest of things. Never before had I stopped and said hello.
God really spoke to me that night through Dawid and the little kids that night in Chiclayo. He showed me how much I had missed out on and all the opportunities I had missed.
People, I love people. But somewhere along the line I forgot that. From that night on I made every effort to not miss learning from and engaging with the people. Although we never went back to Chiclayo Pastor Jorge and his two brothers did end up joining us the last week in the Andes and made a huge impact on my life.
By the time we left Peru it was a terribly sad goodbye, but I made the decision that I wouldn’t let the fear of leaving a place and more importantly the people, stop me from putting my whole heart in.
And so for me… Peru was absolutely so incredibly beautiful Not because of the way the Quetchwa people dressed up in the Andes Mountains
The children whose faces look like porcelain dolls…
Or the views which looked like painted portraits… But because of the people.
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