Peru Day 6 Thursday

Keith and I prepared some posters for Ann's message at the church. This was the day or our Vacation Bible School graduation. We invited all the parents to come with their kids. We were illustrating the story of Daniel to recap what we did over the last week. We did 4 posters: one of Daniel in the Lion's Den, one of Daniel praying, one of King Darius worrying and illustrating salvation through Christ. It took up quite a bit of time, but it was really fun and I got to be creative. The rest of the group either went to paint the second house or sorted through the gifts for VBS.

The kids started school at around noon. It was their first day back after summer break. They look so cute in their uniforms. We then went to Pachacutec. It's a shantytown about 40 minutes from Bocanegra. It's probably one of the poorest neighborhoods in the world. It was all these houses or shacks built on this andy hillside. It was pretty surreal. We didn't know what we were doing there. We were all pretty quite. We felt a deep sadness for the way these people are living. Check out the photo by Nate.

We went to a weird nature center and walked around a little. We stopped at one area and saw 5 boys by a shack. They saw us and started screaming. We couldn’t tell whether they were scared or just really excited. They came up to talk to us and they seemed so happy. We asked them if they knew Jesus. They did and knew several bible verses by heart. They knew some verses that I didn't even know. It was really unbelievable. So seeing those boys gave us hope for that place. We also saw Angelica from the deaf group. She just happened to see us. There are lot of nice places in Lima, but we needed to see this area. One of the boys gave me a big hug before I left and hung on to my goatee and wouldn’t let go. It was really sad to leave him.

After that we showered and went to the church. It was the VBS graduation and the place was packed. We had about 70 people in the church. (The photo is Miguel singing a song.) We did some songs then did chichua with the kids. Dan and I did a little puppet show. We shared with the church what we learned in VBS. Our timing was off, but it was fun. Then Ann shared the message. She talked about Daniel and she used our posters we made. She then shared the gospel.
We then passed out presents to all the kids. It was chaos for a little bit because we didn't quite enough gift bags for all the kids. We had to open the bags and give individual items. After church we packed for Cuzco and went to bed.

Peru Day 5 Wednesday

Miguel and a group of us went to the market to find a Piñata for Leon's birthday. The market was a unique experience. A lot of people stare at me since I'm so tall. I felt like I was a giant. We found Leon a Winnie the Pooh piñata and the lady also made a sign for him. We were supposed to go to the church, but it never happened. Often times plans change quickly.


I saw this guy on the street. I guess he takes your picture with Mickey and Minnie for money.

I went on an errand with Miguel. We went to find a fax machine. We needed to fax some info to Cuzco. Miguel and I had a good talk. He asked me what I thought of Lima. I told him I love the people and I have enjoyed it so far. He urged me to come back and think about becoming a leader in their church. I want to do it. Maybe I could do it for a year...

We played with some kids in the park and then I went to help work on the second house. It was another pre-fab house that was for an older couple. They are unable to work and this house is such a blessing for them. We had some extra money come in so this is what we choose to do with it.

They began to change the meals a little. We had pizza for dinner and Coca Cola. We went to the church for Leon's 30th birthday party. We had it all planned out to have Jodi take Leon out after Marc's message. She did her job, but Carlos called up Leon too soon though. We found Leon and the surprise was ruined, but it was still fun. The people and kids went crazy for the candy. It was great.

Marc and I stayed up and talked to Israel and Francisca. Israel called up a friend who spoke English and she translated a little. I told her to tell them that I was thankful for their graciousness. Francisca said she was thankful that I had shown my heart to them. Peruvians are truly amazing.

Peru Day 4 Tuesday

This is the day that a lot of people got pretty sick. A few people stayed back and those that were healthy helped at Carmen's house. Miguel, Dan and I went to the market that morning too. These two teenage girls followed us around for about half an hour. They liked my blue eyes they said. It was pretty funny.


We went back to Carmen's house and poured a foundation. We had to mix the concrete with a shovel. It's pretty hard work, but we had José to show us how. While we were doing that Seth, Jodi and Emily painted the house blue. Jodi had a chance to share with some people who came by. She invited them to church as well.We went back after lunch and got the rest of the foundation done and the front of the house painted.

At night we went up to the church. The deaf group put on a mime show for us. It was really amazing. They did a comedy routine and some of them juggled. The deaf people in Peru often times can't find jobs. So they put on mime shows to make some money. Pictured in the white coat is Cocoa. He is immensely talented and has a gift for physical comedy.





Then the deaf pastor Javier shared a message. It was hard to understand because there was two layers of translation going on: one to Spanish and then to English. It was really great to see how animated he was though. It was very emotional and filled with expression. (Javier is in the center with the white shirt in the group picture.) We then ate dinner in the church and headed home.

Peru Day 3 Monday

This is Carmen's house. This is what it looked like when we got there. In front of the house from left to right is Carlos Gomez (our Great Commission Latin America leader), Pastor Arturo and Marc Holtey (our group leader).

It was nice because we always had a chance to play with the kids. There wasn't a need for everyone to help with the demolition so some people played volleyball in the streets.


Then we helped with vacation bible school at the church. It was pretty fun. We did a song called Chichua. (See picture) It's like Hokey Pokey only much goofier. We played a chairs game and sang Father Abraham as well. Then Jodi explained the story of Daniel. A story we revisited throughout the week.



We then checked on the progress of the house. They had all the walls up already. The picture is of Francisca, Carmen and her daughters Yessica and Daniela. Yessica is the older one.


At night we went to Central Lima. There was a main square there surrounded by the presidential palace, Mayor's office, and the Cathedral of Lima (pictured). There was a lot of people out. Traffic was crazy. There aren't a lot of stoplights and cars just use their horns and go. I didn't see one single accident so the system must work.

We then went to Larcomar, a shopping area that overlooked the ocean. I got some ice cream there. We also went to Chorrillos and to the beach. It was nice. Some people waded in the water a little. They had some cool statues and lights. On the way back Silvia, Esteban and I took some pictures. Later Silvia fell asleep with my arm around her. They are such great kids. I showed Israel and Francisca my pictures when I got back. It turned into a nightly tradition and really bridged the language barrier.

Peru Day 2 Sunday

We woke up and I went next door to Pastor Arturo's house. He is the head pastor at Cristo Vive church in Bocanegra. He compared our trip to Abraham's journey. He said we really are acting on faith with this trip. It's true we really didn't know what to expect. He said we definitely will grow and learn during our stay in Peru. I can tell Arturo has a great passion.

Pictured is Miguel (with the red shirt on the left) with the deaf group at the church. Miguel heads up the deaf ministry, works with the vacation bible school and leads the worship. We met some missionaries from the jungle. One of the missionaries has started up 3 churches. His village is called Canaan and has about 1,000 people living in it.

We met all the kids and the deaf group at church. They came up with nicknames for all of us. Mine had to do with my sideburns. We played volleyball with people in the park. It was Miguel, a local kid and the Americans vs. the local people. We got beat pretty bad. They were really good though. It was fun. We also played with the kids. The language barrier was tough to overcome, but we had 2 translators: Alex and Daniel. The kids are into Mucho Libre which I guess is pro wrestling in Peru. They showed me some moves.

We then went to the church. The deaf group did a short play for us. It was very moving. Then Leon shared his testimony and he really did a great job. Then when I got back to Israel's house I showed him pictures of Minneapolis and my family. I gave him a Twin Cities calendar. I don't know much Spanish and he doesn't know much English, yet we knew enough to communicate a little. He had an illustrated book with English and Spanish terms. That helped a lot. We walked around the neighborhood a little and then I went to bed.

This is Israel and me.

Day 1 Peru Saturday

The flights on Saturday went real well. We played Phase 10 on the way to Lima. We got to Lima around midnight. We were greeted very warmly at the airport. The families were anxiously awaiting our arrival. They were so gracious. They had a snack prepared for us at Miguel's house. One thing I had to get used to was that the water is shut off after 10pm. Then it's not turned back on until 6am. You have to pour water in the toilet and then it will drain.

I volunteered to stay at a different house. The main house had 4 families living in it already and they had 3 story bunks set up for us. The family slept on the roof so our group could sleep inside. So about 12 people stayed at Miguel's house, 2 at Arturro's and I stayed at Israel and (his mom) Francisca's. They let me have my own bedroom and bed. It was very nice. I visited with Israel and his friend a little. I remembered some Spanish and Israel knew a little English. Francisca was like a second mom to me. She's very kind and loving. I slept pretty well the first night. I woke up early though because I was so excited.