Wow so much to write about. God has done so very much over the last couple of months; more specifically over the last couple of weeks. God was so amazing to help me raise all of the money I needed for this trip. He called me out to follow Him, not telling me how He was going to do it, but simply giving me opportunity to follow Him. I remember standing in my parent's kitchen after I'd met with Lisa who shared with me about her trip to Peru. I remember the moment when I decided that even though the down payment for the trip would leave less than a hundred dollars in my bank account, it was something I felt was a "go" in my spirit. So, I did it. I put down the money, and to be honest, I knew it was something God wanted me to do, but it was also kind of on a whim. This was at the end of November.
As the trip approached, things begin to fall into place. I remember the first meeting I attended at Southmont and how the things that God had been speaking to me in my heart were the things that were being addressed in the meetings. It wasn't until then that I started to realize that I am now a part of something...something that I am not in control of, and that is much bigger than me. It was kind of overwhelming...and nice at the same time.
Other things began to fall into place, from shots, to luggage, to food. I remember hanging out with some friends over New Years and thinking "I'm leaving in one day, and this hasn't even hit me yet!"
So I stayed up most of the night before I was supposed to leave (typical) and made a Walmart run and packed. I slept for a few hours, and then Mom took me up to the church.
On the way up to the church, I started telling Mom all of the last-minute stuff I could remember. I remember her asking me if I thought I would die on this trip. I told her "no." That was an interesting conversation!
You see, what you probably don't know is that my parents have known since I was a teenager that this moment was coming. When I was 16, God called me to the mission field, and since then, I have been trying to figure out what that means. I think my parents have known better than I that that would mean one day letting me go to a foreign land. My parents are right most of the time...more than I would like to admit :)
So, having said this, I think my mom was thinking in her head "this is the moment-" even though she was technically only saying bye for a week.
Well, the morning our flight left for Lima, I was in a terrible mood. I guess that happens when you don't have a lot of sleep and are super focused on yourself...which I was.
Anyway, once I saw Lauren, that cheered me up, and we were on our way. This is us in the airport. Our plane from Dallas to Houston was tiny!!
The flight to Lima was pretty uneventful. The girl I sat next to on the flight from Houston to Lima was going to the Amazon rain forest for a class offered by a college up north. She and I got along really well, and I got to talk to talk to her about the Lord, so that was cool.
When we got to Lima, it was surreal. Lauren and I had been dreaming off-and-on about being there for almost a year. Lauren had first approached me about going with her to Lima in about March of 2009. Together we began planning to go that summer, but just as the semester drew to an end, I something happened. I remember talking to Scott Zapalac (who was in Peru at the time) while I was walking around my apartment complex. We were going over some of the details of the trip, and throughout the conversation, I had been praying and asking God for wisdom. By the end of the conversation, I was experiencing horrible pain in my body every time I told God I was going to Peru, but the pain would stop when I told God I would stay. This happened very distinct times (all while I was still on the phone with Scott), so I figured that I wouldn't wait for my leg to fall off before I decided to yield to what I felt like God had for me.
So, after I got off the phone with Scott, I called my dad and told him that I wasn't going to Peru after all. Tremendous peace flooded my soul after I made this decision, and that was confirmation that I'd made the right decision for me.
There was one problem, though. I didn't really know how to explain all of this to Lauren. Her parents were only alright with her going if we were going together, and I was all of the sudden out. All I could tell her was that I knew God was telling me not to go to Peru, but I really did not know why.
So, as you can imagine, things were not exactly peachy. In addition, had been having terrible panick attacks. Those are never fun.
I stuck it out the next couple months, wondering what was next, and continuing to try to give up my own desires to the Lord.
Then, I heard that Lisa (Lauren's mom) had flown to Peru and that their church was planning on taking a trip to the very orphanage Lauren and I had planned to go in the summer.
So, here we are now. In Lima almost after a year of waiting, crying, freaking out, and trusting God. Here I am with 30 other people who love Christ so very much. Here I am in the middle of incredible talent, love and wisdom. Not to mention that God had laid on the hearts of the people back home to send enough money to finish the school at the orphanage...something that never would have happened if Lauren and I had gone when we first planned to go.
Well, once we got to our hotel, everything was so nice, but still pretty surreal. One, because I was still trying to process the fact that we were there, and two, because I knew that our main purpose was to be at the orphanage, and that's also where Lauren and I and the other four members, Michael, Mish, Stephen and Miranda, were staying for the rest of the week. Our translators filtered in throughout the evening, and I think it took me til about the 3 or 4th day there to figure out who they all were, because I really didn't even know most of the people who were with me on the trip!
I remember getting into our hotel room and not knowing whether I should be freaked out, or completely at home, but of course I pulled out the "I'm macho, and I'll sleep by the open window" attitude...haahah. yeah like anything would have jumped through the window on the second story... I did scare Miranda pretty good though!
My first time to see "la comunidad" or the orphanage was wonderful. I really had no expectations about it, so it was really neat just to see it for what it was. Miguel, founder of the orphanage, shared his story with us and showed us around the community.
Then we met the kids. This was by far one of the most special points of the trip. In Lima, it is customary to greet eachother with a hug and a kiss on one side of the cheek. This is what each of the children did to all 30 of us; there were probably close to 600 kids there that day that participated.
We also went to visit with the little boys, and that moment changed my life. This was the few times that I have seen unconditional love coming from a human standpoint. These boys were absolutely precious, and all they wanted was for you to love them. They already loved you.
That day, the six of us got situated into our "casa de voluntario." That was an interesting situation, because apparently the people who were already living in the volunteer house did not know we were coming...ooops. SURPRISE! My part of the deal was sweet, cause again, I got the bed next to the window, but this time, the window was broken! So, after pulling out the shattered glass that was still stuck stuck to the window frame, I realized that falling out of bed might cause a dramatic moment in life...I would be falling out of a second-story window! Well, I love adventure, so it was sweet. Oh yeah, Steven had to crawl through the second story window several times that week...somehow we never got a key to the house.
VBS the next day (and the rest of the week) went really well. I helped Tracy out with music, and I had a blast. "Pescadores" was stuck in my head for DAYS though :) The energy and willingness these kids had was incredible-like nothing I've ever seen before.
It was fun getting to hang out with the other team members while we were preparing for the next day's activities. Because the hotel was about 2 hours away from the orphanage, we only got to see most of our fellow "ameriuvians" for a few hours a day. One day we blew up balloons. That was a fun day. Ha.
I was so glad that the others on this trip were spiritually strong. There were questions that I was asked and did not know the answer to. The people here are so very hungry to hear about Jesus coming to save them, but it's something many of them have thought hard about. Having a relationship with Christ means a life-long commitment, and they do not take this lightly.
Two of the nights, we actually got to go OUT to eat. My stomach was freakin out so much that I really didn't each much either time, but from what I hear, the food was amazing and what I had was pretty great! The other meals, we ate out of our suitcases, and Lauren ate the traditional food of la comunidad. Yum :) The kids are so respectiful when they are eating- they are not allowed to talk, so mealtimes are quiet, and they are not supposed to eat until everyone has been served. This was really a neat thing to experience.
The food is prepared outside in huge pots like this. They are stirred by something that resembles a fencepost. The kids each take turns helping prepare the meals. If they talk during mealtimes, they will be assigned clean-up duty.
One night, Mario and Liz took us out to a water park in Lima. This has some of the neatest waterfalls, and some of them are even in the Guiness Book of World Records for being the tallest water fountains in the world!
But, the most meaningful time of the whole trip was getting to know kids, but also the translators. Carlos, Karina, Rafael, Manny, all of them were sooo amazing and SO incredibly good with the kids. They had so much energy throughout the day, and I never once saw them get frusterated or upset for having to do so much. They were absolutely amazing and I am so very thankful for them.
Carlos deserves his own blog...he was the head translator, and his job was to help Lisa with whatever she needed for the week, in addition to being our 24-hr. translator. He has a great sense of humor and one thing that was great about him was that he could go from 100% serious to laughing uncontrollably in .5 seconds.
There were so many ways that God moved during the week, and just a few moments that I never want to forget are the impromptu worship service, talking with Wilbur, listening to Lauren share the gospel COUNTLESS times, the smiles of the children, sharing the gospel, sitting on the roof top reading the Bible with Jon, salsa dancing lessons with the girls, beading, and then some funny ones like accidentally telling the french man I love him, hearing Lauren say "mi mombre" and our waiter thinking she said "mi hombre!", sicknasty bathroom that Michael cleaned, kick-a herbal serum, miranda's blister (poor thing!), sun burns, lack of showers/hot water, Stephen's dance, and so very many more. Feel free to ask about any of these, and I will tell you. There is just too much to write for me to record more about each event individually.
This girl can DANCE! She showed us how to salsa and thanks to her, we're ALL pros :) In addition to getting to know these awesome kids, I now have 30 new friends who accepted me into their family even though I had never met some of them. The members of Southmont are absolutely amazing and I consider myself so very blessed to have been able to go on a trip with them. They were my family during this week, and I still consider them family.
One of the most important things I am thankful for is Lauren Robertson. It is because of her and Lisa that this whole trip started. I am so very blessed and thankful to have a friend like you, Lauren, who shares the gospel constantly and is not afraid to speak the name of Christ as you feel led. You encourage me daily, and I am SO very excited about the opportunity we will have to serve together in the future.
Please continue to pray for Lauren. She is still in Peru will be hanging out with la comunidad for the next several weeks. Pray for her continued strength.
