Mike Wilson

so here i am, trying not to puke as look over this cliff and see 10,000 feet of nothing but unfriendly looking rocks waiting for me to join them at the bottom (if there is one.) its actually quite an adventure traveling through the andes mountains and seeing the beautiful landscape of valleys, streams, and snow-capped mountains. its also amazing to see all the villages of people who have randomly inhabited the side of these giagantic hills.

its really hard to understand why these people would come here to live where it rarely rains and food seems hard to get. but i think that in America we're just so used to having everything handed to us that we dont realize that in third world countries like Peru, this is what they go through just to sustain themselves and their families.

it also came to my knowledge that this is why some of these street boys were kicked out of their homes because there wasnt enough to go around the table for these boys. its awesome to see ministries like scripture union reach out to kids that everyone else wants to literally get rid of. i was at the center in lima and while we were there, those boys would not get off our backs! they were always wanting to do something or show us braclets that they made and were wanting to sell. they show so much love towards others because they were shown much love towards themselves.

i met one special kid there whose name was jesus, and when he introduced himself to me, we instantly became friends. we played basketball and soccer together on tuesday night and he (along with all the others) are pretty incredible athletes. at 6:30 the next morning, i havent even been awake for five minutes when i hear jesus yelling for me outside on the ballcourt. it turns out he wanted to eat breakfast with me and kick my butt one more time in futbol before i had to leave. but before i left i bought a braclet he had made for 2 soles and i gave him my b.r.a.k.e.s. braclet. we both agreed that these would be our friendship braclets.

it was just so much fun knowing that we impacted their lives even if it was in the tiniest way and giving them hope that life does have a meaning and that someone does love and care about them. unfortunantly i had to leave to go on a gruelling yet muy bonita (very beautifull) 8-9 hour haul through the andes. couldnt get much sleep last night because of all the city noises of lima (mainly angry drivers laying on the horn because the guy in front of them actually aknowleded the red light.) so hopefully i can get some peacefull shut-eye tonight if the senior guys arent in the mood to play dirt basketball at 1 a.m.!