Peru is far from what we expected. In the little time we have spent here, we have made memories to last a life time. We all came to Peru to make an impact on the children's lives but it was them who had changed our lives for the better. Seeing the joy and gratefullness in their eyes, even when they had nothing, it caused us to realize how truely ungratefull we are. Through the week, by becoming closer to the kids, it caused us Seniors to not just be classmates, but more like a family. In our devotions tonight we all had the chance to share our favorite memories of our Spiritual, Physical, and Emotional journies throughout this trip.
the fav memories of Madeline and Cassidy are as follows:
Cassidy: When we finally got to the boys home in Kusi, the classes were still in progress. When the classes congregated in the center for VBS, they all couldn't wait to show us their "march", sing their national anthem (and we sang ours), and show off their school mascott...A CHICKEN!!!! but when it came time to help with the craft, I was able to experience the most precious moment of this whole trip. while I was working with my assigned class, i had this girl come up to me and tap my shoulder. as i turned around, i was faced with a beautiful girl with the most exotic green eyes. Before she even knew my name she was already in my arms.While playing with her I realized that she had the walking disability known as "clubbed foot". As i observed her with her classmates, my heart broke as i saw them joke around as they tapped her foot. By time after time of being picked on I, personally, would probably be bitter towards them. This beautiful girl just radiated with joy and love towards all of her classmates, even though they didnt return the favor. When it was time to go down to their feild for recess, instead of playing with the other kids, all she wanted was for me to sit down and hold her. She encouraged me to show love and compassion to everyone, no matter who they are. Its simply amazing, how no matter how "old or mature" you think you are, theres always something to learn from God's greatest gifts...Children.
Madeline: Thursday was the first day that we went to Kusi to do VBS and work. It was my favorite day because I got to meet alot of children and got to interact with them through crafts and playing outside. Thursdays craft was a lion mask from the story of Daniel and the lions den. We all got to help the kids make their masks and after that we got to go out to the field and play with them. When we were leaving the room after crafts, a little girl named Selina came up to me and hugged me. She was one of the girls that I helped with crafts. We went outside and played on the field together. My spanish isnt that good, so everytime she would speak in spanish I would say si, and then she would grab my hand and take me to play with her friends. I could understand some of the things that she said, but for the most part we just enjoyed spending time together. She was so happy to see us and I even got to see her the next day. All of the children were like Selina. They were so happy to see us and always ran up and hugged us the moment they saw us. They were also so grateful for what they had and its obvious that they dont take one day for granted.
Rather than having a simple senior trip to the beach, us seniors were allowed the privlege of coming to Peru to impact others for the good of Christ. Hopefully we impacted them as much as they impacted us.
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