Day 04: Making Bricks and Making Friends

After some of the best sleep of my life, we woke up to the wonderful sounds of boys laughing right down the hall at about 7:30. We promptly got up and played cards with the boys; they can't get enough cards. Keep in mind that every game we play is in spanish and we have to translate everything that is going on; not too easy. When we don't understand, they take their time to talk slowly so we understand fully which is very helpful. Now imagine them teaching us a game that we don't know; even harder. We ate a fresh breakfast of homemade biscuits and fried sweet potatoes, and it was delicious as expected. We continued to enjoy the company of the boy and started a soccer game; USA vs. Peru. The boys are incredible at soccer, and I mean INCREDIBLE. Our best players are made to look like fools against the boys and most are half our size. It was a blast and the weather was perfect to not get too hot before working. After, we split up into a few groups to work around the community; one to VBS, one to work in the village, and another to make adobe bricks next to the boys' home. I was with the final group and we made as many bricks as we could. We dug a massive hole the day before and mixed water with the loose dirt/sand inside the hole and with some experienced help, got it to the right consistence. It was very difficult making a paste for the brick molds, and it was even more messy. Everyone was covered in mud. After the mixing, we packed the paste into a brick mold that had been coated in sand to prevent sticking. Finally, we took the mold and flipped it over hopefully without messing up the previous brick we had made. After using all the paste, we would loosen more dirt/sand and start over with a slightly bigger hole. After repeating the process all afternoon, the hole became enormous, meaning the amount of paste we made increased as well. After making a couple hundred bricks, we took a lunch break and all the groups reconvened. For lunch we had rice, Peruvian mashed potatoes and chicken on top. Once again, it did not disappoint. After lunch, the entire group went to continue making brick and we knocked out many hundred more in less time. Not to mention, we had the entertainment of Hunter flipping into the mud pit and falling on his face. After finishing the bricks for the day, we had devotions with our group about having an active faith and taking initiative to do God's work. Now we are at dinner enjoying chicken fried rice and fellowship with the boy. This is the kind of meal where its so good, you want to get more, but you are too full to walk; my kind of meal. Another day in paradise, but one less day to be with the boys who have changed our lives. Pray that we make the most out of the rest of the time we have.
- Samuel

Day 03: VBS and Brick Making

Waking up to sunshine streaming through the windows was reflective of day three here in Lima. We had an awesome breakfast of rolls and eggs (which probably came from the live chickens that we walk past every morning). After a quick rehearsal for VBS, we boarded a bus and headed to a school in Chanchajalla. Although we saw pictures of the flooding before the trip, the devastation became a true reality on this ride. Large rivets were carved into the cracked dirt, evidence of the terrifying flood waters that had crashed through. According to our driver and a couple Girasoles boys, the community houses had been submerged for over a month! The weight of responsibility felt by these Chanchajalla families is unimaginable to me. Amidst the crumbling brick walls, tarp-laden shelters, and leaning clotheslines is a little jewel of joy: the school. Even watching the kids scramble around and wave to us through the windows while we prepared for VBS was a blessing. We showed them Bible verse motions, did a Creation skit, and danced to two songs that went with our theme: Observadores Galacticos (Galaxy Observers). Craft time was an absolute blast; getting to interact one-on-one with these precious faces was the coolest. Even though it mostly consisted of repeating colors back and forth and pointing out the "gatos y nubes" (cats and clouds) in the Days of Creation coloring page, there was a comradery present that is inexplicable. Returning to a delicious Peruvian meal, we eventually headed out to the worksite next door to our temporary home here in Ica. We primarily worked to smooth the ground so that we could have a place to lay dried adobe bricks tomorrow (the bricks will be used to build a new church!). We chopped at vegetation, broke up the hard ground with shovels, smoothed it with planks of wood, and finished it off with a layer of water and sand. Sweat soaked our shirts and dust clouded our eyes, but laughter still filled the air. A few attempted the brick-making process, but only a couple succeeded (hopefully we will master it this week). We returned to our bungalows to wash off the dirt "tans" before worship time. We focused on forgiveness (the "F" in our F.A.I.T.H. devotional) and took time in groups to reflect on people we have withheld forgiveness from in our own lives. It is crazy that we struggle to forgive when the One who demonstrated ultimate forgiveness toward us calls us to! Afterwards we enjoyed more yummy food and fellowship with the boys before heading to bed. It is sad to leave the smiling faces who make fun of our Spanish, sing Despacito, and beat us in Uno every night. It was another amazing day here in Ica, and we could not be more excited to see what the Lord has in store for the rest of our time here. Sending blessings!!
- Sydney

Day 02: Meeting the Boys

Our wake up call on day two came around 8:00, some earlier and some later than others. As we made our way out of our rooms we ascended to the third floor only to be greeted by a beautiful open air café on top of the Lima Wasi Hotel. We enjoyed the sights and sounds of the busy Lima streets below and had a delicious breakfast of Peruvian favorites. The orange juice was arguably the best part, seeing that it was probably squeezed fresh an hour prior. Many pictures and full bellies later we headed back down to get packed up to prepare for the journey to Ica, our home for the next week. As we finished pulling all luggage to the front curb of the hotel, our bus arrived with a very impressive three-point turn. The bus was packed full with luggage and we got settled in for the 6.5 hour ride ahead of us. Along the way we saw incredible views of coastlines, sand dunes, and quaint seaside villas; but we also saw the poverty. We saw concrete villages with minimal shelter, garbage littering the landscape, and a small market every once in a while. A few hours into the ride, we ate bagged lunches full of Peruvian goodies, eagerly awaiting our destination. Soon enough, we arrived at the gates of the boys home in Ica around 3:30, greeted by smiling faces and good weather. We were shown to our bungalows to get settled in before we joined the festivities. After thirty minutes you would have thought we had been there for a month- a soccer tournament in full swing, spanglish conversations everywhere, laughter and smiles galore. The boys are absolutely incredible. They loved taking pictures with us, showing us the property (including the various fruit trees: mangoes, pecans, avocadoes, oranges, lemons, papayas, bananas, and strawberries!!), and teaching us new things. Once the sun set at 5:30, the boys went in to get washed up for dinner and the team met to talk about the days ahead of us. Dinner was served at 7:30 which consisted of Lomo Saltado (white rice and beef/onion/potato stirfry- YUM). After dinner we had game night in the open courtyard before it was back to the bungalows for all of us. It is starting to feel like home. The Lord is moving within these gates and we are so excited to live out the plan and purpose He has for us. Godspeed.

-Heather

Day 01: Bienvenidos a Peru

We made it, and all are present and accounted for!!!!!! We'll be getting a few hours of sleep before we head out on the road at 10. Continue to keep us in your prayers, and God bless.

We are on our way!

The beginning of our journey...

 

Please pray for us as we travel. May we be salt and light.

Peru Trip 2017

We're all packed! Thanks for all of your donations. We know the boys will be glad to get them.

Stay tuned for updates from the trip!

Day 10: Mama We Made It

Unfortunately, on our very last day in Peru we had to wake up very early. But, we got to do one final VBS in the inner city of Lima, a very poor area. The air had a rancid smell and smog was visible in the sky. It was clear that we were no longer in Yungay or Miraflores. However, there was a school amidst all of this – a school full of happy and eager children ready to learn about Jesus. Once we made it through the two security gates at the school, we congregated in a long rectangular room with speakers and a computer without a monitor. Without a monitor, we could not navigate the CD to “Sumergido” and “Burbujea” thankfully, my laptop had the videos already downloaded on it, so with a quick trip down to the stairs and past the gates, Mr. Bas and I returned to the bus were I quickly grabbed the laptop and returned to the VBS room. (On a side note, quickly going to fix something brought me back fond memories of SouthLake – I even ended up running the sound system there, which Mr. Bas described as “straight out of the 80s.”) The rest of the VBS went off without a hitch – we didn’t miss (more than) a beat when performing the songs, a skit performed with(out) Blumey Award winning skill, and the close to 200 hundred 3^rd and 4^th graders actively participated throughout the entire program.

After we finished, we returned to our bus and made our way over to Scripture Union Peru’s HQ. Besides being the place of Billy and Kate’s offices, it is also the home to the deaf school that Scripture Union runs. We had the opportunity to meet 6 of the 8 deaf students today. The students were between the ages of 13 and 23, and prior to their time at the school here this year, no one had ever taught them how sign language. They each introduced themselves and showed us their unique sign (I learned that rather than spelling out their name every time, deaf people will make a unique sign usually involving one or two letters of their name and then a specific trait about them. For example, one of the girl’s name was Catherina and she had long, wavy hair, so her sign was a “C” that she made while moving her hand in a wavy motion down her hair.)  Once we were all properly introduced, we played various games that went beyond our language barrier – including Jenga, charades, and ring toss. Then we all had lunch (chicken, rice, and potatoes – per usual) together, which was when I learned a few signs (like how to sign “me gusta” and “pollo”). We ended our visit at the deaf school by performing our Zacchaeus skit for them, which of course was translated into Peruvian Sign Language (at some points during the day, we had to people translate from Peruvian Sign Language to Spanish and then to English!).

               - Danny

Now Speaking Preston Smith:

I honestly think I would enjoy the monastic life for an extended period of time. Especially, if I had a cool library. It is very interesting how revered St. Francis Assisi, founder of the Franciscan order, was and if I can make the judgement maybe followed/worshiped a little too dogmatically for my reformed taste. Anyways, the monastery was incredible! In fact, it is no longer a monastery but was converted into catacombs for many of the people who were killed by the Spanish inquisition in Peru. There were thousands upon thousands of bones that lent it to a very somber and sobering atmosphere when we ventured under the earth to see them (at 6’4 I found myself ducking more often than not…). Another side note, while they said no pictures I am very proud of the 46 shots I sneaked when the tour guide was not looking… yes, I know that may not have been the honorable thing to do, but it was too cool not to capture and nearly everyone was doing it, so she kind of gave up. The monastery may have been my favorite part of our time as tourists (although the waterpark I’m about to tell you about rivals it intensely) because of the history we learned about and witnessed. The Peruvian culture is steeped in Catholicism and take pride in the monastery and catacombs. They still hold a daily mass in the sanctuary of the monastery.

The waterpark was insanely fun! I think Billy mentioned something about it being like the largest public waterpark display in the world. Regardless, it was impressive. It is not a waterpark like you’d picture at Carowinds, but rather, countless fountains with only two of them having any level of interaction. As breathtaking as the fountains were, we spent half our time at the food carts J. Many of us ate some hamburgers that couldn’t have been good for our blood pressure and washing it down with some chocolate cake (back at it again with the healthy food choices). When the sun started to go down the waterpark only got more spectacular, enhanced with awesome lights!

-        -  Preston

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.  After exiting the Water Park, we said our good-byes to Bill, Kate, and Mrs. Smith (who stayed behind to work on the scholarship program for the boys in Kusi) and made our way back onto the bus. About forty minutes later through Lima traffic, we arrived at the airport, checked our bags (mine was 10 pounds lighter), had dinner (McDonald’s and Papa John’s were popular choices), went through security (painlessly, except for Mrs. Carter’s Peruvian sauce was confiscated), and through Peruvian customs (which also went painlessly). We were all a little disappointed when our water purchased past security was confiscated at the gate - apparently it is not legal to bring water outside of the US into the US.

This trip has truly been life changing. It has been my pleasure to share this journey along with you all at home. As much as I look forward to returning to Yunguy and saying “Hola” to all my new friends, I am very thankful to be back en los Estados Unidos.

-       -  Danny