Cedarville University Peru Trip - Day 4

Another great day as we began with breakfast and devotions (continuing our walk through James).  We talked about the desires of our heart that draw us to sin and lead to death and contrasted that with the goodness of God that desires to give us more than we could imagine – if we would trust in Him.

We walked down to the child center here in Huaraz and prepared for the arrival of the kids.  We opened 5 puzzles on the tables and the older kids came in and joined right in.  It was interesting to watch – they loved working on the puzzles.  The group I was working with didn’t say a word.  There were 5 of them working on the puzzle with me and no one spoke!  But we finished the puzzle and they were so proud.

Eventually we broke out the dot-to-dot books that we brought down for the older kids.  We showed them how to do the book and encouraged them to complete the books by the time the next team arrived.  They really seemed to enjoy working on them as well. 

Over all they were not as interactive as the group from yesterday, but I had tried to alert the team to this ahead of time.  They are a little older and more accustomed to seeing visitors.  They are not as impressed with us, so breaking through to them is a little more difficult.  I pray that tomorrow as we do a Q&A with them they will become involved and interactive.

Soon it was lunch time and we watched as large plates of food came out.  They spent very little time making this food disappear.  For some it is the only food they will eat today.  What a privilege they have being part of the AMG center here in Huaraz.

After they ate, they headed off to school and we broke out our lunches before the younger kids arrived.  We made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and ate our snacks. 

The little kids began pouring in for their lunch time.  The team served them their meals, and (as is my custom) I went around “stealing” food from kids and watching them wonder where it went.  We laugh and then they get their food back.  They finished their large plates of food as well and we all headed downstairs for the drama section of the program.

The kids did an excellent job picking out what the Bible stories were that the team was acting out.  The team is having a blast presenting these to the children, and the children are loving getting involved.  I wish I could communicate better why these stories are in God’s word, but I know they are hearing them because they recognize them so easily.

As the afternoon passed, we had to say goodbye to the kids, but the cool thing was that we could tell them we would see them tomorrow.  We are looking forward to the Q&A times with the children.  I know they are going to have great questions for the team.

We went downtown for dinner and had a wonderful time of interaction and talking.  We shared our most embarrassing moments, stories from our lives, and laughed together.  It was great.  Then we headed back to the hotel where we continued the interaction with 2 more 2-18 times putting Marissa and Hillary in the “hot seat”.  They ask each other such great questions and I am amazed that they can so freely and quickly answer the questions.  The team really seems to be bonding together and building long term relationships that may last the rest of their lives – only God knows.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:  As we passed through town, a small Peruvian woman passed us.  She was fully garbed in the traditional gear with her head fully covered.  She did not look up, she did not interact with anyone.  She just made her way through the crowd – never lifting her face to look at anyone or anything.  Her back was bowed down, and she walked rather slowly.  How many of us walk through our lives the very same way?  We keep our heads down, we interact with as few people as critically necessary.  Our desire to impact the people around us is minimal, and frankly we don’t want their input in our lives as well.

How lonely an existence!  I really couldn’t tell anything about this woman, but my heart longed for so much more for her.  I longed for her to smile, to stand tall and to be able to look people in the eye.  I longed for a life with meaning and abundance – the one that God has given us. 

God help me see those who are spiritually walking around like this woman so I can share with them the abundant life you have mad freely available to all who believe.