Cedarville University - Peru Trip - Day 6

With the end of the week coming at such a rapid pace, the team is dreading the end of the wonderful time we have had here in Peru.

Today began with the usual walk to the church, followed by breakfast and devotions (Philippians 1:27-30).  We had a great discussion on what it means to walk "worthy of the gospel", and what it looks like to forgive, show grace, show mercy, etc.  We also wrestled with the granting of suffering for Jesus given to us by God Himself.  Seems like a difficult thing to "grant".

From there the day was pretty similar as we share the Bible story at the first center (the prodigal son), and then played games and did crafts.  We went to the second center to do the same thing, and had a wonderful time doing it.

About 2:30 though, we mixed it up a little by going on house visits.  We marched our group of 15 along with 3-4 other adults and a slew of kids all over the hills of the area.  We went to 4 homes and heard the stories of the people inside.  Houses no larger than most of our living rooms, housing anywhere from 3 people to 6.  I did get to see Norma's new home (at least for a year), and see her face light up as we visited her home.  Her mother as well was so proud of the place.  It was wonderful that it was just her family who lived there.  I don't think she has experienced that at all in the 7 years of her existence.

The trek was very emotional, and many of the kids broke down and cried as Edith (a worker at the center) thanked us for our visit to her home and cried tears of joy because we came to her home.  I don't know how God will use these events in the lives of the kids, but I know He will.

The rest of the day was a great treat for the team as we went to Sarcletti's for dinner - we had 15 plates of various foods and we just spread it all around the table.  We enjoyed Lomo Saltado - with and without shrimp, pizza, Feticcini Alfredo, Ravioli, pancake crepes with various fillings, and eventually ice cream cones.  It was a wonderful time of talking, laughing and just being together.

From there we went back to the hotel to do one more 2:18 (with Kathleen in the hot seat), and then we talked a little about the day.  It was wonderful to hear them wrestle with the issues that they were having as they walked around the "village" this afternoon.

 11:00 was supposed to be bed time, but I am still working on this and trying to get my phone to charge.  It is 11:45 - I hope I am done soon.

Thought for the day:  I had the privilege of showing a young boy how to play the guitar today.  The probability that he will learn soon is slim, as he doesn't have a guitar to practice on, but he worked hard at it all day.  I enjoyed showing him some chords, and helping him start down the road to learn to play.

These kids work hard at learning things, and it motivates me to work harder to do things that I cannot do well - like speak Spanish.  I really want to communicate better, and I pray that God will allow me to retain the things I study, and that I will study harder.

God help me learn to speak Spanish.  Help me work at it in such a way that you can bless me by retaining the information because I did the work to get it in my head.  Thank you for working "hard" for me - and giving me an example to follow.