Well hey everyone,
So I realize I haven’t been very good about blogging recently. I hope to make up some ground in the next few days with a series of blogs. Let’s start with my overall reflections of Peru. There’s so much to say, especially since it was an all-squad month so I think I’ll just do a list of 11 things.
1. I’m going to consider debrief to be part of Peru even though ministry hadn’t technically happened yet. Our entire squad went through meetings, some teachings, and discussions about how the first month had gone. It was eye-opening to hear about the experiences of other teams. For example, while my team was dealing with frigid temperatures, a gravity flush toilet, and 4 showers for a month, others had warm showers daily, laundry in their lodging, and someone cooking for them every meal in warm weather. I don’t say any of this to complain, I wouldn’t change my first month of the race for the world. It’s just funny how different monthly experiences can be even within a squad of 45 people who are all in the same country. Debrief also brought with it vulnerability nights which involved people gaining freedom from secrets and chains that have held them back. There is something powerful about stating what you struggle with out loud for close to 50 people. As soon as the words are out of your mouth it loses power over you. Freedom. That is what month 2 was about both for both myself and for the entire squad. One of the songs that was sung frequently in worship (in Spanish) was I am Free or Yo Soy Libre which was extremely fitting.
2. There is nothing quite like worshipping with just your squad. At Training Camp and Launch we were with three other squads which was awesome, but it is a completely different ball game to have only your squad lifting their voices to Jesus. To top this off, we were able to take communion together as a squad, organized by the worship track. The squad has an organizational system in regards to leadership with squad leaders, logistics, and team leaders, but it also has three different tracks: worship, health, and party planning. These are voluntary and really help with getting events organized within the squad. I’ve chosen to be part of the health track. You’ll hear more about the party planning group in number 8. OK, back on track (ha it’s like I meant to do that), we had the chance to take communion as a squad after an amazing time of worship. That is the first and only time I’ve had communion on the Race and it was awesome. It really reminded me of the intimacy that communion represents. You’re symbolically taking the body of Christ and putting it in your body, thus making it part of you. Eating is a much more intimate thing than I’ve thought. In addition to worship and communion, we had a day where our entire squad went to the beach and 5 of our members got baptized! It was amazing!
3. Our living situation, though I’ve talked about it, was a highlight of the month in its hilarity. To begin with, we lived in a place that didn’t really have an address and was extremely challenging to explain to taxi drivers even for those who could speak Spanish well. Upon our arrival, we were told that bunk beds would be delivered that day. Just kidding. They didn’t arrive until about a week later which made us all eternally grateful to have brought sleeping mats. I took up with the tent city on the roof for a time but eventually settled back into the rooms with the bunk beds. Funny note to be made, all of the mattresses had plastic wrapping on them which we were told we couldn’t remove so any time someone rolled over in their bed at night, everyone was painfully aware. Not only did we successfully navigate 15 or more people to a room but we did beautifully with only having 1 shower for 45 people. The other four showers were finished about 3 days before we were supposed to leave and the kitchen wasn’t completed. World Race, teaches you about flexibility and improvisation. All this to say, we got a full helping of living in community and it was worth it. We would all be disappointed if we didn’t have crazy stories to tell, even if it means struggling for a time.
4. I got the chance to preach to a congregation for the first time ever. It was right after debrief and the main message was about gaining freedom from the things that hold us back. They say that if you are unsure of what to talk about, just explain what God is teaching you at the time. Good tip. It was fun to prepare for it and allow God to work through me. The congregation was extremely interactive with cheers in response to my statements which really made me feel comfortable and excited about what I had to say. We did an alter call afterwards and many came up for prayer. It’s such a humbling thing to know that God chose me to be His messenger for a time. So cool!
5. The first week of ministry involved organizing a VBS. While I enjoyed helping with the arts and crafts, what really made me come alive was participating in the dances that several of us did for the kids. First of all, the practices of the dance and actual performance were more than enough to feel like the equivalent of an Insanity workout. Secondly, I’m a sucker for organized dances. Finally, I loved being able to connect with kids while the dances were going. All it took was twirling a kid, making eye contacting, or smiling and you had them hooked. I really felt like I was able to show them the Father’s love. My teammates all noticed this as well and gave me feedback on it. All of them said they loved watching me and were surprised by how excited and animated I was. There are times where you can really feel yourself come alive and this was one of mine.
6. On our first day off, Joel, our ministry contact, organized a sand boarding trip. I’m in love. Seriously, new hobby, also, I want to learn how to snowboard pretty desperately now. We had a guide who looked every bit the part down to really short shorts. In order to get up high enough to make the ride down worthwhile we had to zig-zag up the sandy hill. Once up there, the guide gave us this oil to put on our hands and told us that it would “open up our lungs” after the difficult hike. He then grabbed a handful of sand, made a wish, and tossed it in the air where the sand was swept away. We all did it simultaneously and it was quite the magical moment. After applying wax to the bottom of our boards, a necessity to make any sort of downward progress, it was time to go. One by one, we each took our turns performing epic falls for the amusement and entertainment of the rest of the squad. Shockingly, I made it about three quarters of the way down the hill which, if my sources are correct, was the farthest anyone made it on the first try. Who knew, right? If you ever get the chance to try it, please do as it is so much fun!
7. Unfortunately, during this month, I got some bug that knocked me out of commission pretty much for an entire week, although the actual sickness lasted only two days. Traveler’s diarrhea does exist, so does soiling your pants…on multiple occasions…sometimes in front of your entire squad…fortunately they didn’t know. Basically, as soon as I stood up and started walking to the bathroom my intestines decided it would be a good idea to let loose so that was humbling and rough for a while. Oh, to start the whole business off, I threw up and my squad leader, Wes, who had been standing behind me to try and help, got part of the barf on his shoes. Awesome. Glad we could bond so quickly. Thank goodness I brought Cipro, that I was able to sleep it off and have an entire squad to take care of me…so many offers to get me water, powerade, crackers, and essentially anything I could have possibly wanted. They were great and were prepared to take me to the clinic had the Cipro not kicked in. There is nothing like having to crawl across a courtyard and up a set of stairs. Piece after piece of humble pie. One good thing that came from this is that I learned I need to allow myself to rest. My teammates constantly informed me that I was too hard on myself and that I had been very sick. I did not enjoy having to spend the majority of a week in my bed missing ministry. Also, taking my laundry to a laundromat, particularly when my other option was trying to hand wash all of the laundry my intestines marked, was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Sure, I’ll spend roughly a dollar on that!
***no picture necessary here for obvious reasons***
8. We had several fun events throughout the month, all organized by our party planning committee. One of the more memorable gatherings was Back to School night where everyone dressed up as their choice of high school character. It was hilarious to see everyone get into it with costumes and creativity. As for me, my squad mate, Susan, and I dressed up as pink ladies from Grease, complete with fake rolled up cigarettes.
9. I think my favorite ministry of the Race, to date, including what we are doing in Ecuador, was prison ministry. One morning we went to perform dances and a skit for the women who stand in line to bring various things to their husbands or relatives staying in the prison. The system is quite corrupt and the general philosophy is guilty until proven innocent so there are many in the prison just waiting for court dates. If the friends and family take care of the prisoner, life in prison can actually be pretty cushioned. We also had the opportunity to actually go into the women’s prison. Originally, only 15 women from our squad were going to be allowed, but we got special permission for all of the women who wanted to go in did. Crazy. We got there and practiced some dances on a stage overlooking a concrete basketball court with huge steps for bleachers opposite the stage. Everything was outside and in true prison form, barbed wire lined the fences. When the women walked out, we mistook them for family members because none of them were wearing any sort of uniform. They were all in street clothes. The government doesn’t have enough money for uniforms. Once everyone was settled, we performed two dances, some of the girls did a skit (which was met with huge waves of laughter), and one of the women, Ash, gave a salvation message. A few others talked as well. Throughout the discussions, I kept thinking, this isn’t working, no one is paying attention. Almost immediately I felt convicted by God as if he was saying, “Why are you ashamed of the Gospel.” To prove the point further, as the discussions continued, my attention was drawn to a woman in white. She was crying and got really excited when prompted to raise her hand to accept Jesus. In fact, about 30 women raised their hands after being asked. Touché God. We were able to pray for many of them. The guards even said it went incredibly well and were looking forward to having more groups from El Yo Soy come in! It was an amazing day.
10. One of the best nights was the second to last we were in Trujillo. Our entire squad went to El Yo Soy to be at the service one last time. The worship was incredible! We sang songs in Spanish that we were all familiar with and some in English. Many of us went to the back and danced around like crazy. Pastor Solomon was hopping around the stage completely uninhibited. The congregation got us gifts and cake for two of the girls who had birthdays that week. Most of the time when we went to services at El Yo Soy, the women of the church would make us food like chicken sandwiches, chocolate cake, empanadas, you name it. We were also able to pray for Pastor Solomon and his family. We brought them to tears and it was awesome because God is clearly with them.
11. During the month, we had gender time. It was really beneficial because the women were able to talk through some issues that would not have felt safe had the men of the squad been around. What we didn’t know was what the men of the squad discussed. We were instructed at lunch on Thursday, our last full day in Trujillo, to be back for dinner at 6:30 dressed up in the nicest outfit we brought along. At 6:30, in dresses and make-up (very rare for the Race) we walked down from the rooms to find the men all dressed up in ties waiting to seat us at a large table. Dillion, who is quite the chef, had cooked us pasta with alfredo sauce and bread and we got dessert (strawberry shortcake or banana boats with chocolate sauce and dulce de leche). They treated us like princesses and at the end explained that during their gender time they had discussed a way to honor us as the women of the squad. They decided to cook a meal for us! Thanks men, you made us feel very special, cherished, and honored. There are moments in life that just seem to feel fuller than others and that night was one of those times.
Well, there you have it. Peru in a nutshell. Those are simply the highlights and there are so many more stories to tell that would be impossible to get written down in their entirety. All-squad month treated us well and certainly gave us freedom from many things. Good riddance to the chains that kept of us from walking in the freedom of Abba’s love!
TRAVEL UPDATE
I just wanted to give a brief summary of our travel experience from Peru to Ecuador. Our squad was all packed and left our compound around 10 PM to arrive at the bus station at 10:30 PM expecting to leave by 12:30. This is the World Race and times are never what they seem. Our bus was delayed and wasn’t expected to arrive until 3:30 AM so many of us set up shop and slept for several hours. We didn’t actually leave until 5:00 AM and this was an 18 hour bus ride. The boarder crossing from Bolivia to Peru was easy and only one stop. Peru to Ecuador was a different story because we got our exit stamps at one stop and our entrance stamps at another. One really neat thing about that bus ride was we drove along the coast and were able to see a whale breach in the ocean. Spectacular! We arrived in Guayaquil, our first stop, around 11:30 PM at what we thought was a bus terminal. The driver decided it would be a good idea to drop us two blocks from the actual bus terminal so we all had to strap on our packs to walk. Arriving at the bus terminal, we knew we had missed our connections (my team was supposed to leave at 10:30 PM for Latacunga). Our logistics coordinators, bless them, arranged new bus tickets while the rest of us walked up with all of our belongings to the third floor in the hopes of getting some sleep. There were security guards up there who informed us that we were not allowed to lie on the ground as it was a terminal, not a hotel. Keep in mind that we had already spent one night in a bus terminal. We were told that we could sit with our packs in the chairs provided and try to sleep that way. I think I was able to sleep for a couple hours on and off. 5 out of the 7 teams of our squad left the terminal on a bus at 6:30 AM for Quito (four are staying together this month), one team was staying in a hostel (previously arranged) overnight so my team was left alone for several hours. After a number of unsuccessful attempts to purchase tickets (the window opened late) Tina, my teammate and I, were able to get tickets for a 10:00 AM bus to Latacunga that would take 6 hours. We finally got on the bus and the ride proved to be absolutely beautiful. We drove through mountains that were covered in luscious trees and vegetation. We were going up in elevation again (9,000 ft) and actually drove through clouds. It was mesmerizing to watch them ooze slowly over the mountains. After the ride, arriving at 4:30 PM, we took a taxi and arrived at our compound. More about that arrival later.
As I’ve mentioned, I hope to be posting several more blogs in the next few days about our ministry here and what the Lord is teaching me. As always, thank you so much for your prayers and support. Cheers.
