Some Thoughts on Peru

Hello Friends!! Perhaps a more appropriate greeting would be "Hola, Amigos!" The OU RUF team of 13 has safely returned from Peru, leaving us all reflecting on the week we experienced, and what God is teaching us.

The images which I am struggling the most with, and I might even say are "haunting" me, are the following two. They are from the squatter village called "Clementina." If the squatters maintain this land for a year, then they are allowed to keep it under Peruvian law. Through these pictures hopefully you will realize that squatters are all in different stages of development. Some homes only have walls made of reed, tarp, and paper. Some have a tin roof. Some have cement walls. Some have dirt floors while others have stone floors. The missionaries told us that it may take as many as 15 years to go from a home made of reed to a home made of cement. This picture shows some of the more developed homes.

This picture, however, shows how primitive some of the homes are. I still have not come to terms with how these people are able to live in these houses. Regardless of the condition of the house, they take care of it. Even if they only have dirt floors, they still sweep them. I would be lying if I told you that these pictures make me want to move to Peru and help these people. These pictures made me uncomfortable, and made me long for the comfort of American life. I don't know what God would have me learn from this yet.
Peruvian food. Yum! Most meals were served with a large helping of rice, as pictured here. This particular dish was cooked by women at the mission. It is a Peruvian specialty, which includes beef and a version of the french fry.
A highlight of mission trips is always the team bonding. Here I am with Mary Rachel. She has just graduated from OU, and both her and her husband came on the trip. I loved getting to know them more!
Here are Josh, Megan, and me with some Peruvian children with Clementina. Interacting with these kids was wonderful. Even with my meager Spanish I was able to communicate what colors I thought would look good on their pictures, or talk about animals with them. I showed some of them pictures of Chance. I am not sure if they had ever seen a domesticated horse before, because they all seemed pretty confused by the pictures.
The picture below is one of the rooms of the church in Clementina. The building has walls and a roof, but no real floor. We helped prepare to dirt to eventually have stones laid. The residents of Clementina asked Peru Mission to plant a church in their area. This is a testament to the work of Peru Mission, and how the Peruvians recognize that the missionaries are seeking to serve the people in both practical and gospel-centered ways.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to go and serve in Peru. I loved seeing how God is restoring his broken world through this particular mission. I would love to talk more about this with you, especially since these were only highlights of the trip. Thank you for your prayers.