Peru: Pensamientos Finales (Final Thoughts)

Putting this trip into words would be impossible, but I am going to make an attempt to sum it up.

On Thursday, we went out to a squatter settlement in Trujillo called Clementina. Here, Peruvians have come down from the remote mountains outside the city to make a life for themselves in Trujillo. They build little straw huts which can hardly be called homes, and after living in them for two years, the government agrees to give them the land and turn on electricity. From that point, most people begin to build more substantial homes out of mud bricks. At the point of our arrival, many of the settlers had just experienced electricity for the first time. Climbing off the bus, I was devastated by what I saw- absolute poverty beyond anything we had seen in even the poorest communities in Peru. As we spent more time there, though, I began to see beyond the poverty and into the hope that lies in this community. People help each other build their houses. Children run through the sand with huge smiles on their dirty little faces, enjoying the gift of fresh air. Residents tell you how much they love living in Trujillo and eagerly await your affirmation of the city, as well. I could not get enough of Clementina. Later on Thursday, we went back there for a worship service. Peru Mission is in the process of building a church in the center of the community, and we had the service right outside the beginnings of the little church. We drug out benches and when our bus pulled up for the service, we found the majority of the town seated on them, waiting for us to arrive so they could begin. The pastor had asked several of us to speak at the end regarding our experiences in the community and throughout the week. I had volunteered to do so, but as I got up to speak, I was literally overwhelmed by the beauty around me and did not say really anything I had planned out. I teared up as I looked out and saw the many different faces worshiping God together and thought that there, in Clementina, I had a much clearer picture of what heaven will be like than any other place I have ever been. Because there, it didn't matter what you wore, how you looked, how much money you had put in the offering plate, or even the state of the building being used for the service. What mattered was that people were worshiping God and thanking Him for the provisions (which, by our standards, are hardly anything!)He had blessed them with. What mattered was the hope that they received from the gospel. What mattered was that someone was reading God's word to people who don't even have money for Bibles.

My heart is burdened to go back. It is really hard for me to be here and continue in the work that God has called me to do here in Norman right now when my heart is in Peru. It was especially hard for me to come back to a SNOWSTORM at the end of March.

Unrelated to Peru- we found out that Andrew was officially accepted to seminary in Fort Worth just before we left. Also, I start student teaching at a new placement tomorrow- in a preschool special education class. I thoroughly enjoyed my last placement at the middle school and am not really looking forward to this placement, especially after this trip. Hopefully it will end up being better than I expect.

In Christ alone,
Mary Rachel