Peru 2009 part 2

Peru 2009

Traveling through Peru was one of the most exciting & exhilarating experiences I have ever partaken. As we went from destination to destination, I could not help but feel this is one of the dirtiest yet cleanest environments the naked eye has ever witnessed. Our bus ride went around snow-capped mountains that where surrounded by run off glacier colored shaded aqua & green water, tons of natural minerals, & rock formations that seemed to reach into the Heavens. As we traveled into the high country, I could not help but think how few Americans have driven this deep into Andes Mountains as we surpassed 13,000 feet altitude.

Along the windy roads of Peru we encountered llamas, el packas, & sheep grazing together, as if they where all dancing together in a silent dance. One way to tell the people’s hearts are ready for Christians to embrace them is how they wait patiently hour-by-hour & day-by-day for the buses, trucks, or carloads to arrive. Ever waiting patiently for us to make an inexpensive purchase as we pulled through their one stop town. It’s easy to understand how the Peruvian people, especially the Quacha Nation, can become scared & confused easily. Imagine living with out readily available stores, restaurants, hotels, lights, or even alarm clocks. The culture as a whole is very shy & a quite bunch of people, except when the get behind the wheel of a vehicle to drive.

Watching how the people of the city interact or lack of, posses the question, what really is the purpose of these people? What is the point of life? Hardly anyone in the countryside has what we would call a real job yet the hands of the people are never idle & they hardly are ever sitting still for long. Ecclesiastes 9:9 tells us that for this is your lot in life & in your toilsome labor under the sun. Whatever your hands find to do with all your might. The Peruvians & Pano Quacha people’s productivity as we know it in regards to making a living or even striving to advance their careers is nothing like in America. Instead this fascinating culture ‘s hands are busy knitting clothes for the winter nights, farming all day just to eat, or simply painting their dirty houses or places of business. Despite how cautious some the people seemed to be, after looking into their eyes & faces one can immediately feel the warmth of their heart. This warmth was the open door for our team to stay among a village of strangers. After showing a movie of Jesus, the story of Luke, in their language miles & miles away from electricity not only melted my heart but also opened the hearts of the villagers to receive the love of Jesus in which we brought half way across the world. There’s power in the cross & there is still power in His blood.

The next day we where welcomed & embraced not as outsiders but as family in Christ. Ivan Mader & myself spent majority of the workshop teaching the children the story of Jonah and the whale, coloring Biblical Pictures, & given them written materials, in which the Asbury church family helped make a dream of terry’s come alive. A few books are not that big of deal to us as Americans or even our children yet too a culture that doesn’t even has a written dialect, this is priceless. Just as God promises & the word of God is priceless to all mankind, anywhere, any time. I would recommend this trip to anyone who is interested in a culture of forgotten dialects & hidden dreams. This trip is perfect for all geography lovers, the scientific mindsets, the adventuress type, or individuals looking to impact a culture for generations to come.


Looking back on this life changing mission trip I can’t help but feel this scripture applies.

I Thessalonians 4:11

Make it your ambition to lead a quite life to mind your hands, just as Paul told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders & so that you will not be dependant on anything