I learned so much about life and what's really important. We focus so much on things and waste so much! These children have so little and let nothing go to waste, yet all they really want is someone to love and pay attention to them, and to have hope for their future. I also learned more about God. We went in with a plan and that plan was soon turned upside down! Every time something went "wrong", we made adjustments and found that indeed, God had a greater plan. God's provision and direction were so evident. So, does that mean I'll no longer plan things? Of course not! I love to plan and I believe God has given me the gift of organization. What will be different for me is that I'm going to try to be more flexible and aware that when things don't go according to my plan, God may be at work, and be open to whatever He may be doing.
I took over 800 pictures during the week and have looked through them as I've tried to process this life-changing week. Here are a few of my favorites and some that I think convey a little of what we experienced.
Each day we left our hotel in Miraflores, a nice, safe, affluent district of Lima, and took a one and a half hour bus ride to the orphanage. As we drove, the landscape changed and the poverty became evident. We drove to Ventanilla, a "squatter" community, where the orphanage is located. We passed miles of dwellings, stretching far into the distance:
It was overwhelming to think of all the people living in all those shacks, in extreme poverty.Once at the orphanage, we found more poverty within the gates, but also an abundance of smiles and happy children. We spent our first day touring the orphanage and meeting some of the children. As we left that first afternoon, they had us line up and the children filed past us, giving us all a kiss on the cheek. We referred to this as the "kissing line" - what a special thing to be kissed by so many children!
The next day we returned to the orphanage for the first day of our five day vacation bible school. I had taken pictures of my family with me, and the children were very interested. It was a great tool for interacting with them:
For most of the week I worked with crafts with the children. They are so artistic!
The first day's story was about Jesus calling the fishermen to be "fishers of men", so we did a fish craft. We tied the fish to a net to be displayed in the children's houses:
The theme of the week was "Follow Jesus" ("Sigue a Jesus" in Spanish), so the kids decorated feet one day:
On the day the story of Jesus' crucifixion was told, the kids decorated crosses:
When I've been on mission trips in the past, I've tended to focus on details and logistics. My thinking is always to take care of as much of the organizational work as I can, so that others are free to build relationships. I just don't see building relationships as my strength. I approached this trip the same way, focusing on details. By the end of the week, I was building some relationships in spite of myself and one little girl in particular really captured my heart. Her name is Yessenia and she is 11 years old, the same age as Kenna. I found out on the last day that her birthday is the same day as Camden's. She was very bold and obviously a leader among her friends, perhaps being a little bossy with them at times. I usually would not be drawn to such a child; but rather to a shy child, like I was when I was young. But this girl was different, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about her and praying for her. I believe God has special plans for her (actually I know this, because He has special plans for all of us!).
Yessenia and me:
Leaving the orphanage on Friday was tough. We went through another "kissing line" and then headed to our bus. The children followed us down the hill to wave goodbye:
While we spent our days at the orphanage, we had a little time in the evenings to see Miraflores. Miraflores means "look at the flowers" and there were beautiful flowers everywhere.
The mall in Miraflores:
On Saturday, we took a bus tour of Lima. This picture is of my friend Lisa and me on top of an Incan temple:
We took a group picture of our team at a park that we visited:
I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to take this trip and am already making plans to go back - and take Robert with me! I have fallen in love with the country of Peru and its people - especially the little ones!
