A woman anxiously awaits the plane. She is five months away from being seventy years old and heading to a developing, third-world nation for the first time in her life. Nervous but prepared. Worried about staying healthy, the chance of malaria, parasites, and communicable diseases, strange food, local customs, and being in such a foreign land where little to nothing is familiar apart from her own luggage. The woman? My mother. She agreed - reluctantly - to join me on an upcoming adventure to a Compassion International project to La Merced, Peru. She and my father flew to Wales when I studied overseas, stepped gingerly over the border of Arizona into Nogales, Mexico, hopped the border about a mile into Canada, and agreed to accompany me to Italy three years ago. But Peru? "It just sounds so...so...FOREIGN," my mother exclaimed when I sensed her reluctance.
But, she agreed. She signed the papers, paid her deposit, raised money at her church, and will be embarking on this life-changing adventure. We're doing something new. Churches in the United States will partner with churches with Compassion sites to do construction of houses, painting churches, and loving on kids. My mom was a Title I/Chapter I reading teacher for several years and received a suitcase-full of craft projects from her church. Did I tell you we'll be LOVING ON KIDS? Yes, that's my favorite part. Those sweet little kids who have - most likely - never seen an "outsider" before.
I guess La Merced, an bumpy, dirt road, 8-hour bus ride from Lima isn't exactly a hot tourist destination. And I'm thankful for that. I've heard it told that Wess Stafford (the President of Compassion) said that his biggest regret was building a brand new road into a village in South America. Sure, the road brought much-needed medical care, new business, and easy access to health care, but it also brought drugs, prostitution, and worldly influences. So, I am thankful so far that this little village is isolated on the edge of the mountains, tucked away in the jungles of Peru.
And, I am also thankful for my mom. I pray she doesn't get sick there. I pray that she sees the amazing job that Compassion is doing there...Peru bound to release children from poverty in Jesus' name. After 6 days of serving, hammering, painting, measuring, pushing, pulling, toiling, and sweating, we head to Lima to meet my sponsored Compassion child, Camila. I picked her because she looks like a Peruvian version of my niece, Gracie, and they're the same age. Then (and this was paid for by funds outside of our mission fundraisers) we head to Machu Picchu for 4 days. "We're going to Macha what?" my mom asked. "Machu Picchu, Mom...you know...one of the 7 wonders of the world," I incredulously told her. But, I'm hoping that my mom and I are left with the wonder of God's hand down in South America. That we wonder how our smiles, hugs, and kisses on the cheek will affect the children. That the wonder will be in the smiles and kindnesses shown to us by people that have so few material possessions. That we will wonder why we aren't doing more to get children to have "enough" and know the awesome love, provision, and HOPE of Christ. Yes, we're Peru bound, and I just can't wait.
PS. To raise support for this trip, I have been selling greeting cards of photographs from various trips. If interested, please see my photo blog and contact me to order. They're only $2 each and every penny goes toward our trip. Thanks!
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