"Hello Goodbye"

After an extended absence from the blogging world, I return with both a farewell to Perú and greetings from a new country.

Much of the month of February was spent in Arequipa, Perú (about an hour/hour and a half plane ride from Lima).  I thoroughly enjoyed the city of Arequipa: the mountains and volcanoes made quite a picturesque backdrop, the oh-so-low humidity was a refreshingly stark contrast to life in South Carolina (or Lima for that matter), the historic churches and multitude of restaurants and markets made exploring the city an ongoing and enjoyable experience. The one downside to my visit to Arequipa was that I arrived during the peak of rainy season.  Although the weather remained quite nice for the most part, my one mass-flooding-and-chaos-while-being-stranded-on-a-bus-with-no-way-to-communicate-my-wish-to-just-go-ahead-and-die experience was, well, enough.  Enough for me to hate rainy season.  Despise it, actually.  And also enough to praise God for every day thereafter that did not end in torrential downpours and utter pandemonium. 

The reason that I went to Arequipa was not really to spend time in the city at all, but rather to work at an SIM-related youth camp outside the city in a tiny town called Vitor.  Camp la Joya is located in a strangely beautiful valley surrounded on all sides by sandy smooth mountains.  Although the two main directors are North Americans, the staff and campers were almost all Peruvians.  Armed with my two weeks of language preparation, I felt about as prepared as David marching out to face Goliath when I arrived at camp.  Unfortunately, no miracles happened on my behalf as I attempted to survive and succeed in this total culture and language immersion.  Yet I was fully aware of God’s presence and His work through these weeks at camp, and I know He wastes NOTHING in our lives. 

In an attempt to fit a month’s worth of details into one blog, here are a few high and low-lights of my time at camp:

The Least Faves….

-       --     Not being able to communicate anything more than simple sentences and creative gestures.  I missed having real conversations, or even being able to make a passing joke or remark just to connect with those around me.  The inability to  communicate efficiently also was a problem when there was much going on, much to get done, and little understanding of how I could best help….so basically, all the time :).

-       --     The mosquitos.  After week one, I was basically a large, walking, swollen mosquito bite.  In the proceeding weeks, I got smart and coated myself hourly in bug spray. Smart, I guess, if bathing in deet could ever be considered a good idea.

-       --     Cold showers.  These weren’t nearly as bad as I was expecting, but there was always that initial moment of, “I so miss hot water right now” as I plunged myself under the torrent (or sometimes trickle, depending on the current water situation) of cold water.

The Highlights…

-       --     God’s love and His work being so evident.  I saw it in the way people smiled, graciously included me, and showed me great forbearance and patience as I continually fumbled through miserable attempts at communicating with them.  I saw it in the way the staff prayed for the campers and poured into their lives.  I saw it in the beaming smiles and hard work of the cocineras (the cooks).  I saw it overflowing from the smiles and laughter of the kids.  And God continually encouraged me at just the right moment, regardless of how discouraged or weary I was feeling. 

-       --     The natural beauty surrounding us.  Every day, throughout the day, I would look around me and just think, “Wow, God.  WOW.”  Pictures will be posted, but they don’t do justice to the intricate, vast, serene beauty of His creation.

-       --     Working with the horses!  As a little girl, riding horses and working in a stable would have been a dream-come-true.  Well, as a 27-year-old, I finally got a piece of that dream :).  I loved being with the horses, and loved seeing the kids’ reactions as they were able to ride these big, beautiful creatures. 

-       --     The cocineras.  These women worked long hours to create different meals from-scratch every day.  They always had beautiful smiles as they served the unending lines of people at each mealtime.  They also loved when people loved their food. I was happy to oblige.

-       --     Cleaning the bathrooms.  Although cleaning hairy, nasty camp bathrooms and showers doesn’t generally make my list of all-time favorite pastimes, I really grew to look forward to the days when I was delegated to bathroom duty (which ended up being most days).  It was something that I knew how to do and do well, and I didn’t need to depend on my language ability to get the job done.  And yeah, there’s something extremely satisfying about slinging around massive amounts of soap while I myself am covered in 9 layers of dirt, sweat, bug spray, sunscreen, and more dirt.

Apart from camp, my weekends and the last week have been spent visiting with missionaries, seeing quite a range of different ministries, and enjoying the country and culture of Perú.   God has truly orchestrated some great conversations and is continuing to grow my perspective of His work and His purposes.

As of today, chapter one of my trip is finished.  I arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay just before 5:30 this morning.  All at once, it seems like no time has passed and yet forever has gone by since saying goodbye in Charlotte at the beginning of the year. 

Indeed, much has transpired in these two months.  I don’t know what these next three months in Uruguay will look like, but God is SO good as He shepherds me through both peaceful pastures as well as unknown valleys.  He is so generous to allow me the opportunity to see and experience His work in different countries, different cultures, and alongside different fellow servants of His.  I look forward to sharing more soon.