Days 1-2: Peru

Hey everyone, I'm Rachel Langley, a senior on the TBC high school ministry team in Peru. Wow! We've been in Peru for 48 hours, and we finally got wifi to work in the hostel. After about 24 hours of travel (aka 24 hours of no sleep), we had a quick nap before we headed out to our first day of VBS. We basically went around to the houses around the parks inviting kids to play with us. Some of the translators even made us invite the kids ourselves...in Spanish! As we played, more and more kids showed up and joined right in. 

Later, we went back to the hostel and had dinner--a fabulous dinner I may add. We have some locals cooking for us and they feed us well! It's delicious and filling and I'm trying to find a way to sneak some if the bread and jam home! We also have tea available at each meal, including coca tea to help with altitude sickness. When we first arrived, some people were feeling the effects of lack of sleep and change in altitude, but as of today (Saturday) everyone was out working, doing well, and sharing God's love with the people of Cusco!

Today, we played with kids, fed elderly people, played bingo, dug trenches for a wall, held multiple VBS's, and went door to door sharing the gospel. As we shared during devotion tonight, people shared some things they had struggled with. The language barrier was definitely a common issue, but everyone seemed to be able to communicate with the people. As one person said, even with the language barrier, the people knew we loved them and we knew they loved us. Others struggled with being in situations that made them uncomfortable or that they weren't prepared for. Door to door evangelism was definitely one ministry many people were anxious about. As we went out, Brooks Warren reminded us to pray that God would give us the words to say, and I think that really helped those groups. One person shared that their group didn't really know what they were doing, but by the end of the day they had a major God moment. They had been sharing with one girl and one of them randomly thought to ask the girl if she had any questions. She asked them how to pray. She knew that she needed to, and she wanted to, but she didn't know how. They really felt the presence of God in that moment and knew they were there for a reason. Any anxieties they had were relinquished. 

For me, the most awesome experience was speaking with a woman named Nilda, who works with a project called Chulla Sonqo which means one heart in Quechua. It is a program where they help kids who live outside Cusco with their studies so they can attend high school in the city. She was at the hostel, selling some crafts the kids had made, and someone needed a translator. I was the most qualified in the immediate area...even with my mediocre Spanish abilities. I translated for her and then we got into a conversation. Without even knowing each other's names, we connected on an almost spiritual level I've experienced only very rarely. And I think that encounter really sums up many encounters people on our team have had--whether it be the nonverbal communication of love with a child or someone being in the right place at the right time. God is definitely working here, and I think we realize that a little more each day as we open our hearts to the Holy Spirit's moving.