Sunrise Peru Mission Trip 2008

Day 8 - June 27

2008-06-28T19:06:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 27

Today was a very exhausting day! We spent the morning at Reina de la Paz hosting a carnival for the girls. We had games and activities, including face painting, balloon animals, bowling, goal kick, bean bag toss, and ladder golf. The girls loved the games and activities and enjoyed picking out their prizes. Toward the end of the carnival, we began to pack up and somehow spontaneously formed a huge circle and threw Frisbees , footballs, and beach balls around. We also were excited to receive a brief dancing lesson from Giugliana and the girls and are proud to say that we did pretty well! Throughout the week, we’ve often found that the spontaneous activities are the most fun!

After the carnival, we had a pizza lunch with the girls – some of the girls said that they had never had pizza before, so it was fun to share that experience with them. We enjoyed the opportunity to eat lunch with them, since we had been eating lunch as a team all week (without the girls). We split up our team and sat with the girls at the tables and talked with them a little bit – they know that we don’t know much Spanish, so they used small words when talking with us! One of the girls said that her favorite part of our entire visit was eating lunch with us today because eating lunch together is what families do, and this made it feel like we were a family. We couldn’t agree more.

It was hard to say “good-bye” to the girls after lunch! We wrote notes to the girls on their tie-dye shirts and made lists of our e-mail addresses for them. We took lots of pictures and then kissed the girls and their babies farewell. There were many tears shed on the bus that afternoon.

As you may have read in yesterday’s blog, our plans for the afternoon at San Ricardo changed within the last few days. We had originally planned to do a carnival at San Ricardo similar to the carnival at Reina de la Paz, but we were informed that San Ricardo would be fumigating today and we (and the kids) were not allowed to be there. So Julie, our trip coordinator, conferred with the staff at San Ricardo, the Buckner staff, and our Team, and we decided to take the kids to a movie.

It sounds like a crazy plan, and we were all a bit nervous. There was much debating about whether or not the amount of money needed for 100+ kids, 10 San Ricardo staff members, our entire team, the translators, and the interns to watch a movie would be well spent. But in the same way that we knew that our presence in Peru is much more meaningful than simply sending money, we knew that any time spent with the kids is better than just using that money to purchase more supplies for them. So we rented an additional bus and shuttled the San Ricardo kids from a nearby sibling home (where they were staying while they fumigated) to the movie theater.

The kids greeted us with grins and hugs and were so eager to get out and see a movie (something that many of them had never done before), and they were very well behaved. They were so excited to receive a box of popcorn and a drink, and it was fun to see the delight on their faces as they carefully rationed their refreshments. Many of the kids even shared their beloved popcorn with us, which really warmed our hearts. How amazing that kids who have so few luxuries in their lives would choose to share them with us. We enjoyed cuddling with the kids, and watching them enjoy the movie… with the exception of a few kids who needed to use the restroom, nearly everyone was enthralled with the movie the entire time. Their laughter and applause throughout the movie were evidence that we made the right decision.

It was difficult to say “good-bye” to the kids from San Ricardo because we had to quickly get them back onto the bus, and that didn’t leave much time for saying our “good-byes”. But the kids held their hands out of the bus windows and we reached up to hold them one last time. Their faces were beaming as they yelled “gracias!” (“thank you”) out the windows as they drove away. We watched as they left and we had to be ushered back onto our bus by our translators… otherwise I think we would’ve have stood there for a while.

There were lots of tears shed on the way back to the hotel and I don’t think that our bus has ever been so quiet. Our hearts were broken for those kids this week with the realization that part of the reason they are so happy to see us is because they get very little love and attention. We would almost prefer that receiving hugs and kisses was nothing out of the ordinary for them, but we are painfully aware that this isn’t the case. We are so happy to have formed relationships with these kids and at the same time are so sad to leave them behind.

We rushed back to the hotel and had ten minutes to finish packing before we had to leave for the airport. We left behind several bags of donations for San Ricardo (and also several bags of donations at Reina de la Paz) – thank you to those who donated supplies! We hugged our translators “good-bye” and headed to the airport with Giugliana and Julie. Because of everyone’s crazy flight schedules, we did not get to say “good-bye” to our interns or to Jeremy before they left. But we made a list of everyone’s e-mail addresses and we hope to keep in touch.

After checking in at the airport, eating a quick dinner on the floor of the food court (those of you from last year’s trip will understand!), we said our “good-byes” to Giugliana. This was another tough farewell and many tears were shed. Giugliana took such good care of us this week and went above and beyond the call of duty in so many ways. She is truly amazing and we miss her already. Then we had to say “farewell” to Julie, our phenomenal trip coordinator. She was such a fantastic leader and such a fun person to be around. We have high hopes that she (and maybe Jeremy) will be able to stop by Peru during next year’s mission trip.

We quickly boarded the plane (we had just 15 minutes to spare!) and tried our best to sleep on the red-eye flight back to the States. We left Lima around 12:30 am and arrived safe and sound in Houston, Texas at about 6:45 am. We made it through customs and immigration at the Houston airport and checked in at our gate. We had just 10 or 15 minutes before leaving for Indianapolis at about 8:30 am. We landed at about 12:30 pm and were greeted in the airport by Jill DeYoung, Curt Vanderkleed Sr., and Sandor Volkan-Kacso. It was so nice to see familiar faces!

We are so glad to be home and back with our families, but we already miss Peru. The relationships that we formed, the friends that we made, and the experiences that we had were life-changing… not just for the teen moms at Reina de la Paz and the kids at San Ricardo, but for us as well. We all knew that we were going on this trip to spread the love of Jesus and the truth of the Gospel, but few of us expected to fall in love while we were there. And it’s safe to say that each of us left a piece of our hearts in Peru.

Jeremy, last year's trip coordinator

Emily receiving a quick dancing lesson

Kay and Erick, one of our translators

Benito, our fantastic bus driver!

Day 7 - June 26

2008-06-26T20:57:00.000-07:00

Thursday, June 26

This morning at Reina de la Paz, we were excited to hand out the tie-dyed shirts to the girls (thanks again to Heather did an awesome job handling the tie-dying process!). We also gave them multi-colored bracelets with Bible verses that we had used to plan VBS at San Ricardo, and a small photo album with a photo of each girl and her baby. We also performed the entire skit that we had done at San Ricardo, and the girls seemed to enjoy it.

One of the girls who lived at Reina de la Paz last year but has since moved away was able to come for a brief visit today (her name is Evelyn). Evan had his laptop with him, and it had all of the pictures from last year's trip on it, and he was able to show her some of the pictures she was in. The other girls crowded around Evan and enjoyed looking through a few of the pictures, too!

We made it through another hectic day at San Ricardo. Some of the kids seemed more receptive to us, and some just ran wild. While it's exhausting to try and wrangle the kids, it's so much fun to spend time with them and love on them. We also handed out the multi-colored bracelets at San Ricardo as a way to recap what we've taught them all week. The kids were so excited about them that they showed them off to us as soon as they got them. Hopefully they will serve as a reminder of God's love for them.

We also performed the final "Act" of our skit but don't have the video yet since Jeremy used his video camera and we haven't had a chance to download it yet. Hopefully we'll have that tomorrow!

As our trip comes to a close and we prepare to say "good-bye" to the kids at San Ricardo and the teen moms at Reina de la Paz tomorrow, we have spent time reflecting on our week in Peru. We are also preparing to say "good-bye" to our amazing translators. They have been like family to us as we have spent at least 12 hours each day doing ministry together. Tonight we had dinner with the interns and the translators, and it was sort of a "farewell" meal since we won't have dinner with them tomorrow. We have also spent time as a group sharing our highs and lows for each day and pray together as a team. We have laughed at the many funny moments, and shed tears at the heart-wrenching ones. We're finding that part of us feels like we have been here for a month, and another part feels like we only just got here. It seems as if the hours pass slowly but the days fly by.

We know that we can't ever describe exactly how much the translators, interns, and Julie (our trip coordinator) mean to us, but we'd like to introduce you to them.

Giugliana, Mariana, Erick, Arturo, Rosanna

Giugliana worked with last year’s group and has been an immense help to us this year, too! She is more than a translator to us, she is an integral part of our team. She has helped to teach the Bible story every afternoon at San Ricardo and has a wonderful relationship with the kids at San Ricardo and the teens at Reina de la Paz. She is on staff at Buckner and is their follow-up person, so she will spend time with the kids and moms after we leave. She is so sweet and so helpful, and I know that we will miss her terribly when we leave.

Erick is another translator who was also with the group last year. He has such a heart for these kids and has a great relationship with them, too. He is so good with the kids and with the teen moms, and he has been a wonderful addition to our team. It has been such a joy to watch him interact with the kids and see that he is a positive male role model for them… especially since many of them do not have any men in their lives or have been betrayed by the ones they know. I believe that he is a gift from God to these kids.

Rosanna, Mariana, and Arturo are new to our team this year and have also done a great job. Mariana is so good with the little kids and can even get them to march with her in a straight line – something that none of us can do! Arturo has developed a good relationship with a few of the people on our team and I think it’s been a good witness to him. Rosanna is on staff at Buckner (with Silvia, Claudia, and Giugliana) and has taken great care of us and even made sure that we had enough water in our hotel rooms. It has been a lot of fun to get to know them.

Julie, our trip coordinator, has been such a huge blessing to our team! She is so sweet and capable, and she is a great leader! She gels with our group and it's been fun to get to know her. She does everything with us, even our debriefing and planning, and it has been fun to hang out with her in the evenings. She is a God-send and we are so grateful for her!

Our interns have been invaluable! They are a group of 5 girls from all over the country who have spent about 3 weeks in Peru helping the various missions teams that have come through Buckner. We have very much enjoyed getting to know Angie, Kelli, Krista, Laura, and Heather Michelle, and I know that we will also miss them when we part ways. Angie and Kelli are both nearly fluent in Spanish and are wonderful with the kids – we would have been lost without them!

Thank you again for your continued prayers! We as a team are praying that our time spent here would be a reflection of God's love for these kids and that they would remember Him more than they remember us. We all came to Peru hoping to make a difference in their lives, but we weren't prepared for the difference they would make in ours. This has been an amazing experience for all of us!

P.S. We're planning to have a carnival for the teen moms at Reina de la Paz on Friday. But plans have changed for San Ricardo and we're taking the kids to the movies. Stay tuned!

Day 6 - June 25

2008-06-26T06:35:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, June 25

At Reina de la Paz this morning, we began by singing some of the songs that we had been singing at San Ricardo all week. We weren’t sure if the girls would enjoy the singing, but they really got into it! We even sang them the song “This is the Day” in English, and then a few of the interns who speak Spanish sang it to them in Spanish. It was a lot of fun.

Then we split the girls up into groups as usual, but we had a little bit less time than the other days because we had to leave early for lunch. While the girls were in their groups, they made bracelets, played games, and participated in a Bible study. We also had each girl write down some personal information about her and her baby and we took pictures of each of them with their babies. We will then take the pictures and information and make them available to our Sunrise family so that we can pray for each of these girls – not only as a group, but as individuals. We also took time to pray with each girl and her baby, which was very meaningful for them and for us. And since we weren’t able to pray in Spanish, the translators had to translate our prayers, which was a good way for those translators who may not be believers to be introduced to the idea of prayer.

We were sad to leave Reina early, but we had a shortened schedule all day today. We ate lunch at a restaurant called Granja Azul, which means Blue Farm. The food was so delicious and we really enjoyed the quiet atmosphere and the opportunity to fellowship with each other.

After lunch, we headed to San Ricardo for a shortened afternoon of VBS. Thankfully the kids seemed more attentive than yesterday, and the shortened schedule seemed to work well. We opened with singing again and another “Act” of our skit. Today, Maggie and Evan (who represents Jesus) come in to find Michelle and Paul still stuck to the chair (sin). Watch the video clip to see what happens!

The kids enjoyed making butterflies, which represented the fact that we become a new creation after we accept Jesus as our Savior. All week we’ve been using one color each day to represent the Gospel story. Saturday was yellow to represent heaven, the place that Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us. Monday was black, and that represented the color of our hearts because of sin. Tuesday was red, the color of Jesus’ blood when he died to take away our sins. And today was white because that’s the color of our heart once Jesus has washed it clean. Tomorrow the color will be green and we will be making a story wheel with the kids which will include information about what we taught the last few days.

We left San Ricardo and headed to the market for some shopping. We only had an hour, so we had to shop quickly. Our translators were a great help to us as we haggled prices, and it was very entertaining to watch Jeremy (last year’s trip coordinator), who loves to haggle! After going to the market, we went to eat dinner and very much enjoyed the opportunity to fellowship with each other again. We’re beginning to feel like a family.

This has been such an amazing experience so far, and it’s hard to believe that we’ve been here 5 days and will only be here for 2 more. We have really enjoyed spending time with our translators and interns and getting to know them better. They are a fun group of people, and a mixture of believers and unbelievers. We have spent so much time with them over the last few days that it feels as if we’ve known each other all along and are part of the same family.

Thank you again for your prayers! We can see that they are making a difference!

Julie, our trip coordinator

Paul and Kelli (one of our interns) getting the teens at San Ricardo to do a rap to help them remember the memory verse!

Day 5 - June 24

2008-06-24T21:26:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, June 24

We were greeted this morning by Jeremy, the Buckner representative from last year’s trip. It was great to see him and we are excited that he will be joining us for the rest of this week.

This morning, we began our time at Reina de la Paz by teaching the girls how to tie-dye (Heather did an awesome job teaching the girls how to tie their shirts and handling the entire tie-dying process!). It was a very large undertaking, but the girls seemed to enjoy it and it went relatively well.

Several of us used the time during which the girls split up into smaller groups to hand wash all of the shirts and rinse them out. It made us very grateful for the many blessings we have in our daily lives – like washing machines and dryers! And it made us realize what a wonderful thing it was to give the washing machine to the girls at Reyna de la Paz several months ago. During lunch, Eric was visited by his friends, Miguel and Esteban, again. It’s so much fun to see that they remember him from day to day, and that his afternoon of playing in the dirt with them made such an impact.

We began our time at San Ricardo by hanging out with the kids and taking lots of pictures. Then we sang several songs with them – including a new song that the Interns and the kids taught us. It was fun to see them excited to sing! Then we performed the second part of our on-going skit. In this “Act,” Maggie enters the scene and is tempted to join Michelle and Paul in sin, and cannot choose between going with Evan (Jesus) or sinning. Watch the video clip to see what she decides! (P.S. Giuglianna did a wonderful job doing an introduction and a recap of the drama both days - she rocks!)

Our time spent in smaller groups at San Ricardo was a little bit more difficult today. We’re not sure what the difference was today, but the kids seemed to be more distracted. But Giuglianna worked wonders again during the Bible story time, and even though the memory verse station was crazy, we saw that the kids are in fact learning John 3:16. Craft was also a little hectic because Heather tie-dyed with the teenagers, who weren’t always willing to cooperate. But the shirts got dyed and everything turned out well. We enjoyed the time hanging out with the kids at the end of the day and got lots of great pictures!

For dinner with the interns, Jeremy, and Giugliana, we headed to a very nice restaurant with a chocolate fountain. The food was delicious, the fellowship was great, but the chocolate was divine at the end of a very long and tiring day! Then we headed back to the hotel for another debriefing and planning session, and then we were off to bed.

We cannot thank you enough for your prayer support while we are in Peru! We know that even though we may plan for the day’s activities, whatever happens – whether or not it’s our “Plan A” – it’s exactly what God wants to happen. It’s comforting to know that even though we may have to default to our “Plan B”… or even “Plan E”… God’s will and timing are perfect, and He is in complete control! And it’s amazing to think that while we are making a difference in the lives of these kids, they are making a difference in ours, too. That’s pretty awesome.

Day 4 - June 23

2008-06-23T21:54:00.000-07:00

Monday, June 23

Our first activity of the day was to minister to the girls at Reina de la Paz. We divided into four groups and led crafts, Bible study, games, and a special section who learned a few phrases in English. We intended to teach the girls how to make bracelets, but we discovered that they are very skilled at making bracelets and taught us a few things!

We took a break to eat lunch while the girls fed their children, and our lunch was interrupted by Yolanda, one of the teen moms, and her twin boys, Miguel and Esteban. They came in search of Eric, who had spent the afternoon playing with them the day before. Yolanda told us that they didn't want to do anything until they saw Eric. They gave Eric hugs and climbed all over him again today. Then after lunch, we spent an hour of free time with the girls and played soccer and talked with them. We loved the time we spent with them and wished we could have stayed longer.

At San Ricardo, our first official day of VBS went extremely well compared to Saturday! The kids were attentive, they participated, and they were very receptive to our visit. They gave us tons of hugs, a few kisses, and wanted to be in hundreds of photos. They even "borrowed" our cameras and took lots of pictures of us.

We began the afternoon at San Ricardo with songs and a short skit. The songs were a big hit again, and the kids were enthusiastic to sing the "Praise Ye the Lord" song. When we did the skit, we weren't sure if the kids would understand it, but they were very quiet and seemed to be interested in what we were doing. And Giugliana was great at translating our intentions for the skit and transitioning into our group activities. She also led the Bible story and was phenomenal with the kids - they all listened, obeyed, and participated.

The following video is our opening skit - we will build on it each day. The chair says "sin" in Spanish, and Evan represents Jesus. Both Paul and Michelle are tempted by sin and give in to the temptation. Stay tuned for the conclusion!

Many of the kids called Evan "pavo," which means "turkey," and was a big part of last year's puppet ministry at San Ricardo. It's great to see that the kids remember us from last year and also what we taught them! It's very encouraging!

It was also fun to see how the kids warmed up to us since Saturday. Since that was their free day, they weren't very eager to participate. But today, they greeted us with hugs and were quick to do what we asked. It was fun to watch the transformation.

After San Ricardo, we enjoyed a delicious dinner with Giugliana and our interns. We enjoyed pleasant conversation and the opportunity to get to know the interns better. We then headed back to the hotel to debrief, plan, and update the blog (we apologize for any typos... it's after midnight here).

Thank you all for your continued prayers - we can already see their effect. God is so faithful in providing everything that we need, and it helps to be flexible! ;)

Julie, our trip coordinator

Giugliana, one of our amazing translators. She used her monkey puppet to help teach the kids about how sin stains our hearts.

Paul and Arturo, one of our translators

Day 3 - June 22

2008-06-22T15:42:00.001-07:00

Sunday, June 22

This morning we met a group of Interns from Buckner who will be assisting us over the next 5 days. They are a great group of girls from all over the US, and we look forward to working with them.

We went to church with Julie (our trip coordinator), our interns, and our translators. The service was wonderful, even though we didn't understand much of the sermon (but we were excited to discover that they were studying Nehemiah, too!). And we even knew several of the songs! It was amazing to realize that we all serve the same God, regardless of our nationality. This really hit home while singing the song "You Are My King" - how awesome it was to sing "You are my King, Jesus, You are my King" in Spanish with other believers. It was wonderful.

We ate lunch in the bus and then headed over to Reina de la Paz to play with the girls and their children. The girls and many from our team played a 2-hour long soccer game, and then a very exciting game of volleyball. Those of us not playing sports spent time watching the kids and playing with them. It's amazing how much kids understand even when we don't speak the same language.

And it's fun to see all of the expressions, jokes, and activities that transcend language. We learned that physical comedy is still funny, kids still like to sleep on your shoulder, and that they will still try to put everything in their mouths - including grass. ;) It was so much fun to hang out with the girls and their kids, and although we were exhausted by the end of the day, we wished we had more time with them.

We ate dinner in the dining room of our hotel tonight and then met to plan for tomorrow's activities. It has been a tiring day, but it's the good kind of tired - the one on which you look back with fondness.

Day 2 - June 21

2008-06-21T15:51:00.000-07:00

Saturday, June 21

Since we got in so late last night, Julie was kind enough to push back our orientation by one hour. When we met for breakfast, we were greeted by several of our translators and trip coordinators, including Giugliana (pronounced like "Julie-ahna"), Silvia, Claudia, and Erick, who were all involved in last year's trip. We received smiles, hugs, kisses on the cheek - something that takes a little getting used to - and many questions about how we've been over the last year. New to our team this year are Mariana, Arturo, and Rosanna. And we were pleasantly surprised to find that Benito, the bus driver from last year's trip, is our driver again this year! It was a great start to our week in Peru.

After orientation, we traveled by bus to Reina de la Paz, a home for teenage girls who are either pregnant or who have babies. We were greeted by the woman who runs the home, and were thanked many times for visiting the girls. We divided into groups and spent time leading a Bible study, doing a craft, and playing games with the girls, and holding their babies while the girls participated in the various activities. While we don't know each girl's background or story, we can see the joy on their faces when they see that there are people who care about them.

The girls really enjoyed decorating their journals (thank you to Sue Wetzel and Darla Evans who made them!) with various stickers and stick-on jewels, and they are very skilled at soccer and gave us and the translators a run for our money! We look forward to spending more time with them tomorrow!

We ate lunch in the auditorium at Reina de la Paz, which gave us a chance to relax for a few moments and visit with our translators. We then hopped back on the bus and headed to San Ricardo, a siblings home for kids ages 3-18, and we used the travel time to prepare for an afternoon of VBS. We greeted the kids with the song "Praise Ye the Lord" which involves half of the kids singing "Allelu, allelu, allelu, alleluia," and the second half responding with "Praise Ye the Lord" - which is "Gloria a Dios" in Spanish. Giuglianna helped us get the kids excited, and we sped up the song each time we sang it, which the kids really enjoyed.

When we attempted to divide up into various age groups to do crafts, memory verse, Bible story, games, and recreation, the kids were so excited that they ended up leaving their assigned groups and pretty much running wild. Without the help of the usual staff, and with the added confusion of two other groups coming in to lead different programs, we scrapped our planned VBS lesson and decided to simply play with the kids. After all, flexibility is the key! (Much to Michelle's dismay!) ;)

We had a great time getting to know the kids and playing with them, but in the interest of making good use of our time, we left San Ricardo a little bit early and headed back to the hotel for a brief rest. Then we walked to a Chinese restaurant for dinner - I know, Chinese food in Peru! The food was delicious and we had a wonderful time of fellowship. Then it was back to the hotel for a planning session for the tomorrow's activities, devotions, and a good night's sleep (here's hoping!).

Thank you again for your prayer support! Please continue to pray that the Holy Spirit works in the hearts of the teen moms, the kids at San Ricardo, and our translators who may not be believers. We know that God's timing is perfect, and that now is the time that these people need to hear the Gospel. Please pray that Satan does not get even one opportunity to stop the Gospel from being shared!

Day 1 - June 20

2008-06-21T07:38:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 20

We've arrived safe and sound in Lima, Peru! Our connecting flight in Houston was delayed a few hours, but we took off shortly after 6 pm (central time).

We passed the time in the airport by playing a rousing game of "Rock, Paper, Scissors." We even tried having all 10 of us compete at once. It was quite humorous! Congrats to Evan who won the first round, and Eric who won the second. The rest of us will continue to practice until it's time for our flight back home.

We arrived in Lima around midnight and made it through customs by 1 am. After loading our bus and taking a very adventurous bus ride to our hotel, we were asleep by quarter to 3 am. We look forward to meeting the girls at Reina de la Paz and the kids at San Ricardo.

Thank you for your prayer support! We are feeling them all the way in Peru! The adventure now begins... as does the sleep deprivation. But as was the mantra last year, "sleep is for sissies." ;) We can't wait to see how God will use us here in Peru! Stay tuned for more updates!