Day 2 - June 21

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!