Day 7 - June 26

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!