SIX DAYS IN PERU

Wednesday, April 21st

Once again we have arrived in Lima with minimal problems! Ft. Myers to Miami and the check-in desk was almost a breeze all because “Yours Truly” insists on leaving home 45 - 60 minutes earlier than most. I know, but again I was right! We had a traffic slow-down the last 10 miles. At times we were crawling along and even dead-still on the highway. So when we did arrive, give our bags to the Sky Cap and in 10 minutes we were being served by the Copa agent. That allowed us time to get our “Last Supper” – well it may seem like it to the Life Training Institute students before going through the TSA line.

We passed through Panama on our way – 60 minute change of planes. Oh yes, I’d better confess before someone else “squeals”. We walked to gate 25 which was on our tickets and did not pay any attention to the sign above check-in when Dylon spotted the word “Habana”. We hustled over to our new gate and onto the runway, down the stairs to a bus and were transported to our plane. It was only about 30% occupied and we had seats with elbow room plus.

Lima immigration proved to be no problem – which is normally the case, but once getting our bags and going through the customs procedure is always exciting and this one was more than normal. I instructed the LTI team to not go through one behind the other and if possible not to use the same line as someone else.

The process is that you hand your customs forms to an agent and then push a button to see if you get a green or red light. As you guessed, the red light means running your bags through their scanner and potential inspection of contents. Marilyn was ahead of me and she got a red light, so because we were family that meant both of us had to go through inspection. I looked back and saw that the agent had turned her back and was being rushed by other travelers, so I told her to go on out and I turned down the inspection lane. She was instructed by a guard to get on out and not to wait. GREAT!

Now the fun began. I had five bags (two carry-ons, and three pieces of weight-limited bags). I proceeded to put them on the belt and circled around the machine and saw that all my bags except my large carry-on were ready to be reloaded on my cart. Then I heard the voice of an inspector telling me to open the carry-on. As I did, she asked what was in it. I told her I had two cameras, a printer and a projector used to teach with. And “NO” I did not register it because I have never been asked to do it any other time when I went through the inspection process since.

That did not suffice her and another agent came and escourted by to “Aduana” – their taxing department. I re-opened the bag for the new agent who met us and explained again. She said that I had to declare it. She looked at it and took the model number and went to her desk. I dug out a receipt I had for it and handed it through the window to try to speed the process. It worked! She stood and walked back out to me and said, “Thanks” and indicated that I could go.

This was a surprise because she did not give me any papers, nor require me to sign and documents. Translated: No problems! I was in “free.” The bottom line is this: The projector was not mine. It belonged to a pastor in Peru. He purchased it on-line, had it sent to my house to bring to Peru. I told him I would “if” I could use it while here – that was no problem. So only time was lost and we were “IN”
and once again an “angel” went before us.

Then a quick load into the new van – I should say BIG LOAD because with 5 of us and 11 bags plus carry-ons and now 2 more people and we were like a can of “sardenes” but the air-conditioning was great and we were in the new used van that the Hodges now owns.

Well, we landed at our home for two days, went through the normal “greetings,” discovered our beds and flopped into them. But this was after an hour of talking, and another hour of listening to our cook prepare for breakfast. No problem, you say! But we did not get there until 1:30 AM! The lights finally went out about 3:00 AM. Did we sleep? The majority did! Me – that is questionable!

So we are safe and the first ministry experience is behind the team and I will let them write about it. Here is the writer, Dylon to fill you in on today’s activities.

As you know, we arrived late in the early morning hours in Lima, Peru, but regardless of the time the city was still very alive. I honestly love the sights of Peru and made a comment that it was beautiful and received a few chuckles, but I still won’t take that comment back. Sure its down, pieced together with anything that can be found, and resembles a “post atomic bomb world,” as David put it, but there is jsut something about it. Its simplistic and bare necessity, but amidst that is color and character. Its as if each building is a puzzle pieced together with its own story.

We awoke for breakfast and got ready to go to a school further up the mountain in Jicamarca. It was unexpected, but a decent first place to open up the trip. The school was extremely small with about 20 five and six year olds. We went through our cup and “Garbage Mouth” routine with quite a few bumps, but all was well. The kids were very interactive and receptive the candy and prizes we had to bless them with.

We closed and the kids began to walk home down the mountain on their own. Sure it was not a municipal, crowded city, but it surprised me nonetheless. We wanted to walk them all home and carry their large books for them, but our desire was bigger than the possibility. We stood outside the school for about 15 minutes and talked, in English and Spanish, to our new friends in Jicamarca while overlooking the grand scenery. It was the definition of tranquil.

Emily and I split the teaching that night on the topic of “Living Higher.” It was a special youth service they held just to hear from us! They are a newly formed, but hungry group. The sacrifice they have here just to get to church is quite evident. It means not working, getting yourself ready in the dark sometimes, and taking however long of a journey it might be to get to Iglesia Vida. It shows how much they want to be there and when they do arrive, they are ready.

We closed the night laughing together as they each attempted their own interpretation of our glowstick routine. A very cool first day.

Thursday, April 22nd

Today was a total LTI day so I am going to forgo any comments and turn to Emily for the events.

It is now Monday April 26th, 11:38 pm in Peru and I am sitting in a hallway with Katie and Dylon while there are blogging about the previous days that we have had so far. It has taken us about an hour to write a small paragraph because of all the fun we have when we are in each others presence. Now for a summury on our Thursday.

We LTI students were all very happy to wake up around 10:30am to a wonderful breakfast prepared by David, which was pancakes with fresh pineapple juice which was delicious! Everyone changed to get started on the painting that need to be done in the children’s area at Iglesia Vida, but before that Dylon, Katie and Rosita decided to climb the mountain behind David and Ceci’s house. I stood behind to take pictures because I did not want to risk getting sick. After they came down and we began sanding down the walls and about 15 minutes later Mrs. Marilyn came out and released me from duties of sanding due to the fact that she didn’t want me to get asthma sooooooo, I washed the chairs in the church and went inside after I was done.

At around 6:30pm we started getting ready for church and Katie decided to straighten her hair so she plugged in her straightener and once she turned it off the lights in the room went off. Now Katie and I thought nothing of this but about 5 minutes later once the sun finished going down we noticed that there were no lights on in all of Jicamarca. (At least all that we could see.) Marco and Dylon had to rush to get gas for the generator so that we would be able to have church service. Once David got the generator working Katie was feeling so bad about blowing out allt he lights but was later told that it wasn’t her fault. (Having no lights for about 30 mins was an experience and thinking that it was Katie’s fault made that much better.)

Once service started we waited to be introduced by David and in the process I had a bug fly into my eye! Those who know have a good idea that I freaked out and apparently I was good entertainment for Dr. D and Dylon to laugh at. I completely missed my intro but made it in time to sing Dame Tu ojos which was better than I thought only because almost everyone sang with me! Katie danced and she interpreted the Revelations song(in spanish) amazingly. All in all the day was great considering minor bumps in the road.

Good night! 11:55pm

Friday, April 23rd

Up And At It:

The night was short and the day was long! 6:00 AM and I beat the alarm to it! Now the task of getting everyone up and doing the final packing for our trip over the Andes to Huanuco. Breakfast was light because of the upcoming altitude journey – over 14,000 feet – break with jelly or ham, fruit, tea or coffee but no milk or anything heavy. And of course everyone gets to take a pill to attempt to prevent altitude sickness. It can drop even the biggest to their knees.

We headed for the bus station at 7:45 and waited for Marco to return from parking the van. He returned from the excursion at 8:30. We had to wait another 15 minutes before we could hand our luggage to the workers and another 15 minutes before we could board.

I had requested a seat on the second level at the front. I wanted to see the sights this trip and also decided that I was not going to sleep any on the 9 hour journey. So with both cameras ready I plopped down into my seat to enjoy the views. I was not disappointed. It was an absolutely fantastic view from that position.

David Hodges and two of his nieces joined us on the trip. Only one person was affected with the altitutde and she was a Peruvian - Jovanna for those of you who know David’s nieces. We arrived at 6:30 PM and had to hurry to the hotel because the youth had a 7:00 meal scheduled at the Pastor’s house and then off to their first ministry event

Here I will let Dylon tell you about it.

We were very crammed for time, but did all we could to start the youth service promptly at Iglesia Peniel. They opened up with their own lively worship using wonderfully loud speakers and microphones at their highest level. Emily, thinking she had a prime seat in the front, left with a ringing in her ears due to being blasted by enormous sound waves. I joke and am serious at the same time, as it was overall enjoyable and as close to the worship at home as we will probably see during our time here.

I spoke on Unity and Change to a crowd of about 25-30 youth and I think it went over pretty well. They were talkative and Rosita did a terrific job translating for me. I threw Katie a bit of a curve-ball in having her do a call for salvation at the last minute, but I knew it was necessary after speaking on change. After all, the only true way to permanent change is through Jesus (John 4:23-24.) Much of the youth weren’t very sociable after service, but it was evident that they were at church with purpose, not just to be there. And I can easily say I understand how hard a language barrier is to overcome, although my Spanish is slowly improving.

The leaders concluded the night with their native tasks and responsibilities and we left to grab a small bite to eat. We stopped at a local Polleria, very popular to Huanuco and all of Peru, and had a version of papas fritas (french fries) and our first taste of Inca Cola, a tasty experiential drink that has a history of its own which I’ll have to share when we return.

We were exhausted from the very hot bus ride earlier that day and quickly headed to bed after preparing for tomorrow’s schedule. We were finally beginning to step into our flow as a team and it was a great start to an even better weekend. Love you all and greatly appreciate your prayers and support!

Saturday, April 24th

I had two assignments scheduled. Pastor Carlos had invited area pastors and his leadership to an 11:00 AM service. Problem! Only two people beside the Pastor and his wife showed up and they were from his church, so he canceled the meeting. I guess my name scared them away! In reality, I am not sure he did much to promote it but only a quick invitation. So David, who was my interpreter, were treated to a tour of the city which is nestled in a valley from the mountains that surround it. And then back to the house of our host and a meeting with the LTI youth for lunch.

Saturday evening was filled with drama! Literally! Each of the cell groups were to present a drama and I was injected into the middle. It forgoes saying that the evening was long! The team walked 5 blocks to a restaurant to fill their stomachs with Chinese cusine and then to our hotel to crash.

But lest I be thrown under-the-bus, I better let Emily share her experience from her ministry activities of the day.

The morning was amazing. It was my turn to give some of the children of Huanaco a message which was on being obedient to God. I was expecting about 40-50 kids and once we were about to start we had over 130, praise God! Katie did a skit that spoke about the widow that Elijah meet during the famine. It’s a great story that shows what being obedient and having faith through all circumstances in you’re life is all about. (1 Kings 17.)

Rosita has been my interpreter which has been a blessing. She has been able to get the messages across beautifully for all of us. After lunch, we went to a very small church but it was very impacting. Everyone who had attended participated in the games that Katie had which was on Armor of God. We were able to hear about healing that god had done on a woman’s legs.

It’s always good to hear people give praise to God for things that seem impossible in the natural. As Dr. D let you know we met up for lunch then in the evening we went to church. Dr. D shared an amazing message about being chosen to change the atmosphere. I think it was the right amount of encouragement that we all needed. Our Saturday night could not have ended on a better note than an empowering word and good dinner all together!

Sunday, April 25th

I forgot to tell you about our accommodations, not that you care but continue to read anyway. Six beds in the room with four inhabitants; a bathroom with only enough room to turn around – IF you were careful; a shower in there also but to get under the water you had to put your back against the plastic curtain; no air-conditioning and only one window. To assist with airflow we placed a small lamp table against the door while permitting it to stand ajar, knowing that if someone came in we would hear the table move. And I forgot to tell you about our “unwanted guests!” Mosquitoes! But they decided that only one person would be attacked - Marco so the rest of us were pleased!

Breakfast was brought to us by our hosts. It consisted of an fried egg sandwich with meat, but being hungry we downed it and headed out for the day – to a graduation for students who have completed the first year of studies in Pacto De Vida (Covenant Life University) and the LTI students and Peruvian assistants to minister to the children of the adults who came to the 11:00 AM graduation.

I figured we would be over by 12:00. WRONG! It wasn’t because of the speaker either! So back off! Okay? Thanks! My pride would be hurt if you didn’t! We did finish though about 2:00 and then quickly went to our hotel room, changed clothes and headed to the pastor’s for lunch. Lunch did I say! It was good but soooooooooo much food and not one of us could clean their plate. So instead of a clean plate saying it was great we had to EMPHASIZE it with words.

After some fellowship with Pastor Carlos and his wife, Lenora, we took off for our room and some rest before the evening service – all except Katie, Emily, Dylon, Rosita, Jovanna and Marco. They took a walk around the town and ended up at the hotel later.

The evening service began only 5 minutes late and the crowd, if I can use that word, kept arriving even through my message. The evening concluded with what turned out to be our favorite food for Huanuco – CHICKEN! Only because we had it every meal – in some form or other. But that is the life of missions!

We had to hurry after the service, eat those chicken sandwiches, change into travel clothes, seal our suitcases and backpacks and head to the bus station for the overnight trip back to Lima. I’ll let one of the students describe that bus trip!

To wrap up our first five days we can only say, “God was with us and He displayed His power.” And we heard a testimony from a lady we prayed for last year. In the middle of my sermon I stopped and said, “There is a person here with heart problems.” In a few minutes a lady raised her hand and came forward. This trip she said three doctors gave her three different reports about her heart. She said God had spoken to her and told her she would be healed. And in a vision she had seen herself enter a building without any family member with her. She met a doctor who told her to lay down on the cement table. He took a scaple and cut her open, took out an object and then told her to get dressed and go home. That night when she was prayed for, she fell onto the floor and when she tried to get up I told her to stay there because God was operating on her. She told us that from that moment on she had not had any problem and can do everything she could not do before.

Now for words from Katie.

Greetings from the wanna-be Peruvians. My stenographer, Dylon, is typing for me at this moment because I just finished painting my nails red. According to Marco, we were supposed to have around 100 kids in the morning and take them to the park for an outreach. Unfortunately, there were only 9 kids at the church so we ended up taking them to this little square room on the side of the church building. (Thinking now...) Learning to be as flexible as possible in overseas ministry, we quickly changed our order of events and adapted to our surroundings. We introduced ourselves, as always, and are finding intros to be awkward situations. (We welcome your suggestions and really need them.)

We opened up with our now internationally recognized cup routine. Followed by two stomps and a skit starring Emily Rodriguez and Dylon Dixon. I gave the “Garbage Mouth” lesson, which is becoming an all-time Peruvian fave. Having time to spare, we face painted with the kids. They loved it.

We then went to the Pastor’s house for lunch, which was a hilarious experience. One portion of food to them is like 3 meals to me. No joke! They served us thinly sliced fried chicken, a four normal-sized-human-being portion of rice, and a side of butter with a little bit of potato. To my disadvantage, after lifting my 8 inch piece of chicken I found two black pieces of hair. To make a long story short, that was the most interesting meal I’ve had in Peru so far.

We then got to do some sight seeing with “Marcoroni”. We got back to the room, packed our stuff, and got ready to attend church that evening. I was expecting a large crowd to come and see me dance, but I found out that I’m not as popular as I thought. I danced and Emily sang. Dr. D preached. We then received gifts from the pastors, which was very sweet and heart-warming. We were blessed by the thought they put into the gifts. (Pictures to come.)

Our bus was fabulous–two story and comfortable seats that turn into fully reclinable beds. I was affected more than others by “the pill” for altitude sickness so I fell asleep watching the Rock dance around in a tutu. I didn’t sleep too well going over the Andes mountains as the bus driver was taking the curves very sharply. I woke up several times terrified and thinking I was rolling down the mountain, but thank God I was sitting next to Rosita, our awesome translator, because as I looked into her eyes I knew I would make it back to Lima safely. What a trip. Fun times in Huanuco overall.

Monday, April 26th

We did return safely to Lima even though we arrived two hours late due to a flat tire about 5:30 AM. But that was nothing to the excitement Marilyn had. She had remained with Ceci and the boys in Jicamarca where she was to speak at the Church on Sunday since David went with me to be my interpreter. The report is that she did GOOD!

But on Monday as they were preparing to meet us here in Lima she called me and reported that the taxi driver – a man who had on Thursday given his heart to the Lord at the service at Iglesia Vida was bitten severely by “Tyson” without any provocation. Now Tyson belongs to David Hodges. The driver was bitten on the leg just above the ankle and in the process his pants were ruined as was his leather shoes. Fortunately the man was not angry nor vindictive and was smiling when they arrived an hour late to be with us.

The rest of the day was a “rest day”. We went down to coast to eat some American Food (I wonder why?) – and the students along with David and Ceci took the afternoon and evening to tour Lima and see the historical sites in central part of the city. During that time Marilyn and I returned to our “home” – the home given to us to use while we are here on this trip – so Marilyn could do the laundry and I could catch up on some needed work. Work can even be “sleeping” when you are overseas.

So now you are up-to-date on the events of this trip. We are now able to do this daily so continue to follow the exciting events of this trip.

I must now prepare to leave for Chincha.

God, bless,

Dr D, Marilyn, Dylon, Emily and Katie