Joy of the Journey. ASB Peru 2012

“To whom much is given, much is required.”

I come from an average middle class family with parents who have instilled in me that with hard work, education and faith you will be able to go far in life. I have never had real worries about where my next meal would come from nor where I’d sleep at night. My parents’ parents however, grew up real poor. My Grandma and Grandpa Murillo have always shared stories about growing up, working long hot days out in the field, sun up to sun down and how they had to stop school after 8^th grade to provide for the family. I’ll never forget my grandma Murillo telling me, “Kids these days don’t know what hard work is.”

Because I feel that God has blessed me with so much, I have always been filled with an enormous need to give back. God has called me to do great things with my life and because of this I decided to go to Peru on a mission trip with the High School Youth Ministry that I volunteer with.

Mission trips are NOT a vacation. On a mission trip, you go to a location and bring Christ’s light to others by doing service work. We were told that we would be working with the locals in the slums of Lima to build steps and plant trees. And that’s exactly what we did once we made it to Peru. But God had other plans for our journey and how long it would take us to get there.

Even though this trip had been well planned out for about a year, God continued to show us that He truly is in control of every situation. We flew out of DIA expecting to land in Houston as planned in order to get to Peru. Due to bad weather we couldn’t land so the plane coasted until it landed in Austin where we waited for a few hours on the plane. We were all really happy when the captain announced that it was clear and we were able to fly into Houston. One thing I really love about traveling is the people you meet along the way. I sat by this guy who was also going to Peru and was a financial advisor. On the way to Houston he gave me really good financial advice and taught me the importance of investing my money in stocks. He drew me a map and everything so if all goes as planned and I invest properly I should have 2 million dollars by the time I’m 55. ;) Ask me about it in 30 years……

By the time our plane landed in Houston, we of course missed our connecting flight. BUT God always provides for his faithful servants and after two hours of waiting, Sue told us plan B. Houston only flies to Peru once a day and all 17 of us needed a seat so we ended up staying at a nice hotel, free of charge for two nights and each of us got 3 food vouchers to use.  The only drawback was we weren't able to get our luggage.  We have 3 days worth of pictures in the same clothes at the same spot in the same airport, playing King Mau….life kind of felt like we were living that movie Ground Hog Day. At least we got to take a shower with the free shower bag the airport provided us with. Some of the teens saw this as a way of preparing ourselves for the trip because some of the kids we were going to work with wear one outfit until it is worn out.

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In our instant-gratification culture, we don’t like to wait nor do we know how. In those 3 days we learned A LOT about waiting and patience.

By day 3, all of us were getting anxious about leaving and getting to Peru. We made our way back through the VERY familiar Houston Airport, and waited at the C gate. Within a couple of hours we boarded our plane and were finally, happily off to Peru! The flight lasted about 6 hours and we were fed a lot! We landed around 10 PM and tried to find our luggage. Security said it was in the airport but they were not sure where it was. So we did a little more waiting…….

 We were all happy to have our suitcases and finally stepped into the land of llamas to meet Andres, our tour guide for the trip! Andres got us on the bus and took us to the place we were going to stay. By the time we arrived and got settled in our bedrooms, we were exhausted and ready for bed as well as excited to start working with the locals in the morning.

The next morning, refreshed we headed to the slums for a day of work. When we arrived it appeared very depressing. It was foggy outside and there are just mounds and mounds and mounds of houses all stacked above one another on the hill….this was known as the slums in Pamplona Alta. It goes on for what seems forever.

 We got out of the bus and walked up the hill. It was a very steep climb walking up in just the dirt. This is what people did everyday to get to their houses. Some ladies even climbed in their heels. One lady even fell down the hill while she was pregnant.

We met some of the locals that we were going to be working with. People around the neighborhood would also just stop by and help or tell us thanks for doing this and what a difference it would make.Our first job was to gather rocks…lots and lots of rocks. The rocks were used to give the frame for the cement a steady foundation. Once we were done with the rocks we would load buckets with sand. With the sand, we added a cement mixture as well as agua. We all took turns mixing and would load the buckets with cement. Then we would make a long chain like lines and would pass the buckets to get poured into the frame for the stairs. This is what we did for most of our time at Pamplona Alta. The teens would make the work fun by playing games like telephono or we would sing or they would name the stray dogs that surrounded us.  

The hardest part had to be the smell. Something that you would think you would get used to after a while but man it was HORRIFIC. Indescribable but just imagine the smell of sewage mixed with urine and pig.

Our days were spent working from 9 to noon and then we would say The Angelus and have a lunch break in the bus. It was kind of hard to eat with the stench and the flies but we were always thankful for the food. After lunch we would get back to work until 4 or so. Some days when we would finish early, we would get to play with the kids at the top of the slums.

One of my favorite days was when we rented a bus and were able to take some of the kids from the slums to a mini-amusement park.  We each got paired with a couple of kids and had so much fun. It was a joy watching the teens and David try to manage and keep track of “their” child. The 3^rd grade classes at St. Thomas More donated $900 to our mission so that we could do this.

Although we worked hard, we also played hard. Andres gave us a grand tour of the city, we enjoyed and ate at the Peruvian restaurants and more importantly had loads of Inca Cola and became addicted to it. We also took a bus tour, had tea time, helado, did some bargaining and spent a evening at this awesome place called Parque de Aguas. It was a water park of so many pretty fountains. One was an awesome dancing fountain with hieroglyphics in it of dancing people…very cool. And I thought the dancing fountains in Vegas were cool….this tops it by a million! One day we even headed to an island to see some penguinos and seals. I was sad we didn't make it to Machu Pitchu but the prices were outrages. More reason to come back someday.

Our last day in the slums, we painted the stairs and planted trees. I always believed that beauty inspires you to do something great... by leaving our mark and making the stairs beautiful, we left our imprint to inspire. The people were so thankful for our hard work. They had a blessing ceremony for the stairs and made us a traditional lunch with potatoes and corn. It was very bittersweet to leave but we all felt that we did what we were called to do and left on a very high note.

Every night after dinner we would have group time. During this time we would go through the ups and downs of the day, and pray. Sue took down notes and wrote a Gospel (Good News) according to us. I thought I’d end with some of my favorites:

*I had so much fun working because I felt like I was actually helping someone.

*I was overwhelmed by the reality of life in such an ugly, horrible, desperate place.

*The dogs challenged me. I wanted to kick them off the hill.

* I really miss the sun.

*It makes me think of the things I take for granted. I just feel really selfish sometimes.

*Today I moved a lot of buckets.

*I really liked how we were working with them instead of just for them.

*It doesn’t really matter where you live- if you have a community that supports you, you’re proud to call it home.

*Andres knows all of our names. When someone knows your name you feel special.

*You don’t really think about where you’re born, but it’s crucial to who you become and the life you live.

*Beauty is so important for our souls. Beauty is one of the ways we encounter God.

*Think of how much easier the stairs will make it for people to get around, especially since their lives are not easy at all.

All my love,

L