Okay, I’m going to try to wrap up the last couple of weeks of my time in Peru, but since there’s a lot of stuff that went on, I’m only going to touch on the highlights. Sorry it's so long.
With only about a week left in Cabana, we set out to make the absolute most of it we could and fill it up with people time and sharing the Gospel. So, the Friday before we left, I cooked again with Jackie, and after we ate, we again talked to her about how important it is to have a relationship with Christ. She kind of just listened again and didn’t really respond, so all we can do is keep praying for her now. After we left, we went to Irene’s store (the telephone place) and shared the Gospel and the reason we came to Cabana with her, Anthony, and her other son Luis Angel. Irene and Anthony were very responsive and asked some awesome questions, which really encouraged us. That night we hung out with Wílder, Elva, Daniel, and the other Anthony, and we got to talk to them again about Christ. We asked them some tough questions to make them really think about things, and we’re continuing to pray for them as well. So, all-in-all, we got to share Christ 3 times on Friday, a new record : ).
Saturday night we went over to Zócima’s place and talked with her for a long time. We discussed her doubts and questions, and we continued to emphasize the relationship aspect of Christianity. After over 2 hours of talking with her, she said she wanted to pray to accept Christ, and we were super pumped! First, though, we asked her a few questions to make sure that she really understood and wasn’t just saying this to please us, and then we prayed with her. It was so incredible because after so long here in Cabana, we finally got to see some fruit.
Sunday morning we got up early because we went to go help Zócima decorate for a wedding. We blew up at least a hundred balloons, which tended to pop very loudly. So that was fun. We decorated for several hours, and then around noon or so, Shane and I went to the hostel to see if the church team had arrived yet, and awesomely enough, they got there about 5 minutes after we did. So, we helped them unload and get rooms, and then we all went back to finish decorating. Oh yeah, the really strange part about this day was that it rained all day long, which was horribly cold and miserable. Anyways, after we finished decorating, we ate lunch and went back to the hostel. We couldn’t really do much that day because since it was raining, most people stayed in their houses, and a lot of people were at the wedding and reception most of the day. So, we just hung out in the hostel and talked with Kevin and the team, which consisted of Shane’s parents and another translator. David and Kelly shared the Gospel with a group of boys that David had played with a lot, and it was so cool because they all raised their hands to accept Christ. Even if some of them only did it because everyone else did, they still heard the Gospel, and hopefully when they get older they’ll remember that and truly understand it.
Thankfully it stopped raining around mid-morning on Monday, so we got to play volleyball and go to Aucará for the last English class and Bible study. Shane’s dad, who is a counselor, stayed in Cabana with the other translator, Juvenal, and counseled Elva and Wílder, who if you remember had been having relationship problems. The rest of us plus young Anthony (Irene’s son) went to Aucará, but unfortunately we had to have a very short class/Bible study in this little room in the municipal building with only about 10 people because they didn’t have the key to the auditorium. I taught a few phrases for about 15 minutes, and then David and Kelly shared a Bible story, and then Shane and Kelly summarized the Gospel message. There were two women who expressed interest in the Gospel, so Shane and Kelly talked with them afterwards, and they accepted Christ! Probably the most exciting thing for me, though, happened while we were waiting for Shane and Kelly to finish talking with the two women. David and Kevin had been trying to talk to Anthony (their Spanish is limited), and so they called me over to help them out. When I asked Anthony what he had said, he replied, “I am a Catholic, but now I see that Jesus is the only way to God.” I was just stunned because he was completely serious (which is rare; he’s pretty goofy) and he had just come out and said it basically without any prompting or leading. It was awesome because we had spent a lot of time with him and had shared with him several times before, but that night it just clicked for him. So, with my limited Spanish, David and I talked with him to make sure he understood, and then we prayed with him, and he too accepted Christ! That was probably the best moment of this whole summer for me because I could tell he really meant it, and I was so excited because we had spent so much time with him and gotten to know him pretty well, and to get to see him accept Christ was the best thing ever.
Tuesday July 28th was Peru’s Independence Day, so we went to the parade in the plaza, and we actually were invited to march in the parade too! We were really excited because we felt that is showed that we were truly part of the community and that they people accepted and respected us. We all wore red and white, the colors of the flag, and joined in to sing the national anthem. After the festival, which thankfully was pretty short, we went to lunch, and then Kevin and Juvenal shared the Gospel with Deciderio, and he also accepted Christ! So, the last week we were in Cabana, 5 people and the group of boys all became Christians, which was awesome but at the same time hard because we had to leave and couldn’t continue encouraging them or discipling them. But we have to just trust the God will continue to work and grow in them. That afternoon, we went with Wilder, Elva, Roy, and Anthony (older one) to Sondondo, which is about a 20 minute ride away. I am so glad we decided to go there before we left. It’s down at the bottom of the valley next to the river, and you can’t even get to it by truck. You have to park next to the awesome suspension bridge, and just walk over. The four of them lead us around the town, and the whole time we could tell that they were heading to a specific place, but we just followed without asking them where we were going. Finally, we arrived to where they were taking us: a huge, beautiful, rushing waterfall. It was stunning. We took tons of pictures, and then Kevin decided he would get in, so he took his shoes off, waded through the pool at the bottom, and actually got in the waterfall. I was debating about whether I should do it or not because I knew it would be absolutely freezing, and I made up my mind that I could not pass up the opportunity. So I did it. I was right: it was freezing, but totally worth it. Kevin and I high-fived as awesome Texans, but the boys were still skeptical about getting in. Finally, we convinced them to do it, so we were all shivering but exhilarated for the ride home. It was the perfect way to end our time there.
Wednesday we got up dreading having to say good bye to so many friends. We slowly finished packing up our things and loading them into the van, and then began the long, sad process of saying good bye. We were given lots of fruit and cheese, took lots of pictures, and as we loaded up to leave, we were surrounded by a huge group of kids. Thankfully I managed to keep from crying until we were driving off, but what made it worse was that the kids ran alongside the van, waving and shouting as we left. As we got farther and farther away, I just couldn’t believe that I was looking my last (at least for a while) on the beautiful valley that had been my home for 2 months, and I prayed that I would return someday. We drove to Puquio and stopped at the house of Jhoannes in the hopes of getting to see that wonderful little boy before we left. Unfortunately, he was on vacation with his grandmother in another town, but we talked with his mother and got to talk to him on the phone, too. Then we left and drove to Nasca, where we stayed the night.
We got up the next morning to finish our journey to Lima, and we stopped a little outside of Nasca to climb this tower so that we could see 2 of the 13 Nasca lines. They were pretty cool, but I hope to come back and fly over them someday. We got to Lima and ate at Chili’s, which was weird, and then headed to the camp for end of summer debrief.
We were at the camp from Thursday evening through Sunday morning, and we all had individual and team interviews as well as team testimonials with all the other teams. It was nice to see all the other groups and hear their stories, but I wish I could have spent that extra time in Cabana instead. I hung out with David, Shane, Shane’s parents, and Kelly the rest of the day on Sunday (Kevin had left on Friday), and then Kelly and I tearfully said good bye to the boys at the airport. That was a really tough good bye, but I know I will see them again soon. I stayed the night at Kelly’s parents’ house, and it was really cool to meet her family. They are so nice and hospitable.
Monday I met up with Kelly Lockhart, another student missionary, and we checked into a hotel to begin our vacation time. I’ll be really quick about my time in Lima. We shopped, bought a lot of gifts and souvenirs, and went to downtown Lima and saw the original Plaza de Armas as well as toured a monastery with catacombs (which were cool but creepy). Kelly translator and I went to the beach, I got attacked by a wave, we talked a lot, went to this cool district of Lima where I got a few more gifts and a hair weave thing, and met up with some more missionaries to have dinner. The last day (Thursday) that Kelly Lockhart and I spent in Lima, we got up, checked out of our hotel, went to the grocery store to get some Peruvian food, and then hung out at the hotel for a while. We were going to go paragliding and we were really pumped about it, but unfortunately there wasn’t enough wind to do it, so we just chilled at the hotel, and Kelly translator and I talked for a while. Kelly translator was going to have to work and couldn’t go with us to the airport, so I walked her to the street where she would take a taxi. That was probably the hardest good bye ever, and we just stood there on the sidewalk, crying, hugging, and praying, and then she left and I walked back to the hotel. Kelly Lockhart, another missionary named Paul, and I took a taxi to the airport, went through security, walked around in the shops for a while, and then got on the plane at like 11:30 pm. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sleep, so I just watched some movies and then watched the flight map as we slowly got closer to Houston. Finally we landed, I got through security, and I flew into the open arms of David (boyfriend), who had come to pick me up.
Since I’ve been home, I’ve had a wonderful time with my family, friends, and David, but I really miss Cabana and Kelly and David and Shane. Please pray for all of our adjustments to life back in the U.S. and that we would be faithful in prayer for the people of Peru and Cabana. Please pray also that we would continue our ministry wherever we are, and that we would just live out the love of Christ in our everyday lives. Thank you all for staying with me throughout all this, and thank you so much for your prayers!
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