mountain roads and the many ways to travel them

hey friends,

i'm back from an exciting adventure to the mountains surrounding the the coastal town of Chincha. We visited Chincha and the surrounding mountain areas for the purpose of research. Our boss needed to know how many people lived in each village (we visited 4 and stayed in 3) and if there was any type of hostel, food, or fuel in these areas. The information is needed for when a U.S. church is looking to adopt an area they will have an idea of what they are getting into.

Chincha is about 3. 5 hours from Lima and the surrounding mountain villages that we visited were anywhere from 4 to 10 hours from Chincha. i learned that there is no one way to get from one village community to the next, in fact, i was able to personally expierence 4 different modes of transport. let me show you:

1. first mode of transportation, the "happy bus" as noted by this sign above the driver's head. we sat on this baby for about 9 hours up and down some of the steepest, narrowest roads i have ever been on. thankfully we had a seat on the inside vs. the roof!

some of our fellow travelers weren't quite so blessed so they made themselves comfortable with the luggage up top...

2. second form of transportation, a tractor. we sat *cough* comfortably in the trailor for about 5 hours. it actually brought back childhood hayride days for me.

kristen and i seated in the trailor beside a nice drum... the ppl were going to the next village to give a concert... how nice a random, at least they gave us a mattress to sit on!

3. we sat in the front seat of this bad boy for the record of 10 hours. a nice man who went back and forth from this village, where he cut wood, to the town of Chincha, where he delivered it, gave us a ride. we left at 3 p.m. and arrived at 3 a.m. with a two hour nap on the side of the road at 10:30 p.m.

4. this was our final form of mountain transport. these trucks are called "mixtos". not exactly sure why, but there are three rows of seats in the cab, and about 6 rows or benches up top where people can sit. the trucks also haul produce and other things that may need to be transported to the villages... in this case, mattresses.

here is a shot of the inside. notice how the cab has been cut and a wooden cab has been built around it. not sure how this works...and i'd rather not know. it got me up the mountain, that's all that matters.

here is one of the more tame portions of the road which we traveled a total of 4 times in one week.

now, all those hours of transportation can really allow for lots of thinking time. i don't know about ya'll, but driving and riding have always served the purpose of helping me think through tough issues and spiritual matters as well. i've never been able to read on a moving vehicle(and i didn't bring my MP3 player on this trip); therefore, after a combined 32 hours of mountain travel not including the 3. 5 hours each way to and from Lima i think i've pretty much thought through every aspect of my life. please allow me to share a bit of that with you.

God has been working on my faith here lately. do i really believe Him? of course i believe IN Him, but that's not the question. do i believe Him? when He gives me a promise like "He who began a good work in you is faithful to complete it" or "i will never leave you or forsake you" do i BELIEVE Him? i'm confessing to you that i haven't always had the best ability to trust, but God is really doing a work in me. i really think the scary mountian roads and the not so reliable transportation or scheduling of transportation has increased my faith more than i can understand. by being able to pray that the bus would kick into gear and make it up the mountain and then immediately feel the result of that prayer increased my faith. then to pray for a place to stay when we got to the next village and then be able to sleep in a bed when i got there showed God's provision in a real way. i guess this thinking is pretty simplistic, but isn't the gospel and doesn't it all hinge on belief? during this week in the mountains i didn't trust "chance" that those needs of provision and safety would be met, but i definately believed God that He was going to provide every need. all in all this adventure has refreshed my walk with my heavenly Father.

Please click on the "ALL MY PICTURES" link to the right --> to see more pictures from my trip!

does not seek its own

Is life not just a daily lesson in love? This central theme of the Bible seems to have recently seeped into every corner of my existence. From disaster relief work in Ica to living with 4 new roommates, God is reminding me that we have been placed on this Earth to show His love and to also experience the love that He desires to give to us. It is amazing to me how He is constantly surrounding us with people that both need to feel His love through us and also those who fill our need for that same love. God tells us in His Word that the world will know we are His disciples if we love one another... how do we show this? We mourn with those who mourn and we rejoice with those who rejoice. I find it easier at times to mourn with those who are mourning, for example those who have lost everything in this earthquake, verses rejoicing with those who rejoice. I guess I am able to be happy for people, but I think at times it is just easier for me to relate to their pain. Or maybe it's because when you are in pain or difficult to understand times in your own life it is hard to understand the joy of others. However, we are not given an option here. We are not told to rejoice with others when we too are rejoicing in our own lives. The Word doesn't say you can choose one over the other, but instead in the previous verses it says "let love be without hypocrisy".

All of this is still so very difficult for me. I feel like my love is filled with hypocrisy everyday. I guess the best thing to do is just to let go of my need to "do well". My heart's cry is to have Christ's attitude and His servant nature. Please pray with me that I will learn to love and that God will get the glory.

And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. I Corinthians 13:3

Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart. I Peter 1:22

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. John 13:34

For more pictures of Ica click the "ALL MY PICTURES" link to the right --->

I love ya'll!!

Ica- Disaster Relief

Just wanted to let ya'll know what I've been up to. Life has been a little crazy here lately. After returning from the U.S. I stayed busy working here in Lima in order to get food and supplies prepared to send to Ica. I was also asked to stay at the Brinkley's house in order to watch their house and dogs the weekend of the 24th -27th. Then on Tuesday (the 28th) I finally got my opportunity to go down South and help with the relief work! Yay! I was sooo excited! This is what I've been waiting for my whole life. I just love helping people. I talked to my Mama today and she said that everybody back home is very happy for me right now because they know this is what I've always wanted to do. And they (or ya'll I should say) are right... I've waited my whole life for an opportunity like this. So, I was only able to stay in Ica two days, but they were both incredible. The first day I arrived I was able to help the ladies cook lunch and clean for our teams coming in. That afternoon we went out into a community named "El Olivo". This place was unreal. Every house in the community was destroyed. The day I went we gave them blankets, one per family. In the days before they had received food from us for their community kitchen. In order to receive foods for the community kitchens the people have to have their communities organized into families. We give food to the community kitchens and they feed the entire community for a week or so at a time. We return to these communities to check on them and just talk with the people. The day I was in El Olivo I had the opportunity to talk with several women for a couple hours. They are all so open to the gospel. They have been so close to death and are really thinking in terms of eternity. I met a lady named Margarita and her granddaughter Pamela. They took me to their house (the remains) and introduced me to the daughter and I think the daughter's husband, but he could have been the grandfather. It is hard to tell sometimes. But they allowed me to take pictures and they told me their story about the night of the earthquake. Standing in the middle of the remains of their house was just unreal. I couldn't even really grasp where I was. I can't imagine what these people are thinking. I went to another community and was standing with a lady beside the remains of her house and suddenly an adobe brick fell off the back of the house. It was so unnerving. It really made me wonder how these people were feeling the night of the quake with everything falling around them.



Here are a few photos to give you an idea:

Margarita and Pamela in the front doorway of the remains of their house

the back doorway

Margarita, her daughter (doing laundry) and her granddaughter in their makeshift house

Me chatting with a few ladies

the sign on the front of the community center

I came back from that trip on Thursday (the 30th). I am staying at the Brinkley's house again this weekend so that both of them can be in Ica. I will leave again on Monday morning at 6 a.m. to go to Ica again. Hopefully I will be able to stay a little longer this time.

The people who are there now are going to start Bible studies in some of these communities tomorrow. Please pray for them and me as we teach the Bible in these devastated communities. I am thrilled to be able to help in this way.

I haven't had time to sleep in my own bed for a very long time now. I am learning that for now my life is not going to be a settled one. I talked to my Mama today and she said she knew when I was born I would always be on the go, after all, I was born feet first.
So, I'm outta here! I love ya'll!

To see more picture of Ica click the "ALL MY PICTURES" link to the right ---->

remember to read Kevin's blog and the ReachPeru updates. http://swisa.blogspot.com/, www.reachperu.com/reliefinfo