Being in Peru stirs something deep inside of me.  Each time I have come here I realize that it is because we are joining God here.  To see the love in the eyes of the people we come into contact with is very powerful.  It definitely reminds me the He is everywhere and He is patiently waiting on us to join Him. 

So far we have had an amazing two days. They young men with us got their first nights lengthy 4-1/2 hours of sleep and they began digging a septic system for Hannah’s Hope. They worked until they could no longer shovel and wheelbarrow any more dirt. To see their energy levels rise when they found out we were going across the street to meet the kids at Hogar is fun.  It was surprising how they were recharged when hugs turned into games of soccer and running with the kids. 

The evening was then spent discussing our day and also talking about the book that we are reading together.  The book is titled “Sacred Marriage.”  Having a mixture of ages from 24 to 80 years old, and a range on years of marriage from 4 months to 54 years has made for some very deep conversations.  One thing is for sure, everyone values their relationship with their spouse but more importantly everyone wants to learn to be a better husband.  We have learned that for our marriages to blossom we must have a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God.  There is not a better place to learn about what is most important to God than being in Peru and loving on the children that are here.

Compassion day today was an opportunity to see the children that we write to and share our lives with through the letters that we send.  To put the faces with the words and hugs iwth the pictures we receive can hardly be described.  It is a feeling that I will not forget.  When asked the question of where did you see God today, my answer was “in the eyes of the girls that my wife and I sponsor.”  In their eyes I saw love and that is definitely a gift from God. 

As I close I cannot wait to see what He has in store for us tomorrow.

Steve

Today was the second day of our trip here in Peru.  We were all very anxious and nervous for this particular day.  Today was the day we were to meet our Compassion sponsored kids!  Many of us have been praying for strength to not break down in this moment, to stay composed and not scare the kids!  The Lord answered our prayers.  We arrived at El Pueblo around 9 AM to meet with the kids, but were a little early.  Ricky led us around the grounds to give us the lay of the land so that when we were with the kids we knew what this “wonderland” had to offer.  It was truely an amzing place!  It even had grass.  The kids showed up around 10 AM and we all stood by wondering what this experience would hold.  With the power of God behind both bus loads of Peruvians and Gringos we came together.  I walked forward to meet Eli and his mother Elida and was met by the translator with a huge handshake and welcoming “Gracias.”  I immediately reached out both arms for Eli and he walked forward and hugged me!  I lifted him up to embrace in a hug and he kissed me on the cheek.  His mom was weeping with joy beside us while the translator beemed.  I thought to myself “Thanks God for answering my prayer for composer!!!” NOT!  Man was that a life changing minute.  I looked around to see my fellow gringos tearing up, loving, laughing, and embracing families in the moment.  We all ran off with the kids and started to play.  “Vamos” said the translator as Eli looked up at the biggest jungle gym he’d ever seen.  Abraham (which is Eli, I learned they call him by his second name!) looked down at me and said “padrinos aqui!” meaning sponsor come here.  I took off my shoes and joined him in the kid size jungle gym only to find that my dad and Eric had already been through it!  To pause for a minute, i must tell you about the word padrinos.  It is their word for sponsor but what it means in their langauge is Godfather.  I came to love that word.  Anyway, after 35 times around the gym and down the slide we went to lunch (two hours after first arrival.)  Lunch was amazing.  All of the Compassion kids were given their food first which I thought was amazing.  They put the kids first all day and by they I mean the servers at El Pueblo.  Next to me sat Glen holding a mother’s months old baby so she could eat while the food was hot.  The consensus tonight during conversation was that was a “God moment.”  Abraham ate most of his food and kept tapping my shoulders shouting “aqui, aqui!” which meant that he wanted up on my shoulders again.  After lunch we walked back down to get the backpacks for the kids and we had another God moment.  In front of me, my dad was walking with his four sponsored girls and they were all holding hands.  He looked like Jesus loving kids and I was so proud of him.  We got to the bus and off loaded the backpacks and picked a spot in the shade under the tree.  The kids went through their backpacks and set the stuff out to see all that they got.  Abraham was so excited that he asked the translator is he could give me a kiss and before he could translate, Abraham’s arms were around me and he was kissing my cheek.  Eric was to the side snapping HQ shots of these kodak moments and we said “whiskey!” and got a shot with big smiles.  Cheese for the kids translates to “queso” and Terrry told us you don’t want the kids saying “ohhhhhh” for a picture so he said use “whiskey.”  LOL!!!  There is nothing like all of us lined up for a group picture and all of the kids yelling “WHISKKEYYYYYY!”  You must understand that this is a very shortened version of the day, but after that we played more, hugged, loved each other, and had to say good bye.  I think every one of us was invited back to our respective kid’s homes!  The peruvian families were all very gracious.  We all loaded back on the bus and sat there for just a second in silence and all at once there was an explosion of “Did you see what my kid did??”  “Oh man, when this happened”  “Do we have to go?!” etc.  It was another yay God moment to see teary eyed happiness is so many tough guys.  My ending comment for day twos blog is that I suggest you grab one of us when we get home and ask for the unabridged version of the days events.  God will wreck your heart with it just like he did mine.  The was a phenominal day and God and Compassion and ChildReach blew away my expectations.  I can’t wait for tomorrow…

Arrived without any complications.  The children of Hogar continue to amaze us.  The work at Hannah’s is amazing.  God is definitely present here.

Look for more this evening.