Peru Project

What a great day! We took 15 kids from the orphanage to the Lima Zoo today - after an hour bus ride (are we there yet?) we walked through the exhibits which were styled after the Peruvian land (Amazon, desert, highlands, etc). The top three animals were the penguins, the tigers and the lions!

Tomorrow we have a short work day at Hannahs, a farewell visit with the orphans, a visit to a police holding center for abandoned children in Lima, a brief shopping trip at the Indian Market and then wing our way home.

Thank you for praying for us each day - God has blessed us and we are coming home soon to tell you all !

david castillo

MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF PERU THE NIGHT WE ARRIVED AND THE FOLLOWING DAY: how in the world can this many people survive in this arid, barren land where everything seems to be shades of brown, with a small oasis of green on rare occasions. You would certainly have a struggle prospering in a land where it almost never rains, and an earthquake has tremendous impacts on so many lives. But we have met many caring, loving people who give their time energy and lives. Every time I have given of myself it has always been when it was convenient, usually to help my wife do the things that she cares about such as fostering children, runnings all sorts of errands for friends, babysitting, etc. Now I have finally decided to be more active and give of whatever talents I have and start to be a blessing to others and my family. Hopefully my heart will be softened along the way and I can be the man God wants me to be.

Ron

After worship and devotions on the beach this morning, we had ate breakfast and headed off to Hannah’s. Ron, Keith and Willmer, our Peruvian brother, finished the installation of the three toilets and three sinks for the pregnancy center. Kate finished the inventory of the medicines, vitamins, and clothing that has been donated. Ken ran the chop saw cutting sheet metal sections for the roof trusses, while Dave used the tin snips to cut trim the fitted pieces. Fay and David assembled the tresses in the morning, and were joined by Ron and Keith in the afternoon. Altogether, we assembled 22 trusses Yeehaw!

For lunch, we went a nearby fishing village named Pucusana and ate a variety of fish dishes, including calamari (yum). Kate ordered a bowl of potato soup - it wasn’t quite the same as back home — sliced carrots and french fries in a clear broth.

The restaurant was located on a small inlet - a mountain separated us from the ocean, which crashed through a “keyhole” cut into the mountain. The picture below explains this beautiful scene.

Tomorrow, we are going to the Zoo, with 15 kids from Hogar’s Orphanage - our Compassion kids are not able to come because of the farmer’s strike, which has paralyzed the roads and bus transportation outside of Lima. We have our own transportation, so we are safe and able to travel.

God has continued to bless and protect us.

david castillo

Started off the day with b-fast at 8am…dos eggs, bread and oj…yum! Followed with prayer led by Fay and singing with the aide of Fay’s I-Pod/speaker gizmo. A short trip made shorter by Ricky to Hannah’s. Efforts today focused on installing some plumbing fixtures in Hannah’s Home, assembling some trusses for Hanna’s Hope and updating on-hand medical inventory lists.

The afternoon brought us the joy of playing several games with children from the orphanage across the street. It seems that after a labor intensive everyone is pretty spent, but announcement of the children’s arrival brings everyone a second wind :). Upon the children’s arrival, various versions of David’s infamous parachute game were played. The fun moved inside so the kids, big and small, could make some crafts. The kids left and we returned to Ole Grande for dinner and daily wrap up.

Ken

After deciding to sponsor a Compassion child that morning, I was then being able to meet him that afternoon. I was able to see the love that he has for me, even though he had never met me. It was an incredible experience. The language barrier was broken with love. I want to thank God for giving me this opportunity.

Today I was invited to visit his home. His dad, Juan, picked us up in a mototaxi. We drove for a few minutes from the church where we are working. The home made of adobe was destroyed in the earthquake. There were a few walls standing, but they were roped off for danger of falling. They are living in a structure wrapped in black plastic. It was very humbling to see them living in that situation. Through a translator, we had a great conversation sharing information about our families and our work.

I was able to share the gospel with him, and I told him that when he is ready, he can accept Jesus and be baptized.

I tried to shed a little hope in their situation. And I think there is hope.

Keith

Feb. 18, 2008 Chincha Alta, Peru:  Our hodge podge group of brothers & sisters for Christ were honored with a lesson of love & joy of life today. Chincha was near the epicenter of the Aug ‘07 earthquake that devastated many towns here. The destruction at Pastor Desis church (Iglesia Emmanuel) and Compassion school was extensive. The parsonage was completely destroyed. Most of the classrooms were rendered unsafe.  Now the family lives & conducts the church business in what was the sanctuary & holds prayer and classes in the courtyard under canopies. Despite all the hardship of this community we were greeted today by joyful, loving people who gave us sincere heartfelt hugs and handshakes though we were total strangers.  They worked beside us and didnt seem to take as many breaks as we did.

Our mission here was 2 fold: Do what we could to progress the construction of the new parsonage and to share our love of Jesus with the children of the Compassion school. One was hard- one very easy.  We accomplished both with God’s help and were blessed with sore bodies and soaring spirits. The indescribable joy of meeting our Compassion child, holding her on our lap and conversing with her is one David & I will hold dear forever.  Several other team members met theirs for the first time as well and their hearts swelled with the bond and connection made today.  There is more hard work to be done but it is well balanced with love, joy and blessings from Jesus given so freely by these people of Peru.  Please keep in prayer these children, their families and the church community that works so hard to make the love of God real to these people.  —Kate

We arrived in Lima last night an hour later than expected, due to tornado warnings in Houston.  After collecting our baggage,  we drove to Punta Negra and crawled into bed at 3:15 this morning.  In a few minutes, we’ll have breakast and head to Pastor Jorge’s church for worship.  Afterwards, we’ll head to lunch at Hannah’s Home (Child each’s pregnancy center) and then on to Chincha for our first project.

God has blessed us with safe travel, good fellowship, and later tonight … more sleep.

One of our projects is to paint the inside of the sanctuary at Emmanuel in the village of Chincha. This sanctuary was badly damaged in the earthquake last August, and a mission team repaired the walls two weeks ago. Here’s a picture of how it looked last April, before the earthquake. This church sponsors Compassion project #369, serving over 190 children.

David

Please pray for us as we leave for Peru on Saturday, Feb 16th. There are seven from NW Hills on this trip - Fay, Ken, Ron, Keith, David and Kate, and myself. Our plan is to write each day at lunch and upload to this website each evening.

David Castillo