Tuesday and Wednesday

Greetings from Lima Peru. We have been busy and we are really tired. Several are sick and could really use your prayer. Some of the youth are feeling pretty green. Riley seems to be the worst and can't seem to shake it. Sydney stayed home one day and bounced back fine. Courtney stayed home today...I think Allison has to stay home tomorrow. Riley too. 

I can't even remember how many things we have done since Santa Rosa. 

A group went to the music store. They bought strings, a cajon and shakers for the team in Santa Rosa. This is a picture of a panflute. The boys play these at the same time as playing the guitar. They make a beautiful sound. 

We went to a fabulous Peruvian restaurant called Mango's that was right on the ocean. We are all in agreement that Peruvian food is the best we have ever had. Many new flavors and dishes. Lydia and I are planning a trip to the world market to see if we can duplicate anything close to what is here. Being the adventuresome girls they are, Sydney and Cara especially enjoyed french fries.

The view from the restaurant was out of a post card. You would never know that Peruvians don't swim in their ocean. For the most part the ocean is part of the sewer system. We did see some people surfing...but also signs about red boils and warnings not to get in. We didn't need any more warning than that. The weather was beautiful and it was a fun refreshing time. 

I can't stress to you how much this group has blessed me personally. We have SO much fun. Wherever we go together we laugh until we cry. This photo is on the way to the car in the parking garage. Whoever said being a Christian wasn't fun....never met this team! 

We met several of the youth boys last night that live on the street. They went with us to a hamburger place that is out of someones home and only a few blocks from Geoff and Reachel's place. It was a great ice breaker for us with the guys. They came back and played authentic Peruvian music. I am proud to say that Lonnie could keep up with them! This is the music they play on the streets for money. They live day to day. We were told it is a problem for the young men here...that they don't have a desire to get off the streets because they do make enough to buy a meal or a room for the night. Lonnie got to speak to them some about this today at the music camp. The camp went really well considering we had people who had planned to teach out sick. Everyone moved around and God really moved there today. The youth were receptive...it is becoming personal now. They are our friends and we are theirs so they listen when we talk to them about Jesus. Which I had the honor to do today. 

Introduction to the streets -

Jason and I were given a true gift yesterday after all the work at the center was done. We walked the streets with Geoff and Anna the director of Palabra Heche Hombre (Word Made Flesh). We also had another staff member (Samuel) because we actually needed the protection of a group. I have to take a deep breath to even know how to convey to you what we saw. 

To start,  we had to get out of a taxi because the driver was afraid someone would break his window to get to Jason's camera. So right in the middle of an intersection he says GO. There is no doubt in my mind that God protected us during this walk. These were the real streets of Peru. The inner city streets where the kids live. Not many get to see this and we had a hard time dealing with emotions and conviction that rained down all around us. Jason is actually filming for Word Made Flesh, the church, and the Ingrums. A sort of multi functional documentary for anyone who wants to see what the program is about or what brought Geoff and Reachel here...or anyone who wants to know what a mission trip is all about. What being Christian is all about. 

We talked a lot about this on the way home. The fact that we all KNOW about poverty. As Christians, or even as American's we have been educated about what is out there. Even tho we easily forget. We get caught up in our own culture...which is buy more, have more, do more. SO it's not that we didn't expect to see bad things. Filth. Urine. Hunger. Babies in places I would literally not let my dog or my cat go. Babies we held and kissed. Beautiful babies and little girls and boys left unsupervised in places where anyone could hurt them. Young mothers who's hearts are hardened because they don' t know their worth.  Most of them are already living with hurt, abuse and neglect. Most of them have never known anything different. We realized that even if we spent our whole lives here...we wouldn't be able to help everyone. But some have been helped. A few. A few have found Christ. A few have returned to their homes. A few have found new homes. That is why we keep trying. Because even one is precious to God and we can't forget these people. We can't forget that God loves them as much as he loves you or me. That he commands us to be his hands and feet. The world has proclaimed that it is acceptable to forget these people. God has not. All four of these kids live on the streets. I could describe it but...I'm sure you already know and yeah, it really is THAT horrible. Please don't forget them. We sure won't.