Mission Peru

by Chris Schmitt, Jackie Moreau, Taylor Haveman & Michael Farquhar, Midland Alliance Church

Mike – The construction sight is very amazing! To see how far it has come in just this short period of time is crazy. After only a few days we have been able to level and concrete an entire cafeteria floor among other things. We have done so much. It is a great feeling to see the amount we have done and also the fact that the kids will be living in there soon. This mission trip has shown me so much.

We went to a house for a small group. It was sweet! There were 9 of us and we managed to fit in one cab, 4 in the front and 5 in the back. We started the night with worship and then had a message so powerful. I have learned that these are the most loving people. After the message they gave us a cup of tea and bun and we got back into a cab and went home. I am loving this trip and don’t want to leave.

Taylor – Today we visited the Daycare Centre. The instant we stepped into the little blue building we were swarmed by the children. We were there for about three hours, much of which was helping get the kids to eat. I met two boys named Antonio, a shy little boy that another kid told me was named Avi and a girl named Arrice who is the most affectionate and adorable little child I have ever met. I spent the most time trying to get a boy named Julio to eat his beans and rice. After they all finished their food we went outside and played on a small Soccer/Basketball court. Soon after I went outside my new amigo Arrice came over and asked to be spun around. She worked me like crazy and I was constantly running, spinning, lifting, twirling, twisting and hugging her over and over. Once in a while we had shoulder races where we would run across the court. Thinking back on all the kisses I got from her, it almost makes me cry when I realize I may never see her again. Two years from now I plan on coming back and if she is still there I don’t think I could withhold the tears (tears of joy) that I am just holding back as I write this now. Listening to them go on in Spanish is so fun and enjoyable because, even though we don’t understand eachother, we still understand the basic feeling of love they are trying to relay to us. After all the time we spent with those kids playing and just absolutely loving on them I was totally heart broken and emotional when leaving. It took all I had to hold back the hurricane of tears that I knew too well would come out if I let them. On top of that Trina started balling her eyes out which brought me that much closer to loosing my ability to hold them at bay. All in all the Daycare visit was an emotional roller coaster, some points high and some points low. People were laughing, crying, smiling, screaming and being just so absolutely crazy with joy. Seeing these kids so happy in these circumstances is a real testament to the work that Inca Link is doing here in Peru. I love every one of those kids and it nearly killed me to drive away. I thank God for the many people who sponser these amazing children and I look forward to maybe sponsoring one myself. Today was definitely one of the best days of my entire life.

Chris – My most eye opening thing this week has been the garbage dump which I talked about in my video blog as well. In this blog I am going to talk about the worship. I always thought Canada was the centre of the universe but I no longer think that. Even though the music was in a different language I knew the songs by the melodies being played. God is everywhere and this mission has re-lit my fire for God. The sad thing is leaving. I have made many friends within the team and when we leave I’ll probably never see them again. Everyday we worked I had a vision of what the final result would be.

Jackie – One evening we were blessed with an opportunity to connect with the local community. Families invited us into their homes for worship and prayer. These families were so humble and loving. They had no judgment about culture differences and they wanted to hear our testimonies. Our family lived up the mountain in a small home made of homemade clay bricks. They used string and sheets as their doors. Their floors were dirt and most of their chairs were makeshift probably for our visit. Although they have very little and live in what we would call poor conditions they are richer than we are because of their loving nature, humbleness and their love for the Lord. We talked about Genesis 6:9 and how Noah was a righteous man and built an Ark for God. Jesus Christ is our Ark into heaven because we believe and love him. To sing and pray with this family was so powerful and I was blessed to have met them during this mission to Peru. I thank God everyday for all the blessing he has poured upon me and all the things I have learned while staying in Trujillo Peru. 72 of us were sent here by God and we are all apart of his plan. We know that the work in Trujillo is far from over but we trust that greater things are yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city. We also know that our work at home lies ahead and pray for strength and courage to find our own paths and missions in Canada. Our hearts will be touched forever.