Mission Peru

by Sarah Wright and Rachel Sloan

Today we had the amazing opportunity to visit one of the town dumps in Trujillo, Peru, to hand out fruit and converse with the locals. We were both deeply moved by what we experienced. We have seen pictures of the dump and we came to Peru knowing how little the people have, but seeing it first-hand was really shocking, to say the least. We would both like to share some of the experiences that impacted us.

As we stepped off the bus, we were floored by the tremendous amount of garbage that covered everything. Flies buzzed literally everywhere, black clouds that didn't seem to affect the people working there. With every step, our shoes sunk deeper into the mountains of waste. It's crazy to think that this is a place where many people spend a lifetime, desperately trying to survive.

As we handed out oranges, we would struggle to make a deeper connection than "Como estas?" We attempted to ask them about their families and their lives, which was extremely difficult with the language barrier.

We went up to one woman and asked her if we could pray for her. She agreed, and just as we were about to pray, she started to bless us in Spanish. We were able to understand that she was praying for things like our families, our protection and our future children. We couldn't understand much of what she was saying, but the idea that a stranger would care so much about two gringos she had never met was incredible and we couldn't help but weep. When it came time for us to pray for her we could barely get the words we wanted to say out.

We were praying for another woman and asked that if she had not received Christ that He would reveal Himself to her in some way. When we finished praying, she smiled at us, pointed to her heart and we could tell that she was saying that Jesus already lives in her heart. We all celebrated the fact that we would be seeing each other again in heaven someday.

There were two ladies sitting down in the piles of flies and trash. When we approached, one stood up and the other remained seated. We offered to pray for them and they both automatically pointed to the seated woman's knees. We were shocked at the idea that she was in pain, yet still struggling to make a living.

Overall, today was extremely challenging, heartbreaking and so encouraging. We were able to look past the garbage and see the beauty of God working in these people's lives. It was amazing to see how joyful they could be when they had virtually nothing; some had lost loved ones, others were abandoned to fend for themselves. One man that Sarah spoke with was testifying about how blessed he was and how faithful God has been in his life. It's inconceivable that the word 'blessed' can be used to describe the conditions that these people are living in. Today proved to us that God's power is made perfect in weakness and that even in the darkest, loneliest moments, Jesus' light can shine in unexpected ways.

"So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore, let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he injured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come." - Hebrews 13:12-14