Culture Shocked!
Wow... I find myself getting on a roll with Blogging... then I seem to slip away. It just proves I have ADHD!
So here is the story... I was blessed to have the opportunity to be a part of a mission trip to Lima Peru. I have never been out of the country before... so this was a very new experience!
I said at the beginning of the year that I wanted to take risks with my faith this year... this was the big step for that! God put it on my heart to stretch myself and do new things.... DONE AND DONE! Actually... not done, just the beginning.
So I plan on adding some posts about my trip. So check back... I promise I will add some new ones!
Here is the summary... late last year we formed a team of 15 folks from my church. We were led by the one and only Mr. Marc Holtey! He has been on several mission trips to Central America and is a great man of God, and a heckuva leader!
So over a span of like 3 or 4 months our team met... we got trained on the Culture and the basics of the trip. We prayed and prepared... that God would use us to do great things in Peru!
Lima is the capital of Peru and inhabits close to 10 million people! We stayed in a neighborhood called Bocanegra. Much of the residents of Peru live in poverty, according to a statistic from a few years ago, 49% of Peruvians live below the poverty line and 12.5% live under $1 a day.
The people of Bocanegra are fortunate, for the most part then have indoor plumbing and running water (although it is cold and restricted... water is turned off between 10pm and 7am each day). When the city was established the president at the time had given the residents of that area free land and free building materials. I wish I knew more about that. Elsewhere in Lima, many people lived in what is referred to as "shantytowns" because the people live in shacks, many of which are made of various materials, like wood, metal pieces, branches & cardboard.
During our trip we saw varying degree's of living situations, most of which made the poorest parts of the U.S. look well off. Depending on your perspective as an American, you could walk away saying, "wow... I am blessed to have what I have" or "I don't feel right about having what I have knowing others are living like this". I fell in the middle somewhere.. closer to the latter.
It was challenged to really make sure that I am a good steward of what I have. I live in a country that is built on the quest for more. The media and all of the marketing want to remind you that there is always something better out there... and YOU REALLY NEED IT! It's a lie... sorry to burst your bubble. We are called to live a modest life of contentment. Or I should say.. .I am called to do so. But the vicious cycle of materialism is destroying many Americans. "The borrower is a slave to the lender", those were wise words from a very wise book. I am sick of being a slave, the people of Peru that I met are free. They have very little in comparison to an American, but that is what they need. Their families are healthy and they are content. I want what they have.
OK... no that I got that out of the way! I am still processing what happened in Peru... I walked away from the trip changed... mostly with a new perspective, and a renewed sense of the Faith in which I proclaim. I have said this numerous times... but I traveled over 4000 miles to see confirmation that my God is so big!
Please keep checking back.. I will be posting the stories and the photo's.
I
So here is the story... I was blessed to have the opportunity to be a part of a mission trip to Lima Peru. I have never been out of the country before... so this was a very new experience!
I said at the beginning of the year that I wanted to take risks with my faith this year... this was the big step for that! God put it on my heart to stretch myself and do new things.... DONE AND DONE! Actually... not done, just the beginning.
So I plan on adding some posts about my trip. So check back... I promise I will add some new ones!
Here is the summary... late last year we formed a team of 15 folks from my church. We were led by the one and only Mr. Marc Holtey! He has been on several mission trips to Central America and is a great man of God, and a heckuva leader!
So over a span of like 3 or 4 months our team met... we got trained on the Culture and the basics of the trip. We prayed and prepared... that God would use us to do great things in Peru!
Lima is the capital of Peru and inhabits close to 10 million people! We stayed in a neighborhood called Bocanegra. Much of the residents of Peru live in poverty, according to a statistic from a few years ago, 49% of Peruvians live below the poverty line and 12.5% live under $1 a day.
The people of Bocanegra are fortunate, for the most part then have indoor plumbing and running water (although it is cold and restricted... water is turned off between 10pm and 7am each day). When the city was established the president at the time had given the residents of that area free land and free building materials. I wish I knew more about that. Elsewhere in Lima, many people lived in what is referred to as "shantytowns" because the people live in shacks, many of which are made of various materials, like wood, metal pieces, branches & cardboard.
During our trip we saw varying degree's of living situations, most of which made the poorest parts of the U.S. look well off. Depending on your perspective as an American, you could walk away saying, "wow... I am blessed to have what I have" or "I don't feel right about having what I have knowing others are living like this". I fell in the middle somewhere.. closer to the latter.
It was challenged to really make sure that I am a good steward of what I have. I live in a country that is built on the quest for more. The media and all of the marketing want to remind you that there is always something better out there... and YOU REALLY NEED IT! It's a lie... sorry to burst your bubble. We are called to live a modest life of contentment. Or I should say.. .I am called to do so. But the vicious cycle of materialism is destroying many Americans. "The borrower is a slave to the lender", those were wise words from a very wise book. I am sick of being a slave, the people of Peru that I met are free. They have very little in comparison to an American, but that is what they need. Their families are healthy and they are content. I want what they have.
OK... no that I got that out of the way! I am still processing what happened in Peru... I walked away from the trip changed... mostly with a new perspective, and a renewed sense of the Faith in which I proclaim. I have said this numerous times... but I traveled over 4000 miles to see confirmation that my God is so big!
Please keep checking back.. I will be posting the stories and the photo's.
I
Labels: Part-Time Peruvians
posted by Dan at 11:26 PM
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