God Don't Owe Us Anything. Ya dig? Pt 2

We walked out of the airport and onto the bus that was going to take us 45 min outside the city to our hotel. The parking lot of the airport looked like the one of a small airport maybe in a city in florida or something, but outside those gates was a whole new world. Our bus pulled out to the streets and motorcyclists and motorchariots are zipping by driving anywhere they can. I was nervous to see how we were going to get out onto the road because they never seemed to stop coming. Finally we start pulling out and I thought we were surely going to hit someone, but all the motocycles and chariots just zipped right around us. I also picked up very quickly that when people honk their horns in America, they are angry or trying to warn someone, while in peru they honk to let them know they are passing someone. I saw no cars. Just buses that looked about 30 or 40 years old and JAMMED PACKED with people, and motorcycles and motorchariots. You get up close and personal on a bus. I sat beside the three kids of the family of 5 that went with us on the trip. They came here a few days before we did to explore Machu Pichu and a few other breath-taking places. I was holding onto my backpack for dear life. Our driver was driving on whatever side of the road he wanted and was going very fast on curvy roads, I was sure we were going to crash. The girl beside me saw I was nervous and said "Don't worry, they never crash. We went to Machu Pichu and I thought we were going to die. We were driving like this only on the side of a mountain on a narrow road. " I was relieved some. I took out my iPhone and began to film our ride to the hotel, not because I wanted to make a sad video out of it, but because I wanted to remember what I saw. I didn't want to forget this moment I was in. I was experiencing culture shock at the time and did not know what to think, so I recorded it to remember later.

 Not Forgotten's Land

    We arrived at the Hotel 45min later, got off the bus, and waited for the truck to get there with our luggage. At the hotel, there was a pool, and all the roofs were thatch roofs, but wooden roofs in the rooms. We waited at the gazebo/ outdoor eating area. There was a flatscreen TV out there to watch soccer. The hotel was RIGHT beside Not Forgotten's (organization I went with) new land. It had just been cleared off with bulldozers the week before we came. It was beautiful. As I looked out over the land, this sense of hope came to my mind that comforted me of whatever was in store for the rest of the week. The luggage truck finally got there and we were assigned our rooms. I roomed with Christie and Jenna. There was no air conditioner for those wondering. We were lucky, we had 2 fans in our room. The beds were dressed in orange comforters and white sheets. The floor was tile with a few rugs near the beds. We had this big wardrobe thing that looked like the entrance to Narnia in the corner of the room. We let another team member put her big bag of gifts for the boys in the wardrobe.  Kristen came in and informed us that after we finished putting our things, we were to return back to the gazebo. I noticed some cockroaches crawling around on the walkway and knew they would be in our rooms. After I sprayed on some mosquito repellent, I put my suitcase up on my bed and MADE SURE it was closed shut. I did the same with my backpack and purse. I walked down to the gazebo to meet up with the rest of the group. A group of Koreans were staying at the lodge as well. They were slightly loud and already eating (it was about 4 or 5 in the evening). Some others were staying at the hotel as well. There usually weren't that many people to stay at the lodge, but the day happened to be San Juan's day. It is a holiday to commemorate Saint John , but kinda seemed like marti gras in a way. The legend is that every night on San Juan, it rains. Kids were swimming in the pool and running everywhere. We were served dinner, chicken and rice, with these potato stick things..I really do not remember what they were called, they were not potatoes. I think they were plantains. Anyways, they were pretty good. They had a sauce that was suppose to go with them. I noticed people eating the peruvian mayonnaise with the rice...so I tried it. It was great! When we finished eating, the boys arrived and we were to go meet them. We small-talked for a while then we were all hearded to Not Forgotten's land.
     Kristen spoke to the boys in spanish telling them to introduce themselves by name and age. One of the boys knew english and introduced himself that way. We were glad to know SOMEONE knew what we were saying haha. We also introduced ourselves. Kristen, Tyler, and Allison (Leaders) then explained what work we would be doing on the land. Kristen and Allison noticed that the land was marked at Kilometer 49. This was a crazy God thing because Not Forgotten's scripture verse for the organization is Isaiah 49:15-16. We went back to the lodge to put on our swimsuits and get ready to go to the river/beach place. The boys came over on a smallish bus where some of them were standing up already...we decided to fit 25 more big Americans on that bus as well. In total, we probably had 40+ people on the small bus.. and 2 dogs.
    * At this time I would like to correct myself. In a previous post I wrote before going on the trip, I referred to the boys as "street boys". I do not like this term for several reasons. One being that these precious boys do not belong to the street, they belong to Christ. Not all of them were abandoned on the street by themselves. Many have stories just like to mine and yours. Some may come from divorced parents, some in an abusive home, much like our stories. We aren't to look at them and take pity and feel sorry for them, we are to embrace their reality and share and show the love of Christ. We are their brothers and sisters in Christ, and having compassion for our brothers is different then taking pity. Compassion shows true love and caring for someone, serving them with only the intention of their benefit. Pity shows a temporary emotional obligation. This is about people. This is real life, with real people, real stories, and a real powerful God.

      We arrived at the beach/river. Music was playing loudly, and we were ready to have some fun with the boys! we all unpacked from the bus (even the dogs) and walked a long tall bridge to the main area where there was a restaurant with a live music performance. we walked to the other side of that area and walked down the stairs, passed the volleyball place and to some benches where we could set our things to go swim in the river. I sat my things down, got my camera out of my bag and began to film. I did not want to forget this scene. It was fabulous. The music, the sun, the beautiful scenery, it was magnificent. Me and some other team members got in the water, it was slightly chilly. At first we were a little scared because we didn't know what creatures were in the water besides fish (anaconda). Then we began playing with some of the local children near by. Their parents layed on the beach and laughed as they watched their children splash the americans. We had so much fun! we took water balloons with us hoping to fill them up and ambush the boys, but there were no places to do that, so we manually filled up some water balloons and played with them in the water. One game we played with some little girls was" find the balloon in the deep muddy water" We would throw it in the water and wait for it to pop up to the surface and hurry up to get it. Some of our team members raced the boys across the river and stayed on the bank and explored and took pictures. We stayed in the water for about 45 min then I was done with the water like most of the boys. I went to hang out with a couple people from the team and a few boys. Soon it was time to go because the boys had school the next day and could not stay out too late. We walked the long bridge again and piled back on to the bus (even the two dogs). They dropped us off at our lodge and said goodbye.

         When we arrived at the lodge, it was time to get a shower and get ready for devotional. Mind you, there was one female shower and one male shower. The married couples got their own rooms with their own showers. In the main building was where everyone else was. There were 15 girls and 4 guys. This took a while. After washing the mosquito repellent off, we put it right back on after the shower. The humidity was so high, our devotional papers were soggy. They felt like they had been dropped in the pool and were almost dry. I don't know why but I just found that hilarious. We met up for devotional. Tyler and Allison gave us a history about how Not Forgotten got started. We went over our bible lesson and how it related to what we were doing there and how God is working in Peru. After that we went to SLEEP!! After not much sleep, we were so excited about this. I pulled back my covers, checking for cockroaches (we were clear), and covered my pillow up with the airplane blanket (in case of lice-you never know) and got ready for bed. Just incase I did not have enough DEET on, I sprayed more, and the other girls in my room did the same-we didn't play around. About the time we were about to turn the lights off we hear glass break and a loud noise that sounded like a gunshot. We ran outside the room and the ladies across the hall had broken the window. They were 3 ladies on our team (who called themselves the geriatric wing because they were older,but not old, women on the team) and they tried to open their window and it was stuck. So they tried to pull it really hard and it broke. I got a little scared since we knew the guy that owned this place was a Big guy that was guarded by armed men at all times, and who liked his space. But tyler assured us everything was okay, so we went back to bed.

God don't owe us anything. Ya dig? pt 1

I feel like in America, we are raised with this sense of self entitlement. We grow up with so many opportunities and so many people telling us that we can be anything we want to be and do anything we want to do that we very much forget that we are not owed ANYTHING. In the land of the free, we like to think we have rights, but we are not owed rights at all. There is a line in Lecrae's song "Boasting" that says "God has never been obligated to give us life. If we fought for our rights, we'd be in hell tonight". This is absolutely true, and I know this is going to seem like blasphemy in a post-modern country, but we honestly think that we are OWED and DUE an education, a good paying job, wife/husband and kids, nice house, a family dog, and then a nice fat 401K for when we retire so we can literally relax ourselves to death. This is NUTS! Anyone reading this blog that remembers choosing to be born to an American family, the color of your skin, and the economic status of your family, please raise your hand. Nobody? I didn't think so. This reminds me very much of Romans 9.


though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

(Romans 9:11-18 ESV)

Now, I am not saying he calls those who are rich and well off, because God calls whoever he wants to call. He calls the poorest of the poor. I am just saying he, for some reason, allowed us to live in a land of opportunity and we have the audacity to feel entitled to it, as if we did something to deserve it. The reason I am saying all of this is because it suddenly hit me when I had went to Peru that I did not even deserve the conditions I was living in there. Even me sleeping with cockroaches in my bed and poisonous spiders 10 inches above my face was grace upon grace. Let me tell you a summary of what happened on the trip.

First of all, it had been about 12 years since I last had flown on an airplane. I was so nervous!! We flew out of Huntsville to Atlanta and made it just fine. On the flight from Atlanta to Lima, Peru was a Different story. I took my seat beside an 8 year old hispanic girl traveling by herself to go meet her Abuela (grandmother) in Lima. Her name was Stephanie and she was adorable! She pretty muched talked for 4 hours of the 6 hour flight. She told me about her parents being separated and how her best friend once stole her cat and hid it  in her closet. The flight attendants were there to help stephanie with anything she needed. On the way to Lima, we were flying through a tropical storm and hit some turbulence. I explained to stephanie that she could not get up until the seat belt sign was off (plus it was way too rough for her to be standing up). Other people were standing up on the plane and going to the bathroom and stephanie asked why they were standing when the seatbelt sign was on. I told her I did not know, in which she replied "they must not care about the law". After about 20 minutes of mild turbulence, our plane dropped. People hit the floor, carry on luggage was falling out of the holders, and flight attendants went scrambling. They announced over the intercom for everyone to sit down and buckle up. The captain came over the intercom and told us that we would be experiencing turbulence for the next couple of hours. Luckily after that, it was not nearly as bad and began to look beautiful as we passed through the storm.

We landed in peru and proceeded to security. This was so strange. There were men with dogs walking around trying to smell for drugs. One of our team members was carrying grass seed to spread over the boy's soccer field, and it was in a clear bag and looked like an illegal drug substance that would be taken away. The way the system worked, was you walk up to this button and press it and if the light turns green, you can go, but if it turns red, you have to stop and be searched. The button was completely random selection. The girl with the grass seed got a red light. The men saw nothing wrong with the bag and allowed her to move along. we moved towards out sleeping quarters. There was a section of the airport near the food court where people were sleeping. We slept with our bags touching us. This was painful. I had been taking 12-16 ibuprophen a day because my back was having very very bad pain to where I would not be able to move if I did not take the medicine. Needless to say, the floor was not comfortable and there was no sleep that night. My first experience using a bathroom in south America was interesting. I literally had to tell myself "trash trash trash trash trash" the whole time to remind myself that peruvian plumbing systems cannot handle toilet paper. This is grace.

it was 5am and time to get going! Our flight to Iquitos was on a smaller plane but still a very beautiful and smooth ride compared to the last one. I felt like we were on a secret mission at this point because we had to get on this bus thing to get to the plane, then we board and we fly to this one city but we are told to not get off, then we fly again and get to Iquitos where we are not suppose to let anyone help us with our luggage except the people they tell us are okay. The airport was sort of open, there was air conditioning in the waiting den. It was not too hot because it was "winter" there (around mid 80s all week). We finally walk outside and see Kristen with Gene and his son and Tyler and Allison waiting for us. They cheered as we walked out, so excited to see that we got there. We boarded a bus and I got ready to see things I had never seen before.