Remember the picture I posted a couple of entries back, about the two brothers I met and connected with at the boys’ home we went to in Cusco? I’ll post it again to jog your memory.

I’ve fallen in love with so many children this month, these boys among them. During our VBS program, Guili told Max Lucado’s story Tu Eres Especial (You Are Special). Afterwards, the kids were allowed to look at the books if they wanted to, and the older brother looked at one with me and read it to me. Then his younger brother came in to the schoolroom where some of us were reading with the kids and listened to the end of the story. They both really liked it even though they’re usually not too interested in books, according to the adults who work there. Then they loved taking pictures.

I saw them again at the carnival on Saturday, and they were excited to see me and remembered my name. I was so happy to see them, and it was such a joy to watch them experiencing some of the innocent delights of childhood. One moment is particularly engraved in my memory. We had a big enclosed trampoline at the carnival, and there were a few kids allowed on at a time. I happened to pass when it was the younger brother’s turn, and he was riding this little toy elephant inside and had the most ecstatic smile on his face.

And my heart yearned over them so when I had to say goodbye. I know it is probable that I will never see them again. But along with many other children I have met this month, I will never forget them, these children who have given to me more than they have probably received from me. My desire to adopt in the future has only been fueled further by meeting so many precious children who, blessed as they are to have food and shelter, are still without the security and comforts of home and family.

The short-term group we worked with in Cusco left on Sunday. At the farewell dinner, Robin, the wife of the trip leader, spoke a little. She said that God’s heart yearns over us with that same love we felt for the boys and girls we had met that week. I pictured those two brothers and my love for them. And I understood God’s love a little better. God’s love through me, and God’s love for me.

My heart is full.
Anna

Today is our free day before we work at the homes for the rest of the week. We woke up expecting to take a tour of Lima and we found out that the team’s flight was canceled so they have been here all day today as well! We skipped the tour, went to Starbucks and read, and went to lunch with the team. Then Katie and I walked around with Phaedra and Danae, two Greek sisters that are near our age, and then I came back to the hotel with Phaedra and Danae. We’re resting a bit and then going back to the mall. This evening the team is (hopefully for them) flying out and we the interns are going to dinner with some of Guili’s friends.

Whew! I’m sorry that wasn’t better quality writing. I just wanted to write a quick update. For the rest of the week we will be working mainly at one orphanage and also a baby home. We have Friday off to pack and get ready because we fly out at midnight. I’ll finally be home around 2:30 or 3:00 Saturday afternoon! I’m not looking forward to the flight. I was totally fine flying until the flight to Lima itself. There was a lot of turbulence and other people were really scared and that made me scared. Flying to Cusco and back was hard for me. Please pray for the anxiety I am experiencing about this next flight and pray that I will be able to sleep!

I am excited for the rest of the week. And today I was quite excited because I went to a bookstore in the little mall by the ocean. I am running out of books to read; I’m almost finished with my second one since I got here. I haven’t had much time to read obviously but I needed to get another one for the rest of the week and the flight home. So I looked in the little English section in the bookstore and ended up buying G. K. Chesterton’s The Man Who Was Thursday and a collection of short stories by Katherine Mansfield. Buying books is such a high for me… haha.

Okay, well hopefully next update I’ll have some more pictures for you! Thanks for your continued prayers; I’ll see a lot of you very soon!

Anna

On a brighter note, yesterday we went to Machu Picchu! It was a very long day. I got up at 5:00, and after a four-hour train ride, we arrived at Machu Picchu, the town. We took a bus up to the tourist station, where we met our guide. Then we had a two-hour tour of the beautiful Incan ruins. Words can’t really describe them, and neither can pictures. There is nothing like being there for yourself. But I hope these pictures will give you a little glimpse!

So yes, it was unforgettably lovely.

Today we went back to the girls’ orphanage in the morning to prepare supplies for the big carnival we’re having tomorrow! (More about that later.) In the afternoon, we went to visit a nearby boys’ orphanage. We passed out Bibles (wonderful), did a little VBS program with them, then hung out and talked and played soccer and such. I met three or four boys in particular who really touched my heart. Two of them are brothers.

These pictures and this entry are such a small peek into my life here. I couldn’t even begin to describe all that’s transpired and all that God is doing in me and I hope through me. I am again so thankful for all of your support and attention and prayers to this trip. How grateful I am that I have been able to have this experience and contribute to lives here.

Tomorrow we are doing a huge carnival at the girls’ orphanage. The boys we met today are coming too. It’s Peru’s independence day, so it is a big day for the whole country as well! I’m so excited. I need to go to bed so I’ll be wide awake tomorrow morning. (Riiiiight.)

Hasta luego…
Anna

Above is the all-girls orphanage we are working at while in Cuzco. As I mentioned in the previous entry, my fellow interns and I are working with a short-term team from Texas this week. The men in the group are laying tile in a room in the orphanage, and all of us women are doing a VBS program with the girls. There are about 40 girls between the ages of 7 and 19.

Yesterday, as part of our program, we gave each girl her own Bible. Wow, what a special experience that has been. The girls love them. They have been reading and studying on their own. Today we all sang “Jesus Loves Me” in Spanish, and it brought tears to my eyes. Something about hearing Jesus praised in other languages always touches me deeply. And hearing these girls, who have been orphaned or abandoned, sing with smiles on their faces about Jesus’ love for them… and about knowing because “the Bible tells me so,” while they held their new Bibles… I can’t find words to explain it. I’m so thankful.

I have connected with several girls in particular, and one of them is Ursula. She’s 19, only 1 year younger than I am! She has been living at the orphanage for 5 years, and she now attends a local university. She can speak Spanish, French, and English! She is so sweet and such a joy to be around. Today she asked me a question that I have been asked by so many teenage girls since I came to Peru: “Do you have a boyfriend?” I laughed and said no, and she grabbed me by the shoulders and said, “Why not? You are muy bonita!” I laughed so hard. I’ve never gotten that reaction before. So I said, “Do you have a boyfriend?” and she said no, so I took her shoulders and said, “Why not? You are muy bonita!” It was such a funny moment.

That’s a view of the mountain outside the orphanage. The weather here is lovely. It’s very cold in the morning and at night, but it’s sunny and blue skies during the day. We hardly saw the sun at all during our stay in Lima, so we have been soaking it up this week. As I said, Cuzco is beautiful. It’s quite the tourist attraction, largely because of the proximity of Machu Picchu. I hope to post some photos of the picturesque downtown area soon.

We saw many beggars in Lima, especially children doing tricks at stoplights. There are some here, but more than that, there are dozens and dozens of street vendors everywhere you go – old women selling hats and ponchos, boys selling postcards, girls selling dolls and finger puppets. I hate saying no to the small, dirty children who try to sell me things. Last night I bought a llama finger puppet and a postcard. Then two more boys started following Klista and me, trying to sell us finger puppets and dolls. I said, “No, gracias, I just bought a finger puppet!” and the boy said, “Well, you have ten fingers!”

Katie, on the left, is our new intern (and leader) who joined us on Saturday. She’s awesome. It’s been so nice to do group devotionals and have some more spiritual community that has been lacking since our original leader left so early. I really appreciate both of my fellow interns. Even though I’ve only known Katie for three or four days, I am already really blessed by her friendship and kindness. And I admire Klista’s energy and flexibility so much. I’m so thankful to serve with these girls.

Well, that’s about it for now. Thanks again to those of you who read – if you want to comment, just click on the “No Comments” link at the beginning of the entry, and there’s a form at the bottom. I know that sometimes that’s been hard to figure out. But whether you comment or not, thank you for reading! I’ve loved being able to share my trip with you!

10 beautiful days to go,
Anna

Anna

On Thursday and Friday, we visited another home for teenage girls. This home was different than the others we’ve visited in the past because most of the girls didn’t have babies. They seemed younger and more carefree, even though most of them had been living on the streets, involved with prostitution or sexual exploitation, drugs, gangs, etc.

They are the sweetest, most loving, friendliest girls I have ever met. They literally clung to us from the first moment we arrived, soaking up our attention. Working with them was literally a privilege and a blessing. It wasn’t even work. They have been through so much, and yet they seemed so small and young to me. I felt like I gained 50 little sisters over the past two days. Even though we are officially done working there, I hope to go back for a short visit sometime before we leave Peru!

I wasn’t able to spend much time with this girl, but her quiet, peaceful smile captured my attention. She didn’t say much, and she didn’t vie for our attention as much as the other girls did, but I could tell she still wanted it. She was so gracious and sweet.

Last night we had a farewell dinner with the short-term missions team we worked with earlier this week. They had gone to Cuzco for the past few days and they came back to Lima for the dinner and to fly out. We also said goodbye to my roommate, Katy. It was a sad evening! Thankfully we didn’t have to say goodbye to our six college-aged translators whom we’ve made friends with. We’re going to have dinner with them when we come back to Lima after Cuzco.

(That’s a picture of us with the girls at the home we visited Thursday and Friday.) Since two of our interns have left now, the organization sent another intern to stay with Klista and me for the last two weeks of our trip - her name is Katie, too, so we called her “the new Katie.” She arrived late last night.

Today is our packing day, although I haven’t started packing yet. We leave for Cuzco bright and early tomorrow morning! I’m really excited. I’m a little nervous about the altitude, but it’ll be fine, I’m sure. We’re meeting another short-term team there, and I can’t wait to get to know them. Later in the week we get to go to Machu Picchu! How exciting is that?

I’ll be updating again soon. I only have 13 more days here, including today! It seems so short and yet so long at the same time. I’ll be making the most of each one.

Anna

P.S. If you have Facebook and want to see more pictures, check my profile. I’ve uploaded a lot of my trip pictures there.

I feel like I gained a dozen little sisters today. The teen girls’ home we visited is my favorite so far. They were embracing, enthusiastic, affectionate. They yearned for our attention. They blessed us with their smiles.

For dinner, Julie, Klista, Katy, and I ate at a restaurant where we sat at a table outside. At the intersection near us, a young boy and his little sister worked through the cars when the stoplight was red, begging for money. Katy and I took them some of our leftover desserts. The whole situation seemed like a paradox of my life. I was sitting comfortably, eating until I was satisfied, clean and healthy, while they were dodging traffic, eating our leftovers, dirty and cold. These weren’t the first children I’ve seen begging in Lima. And they won’t be the last. The cumulative effect of seeing children begging day after day is something that will take me a long time to process.

Hands reaching through barred windows
Falling asleep on the sidewalk
You say You draw near to the low
Now I’m here, I know I’m not low enough
[Bethany Dillon, "Beggar's Heart"]

One last moment from my day: during dinner, I said to the others, “I have this urge to see someone I recognize from home.” We told stories of seeing people we knew in unexpected places – like the time my family saw two people from church in the middle of Chicago. I kid you not, it happened to me not an hour later. We were all in the hotel lobby, and suddenly I saw a girl wearing a sweatshirt with my school name – and I recognized her, too. I said, “Oh my goodness, I go to that school!” and we talked for a few minutes with some other people on her trip. She is here to play softball. I can’t believe I ran into someone who goes to my school and who I recognize, in this random hotel in a foreign country!

Tomorrow we go back to the same home we went to yesterday. In the evening, we have a farewell dinner with the missions team – and Katy. She’s leaving tomorrow night. Saturday we have the day off to prepare for Cuzco, and Sunday we fly out.

Thanks for reading, friends.
Anna

How can I even begin to summarize the past few days? I think I haven’t written because there is simply too much to share. A short-term team arrived on Sunday, and we have been working with them since then. We visited a community center on Sunday, an orphanage on Monday, and a baby home and boy’s home today. It’s been different working with a big team, and it’s been different meeting so many children and leaving them that same day, never to see them again.

How can I describe the feeling of holding these precious children in my arms, asking, “Como te llama?” and “Cuantos anos tienes?” over and over, kissing them, playing with them, looking into their beautiful eyes, and a few hours later, kissing them on the cheek to say ciao, and hearing the translators explain that the kids are asking over and over, “When are you coming back?” It breaks my heart.

Today, as I said, we visited a home for boys ages 7 through 14. I didn’t think I would connect with them much, since I don’t relate well to boys that age. But I fell in love with them. I wanted to take them home. I leaned out of the bus window talking to them before we left, and they were talking and talking. I asked the Peruvian translator, “What are they saying?” and he said, “They are asking when you will come back.” They always ask that. I always say, “No se. Mi casa es en Estados Unidos.” And I hate to say it. I wish there were a dozen of me to stay at all of these places. That was just one home.

On Sunday I saw the worst poverty I’ve ever seen. We drove an hour and a half away from Lima proper to a small Christian community center in a very poor mountain community. It was tiny and crammed and filthy, but there were at least real houses. It wasn’t the worst poverty in the world. But it was still overwhelmingly sad to arrive, hand out shoes and gifts and Bible stories, kiss their little cheeks, and wave goodbye forever.

Last week, when I was dealing with an overwhelming homesickness, I prayed and prayed for two things – joy and a sense of belonging. It took a few days, but that prayer has been answered this week. I am so joyful to be able to bless these children with a little love, and I feel a deep sense of belonging and rightness about being here.

My Spanish has improved by leaps and bounds – it has gone from almost nonexistent to now being able to carry on a mini-conversation. The worst thing, though, is when you’ve talked for a couple of minutes in Spanish, asking the usual things, and then the kids assume you’re pretty fluent and start talking very fast, and then you have to say, “No, lo siento! Yo hablo un poco espanol!” and they look so disappointed.

I could go on forever. The ocean is beautiful. I love the Peruvian friends I’ve made here. I want to bring tons of orphans home with me. But I’m sure you can guess the rest. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sending me here and for supporting me in prayer while I am here. I may stay here forever, just to warn you.

Anna

And I am speechless
I’m astonished and amazed
I am silenced by Your wondrous grace
You have saved me
You have raised me from the grave
And I am speechless
In Your presence now
I’m astounded as I consider how
You have shown us
A love that leaves us speechless

So what kind of love could this be
That would trade heaven’s throne for a cross?
And to think You still celebrate
Over finding just one who was lost
And to know You rejoice over us
The God of this whole universe
It’s a story that’s too great for words

[SCC, "Speechless"]