Peru Update #3

“Week 2.5 - The Midpoint”

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I’m not gonna sugarcoat it. We work hard on these Royal Servants trips. We’re overseas for a month, and we do not want to return home wondering did I give it my all? Did I leave it all on the field? to use a sports metaphor. BUT… taking a break is important. And so is experiencing the culture and heritage of the place in which you find yourself. How disappointing if our team returned home from Peru having not gotten to experience fun and interesting aspects of Peruvian culture? So we took a break last weekend for that very reason.

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We spent Saturday morning at Mundo Alpaca (Alpaca World) where we got to feed llamas and alpacas (and learn the difference between the two), we spent some time in a small museum that showed many alpaca linens from the last several hundred years, and we had a bit of time to shop for our alpaca souvenirs. We were able to spend Sunday morning at a local church, which many of our team admitted was a super beautiful experience in spite of not understanding it (being that it was in Spanish). Language is no barrier for the Lord and to worship God alongside Peruvian believers at the exact same moment many of our churches back home were doing the same, was something special.

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Sunday afternoon we resumed our cultural excursions by taking a bus out to the Ruta del Sillar. Josh and Nicole, our local missionary friends, took us down into a beautiful sillar canyon and shared a bit about soul care, and what it looks like to care for your soul even in the midst of a life of ministry and serving God and others. It provided a lot of good discussion for our team and the location provided some great photo opportunities. Once we hopped back on the bus, we returned to the main part of Arequipa and had dinner out as a team. The students got to try a variety of Peruvian dishes like ceviche, rocoto relleno, and soltero de queso and spirits were high after enjoying this meal. 

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We had a wonderful weekend together and are looking forward to our final week of ministry!