Land of 10,000 Photos of Laken

It's been a walk down memory lane in El Paso/Juárez this week (more soon). For now, this snippet: yesterday, as Rev. José "Pepe" Hernández introduced me to the crowd gathered at the Comedor Infantil Emanuel, he asked how long my flight from the DR was. I hesitated...because I arrived from Peru! 

All last week, I hosted ten individuals...and one llama...from Lutheran Church of the Ascension in Burnsville, MN. A near life-size paper cutout of "Laken" hung on the wall at church collecting prayer requests for the team in the months leading up to their trip. It then made the trip and hung on the wall at the Peru Lutheran Mission office all week while a stuffed version of Laken (sitting on Dave's shoulder, 4th from right) went everywhere with us; suffice it to say his experiences in Peru were well documented. 

Laken did miss out on the Museo de Arte de Lima - my activity of choice when I wrapped up a shopping spree at the hardware store and still had all afternoon free the day before the team arrived. I'd been wanting to see a special exhibit about the Incas, which didn't disappoint, since I saw a billboard for it at the airport back in September. I spent about three hours at the museum in all; a normal person who doesn't read every caption could probably do it in half that, although they are in English, too. 

The team arrived on a Sunday night and got after their project - deep cleaning, painting, and organizing the church/Castillo Fuerte space in La Victoria - straight away on Monday morning. 

I know how to get exactly one place on Lima's public buses: La Victoria. We made the trip every morning to get a taste of what it's like to be limeño.

I mean, someone had to see if all the pieces were there. 

I have to pat myself on the back for all the typically Peruvian foods this team got to try, starting with chifa, a Peruvian-Chinese hybrid.

Jennifer (left) packed a cake in her luggage so we could all celebrate her birthday with her later that night.

Team leader Jessica (right) gets a gold star for the nightly routine she instituted: a devotion from the provided "On the Field" devotional book + discussion questions from Helping Without Hurting in Short-Term Missions: Participant's Guide. 

The church sign is white! Not brown!

The extent of our work meant Castillo Fuerte would need to offer modified programming. The wildly creative staff planned activities in the nearby park from 3:30-5:30 each afternoon. Quitting time generally coincided with whenever kids started showing up ;)

Painting the upstairs wasn't even on my radar heading into the week, but we had the time and the willingness and paint's (relatively) cheap.

Another late - but not as late as painting the upstairs - addition to the team's plate was turning a dirt-covered median into a garden.

No, they're not doing yoga (yet); they're scrubbing the floor on hands and knees. It's also white!

I'd be remiss if I didn't highlight that we worked alongside Castillo Fuerte's three teachers. The building and resources housed within are theirs, and they're the ones who work there day in and day out. The team & I found numerous opportunities to empower them to make decisions and then simply carry out their wishes, regardless of what we would have decided. By Friday, though, the mentality of grouping like items, making oft-used items accessible, and purging unused items had transcended cultures.

We removed a Ziploc-ful of screws and hooks that came with the building from the sanctuary walls in order to paint but found SO many uses for them later - like hanging Bible story posters so they didn't take up valuable shelf space.

Upstairs and downstairs (pictured) backpack hooks are an obvious process improvement. 

Thanks to Amy & Jessica's arts and crafts project - and my proofreading skills - the wall above the window now reads "BIENVENIDOS, NIÑOS DE JESÚS"  

This is the 3rd work team where I've been largely hands-off, settling comfortably into a role that consists of supply runs, interpreting, delegating, taking pictures, being the water police, and the like. 

Part of the Minnesotans' project $ went toward a label maker that works through...what else?...an app. 

BEFORE (left/top) and AFTER (right/bottom): 

Kitchen. 

Office. 

Upstairs hallway. 

Front classroom (Miss Yepci). 

Back classroom (Miss Chavela). 

We were at church for a LONG time Friday, but no one was complaining. Jeancarlos helped kill some time before a Bible study that started at "7 pm" by sharing his perspective on team's impact. 

Dinner while analyzing Psalm 11 brought to you by a church member who'd recently opened a pizzeria.

The weekend meant it was finally time for these hard workers to play a little. As I did recently at the Panama Canal and Huaca Pucllana, I sat at a coffee shop and sent my chicks off on an excursion I've done multiple times: the Pachacamac archaeological site. I met up with them in the parking lot, and together we tried a new-to-me buffet lunch place: La Chola Criolla. That evening, we had the privilege of worshiping in a transformed space we'd come to know well over the past five days. 

I went to bed that night with a full belly (I'd ordered dinner via a food delivery app) and a happy heart...for the last time in my mid-thirties...

Until next time, blessings in Christ!