If everyday were like this...

It will be very difficult to find the words to describe how wonderful yesterday was as we finished in Andamarca and made the move to Cabanna. The only realistic attempt is to say that God consistently blessed us with His presence, ordered our steps and revealed His Glory throughout the day. We are in awe of Him!

On Sunday night we worked to be intentional in what we thought needed to be accomplished on Monday. We worked together to create a list of things that we needed to do in Andamarca and in Cabanna. We thought the things in Andamarca would take most of the day but we were astonished to realize how quickly God worked things.

While we were returning from breakfast the mayor was in front of the municipal building. We saw the people we needed to get necessary contact information. We met an English teacher and another young man who spoke some English. This all happened in a very short amount of time. We thought it would take most of the day to locate these folks and have the time to begin forming relationships with them.

One of the highlights of the day came when the English teacher asked us to come and speak to his class. It was awesome. The interaction with the students was a lot of fun but also encouraging as we were asked to come back and help in the future. Imagine spending a week in a school like this. There are no limitations in this setting…

We then drove to Cabanna and checked into the hostel before heading to the plaza. We did not have a plan for the evening since we finished so early in Andamarca. They were having a small festival celebration at the plaza where there were many ladies and children. Randy pulled out his balloons and instantly had several kids surrounding him. Jaime, Anamaria and Kristen played some volleyball with the children.

When they finished the festival they then invited us to come and eat with them. I have taken pictures of what we ate because words just could not do it justice. Anamaria had the skill of sharing hers bowl with 4 children. The rest of us somehow got through it but for me the taste remains in my mouth even this morning. I’ll not soon forget the smell as it reminded us of musty animals like sheep and dogs.

As we prepared to leave a man came up to us inviting us to attend their festival on Wednesday. It ended up that this man is the mayor that we wanted to meet with on Tuesday. We met with him for about 20 minutes and he invited us to meet with him this morning to go and visit the farmers out in the field as they worked on their water canals. He is a very enthusiastic man who offered us many things. Our prayer today is that we will learn more about him and his motives. The Peruvians are often very skilled as seeing people from the United States as people that they can utilize for their purposes.

We finished the evening by receiving balloon lessons from Randy. We are all now very good at making swords, dogs, rabbits, hats, and sword holsters. Anamaria said that she was just going to make snakes. I’m not sure that all of our attempted creations look their part but I am very confident that these children will enjoy them all.

Thanks for your prayers – we are confident that this is why we had such a great day yesterday. You joining with us gives us great joy and strength.