We gave all we had today...

I am not sure how you say exhausted in Spanish but I think our body language communicates that we are whipped. We got up early this morning and had our quiet times up on the mountain. We got back expecting to meet Sixto so that we could help him in his field.

During our trips to Peru we have learned never to have expectations about the day but rather to be very flexible. When we got ready to leave to hostel for Sixto’s house his daughter Marina arrived to let us know that the plans had changed. The community was having a work day up on the mountain building some type of wall. Instead of building a relationship with Sixto we instead built relationships with about 50 different people as we served alongside them throughout the day.

We worked helping them build a wall that serves as a boundary between Cabana and Andamarca – the neighboring village. We had wondered in the past about how long it must have taken them to construct the thousands of similar walls that separate the fields. We now have a better understanding of how hard these people work. We built a 3 to 4 foot fence that is composed of all sized rocks and boulders. We carried, rolled and pushed rocks all day long. The fence we worked on is at least one-quarter of a mile long. It was amazing to see how everyone works together.

We are grateful that God gave us such an opportunity. We left the hostel at 8AM and returned around 5PM. We decided to walk home so that we could all be together and there would be a chance to catch a ride with a van. We saw such a van whose driver said that they would return so we went ahead and started walking. And we walked. And we walked so more. About 5 miles later we were back at the hostel. But, as always, God had a reason. About 2 ½ miles from Cabana we caught up with a Quechua woman who was carrying a load of sticks and another load of potatoes. She was also walking with a small cane. Our summer missionaries carried her bags for the remainder of her trip home. We could not have a conversation with her other than learning her name is Modista. She only speaks Quechua. However, David Jacola summed up the experience with the following, “you know we can’t even talk to her but through our actions we are showing her the love of Jesus. She knows we are missionaries. Now she knows that we care.” One day we will be able to talk to her through someone who can speak Quechua and Spanish.

Tomorrow is our last day in Cabana. We will be leaving the summer missionaries late tomorrow night. Please pray that God gives us wisdom to help them – they are a special team. Did I mention that we are tired? It is 7:15 PM here and we are all ready for bed!  I will try to post more in the morning. Thanks for all of the encouragement you have sent our way.