#doorstories

This week marks one month of living in Lima, Peru. At times it feels like this month sped by, and at other times I thought that this month would never end. I arrived here on August 28th, 2017 not knowing what to expect, afraid of the unknown, and very stressed about the language barrier. It is now October 1st, 2017 and the language barrier is still present but my Spanish is a lot better than it was 2 weeks ago, and even a day ago, poco a poco (little by little). I am still afraid of the unknown, but without fear there is no room for faith. I am not the same person that I was when I got the plane, and I know that I won’t be the same person when I board the plane to go home. For the past month I lived in a hostale (similar to a hotel) with the other YAVs in Peru. This month was filled with intensive language classes every M-F., history and culture lessons, and field trips. I feel like I’ve learned a lot about colonialism, race, gender, and the economy here in Peru over the past few weeks, but I know we only scratched the surface. I have learned about the indigenous people of Peru, Pre-Incan society, the Inca Empire, and the arrival of the Spanish.  It is a very sad story, but all stories of colonization are tear jerking, and enraging in my opinion. Learning of the Indigenous people of Peru has really peaked my interest in finding more about the ingenious civilization in the United States. (Pre-Columbus).

Peru has one of the world’s fastest growing economy, but the distribution of wealth here is the problem. Peru is rich with silver and gold, but “the people” never see any of the wealth. It’s mind boggling and saddening. Here in Lima there are a lot of metropolitan areas, and big city scenes that put you to the mind of New York. But how is that there is a booming city thriving with malls, tour buses, parks, and restaurants but 30 minuets north you have thousands of people living in unbelievably poor conditions without the things that we would deem as a necessity. i.e: running water/indoor pluming and electricity. There are a lot of causes at the root of this problem, but one of the causes is colonization. With that being said one can not ignore the poverty here in Peru, not even the Peruvians. One of the customs that I have really taken notice to is the willingness to help others in need. Everyday I would take a bus (or two) to where I need to go whether it be class, or just to grab lunch. On every bus ride there is at least one individual with a story of need and they are looking for someone help. They use a few seconds to grab your attention, pour out their hearts in hopes that their honesty will reward them with a few soles (Peruvian currency). I have never been on a bus ride where at least one person didn’t give. They treat the poor a lot differently then we do in the United States.

These are a few pictures from First Church of the Brethren, East Garfield Park, and the lake shore that I took over Easter weekend. The beauty of God’s creation was easy to find!

Below is the brief Easter people reflection I presented at Northside a few years ago, which I thought I would share again. 

April 19th.

According to Wikipedia, April 19th is the most frequent date for Easter using the Gregorian calendar. Of Easter's 570 million year cycle, 3.87% of those days are April 19th. That's more than 22 million Easters.

Equally important, April 19th is my birthday. Okay, maybe not equally important, but I was two the last time Easter lined up with my birthday and I remember being pretty excited.

Naturally, I associate the Easter season with birthdays, so when Clay asked me to consider what it meant to be an Easter person, I initially thought "No! I can't talk about that! We celebrate Jesus' birth at Christmas. Easter is death. Christmas is birth. No can do."

Then I thought about it some more and decided that yes, this will work. It’s almost perfect. Easter might not be about birthdays, but it is certainly about REbirth. Jesus died and lived again. He died and lived again.