Today we had an early start with breakfast at 6:30, and having to be loaded on the bus for a 7:30 departure. It was sad to have to go, but also everyone seems to be looking forward to getting home.

The return trip is certainly faster paced since the vast majority of the journey is downhill. However, there are certainly many areas with plenty of switchbacks to keep things interesting. We stopped for lunch at Cheto’s again after about 5.5 hours into our trip. Once again, they were fast and it was good. But for most, we are probably ‘riced’ out…
Back to the bus for the final leg of the trip with our arrival at what was thought to be our bus depot. Turns out, this was just another stop within Lima. So, back into Friday evening traffic in Lima. Patience was key. Finally, 11.5 hours after we started our bus trip in Caraz, we were unloading our bags at Hotel Melodia (same place we stayed last Friday).
We checked in, dropped off bags and went to a TGIFriday for dinner. Anyone who ordered chicken and rice would have to sit at another table! The meals were very good; and, no one had to sit at another table.
Some stopped at Starbucks for a coffee after dinner, others went to the ‘Farmacia’ looking for head cold remedies; we have a few that need it. Unfortunately, the folks working the store didn’t speak English, and we can’t tell what the ingredients are. Fortunately, Tina brought some decongestant!

We are sleeping in tomorrow morning! Not sure why sitting on buses for 11+ hours makes you tired, but it does.

Today was our last day in Caraz! After breakfast we stopped by the work site to hand some gifts to the workers and to say our good-byes. It was an emotional gathering; definitely heart-felt, where some the workers expressed there appreciation for our help and if we don’t meet again, we will meet in heaven.

We then loaded up on the bus to do some sightseeing. First stop was the Huascaran National Park where a beautiful clear lake is nestled among huge mountain peaks, some of which were covered with snow and ice, even a glacier high above. The lake is a little over 10,000 feet above sea level and windy. But if you found a spot that blocked the wind, it was quite warm and pleasant. There was a vendor selling food that was being cooked over a wood fire, including guinea pig. Another was selling hand made clothing like socks, leggings, hats, scarfs, ponchos, etc mad of Alpaca wool.

We found a nice spot nestled among some trees with the mountains looking down on us where we had our devotional. The basic message was that we all have talents that we can use to serve God. It may not be apparent, but you have to get out there and give something a try. The key is that it does not happen overnight, in fact God is working to shape you into the Christlike person he desires in you over the course of your lifetime. Jim led us in a closing prayer that was heartfelt and is certain to leave us all with a lasting memory of our short time at this beautiful place.

Back on the bus (just a warm-up for tomorrow’s bus ride to Lima) we briefly visited the site in Youngaywhere an earthquake centered off the coast of Peru triggered a landslide that buried a large portion of the town. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to visit the site or memorials.

Next we visited the city of Huaraz to shop at the markets. It was raining and we only had about an hour, but everyone was able to find what they were looking for. We hopped back on the bus for the 1.5 hour ride back to Caraz. Caraz, by the way, is our favorite town in Peru.

After dinner, we went to the prayer church service. The parishioners were encouraged to bring their children as we had a lot of crafts and activities for them while service was going on. Turns out we had about 60 kids show up! After service, Pastor Victor had us all stand in front of the congregation and invited the congregation to walk by each of us and offer a sign of thanks. We never have received so many hugs and words of thanks. It was wonderful.

It is sad, but this is our last evening in Caraz. We have an early start tomorrow morning to get to Lima.

Once again it was a beautiful morning. After breakfast we walked to the church and had our devotional then jumped into the work.

We started with removing dirt from the pit (actually intended to be the bathrooms) and backfilling the step area. There is a picture of Janet balancing on the wall pouring a bucket of dirt… You can probably tell what she thinks about doing this work.

As that work progressed, the truck full of bricks showed. The bricks were about 6×10x2. We had an assembly line moving 3,4,5, or 6 at a time. Definitely a good workout. Soon after the bricks were unloaded, a dump truck full of sand and gravel mix was dumped in the street again. Priority shifted to get it all moved into the work area. The bucket brigade was in full swing and we got it done by lunch. We also changed our strategy and worked the pile across the entire width of the street to avoid the traffic wanting to squeeze by until we were practically done. Sandra heard some of the folks walking by say that we were doing an excellent job; and, one young man even came over to help!

Back from lunch there was a bit of a reprieve as the framing for the footer was completed, but once it was ready, it was game on! We moved a lot of cement and the vast majority of all the rocks we dug out the previous days were used in building this new footer. This footer was about 18′x7′x2′… Probably much wider than 2 feet in spots as the other side of the footer framing was the earth.

While we were busy pouring that footer and placing the rocks back into it, a news team stopped by to interview Pastor Victor. Apparently the community has been very impressed with our efforts and contacted the local news. The segment should be shown on local TV this coming Sunday. Pastor Victor said he will send us a DVD copy.

In addition to the work going on with the footer, we also had a group working with the kids doing crafts. They really seem to enjoy that. Tomorrow night we will be attending a special prayer service and all the children are also invited to play games and do more crafts.

One more thing… Joe proposed to Sandra last night! How exciting is that?! We can’t be happier for them both!

Our devotional seems to be written with this mission trip in mind. Our group continues to open up their hearts to God and his children, learning how to be more Christlike through love, joy, peace, and patience. All of which we are experiencing ways to grow!

Tomorrow? Site Seeing!!

It is hard to believe that this is the 5th day of our journey! This morning was another beautiful morning. After breakfast and devotionals, we started a day that included many different activities. We started with moving dirt out of the ‘pit’ to back fill where steps are to be. And after minor repairs of the mixer yesterday (spark plug, socket to remove old spark plug, fresh gas) the mixer came to life with a frenzy of activity and didn’t stop for 3.5 hours. We started pouring the footers that had been framed and relatively quickly they were complete.

Several of the local crew had been working for the last 2 days breaking up huge rocks where the two additional columns needed to be placed. Meanwhile a group was cutting wire to be used to assemble another rebar column; another group was assembling the rebar column, and a third was playing with the local kids making crafts.

The time came to place one of the columns, but it turned out to be so tall that it wedged some of the rebar in the roof supports of the main church right next to us. We had to lean the column over to trim about 3 to 4 feet off the top. Once done, the column was placed and the mixer swung into action to fill in the pit that the column now sat. A large portion of the large rocks that came out, now went back in to the column foundation.

The second column had a very large rock that was painstakingly chiseled into several large parts, two of which took about 6 of us to pull it out of the pit with rope (4 pulling the rope, 2 pushing from the pit). Ultimately, this column was set and is now in place.

Remember the sand from yesterday? It didn’t arrive until 5pm today… The team pulled together for another push to move the sand into the front corner of the church. We made record time, moving all the sand in 1 hour. As for Pastor Victor? Sounds like he may have some ’splainin’ to do with Victoria. She was not aware that the sand was being placed into the church…

The silver lining for today? The block did not show too!

Today felt like a bit of a turning point in that we are building a relationship with the local workers and seems that there is a sense of mutual appreciation. And, we had our first opportunity to really interact with some of the kids in the community! In fact, the kids stopped back later to see if they could do more! Just as our devotional described:

When we place our faith in Christ, God becomes our Father, we become his children, other believers become our brothers and sisters… Today, we all worked together as one family.

When we have the opportunity to help anyone, we should do it. But we should give special attention to those who are in the family of believers.

Galatians 6:10

We woke up today to beautiful blue skies and mountains all around us on our first work day. Breakfast at 7, then over to the church for devotionals.

Our first task was to move all of the rocks from the “pit”. Easier said than done, but we pulled together as the rock brigade and moved a LOT of rock.

Lunch was back at the hotel. We had spaghetti and chicken. We all had worked up an appetite! Back to work by 1pm and soon after a full load of cement, sand and stone mix was delivered in the middle of the very busy street in front of the church. Several hours of an all hands shovel and bucket brigade got the job done just after 4pm. But not before the motor-taxis and some cars started to squeeze by the narrow path we were just beginning to open up. Most everyone found muscles in their backs and arms they are sure they never noticed before! We may need extra time tomorrow just to get moving again…

After clearing the road we got word from Pastor Victor that a full load of sand was on it’s way… We were seriously running out of space to put the sand on the work site. Pastor Victor suggested that we put it in the church. Although we had spent a full day working hard, everyone was mentally prepared to keep going, but not sure if physically we would be up for the task. Someone must of whispered a prayer, because Pastor Victor then let us know that the sand will arrive “mañana”. We breathed a collective sigh of relief.

We cleaned up to meet for dinner at 6pm at the hotel. Fried whole trout, fries and rice, with chicha to drink. Another fine meal to end a productive Day.

Our devotional this morning said that each day we should strive to learn a bit more about God. Whether we complete the task at hand or have work reamining, if we miss the opportunity to get closer to God, then we miss our purpose here on this earth. This day, we all worked hard to serve God and his children; this day, we all learned a little bit more about our amazing God!

Today was full of celebration. The team met for breakfast, then walked the two blocks to church. Sandra spent most of the service providing translation for us and it was very much appreciated! We gave two testimonies, and saw four people saved. This was a celebratory service commemorating the church’s 89 years. After many many songs, about 3.5 hours later, we all gathered for lunch at the church. Big bowls of soup with barley, carrots, celery, spices, and beef was very good. But that was not all, that was followed by a plate filled with rice, yucca, and beef! We were not going to go hungry.

We had a few hours to tour the city and rest before we gathered at the hotel to eat (if you can believe it) before the 7 pm service. Service was similar to the first. We gave three testimonies, the music team sang 3 songs. Everyone did a great job. We learned that Pastor Victor had the opportunity to stay in the US (he was a Marine stationed in San Diego), but decided to return to his home country of Peru. There was a time that he travelled to different parts of Peru to spread the Good News, but was not always welcome. In fact, once he was beat up, had a broken arm, and was in the hospital for 3 months. But he continues on today, looking to carry forward with the mission to grow his church with the goal of 10% of the population of Caraz (22,000). And he thanked and appreciated us for coming to help him and the people of Caraz reach their goal.

Tomorrow we are looking forward to getting to work! There is a lot to do!

Most of us got the shower to work as we woke for another day of travel. After a quick breakfast and the realization that our bus is not leaving at 9, but at 8! Problem is, we didn’t meet for breakfast ’til 7… So we quickly got all the bags loaded in the shuttle bus to head to the ‘big’ bus depot. Thankfully, they waited for us and we all boarded with bags to hit the road from Lima to Caraz.

A very interesting landscape along the way. We drove North along the Pacific. Beautiful views of the ocean, very dry arid mountains and sand on the right. We stopped at ‘Chetos’ restaurant for lunch, then back on the bus, this time heading North East into the Andes.

Very dry landscape for a large portion of the ride, but as we ascended, more vegetation. Most valleys had some type of crop and or animals.

We made it to Caraz and checked into our hotel (no elevator), then caught up with Pastor Victor and his wife Victoria for dinner. Took a tour of his church, and a brief view of the work site.

Tomorrow is a big celebration of the church’s 89th year and our visit. Even late at night folks are decorating, cooking food (they butchered a bull today), and lots of preparation for the event. We can’t wait!

An early start from the church, Scott Isanogle drove us down to Dulles to begin our journey to Peru. We have two full days of travel. First stop is Panama City, Panama. After a 4 hour lay over, we finally boarded a plane with no ground air conditioning. Got a bit warm…

We arrived safely in Lima and Got to meet Pastor Victor, Miriam, Bernice, and Monica. We had just enough room to load the bus with all the bags and ourselves and head to the hotel. We all checked in and then worked the elevator (would only fit about 3 with bags) to get to our rooms for a good nights sleep.