I've just returned home from an extremely eye-opening experience. From first world country to third world country overnight. From wealth to poverty. From familiar to unfamiliar. From North America to South America.
My two and a half week trip to Peru was nothing I'd ever experienced before. When I would tell people I was going to Peru on a mission trip, the reaction was all joy and excitement... "How fun! How exciting! Your so lucky! You're going to have such a great time!" And I pretty much agreed with all that was said. I was excited, and I imagined it would be SO much fun!
I was half right, and half wrong. Mission in a third world country is not exactly fun. There are rewards and joys... but that comes after the work and can involve many crosses. I was homesick for the way I lived and I was homesick for my American home a lot of the time. Peru is one of the poorest countries in the world. That fact didn't surprise me, but the experience did. I had never seen anything like it or experienced what it was like. Mission work is a special calling. The missionary needs passion and grace from God. With these the missionary can love what he/she does. But not everyone is cut out for missionary work.
I've learned many lessons on this trip: one is that we have so much here in America. Your life is an unimaginable paradise to those who live in poverty. Next time you take your usual daily hot shower, think about the person who takes cold showers sporadically. When you drink that clean water straight from the tap, think about the people who might not drink for days because they are too far from a convenience store to buy bottled water, or can't even afford bottled water. Next time you non-nonchalantly throw your clothes in the washing machine then toss them in the dryer, only a couple hours later to take out your perfectly clean clothes with no effort at all... think about the people who wash their clothes by hand once a week in the dirty river and don't pull them out as clean as you would yours. Next time there's a water leak because it rained, think about the people who's houses flood every time it rains because there are no efficient drainage systems and their houses are made of mud with no foundation. Peru is filled with people who live this way. And every where we went, we saw these people and their lives.
It was more shocking than I thought it would be. Even when we see pictures... for example, pictures of starving children in Africa, or Mother Teresa with the poor in India... we still don't truly understand the reality of it all unless we've experienced it for ourselves.
I hope that one day you will be able to go on a trip like mine. But if not, I hope you can gain a lesson or two (or more) from my experience!
So without further ado.... welcome to my journey!
