hope...

Recently things in Peru have gotten hard for me. Not because i don't like it- i LOVE Peru so much. And not because i miss home- I do miss my family but have found my home here in Peru. I think things are getting harder because I have begun to invest more in peoples lives, in the communities i serve, in the clinic, and in the patients we see each day. And because of this my eyes have been opened so wide. When i see kids playing outside i don't just see cute kids playing with each other- but i see past that into their lives. Into real-life for them which includes sometimes living with a dirt floor or without a roof. Real life includes not being able to go to school because they can't afford the uniform. Real life includes sharing a bed with everyone else in your family. Real life includes not knowing how they are going to eat the next meal. Real-life means no opportunities. I have been here for a year now, and i am just now seeing the reality of so many people here. In the clinic we have been caring for and visiting a few elderly patients: Senor Jose and Senor Leon. Both of these men are suffering from many medical issues. But more than suffering from their health they suffer from aloneness and lack of hope. Neither of these men have family that care for them- they live with strangers and are cared for by anyone who can help. The medical attention they need would require them to have a person who can be with them at all times to help them, to care for them after surgeries, to do follow-up appointments and sadly they don't have those people in their lives. We do our best to care for them and visit them and recently one of our interns had done an incredible job of taking care of Senor Jose and seeing to it that he has the medical attention he needs (and dealing with the very difficult health care system in Peru)- but still it is hard. My heart breaks for both of these men. I pray that these men can find hope. I pray that Christ would lift their burdens and they can have joy and hope and abundant life despite what this world has dealt them. I pray for restored relationships within their families so that they can have someone to lean on and to care for them in these difficult times. I do not understand the way that the people i see suffer and can't fully comprehend it- but i know that their suffering is real and it isn't possible for me to ignore it anymore. People live very hard lives- lives i had only seen portrayed in movies- but it is real and i see it everyday when i go to work. Today in the clinic my heart broke into a million pieces for a little boy named Segundo and his father. Segundo is a 3 year old boy. "He has a few health problems (lactose intolerance, anemia, etc.) and at first glance you can just tell he is short for his age and a bit sickly and pale looking but oh so cute. His little eyes are huge! His mother left them a month and a half ago and his father has not been able to work because he has been taking Segundo to doctors visits and taking care of him during the day. As a single father with no friends or family to take care of his son their resources have quickly drained. His father came to us today with a list of analysis that have been ordered in hopes that it would be more affordable in our laborotorio. He had 11 soles and the bill--as much as we could cut the costs down still came out to 50 soles. So we all threw in and were able to get them paid for. But after talking with this man, I realized that he can not afford to keep his only son. Literally they would practically starve, much less not have money for medicine, schooling, and every other thing a child needs. And there really are not gov resources that help with childcare while the parents work for the day. There is hardly work enough for people here much less when they have a 3 year old tagging along. This man was literally crying and at the end of his rope. What can he do? He loves his son so much but is going to have to give him up. Thankfully we know and work with some folks who are at Hogar de Esperanza which is a private orphanage south of Trujillo in Salaverry. It is a wonderful place, and actually many of the children there are not true orphans. Their parents can not afford to keep them but do not want to put them in the public system. We are looking to see if perhaps he could go there for a while. He would be well taken care of and his Dad could visit on the weekend. This of course is absolutely heartbreaking...but at this point it is a matter of survival. This man is between a rock and a hard place. Please pray for us a we search for all of the resources and options we can find, and also that he would be able to make the best decision possible for him and his son. " (i took this from Agnes' blog- she does a much better job of explaining things than me).

It is not easy to see the suffering that goes on in our world. It would be much easier to ignore it. But sometimes seeing it, coming face to face with reality, is exactly what we need. It convicts me and it challenges me to live my life in light of the Gospel and Grace. It challenges me to see beyond myself and to truly care and love others. And it challenges me to live with hope.

Since everyone else is writing about it....

i guess i will conform to everyone else and write about the rain. Honestly it is a pretty interesting topic for Trujillo, Peru. Trujillo is a desert..... yes, a desert..... normal thing i think about when i think about trujillo: sand, hot, hot, doesn't rain, hot.... just to name a few. But lately we've been struck by "El nino" (YES, it is real). Last week it rained off and on for about three days, resulting in the loss of electricity on night and our neighbors being stuck on the elevator at 11:30 p.m. (thankfully our brilliant vigilantes rescued them.... that is, after we told them someone was stuck on the elevator). Anyways, that rain was unexpected strange and a little troublesome.... but it was NOTHING compared to the rainfall we received wednesday night.... it began to rain around 1 am and just never let up. Thursday morning i was ever so nicely awakened by my roommate, asking me to come help her with some water leakage..... on boy..... what did i find??? the top floor of our apartment with inches of standing water and water pouring in from the ceiling, light fixtures, doors, windows, walls..... water was coming from everywhere. we worked for two hours straight using every remedy we could think of. We emptied 2 gallon buckets every 5 minutes (as they refilled that quickly), we mopped, sqeegied, swept, etc . etc, etc..... any way to remove water we did it. after two hours we didn't have a dry towel in the house and the rain finally let up a little and by 11 am it totally stopped, but the damage was already done. there were puddles of standing water on our roof that couldn't be swept off and it was just soaking into the concrete and soaking into our house. The afternoon was spent in patching up the roof the best we could (since we were anticipating more rain!) Our remedy for the roof included 75 feet of plastic and a lot of duct tape.... we'll see how that hold up when the rains come. It definitely was a stressful day.... but honestly we were lucky. Many of the houses in trujillo are made from adobe brick.... and they are just fallling down, and there is nothing you can do about it... you just have to wait it out, wait for it to dry. Houses are falling, streets are flooded, and roads are destroyed. To trujillo, Peru... a city in the desert that never planned for rain... a normal rain shower has turned into a natural disaster. Some of the damage i have seen in the newspapers really is heartbreaking.... yes, we did suffer a lot of damage in our house but we didn't lose our house. After all the work i put into yesterday and all the damage I still have so much to be thankful for.

Tomorrow (well actually Today!)I am heading back to Peru. It has been a full two weeks and it has flown by. I honestly don't know where the time went. But I must say it was a very good trip. I spent a lot of time with family, I saw a lot of friends, and I got a lot of much needed rest, as well as some great holiday food!! And although my time here was wonderful, I am ready to go back to Peru. It is always hard to leave my family and friends but I am so comforted to know that I have an amazing community of friends and "family" in Peru. For now, Peru is my home and I am so glad to be living and serving there. I know that the Lord has placed me there for a purpose and I feel so much peace as I rest in God's goodness! Exactly one year ago I moved to Peru and had no idea what i was getting myself into..... what Great things God had for me- and I look forward to what He has for me in this upcoming year!

I Caught the Bouquet

So yesterday we celebrated Heather and Calin's wedding!!! Heather is one of my first friends from Peru and she is just amazing. She is married to Calin, who is also one of my first friends here. They are both amazing people and i just think they are great. Heather is American and Calin is Peruvian so the wedding was a new experience for everyone there Americans and Peruvians alike. The whole wedding was bi-lingual and i thought it was just really neat. Like any normal peruvian wedding, it started late (although it was only about an hour late- in comparison to most peruvian weddings which start about 2-3 hours late) I had the great honor of playing the violin in the wedding (something I only do for very special people like heather and calin) we played somewhere over the rainbow as they walked down the aisle and it was really fun! Heather looked gorgeous and Calin was all smiles all day long. It really was the most beautiful wedding ceremony i have every been to and it was great to be able to celebrate with them.
The ceremony ended and then came the party!!! And like all weddings, the time came for heather to throw the bouquet (although, instead of doing it at the end of the reception it came really early on). So I, being the single woman that i am, did what every other single girl did and went to catch the bouquet. I stood in the front, not because i wanted to catch the bouquet, but because i had faith that Heather could throw the bouquet far! So the time came.... she threw the bouquet and it floated directly into my hands.....and i thought..... "Oh man, what have i gotten myself into???" i was in front of more than 200 guest and completely embarrassed (Thanks a lot Heather!) oh but the embarrassment had just begun. As i went back to my table i received tons of congrats. Then i was time for the single guys... I am still not sure what they did because they didn't throw the garter like we do in the US. Calin was blindfolded and the guys stood in a circle around him and somehow a guy was chosen and given the rose. It was very entertaining. Well once the guy was chosen i was summoned to the front of the room where i was then told to give a SPEECH!!oh man..... i am not good and giving speeches when i am prepared, but then i had to give one on the spot (just because i caught the bouquet- the maid of honor didn't even have to give a speech). It wasn't the best speech ever, but i did it. So finally i felt like it was over....but no- only wishful thinking. Next came the biggest fear of my life (well not really, but kinda) I was told i had to dance with the guy that got the rose from Calin. "WHAT!!!!! YOU'RE KIDDING ME!!!" that was going through my mind...... "ALL I DID WAS CATCH SOME FLOWERS" ..... well i did my duty as the bouquet catcher and danced. I danced with Oscar and i believe he was equally embarrassed but we made it. It was embarrassing but all in all it was actually pretty ironic and funny- and definitely something i will never forget. The rest of the day i was congratulated (and even today in church at least 5 people mentioned it again- it's apparently a bigger deal than i thought to catch the bouquet). well after that trying time in my life i quickly got over it and danced for the next 4-5 hours!! I WILL have dancing at my wedding and possibly play Peruvian music b/c it is the funnest to dance to. Much thanks to Heather and Calin for getting married- it was a great day (and it really was the entire day- i arrived at 11 am and left at 8 pm!!) I am looking forward to many more Peruvian weddings!!

here is a like to pictures from the wonderful event: http://www.facebook.com/patty.kinsey?ref=profile#/album.php?aid=2013463&id=136700165&ref=mf

Quiero ir al cielo....

"Yo no quiero ir a la luna
Yo no quiero ir al sol
Quiero ir al cielo
porque es allí donde Jesús es
Yo quiero vivir con Jesús
Quiero ir al cielo"

since i have been working at the clinic we have been visiting a patient in his home pretty regularly. Agnes, Terri, and I try to visit him as often as possible, and at the very least one of us will visit him in his home during the week. He is an elderly man who has a host of medical problems but he always so thankful to see us and is in high spirits despite his problems. I went to visit him this week for the first time in a while, and as always I was greeted by his loving smile and joyful attitude. He is a believer, and as we were talking he began saying what is written above.....it translates: I don't want to go to the moon, I don't want to go to the sun, I want to go to Heaven because that is where Jesus is, I want to live with Jesus, I want to go to Heaven.

Give Thanks

Today I feel very thankful. I know that many days slip by and I don't take the time to think about how much I have, but for some reason today is different....... the blessings i have are uncountable. I am constantly amazed by Grace and I truly am "better than I deserve" because of Grace! Thank you Lord for forgiving my sins, making me your child, and choosing to use me!

Acts 20:24

Working in the clinic has been amazing and i am so blessed to be able to serve there! The clinic in wichanzao is an amazing ministry of Peru Mission. Wichanzao is one of the poorest areas of trujillo with an average monthly income of around $100 month (for a family of 6 or more) and is a place that desperately needs compassion and mercy. Jesus often preached the gospel in the context of acts of compassion- and we have the incredible opportunity to show compassion to a place much in need of it. So we seek to do what Christ taught us- We help the helpless and visit those in need. Our clinic serves the community and it is very inexpensive and we never turn anyone away because they don't have the money. Since working in the clinic i have had the amazing opportunity to visit and care for an elderly man- Sr. Leon. He has no income and live by the goodwill of others and often begs in the market by his home. He came to clinic right before i arrived in Peru and was sent to the hospital because he was very sick. When he returned home we were visiting him daily and changing and bathing him and checking his glucose. And we have seen him get stronger and stronger. Recently we have gone to visit him and found him across the street in the market- since he has regained some strength he goes their often. It is always a joy to visit with him. He is encouraged by our visits and I am encouraged by him. I went to visit him today and he wasn't home and we couldn't find him in the market, so he has been on my mind a lot today. Hopefully he will be home tomorrow and we can have a good visit!
Today was a hard day for me.The urgency of the gospel was made real to me in many different ways, and i was really convicted. How much am i really doing to spread the gospel and advance God's kingdom? Am i taking every opportunity and using it for the glory of God and the building of his kingdom? I often find myself so wrapped up in my own needs that i forget the needs of others- i find that i serve myself much more than i serve others. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Acts 20:24 " But i do not account my life of any value or as precious to myself. If only i might finish the course and the ministry i received from the Lord Jesus Christ, to testify to the Gospel of the Grace of God." I pray this verse for myself almost daily. I pray that i would live each day in light of grace and testify to "the Gospel of the Grace of God".