Two long plane rides later...

After two days of flying and one incredible week, we are back. We arrived back in Birmingham at about 10 am yesterday (Saturday) morning. I was so sleepy and ready for a shower. The red-eye flight seems like an amazing idea because you can just sleep the whole flight, right? WRONG! It is so hard to sleep sitting straight up. We had an ornery reading light above our seat that flashed on and off for no reason at all. I think that the flight attendants just cut off the power to our seat or unscrewed the light bulbs or something to make it stop. By the time we got home I had not showered in over 36 hours and I am sure that everyone around me was aware of it.
We left "the compound" at about 10 am Friday morning with all of our things and spent the day in Lima before flying out on Friday evening at midnight. Lima was so much more American than the place that we stayed during the week. There were Starbucks and we at a Tony Roma's for lunch. You would think that it would be nice to see things that look familiar, but it was actually sad to me that people thought highly of American things and brought them to their country. To me it said that the "get all you can and can all you get" mentality of America was invading the rest of the world. This belief was further verified by the fact that all of the casinos in Lima were named after America cities (New York, Miami, Las Vegas). The BINGO trend was even catching in Lima, and "The Bingo Boat" looked to be a pretty popular destination.
Despite the American influence, Peru was a beautiful country, especially the Peruvian people. Before leaving for Peru, I had prayed that God will open my eyes and allow me to see the Peruvians the way that He sees them. When I saw the kids at the orphanage for the first time, I fell in love. They are absolutely gorgeous! I think that when you see the pictures you will also feel the same way. The spirit of those kids was just as beautiful as their faces. They were so giving, even with the little that they had.
When we arrived at the orphanage, the kids were eager to give us gifts. One of the girls took me to their "craft room" which was actually just a barn-like structure in which the craft supplies were kept along with chicken feed and old sewing machines. This room also housed the things that they had made. Diana (the face of Peru to me) gave me a bracelet and a colorful pony tail and placed brightly colored feathers in my hair. She then stepped back, looked up at me and said "Tu eres linda" (you are pretty). In this moment I thought--I am supposed to be ministering to her and here she is ministering to me.
That thought went through my mind most of the week--did I come to minister to them or to be ministered to? The natives with whom we worked were incredibly mature in their faith, and I was constantly challenged and encouraged by them. Our translators were incredible people of faith as well; they were both college students in Lima, Peru. They had incredible senses of humor and were constantly making me smile.
I learned a great deal about missions on this trip and am beginning to see that one of God's purpose for sending me on missions is to encourage and challenge me to live life as a stronger Christian at home. Sharing on the mission field is much more comfortable for me than sharing at home. Perhaps it is this way for everyone? There are fewer distractions on the mission field, and it is much easier to focus on the task at hand.
However, the Christians in both Peru and Thailand were excited and passionate about sharing the gospel with their OWN people. The boldness and commitment to God's Word at the places that they worked and lived showed me that God is calling me to live out the gospel at UAB and wherever else life takes me.
Well, this post is lengthy already and I feel that I have not even begun to describe the children, the country, or the work that God did through us. Perhaps I will post again later. For now though, I will leave you with some pictures and an earnest plea for you to pray for Peru, for the orphans and for the ministry of Alejandro and his team.
THANKS!

The cutest little boy--Carlitto

Diana and I being silly in our work goggles.