Be the Light

Lima Peru--Imagine walking up a dirt path, a dirt stairway actually, where wood and tin shacks are literally on top of one another, where clean water, and bathroom facilities are not an option. Where cooking and clothes washing are not with shiny new appliances but the old fashion way, on a tiny one pot burner and by hand. Where the floor of your one room home is sand and not at all level, the tin roof doesn't entirely cover you from the outside. Where the air quality is so bad you feel the burning in the back of your throat. This location could be many places around the world, but on this occasion it was the outskirts of Lima, Peru.

Heading back to Peru where my exposure to OneHope began was a bit of a surprise but it was a good surprise. Someone was needed to take a team at the last minute. We worked with a new group of people in new areas of the city. We got to see first-hand Peruvian independence celebrations in the schools and the festive preparations around the city. We got to do evangelism events in several parks that involved drama and soccer. And we got to go to some forgotten places: a community called Pachacutec, tucked away between the hills and the sea, just beyond the acrid petroleum plants. We also got to hike up a barren hill on the outskirts of Lima to visit a small church outcropped on the hill in between dozens of wooden shacks to bring good news to the children that called that hill home. This trip brought back a lot of good memories of my first trip to the same city six years prior and more than anything it amazed me how things had come full circle as I near the end of my assignment.

There are so many opportunities to show the love of Jesus all around us if we just open our eyes to them. I have been privileged to go to some amazing places but the further I go the more burdened I get for those at home. It doesn't take much to show love, care or concern. Go spend some time with the kids in your neighborhood, play soccer with them, help them with homework but most of all be an example and speak to them with kindness and truth.

Be the light wherever you are!


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