Project in Chepen

Hey everyone... I just thought I´d let you know what´s happening in Chepen.

With the group of 27 people (plus me and another intern), we hoped to get the roof started on the church...however due to various problems with the cost of materials rising, we were not able to get as far as we had hoped. Also, having 30 people, 60 hands, was a bit much to have here at this time. So that was the discouraging part. However, it has been great getting to know the people on the teams. When I was told I would be working with 28 other people, I was thinking, "how and I ever going to learn all their name??" I also wasn´t sure how all the translating would go. Fortunately, I have learned ALL the names of everyone I am working with! Plus the translating hasn´t been as bad I was thinking. A few of the girls on the team speak a little spanish (like what I knew the last couple years), so that definitely makes it easier because they can talk to people a little as well!

Our focus wasn't only on construction, but also on evangelism. So we spent 1 night in the Plaza in groups of 2 with a Peruvian talking to different people about God. This was a great experience for everyone. It was great talking to the team later that night at our debrief and hearing how many of them enjoyed their experience. (We were supposed to do this another night, but there was a concert in the plaza, si we couldn't, we had a birthday party for one of the team members instead.) Half the group also visited various people from the church in their homes. The time was spent getting to know people from the church and praying for them.

I think it´s interesting to see how things are different this year than in years past. I think things are different because this is a group primarily of people between the ages of 14 and 18, also including 21, 22 (2 of us), and 28 (2), with only 2 people above the age of 40. This just brings about another whole dimension to the group. This is also a group made up from 2 churches that didn´t know each other before landing in Lima, and actually before getting to Chepen. It has been fun to watch how they have bonded into 1 group. There are no longer 2 churches, but 1 family and I LOVE it! The only thing that could make me happier would be to see the people in these group bond and form a family with the Chepen church.

Then Saturday, all the teams (all 180 people, plus interns, and locals) had a sports day in Trujillo. It was a lot of fun and there was a lot of competition in the games we played. My AMAZING team got 2nd in 2 games (one was tug-a-war, where I cheered so much I lost my voice) and we got 1st in a game sort of like Steal the Bacon. It was a lot of fun to see them all come out of their shells a bit and get into the events. We didn't do so well at soccer, but the improvement over the 3 games we played was HUGE! Volleyball also didn't go so well for us, but all had fun and that is the most important. (Plus with the amazing win in Steal the Bacon, it didn't matter how everything else went, everyone was high off that win!)

I wish you all could have been here to experience this week with me. It was way better than I could have imagined and I am SO thankful to everyone who came and helped and encouraged the church of Chepen!