Day One

I am going to try to keep a running blog during the next 11 days while we have our short term team here, so here is my first "Reflection":

The first day of our big construction/impact project has ended successfully.  Everyone arrived, we had no trouble with transportation, hotels, food, etc.  There are a few people feeling quite ill from the travel and/or altitude, which we expected.  38 people have traveled from Alaska, Idaho and Ohio to be with us here in Puno for the next 11 days.  They have saved, planned and sacrificed to be here.  I wasn't there to greet them, so no pictures of that from me.

My living room is full of empty suitcases, their previous contents in huge piles in the playroom.  Almost every person brought an extra suitcase full of supplies to use during the next 10 days of work.  While the short-term team rested up from their trip, our team went through the suitcases today and organized.  The team sorted through hundreds of toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes today, getting things ready for our first event tomorrow which will partly consist of doing dental health and basic hygiene presentations to classes at Ella's school!

TOOTHBRUSHES!!!!!

Opening suitcases-

All the toothbrushes and toothpaste we will be handing out-

I didn't get any pictures tonight at dinner, I had two kiddos to wrangle!  We heard just a little from each person that came tonight at our dinner orientation.  It is a great team, here out of obedience to God.  I am already proud of many of them who are here with fear and much discomfort.  They are completely trusting God with something that is SO out of the box for them.  They are here because they know God wants them here, and nothing else.  Amazing faith!

I was content sitting at a table with some of my Peruvian friend during the orientation.  We ate our dinner together and made plans to go buy fruit tomorrow morning for lunches.  Tomorrow is when all the fruit trucks come in, so we can buy it fresh and cheap.  We laughed together and I helped (a little) with interpreting what was being said to the group.  When the culture talk came, we laughed together or shook our heads knowly about certain norms that are not so normal to the short term group.  When the group first arrived for dinner, one of our Peruvian 40/40's began going table to table greeting each person, kissing the women on the cheek.  I could see how uncomfortable it made some of them and I remembered how it felt and how uncomfortable I once was with this greeting!  However, as I kissed cheeks around the room, it felt natural and good to know these Peruvian people as friends, to be a part of their lives.  How blessed we are!  My prayer is that this group of people will feel a sense of that closeness by the end of these 10 days.  God has big plans and I can't wait to see what they are!