Peru Trip Update ...and stories about God´s cool gifts...

Hello all, and Happy Easter!!!!

The time in Peru is flying very quickly...faster each day, I´m sure! Right now, the girls and I are in Cusco for a week, (Chris and Joel stayed behind in Ventanilla,) and are waiting for the feeling to truly sink in that now, when we see pictures of Machu Picchu, we can recognise the different sites! (Yes, I have photos....many photos!!) It is an indescribable feeling to stand at the top of the Andes mountains, looking across valleys to other mountains...wow - how majestic is our Creator!! I wish I could share with you what I felt looking across at the late afternoon sun rays and shadows on the high peaks...but alas, words cannot fully describe.

Back tracking a little... So much has been happening here, I wish I could write out every day! CFO camp in Iquitos went well, and we also got to experience an Amazon tributary, foods like heart of palm salad and...alligator! (mmm, tasty!) The poverty was more evident to me in Iquitos in some ways. There are always children on the streets who are dirty and undernourished; it was heartbreaking. The town of Iquitos itself is very beautiful - colourful and lively. It amazes me how Peru can be so very different in each place...if you want to really know Peru, travelling around the country is a must!

Back in Lima Central, about 2 hours away from ´home´ in Ventanilla, we helped out once a week at a house for disabled people, which includes all age groups. Our time was spent in the men´s wing, where we did things like playing interactive and mind-stimulating games with them, cutting hair, colouring, and spoon feeding lunch to those who couldn't feed themselves. I made some friends there, so if you think of it, pray for E. and K., that God´s love would be evident to them. We had our final time there last week, but those three times were an experience I pray I won´t ever forget. English classes have wrapped up for this year, as half of the team heads home mid-week next. We fly back to Ventanilla on Tuesday, and they leave Peru on Wednesday night. Four of us are staying behind for an extra week, and we look forward to spending that time with the families we´ve been staying with. Then I have one week more with some friends in the United States, before...home sweet home!!! I really look forward to being with my family again :)

I´ve been thinking a lot about gifts...what is a gift; and what does it mean to give? I can´t stop thinking about how much this entire trip to Peru has been a gift in my life. And how many other gifts do I receive - every day?! Smiles, food, water, majestic views of mountains and sunsets, hugs, a window seat on a combie, (a seat on a combie!! haha!), letters and emails from loved ones (THANKYOU everyone!!!!!), the knowledge of the God who created earth.... On Good Friday: forgiveness. For tomorrow: a Saviour who wars for my eternal life. And on the Third Day: Salvation - we walk in victory with our Jesus. WOOT!

I hope you each are well, and I pray that each day this Easter, you will be fully blessed - with many gifts. Love and hugs to each one of you!!
Katie

ps - check out these random-not-so-random verses! In any not-so-particular order... James 1:16-18, Luke 23:34a, 2 Cor. 8:14-15.

psps - He is risen...INDEED!