And the overwhelming thing is: it's my choice. 

 

 This is Brother McCay.  He had an intense testimony of being with the Lord and also years spent wandering.  He had to have part of his leg removed because of nerve damage due to diabetes. Diabetes has a huge presence on the reservation, even in the youth.  Brother McCay is a quiet man who came each night to the tent revival we were attending at Seven Mile. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Here is a picture of the tent where the revival took place nightly.  This was the most interesting cultural experience.  Each night they would blast at bleeding-from-the-ears volume (don't worry Mom, I wore ear plugs!) to draw in the neighbors.  The music was deafening but it worked.  Folks would be driving down the road and literally stop and reverse to pull into the parking lot.  Here is where it got interesting.  After they parked in the lot, many people would not get out of their cars.  Instead, they rolled their windows down and simply listened from their vehicles.  The preaching was also deafening but they could hear it in the cars because when the pastor said something they agreed with they would flash their lights and tap their horns!  The Pastor each night would constantly extend invitations for them to come under the tent, and some would, but the cool part was that even thought most of them would stay in their cars, people still got saved and would come out to receive prayer!!

 

 

 

So that was Chincha Peru is the smallest sense.  We lived in our tents--5 weeks in a flea infested desert.  Took bucket showers, hand washed clothes, lead children's camps, befriended the locals, paid about 27 cents for a soda or ice-cream, spent afternoons in homes made with sticks and tarp roofing, brought in an exterminator, worshipped loudly, cried, had extreme initiation into community, and loved it all.

Look for Photo Gallery 2: Northern Peru Coming Soon!