Why not?

We've hit the ground running here in Arequipa with an amazing couple of days. So much can be said about such a short amount of time but for readers sake I will keep it short.

We have loved our hotel and the hospitality shown. It has been a blessing to be shown such hospitality. Unfortunately the hotel is a bit of a oasis in Arequipa. Immediately outside the gates and walls of the hotel (as most buildings here have walls with barbed wiring or spikes) the city of Arequipa is a hustle and bustle of old and small cars, jammed packed buses, and lots of foot traffic. A lot of the buildings are run down and many are covered in graffiti. But there is still a lot of beauty to be found in the city and a breath taking horizon of mountains and the volcano named "misty.

Yesterday we were blessed with an excellent opportunity to attend a local church. The church was very small but the people made up for it in their passionate worship for God. We later had a briefing on the weeks to come and the clinic we would participate in followed by a long and hard days work moving a truck load of medical equipment from the office to the hospital. After what felt like a very long and challenging game of Tetris with wheelchairs trying to fit everything into the truck, we unloaded the equipment, cleaned it and repaired what we could in preparation for the days ahead.

Today was our first day of clinic. It was an excellent and humbling experience for all of us. All of the students were separated to be either placed with a physical therapist or in the general medicine room to assist with triage and consults. We spent the whole day problem solving for the people that have come for the two week clinic in hopes of help, some of which who have been waiting all year to be treated or receive equipment, and some of which who had rarely, if ever, been seen by a doctor before.  The patients were both adults and children and all of which had an excellent warmth and willingness to meet us and receive our help (except for a couple cranky kids!) Some students were even given the chance to pray with some of the patients after treatment.

The reason this post is titled "why not" is because of the sermon we heard on Sunday. The pastor spoke about how many of us live in fear, and out of fear, we stay still and ignore Gods commands. But the truth of the matter is that God has called all of us to do something with our lives. The pastor continued by explaining that the richest place in the world is in a cemetery. The reason being that many of those people have taken some amazing ideas and talents with them to the grave. The end question comes to be that when God calls you to do something the real thought is "why not?" God calls us to amazing places and with him, we need not stay still out of fear as long as we are walking in his ways. We have all been given amazing gifts from God. As Matthew 5:14-16 says "you are the light of the world.....let your light shine before others so that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven."
We hope to be a light to the people of Peru as those who are welcoming us here have been a light to us. Although this mission is an excellent opportunity to do that, we must all keep in mind that we can be a light anywhere we go. I pray that we can all do this right where we are, and right where God calls us to be.

This is in the town square (the nicer part and view of Arequipa) with the beautiful view of the mountain horizon. Unfortunately one of the few days here that are cloudy. More pictures to come soon!!