Marty Mote, Dave Hughey and I traveled to Peru on September 8th in response to the earthquake that shook southern Peru on August 15, . Our plan was to spend a few days in the mountain villages of the Andes that Geyer Springs FBC had been working in over the past 4 years to assess damage. Also, we hoped to visit the hardest hit coastal towns of Ica and Pisco. Below are some pictures that I took and excerpts from the notebook I scribbled in throughout the week.

09 Sept 07 :: 9:00 pm

Day 1 / Huaytara

We awoke this morning and had breakfast at Hotel Santa Cruz where we stayed the night. It feels so strange to be back in Peru. Almost surreal. I guess I didn’t realize how much I loved being here. It feels like coming back to your childhood home after being gone for a long time. Everything I see brings back a memory.

We picked up a few boxes of supplies at the IMB command center in Lima that we will deliver at the end of the week to the missionaries at base camp in Ica.

Chinca was the first town we came to today that was really affected. We could tell that a lot of work had been done, but the streets were lined with huge piles of mud bricks, broken pieces of wood and trash.

We made good time to Huaytara, so we were there well before sundown. This gave us plenty of time to ask around about damage. A local pastor took us to his church to show us the damages there. The movement of the ground had caused huge cracks in the walls. So much so that I could see sunlight coming through the cracks.

Damage seems fairly minimal here. There is some structural damage, but nothing like the coastal towns.

We finished the night by teaching “I’ve Got the Joy” to a 12 year old girl named Lisbet who runs the hostal we are staying in.

Lisbet

10 Sept 07 :: 7:00 am

Day 2 / Huaytara, Huayacundo Arma, Quisarpampa, Quito Arma

It is amazing to talk to these people. They are so different than us . . . but basically the same.

One of the ‘hermanas’ sang a song for us last night. It said “Before the creation of the world, the Word existed. The Word was made flesh.”

How astounding in the incarnation?! Breathtaking. Jesus, God became 100% human to live with us. To save us from ourselves. He was made flesh . . . for me and for this little, illiterate, poor village woman. We are the same to Jesus. He loves us equally. We are brothers and sisters. He came for her just as much as he did for me. Breathtaking. Humbling.

And now, here we are, to help. I feel like a foreigner . . . because I am. But these are Jesus’ loved ones. Jesus wants us here because he has a very special plan for these poor villagers. LIFE.

3:00 pm

We visited three villages this morning. For the most part, everyone seems to be fine. There is, however, some significant structural damage. Overall, it seems like these villages are getting along well.

I spoke with two sisters this morning whose house had been deemed uninhabitable by the engineer that had come through to assess damage. They are 86 and 100 years old. They asked me to come take pictures of the damage in hopes that I could help.

The 100 year old lady leading me up to her house to show me the damages caused by the earthquake.

It’s only a matter of time before the second floor comes crashing down.

All the schools are being torn down due to structural damage. Temporary classrooms have been constructed.

Temporary classrooms.

Marty helping shovel debris where the school once stood.

A school teacher told us that his classroom was unsafe due to the cracks in the walls caused by the shaking. He had a classroom full of 5 year olds. All bright-eyed and anxious to meet us. With a laugh, he told us he thought it might have been the end of the world. The shaking lasted over two minutes.

Now, when they feel the aftershocks, they evacuate the kids from the school.

11 Sept 07 :: 8:00 pm

Day 3 / Tambo, Ayavi

We left Huaytara for Tambo and Ayavi mid morning. The conditions of these two villages seemed to be about the same as those we visited the previous day.

We passed through a small village called Reyes. The whole village was living in a homemade tent in the town plaza. A local teacher took me to her house to show me the damages. She told me that the people were scared to sleep in their houses. They are afraid their houses will collapse under the stress of an aftershock and bury them alive.

The villagers in Reyes now live in the plaza in this tent. They all share food out of the large pots.

In Tambo, I met up with a young lady that Amanda had befriended three years earlier. Kelly had a six month old daughter when Amanda met them. Rubi, her daughter, is now three.

Kelly and Rubi now and three years ago.

There was a huge crowd of people in the plaza waiting for bags of food that the government had brought. They all wanted to ride back to their villages in our truck. We carried a few people, but we had to get out of there quick due to the crowd that we quickly growing around our truck.

We then head to Ica. The road from Ayavi to Ica is very long and curvy. It take about 4 hours to travel and is all dirt. (If you’ve never experienced Andean roads click here and here. I took these videos on the stretch between Ayavi and Ica)

We arrived to the IMB base camp in Ica at around 6 pm.

12 Sept 07 :: 12:30 pm

Day 4 / Ica, Pisco

We just left Ica. Last night our truck decided it wasn’t going to work anymore. The rental company got someone down here first thing this morning. We were worried we were going to end up on a bus back to Lima. But, they got it fixed, so we’re back on the road.

The missionaries at base camp told us how the people in Ica were not only begging for food and water, but also for people to come and teach them about God. They also told us how there were neighborhoods that had been completely flattened.

To us, the damage didn’t seem as bad as we had expected. But, we were downtown where building were well built. Also, that’s where cleanup happens quickly. The missionaries told us to go to San Juan Bautista to see what people were going through.

The folks of San Juan Bautista working to get the neighborhood clean.

We hired a taxi to guide us there. It was awe-inspiring. Not only because almost 100% of the neighborhood was destroyed, but because everyone was out working to clean up the streets.

The neighborhood was in shambles. But, the sun was shining. People were talking and smiling. Tents were being set up. Community pots were boiling. There was hope.

8:00 pm

Pisco = destruction. We spent most of our time downtown. 100% of the building had been toppled or would have to be torn down due to damage. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was like a war zone. I’ll let the pictures tell the story.

13 Sept 07 :: 6:30 am

Day 5 / Lima

Last day in Peru before we fly home . . .

It’s strange. This used to be my home.