Peru Spring Break 2009

RUF went to Trujillo, Peru!!! 

DATES

March 13-March 21, 2009

REFLECTION from RACHEL BREEDING

I felt very conspicuous. We were a group of 23 mostly UT students.  We were generally whiter than everyone else around us, we were taller, louder and speaking English, not the dominant language. By the way the Peruvians were looking at us, they had noticed our American-ness, too. As if it were seeping out of our pores.

For me, my sense of "otherness" while in Peru made me acutely aware of the material ways God has blesses me and most of the people I know. I can't even imagine living the way the people in the "squatter" villages on the fringes of Trujillo live: a family with children will live in a shanty with walls made of reeds, a ceiling made of tarp and no floor to speak of.

Peru Mission sought to use our "otherness" for the kingdom of God. On three nights, after full days of painting the church in the morning and exploring Peru Mission's ministry in the afternoon, we met with Peruvian university students for English conversation classes.  Although we were introduced as a Christian group from the United States, we talked mostly about our families, our favorite foods and the music we like. The idea was that the Peruvian English students would have the chance to knowingly relate to Christians, and if they asked us why we had come to Peru, we would have the opportunity to tell the middle class Trujillans about the work that Peru Mission was doing in the poorer neighborhoods of their city.

Our key scripture passage for the week was Philippians 2:1-11, and I particularly honed in on verse 3: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." Being from the United States, I like to think that all people are created equal and should be treated as equals. The way I've been socialized into American culture, the most flattering way to treat others is with equality and Paul tells us to treat others as better than ourselves, not just equal.

The odd thing about interacting with the Peruvians was that you didn't get the feeling that they believed we were equals. They seemed well aware that people in the United States are wealthier and travel more than people in Peru. They knew all about American pop culture and politics, though we knew nothing of theirs. When asked of their impressions of Americans, one woman said first that Americans seem confident. I wasn't quite sure how to "[make myself] nothing" and "[take] the very nature of a servant" when the people whom I was attempting to serve seemed to be impressed with me because of the country I'm from.  I can't say that I've mastered humility and that now I take the same attitude as Christ and consider others better than myself.  But I do pray that the Lord will continue to move me out of the daily life I'm accustomed to, humble me and stretch me, molding my heart into one that is truly encouraged and comforted by the incarnation and loving "otherness" of Christ.
On our bus, "Bob", driving around Trujillo

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ABOUT PERU MISSION

While in Peru, we served with the Peru Mission.  The Peru Mission seeks to co-labor with the Holy Spirit in the major cities of Northern Peru to establish genuine Christian communities who display a Spiritual, social, cultural, educational, and economic life that is molded, shaped, and propelled by the Gospel.  The team at Peru Mission is made up of North American missionaries and national church leaders who are seeking to integrate mercy ministry, university ministry, leadership training, parish day-schools, and economic development into a comprehensive approach to church planting.  These efforts at community building are resulting in strong, vibrant churches that are not only becoming self-sustaining and self-propagating, but also actively involved in bringing God's justice, mercy, and peace to the world around them.
Learn more about Peru Mission at www.perumission.org