“I’m going to die”, “I just know it”….days before we left, panic gripped me. I couldn’t breath. I hadn’t been this way on my way to Peru twenty-two years earlier. So, why now?
For some reason, this trip had doom and gloom written all over it. Was it just me? Or should I be, actually worried?
I even went to my parents house and shared before leaving, “I don’t think I am going to make it home. For some reason I feel dread about this trip to Peru.”
Little did I know, I was going to die. I would gasp for air in my lungs, heaven would open wide, and I would see twenty-four elders surrounding the gateway of my entry.
I would feel my limbs get colder, clammier, as my husband raced up the cobblestone streets, under black skies, looking to find me some oxygen.
Death. I think in our mind’s eye, we somehow think we might escape from it. We calculate some plan, create some way we might outsmart, or even eliminate it.
If we don’t think about death, we don’t have to question our own mortality, weigh in with the gravity of our choices, evaluate our own consciousness…
I never thought I would die in Peru. But I did.
We packed our bags. I sense this trip was different. Different from the hikes throughout Guatemala, four trips to China, landing in Dominican Republic, Philippines, or any other location we’ve discovered…
I was dying in Peru. I just didn’t know it yet.
And yet, we have become experts on living….
On gaining, attaining, earning, and proving our worth to have another day, draw in another breathe….
I remember the day my two biological children were born. One came out, just smiling and looking around. She didn’t scream.
In fact, she was barely breathing, she was so fascinated with this world and all the lights, colors, and sounds in it, she didn’t breath.
In the hospital room…the doctor actually turned her and spanked her to make her take her first breath…
And I wonder, how many of us are living like that? Going through life, caught, gasping, desperate for a full, life-giving, clean, refreshing breath…while not even recognizing this need.
Real air…clean air…to flow right through our lungs, move our brain, pump our hearts, show us we are alive again?
And when did we resume to just go around living as if breath wasn’t important…As if fully breathing, tasting, seeing, knowing was just for “some” people….
Made for the elite or maybe just the chosen?
Yet, this breath, called “Ruach Elohim“, is the very embodiment of His Holy Spirit…It’s the breath of God, too many of us take for granted…
It’s the divine fulfillment of God, coming, breathing on creation.
John 20:19-22 says, “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the LORD. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
And friends, did you get that? This breath…His breath…is for sending!
The breath of God, this breath we have been given isn’t just for sitting around idly, playing or pretending…
It’s for the fearless stance and embodiment of our God-given identities.
Friend’s, the breath of God brings peace and identity, opening doors fear has tried to keep us in.
His Spirit is alive in us because He has called us to go forth, endowing us….not in our own strength…but empowering us by HIS BREATH to do His good and perfect will.
I didn’t know this when I sat in the airport with packed bags, getting ready to board our plane for Peru. I didn’t realize…
Death preceeds life, but life has full power and victory over death.
I was about to come to my cross. It didn’t look like two wood posts bound together with love…but actually it did…
It was the full embodiment of Christ and more. At His feet where I found my breath…
It was there I layed it all down at His crucifixion…
I was about to be resurrected….I just didn’t realize it yet. The journey would lead me to the following mission…
24 HOURS TO REACH OUR GOAL
Friends, as a resu
lt of the trip above, God has done so much. Please stop and take a look at the photos shown here.
These are photos of a real shoe-makers shop in Cusco, Peru making shoes ordered specifically by the campaign my husband and I started with the help of our friend in Peru.
The photos were sent by our Peruvian contact, the “son of a school-teacher” we met at the airport after leaving the last time from Peru.
So, why do I show you these photos?
Because we can be fearful about giving when we read about online efforts to help people.
No, it’s not just you. I can be that way too…
We often don’t know where the money we send is going. An organization is so large, and we can wonder if any of the money you give will actually get to where its sent after being funneled through a thousand administration offices…
In our campaign, you can be assured, every penny of what we raise goes 100% and fully to the purchase of leather shoes for the children of Carahuasi. We are not keeping even one cent for our own costs, flights, travel, or for any other “administration” purposes.
In addition, those working with us in Peru, are doing their part for free as well…out of the love and because of their care for their own local children.
And honestly, through this mission, what I have learned is that people are generally kind and generous. We as supporters of mission or ministries just need to do a better job of reassuring people of the authenticity and integrity of our mission.
So, this week, my husband will be traveling personally, to deliver the shoes previously made, directly to the children who travel across the Andes Mountains in the small town of Carahuasi, to attend school.
As mentioned HERE, Peruvian parents in this region, find old tires, cut, sew, and attach them to their children’s feet, for protect them from the dirt, rocks, and other elements that might cause sickness or infection.
On the journey I shared a bit about above, we met a man who invited us back to his region to help the children from the village he grew up in. This shoe campaign is a result of his invitation. (Read our first update, here)
All because of the goodness of God and the generosity of people like YOU, many of the shoes ordered are about to be delivered.
With only 2 days left to go, God has come through in such a
n incredible way. We only have $370.00 left to raise! Will you join us in our campaign?
$10.00 will purchase a pair of hand-made leather bound shoes for children who are in need.
(We have also recently learned the shoe-maker has actually hired people to help him make the shoes. We love that we are buying locally, creating work, & have now been aiding in the employment of new people, so our children can have shoes)
Please be assured….we are NOT American “saviors”. We are simply one average couple trying to assist the requested needs by a country’s local people, partnering to meet genuine, practical needs, while creating jobs, stimulating local economy through purchasing and providing job employment.
To help us help others, click HERE. Thank you for giving, read more about our campaign and thanks for sharing.
Also, please check back in the days to come, as we share update you with photos from our shoe project!
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