24...Peru edition

Well, I made it. I survived the weekend and am here to tell about it. It was a lot more than I had expected, but it was really great. The 9 churched here that I am working with had a collective youth retreat for the weekend. We went to the "country" which was basically just a little less city. There were still dogs to lull me to sleep (if I had been able to, but I'll get to that later) and the distant sound of traffic.

I got there a little earlier than a lot of the youth, so I helped set up the tents and whatever else needed doing. I was told there would be about 50 people or so. By the time everyone got there, there was 91 people! Probably 80% under the age of 18. Three of the churches that I am working with have Compassion programs, so their youth groups are rather large. I knew a lot of these kids because 3 days a week I work with those programs. And by know, I mean I had seen them before but familiar faces are nice, especially since that means I had already done something stupid around them so it was a little easier.

At about 7 or so we finally got things started with worship. I really love the music they play here. Some of it is familiar, but most of it is new, and I don't understand any of it. Its a little tough for me because I am a person who loves singing and that is a big part of worship for me, but that will come. After singing a lot, the pastor for the weekend started talking. Pastors here talk for a long time and in case you didn't know...I don't speak that much spanish. Have I mentioned that before? Well about 9:30, we got to eat dinner. We were paired up with the instructions to get to know the other person. And apparently somewhere in the instuctions included "well enough to present your partner." Now, I have a hard enough time remembering what I had for dinner the night before in English, so imagine me trying to remember all these facts about a person in a different language. I didn't only have to remember them, I had to remember how to say them! Needless to say, when I had to get up in front of everyone the next morning, I didn't do a very good job, but at least everyone got a good laugh! I am good for something.

We had a campfire after dinner and there was more singing. Then comes the sleepign arrangements. The girls were staying inside in a dormatory type setting. The guys were sleeping outside in army type 10 person tents. There were 3 tents. There were 45 guys. Now I wasn't a math major, and I did go to UNC, but I dont think those numbers add up. Anyway, there were 15 people in my tent. There was no room to roll over, or even pretend to sleep. So laying in the same position with a lumpy backpack as a pillow, I attempted to go to sleep at about 1, not knowing that the wake up call was coming at 6. Needless to say, I am in serious need of a massuse if you know of one in Peru...or anywhere in South America for that matter!

Despite the lack of sleep Sunday was good. There was more worship and bible study. During the morning service, I got a little down, just thinking about a lot of different things. I think beging tired I let my gaurd down a little. But those feelings passed after some intense prayer, since I wasn't understanding the pastor. After the worship service came the games. They were pretty fun games and of course, I had to be involved. I don't know if you've ever been in a place where almost everyone there is watching your every move, but that would be what it felt like. But it was a lot of fun, and playing games definetly transends language barriers...except the instructions part.

I got a little bit of sunburn which doesn't bother me because I hadn't seen the sun that much since I left the USA. But we packed up after a few rounds of volleyball and headed home bout 5. That was probably the longest 24 hours of my life.

It was really different for me to be on a spiritual retreat like that and really have nothing to offer. I did read a verse here and there in our small group Bible study, but I wasn't able to give any insight or help answer any questions. But I am getting more used to just being and not doing. While I am involved in lots of things, I am more just there soaking it all up, just waiting for the time when I have more to offer.

On a differnet note...it is probably a good thing that I am not in the States right now. After seeing the results of UNC's first 3 games and the Panther's first 2, I am pretty sure that at least one TV somewhere would be broken and Adam probably wouldn't let me back in his house.