A Day of Church, Adventure and Exploration in Lima, Peru

Our morning started off..quietly. Friday when we got in, the traffic, even late at night was loud and busy. Saturday, as you could see from yesterday’s photo, traffic is everywhere, and it’s constant.

Sunday…nothing. We walked out of the hotel and there wasn’t a car to be seen on our street. All we saw were people walking, running, skateboarding, and riding bikes! They only close the street off on Sundays!

We headed out to Starbucks to start off the day. Yes, there are a ton of them in Peru (who knew?)! With coffee in hand, we headed to morning church at Camino de Vida’s satellite church, which was actually hosted in a casino! We had headphones to wear so we could hear an interpreter sharing the message. I tell you, the way they worship in such a fun way!

Adam, the guy who picked us up from the airport, was their with his wife and daughter. Liliana brought us to church. I think Fred and Dave were so excited to see her because they worked with her last year. It was an inspiring service and I was so thankful to have a way to understand the service.

After church we headed to where the Palace was located and the Catacombs of San Francisco. As we walked around the circle in front of the palace, it was amazing to look at the architecture. I don’t know the first thing about architecture, but it seemed like there were so many different influences! I also loved all of the colors splashed throughout the city. I wanted to take photos of everything!

I actually didn’t even realize we were standing right next to the palace. There was so much to look at I was in overload! When I asked when we would be seeing it, Liliana said we’d be there in just a minute! =) Basically all I had to do was turn around! I was so surprised at how heavily packed the soldiers were!

I think it was Fred who asked these guys if I could stand between them. I wanted to, but seriously, being that close to those guns was scary! I stood between them and got out as fast as I could.

Just like at other palaces with men standing in front of them, I wonder how they can do it! Just stand there, no talking, no smiling, no…nothing! How do they do it? I would go absolutely insane.

We just walked around the area for a little while taking in the area. We made it to a bridge just past the other side of the palace and Liliana told us to not cross the bridge because over the bridge was a not-so-nice area. We were all fine with turning around.

One of my favorite points in our wandering was coming across the cutest little puppy! Someone in our group somehow noticed this random puppy in a doorway with a man. Of course, how could I resist? I asked the man if I could pick it up. I think Fred was more than happy to see me put it down and move on!

When we finished wandering through the city, we headed back to the hotel for about an hour to refresh and then we headed out for an evening of church at the main Camino de Vida church!

We had such an amazing experience. The pastor is actually from the United States, but has lived in Peru for years. Of course, his sermon was in Spanish so we had it interpreted again. The devices we used were really hard to understand. If I could, I would send them brand new ones!

The worship was led by the same band that led the morning one and man, they were just as powerful! How beautiful to worship in a country where we don’t know the language, but feel the Spirit of the Lord! We had an amazing time getting to meet the pastor and his wife! We also met Miguel’s wife, Sarah.

Here’s the fun part of church. The pastor’s wife didn’t know who we were talking about when we were mentioning Miguel. She looked over to him and said, “Oh, MIckey.” Ah yes, Miguel had started introducing me with my given name, and I don’t usually go by that! Well, I was delighted to hear the pastor’s wife call him Mickey, but the icing on the cake was when Sarah called him Migelito. Oh, he wasn’t thrilled with that, but I on the other hand was absolutely delighted!

What an amazing and wonderful day. I was so excited to get to the Lord’s business, I can’t even tell you!