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Keeping up with the Crawfords: A Peru Recap
Dave and Vicki were excited when they found out about a fall mission trip opportunity to Peru. They went on a second trip in the fall of 2021 and enjoyed spending
another week working with the people in the neighborhoods Reimagine Peru serves.
And so, Dave & Vicki arranged for time off work and purchased plane tickets:
We were disappointed to learn several weeks later that more people needed to register to make a trip. We would have been able to bank the tickets to use later, but since there were several weeks before the planned date, we didn’t immediately cancel the tickets.
Shortly after that, we met with Linda and Greg English, who administrate Reimagine Peru. Linda said if we were interested, although it would not be a regular trip, there were still things to be done, and they welcomed us to join them.
Our ultimate entourage was Linda, Tony (who is preparing to be a full-time missionary living in Peru), Janice, Vicki, and Dave. We were joined in Peru by the Peruvian contingent of the team.
Once in Peru, we stayed busy. We went shopping in downtown Lima to get Christmas gifts for kids in the area served by Reimagine Peru, plus another mission in Huaraz in the highlands that one of our Peruvian team members helps. We spent several evenings wrapping the gifts.
One of the projects at the team house, the sanctuary, on the first floor needs a new paint job. We went to Sodimac Homecenter, the Peruvian version of Home Depot, where we selected colors and purchased the paint.
We attended the children’s church service in Santa Rosita on Saturday at Iglesia Sin Fronteras, where dozens of kids were involved.
While in Santa Rosita, we also visited the house of a man who had been a community leader at one time. During the Covid epidemic, he needed to be in another part of Peru. The front wall of his house was not strong enough, and his property had been broken into and vandalized. Reimagine Peru is looking to help secure his property.
We visited a family close to Vicki’s heart with a special needs child. We prayed for the child and the family.
There was a time with organized activity, including a soccer game for the ladies. There were also potato sack relays and a tug-of-war. Later there was a church service for the adults.
On Sunday, we had church services at the team house in Jicamarca, and residents of Santa Rosita were bused in. Activities at the center next door, with a soccer field and other activities, followed the church service.
The community at Santa Rosita had a celebration and a cake for Linda’s birthday on Tuesday. Later back at the team house, the Peruvian team members celebrated with a mariachi band.
On Wednesday, we met with local experts, including an accountant, a psychologist, and a therapist who knew a lot about the logistics of starting and operating an orphanage to discuss the upcoming orphanage. Linda shared Reimagine’s vision, and they were very affirming of the chosen path.
Later that day, we walked up the hill from the team house to a community kitchen we helped build last year. The kitchen was used for cooking and serving a hot meals to the kids of this community. They were very excited to see us.
The trip was terrific. The interactions with the Peru team and residents we work with are always significant, but we found that being there in a small number was different in a good way. We have lost count of our trips to Peru (around 20). We have found that every journey has been unique and special. We have known for a long time that mission trips are more about relationships than buildings or medical care.
We look forward to our next mission opportunity.
Dave and Vicki Crawford
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