Saying hello to Cartagena

I flew into Cartagena, Colombia on Wednesday. I arrived at 12:30am and it was far from what I expected. I walked out to hot weather and drenchingly humid air which was a little bit of a shock after being up in the cold mountains where it was raining every day. The fact that I don't have the opportunity to talk in english is awesome. I even got to get up in front of everyone today and talk in spanish during a prayer time. It's hard to understand these guys but we are all brothers and that's the most awesome part about it. Experiencing God without words is intensely refreshing. The rest of my team flys in tonight; I can't wait to meet them. 

Machu Picchu

More amazing than the man made ruins were the God crafted mountains. 

Having to say goodbye...

The people I met in Cusco were some of the nicest most genuine people I have ever met. The thought of never seeing these people again was a giant cloud hanging over my head for my last day there. I thought my flight was at 5pm when it was really at 11am which forced me to leave without getting to say adios to some of my closer friends. It's probably a good thing because the ones I did get to say weren't easy. I don't know what it was but leaving Cusco was harder for me than leaving my own home...

Great to Have Support

An excerpt from a Vintage Faith Church bulletin.

Kayla Barker just sent this so me on Facebook. It's awesome to know that even when your 5,000 miles away on a different continent you still have your family supporting you back home. 

Under Attack

     Durring my stay here I had the pleasure of meeting two awesome missionaries, Veronica and Christina. A couple nights ago was Christina's last night in Cusco so we all went out for diner. While we were eating Conor shared his past struggles with drugs and addiction and how God had pulled him away from them. He had been feeling tempted lately but was trying his hardest to lean on God and keep away from it. Later in the night Veronica and I had shared stories of how we have seen the power of God overcome evil so many times. Veronica had some extreme stories from her travels to The Sacred Valley and I had some from my journey to South Africa. After all of this we were walking back and passed a local shaman staring at us, but none of us thought much of it. After walking a good distance a man who tries to sell me drugs every day in the street came up to Conor and said "Yo man I got the good stuff!" Conor politely declined the offer. (Weird how he had just shared his struggles and got offered drugs right after). Immediately after declining a man charged him out of nowhere and jumped on his back like a monkey. Conor pushed him off and I stepped between the two of them. The man started swinging at me and hitting me repeatedly but he was small so it didn't hurt much. I kept my hands up to protect myself as I backed up. I didn't want to hurt the man and oddly enough I was at peace. I didn't feel threatened, I wasn't angry, I just wanted everyone to get away safe. Veronica kept yelling at me to turn around and run. I'v never been the type to run from someone and I knew if I turned at the wrong moment he could hit the back of my head. Eventually I did turn my back after I had created some space and started to walk away. Apparently as I did so he punched Veronica several times but neither me or Conor saw it. The weird thing was that the entire time he didn't say a single word. He just stared at us with and creepy look like a puppet. Now I've seen my fair share of fights and never have I seen someone start a fight without constantly yelling and talking crap. As we were walking away people in the street were heckling us but we just wanted out. As soon as we got to the plaza where we are living a pack of wild dogs tried to attack us and bite our legs but it seamed every time they tried to do so something was preventing them from actually being able to bite us. We got to our door and the dogs had us surrounded. Conor and I stood between the dogs and the girls while they unlocked the door. Finally when we got inside we opened the door (there was a gate around the door protecting us) and looked outside. We saw the shaman we had seen before walking in the plaza, looking around with the dogs following him calmly. Veronica began to read Psalms 91 out the door as Conor and Christina prayed and I started casting evil away in the name of the Lord. Afterwards we turned on some Jesus music in the cafe and all tried to digest what had just happened. The enemy was pissed that Conor was in God's hands, the enemy was pissed that we were claiming the power of God over him, and he attacked us. It was scary. It was hard to sleep. I spent most of the night awake in bed praying. But in the end, after physical attack and spiritual attack, we were fine. God protected us and the enemy was powerless and thats all that matters.

Faith and Food

After two days of being here and feeling fine I thought I was in the clear. Without getting into graphic details I'll just say by day three I was sick to my stomach. Most of the day was spent in bed trying to rest up. The following morning I was so afraid to eat anything that I had a small bowl of fruit and hoped it would last me the whole day. Later in the night I was drained, pale, and shaky from lack of food. With the help of some friends I was able to get to a small little store where I  bought a protein bar and a smoothie and scarfed them both down. Ten minutes later I was knocked out, face down in my bed. After twelve hours of sleep I woke up refreshed and jumped on a bus to a big market town named Pisac. There were sketchy little food booths set up all in a row serving up food that had been sitting out for hours. The friends I was with didn't want to step out of their comfort zone so they went to restaurant where they over payed for really crappy food. But after a day of my body shutting down I was over not eating what I wanted to. I sat at one of the booths, confident that God would protect me, and ordered a plate of shady old food. The result was the best bowl of soup I have ever had. I didn't get sick, the food didn't suck, and God had my back.  

The Best Bowl of Soup I've Ever Had

Meet Cristo Blanco

 Meet Cristo Blanco aka White Christ. This statue overlooks all of Cusco and can be seen from nearly any point in the city. Even at night time you can see Jesus lit up by bright green lights. Lets just say I'v been blessed with one of the best devotional places in the world. 

Made it to Peru!

After a full 26 hours of travel I finally got to Cusco today. I met the owner of the coffee shop I am volunteering at and he arranged a room and spanish lessons for me. While working in the shop I met a huge variety of people from all over the world. I ended up talking with a bunch of German students  and we walked all over Cusco for hours together. The city is beautiful, diverse, and full of travelers my age. It is far from what I expected but so much more. Coming into this trip my spanish speaking was a large concern but today I was able to hold every conversation on my own with no need of a translator. God totally blessed me. I will be posting pictures and what not soon so stay tuned!

Packed and Ready

Before

After

I'm sitting here awake at 12:30 am unable to sleep, double and triple checking that everything is ready and in place. In five hours I will be leaving Santa Cruz for SFO to kick off this trip. Over these past few weeks God has prepared my heart for this. Everyone keeps asking me how I feel, if I'm excited, if I'm nervous. Truth is, other than the sadness of goodbyes the only thing I really feel is mystery of what's to come. 

This mornings flight marks the beginning of my journey.