Joanna's Journal: Visitation

Every morning, each person in our group would go out in 2s to visit the people of the community. The pastor said to prepare for 200, so we made a gift to hand out to each family as we went to their houses. We were very rural. Roxana and I got from the church to the right. So for 5 mornings from 9-1, (ish… we could never seem to get back on time) we would walk around Cacorco to different houses visiting the people and giving them the gifts. For the 3 weeks (ish) after my class, and before the Gira trip, I got stuff ready. I stamped tracts and folded tracts, I stamped Bibles with the church’s information, I put stickers on 200 match boxes, I pulled pens apart and put them back together, but all that work paid off! The gift bags were very well received, and God really used them!

Like I said before, many people only spoke Amarí, the southern country part of Peru language. I obviously didn’t understand any of it, and Roxana speaks Spanish and Quechua, but zero Amarí. One night when we were peeling potatoes and talking with the seminary students and church ladies, they asked… So, how many languages do people in the states speak? (I’m like most people only speak English, unless they have some foreign type of background.) Here kids grow up learning 2 languages. (and they are very different)

So it was difficult to speak with some of the people, but usually we would walk up to someone’s house and knock on the door… just kidding, we would walk up, look for someone, and yell “Señora”… (and you’re like oops when Señor comes to the door) It was very typical to get into a ½ hour – 1 hour conversation with them. Many times they would bring out stumps or a blanket to sit on and potatoes to eat. (With some form of potatoes 3 times a day, Ariel was pretty done with them by the end of the week. That is what they grow, so that is what they eat.) They would be surprised and very grateful that you brought a gift for them. A few ladies’ houses that we went to they lived alone, and their kids were off other places, so you know they didn’t get visitors every day. That made them all the more ready to listen!

A lot of times they would be working in the fields or in their yards, so Roxana and I would help them with that. In Puno they grow these beans called Habas. These beans are used for about anything you could think of! So after they harvest them, they stack them in piles 5 feet high and 3 feet thick in these walls. They would dry, and when we were visiting, they were taking them off the piles and then taking the beans off the stalks. We took habas off their stocks for about an hour one time, we shucked corn, peeled chuno (kind of dried potato) and other things like that. One time Ariel and Elena were at a house and Ariel got to beat these little beans (tarvi) with a wooden rod. One time a guy was pounding piles of wheat with a wooden rod when we got there. Another house was grinding grain with his feet and then finer with a rock. You could see ladies throwing up the grain in the air and then have the wind drive it away. (makes you think of the Bible huh?) They would take their sheep and cows to the fields.

Many times, once we got into a conversation with someone, we would pull out the Bible from their gift pack and mark some verses. That way later, they can go back and easily find them. Even if I fluently couldn't explain the verses, I could mark them, or tell Roxana the references so she could mark them. We marked verses like John 3:16, 1 John 1:9, 1 Cor 15:3-4, Romans 3:23, Romans 5:8, Romans 6:23, and 2 Pet 3:18.

I’ll tell you a few stories from our visitations.

The first day, we went to the house of this little old lady. She didn't know Spanish really at all, but she was so happy for a visit. She lived by herself, and no children lived near. We gave her a tract and kinda nodded and smiled. She was just an older lady that wanted someone to talk to her... And so many people were like that... Wow, someone came to visit ME, and they have a GIFT for ME! She ended up giving us a blanket full of moria potatoes. That was very kind of her!

Again there was on the first day, a group of 4 people at this one house. Roxana did an awesome job every single day! She just talked and explained, and God really used her to show a lot of people about himself! It was 2 different families, and we talked and marked verses for about an hour or so. They brought out a chair for Hna. Wendy, and stumps for us. They were really listening, and only God knows the results of that visit!

One later day, we came upon this house with a teen girl there. (probably about 12) Her parents were out in the fields, and she was there with her grandmother (who only spoke Amarí) She was working on keeping the fire going inside the earth oven (pic later) We talked to her a bit about that and about her puppy. She brought us some stumps to sit on, and we started talking to her about the gospel. When Roxana started saying that there are only 2 ways... heaven or hell, and if you don't except Christ, hell is the only other alternative. From what I could understand, it sounded like her grandfather had recently passed away, so you could tell she was really really listening!

We were walking along kinda tired by this point, but it was too early to turn back. (11: 45) We were FAR out there, but kept going to one more house. A older lady, her daughter and little grandson were there in the front of their house taking the habas off of their stalks. We plopped ourselves down and started to work. Later they brought us a little bench and blanket, but we left there probably about 1pm. (late for lunch again) I have NEVER done that before, but it wasn't hard, and we got to talk to them for over an hour! Hey, if we were helping with their work, they were much more willing to listen to us than if we made them stop. And the pile of habas grew much quicker with 4 people working! My hands got a bit scratched for the rest of the week, but that was one of my favorite and most memorable visits!

So we came up on these 2 ladies, mom/daughter or sisters I don't know, but we came up, gave her the gift, and started talking. They brought us some chairs (they had the most adorable little puppies!!!) One lady had to leave part way through, but when she got up, a gift packet fell from under her sweater. :-) Someone had already been to her house. :) (and that was the goal... to hit every single house in the community) The lady we mainly talked to really listened. She said she was in very bad health, and it didn't sound like there was anything that could be done about it. She listened to every word, but who knows how much she could understand. We prayed together at the end, Roxana in Spanish, me in English, and this lady in Amarí...I remember her on her knees, hands lifted to heaven, crying, pouring her heart out to God. It will always be burned into my memory.

When we were out one day, we saw some people sitting by the side of the road and we went over to just give them a tract. They ended up being Jehovah whitnesses going door to door too. They wouldn't take our tracts, and kinda talked accusingly to Roxana (like, "what are YOU doing out here"...hey, same question for you buddy) After talking to them we kept walking, but we stopped to pray first. Only God is the one that can change hearts... On a side note, a llama walked up to me about 1 cm away while we were talking to them. Don't get that every day whitnessing in the states!

There was this one teen guy that we got to talk to for a bit, maybe 20 minutes...Again, listening intently! Most everyone was very open to what we had to say, and would spend their time to listen. (I got to talk to Eric Pardine, who went with another group to a different part of Peru, and he just said how irresponsive and unaccepting they were. People definitely were open!) We just stood there and talked, and he stood and listened. Sometimes you just wish you could get people to listen like that in the states! We were in the shade, and it looked like it was going to rain and it got cold, but it was a good visit!

The next house we went to, there was these 2 guys, 28 or so, and 55 or so. The 55 year old listened for a bit, but then had to go keep working, but we got to talk to the 28 or so year old guy for a while! I got to mark verses for him while Roxana marked the other guy's Bible. He listened to every word, and you could SEE God working in his heart! Pretty neat! We serve a powerful God that can change lives and convict with His Word!

One of the last days, we were walking along, and came to this family out working with their habas. The guy was beating the dried pods with a wooden beam/stick/pole I guess and then the habas would come out of their pod. The ladies were taking the result and then throwing it in the air so the pods would fully separate from the beans etc. We started talking to them, and I could tell that he was kinda giving it back and telling us back the "right answers" type of thing. It turns out that they are Christians which was really neat! Those were really the first ones on our visitation that we could tell that they just weren't using the word, but were Christians. The lady gave us a very large bag full of the habas, which was very sweet! (every day we would come back with something in our backpack... chuno, habas, or corn. One time a lady gave us cooked potatoes of all different kinds, and Roxana and I hit the fried ones first! french fry type of thing... People were very generous, and we had to keep telling them that this was a GIFT. We don't want anything in return.)

2nd to last house of visitation, we are there taking beans off the stalk again and talking to this girl. (20 or so) We are talking, and her mom comes out and gives us a blanket to sit on, and potatoes to eat. (we are getting toward the end of the week, so we've had a lot of potatoes at this point, but we start eating! They were the oca, which were my least favorite, but oh well, start chowing down.) They said they were Christians, but I could see that Roxana's reaction wasn't the same as the other house... and she understands the conversation much more than I do! We finished talking with them, thanked them for the potatoes, and the girl brings out a tract of hers from the house. We wave and walk on... Roxana reads part, and very quickly she can tell that that is malo malo malo. (bad) I don't know exactly what was wrong, but it wasn't right. They think they had it all together though, and obviously by her reaction they didn't. That was kinda sad.

And some funny stories from visitation...

So, we are out headed to this one house, walking through a grassy field, and these 2 dogs come running up to us. Ok, so about everyone has dogs around here, and if they are bothering you, you just pick up a rock, and they immediately back off. So there weren't really rocks in this field, and so we just keep walking towards the house. Roxana doesn't like dogs, and many times will go out of her way to avoid them (esp after this house) We made this clicking sound with our tongue and the roof of our mouths and acted calm. They were jumping on us, but never once hurt us, and we got to the house.

So we are late for lunch again... Peruvians don't really stay on schedule too well. Much more people oriented than schedule oriented... So we are far from anything that would count as a road here (would count as a dirt path in the US) and are going through fields trying to look for the school and then over a bit to the left and that is about where the church is. So we are trying to hurry and then all of a sudden Roxana says, "Stop, look, there is water." We are slogging through wet fields, her feet get wet because she is wearing sandals, but my boots kept me dry. (walmart guys clearance!) We have to go back the other direction for about 5 minutes until we came to some path type something. I laughed at the moment... A peruvian and a gringo, slogging through wet fields with bulls in them, in long skirts, late for lunch, and we are going the opposite direction. :)

So we are walking in between houses through more fields and we come upon some llamas walking/grazing. So what did you do today... well, I was out walking and saw some llamas. (typical day in Puno :) Next we came to some bulls, and those things are huge! We needed to go through this spot or we would have to walk around them, and Joanna likes to save time. So Roxana went one direction and so that bull followed her, I cut through between the 2 ropes, and then she quickly followed. Then we are walking along the road and come to a part covered with water. We followed the stream a little, got to a skinny part, and jumped it. Ok, I jumped a lot of ditches that week! Some with water, and some without. Every time though, I could feel a give and hear a ripping sound... coming from my skirt. I got this skirt at the Good Will, but the slit in the back was too big for here, so we sewed it down... a bit too much for successfully jumping ditches. By the second to last day, I decided that skirt was ready to retire.

There is morning visitation in a nutshell. God's Word that doesn't return void is in a lot of people's houses right now and one person was saved ON the visitation (with Juan and Raúl). It was worth the effort!

This guy read every word of each tract that he took out.

Tombs in their front yard is common.

This is the house where we took the habas off the stalk for an hour and Roxana talked.

You can see the piles of drying habas.

Same house... pile of dried habas in the background, and the pods off the stalk in the front

Visitation buddy

Handing out the gift packets

reading the tract...

the pastor's family at work that we ran into that gave us the habas.

shucking dried corn

on the hill side watching sheep

sitting at work

those gifts were put into the hands of a lot of people!

This girl was the last habas house that fed us potatoes that said they were Christians.

Elena

Elena and Ariel were a group

with the group of 4 that we talked to for a long time. Wendy was with us that day and got the picture. Only she can pull off asking everyone to pose for a group shot. :-)