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The last day of the outreach is challenging. The choices of chairs has dwindled.

Still, God provides! There are many stories of how God’s provision was evident. There was a chair that had been passed over several times because it had funky leg rests that are hard to adjust; it was the right fit otherwise, so it was presented to one of the women. She sat in the chair, told the team that she didn’t need the leg rests and that they could be removed. Problem solved. (Those leg rests ended up being used later on another chair)

There was another story of a woman who brought a very well-cared-for chair that was no longer good for her condition. The woman received a new chair – and her old chair was used to bless someone else.

We also gave out several walkers today. Unfortunately, many Peruvians are short and the walkers only adjust to an average American height. The mechanics were kept busy shortening walkers. While this isn’t a difficult job, it needs to be done with precision so the walker is stable.

After the distribution, we celebrated together with the Peruvian volunteers that helped make up our team. One of the highlights was the traditional dance that was performed for us.

Some of our team was invited to join in:

Our team is very tired, but it has been an awesome week!

Day 3 of the outreach began with fewer chairs from which to choose, but God is our Provider! We had another great day.

Again, we served people from 2 years old to 100+. Sometimes the needs are so great that we feel totally inadequate. But, God provides.

For example, one young woman is being cared for totally by her sister. Both parents were killed in an accident and nobody else in the family is willing to help. The older sister is unable to work because the needs of her younger sister require help 24/7. The young woman has frequent seizures and doesn’t sleep, so her sister gets very little rest and is unable to hold down a job. They barely scrape by – and sometimes don’t have food to eat. And yet, she cares for her sister in a loving, attentive manner. What an example of love and grace!

We were able to connect her with the pastor of the church where we are serving. He was going to bring her to the attention of the people working with the disability ministry inn the church.

But that isn’t all: Later in the day another man came for a chair. He is a believer who works as an advocate with a government organization. Our translator, Gloria, told him about these young women. He is planning to follow up and see what help might be available to them. Praise God for His provision!

The mechanics were hard at work again – the selection of chairs is getting sparse and creativity is needed to make things work!

Our support people are keeping busy, too.

And, of course, the therapists are busy evaluating:

Yesterday, one of our teams had the opportunity to work with Vanessa. She is 4 years old and has cerebral palsy. Her mom is a single mom and had carried her daughter to the outreach.

Her mom was so excited to see her in the wheelchair, where she was able to sit up and her head was supported.

Vanessa is not able to communicate. Mary Beth had brought some communication boards with her, so she and Melina started working with Vanessa while her chair was being adapted.

Vanessa was able to point to some of the pictures (well, at least get close to them), so with some practice she may have a rudimentary ability to communicate!

We served 46 people our first day of distribution, ranging in age from 6 to 100! (The paper for the 100 year old said, “Can’t walk because she’s old”!)

People came from as far away as a 3-hour bus ride. The gift of mobility is so important, but the love of Jesus that we share with them is priceless.

Our mechanics worked hard today – but they’ll be working even harder as the week goes on and the chair choice decreases…

Consecration – setting something aside for a special purpose. The team – Americans and Peruvians – is being set aside for God’s purposes this week. What an awesome day! This morning, we attended church where a wheelchair was ceremonially presented. (This is not necessarily the actual chair. The actual chair, with any necessary modifications will be given at the actual distribution.) 

The chair being replaced…

After an afternoon of sightseeing and an awesome dinner at Villa Chicken, we had a consecration service. We worshipped, had a hand-washing ceremony, and shared communion.

Now, off to bed. The day starts early tomorrow. Prayer at 6, breakfast at 6:30, and on the bus at 7:15. So excited to see what God has in store for us!

Mary Beth and Melina had a couple of interesting experiences in their travels to Lima. Before leaving Chicago they prayed for God to bring them divine appointments – and for the sensitivity to recognize them when they happened.

At the first stop (Houston) a young woman overheard them talking about the ministry and started asking questions. She was so interested that she hung around with them until the next flight and is hoping to come and observe a day of the outreach.

The second also happened in the Houston airport. When Mary Beth and Melina disembarked from their first flight, they waited and waited for Mary Beth’s chair to be brought out. When it didn’t come they were told that it had probably been sent to the next gate.

When they met the rest of the team waiting at that gate, they were informed that the gate had just been changed – back near the gate they had just left! They started heading back and saw a woman being wheeled  toward them in Mary Beth’s chair. She quickly told Melina to stop and explained the situation to the woman. After some discussion, she had her chair back. As she says, “We’re here to donate wheelchairs…” but she hadn’t intended to donate her own personal chair!

Today we met the Peruvian half of our team. After worshipping together and playing an icebreaker game (stretched my Spanish for sure), we were entertained by a couple of folk dancers

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The chairs and other equipment is at the church, ready to be unpacked and distributed!

 

 

The team and ALL the luggage has arrived! Shortly we will be having breakfast and a team meeting. This afternoon we meet with the Peruvian team and scope out the area where we will be ministering. More to come later…

Team member, Carolyn, tells us, “Here is a picture of my wonderful Sunday School Class at Light of Christ Anglican Church in Heathsville Virginia. They are supporting this outreach faithfully, financially and prayerfully. Gloria a Dios!

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The countdown has begun! Two weeks from now, we will be in Lima. Ever wonder what the team does to prepare? Most importantly, much prayer goes into each outreach. Being spiritually prepared is the most important thing. If you are reading this and you are praying for our team, you are essential to its success!

Physical preparations are also important. While most of us think of this as raising support, packing our bags, getting those needed vaccinations, and making sure our passports are current, the team members from Albuquerque have taken it to a whole new level. Apparently they have started training together. Here are a few pictures of them hard at work. (Does this mean that they will still be raring to go when the rest of us reach exhaustion? I’ll let you know in a couple of weeks.)

The site where our distribution was held serves as a training site for security guards. On Tuesday, one of the security guards came in to see if someone could work on his wheelchair. The man is the father of three and as a paraplegic he needs the chair in order to support his family.

Rico talked to him and asked him to return on Thursday afternoon when the distribution would be slowing down and he would have more time to work on the chair. He also hoped that we might have an extra chair to give him.

The picture above shows how slim the pickings were at the BEGINNING of the day!

The guard dutifully arrived Thursday afternoon and Rico started working on his chair. The chair was badly worn and rusted and the tires were shot.

Fortunately, there was ONE chair that had the canted wheels (a sports chair) and it fit the guard perfectly except for a slight adjustment on the footrests (at this point we were pleased if a chair even had footrests)! Kathy approved giving him the chair – even though he hadn’t been registered for one. In exchange he left his chair.

He was quite pleased with his chair.

Later in the day a family came in with an order for crutches. It quickly became evident that this man really needed a chair – especially for the son to take him to the doctor. Since he hadn’t actually been signed up for a wheelchair, he was offered the chair that the guard had left (which was not in our inventory). For limited use, the chair would work just fine and this family also left feeling grateful that their need had been met.

Some random pictures from the distribution:

 Diane playing with some of the kids while they wait.

Below: a group of patients receiving wheelchair training. The only step/curb that she had available was into the ladies room.

Pictured here are two of our volunteers. Marleni is an occupational therapist who helped and served as a translator. Her mother was also a volunteer. Her grandmother received a chair.