Life: An adventure, a journey with Jesus

Life: An adventure, a journey with Jesus
Following is another snippet of our life here in Peru.

This week the girls of Hope House were invited to dance at a conference being held in an independent evangelical church in San Juan de Lurigancho. The invitation actually came a few weeks ago, so the dance routine was a work in process. Every time we asked, there were different girls planning on dancing. On Monday we discovered only 4 or 5 were going to participate. We told the Peruvian employee that we would take them Wednesday evening on the bus to dance and return immediately since there was school the next day. The rest of the children could stay on the complex and it would not interrupt their usual routine. The plan was for us to take 5 and 9 remain at Hope House.

Upon arrival with the bus to pick up the girls, we found 10 waiting for us, all giddy, and excited. The two youngest were already in bed (it was 8:00 p.m.) and the two oldest had to work late. As we rode in the bus it was a quiet, somber trip. They were obviously contemplating what would happen in the next hour. I took note of their outfits (what mother doesn’t do this!) They were quite varied and I had a little concern. They knew what they were doing, who they represented, and the employee obviously had approved of their choices. They ranged from jeans and a feminine top, to jeans and t-shirt, one with a skirt, one with crop pants and heels. When we arrived at the little church one girl went to the ladies room and you could have picked me up off the floor when she came out in a tight mini skirt, and haltar top! Don looked and me and we decided that her demeanor indicated she was not totally comfortable either, but her choice we did not in control There was absolutely nothing I could do. She was the one who jumped the wall the day before at the complex, but did not run away. We were keeping our eyes on her, as well as the others as it would have been easy for one of them to disappear if they chose to.

Pastor Jonatan invited the girls forward to prepare for their presentation and asked us to share a few words. We thanked them for the invitation, and the privilege to come to visit with them. We shared that we were filling in for the Directors of Hope House, and we looked at this as a “grandparenting opportunity”. We came late because some of the girls just got home from school at 7:30 and had to leave early because some had to be on the school bus at 7:30 in the morning.

The girls put on their music and began. The words to the song, we did not know, so we had to trust that they had made a good choice. However, the skit and dance we could interpret and found that the outfits were actually costumes of different people in life who knew the Lord, but the one character who didn’t (the girl in the mini skirt and haltar top) came to the ABCs of salvation, Accept, Believe, and Confess during the skit. Although at first we had some concerns, in the end they made us proud!

We gathered everyone together and boarded the bus for home. It was a totally different story on the way home! They laughed, sang, shouted, and fully enjoyed their ride as all kids do on field trips and trips to retreats and camps. They had a blast. They were so excited and knew they had done a great job. The opportunity to perform for the conference was one of the highlights of their week. From the time we left our house and returned it was 2.5 hours, but a good time was had by all and the message they practiced and presented was one they will never forget.

A few points to ponder…..
1. When they had the chance to stay home and not go to church, they didn’t.
2. When they made their choice of outfit, and we didn’t understand, we became judgemental.
3. They were serious about what they were doing.
4. Their skit and dance was meaningful.
5. They had so much fun.
6. We were proud grandparents.