Greetings from winter in S.A. We are cold, indoors and out! Just have to wear two layers from morning til night, but it's nothing like the New England winters we grew up enjoying!

The last member of the American Team to leave left Wednesday. There were 78 Americans and over 20 Peruvians laboring together to share His Love and His Hope with the people of Lurine, a city south of Lima. It was a fantastic time and the Lord was with us every step of the way. I have one really good, God story to journal, so watch for it in the near future. If you do not receive our newsletter or journals, let us know so we can add you to our mailing list.

Today I want to share with you something I just observed -- it's 'real life' for some Peruvians. Read on. Peruvians do what they gotta do!

Just five minutes ago I was looking outside the office window pausing between lunch, laundry and trying to stay warm. Today it’s really quite chilly and we are both enjoying two layers of clothing! As I stood there, a man probably in his thirties rode up on his bicycle/cart and stopped on the side of the street. He whipped off his t-shirt and grabbed a coke bottle which I assumed was filled with water, from his cart.

I couldn’t help but wonder what he would do next, so I began to watch with a great deal of curiosity and even called Don to see what was going on. I was a little dumbfounded. Neither Don nor I could comprehend what we saw next.

The man poured the water over his head and took his shirt and ‘washed’ his upper torso (without soap mind you!). He bent over and continued to pour water over his head. Then dried himself off with the t-shirt he had just removed moments earlier.

Next he proceeded to rummage through the corner of his cart and he found his can of deodorant. After shaking it up, spraying it on, and sniffing to check his cleanliness, he put another t-shirt on. Then he tied his t-shirt/towel onto the handle bars of the bicycle. He did this with another shirt that I hadn’t seen earlier as well.

He put on a zippered fleece, turned his bicycle/cart around, hopped on, and was soon on his way to his next destination.

Well, I guess you do what ya gotta do!

But I do have to wonder if he just found the bottle of water, or the can of deodorant. Or, what was his reason for stopping on the side of the street to freshen up, especially when it’s so cold outside today. Is he homeless? Was he getting ready for an important meeting? This stop was apparently very important to him or he probably would have continued on his way not really caring. What about you and I? When we find it necessary to prepare ourselves for one reason or another, do we take the time even when the circumstances are uncomfortable (in this case, it was obviously cold outside, he stopped on the curb, in pubic)? I don’t have any wonderful answers, but it did cause us to pause and reflect on what we have and what we do, and why.