Jon, Cindy, Jake, and Matt

2010-06-22T10:11:00.001-07:00

Today the first team arrives from Kentucky. Several interns are on a 10-hour busride from Lima to Trujillo, with Lisa Merritt. We are all anxious and excited about this first group,knowing that our schedules will be busier, but we will experience freshperspectives, and enjoy partnering with these servants to send them home with ashared vision to help the helpless.

After our last blog, we went back to the garbage dump onFriday, the 18^th. Thistime we were given access to the inside of the garbage dump. Our taxis wouldn’t enter the dump, andwe walked about ½ mile in, past mountains of waste, some recyclable, some justplain trash. As we entered, we hadwafts of stench, like rotting vegetables mixed with animal refuse. Dogs were everywhere, and people wereleaving the dump with full carts. As they rode, they covered their heads with old T-shirts, flies coveredtheir bags of plastic, compost, and glass.

The feeling of heaviness pressed down on us as we continuedto enter. I found my mind battlingfeelings of pity and sorrow, knowing that pity means I think better of myself,and look down on their situation. I don’t/didn’t want to pity. The weight came from reconciling my situation with theirs.

As we rounded the last corner, it hit me… We saw 50 or more people working in thedump, tearing apart each load of garbage that rolled in, scouring otherpeople’s discards for something of value. Each person looking for a particular set of criteria. Plastic, Piping, Batteries, CD cases,discarded fruit peelings, food….

And they worked hard. We passed out fruit, wishing we brought more. I began to disconnect. I hate to say it, but I couldn’t take it in. Cindy and I didn’t know what to do, we tried makingconversation, but our Spanish is horrible. One person I talked to, Guillermo, had worked in the garbagedump for 5 years. He had alreadyworked for 8 hours and planned on working for 5 more. We found out that most of these workers do not take daysoff, and many work all night.

We asked if we could take a picture of Guillermo. He looked at his dirty clothes, face,hands over and smiled, with a look on his face that said, “Why?” Then, he motioned for me to joinhim. The whole thing was surreal;I had feelings that I had stepped onto a planet on which I didn’t belong, withfeelings that these people smiled, carried on, weren’t wanting much, and alsofeelings that I was intruding on their precious time. After the picture, another woman, Marta, walked up and askedfor a picture with Cindy. Shesmiled, laughed. In thebackground, a couple of workers began playing volleyball. Then, two other younger workers heldhands facing each other and were trying to stomp on each other’s feet.

It would be easy to expect people in their situation(working all day, every day, for a meager living of $5 a day) to be sad,sorrowful, wishing for a better life. From all appearances, they don’t. We heard that in Quito, Ecuador, the government shut down the garbagedumps, and placed all the workers in jobs. Within 3 months, they were all back. It is all they know, it is what they dobest, it is their community.

One of our interns, Cory, spent 3 days (by his choice),working and living in the garbage dumps. He wrote a long journal about his experience, and at the end of histime, he was able to ask Chi Chi (the guy he was living with and workingalongside) some questions:

“… he says he is the last one to the trashand that everyone is equal, and that they all help each other, and that’s whythey get bags that other people have filled. It really hit the spot for me knowing the situation and theyare willing ort help each other out.”

Cory also commented that the people in the dump are a bigfamily, helping each other gather what is necessary to make it. Chi Chi has a pig farm; so he mostlylooks for food refuse. Others aresimply gathering basics to eat and drink what is needed.

In reflection, it is hard to walk away from the garbage dumpand not believe that great injustices are taking place. Haven’t these been in place since thebeginning of time? A generaldisregard for people who live in all walks of life; that is the greatestinjustice. And, the fact that wecontinue, in the US, to believe that we need more and more, that is a symbol ofthe injustice as a cancer, consuming us all.

I wonder if we were to pile up ALL of the things we reallyneed, what that pile would look like. And I wonder how big the pile of unneeded things would be. Based on what the garbage dump peopleneed, this is what would be in my first pile:

Old jeans

Sweatshirt

Shoes

Stick with points for garbage

Second pile:

All my other clothes

All my electronic gadgets, including this computer

All my books, etc.

Everything else

So, what do I do with this? I haven’t really resolved that question. However, I do know that many people,hard workers, living to survive, go ignored back home. I also know that I don’t know who theyare; I don’t know how they live, and make excuses to shelter myself and myfamily from their circumstances.

Many times I’ve heard it said that we should live life withno regret. Honestly, I regret not caring about others; I regret not giving more of my time to thelives of those in my community. Ihope that regret reminds me to act onmy convictions.

We are privileged people in the US. It is well known (here) that gringos have lots of money. So, perhaps Paul's charge to Timothy should be something for us to consider:

"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." (1 Tim 6: 17-19 -- NIV)

2010-06-16T19:02:00.001-07:00

My latest face book post reads, “At least I can laugh inSpanish.” Words can’t say enough about how helpful it is to laugh as weblunder our way through the language and culture of Peru. We are thankfulfor the grace that has been given to us from the nationals, as well as, themucho help from our Spanish-speaking interns.

This has been a packed week. We have started going tochurch and to cell groups. This is a great way to developrelationships. It is always fun to go to church in othercountries. I love the way God shines throughout so many people around theworld. The women are eager to welcome us part of their community. Immediately following the cell group they called us over with huge smilessaying, “Chicas, I’m going to teach you Spanish slang now.”

This is our second week to go to the garbage dump day care,the construction site of the children’s home, and the garbage dumpneighborhood.

Our time at the day care has been great. The kids areeager to build relationships, play games, and receive lots of hugs andtwirls. It is evident that they have a need for touch, healthy play withadults, and compassion. It is interesting to see how these children havedeveloped a family structure within the day care. It is a huge blessingto give these children the opportunity to eat a large meal, learn a Biblelesson and/or an English lesson, and have time to play. These kids havesmiles that you can’t believe. They do not complain. They do notfight. They are thankful for everything they get when they are in the daycare. I am never ready to leave these kids. Jake and Matt chose togo to the construction site one day instead of the day care. The boys allasked for them by name, and were sorry they did not make it.

Our time at the construction site is what you might expect:a lot of dirt and manual labor. Thank goodness that we have music to listento when we move dirt and rocks for hours upon hours. It is great to seethe progress we have made in just a couple weeks. I can’t wait to seewhat the building and premises look like at the end of the summer. The best part about this work is bonding with the interns. We have sharedmany moments of laughter, dancing with our shovels as we plug away, becomingone with the dirt. Our kids do great at the construction site. Really it’s a boys dream… lots of dirt to play in.

The garbage dump is incrediblyhumbling. We are challenged to rethink how we spend our money, rethinkingour giving to the poor. We are called to this as Christians, and we areconvicted of our priorities. We are called to live the sacrifice ofChrist as believers. We do not want to take this lightly; we arenot supposed to… Their home looks like a planet of trash, a place withoutlife or redemption. There is no nature--there is only trash, dirt, andhomes made from scraps. It looks as if there is no hope. But, thepeople who live there greet us with smiles. They are hungry, and somebasic needs are not being met. We must commit to pray for these people,our new friends, and ask God to give us vision on how to help more.

We are staying in a hospitality house called “HelpingHands,” where the interns live and the teams from North America will be housedduring their 10-day trips. We have a tidy room with two twins and adouble bed. It is a blessing to live here where we continue to have dailydevotions and debriefs with our group of interns. We have arrangedaccountability partners for them, and are meeting with each individually. Our interns are great. We are proud of who they are, and theyinadvertently encourage us. They are very servant-mindedindividuals. Their energy seems limitless. Their love isgracious. One of our interns has chosen to work and live in the garbagedump with one of the workers for the next 3 days. Pray for his safety andhealth. His name is Corey.

Speaking of health and prayer requests, some of the interns,as well as Jon have gotten sick. Jon is better, but the schedule iswearing on the interns. Please continue to pray. Also, we are stilltrying to adjust to our schedule, living and eating meals around the clock withour sweet interns. Our leader, Lisa Merritt, babysat for us yesterday,giving Jon and me a time to reflect and touch bases with one another. Indoing that, we realized that we must take initiative in making timetogether. We are thankful that Lisa understands our need, and encouragesus to do this. However, we ask that you pray with us in that, andask God for help with our adjustment.

Thank you for partnering with us in this venture throughprayer.

Warmly,

Cindy, Jon, Jake, and Matt

Email: joniweller@gmail.com,cindysweller@gmail.com

More Pictures

2010-06-07T12:38:00.000-07:00

June 7, 2010

Trujillo, Peru

We made it! Last week we were in Ecuador, and yesterday we arrived in Peru. We are safe, healthy, and filled with peace and excitement for the upcoming weeks.

This past week has been a whirlwind of activity…. Interns (college age students here for 3-12 months) have competed in Incalink’s version of The Amazing Race. We were helping to run the race, so we’ve been driving all over Ecuador, meeting them on each leg, and sending them on the next. The Amazing Race included:

    •    De-furring, gutting, and cooking a guinea pig (a South American delicacy)
    •    a 2 mile zip line (sometimes upside down--and the kids did it too...not upside down)
    •    riding a mule
    •    digging up potatoes with the indigenous people (including eating lunch in their village church)
    •    sleeping on a double bed with the four of us with the volcano erupting 20 miles away from us,
         sounding like thunder in our room all night
    •    clearing a field with a machete for building a church
    •    playing soccer with locals, driving a van that broke down 4 times including a time when Jon was
         driving and the brakes went out.... we had 45 minutes more to drive and 10 interns in the car
    •    swimming in the hot springs in the middle of the Andes

Wow! We are blessed.

The interns, long term missionaries, and leaders have been awesome. They are hard workers that love the Lord and are eager to serve. We have been so impressed with the lack of complaining thus far. We are encouraged by their great attitudes and strong character.

We have had a couple of opportunities to lead devotions and worship. These have gone really well. Everyone is ready to sing, and share. We are enjoying this very much. We look forward to doing this more and more.

The kids have been the biggest troopers ever! They have been eating at 9 and 10 pm, waking up at 5:30 in the morning, and then driving for 5 hrs or more in the broken car. They are keeping up with the interns and making friends. Despite the lack of structure, and craziness of the days, our kids love it. Yesterday they sat on the interns’ laps for a 2 hr drive to the hot springs.

Food is rice and chicken for the most part. That could have been a lot worse...Matt (our notoriously picky eater) likes it pretty much. He even ate the guinea pig. He thought it was chicken and Cindy told him it was guinea pig.... when the real chicken dish came out he wouldn’t eat it... he thought it was guinea pig.

One thing that is amazing is how people here give everything to take care of guests, even when (by all appearances) they have nothing. The heart of the people is to serve, to care, and to be gracious. We greet everyone with a kiss or handshake. And we say goodbye to every person each time we leave the room. The priority (over everything) is relationships.   In this culture, If a person is in a conversation, then that conversation must conclude before moving onto the next thing. The way people honor each other is amazing. We are taken by the beauty of their culture, and only want to increase our love and generosity in response to the ways they live their daily lives.

Anyways, so far so great! We think and hope it's going to be a really great summer. We are so thankful for this opportunity. Thank you for your prayers.

Love and grace,

Jon, Cindy, Jake, and Matt

2010-05-15T22:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

Summer is almost here! The count down is on. With thanksgiving in our hearts we want to make sure that we fill you in on some of the details surrounding our summer mission trip. This summer, our family is travelling to Peru and Ecuador with Incalink, a mission that’s primary focus is to reach 300 million young people in South America with the gospel. We will be leaving May 29 and returning August 3. (Yep, that is a full nine weeks. Our initial thought was to take a 10-day trip.) When we told this to our youngest son Matt, his response was, “ Yeah, but if we don’t like it we can just go find some other country to go to, right?” After some reassurance, we told him with delight in our hearts, that we have been asked to serve for the whole summer.

Inca link ministers in many ways to the people of Ecuador and Peru. These ministries include training youth workers at several seminaries, a women’s prison ministry and half way house, a teen pregnancy shelter, a day care for garbage dump workers and their families consisting of 120 children a week, the construction of an orphanage that will house 75 children, a teen center, and a camp to meet the needs of the local youth.

Incalink staffs their ministries in three ways. First, several full-time staff run the operations year round. Second, they run many of their programs through internships offered to those who have finished at least a year of college. A third way they provide for the ministry is through short-term missions teams. These teams are run by the interns and each trip lasts for 10-days.

Our position is to pour out our lives to the interns. We will mentor and support each individual as they lead the short-term mission teams. Some of the teams that they will lead include a hundred or more people. We will also serve as their “dorm parents,” eating most meals with them, and being available around the clock. In addition to this we will be managing the interns budget, making sure all the details (transportation, itinerary, etc.) are in place for the teams, and handling any last minute administrative duties. We will facilitate devotions, worship and prayer. Last, we will be leading each intern through al local mission project. These projects are designed with the intentions of encouraging local mission work when the interns return home. We are humbled by this opportunity, knowing full well that this is a HUGE job. Jesus continues to remind us that when we are weak He is strong. We rest in His Truth.

Our primary assignment is spiritual, and we ask for your prayers in this area. Please pray for:

· Health and safety

· A quick transition and easy adjustment for our family, especially Jake and Matt. We arrive Sunday, and we begin our team building through an “Amazing Race” beginning on early Monday morning.

· Good relationships with the leaders, interns, the children in the day care, and the people of Peru.

· Wisdom -- Our minds, hearts, and tongues

· Stamina – 24/7 for 9 weeks.

· A positive experience for the boys

Thank you for your prayers! We know that God called us into this position, and we desire to be instruments of his grace. We want you to know that as we do this work, we will be praying for you and your mission to reach the people of Sonoma County, just as Paul did in his letter to the Philippians: “I thank God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (1:3-6, NIV).

Please partner with us, in prayer, friendship, or perhaps future involvement. If you wish to join our email list, send us an email at joniweller@gmail.com. You can “friend” us on facebook as well, where we will update things periodically. Also, please visit Inca Link website at http://www.incalink.net.

In Christ,

Jon, Cindy, Jake, and Matt Weller