Lauren in Peru: Cancer hospital, food baskets, and huge blessings!

About a year and a half ago, I met a family because they lived behind the oprhanage and their house had completely burned down. We were able to help them a little and grew a friendship with them. Then we met her sister's family. Her husband is dying of cancer and they live 2 blocks away from the first family. Anyway, we have been in touch with both of these 2 families for a while now. Please pray for the man with cancer that he would be miraculously healed but more than that come to know Jesus as his Savior seeing as that is the most critical thing. He is confused and thinks works are part of salvation. I just gave him a book the other day by Andy Stanley called "How Good is good enough" Please pray that God speaks to him through this book. Anyway, when we went to visit them a couple of weeks ago to get their sizes for clothes for Christmas presents, the need became aware to me that he could not afford all the medicine he needed for his Cancer. It just broke my heart because the people are so poor they cannot even afford the pain medicine that is needed for his cancer. Chemo is about 8,000 dollars for him and they do not have the money for that, and I don't have that kind of money either, but I knew that I could at least help with the medicine. If I had that amount of money, I think in that moment I would have written a check for $8,000. It just burdens my heart to see a frail father of 4 talk dying right in front of me and for his wife to tell me there is not the money to pay for chemo and the doctors had said that chemo probably would not work anyway. Anyway, the whole situation is just painful, it brought me to tears just feeling their pain. I can't imagine how they feel especially not knowing Jesus.

         Anyway, so I went to the Cancer hospital that week in Lima. Apparently there is only really one Cancer hospital in all of Peru. I was not prepared for what I was about to see. There were lines and lines of people that were there for Cancer treatment, to pick up medicine, etc. Adults, children, senior adults, teenagers, women without hair. My heart was breaking as I watched all of it. I was thinking I bet the majority of these people do not know Jesus. God why did you bring me here? What purpose do you have for me here? As we walked by Nicchola and I we saw a volunteer in the lobby doing Christmas activities. Nicchola said to me that is a volunteer. I was already thinking maybe we should start coming here and do something for these people that are in so need physically and spiritually. Please pray for me to know what God has for me and this cancer hospital. Later on that day, we went shopping to make food baskets for these 2 families. We also bought everyone outfits with the money that the lady from Mission Arlington had given. What a blessing. We even got one toy for each kid! One of the little boys had asked for a skateboard and we found one for him!

      We took their presents and their food baskets to them. I forgot to mention we also bought Christmas trees and Christmas decorations for them. One family had NEVER ever had a Christmas tree and the other one had never had one since they had had kids. It was a BEAUTIFUL time decorating the trees with these families. It is custom to put up trees in Peru, it is just these families live in extreme poverty and that is an absolute luxury. We put up the trees and put the gifts under the tree. I told them they could not open up the gifts until Christmas, only the food basket they could open now! One of the moms said sorry I did not introduce myself to your friend, I was just so excited I forgot to introduce myself! At one of the houses I watched them open their food basket, and the four year old boy exclaimed TUNA FISH! I was once again humbled at place where I live surrounded by physical and extreme poverty. It made me realize how numb I have become. I was brought back into reality in that moment.

      Needless to say, I was much more blessed by this situation than they were. It is more blessed to give than to receive. The giver normally always receives a bigger blessing by getting to be a part of a situation like the one above! American Christians including myself, let's remember all that God has blessed us with and give it away!