Peru Mission trip - 글/Connie Han

[올리브]

This summer I had the privilege of going on the Peru Mission trip for my second time.

  My decision to go on the mission was a spontaneous and an immediate one, because I knew that I had wanted to return to Cangari and see the children ever since I left them in 2008.  And although I came to church once in a while after I left for college, I seemed to have lost some connection with God and wanted to begin building it again through the mission trip.  My first mission trip was such a great experience and I felt like I had learned so much, so I was kind of nervous about how the second time would compare.  I had nothing to worry about though because the two weeks I spent in Cangari this summer was unforgettable. 

            Seeing all the familiar faces of the children, parents, and elders at the welcoming party felt like I had seen them just a year ago.  Thinking about how FOUR years had passed was crazy.  It was humbling to see that many of the parents and children had remembered me from four years ago, and I began to think “wow, we must really be impacting some of these peoples' lives for them to remember us after all these years.” The people of Cangari are always so warm and welcoming that they truly make you feel like you are at home.  

            I really enjoyed seeing how much the kids had grown and also how the community had grown as well.  Compared to my first mission, Cangari seemed to be in a much better condition: water was more readily available, there weren't armed men guarding our houses at night, etc.  Seeing the improvements of the village, made me realize how our work is really impacting their daily lives. This year, our projects were to help prepare the study room built for the children and to renovate the church.  Although donating is a wonderful thing, sometimes you are unable to physically see the changes you are making.  Seeing the impact you are making in someone's life can give you a lot of happiness, and you may be more likely to help others again.  It was amazing to see that, while we were renovating the church, the whole community seemed to come together with a common goal: to beautify the house of God.  Everyone had sacrificed their time to labor in the blistering heat and no one complained, not even the children...

            On that note, the children of Cangari are amazing!  Truly one of a kind.  I have never met such determined children; they are excited to learn and go to school, are helpful, and hardworking.  Not only are they determined, but they are so loving and kind-hearted.  They are always smiling and laughing and it is totally contagious and you can't help but feel so much joy around them.  The kids are what inspire me the most; they teach me so much every time I'm with them, and they are the main reason I want to keep going back to Cangari.  They show us so much love every time we visit them, and we are only strangers to them.  They embrace you with the warmest hugs and want to just hold your hand and play with you all day until its late at night.  And even though you are so tired and exhausted from the day's events, you can't help but want to keep spending more time with them.  Every time I leave Cangari, it breaks my heart to have to leave them and I begin to miss them even before the car pulls out of the dirt path leading to the village.  I think about them all the time and wonder what they are up to and hope they are doing well.  I don't know where I will be next year or what my plans are, but I strongly hope that I can return to Cangari and meet the children to play at “el campo” again. 

            I am blessed to have been given the opportunity to go to Cangari for the second time with the planning on organization of Mr. Choi and the soonyuneems, the soonyuneems for being great hosts and giving us a nice place to stay and being so kind to us, the privilege of having enough money to pay for the trip, the support of God, my friends, and my family, and an amazing group of people to go on the trip with.