A dream is like the sail of a ship and hope is the wind that carries it.

A dream is like the sail of a ship and hope is the wind that carries it. 

We went out a lot this last last week and were invited into an area that local artists use. It was a very large crowd in an enclosed area so we had their full attention. We also went to a huge down town market and performed right in the middle of the street since it was so busy no cars could get through any way. There are so many people walking down the streets it's crazy, like what you would see in India. Everyone shoving and bumping into each other in a sea of wall to wall people. This kind on insanity can make one so cold and indifferent that I see people almost come out of a daze when they here our music and message. It is as if they are coming to their senses as they see there is so much more to life then mere survival. 

We were invited to visit an orphanage, which they call a village. It is in the same chain as the one we worked at so long in Colombia. At each village there are like twenty to thirty "Moms" who take care of and raise as many as ten kids per house. Most of the children have had a very tragic past and been through horrible things. From seeing their parents killed, to being given or taken away from them because of abuse. It was a long drive to get to the orphanage because it was located way out of the city, but it was a priceless experience, for them and us. We have some really cool costumes that a company in the States donated to us and we use these costumes to tell stories to the kids. Through a story we can communicate values and ideas that will help them and comfort them. Stories about seeds that become flowers and a treasure that is found inside each of them and how they can care about each other and give each other a smile and laughter.

We choose volunteers to participate in our acts of magic and theater and so the kids get to feel like they are on center stage. After my we did the dance with the caterpillar becoming a butterfly, we chose a little girl to go into the cocoon and come out with wings on as lots of other little girls and boys danced with wings around her. We had a dance competition and it was so cool seeing these little peanuts break out their moves. We had some balls, hula hoops and candy to use as prizes. It breaks your heart looking into some of these children's eyes and seeing such a deep sadness and hurt that you know they have been through something tragic, something far beyond their years. They want to be held and hugged and listened to and tickled and told that everything is going to be ok. To think Jesus Himself said the Kingdom belongs to them and we must be like them. The directer of the orphanage told us how grateful she was and how much we impacted the kids and changed them but I think they impacted me more.  

There was another prison that I had really wanted to get into but there was not time to get it all worked out and be able to perform in it. So just my sisters and I went to visit on the day they allow women to visit. We had to wait in a long line and go through a tun of security and check points. They stamp your arm with a number and that's the place you get in line. We were 217 out of like 600 so not that bad. You have to know someone on the inside and be visiting them to get in. Since we did not know anyone inside, we just put down a random name and hoped they would not check and they did not. Most of the guards look for bribes to allow people to bring stuff in but we got by ok. We were able to bring in a bunch of reading material, Gospels of John, photographs to put up on their walls, some candy and playing cards. Once we got inside they just let us go wherever we wanted to, going from one patio to another visiting the men who had no one to visit them and also sharing with the families as they visited together. This prison is also all run on money, the women on the outside bring the men things to sell on the inside. It is a lot to go into and I won't bore you with details but I have never seen a prison like this. The prisoners run it and have like their own government system inside and because there are not enough guards to stop them they just do as they like but somehow it works and they have it under control.  

All the stamps I had to get going in from all the check points  (yes that is a wired little ghost).

Anyway, this is the first time I have visited a prison without my dad or brothers and I was cautious and a bit nervous but I knew that if God wanted us to visit these men, He would protect me and give me the courage to speak with them. We visited a patio that held foreign prisoners and I spoke with men from Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Portugal, a guy from Alabama, Russia and a man named Michael from Poland. They were so grateful for someone to come and visit them since they have no family here in Peru and  they are usually sad and depressed on visiting day. We went to one patio that held around 600 men. They stopped everything and gathered around to hear us share with them (big gulp). I could never have imagined growing up that little nobody me, would be here in a third world country standing by my self in front of 600 prisoners telling them about the beautiful love of a Father and His forgiveness and future for them. Surely it is true that God chooses the "things that are not" because I am nothing. Never think that you are too shy, or too week, or too this or that for God to use you. If you are willing, He is willing but you have to be willing my friend. My sisters and I took turns talking and the men were so respectful and grateful. Some were in tears when we left and touched that someone out there thought about them. "Thank you for hope" said one young man as I left.  

A picture I got off line of the outside of the prison since we could take no cameras. 

We will be leaving Peru soon and heading out to another country and have been busy with preparations. The box that was on the trailer that we had used to get from Colombia to here turned out to be heavier then we thought. On this next leg of the journey we will face serious mountain passes and steep roads so we decided to sell the box and make a real light frame. We were able to sell the box for what we paid so we didn't lose anything, and we were able to get all the materials to build a frame, sides and aluminum. I imagine you have heard about the 8.2 earthquake that was just in Chile. They closed the streets here in anticipation of a tsunami. The city that got hit is not far from where we will be traveling and we are looking into road conditions. There have been a number of small earth quake tremors here that shake the building and have given us quit a scare. I was just saying that I will certainly not miss all the stray dogs that are around here. They literally bark all night echoing off the walls from neighborhood to neighborhood. Then my brother tells me that right where we are heading has a serious problem with stray dogs! Like 200,000 roaming the streets, woo hoo! 

Never stop Dreaming!