Tom and Nancy Lin

The following is from an American student at the Lima site on InterVarsity’s Global Urban Trek: “Meet Carmen… A loving wife and mother of two young boys. Together with her husband, she has started a non-profit ministry aimed at helping children develop into leaders for the future in their churches and their communities. When asked, Carmen details how she would like to expand the program to offer more, but the only people who fund it are Carmen and her husband, selflessly giving everything they have even while raising two growing boys.

“Meet Luis… A pastor at a local evangelical church that is overflowing on Sundays and has four church branches in the mountains. Despite a continually growing congregation and typical services with around 100 people attending, he is still in despair. When asked about programs the church has for children, he sadly says that there are no programs, yet dozens of children, because of the lack of resources. No one can give time, either, as members struggle to help their families eat on a daily basis.

“Meet Isabel and Elena… Unpaid directors of the comedor, these two women work tirelessly so children in the neighborhood can get free, nutritious lunches during the week— perhaps the only balanced meals they get. Neither young woman knows how long to remain at the comedor, as working there means that they cannot get a job to help support their families. Selflessly, neither woman has decided to leave, because quitting means that 40 children go without meals.

“These are just a few of the examples we have seen— people sacrificing what little they have and dedicating their lives to raise a generation of confident children. But in every case, I witness such a lack of resources. These programs and many more that we have worked with are noble causes that help the youth in the community. It’s difficult to see so little being offered. Being an American and having the “if there’s a problem, fix it” mentality, I’m at a loss with how to help here. And maybe that’s part of the problem. Coming in with the mindset that I, in my own way, can help fix this problem.

“I’ve learned here that the problems run much deeper than it seems on the surface. Issues of drug use, abusive relationships, child neglect, gang violence and others run rampant in the streets where we work and live. I’ve taken a learning posture in this experience by sitting back and taking in as much as I can. The more I see, the more questions I seem to have. What has caused people to be in their current situation? How can I help? Can they get out of it?

“I’ve learned that the answers aren’t clear. The sad reality is that the people we’ve met can work extremely hard the rest of their lives and still be consumed by poverty.

“Present among the poverty, the waste, the hungry, is truth: God is here. I see it in the kindness of the mothers’ hearts and the sheer joy on the children’s faces. God is bigger than all of this and gives Peruvians and me a reason to hope for the future. With him, anything is possible, and because of that, we can be truly grateful, even when answers are unclear.”

(All names have been changed in this post.)