Hands on in Peru
by Elisa Brown
"So, Tuesday morning we'll take some of the youth up to the garbage dump." Rich said. "What? You cannot be serious!" I answered. Great guy that he is, Rich tends to come up with brilliant ideas at the worst times! Today was no exception. Rich wanted to check out a whole new ministry opportunity, the VERY DAY our family was flying to the States for a missions conference. As the official packer of the family, I had a list a mile long that still needed to be done, and my husband was telling me that we were going to the garbage dump!
We met the youth group at our church early Tuesday morning. There was a huge enthusiastic turn out. It was as if we were going to Disney instead of a smelly, disease infested garbage dump! Even my own kids were excited! Ours was the only car, so we were having a time trying to convince the taxi drivers to take us to the area of the city where the garbage dump is. We had learned that indeed there is a large garbage dump, but it is on the outskirts of the city, in what seems to be the middle of the desert. It's only neighbors are the Trujillo prison, and the multi-colored "red-light" district.
When we finally reached the turn-off, there was no doubt we were close. The smell was indescribable, and as we followed the dirt road, it only got worse. The flies began to circle our car. We kept driving. We could see garbage bags flying in the air, but there was nothing around. We stopped at some shacks, but no one was around. Now that it looked like things weren't going to work out, I started to feel guilty. "Lord, may your will be done, and help me to be big enough to obey you." Just as I finished that prayer, Rich drove the car up an incline. As our eyes got accustomed to the smoke and dust rising, we all gasped. We had found the garbage dump and there were HUNDREDS of people rummaging through the garbage. All were hooded with cloths covering their mouth and nose. Each had long pitchforks in their hands. Any skin showing was black with filth. It was as if we had discovered a small underground city. Men, women, children, elderly, all were desperately looking through the garbage. Each time a garbage truck rumbled up, there was a mad dash to get to it!
When they heard our car drive up, they yelled and ran towards us. Since their faces were masked, we couldn't tell if they were happy or angry. Our car was surrounded. Everyone was pressing in so we couldn't get our doors opened. Not that I was trying - but Rich was actually trying to get out of the car! He made it out and immediately disappeared into the crowd. There was dead silence in our car. My kids were wide eyed, and the teens were in shock. "Okay guys" I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking, "let's get out". I managed to squeeze out and get my kids next to me. They were hanging on for dear life. People were pressing in on us and talking at once. An elderly lady held my arm. She was talking. She was worried for me because I didn't bring anything to cover my face. My eyes started to sting. This dirty, starving woman was worried about me! I was so ashamed.
We were all so shocked at the poverty; we were having a hard time hiding our tears. Since there seemed to be about 500 people, we were in no way prepared to help everyone. We decided for that day, that we would separate the kids and take them down off the garbage "mountain", where we could play with them. We made our way down, stepping over dead dog carcasses, and other horrible things, until we found a relatively clear place to play. Our youth group just took over. We played games, and watched as the kids giggled and laughed, enjoying some much needed attention. We gave them all bread, fruit and drinks. We washed their hands and faces, and they were so grateful for the water and soap. As I washed a little girl's hair, it took me a good 15 minutes to get rid of the crusted dirt behind her ears! The lice were jumping all over us! But we made a game out of the "beauty parlor", and gave haircuts, had hair style contests, and tried to convince the younger kids that water wouldn't hurt them. We pulled out the toys and clothes we had brought.
Our time at the dump ended too quickly. I realized the smell or the flies just didn't matter anymore. As we gathered the youth together to evaluate, we all agreed that God has brought us to help these "forgotten people", and to help us grow in love and compassion. It was unanimous that we did not want this to be a one time visit but an ongoing ministry of the youth group. We now go at least once a month. We know many by name. We organized a census of the families represented at the garbage dump to know how to better serve them. Thanks to donations from Helping Hands Ministries, we were able to give out potato sacks full of clothes, house ware goods, and other gifts specific to each family. At Christmas, we served 500 meals with funds donated from the C&MA here in Peru. Funds many of you have provided. We brought an evangelistic team up to present the gospel, and the church will start VBS with the kids. Our whole church has adopted the forgotten people of Peru!
