No matter how hard things are planned out, it seems as if nothing goes as planned. Which is merely something to adapt to and nothing to complain about.
Compartiendos involve a lot of people, a lot of drivers, a lot of vehicles, and a lot of leaders. Currently, most of our buses are out of commission, and we only have two men who are licensed to drive a bus anyway. This means we need large vans. Of which we don’t have any. But, we do have one very old Chevy suburban. Don’t ask me how an American made car like that made it down here, but it did! It hasn’t run for years, though. But, it was needed. So, last week, they decided it was time to fix it.
Brian took it to a local mechanic, who happens to be a believer and a good friend of BCM Peru. He does our work “gratis” (free)… but Saturday, he was booked with paying customers. So, he asked if Brian could at least get the vehicle ready to go. Brian did… in 10 minutes. The mechanic then said, “Wow, you’re just like one of my men. Wanna just do the job?!” So, Brian spent Saturday NOT working in camp, but at a mechanic shop fixing the suburban. He got home around 8pm, worked another hour and a half and finally it seemed fixed. Sunday, it was to be taken to be inspected, but no one was available to do that. So, Monday, Brian took it to be inspected. As per usual here, it did not pass. They told Brian two stupid issues that are really non-issues that have to be fixed before it will pass inspection. Brian spent yesterday evening at a different mechanic to fix one of the problems. This morning, he’s taking it back to the first mechanic, to a third mechanic, and then back to the inspection place. On Peruvian time, that’s an all-day job.
So, needless to say, his weekend (and his week) did not go (is not going) the way he’d planned!
On the plus side, camp came off just fine. Compartiendos got off to a good start. We have rented vehicles and drivers and things seem to be going smoothly. It’s Christmastime, so people are coming out to the Compartiendos because they think they’ll get free stuff. We do hand out “Panetone” (Peruvian fruitcake eaten this time of year), but that’s about it. But, we hand out the Gospel! The Bread of Life. Pray people accept that with even wider arms than the fruitcake.
We enjoyed having our President here for 24 hours. He flew in for a quick meeting with our leadership. Our Latin American director is here as well. We went to Candidate Orientation with him and his wife, but that was the last time we saw them. It was wonderful seeing both of these men here! We fed them breakfast yesterday morning and had a nice time visiting. Marty, our President, brought down ALL my materials for Kindergarten for next year! I am so excited about using Sonlight and can’t wait to begin school! 🙂 Brian keeps saying I’m just dorky enough to enjoy my job. ha!
If you happen to read this today, pray that the suburban passes inspection and that Brian will be able to understand the men he has to work with to do so. Only one person can go in with the vehicle and Brian is that man. It’s hard for him to understand their directions and the issues they come up with. Plus, he’s a “gringo” and it’s easy for them to take advantage of that fact. We NEED this vehicle – not just for Compartiendo these weeks. Please pray!
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