The Earthquake Day
Imagine driving down an uncharted road full of surprising turns and rocky bumps, a few lulling moments and then, imagine the ground being suddenly pulled out from under you. If you can get that under your belt you pretty much have most of yesterday figured out from our point of view! The only difference is that when the going got too tough or when we felt like we were standing on sinking sand, we had an awesome God to guide us to a solid foundation.
The morning started off with a great sense of excitement – the anticipation of clean laundry!For some, the couple of days spent waiting for it were long and traumatic ones.Needless to say, we were all very lively, although a little apprehensive about the activity for the day…teaching character qualities to small groups of high school students – an activity that many of us hadn’t even come close to before. Having been told our groups that morning, team leaders were huddled together throughout the breakfast room and hotel lobby talking about possible options, personal experiences, and ways to grab the kid’s attention.After arriving at the church to pick up our translators, unexpected turn #1 came bouncing our way. Due to a small show of translators – two to be exact, including Pastor Salazar; the groups were condensed from eight to four. Since we still didn’t have enough translators, Daniel Potts and Tim had to fill the empty slots. Oh, and by the way, we were also going to be teaching three different groups instead of just one. Resourcefulness became really handy at that point, but between stories, music, and push ups, we made it through the afternoon! Our God is so faithful and amazing – He leads us where we need to go and when we are at the end of our rope, He leaves us only one escape route – Himself.
More surprises came when Andy announced that we were all going to take a walk before leaving for the CI. A mysterious excitement spread through the group as we passed out of familiar territory, walking by many little shops, and then finally stopped across from an enormous Starbucks Coffee shop. Curiosity was getting the better of all of us as Andy and Elizabeth took off around the corner after strictly telling us to not move. Shortly after they reappeared and announced that we were all going to be treated to the best ice cream in the Peru! After two scoops of delicious ice cream we all headed out with high spirits and full stomachs.
When we arrived at the church, we busied ourselves getting ready for lessons and crafts, just chilling in the large group/craft room. In the midst of the hustle and scurrying around, we suddenly paused. Wow! There sure were a lot of people stomping around upstairs…or wait, that couldn’t actually be the earth shaking, could it? We were quickly assured of reality when Elizabeth nonchalantly said, “Oh, it’s an earthquake!” The reactions that took place in that minute were incredibly diverse. For those who were not from CA, the earthquake was a completely new experience and we didn’t really know what to think except for Nathaniel, who felt like the comment “Dude, this is awesome!” was all that was necessary. However, the tinge of excitement quickly turned into worry or fear as the shaking continued and we moved to doorways and other safe places. Eventually we found out that we had experienced a three minute-8.0 earthquake, something which only happens about twice a year in the entire world.
We spent a lot of time in prayer, asking the Lord for protection and for comfort for those who were killed and their families. Throughout the night we could feel the aftershocks become less and less severe, and fortunately for us, the only visible damage was an occasional crooked picture, a crack in the ceiling, or some shattered window panes. The Lord gave grace and protection through everything that took place and faithfully covered us with His wings. Looking back on the day, we can truly sing that “on Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.” We thank you all for your prayers for us and support back at home. We look forward to another week of serving the Lord here and are excited to see what He has in store for us in our few remaining days!
Joanna Tyrrell
Amazingly, the children's program went on in spite of the earthquake. We didn't expect to see any kids tonight with everyone feeling so unsettled, but the kids came anyway, so on with the show!
Andy is such a good story teller! Just look at the expressions on these faces and you can tell the kids (and helpers) are loving it.
Amanda and Andreas, the daughter of the pastor at the church where we are teaching the kids program.
More pictures from the morning of teaching at the high school. Here's Andy with a bunch of guys he befriended.
Tim challenged the guys to a push-up contest. About five of them took him up on it. Tim won.
Dena's violin was very popular with the older kids too.
The girls didn't want us to leave. You might also notice that the sky is blue in this picture. I know that may not seem unusual to all of you who are enjoying the end of the summer, but this is only the second day of sunshine that we have experienced in two weeks. Boy, did it feel good!