In this issue, Katie shares about a complicated and somewhat hilarious process for getting her Peruvian driver's license, I reflect on how special the work is with Living Libraries has been in special thanks to all who contributed, and give just a quick snapshot of our semester with 35 students. Finally, we give Sarah a closing word as she transitions back to living in the US. We thank you so much for your ongoing prayers for us and for what is happening in Arequipa!
Often I use this space to share big numbers about how many schools, teachers, and students we’re sharing the gift of reading with. I’m proud of the program and how big an impact our team is making in real lives of real teachers that plays out in the lives and futures of so many kids. The school year started in March, so we’re 9-weeks into a new school year and the team is hard at work with 52 teachers, in 6 schools, working with 1500 students. We set up 38 mini-libraries this year—many thanks to many of you!
It takes about 18 months of work to pull off a semester of Harding University Latin America. And it’s over in an instant. What happens over the course of three months, though, is real. The walks. Hours around the table. The conversations. The encounter with difference that teaches us something fundamental about what it means to be human.
Here we are a year and eight-ish months later. I am officially back in the US, but before I departed from Arequipa, I wrote these final words to my church community. After apprenticing under the Daggetts and working in communal missions, this little speech sums up the radical effect my time in Peru had on my life and what it taught me about following Jesus and loving others.
