in times like these

i know we're not supposed to worry about anything, but we're supposed to pray about everything. but for the past few days i've worried and i've prayed. while i was in college i did mission work in Peru. i went there twice - only for two weeks at a time, but it truly changed my life. it taught me more about what it means to live in a Christian community where your primary identity is baptism rather than skin color, language, or birthplace than i had ever learned before or since. being in Peru taught me about a staggering faithfulness - one not linked to possessions in any way. the people i came to know and love there didn't think the way i thought - that if things were going well God loved me, but if things were going bad, God must be mad at me for something. they knew without a doubt God loved them and everything from God is good. and now i struggle as i think some of them, maybe all of them could be dead.

we did most of our work in tambo de mora which is right on the coast. judging by what i've seen, i'm guessing tambo de mora was as close to the epicenter as possible. we went to chincha alta almost everyday. it was the closest big city. we went and ate there. we used the internet in computer cafes. we watched soccer with hundreds of people in the plaza de armas. i haven't seen the plaza on cnn yet - i'm wondering what still exists.

we went to ica and pisco as well. chincha, ica, and pisco all have buildings that could be destroyed. tambo de mora didn't have much that could be destroyed. i'm praying that because the homes there were so modest, maybe there was little damage and death. i've come to terms with the reality that the campamento we help build is probably no more. it's unreal to think that something which took one hundred years to build can be destroyed in seconds.

i pray most for the people. for pastor pedro and his church. for all the people we worked with and worshipped with. i pray especially for my godson david tantachuco burgos and his family - for his mother soledad and his sisters lisbeth and lizette. i don't lift them up in prayer nearly enough. often i think i've failed as a padrino. i pray for the chance to know they are safe and see them again.

God have mercy. Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy.