That morning when we arrived at Jonhattan’s church to pick up the teachers as we had every morning, we were informed that there were leftover Samaritan’s Purse boxes for us to take to the school in Montalvo. When we finished all the events we had planned for the kids that morning, the puppet show, lesson and craft, we sat them down in the biggest of the classrooms and Jonhattan shared the gospel with them. Then we gave them the boxes. I was able to give boxes to Maria, Luisa and Juanito and help them open them. They were so excited! Maria’s box contained one of those 25¢-pack of gum with five pieces and put every piece in her mouth at once. It was so amazing to have shared the gospel with her one day and give her a Samaritan’s Purse box the next.
The school had a surprise for us, too. They had prepared for us a lunch of cuy, the South American delicacy which we in the US call guinea pig. That particular morning, neither Ava nor I were feeling so much spectacular so we were a little concerned about eating the cuy. As soon as we knew what was coming we both began praying. God is good. We both were given very small pieces of cuy. Ava began singing ‘How Great is Our God.’ Each plate held a piece of cuy and three potatoes. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure my potatoes must have held some sort of world record for size. Earlier in the week, when I wasn’t feeling so well at Muchigrande, it was as a result of the potatoes; my body doesn’t digest them well in South America. The people of the Montalvo community had sacrificed so much to thank us and I wanted to receive well so I ate two of my potatoes. I think there were a few members of our team staking out the school grounds for a safe place to leave our cuy behind.
After the cuy, we were able to hang out with the kids for just a little while longer. Then we had to say goodbye. It was so difficult! As we were hugging the kids, saying goodbye and climbing on the bus, I couldn’t find any of my three new friends. I held back as long as I could; I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye to them. Before I boarded the bus, I took one last look around the field and saw Luisa. She was running across the schoolyard with the new doll from her Samaritan’s Purse box. When she got close enough, she jumped on me. I hugged her for a moment and we both cried as we said goodbye and I told her I would do my best to come back next year. As the bus pulled away, the kids stood in the schoolyard and waved to us for the last time.
Luisa, Me and Juanito
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