Unbroken Are We

I never knew living in solidarity with the poor meant being lock away from them for weeks.

I cannot help but think about what Saint Paul must have felt when he was imprisoned. As his ministries were halted and he was unable to share the Good News to those who needed it the most. However Saint Paul did not sit idle during his confinement when the authorities halted his mission, instead he made a choice to spend his days serving the Lord.

Although not imprisoned, my family and I are on a government quarantine, as all of those who live in Peru. As the days have gone by the quarantine and it’s restrictions have only increased. With the military and police having full authority to arrest or use deadly force to those who do not comply. Our current situation only allows men to go out on certain days within certain hours and women on the opposite days can go out. With Sunday being a day that no one at all, can leave their homes. It has been challenging to say the least. However we are grateful to live in Peru and for the Presidents fast and strict actions to prevent the virus from spreading.

Obviously our mission as we have known it to be has been grounded, halted to a dead stop; we have been unable to go out to our normal ministries since the 16^th of March. However as Saint Paul did we have chosen to spend hours in prayer each day, for the world and for each of you, and for all the sweet people we live among.

From our confinement also came a wonderful blessing of sore and blistered fingers from making crosses out of coconut leaves. Understandable they are not palm leaves but it was the best our beautiful friend Jose could bring us, considering the current state of emergency Peru is in.

Our desire was to make as many as we could before Palm Sunday; and with a lot of prayer maybe somehow, God would open the way for us to hand deliver them to our friends around town without getting in trouble or arrested.

Although we desired to make fifty of them, we found it impossible to complete in just 2 days. Though we did not even come near to our quota, we were successful in making 20 crosses. We were granted permission from the police, that allowed us to deliver the crosses to those we live among. Many of those we delivered the crosses to were surprised to see us. They had thought we had left them, and went back to our home in America, because of the virus. We simply answer “of course not, this is our home, here with you.

It was this simple act of courage, that we made to stay with them, although locked away from each other, that brought such unity and love.