My first brush...

So who are these four kids and why are these men playing futbol so effortlessly at 3,000 meters in the Andes?

Well, my journey to Guatemala first started in Peru. You may think that I happened to get lost along the way since I'm an Aggie. Yet, my first brush with another culture in a real and personal sense was when my wife and I took a trip to Peru in August 2002.

Although we climbed the multiple peaks of the Inca trail to get closer to the mountains, we found ourselves closer to God through his many people. We did not get to know the individuals in the picture to the left so much as we came away asking questions about other cultures and the way that they lived their lives.

Now my wife has experienced other cultures in a more substantive sense than myself as she was born in Kenya and move to an "other" culture in the United States when she was in elementary school. Additionally, typical of many immigrant families, my wife's family had to be careful with their finances. Yet, they still were resourceful in experiencing all that there was in their newly adopted hometown of Houston. Furthermore, when the opportunity arose, they would travel to other cultures to visit extended family in England and Goa.

So back to the picture... the four children are boys and girls that we met along the trail. For those who have hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, you know how beautiful the sights are. I believe that we went through seven different ecosystems along the way. For example, the first night was below freezing in the Andes while on the third day we were in the far western edge of the Amazon. It's funny to me and I'm sure that it's funny to the children above when the history books say that Hiram Bingham "discovered" the Lost City of the Incas as the people of this region always lived amongst the trail and the ruins.

We met the two boys on our first day on the trail at a minor resting point. The trail was easy and relaxing for the first half day. These two boys lived with their mother selling small snacks and drinks off of the trail, near their simple home. I was amazed at how kind they looked so I snapped their picture.

This was my first lesson of mission work... I had noticed that someone else had given the boys a Sol (Peruvian currency) after taking their picture. As I thought that would be a simple gesture to do, our guide quickly admonished me after asking him if this was customary. He insisted that I not turn these boys to charity cases. Instead, I was encouraged to thank them for letting me take their picture, which is what I did. Also, I learned that we can't go about throwing money at challenging situations or those situations will gladly follow you home.

The two little girls lived in the town of Olantyatambo. This town is the launching point where all the hiking teams stay the night before entering the trail. The younger girl was crying incessantly as her mom tried to calm her. I found it interesting the impact of American culture all the way down in the remote corner of the world as this little girl wore a Winnie the Pooh shorts. Obviously, these were hand-me downs from some fortunate children in the remembered world. Yet, what I noted was the need to be mindful of how wide our footprint on other beautiful and ancient cultures of the world can be.

The last child is a little girl who was working with her parents to sell walking sticks. It's amazing that we negotiated over these sticks (although mine was quite impressive AND I still have it! Ha!). Out of guilt no less, we shared with this girl some bread that we were eating at a small cafe that night. This little girls is obviously very precious, but I wonder what hers and the rest of the children's life may be now. Hopefully, it's for the better what that may be.

Which all of this leads me to the bottom picture. These are some of the men who carried our gear on the trail. I have no idea how they do it because the altitude is brutal and their loads are very heavy. Above all else though, these men found room to carry a soccer ball to play futbol on the side of a mountain where a bad kick is definitely penalized. I thank these guys for making my trip easier than it could have been, but also for providing joy in watching their playtime early on the third on the trail.