Monday- Trek update

  The group is doing well!  They are still on the trek and yesterday (Monday) was their third day.  On the second day- Sunday- they had 4 hours of rain, which may not seem like a lot, but Peru has a dry season and a rainy season...and typically by the time our gorup is in country the rainy season is over and they have entered the dry season, so it was a bit out of character for this time of year.  In addition to the rain, Sunday was an 11 1/2hr day where the group covered 16 miles and climbed over a high altitude pass at 15,200ft!  In spite of a difficult day, the group is still going strong.  

Here's a student update:

   If you have been following along, you will have seen that something called the 'hot seat' has come up multiple times and you may be wondering what that is.  Well, here's an explanation:  Hot seat gives one student the opportunity to have the floor to answer two main questions followed by people having the opportunity to ask about what they are interested about. The 'rules' are no giving advice/fixing something and people are only allowed to ask questions.  
   The questions for our group that every one has to answer are: 'How did you learn what love was growing up?' and 'If everyone in the world had to live by that definition tomorrow, what would you keep and what would you change?'.
   Now hot seat has been such a gift to our group.  Hot seat could have just consisted of shallow stories and answers, but it hasn't been and that is a gift from God.  For people to be vulnerable and share takes so much courage and yet such healing has come from it.  To hear people say things and share hurts, pain, and wrongs for the first time is amazing.  Tears have been shed, wounds have been exposed.  We pray hot seat can be a time of more sharing, vulnerability, and healing.
   Pray for those who have shared and for those who have yet to share.  We praise God for the gift of getting to more deeply know each other.  It's inexpressible to get across here on paper, but this is a start.  Praise God with us!
-Rebekah (Allegheny)

Here are a few more photos from the trek.  They may come out a bit pixel-y bc the group is using a satellite device to send them.

(Take a break on the trail.)


(Monday's lunch time.)


(Snow capped mountain peaks are standard when you're at high altitude.)