Students for International Mission Service (SIMS)

Outlook 2002
peru
....Jason Tan
....sophomore
....School of Medicine

Before I left for Peru I sensed a strong feeling of apprehension about putting myself at the mercy of a foreign culture. My fears that I had previously and carefully ignored about traveling to another country alone, having to speak a new language, and being away from home were now ever present.

I arrived in Juliaca with no expectations—except maybe to expect the worst. My first impression of Juliaca was that it was spectacularly barren. Even the mud-brick houses seemed to blend in to the background of the dusty landscape. Yet, among this brownish backdrop bustled the most colorful and exotic people that I had ever seen. Their customary dress consisted of bright colorful dyes and their faces expressed years of weathering by the strong altiplano sun.

It was a new and strange experience to be placed in a completely foreign environment. I quickly found that many things I had taken for granted, such as being able to communicate, to be independent, and to have a nice clean shower, were now temporarily put on hold. Most of my conversations ended with a smile of confusion or a look of pity at me. It took a while to adjust to the sharp contrasts between cultures and to find a rhythm of living at my new home.

Despite being so far away from home and many times feeling detached from the people around me, I was amazed to discover the similarities of religion.

In the middle of this small third-world town, attending Sabbath School and church felt like I was going to church in my home town. All the children were carrying their My Little Friends and Guides and we sang the same hymns (except in Spanish), and I felt an immediate connection between these people and myself.

I was comforted by these similarities, and my faith was strengthened in knowing these people so far away and different from my own culture also believed in and loved the same God that I know and love.

[Outlook 2002]

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