This was written by Carlos, who was our 24/7 translator while we were in Peru.
This is the story that I never planned to tell because I always believed there would never be the possibility of telling—as thousands of other people do—about being so close to God. Today I can say this after 9 years of being completely separated from the church and from God Himself.
I come from a family deeply rooted in the Catholic religion, so I have always been close to church and religion (terms whose meanings have been confusing), and I have grown up completing each of the Sacraments (Baptism, 1st Communion, Confirmation), and I am also conscious that I have grown up with the idea that God is our savior, and the He is always with us.
Little by little as time went by, my separation (from God) was fast, and all I did was to find excuses to not go to mass on Sundays, and the fact that my family had stopped going also helped—so much that my separation from God was just about complete. I got farther and farther away, and all I did was “pray” at night before going to bed. Of course, this was just a monotonous prayer of thanks for the day, and of asking for the same every time: waking up alive and having a better day than the one before.
After finishing secondary school, I had the opportunity to work as a translator for a medical mission that came to Peru in 2001. Since that date I have been carrying out that job together with my friends/coworkers. You probably wonder what that has to do with anything. The thing is that these medical missions have always been sponsored by people who are associated with a church in the U.S. It’s been 9 years since I started to work with them, and I am still doing that.
In spite of the fact that I always watched and listened to how they prayed before each meal, before beginning to work for the day, etc, I was indifferent and even a bit disparaging and taking it lightly, since I didn’t care at all what they were thinking or saying. But I should also confess that I still had respect for those who communicated with God through their prayers, and I still do.
Nine years have passed, and now I am more than surprised to have had the privilege of being so close to God without someone else having to ‘convince’ me or ‘talk to me’ about Him. Everything happened so fast that those nine years could be summed up in 9 days, 9 minutes, or 9 hours—I don’t know. I still don’t understand how it happened—it just happened. Everything is different now—from my way of thinking and acting to my way of communicating with God.
I met Lisa Robertson on Jan 3, 2010, since they offered me the job of being a 24-hour translator, but this time for another church. All the previous communication I had with her was through e-mail, and I never thought I would connect with her so well in such a few days. I remember that we met on Sunday at 7:12 am when I was eating breakfast in the hotel dining room, --Lisa came to the table and my friends introduced her. I had only just seen her, and I felt an energy that I had never felt. I could see in her eyes a deep inner peace, and I told myself, “I want to feel that peace, too.” That was how we started working together. Those 6 days went by so fast that we hardly had time to get to know each other, and we spent the time working with the other members of the team.
A week after the group had left for their country, I wrote a letter to Lisa, thanking her for the opportunity to work with them, and I made the comment that we had really gotten along well, and I had only felt positive energy from her. It was then that my drawing nearer to God began, and it was immediate.
The letter I received back was the best I had read in 9 years. Each word, phrase, and paragraph was more than enough to make my heart and my soul feel something I still don’t know how to explain. I only know that I would want everyone to feel what I felt and to experience the marvel of enjoying the presence of God. The next Sunday I decided to go to church, and I planned to go with a friend. But due to some circumstances, I decided to go alone. Everything was so strange that I felt like I didn’t fit in to the idea of families going to church on Sunday. I felt like they were looking at me as if I were an intruder in their territory, but little by little I started to not pay attention to them, and I dedicated myself to talking to God, asking Him to forgive me for all the bad I had done up to that moment, and asking Him to draw me closer to Him. Mass ended, and I stayed a while longer—not praying or asking for anything, just thinking—I don’t remember about what. After 20 minutes, I left without any particular destination. Since that day, I go to church on Sundays just to ‘converse’ with God.
On Thursday, Jan 28, I traveled from Cañete to Lima to meet my family on the following day. On the 2-hour trip, I decided to rest. I closed my eyes, ready for a little nap, but I couldn’t sleep. I kept waking up every 2-3 minutes. I couldn’t get to sleep. Then I decided to look out the window to pass the time, since I couldn’t go to sleep, and everything was dark. All I could see was the reflection of my body in the window, and it was then I began to pray and think about a thousand things, but above all I was able to feel that I was closer to God, and that we were really communicating. That was the second time that I received God in my heart, and now I am more that convinced that I want to share all that you’ve read.
I have realized that being alone allows me to have that closeness with God and to connect so well with Him that, unfortunately, I have to interrupt that activity to take care of the infinite other things that one must do in everyday life. But all in all, I feel that tranquility, that inner peace that I have always wanted and that I now have.
Today I don’t know what will happen in my life, or what God wants of me. The only thing I know is that now I am more than ready to receive it (His will) with all my heart, and to pursue it for my whole life. I am completely sure that this happened for a reason. . . but I am still trying to explain it.
This is the story that I never planned to tell because I always believed there would never be the possibility of telling—as thousands of other people do—about being so close to God. Today I can say this after 9 years of being completely separated from the church and from God Himself.
I come from a family deeply rooted in the Catholic religion, so I have always been close to church and religion (terms whose meanings have been confusing), and I have grown up completing each of the Sacraments (Baptism, 1st Communion, Confirmation), and I am also conscious that I have grown up with the idea that God is our savior, and the He is always with us.
Little by little as time went by, my separation (from God) was fast, and all I did was to find excuses to not go to mass on Sundays, and the fact that my family had stopped going also helped—so much that my separation from God was just about complete. I got farther and farther away, and all I did was “pray” at night before going to bed. Of course, this was just a monotonous prayer of thanks for the day, and of asking for the same every time: waking up alive and having a better day than the one before.
After finishing secondary school, I had the opportunity to work as a translator for a medical mission that came to Peru in 2001. Since that date I have been carrying out that job together with my friends/coworkers. You probably wonder what that has to do with anything. The thing is that these medical missions have always been sponsored by people who are associated with a church in the U.S. It’s been 9 years since I started to work with them, and I am still doing that.
In spite of the fact that I always watched and listened to how they prayed before each meal, before beginning to work for the day, etc, I was indifferent and even a bit disparaging and taking it lightly, since I didn’t care at all what they were thinking or saying. But I should also confess that I still had respect for those who communicated with God through their prayers, and I still do.
Nine years have passed, and now I am more than surprised to have had the privilege of being so close to God without someone else having to ‘convince’ me or ‘talk to me’ about Him. Everything happened so fast that those nine years could be summed up in 9 days, 9 minutes, or 9 hours—I don’t know. I still don’t understand how it happened—it just happened. Everything is different now—from my way of thinking and acting to my way of communicating with God.
I met Lisa Robertson on Jan 3, 2010, since they offered me the job of being a 24-hour translator, but this time for another church. All the previous communication I had with her was through e-mail, and I never thought I would connect with her so well in such a few days. I remember that we met on Sunday at 7:12 am when I was eating breakfast in the hotel dining room, --Lisa came to the table and my friends introduced her. I had only just seen her, and I felt an energy that I had never felt. I could see in her eyes a deep inner peace, and I told myself, “I want to feel that peace, too.” That was how we started working together. Those 6 days went by so fast that we hardly had time to get to know each other, and we spent the time working with the other members of the team.
A week after the group had left for their country, I wrote a letter to Lisa, thanking her for the opportunity to work with them, and I made the comment that we had really gotten along well, and I had only felt positive energy from her. It was then that my drawing nearer to God began, and it was immediate.
The letter I received back was the best I had read in 9 years. Each word, phrase, and paragraph was more than enough to make my heart and my soul feel something I still don’t know how to explain. I only know that I would want everyone to feel what I felt and to experience the marvel of enjoying the presence of God. The next Sunday I decided to go to church, and I planned to go with a friend. But due to some circumstances, I decided to go alone. Everything was so strange that I felt like I didn’t fit in to the idea of families going to church on Sunday. I felt like they were looking at me as if I were an intruder in their territory, but little by little I started to not pay attention to them, and I dedicated myself to talking to God, asking Him to forgive me for all the bad I had done up to that moment, and asking Him to draw me closer to Him. Mass ended, and I stayed a while longer—not praying or asking for anything, just thinking—I don’t remember about what. After 20 minutes, I left without any particular destination. Since that day, I go to church on Sundays just to ‘converse’ with God.
On Thursday, Jan 28, I traveled from Cañete to Lima to meet my family on the following day. On the 2-hour trip, I decided to rest. I closed my eyes, ready for a little nap, but I couldn’t sleep. I kept waking up every 2-3 minutes. I couldn’t get to sleep. Then I decided to look out the window to pass the time, since I couldn’t go to sleep, and everything was dark. All I could see was the reflection of my body in the window, and it was then I began to pray and think about a thousand things, but above all I was able to feel that I was closer to God, and that we were really communicating. That was the second time that I received God in my heart, and now I am more that convinced that I want to share all that you’ve read.
I have realized that being alone allows me to have that closeness with God and to connect so well with Him that, unfortunately, I have to interrupt that activity to take care of the infinite other things that one must do in everyday life. But all in all, I feel that tranquility, that inner peace that I have always wanted and that I now have.
Today I don’t know what will happen in my life, or what God wants of me. The only thing I know is that now I am more than ready to receive it (His will) with all my heart, and to pursue it for my whole life. I am completely sure that this happened for a reason. . . but I am still trying to explain it.
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