It's been a while since I've been on here as I've been in Peru for three weeks then at Greenbelt.
I had a wonderful time at both and am still processing a lot of what happened before I hurtle into the preparations for Rock teh Cathedral Again 2010 which is 3 weeks today.
One thing that sticks in my mind was the celebration at the end of our time with the Christian communities in Lima when there was a song I'd never heard before. It began with the children from one school sinign it and then ALL the schools joined in and then we were all dragged up to dance to it (English people dancing to South American beats is not a pretty sight but it was wonderful!). The song (reproduced below) nearly brought me to tears at the start and by the end I was so very filled with joy. It rather summarised my whosle experience of Peru; expecting all the time to be brought to tears by the sheer overwhelming poverty of places and then stunned by the richness of hope in people there. One of the priests preached in a church with no roof on the text when Jesus told the Rich Young Man to give everything he had away to the poor. He contrasted the richness of community which he sees in the pueblos jovenes (what we might call shanty towns but they call young towns) and the poverty of love which is present in some of the more affluent houses. To preach on charity to people with barely ANYTHING was astounding but as Juan Carlos said, "which of you is so poor that you can't give your neighbour a cup of tea?"
There is a richness of grace in Peru which I could not of imagined before I went there. two million people in Lima have no running water and the pueblos jovenes go on as far as the eye can see in some places. In one area, where we visited a church and its work with children, there is a water treatmentworks which at night time sends a foul stench across the whole community but the water goes to water nearby crops or is pumped back into the sea while the people there have to pay $2 for a barrel of water. And yet in the midst of that the church had a flushing toilet (an advance of some of our centuries old Church of England buildings!!)
There may be more reflections to come but for now here is the song (it is available on itunes!)
Color Esperanza
Se que hay en tus ojos con solo mirar
que estas cansado de andar y de andar
y caminar, girando siempre en un lugar
Se que las ventanas se pueden abrir
cambiar el aire depende de ti
te ayudará, vale la pena una vez mas
Saber que se puede, querer que se pueda
Quitarse los miedos, sacarlos afuera
pintarse la cara color esperanza
tentar al futuro con el corazón
Es mejor perderse que nunca embarcar
mejor tentarse a dejar de intentar
aunque ya ves que no es tan facil empezar
Se que lo imposible se puede lograr
que la tristeza algun día se irá
y asi será, la vida cambia y cambiará
Sentirás que el alma vuela
por cantar una vez mas
Saber que se puede querer que se pueda
quitarse los miedos, sacarlos afuera
pintarse la cara color esperanza
tentar al futuro con el corazón
Saber que se puede querer que se pueda
quitarse los miedos, sacarlos afuera
pintarse la cara color esperanza
tentar al futuro con el corazón
Vale más poder brillar
que solo buscar ver el sol
Pintarse la cara color esperanza
tentar al futuro con el corazón
Saber que se puede...
Querer que se pueda...
Pintarse la cara color esperanza
tentar al futuro con el co
razón
thanks for this translation
The colour of hope
I know what’s in your eyes with just looking at you
(I know) you’re tired of walking and walking
and walking, always in circles in the same place
I know that windows can be opened
to change the atmosphere depends on you
it’ll help you, it’s worth it once more
To know it’s possible, to want it to happen
to get rid of our fears, to expel them
to paint our faces with the colour of hope
to tempt the future with our hearts
It’s better to get lost than never having boarded
better to fall in temptation than give up trying
even though you see it’s not that easy to start
I know that the impossible can be achieved
that sadness will go one day
and it’ll be like that, life will change and change
You’ll feel your soul flying
for singing one more time
To know it’s possible, to want it to happen
to get rid of our fears, to expel them
to paint our faces with the colour of hope
to tempt the future with our hearts
To know it’s possible, to want it to happen
to get rid of our fears, to expel them
to paint our faces with the colour of hope
to tempt the future with our hearts
It’s better being able to shine
than just trying to look at the sun
To paint our faces with the colour of hope
to tempt the future with our hearts
To know it’s possible
to want it to happen
to paint our faces with the colour of hope
to tempt the future with our hearts
