Cusco July 2008
We returned home from our Peruvian adventure with our hearts touched by the precious children we encountered in Cusco. Our team was so incredible as each member served the children and staff at the two orphanages through our construction efforts and time spent with the kids. The guys completed the work on the new tile floors in the girls dorm rooms and it was superb (and impeccable)! And the rest of the team lovingly guided the girls and boys through the rest of the program of recreation, science experiments, crafts, and bible stories.
Red Dot has been given a wonderful opportunity to provide a transitional home for the oldest girls who have aged out of the Buen Pastor orphanage and have no other place to go live as they pursue degrees at the local university. These girls have all come out of tremendously dark family situations. But through the love of the nuns and their friends in their current home, their strength of character, and the grace of God, these five young ladies have all overcome these hardships and are now each in position to obtain a college education and then begin a professional career. The girls will live in this new home with a house parent and they will have a tutor to help the girls with their studies, and a social worker to assist them with family issues. The lease was signed on Day 3 of our trip so we had the special opportunity Friday of our trip week to take these five young ladies to visit their new home for the first time.
As our bus pulled up to their new house, we could all hear them squeal with excitement as they saw how nice the home is. Our team spent an hour there with the girls as we entered and explored each room, toasted their future, and danced with them to celebrate their new beginning. At the end of the hour, each girl told us how much they appreciated what our team had done for them. I shared with the girls and the staff that our friendship with and love for the girls of Buen Pastor began when our first group of men from Red Dot visited them for a day in December of 2006. After that trip, our team knew that God was calling us to "adopt" this home and help them however Red Dot could. That was why our July 2007 team spent a week serving and loving them last year, that is why we returned this year to do the same, and that is why Red Dot is now providing a home for the oldest girls at Buen Pastor to move into as they transition into adulthood. I also told the girls that while we appreciated the thanks they were giving us that day, that the truth is that every employee at Red Dot contributes to our success and thus has played an important part in helping impact their lives with this new home, whether or not they have visited here yet. The girls were told that Red Dot loves all who live in the Buen Pastor home and in this transitional home and that our company believes their future is indeed bright. As our time ended there, our hearts were moved by the joy and the excitement we saw in the girls' eyes.
On Day 8 (Saturday), our team, with the great help of the Buckner staff and interns, threw a huge "Tu Eres Especial (You are Special) carnival at the Jesus Mi Luz boys orphanage. We brought the Buen Pastor girls over so we were able to party with all the boys and girls we had grown to love that week. The carnival had hot dogs, cotton candy, popcorn, candy apples, 
and ice cream for all the kids to enjoy! We had pie and sponge throwing booths, ring toss and kush ball throwing booths, bean bag, putt putt and face painting booths, and a fun photo booth for the kids to dress up in crazy costumes. Claudia, the great Buckner Peru director, also was able to find an incredibly large inflatable double slide that all the 
kids and our team thoroughly enjoyed sliding down (and flying off of!) . All of these things were lovingly provided by Red Dot in an effort to show these precious Peruvian children that they are very special creations of God. This truth likely has been hard to see for many of them as they live in an orphanage with little or no contact with their biological families. Before our team members gave each child his/her special gifts, Robyn shared scripture with the children from Psalm 139 in which God tells them (and us) that He knew all of them before they were even born, that He loves them (and us) more than they can ever imagine, and that He has great plans for them (and us)!
The carnival ended with us dancing with the children until dark as we celebrated the friendships that were formed with them that week. As our team left the home that night, many of us boarded the bus with tears in our eyes knowing the reality is that we won't see many of these children again. But we also left Peru with our hearts excited by the fact that we 
loved and served these boys and girls well as we communicated to each of them by our words and deeds that they are incredibly special in our eyes and, more importantly, in the eyes of their Creator.
You should all be very proud of each member of our Peru July 08 team. They could not have represented themselves or this company any better. Thank you once again for supporting our efforts while we were gone. Many lives were impacted in Cusco, Peru during our week there. And everyone at Red Dot was instrumental in helping make that possible. Muchas gracias!!
Many blessings,
Tod Bush
Director of Red Dot 100X
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Team members: Tod Bush, Thomas Faulk, Bobby Applegate, Tyler Bush, Branden Luptowski, Duwayne Nalls, Jason Roberts, Ronnie Stewart, Darron Taylor, Robyn Bush, Leslie Jones, Shannon Craddock, Cynthia Booker, Rachel Asato, and Matt Asato (Buckner trip leader)
