GREAT

On Day 8 we had another early start.

Out to the airport to fly to Lima where we spent a couple of days.  As I was looking out the window on this flight I was amazed that we had been there.  I was intrigued by the great landscape of the Andes mountains, the Amazon, the clouds.  It was different than when we came in because we were sooooo tired then.  I took it all in.  I just kept thinking.  We really did this.  We really came all this way.

 It was a great flight.  A little bumpy, but no big deal.  Not for me anyway.

We landed safely in Lima and drove along the coastline which was so beautiful to our Hostel where we spent the night.  This is Calley waving to us from her room there at the Hostel The Inca Frog!

Once we got settled we walked around a bit there in Lima and grabbed a bite to eat.  We kinda went our separate ways for lunch.  A few of us ended up at Pizza Hut!  A nice change of pace. It was great. Others wanted to stick to Peruvian food, so they enjoyed that.  After lunch Danny and Calley along with one from the Kansas group went to an orphanage.  They would not allow the entire group to go so the rest of us stayed back.  Todd and I kept Salem for Danny and Calley so they could focus on their visit there.  We had fun with him.  He was great.  We walked all around with him checking things out.  Once that small group got back from the orphanage we went out to dinner.   We walked and found a place to eat.  I wish I could remember the name.  I didn't write it in my journal.  :(  They were known for their sandwiches.  It was so hard to order.  I couldn't understand the menu.  No habla Espanol!  We no longer had our interpreters.  I ordered something with Charlas help.  It was good.  It was CRAZY busy though.  The employees were not too thrilled to have all these non spanish speaking customers slowing things down.  Their other customers didn't seem really thrilled about us slowing things down either.  YIKES.  One man in particular was very nice and helpful though.  He was great.  We did our best to hurry and get out of everybody's way.  It was an experience.  Then on to another experience.  We took our food and walked over here.

 This is called "Cat Park".  Do you see the cats?  Yes there were cats.  And plenty of them.  Tons of cats stay there and the visitors feed them their leftovers.  In return the cats take care of the rats!  Which is -- great.   Must work.  Didnt see any rats!   Totally gross though.  In my humble opinion of course.

 I wasnt too crazy about the whole idea but the cats seem to think its great.

As we were there talking about our day I found it interesting that most of us really would just have rather been back in Iquitos doing a little more of what we had  been doing all the time we were there.  This was nice but switching the focus back onto ourselves was a bit weird.  It didnt quite feel right.  It seemed like having one more day in Peru yet not doing specific mission work was a miss somehow.  I cant really explain it.  

We walked back to Inca Frog and headed off to our rooms for the night. Todd was in the guys room and I bunked in a room with Becca 

and Denae.  It was great too.

I remember Becca as a Pre-teen and teenager.  She was so full of energy and had such a love for God.  She was always the one to rally the group up to get excited about the things of God.  She was such an encouragement to watch as she grew in the Lord.  It is so great to know that now she is serving God alongside her husband.  She still has that same energetic personality with excitement for God!
Seeing her and the way she interacted with the children of poverty and special needs was so moving.  She completely loved on those kids.  There was nothing fake about it.  I am so glad she went with us.  She's great!

I have only known Denae for the few years that she has been a part of our church.  She has a very sweet spirit and tender heart.  It is so wonderful to see young couples seeking to serve God in such a big way.  She gives of her time, talents, and love daily.  I am glad I have gotten to know her and her sweet growing family.
Seeing her heart for the Jessica House women was moving to say the least.  She jumped at the chance to do the night ministry.  The fact that it was dangerous did not deter her in the least.  When she got the chance to go out again with just a couple of others on another late night thing she literally jumped and ran to do it.  She's great!


I wrote in my journal that night from my bed in the room where the three of us were sleeping.

     Lord, I pray that I wont lose what you have done in my heart this week.
     Only allow it to grow and not fade away.
                       In Jesus Name

Soccer With The Guys

 After our great day on the Amazon we went back to the mission to a dinner of chicken with potatoes over ------- You guessed it--RICE!  :)  There was another beautiful sunset that night!

We cleaned up after our river trip and then loaded up in the Moto Taxis and went over to a nice soccer field.  SOCCER WITH THE GUYS! By Guys I mean, the Safehouse guys, the missionaries, the Jessica House women, and our team!

This is Lance showing some skill here.

Todd getting a little winded here.

"Did you see my goal?"

The safehouse guys took this seriously!

That soccer is a lot of running.

Becca in on the action here.

Katlyn knew what she was doing too.

I opted out and left the soccer playing up to those who half way knew what they were doing.  I did enjoy watching though.  (And taking pictures)

Like this of this sweet little spectator!

It was our last activity with all of the mission team there.  It was good spending time with them and sharing Gods love with them.  We said our goodbyes but as we were leaving, some of them ran over to hug us bye one more time.  They gave us very encouraging words along with their hugs.  It was very sweet.  I pray God will bless them abundantly and above all that they ask or think.  God certainly already has blessed them greatly.  I pray even more blessings on them.  In Jesus Name.

The Beach

 Now it was time to head back.  So we got back in the boat once again.

This is Tedy demonstrating how to blow bubbles!  Oh my goodness.  What a sweetie.  Thats Esperanza and Salem both sporting the pony tails!  :)

The river was so beautiful.  It didnt hurt that it was such a beautiful day.

 On the way back there was to be a little beach time.  So our guide chose one spot but as we got close we were bogged down by a sandbar.  The safehouse guys jumped off the boat to give us a shove away.  This guy though, thought the water would be shallow and when he got in, it was deep.  Apparently he couldnt swim!  Whoopsie.  He started hollering "No Bueno! No Bueno!"  Todd and some other guys got him back into the boat.  He wasnt thrilled that I took pictures either.  :)  But he was a good sport about it.  hehehe

As they pulled him up into the boat, this HUGE AMAZON SPIDER was on his shoulder and it JUMPED into the boat with us!  I screamed and ran to the back.  Todd scooped it up and threw it into the water!  I think this guy was much more scared of that spider than being in the water over his head.  

I dont blame him!

I hope I got the facts of that story right.   If they are not exact, I apologize, but I know it went something like that.  :)

We moved on from that spot and went to another one where we stopped to enjoy the beach for a little while.  So pretty!

The sand was kinda dark.  Not white like Florida beaches.  It looked to me kinda like it would be a sticky mud.  I was ready for it to squish between my toes!  However it did not squish.  It was sand which felt like sand of course.  I walked around on the beach for a bit finding a small piece of driftwood to bring home.  I waded around in the Amazon.  Yes I know!  How cool!  Who woulda thought?  Others swam.  Some played soccer.  Yea, they LOVE soccer.  :)  Some rested a bit.  I even got to see dolphins again here!  :)

Look at that rainbow!  What a gorgeous reminder of Gods promises.  From one end of the earth to another all Gods promises are true.

Then the time came and we had to shove off and head back.

We enjoyed the scenery all the way back.  I still cant believe this ole girl from Vidalia has been on a boat in the Amazon!

The Jungle

 Next we headed on down the Amazon a little further down into the jungle.

At our next stop we had lunch.  This is called Juanie.

It is a traditional food of the jungle.  It is apparently a GREAT TREAT there in Peru.  The safehouse guys were completely pumped that we were getting to eat this.  It seems that they have an entire holiday surrounding it.  It is banana leaves on the outside with a ball of rice on the inside.  Inside the ball of rice was a boiled egg, an olive, and a small piece of chicken bone in.

Along with that we had empanadas!  I was excited to try them since I had heard of them but never had one.  This one was a little different than we have in the states though as the outside or breading part of it was made of Jicama (I think).  The inside had meat and cheese.  I enjoyed it.  I ate two as a matter of fact.

After lunch we rested a bit.  You know those Peruvians and their siestas!  You see a LOT of hammocks over there.  I totally regret not buying one while we were in Lima.  Oh well, next time!!

While we were at this stop we saw some natives who performed a tribal dance for us.   GEE   Wasnt really expecting that!  :)

We each got to use the blow gun.  Yes I hit the mark!  Right into the tree where it was suppose to go.

Todd accidentally sucked his breath in while he was too close to the blow gun causing the dart to go into his mouth!  BAHAHAHA!!!!  Even the native man laughed at him!  :)

Yes, yes I have been fishing on the Amazon.   Thank you very much.  Unfortunately I did not catch a thing.  Only Lance was afforded that privilege.  Congratulations Lance.

We stayed there quite a while.  There was suppose to be a hike but we all opted out of that.  They had a few things they were selling there.  That is where I got my son in laws souvenir.

After some of the kids had gotten completely covered in jungle mud, our bellies were full, and we were rested a bit we got back into the boat and moved along.

Nice stop on the Amazon

On down the river we went.  

 At our next stop we saw this.

We fed piranha there.

We saw crocodiles, which were a little different from the alligators we see in Louisiana.

We got to feed these arapaima fish.  We thought they were HUGE!  These are just the babies!!!  They started almost jumping out of the water to get their treat soon after I fed this one. I was so glad they didnt do that when I was feeding them.  Lance actually got nipped on the hand and it drew a little blood.  Yea, no thanks.

Did I mention we thought they were huge?  Yes well I was wrong.  This picture I got on the internet shows when they are full grown!   Wowsers!

There were parrots just hanging out.

Isnt that just a beautiful creation of God.

It was a nice and interesting stop.  Good to get off the boat and stretch our legs.

 It was nice spending time with the new people we met, those who were part of our team and also those who live there in Peru.

 There were more beautfiful things there as well.  So pretty!

 A very nice stop on the Amazon indeed!