We just got back from our mission trip to Iquitos Saturday evening. It was soooo amazing that we did not want to leave. I pray that we can go back there someday.
The first day there we spent with the church. They were having their 4 year anniversary celebration in the park near the church. All the children came and we played and swam with them in the pool. They were so loving and would come up to you, hug, and love on you.
We spent a lot of our time ministering to the kids that live and or work on the streets. All of us fell in love with them. They were so sweet. You can tell they are starving for human love and affection because they come up and hug and love on you. A lot of these kids come from a poor community where the houses are made to float on water during the rainy season. These kids grow up with different sicknesses because they live in very unsanitary conditions. The families use the restroom, bathe, drink, swim, and cook in the water their houses float on.
On the boulevard we performed dramas, sang children's songs, told bible stories, played and colored with the kids. It was such a blessing because these kids have to work all the time and it was a time where they could just be kids. I can't believe the reality of these kids lives. It is one thing to hear that there are children all over the world who live on the streets but to actually see, touch, and play with them is another thing. My heart is broken for these precious children but there is such hope in knowing that God has a plan for them too and that all they need is Jesus in their hearts.
Jeremiah shared at the church in El Terminal on Sunday and again in the jungle on Thursday. He did a really nice job and was not even affected by the breaks in his message from using a translator. Praise the Lord!
On Thursday morning we left for Panguana. We traveled by boat for 3 hours on the Amazon River, then walked 20 minutes into the jungle in order to reach the village. It was amazing to see how these people still live. They live in huts with palm leaves for roofs and boards as their walls. They use the same water for restroom, bathing, drinking, and eating. So a lot of the children grow up sick here too. The church here is wanting to eventually put in a well so they can have clean drinking water. Jeremiah and the other guys helped with putting up a fence around their new church so they can keep out the animals. It was incredibly hot there so we had to make sure and stay hydrated.
That night we slept on the floor on thin mats with mosquito nets around us. As I was getting in my net a bat comes flying right toward my head. It was so scary, I thought it was going to bite me. Then all night we could hear rats and bats moving around. My friend Beth woke me up in the night to go to the bathroom with her and when we got back to our beds she had a cockroach in her bed. I felt so bad for her. She finally killed it with her shoe. It was an adventure that is for sure.
One night while we were doing children's ministry on the boulevard Jeremiah met a gentleman named Kiki who spoke English. They were talking for a long time. Jeremiah was telling him how empty his heart was before he accepted the Lord and this guy said, "So if I don't even have a heart does that mean I can still have Jesus." Kiki made a decision to accept Christ into his heart. Praise the Lord! That same night, Laura, one of our team members, was talking to a boy named John about Jesus and he also prayed to accept Jesus into his heart. Our second to last night there, Sandra ran into the sister-in-law of a guy that goes to the bible college with us....she accepted the Lord also. Praise the Lord.
The last day there we went to the zoo and that was a lot of fun. We have pics.
This trip was one that I pray I will never forget. There are many needs in Iquitos but God is able to provide and do a great work there.
Our last night in Iquitos, we took the street kids out for ice cream and said our good-byes. There were two boys that I totally fell in love with, Golbit and Brandon. I said bye to Golbit a couple of days before but Brandon was there on the last night. He gave me a wooden ring and said "for you" and told me he loved me. It was so heartbreaking to leave them. They knew we were there to help and love them so it was hard to just leave them. They are in the Lord's hands.
Then when we got to the airport all the street kids that we took to get ice cream were there to say good-bye to all of us. We were so surprised. They used their own money and time they could be working and earning money to take a bus to the airport and say good-bye. It was heartbreaking....we were all crying. Pray God would send more workers to Iquitos. There is so many needs but not many bodies to do the work.
Our pics are updated on our shutterfly account. Just go to adventureswithjesus.shutterfly.com We will be adding more in the next couple of days. There are lots of good ones.
We love you all......and are so thankful for the prayers:)
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