The last couple days have been busy and a lot of fun. Friday, we went to the prison again and played soccer with the men after a very emotional prayer session. All these men were super happy to see us and welcomed us with open arms. The older men were all outside working with tools and crafting pictures and furniture out of wood while the younger men were inside just sitting around or making objects out of rolled newspaper.
Then in the afternoon, half of our team went to a neighborhood in the second poorest district in Iquitos. As we walked down the muddy "street," we passed community members sitting on their porches and saw many peering out their windows at us. We then camped out in the middle of the street hoping that children and others would come up to us. At first it was awkward since everyone was staring at us but no one was approaching us. Eventually though, some kids came up to us and as more and more children came to join, we started to play with them. We also sang some songs and were able to give a brief message not only to the children, but also to the adults who had gathered around to watch. It was great to simply play with the kids and see their faces light up as I chased them around.
That evening, our team went to the park by the river where we met a team of Americans who were with YWAM, one of whom recently graduated from the same university that I currently attend. While at the park, two of my team members and I went to watch a comedy that was being performed in an ampatheatre. The second that we arrived, the performers caught sight of us, stopped the show, and immediately started to call us out in front of the 200ish people in attendance. After calling our translator over, we found out that we were being made fun of in every way possible. So that was interesting.
Finally, today we went to a church service in the morning and will be attending another one in the evening. Today is our last day in the city of Iquitos, and tomorrow we will be traveling on a boat into the Amazon jungle. I am extremely excited to interact and share God´s love and grace with the people we are going to meet. This may be my last blog for a couple weeks so please keep my team in your prayers and pray that God will work through us to reach the Peruvian people. Dios te bentiga!
