Peru Mission

June 26 - July 4
37 high school students and staffers from Knox Presbyterian Church in Ann Arbor, Michigan

We flew from Detroit to Atlanta, Atlanta to Lima, spent seven hours in the Lima airport until 6am, then flew from Lima to Iquitos. We took a bus from the city of Iquitos to the campus of Nina Rumi, then boarded the boat.

My small group before boarding the plane. We called ourselves Boose, short for caboose, because we were last to board.

This is the boat we took. In the past, Steve Irwin rode this boat for a special on pythons in the Amazon. (Photo credit: Corey Bowen)

All our supplies for the stations were stored on the top deck before we organized them. (Photo credit: Corey Bowen)

We saw two rainbows on Sunday: first when we got off the plane in Iquitos, then this one on the river. (Photo credit: John Pederson)

A little outline of each day (Mon-Thurs) looked like this:
• 7:00 Breakfast on boat
• 8:15 Worship service with songs and skits
• 9:00-12:00 Morning Stations:
o Family Pictures
o Doctor and dentist
o Prayer/Salvation
o Footwashing
o Clothing distribution
o Water bottles and teaching
o Eyeglasses distribution
• 1:00-3:00 Lunch and Siesta (midday break) on boat
• 3:00-5:00 Afternoon Stations:
o Home Visits
o Crafts
o Soccer
o Puppets
o Hair and nails
o Games with kids
• 6:00-9:00 Dinner, quiet time, worship
• 11:00 Bedtime
There was some variation day to day, but that’s the general idea. The morning stations were approached by the villagers in an organized sequence, while the afternoon stations were all going on at once. Meanwhile, the construction crew was busy both morning and afternoon as a separate station. We visited a village per day, with the first being about a twenty minute hike through the jungle, the second a forty minute hike (consequently we did not return to the boat for lunch or siesta, but shortened our stations and arrived back at the boat early), and the other two no hike at all.

The dentist in action. (Photo credit: Lyndsey Corbett)

 A typical village dwelling. (Photo credit: Marta Swenson)

 A typical family photo. (Photo credit: James Lamine)

 This woman in the first village during worship was very excited, but the interpreter was only able to relay a few words (such as "people" or "good") because she seemed completely unaware of his presence. (Photo credit: Lyndsey Corbett)

Heavy downpour in the first afternoon during soccer. (Photo credit: John Pederson)

 It caused many falls. Later, when returning to the boat, my shoe left me as I used my walking stick to vault over a puddle. And when I say "over," I mean "into." (Photo credit: John Pederson)

Everyone played soccer over there, even little ones. (Photo credit: John Pederson)

 My morning station in the second and third village was water. Before handing them water bottles I read them statements about drinking from the well instead of the river and drinking four bottles a day. (Photo credit: Corey Bowen)

These fellers are working the clothing station. (Photo credit: Marta Swenson)

A surefire way to match them up with the correct pair of glasses. (Photo credit: Marta Swenson)

 An outhouse in the second village.

 I did home visits in the afternoon on the second day. This woman taught us a song and told us about her life. She is a devoted Christian woman. Her oldest daughter is not pictured because she moved to Brazil for work.

Pastor Tom and this kid in the third village really bonded, despite the language barrier. (Photo credit: Karen Toomasian) 

The construction team hard at work on the pastor's house in the third village. (Photo credit: Corey Bowen)

We crossed many bridges like this that week.

It's remarkable nobody ever fell.

Each village was crawling with chickens, and the first two had a couple of ducks, like this one. (Photo credit: Jenny Jalilevand)

To the second, third, and fourth villages we took smaller boats out from the Rio Amazonas. (Photo credit: John Pederson)

 Each village had cute kids like this. (Photo credit: John Pederson)

Friday we went to Iquitos, visited the zoo, walked the city and visited a couple markets. I bought a fancy lighter, a fake pipe, and an Iquitos t-shirt. Every TV we passed in the city was playing the World Cup, just as the couple of radios in the villages and on the bus had been. At the end of the day we went back to Nina Rumi, had an extended worship session where our leaders washed our feet, and went to bed on the boat.

Capybaras at the zoo. We actually ate some the night before, but I thought it was roast beef. We also ate plantain with a few meals which I thought was some kind of breaded potato thing. Shows how much I know. (Photo credit: Lyndsey Corbett)

They sold barbecue grubs at the zoo. (Photo credit: John Pederson)

We were able to hold snakes at the zoo, but Jung-Ho took it a bit far. (Photo credit: John Pederson)

This was the primary transportation in Iquitos: a moped with a canopy trailer. There were plenty of just plain mopeds as well, but almost no western-type vehicles at all. (Photo credit: Jenny Jalilevand)

This market in Iquitos was elevated to protect from the rainy season. We were visiting in the dry season.

Early Saturday morning we flew to Lima. We spent the day there, went to an enormous market, and toured ruins. One notable event from the market is that John Pederson got so used to and enamored with the idea of bartering that he tried selling the toilet paper back to the restroom attendant after using it. "It" being the restroom, not the toilet paper. I also bought a three-foot wooden spoon at the market for $9. Then we flew home.

This shows pretty well the kind of view we had in Lima. It was beautiful. (Photo credit: Marta Swenson)

 The tour guide here explains that this part of the ruins were used for sacrificing women. (Photo credit: Corey Bowen)

...and so were all those other areas. (Photo credit: Corey Bowen)

Here we are putting our carry-ons through the scanner at the Lima airport. I was told the spoon could safely get through, but it was not meant to be. The security guard is telling me here that it could be used as a weapon. Behind him you can see its final resting place. (John Pederson)

 A close-up of this legend. (Photo credit: John Pederson)

Praise God for a fruitful trip.

If you have questions, corrections, or think I made a serious omission, please let me know in the comments.