Hey everybody!
We are finally in Peru! We have been here for about two weeks and we already have many stories to tell. We will start with Machu Picchu. It has been a dream of mine to one day see Machu Picchu and about a week ago we made it happen. Some of you already know, but it was not easy to get there. We flew into Lima on the 21st with plans to immediately hop on a bus that would take us to Cuzco. It did not work as smoothly as we would have liked so we ended up spending a night in Lima and leaving for Cuzco on the 22nd. Luckily we decided to fly back or we might not have made it to our DTS on time. Our bus ride was supposed to be an overnight trip that would take roughly 22 hours, but it turned into a grueling 28 hour affair. On the road were numerous mudslides and river floodings that slowed us down. At one point our bus got stuck during a river crossing for which we all had to exit the bus to try and get in unstuck. We ended up spending an hour and a half trying to get the bus out of the mud. Despite the many trucks lining both sides of the road, no one would help pull us out. (we realized we are not in Montana any more) Finally it came down to myself and about 20 other men pulling the bus out of the water and mud with a tow rope. It was quite an adventure but we are glad it is over. We finally got to Cuzco from which we left the next morning for Aguas Calientes. Little did we know we were coming at the perfect time. We woke up at 3:45 a.m. on the 25th so that we could hike up to Machu Picchu before all the buses of tourists arrive. The first 400 tourists are given the opportunity to hike Waynapicchu, the lonely mountain that overlooks the city of Machu Picchu. We did the hike but at the top you could only see clouds. It was still well worth because we had an amazing time, Machu Picchu was everything we ever dreamed. We returned to Cuzco that night and we found out from the radio that they were closing Machu Picchu for at least a week due to flooding the day after we went there. What a gift from God that we were able to do it before they closed it down.
We are in Iquitos now and we are having an amazing time. There are 29 students from 6 different countries and so far it has been amazing hearing everyones stories. There are two other married couple that Mindy and I have been spending a lot of time with, one from Holand and the other is from Canada and Fiji. This was an answer to prayer for me because both couples are amazing people and they are close to us in age. Last week we went through orientation which was difficult at time because of the heat. (Iquitos is in the jungle and it is extremely hot and humid) We got to know everyone on our team in a much more personal way last weekend. On Thursday morning they broke us up into three different groups, Mindy and I were not in the same group, and then they gave us each a plastic sack that was a little smaller than a Walmart sack. They told us that we could bring anything we could fit in the sack, along with our sleeping bag, and nothing else. This was a big shock to must of us but we did what we could with the 5 minutes of packing time they gave us. They then put us on a bus and shipped us into the Amazon jungle. When we arrived they gave us our provisions for the next three days: a pile of wood planks, 3 2x4s, 6 shorts posts, a machete, a shovel, one hammer and nails, 4 bug nets, two cooking pans, plates, cups, and a variety of dry good including rice, noodles, two cans of milk, onions, and plantanes. They then lead us to three seperate locations and told us that we had to survive for the next two and a half days. Our groups each built a shelter, bathroom, and then cooked meals using river water for the remainder of the weekend. It was an extremely difficult weekend because of the intense heat, downpours of rain, and the billion upon billions of mosquitoes. We all survived and had to work together, but I can honestly say I have never been dirtier in all of my life. It was quite the adventure.
This week we are starting the first week of actual classes. To give you an idea of our daily schedule, everyday we have several lectures on different topics ranging from the voice of God to Intercession for the Nations. We have a different guest speak each week and this week our speaker is from Argentina. We also have work duties, dramatic arts practice, prayer and personal devotion time, and study time each day. Sprinkled throughout the week we have Spanish lessons, small group times, group devotions, and various social events. It has been amazing to see all that God is doing in each of our lives each and every day.
There are several areas in which we could use prayer. Mindy and I are really praying right now that God would reveal to us what He has in store for us after the DTS. At this point we are not sure if He is calling us into full-time ministry or if we are supposed to return to the States to finish Mindys school. We also ask that you would pray for our school as we are praying about what cities we will be doing our outreaches in. Right now it is looking like we will be doing it somewhere in the Amazon, a large city in Peru, and a large city in Bolivia. We also ask that you would pray for our health and the safety of our group. Pray that God would prepare the hearts of the people in Peru and that we would be bold in sharing in the good news.
