Alrighty! Ally and Brandy here…bloging…

This morning, we were greeted by a lovely fog over the river, about 50 kids waiting for us on the shore, and the aroma of French toast and French fries. After breakfast we put together kids goodie bags and bags of food for the villagers. It was super hot outside. Brandy and Rachel went out on the deck to entertain the kids with a circus act made up of cartwheels, miming, and jumping around. The kids enjoyed it.

When we went into the village the kids followed us everywhere, so of course we were goofing of to entertain them. Long story short Ally, Brandy, Kelsi, and Erica ended up in trashcans. Anyways, then we started out our usual kids program with a stomp routine and some dramas. Following the service we played with the kids. Coloring with them, teaching them little Sunday school songs and blowing bubbles. [Ally got in a tree so the kids couldn’t keep pushing the bubbles back in her face.] We then noticed an injured kid so Brandy, Justin, and Tony proceeded to clean the wound behind his ear and bandage it. He was very grateful.

Then it was lunch time, eating a wide variety of delectably delicious comida [food for you non- Spanish folk]. When we finished eating we headed to the basement where we “joyfully” packed even more food bags in a very hot, buggy, crammed, belly of the boat, assembly line style. Followed by a much needed, lovely nap.

It was then team picture time on our way back to the village for the night service. We went around in groups inviting the native villagers to our service. Along the way Tony’s group, consisting of Ally, Brooke, Zach F., and James, saw a man with some bottom feeder fishys in a bucket. That was his dinner, they looked so cool with awesome patterns on their scales. Then we did our service where Kelsi shared Vanessa’s [the blind girl who was healed] story. Brandy, Brooke, and Cherith shared their testimonies as well but they spoke in English. Erica, however, shared her testimony in Spanish! She did a great job! After the service one little old geezer told Rachel that it was a gift to him that we were there talking and praying with them.

After dinner and the movie we prayed for the people and handed out food bags and Bibles. It was great to see a lot of men give their life to God tonight because you don’t usually see that. We didn’t have enough food bags packed for everyone so we told the 20 people that didn’t get food to come down to the boat to get some. 50 people ended up coming to the boat for food. It was a little frustrating to see the people that we know got food try to get more but it just showed us the desperation these people have. On the plus side, 2 little old ladies left the boat happily being able to see with new glasses tonight.

Back on the boat we had devos on the roof courtesy of Zach K. and Brandy. We prayed for Jose [the person coming back to these villages after we leave] it was really inspiring to see where his heart is with God.

Okay: shout out time for Brandy!  Hola guys, I miss everyone like so so much!  Surprisingly, I miss my brothers (haha) and I REALLY miss my parents!  I love you guys, and I’m so glad I got to call you even if it was only 3 minutes.  I’m so excited to come home and tell you everything in detail, but basically I’ve eaten guinea pig and led several lives to Christ which is real awesome dude!  Oh and tonight I got to rap for the guards on our boat…they actually only speak Spanish, but they liked it!  I met the most amazing kids ever and I can’t wait to show you all my pictures!  But I need sleep haha, so Nick: do work (at Lowes) and “hey who’s driving that car?!” – “I don’t care” haha love you bro.  Joey: you’re an awesome little bro and I’m proud to be related to you.  Mom and Dad: I miss you lots, but let’s not speak of that and I’ll see you when I get home, (ps: tell Hooch that I miss her).  Everyone back at youth, you’re all awesome and keep on keepin on!  Melitta I miss you so much it’s really not even funny, we are having a 30-day sleepover when I get back, understood?!  And to all my brothers and sisters in youth, I miss you and RUN AFTER GOD!!!! Adios, te amo! (bye, I love you)

Love, Brandy!

Ally’s turn! Hi guys! I miss you! Mom, I’m glad I got to call the other day! You will have to finish informing me of all the recent happenings when I get home. Dad, guess what! I ate guinea pig, catfish, a bite of cheese cake, the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted in the world, and some black coffee every morning J Robyn, I was really good about taking pictures of Rhoame the first couple days, but I don’t want to risk his life more then I have to, so he will re-appear in the pictures I take in Lima. Halle, I don’t know if you are reading this [mom, tell her to please] but I miss you lots!! I can’t wait to be back in rehearsals…hopefully im not too lost. Haha! There’s a bunch of other people I’m missing too…but just too many to write, you all know you are. Im having so much fun! It’s the most beautiful place ive ever seen! From the morning fog and sunrise, to the jaw dropping sunsets, to the incredible night skies[ I saw 4 shooting stars! 3 in one night!] it’s so beautiful. Love you all!

~Ally J

Yo its Jake and Deanna here. We had one amazing day today! The day started off pretty well. When we woke up, we saw some kids coming to the river to brush their teeth and bathe. We made it to the village after a short 2-minute walk. Then we had to do our dramas and skits in the hot shade from a couple trees. All the kids gathered around and a bunch of adults, too. As we did our skits we found out that we were doing them on a ground covered in red fire ants!! Many of the team members got bit, but the stinging only lasted an hour or so. :/ Every morning Tony tells the birth of Christ story with us playing out the parts which means I (Jake) had to get Wilder, our translator, to get a little boy to sit on my shoulders and be the Star of David. As I was putting the kid down today he was not tall enough for his feet to reach the ground as I knelt down. He almost fell forward, so I leaned forward to catch him and ripped my pants at the seem of the crouch… Just like Zach Ferg did the other day. A woman of the village came up to Pastor Jeff and asked him to dedicate her baby named Jasmine who was only ten days old. She was so cute, and pretty much every member of the team got to hold her! We also met a little girl named Vanessa. She was adorable, but was also blind. Her eyes were crossed but she was still completely happy and bubbly. We did the doctor skit in the morning and we had our second translator, Carmen, be the laughing person. She is a natural! Afterward we got out the kids goody-bags which include coloring pages with crayons, caramelos (candy in English), a little smile bible, a cross with a story on it, and cross necklaces. Brooke got a little stomach sick, so Deanna had to stay back with her in the boat. Brooke felt better after a few hours, though, and was able to make it to the night service.

We came back to the boat for lunch and a breath of fresh air conditioning and then headed back for a night service as well. Lyle, Jake, and Deanna all told their testimonies and then Tony closed out the service all about families and the importance of staying united in God and constantly loving each other. We had a chance to pray with the families and children. When we did this I (Deanna, now) had the opportunity to pray with a single mother and her three children. She shared with me a little about their situation. Apparently the mother and father accepted the Lord together, but about five years ago, the father left. Tears were streaming down her face as she was sharing this. I invited Brooke over so we could talk to her. Tony translated while we told her how much we admire her and respect her for all her hard work. We shared our stories and how similar our pain is. All three of us were in tears. Along with this and many other awesome prayer moments, we especially made an effort to pray for Vanessa – the little blind girl. Kelsi got her and held her in her lap while we all prayed for her. We circled around her and she ended up closing her eyes and went limp as if she fell asleep. When we stopped, she kept her eyes closed for a couple more minutes. Then she opened her eyes and she was looking around like crazy as if she was seeing new things for the first time. We asked her if she could see certain things and she said, “look at the boat”. Our boat was probably three hundred feet away! Then she looked up and talked about the moon and the clouds. It was amazing to see God’s power in action! Her eyes began to straighten. God visibly healed her! We went back to the boat for dinner, which was amazing, like all the other food. Then we returned to the village to hand out food and to pray for the people. We found Vanessa and her mother was gleaming. Vanessa’s eyes were perfectly straight and she was responding to the flashlight her mom was putting in her face. It was amazing and life changing. We went up on the roof after we left the village and had devos and prayer as a team on the top of the boat. It was so powerful! You can see every single star in the sky out here, its incredible! Jake says he saw a shooting star (:

Everything feels comfortable now and each and every time someone has to share a testimony, they do great! You should be proud of every single person on the trip! They are doing great and getting along so well!

Deanna – - mommy, I love you. DAVE! Hi (: calah, casey, kate, miranda, shayna, I love you all and miss you so much! This trip is incredible and God is doing such awesome things! This might be my new favorite trip. Jusssst saying. Cant wait to tell you all about it!

Jake- I love everyone that is related to me. I love u Mom, Dad, and Miranda. I miss everyone else that I forgot and to my brothers, Izzy, Amac, Jordan, Nick M, and Miles.

Rachel- MI FAMILIA! Y mis amigos!! I miss and love you all. This trip has been one of my best investments and working all those hours this past year has been SO worth every second of this trip. As you most likely already read, Vanessa was bild but now she SEES!! Ahhh!! It was unbelievable! I wish you could be here to witness it with me. But for now ill just tell you about it and more in person and when I get home. Tyler!! Tell brayden I said happy belated birthday!!! & that I miss him! Makena, Taylor, Tayler, Casey, John, & Tyler, I miss you all and cant wait till im home to see you! Keep praying for us down here God’s doing SO many incredible things and we STILL have a week left!! Miles, I miss you. Hope youre not missing me too badly. Love you mommy & daddy! Ps, tell jack and cleo I love them too. Miss you all!! <3

HIIII!!! This is Cherith, (cherry, in Spanish) I would just like to say that I was the first person to fall off the boat. It was a great experience!!! Seriously. I didn’t fall in the water though, so don’t worry mom, I’m all right. Shout out to Miranda!!! Love you and miss you! Melitta- WHAT WHAT!! Maryssa- I love you soooo much. Keep praying! Laura Hummel, I ate a pancake today! To everyone else, I love you all and miss you! Shayna, I miss our talks. We’ll have lots to talk about when I get homeJ Peace out girls scout! See you soon! (maybe)

HEYYY! Soo this is Kelsi! and I promised my mom the first shout out. So hey mom! (and dad, can’t forget dad) im having so much fun!! Like u have no idea! I’m writing every single detail down in my journal so when I get home (at who knows when in the morning) I can sleep and you can just read my journal J. Kayla, Carson, & Katie! I miss you guys so much! Kayla, I saw a little girl who reminded me of you! She was tooo cutee! Carson, you would LOVE the kids here. They are so much like you! I wish you could’ve played soccer with us and the little boys today! Katie, first off, my hair looked awesome today. You would be proud. J but anyway I do really miss you and all our awkward inside jokes! OK, just one more to go! Last but not least, John J I promised u a shout out too so here goes. Im having a buttload of fun! And im safe, just like I promised! Almost everyone has read your card (and smelled it) and they think it’s the CUTEST (and the best smelling) thing everrrrrrrrrr J anyway, I miss you and I can’t wait til we have our movie hug (which my friend Ally is planning on video taping, just sayin) anyway, now that my long speech is done, im going to bed cuz it’s……..late. so night night!!

Now that that is done, it’s time for Justin Jobe and I (Zach Ferguson) to give you people a rundown of what happened today.

-first program. Soccerrr. Walking through the mud. deanna, brooke, Rachael, Corinne. Guinnie pig. Second program. Praying with families. Face painting. Glasses. Little pig in village. Bug bites. Re-filling food bags. Cheesecake. Kelsi met a girl named Kelsey, Justin ate an orange like an apple.

To put this primitive summary into detail, we started off the day with a tiring awakening for early morning prayer. Then we walked 15 minutes to through the forest and it was MUDDY. A few times, we had to cross these log bridges…which were wobbly… over mud… I slipped… sorry dad, your left boot is plastered in some dirt and mysterious liquid mixture. When we made it to the village, we did our usual dramas and testimonies. What was different was the fact that in the morning, people were surveyed on who drank the water from the river, who gets sick on a regular basis, who wanted to have pure water, and who wanted to accept Jesus. Let’s just say that there were a lot of hands raised for each question. After that, we prayed with the children and a few of the adults. Then, we decided that we wanted to challenge some of the natives to a game of soccer.  We outnumbered them 11-7 and only played for 20 minutes. So, as a result we were only beaten 4-0(but we still all had a blast).  LOL =P On the walk home, I almost slipped on the logs again in the mud, but I caught myself. Unfortunately, PJeff said that people with boots should just walk in the mud and save room on the wobbly logs for people without boots. In other words, Deanna, Brooke, Rachel, and Corinne FOOLISHLY listened to him. Let’s just say they got stuck in three foot deep cement (mud). Brooke nearly fell on her face. We will probably explain the Guinea pig tomorrow.
We returned later to the village each of us carrying 4 bags of food.  When we arrived at the village we waited for about an hour because the people of the village were still watching the movie on a summary of the Bible (super cool). Then when we began the series of dramas, we improvised for Stomp; instead of using the typical cans, we used sheets of metal. Which made a very awesome sound.  The dramas were exceptional and the dramas were moving.  At the alter call, (being conservative) there were about 25-30 people who gave their lives to Christ. We got a chance to pray with them individually and with there families.  After we prayed with them we handed out a bag of food to each family in the village.  It was truly a memorable and emotional experience that will always be remembered in the hearts and minds of the Peruvian people as well as our team.
(Zach)Time for my shout outs! Mom, Dad, Adam, I love you all and I miss you guys very much. Please stay safe. Shayna, my sister, keep practicing your Spanish. AMac, Nick M., Izzy, save me some love for when I get home. Rob Klawitter, we were just talking about how so many people noticed your earrings not too long ago. Wellman family, keep Simon locked up. Mackenzi, keep frequency sane before we come back. Also, it must be hard to not to have a ride home from church with me not there. Miranda, I give you the same responsibility as Mackenzi to keep the youth group sane. Yvonne, I miss my mama. I am taking care of your son though. Ingrid Jobe, Justin is craving Taco Bell. Aeriel, hi. Bye.

Helllllloooo America!!!! Coming to you live via the Amazon River…Zach and James! Well, to start things off, we woke up…to be honest, this whole blogging thing isn’t our cup of tea…goodnight. Just kidding…but anyways, we had a long and busy day today ministering to the first village on our list. In the wee hours of the Peruvian morning, we diligently assembled goodie bags for all of the children in the village, which was exciting to see once they unveiled the wondrous treasures that awaited them. When we first got to the village in the AM, we started off with entertaining the villagers with the glorious sound of STOMP. After that, we got down and dirty while performing our well rehearsed dramas. Throughout the service, some messages were shared by Brooke, Corinne, Deanna, and Katie. Soon following, we spent multiple moments bonding with the children using a giant multicolored parachute and a soccer ball, which surprisingly lasted quite a long time. Aside from the excitement that was being spread around the village, we just wanna say that the animals here are quite interesting…nuff said. We got back to work and finished the morning service off with an altar call with 20 people women and children accepting Jesus into their lives. We then trekked the treacherous journey of 300 feet back to our boat to consume a finely prepared meal, which consisted of Peruvian cabbage, Peruvian rice, Peruvian tuna salad, and Peruvian ham and cheese. To wash all of this delicious food down, we indulged in water, lemonade, and tea. While digesting, our team participated in a well organized, and competitive game of MAU. Many were up for the task, but only some could endure this intense and grueling game of cards. Soon thereafter, we traveled back to the village by foot to deliver our message to the adults in the evening service. This too consisted of STOMP and dramas, along with testimonies given by James and Kelsi. Once our team was finished ministering, a movie about the Bible was shown to the people so that they could gain a greater understanding of who God is. After the movie finished, we passed out bags of food and medicine. We also distributed Bibles and prayed for the people of the village 16 more adults and children accepted Jesus into their hearts. This concluded our day of ministry. We traveled back to our boat and attacked the many delicious things that were served…fried catfish, French fries, coleslaw, and freshly baked rolls. For dessert, we were given strawberry ice cream to indulge in. We then got to shower and get refreshed before going up to the deck of the boat to share devotions and read your comments. After that, we started typing this well-written, and well thought out update of our journeys and experiences on the Amazon with you. We love you all and remember to keep us in your prayers. We can’t wait to share more stories with you when we come home. Make sure to check back with us next time on our Peruvian blog. Miss all your shining faces. Prayers for tomorrow: we are going to a village that has 120 children… it will be a 15 minute trek on foot after we dock!! Thanks to all who have been praying for nice weather… today was great not very hot at all which is unusual for this region. Keep commenting and praying!

Just landed… And everyone is ready to take a real shower!

They have learned 5 of our dramas in the past 2 1/2 hours… This is amazing! What a great end to our trip! Leaving a legacy!

We are singing with a youth group from Pucallpa… And we are going to teach them two of our dramas!

She initiated it… Awesome!

Still on the boat with Pucallpa in sight! Sometime today I’ll be able to post the blogs the students wrote with pics… Everyone is safe and healthy… We are looking forward to reading all the comments… We love and miss u all!

The team should be able to update us with all of their posts soon! They have been blogging each day and they plan to upload them all Monday when they reach a connection point in Pulcappa. They have seen 400 salvations while visiting 7 villages! I know that there are many stories that we will all be excited to hear! Thanks to the Lord for His faithfulness and thank you parents and families for your faithful prayers!