I left my heart in the Amazon

This summer trip to Peru blessed and refreshed me! We took a team of 15 back to Iquitos and to some of the same villages along the river. The students ranged from 15-24 in age and 12 out of the 15 of them were girls! They were so willing to lead devotions, build relationship with strangers, encourage eachother, I'd gladly work along side of them every day!

A couple of my favorite memories were leading a group of kids to the Lord during our VBS time. It was so sweet to see them raise their hands and repeat in Spanish that they want Jesus to be their best friend and guide them through life! Another moment that I'll remember is when a group of us when into the village leaders home. He was very hospitable to us and soon we began talking about what he thought of the movie we showed him the night before called God Man. While he did not accept Jesus that day, the Holy Spirit used each one of us to show him the truths about God and I believe that one day soon, he'll come to know Jesus as Savior!

Lastly, the kids are always my favorite memory! They are so sweet and loving and helpful! Often, they'd see us carry something and they'd take it out of our hands and put it on top of their heads and run ahead of us and wait at our set up site. The tiniest little girl helped me down a hill, giggling the whole way as I tried to keep up with her and not fall. We played a simple hand game that they loved so much and repeatedly wanted to play. The night we had to say goodbye to them, it was pitch black out and I held a little boys hand all the way to the boat until our fingers slipped out of eachothers hold. Him and his friends chased our boat along the shore yelling "Ciao" and "I love you" while waving their flashlights, until we could no longer see them. Those moments stick with me and they remind me that this is what I was created to do. There is no doubt in my mind that I'm called to full time missions, that children will be the center of my focus and that God has a plan for each one of them and us! Also, I was able to stay behind and go to Machu Picchu and Cuzco for a couple days. I think I see God best when I see His creation. He just amazes me!