I am excited to say that after 36 hours of commuting through airports we have finally made it to Trujillo, Peru. We arrived here on Saturday at about noon only to find no one at the airport able to pick us up. The team was concerned and worried because the guards at the airport in Trujillo were beginning to become uptight with the fact that we were sitting in front of  the airport. The guards then came and spoke to Don. They decided that they wanted to remove us from the premises. This was quite worrisome because according to Allan’s GPS system, the airport is a 5 hour walk from our destination in Trujillo. We were not even remotely ready to take that risk because Allan’s GPS has failed us before. We decided to pray about it as a team, and sure enough, just seconds, and I honestly do mean seconds later, a taxi pulled up with the people coming to pick us. The 20 minute taxi ride to Trujillo was something we will all remember, it was the most exhilarating taxi/car ride that any of us have ever been on. This I can further explain earlier.

We got to the church to drop our stuff and then instead of resting, we decided to go visit a day care beside the dump. This was truly the most heart felt moment in my life and i think that it is fair enough me to say that I can speak for most people here, if not everyone. We had a chance to play with the children has their parents work for their survival in the dump. The most interesting thing about this was that, these children have never met any of us before, and the first thing that happened when I got off of the bus was, a big tight hug from a 3 year old Peruvian child who could have been the poster child for the dictionary definition of cute. All the children were very affectionate, but there was always one child that took a strong hold on your heart. By now we were exhausted, drained physically and emotionally, so sleep was where we were headed next.

We needed rest for our first full day  in Trujillo. We got some sleep and then went to Larco Alliance Church in Trujillo the next morning. We arrived at a baptism service, the service was long but, these people in Peru are passionate, dedicated, and have a heart for God despite any circumstances they live in. Not once did you see a Peruvian citizen within the church complain, or become uptight about the 2.5 hour service. What makes thing the most complicated here is the Language barrier between us and them.. Despite this, it was still evident that the service touched many people including those on our team, the speaker was full of emotion, and you could see this on his face.

The afternoon was spent on the beach, seeing the beauty of the coast. After dinner we participated in street evangelism, where they go to the city square which is an amazing view, to sing worship songs and proclaim God’s love. We joined in a circle and sang together as people came to watch, they did drama and followed it up with another very passionate speaker who preached the gospel. We had a chance to meet some people who were passing by and saw a few adults respond to the message. Cool experience to be a part of.

Later in the day we had a chance to play a friendly game of soccer with some locals from another church. We got what was coming to us and lost 6-2, not counting a few goals on their part to make us feel better. If you think you have seen decent soccer players in your life time, hold that thought, and come to Peru, it may change your mind about what a good soccer player is. I am proud to say that I (Matt Gibson) scored the only “real” goal in the soccer game as we all believe that when Don scored the goalie did not even budge. We ask you to pray for our safety, health, strength, and overall well being for tomorrow as we prepare our selves to work a full day on the construction site. Thank you for your prayers already