Its really really hot here

WE MADE IT! WOOHOO! This is Blair Lewis sending this update straight from Peru! First of all our team would like to thank all our supporters for your prayers and encouragement! The team really appreciates all you have done for us. I will do my absolute best to keep this blog updated weekly as well as putting pictures of what we have been up to! We will also be putting up "The GAP Diaries". Which is short video clips of team members talking about what we have been doing up until then. So! After that brief introduction here is our first blog update!


Week 1

Our first week on the mission’s field did not begin in Peru. It began at 3AM Monday morning at the training center near Water Valley Alberta! We all awoke to the sound of our alarm clocks buzzing. Everyone then started to get ready to go to the airport to catch our first flight at 7:15AM to Toronto. By 4AM we were on the road half awake on our way to the Calgary Airport! By 7:15 we were in the air excited to be finally on our way to Peru! When we arrived at Toronto we rushed to catch our flight to Lima, Peru. We got there with time to spare. We then flew 7 and a half hours to Peru! We arrived at 9PM local time. We spent the night at the airport which was quite the experience. We didn’t fall asleep till very late. We got so overtired that I actually entertained the entire team by walking in the wrong direction on an escalator! The girls got sleep but the guys practised their chivalry by staying up most of the night to watch the bags. At Lima we met up with Heber who is cooking for us this month! He helped us navigate through the airport and catch our flight to Tarapoto. We arrived at the Tarapoto airport Tuesday at 11AM. We were all extremely overtired. Our trip to Tarapoto was actually Cammy’s first time being in an airport and flying! She was a little nervous at first but by the end of the first flight she was loving it! VTI will make a world traveler out of her yet!
After getting to the airport and retrieving all our bags we drove to Delwin and Techie’s house. It is our sort of “Base of Operations”. We got to meet our missionary hosts as well as the people we will be staying with for the month. Johnny, who the guys are staying with, and Vickie, who the girls are staying with. Vickie actually was on 3 GAP teams to Peru then decided to come down here and teach! We had the opportunity to build relationships with them and to get to know them. Wednesday was a rest day to recover from the journey as well as to adjust and let our minds catch up with our bodies. That night we sang songs at a Bible study held at the Fowlers house. Also, Crystal, Camille and I got to share our testimonies. I guess I must have down alright at public speaking because I got asked to Preach this Sunday. Because Delwin has an infection on his foot he will not be able to join us in our ministry for a week. On Thursday we went to a waterfall! In the morning for a quick swim. As well as take in some of the jungle scenery. In the afternoon we held a music practice with the youth worship team of Delwin's church. We learned some new songs in Spanish to use in our ministry as well as building relationships with the youth of the church. On Friday we started our day at 5 in the morning! We needed to get all of our equipment set up and ready to do a children’s program at a local school. We had a blast having fun with the kids, singing and dancing, puppets, game show and drama. The kids had a lot of fun. We even had trouble keeping them off of the stage! At 5PM we went back to that school to do a youth program for youth. We once again had a blast ministering to them. Many hung around after the program to interact with us and see some rope tricks from me and Shayla! Josh and Jeremy have been doing great with translating. Coming back to Peru has brought Josh to life! The culture and environment brings back cherished memories of his childhood. Jeremy is really excited to try out his Spanish in Peru and to interact with everyone we minister to. Katelyn is loving this experience. I have never seen anyone so excited about absolutely everything! Her energy and eagerness to get out there and do God’s work is contagious! Kayla is doing really well with her Spanish. She took Spanish for 4 years and it shows here! She loves having conversations with the children! Overall these first 3 days have been memorable! Even though it’s only been 3 days everyone has dove headfirst into the culture and have fallen head over heels in love with this country and its people. I would like to ask for prayer that we would continue to have an effective ministry here. In Peru you have to be flexible because things don’t always go according to plan! This coming Wednesday the schools are shutting down for a month! To clean them out to stop the spread of Swine flu! On that note please pray that we will remain healthy and full of energy! So until next week! Adios!