Chonta
There is a school with around 23 children and one teacher. We had the opportunity to visit with the children and watch them as they sang songs for us in Quechua, their first language, and in Spanish. One of our team members, Laura, is a nurse and was able to treat a few of the children for their wounds. One little girl was scratching at her leg while she was standing in line singing and Laura noticed her and had her come over so she could check her wound. The wound is in the process of becoming gangrene. It was heartbreaking to see these children with the sores and wounds on their hands and feet and not having the resources to tend to them. This little girl could be at risk of losing her leg if it weren't caught in time! Laura treated the wound and administered meds as well as left another dose in hopes it will tie her over until the medical mission team arrives on the 14th.
We gave the kids candy and Debbie and I rubbed some moisturizing repair lotion on their faces. There was one little boy that kept watching me while they were doing their singing and dancing but I couldn't get him to wave back. After I applied the lotion to his little cheeks his face lit up!
After visiting with the children we all surrounded them and laid our hands on them as Jana prayed. She prayed for their health, education, safety, and food.
The children in Chonta lined up to sing for us
We continued on through the village and stopped at a home where a brother and sister lived. Their home was made of the same adobe brick as the other homes in the village. They had chickens scattered around their small fenced in area. We continued to walk up towards the door and notices tons of flies and to our surprise there was raw meat laying out on a building being dried to store. (They don't have fridges, microwaves, etc. They have electricity which primarily consists on a single light bulb in their small home with dirt floors.) As we walked up I watch this tiny elderly woman walking down the hill towards us with a crutch. She was was very accepting of our company and embraced us with hugs as we introduced ourselves. Then the pastor of the church in the village told us their story. She was blind in one eye and partially blind in the other and had previously had surgery. He had surgery for a hernia. When asked how old they were she replied by saying between 70 and 80-years-old. We took our hands and place them on both of them as we circled around them. Then we each prayed for them, with the pastor following with a prayer in Quechua.
We walked to the next house of a woman named Nancy. The pastor asked us to pray for her because she has been baptized but hasn't been attending church. This lady was also the mother of the child with the wound. The pastor gave her the medicine and we gathered around her and each prayed. I prayed that she sees God's love through us and through her people and that she would be led back to church, as well as for their health and safety.
The short walk to those two houses was God-awesome. To be able to share God's love and see His people in need and have the amazing opportunity to place my hands on them and pray to OUR God was incredible. No matter how different we may be on the outside or how different our lifestyles are...God loves us all and hears our prayers. To be used by God to pray for those people in need and being willing to let Him use me and let His light shine through me was life-changing.
Once we finished with lunch we began our hike into the Andes. It was a pretty intense hour and a half to get to our final destination but I felt very adventurous:) We stopped at a point in the mountains to see the comadors. These birds have around a 9 foot wing span. As we sat there and waited for them to come, I just looked around at all of God's beauty and reflected on the visit with the people in Chonta.
A cross at the beginning of our hike
The visit and evangelism with the people and hiking about 5 miles was an amazing day here in Peru!! I don't think I even noticed the danger of the winding road in the dark as we drove down the mountain leaving Chonta!
Sunset over Chonta, Peru
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