Peru Amazon Medical Mission Trip - Lima - Iquitos

Peru Airline
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After a 6-1/2-hour sleepless flight, we landed in Jorge Chávez International Airport, Lima at 2:18am. Hugo, our contact person in Lima, was nowhere to be found. Paul and Anne stepped out of the building to call Huga via our satelitte phone, but to no avail.  To avoid missing our connecting flight to Iquitos at 5:15am, which runs only twice daily to prevent birds strike that could cause plane engine failure, we decided to proceed to the checked-in counter with only the confirmation number of our air ticket.

The deck where I had my devotion time and self-reflection.
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Most teammates were sleep deficit, by this time.

The high humidity and temperature in Iquitos made me feel right at home in Malaysia..

The high humidity and temperature in Iquitos made me feel right at home in Malaysia. Lois collected our boarding pass with checked-in luggage tag on it and gave them the airport personnel for our luggage retrieval.

Mike Dempsey was there to greet us with big smile. His workers helped loading all our big luggages to the top of the big unair-conditioned van. Then, we headed to Nina Rumi, the base of his mission organization in Iquitos. The streets were filled with "tuk-tuks", the taxi equivalent in the States.

My cabin with Annie for 5 days on Chosen Vessel.
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It took 25 minutes to reach Nina Rumi. Half of the journey was on a bumpy dirt road. We embarked onto the Chosen Vessel, our home for the next five days, and Annie was my cabin roommie. She was sick - couging.

As we had our first delicious breakfast at 8am, Chosen Vessel also prepared to set sail to the farthest point of our journey, which was 8 hours from Nina Rumi.

NO hot shower on Chosen Vessel!  Taking cold shower in an air-conditioned cabin was indeed challenging.

At the deck....
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While the rest of the teammates were napping, I chose to sit at the bow of Chosen Vessle to enjoy the Amazon breeze and the scenery lined up along this mysterious Amazon River. Nonetheless, fatigue did catch up with me. I managed to nap for an hour.

After lunch, we met at the deck to go over our programs, job assignments, and drama for the next four days at various villages. My assignment was to man reading eyeglasses to the villagers with Bryan.

Steve and Lois shared some of their wonderful trips in the States and how they helped some of the accident victims and got blood all over them when en route to their vacation destinations.

Christine and I at the dining room.
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Instead of joining others to play board games, I decided to have some quiet time in my cabin.

After dinner, we sang hymns and practiced our spanish songs in the dining room. Around 9 pm, we went up to the deck and Jessica called TeHua via satellite phone for the update of the day.

The sky was especially clear in the pitch dark of the Amazon river and a perfect place for star gazing. We tried but was unable to identify many stars.  And we even mistook some bright satellites as stars until we realized that it is impossible to have stars twinkle alternatively between red and blue colors.

Our delicious meals....
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Steve, Paul and Bryan did some fishing, but I chose to retire early.

(Additional updates from TeHua and Eudora) This morning we heard from Paul Poy who called at 7:05 to let us know the team had arrived safely in Peru. After a 3 hour delay, they departed around noon on Saturday from O'Hare Airport. Since the flight from Atlanta was also delayed, they were able to make their connecting flight to Peru. They landed in Lima at 2:20 am, and took a connecting domestic flight to Iquitos. Everyone made the journey intact, albeit understandably were tired. The luggage also all arrived without being stolen or confiscated.

Houses along the Amazon River....
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This evening, we heard from Jessica Suen, who told us that the team spent the day reviewing their schedule and practicing their drama. The team has been joined by another doctor and a dentist, bringing the total number of health professionals on the team to four. The food is "great" and they are "being well fed." Bryan Woosley successfully went fishing and was able to catch a small fish. Presumably he is not their only source of food! The team (perhaps only certain members?) are hoping to spot (any) anacondas in the water. They've been told they can grow to 30 meters long (??) When asked if I should pass this along in an emailing list that includes anxious parents, Jessica laughed and said, "Sure!"

Sunrise before landing in Iquitos Airport...
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Thanks be to God for:

1. safe arrival of team members and supplies

2. resolving nausea in those team members who experienced this side effect of the preventive anti-malarial drug they are all daily taking Specific prayers requested by Jessica:

1. be praying for their program, including their drama, which will debut tomorrow when they go to their first village. They anticipate around 250 patients, so along with family members or neighbors who may accompany the patients, the total number they could be presenting the Gospel to might be quite large.

Arrived at Iquitos Airport at 6:45am.. our sleepy faces due to sleep deficit...
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2. please also pray for the distribution of the goodwill gifts Please also pray for:

1. physical rest for the team, as they spent many hours in transit, and sleeping on a plane (not to mention needing to change planes at 2 or 3 in the morning) has resulted in a sleep deficit

2. unity and harmony amongst team members. This is really the first time the whole team has been together

3. receptive hearts and minds of those who will be hearing the Gospel

Plane wreckage.. Was it due to birds strike?
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4. clear communication of Christ's love, despite language and cultural barriers

5. safety and health of team members