Dave and Cam's Peru Adventure

Whew! I know many of you have seen the You-Tube video of the "world's most dangerous road in Bolivia". Haha- you ain't seen nothing!!!! These past few days we have been on a research trip that would have scared Evil Canivel! We had plans to head out at 4 AM Thursday morning. Teammate Amber Smith arrived the previous morning from Lima for her first trip in the mountains. Also with us was a Peruvian couple who live here in Huanuco, Lindor and Zoila along with their 1 yr old Samuel. They are from an area near where we wanted to research and speak Quechua and Spanish. We all gathered together at 4AM- trying to beat the road construction that would have kept us waiting from 6 AM - 6 PM. But unfortunately- the lock on the gate had been changed and we didn't know- and our key didn't work. So we waited until 5 and then asked our landlord to let us out! Thank goodness for their dog who needed to go outside! So we hit the road at 5 and made it through the construction areas with no problems. We traveled 14 hours that day and still didn't make our destination. The rainy season began 15 days ago according to locals and I can't imagine what it will look like in a few months! The roads were really some of the scariest I've seen yet. Roads. Haha- thats a joke! They are usually wide enough for the truck- though completely mud- and some of these switchbacks were not designed for mud. About 1 out of those 14 hours was on pavement. We didn't have many options on where to stop and eat lunch- or to stop at all really. But we found one tiny town that had a restauarant that still had some soup left. So we sat in the kitchen with cats, rabbits and guinea pigs running around on the floor under our feet and ate our soup. We stopped the first place that had a hostel after it got dark and the six of us shared a room. Thankfully there were three single beds in it- but still... a little awkward. Anyway- the next day was easier- we only drove about 4-5 hours and spent most of the time in the town we had set out for- trying to find churches, believers, "campos blancos" as we say down here. It was a lot of walking around town, asking questions and at one point chasing a bus. Yes we chased after a bus trying to catch a pastor before he left town for the week. We didn't catch him.

Anyway- we ended up spending the night in the town which is "Huaycaybamba" and got rooms to ourselves! The next morning we set out hoping to return to Huanuco if all went well. All did not go well. We drove about 4 hours and our road was closed because of a mud/rock slide that closed the road at least until morning. So we turned around and found another route. We drove through part of the neighboring department of Ancash- and saw some incredibly beautiful areas. Everytime you turn a corner here it's different! Because its rainy season- we've seen tons of waterfalls! So beautiful- though you really have to work to get there to see them.

After another 12 hour day on the road- we made it to a town we've been to before "La Union" and were able to get supper and rooms for the night. Today- we drove the last 4 hours into Huanuco- thankfully most of which was on pavement. Quite a trip.

We were able to find out some of the information we needed to know about this area- though another trip may be necessary in the dry season for follow up. We saw areas that were so amazing- you could only look at them and say "wow, God!! Wow!" Places like this leave no doubt of a Creator! The intricacies, depth and power are unbelievable.

We also got to know Lindor and Zoila. Such sweet friends! They were a HUGE help to us! The questions coming from them rather than us made this trip a lot quicker than it would have been. They helped in everyway they could and it made a difference. Their Quechua came in handy a few times and the times the police stopped us went a lot quicker too. And Samuelito! Ahh- my new love:) He is a sweet little guy who wrinkles his whole nose when he smiles (which is often) and proudly displays his 6 teeth. Can you imagine taking a 1 year old in a truck for that many hours? They made it look easy. A great family to know and hopefully we will be able to work together often.

Amber was a great sport on a very difficult first trip to the Sierra! What a way to break her into the work here!

We are maybe going to remain in Huanuco until we head home for Christmas- but David is already talking about heading out to San Jose de Quero to line up things for the January trip there. Who knows! Here are some prayer requests we have:

• Praise for a safe and successful trip
• Please pray for safe travel to San Jose de Quero (if we go) and to Lima to fly home for Christmas.
• That our time with family and friends over Christmas will be sweet and intentional.
• Please pray for Lindor and Zoila as they minister in their day to day lives.
• Pray for continued language learning (we are getting better!- but please keep praying!)

Thanks so much to all of you! Merry Christmas and we hope to see most of you real soon!