I’m back in the States! This last month has been a little crazy! Here’s a summary of what has happened:
Iquitos, Perú:
I enjoyed my time in the Amazon jungle! It was so different than any other place I’ve been in Perú. I filmed a story for the Bible Institute about Josue, a former student that is now a pastor in a town just a couple hours away by car. Filming for that story included taking a trip on the Amazon River to another village to see where he grew up. I also took a day to go on a boat trip to a few locations that let you interact with several of the jungle animals – from feeding large fish to holding monkeys, a sloth, and even an anaconda.
Conference:
Right after my trip to Iquitos, ABWE held their Spanish South America Regional Partnering Conference. I had been looking forward to this as I got to see missionaries from all the places I had been this year – Chile, Colombia, and Perú. I played piano for the worship and mostly took a break from filming. It was a refreshing and encouraging time that included times of learning, spiritual nourishment, and catching up with friends. Goodbyes were hard.
Last days in Perú:
For my last week in the country, three friends and I traveled to some of the sites in Perú. We stopped by a nature reserve to see penguins, sea lions, dolphins, and thousands of birds. That afternoon, we had a thrilling ride in a dune buggy starting from a desert oasis around miles of sand dunes. The next day, we flew to Cusco and spent four days seeing sites from there including the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, Rainbow Mountain, and Humantay Lake. The Sacred Valley tour took us to four different Inca ruins all with the beautiful backdrop of the mountains. The Machu Picchu tour was in Spanish; two of us spoke enough Spanish that we translated for the other two. Rainbow Mountain was a challenging 2.5-mile hike one way as it started at 15,000 feet in elevation! The views were worth it! We decided to take horses up to Humantay Lake – a beautiful, blue, glacier lake. It was hard to capture the majestic, snow-capped mountains behind it!
Back in Lima, I had a few days to repack and do any last-minute souvenir shopping before heading back to the States. I enjoyed several hours of my last day hanging out with some of my missionary family. Lima gave me a final goodbye with typical heavy traffic on my way to the airport.
So what’s next? I’m with the organization through the end of the year to finish up editing, which is mostly what I have been doing since I’ve been back. I have an open house in a few days to share more pictures and stories. (If you missed the invite, let me know!) Next week I am going to ABWE’s headquarters in Harrisburg to debrief and share media. And then I will look to start a new job in January.
Thank you so much for all your support during my time abroad! God has been good. Please continue to pray for me as I transition back into life in the States. And please feel free to ask about my South American homes!
Gloria Images 