Calvary Chapel Corvallis - Missions

Iquitos, Peru 2007

Iquitos | Cajamarca | Lima | main Peru page

Iquitos – Located at the headwaters of the Amazon River, Iquitos is the largest city in the rainforest of Peru and considered the largest city in the world accessible only by boat or airplane. 8 people from the Calvary Chapel Corvallis Team will join a missionary from the Calvary Chapel Bible College at Lima for seven days of outreach in Iquitos. They will be serving in whatever way is needed in a small church plant in this jungle city. *Some information taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Team members: Jeremy Andresen, Traci Feyerheim, Eli Flanagan, Katie Huff, Heather Rodgers, Moe Soriano, Tara Wren, Kathleen Yaeger [ team leaders in italics ]

February 26

[one last update, all together]

The teams came back together in Lima on Monday and enjoyed a day of rest and sightseeing with a dinner out and time of worship that night. Tuesday morning the whole team gathered on a grassy cliff overlooking the ocean and the shoreline of Lima. Team members spent an hour or so in quiet reflection and then came together for a final time of worship. Adam exhorted the team from Phillipians chapter 3 to live with passion for Jesus Christ as they each prepare for life back in the states.

The team will be traveling all night from Lima to Houston, Texas and then on to Portland on Wednesday morning. Thank you for your faithful prayers.

Cornerstone SOM Director Adam Poole exhorts the team to finish strong as they reflect on all God has done in and through them the past two weeks

Worship

Team members processing God’s work in their lives

February 24

Our team blesses Pastor Jose and his family with a guitar and a large bag of various supplies

February 23

Our entire team of jungle missionaries (Peruvian and American) smile for a group photo

Tara Wren begins bonding with two of the village girls

Marta (one of our team’s translators), Kathleen and Jeremy enjoy a game of futbol

An email update from Jeremy Andresen:

Greetings from a wet, yet hot Iquitos!

It’s started raining here (finally)! I have been waiting for the “rainy season” to finally catch up with us, and oh my did it ever, and while we were out in the jungle no less!

We returned from the jungle this morning (Saturday morning) via a very full, and slow boat down the Amazon River. Our story is one of adventure, much spiritual warfare and much awesome fruit. I am so grateful for all that God has privileged our team to be a part of as far as His Kingdom work goes. As far as the fruit, I would not be exaggerating to say that virtually the whole village (probably 50 people) came to know the Lord last night after we showed the Jesus film. Praise the Lord for this!

In short, it was an amazing trip. We’ll provide more details upon our return.

Gratefully.

– J

February 22

Today our team continues to press on through the difficulties and praise God for His blessings. Moe had a terrible stomach ailment last night, and we prayed for his strength and wellness. He felt better today, but has struggled with being able to eat. Jeremy has also caught a sort of bug as well. Our translator Darcy has also been affected by sickness. Please pray for the spiritual strength and physical safety of our team. As a team we continue in prayer and unity.

Earlier today we visited a river community called Belen. We drove motorbikes to Belen’s main marketplace, and then walked through the crowded streets until we reached the river. Once there, our team climbed into wooden canoes to tour the floating houses and to pray for an extremely sick woman. As our team slowly floated through, we personally encountered the utter poverty these people live in day by day. Many residents watched us drift through the murky and trash filled water, their faces expressing hardship. We rode in silence and reached a small floating house where an old woman lay sick. A few of our team got and prayed for her healing and prayed God’s Love over her. It turned out she did not know the Lord, but accepted Him after the CC Iquitos Pastor presented the Gospel to her.

After this we headed back to our hostel for our team devotion, lunch, and a time of rest. Our siesta lasted a couple hours. After this, we shopped for supplies to take on our jungle trip tomorrow. We will leave tomorrow around 5:30 am to stay overnight in the deep jungle until Saturday afternoon. This trip will stretch us, as we have grown comfortably accustomed to this large city full of people, not a jungle teeming with diverse wildlife.

Our team silently observes the poverty-stricked area

Team member Mo steps off the wobbly canoe onto stable and safe land

February 21

[ pictures to arrive soon! ]

An email update from Jeremy Andresen:

Greetings from beautiful Iquitos!

As has become a nightly habit, I’m here in the Internet cafe just two blocks from the hostel where we’re staying. It’s surprisingly hot still, I think today was the hottest yet. Maybe 90 degrees, but with so much humidity, it feels much, much more. I’ve debated about picking up slots at the local casino just for the chance to jump into one of the few AC environments here in town (I’m kidding of course).

Thank you all for praying. We are continuing to see fruit from our teaching and outreach opportunities. It is wonderful to be amidst a culture that is materially poor enough to still be open to things of an eternal nature. Please specifically pray for the follow-up with many of these individuals who have made decisions.

Another specific request is for our health. We’re all tired and some aren’t feeling well. This is to be expected with the radically different climate and food. However, we still need to keep all things covered in prayer, and have discernment and the courage to face whatever God has for us even if it is with a crummy tummy.

Thank you again for your prayers.

Hot and tired,

– Jeremy

February 20

Today our team soaked up the heat of Iquitos and spent our energy in ministry. We arose early and had a preparatory team devotional and then ate breakfast. After breakfast, we drove by bus to Calvary Chapel Iquitos. We arrived in the poor neighborhood and walked down the dusty street, observing the poverty-stricken area. Once we reached the church clusters of children flocked out to greet us.

While at the church our team helped build an outhouse, taught dramas to the youth, and loved on the kids. All throughout the day we ministered to the needy children who gathered around us. The long afternoon of ministering at the church wore us out, and we headed home to our hostel for a brief siesta before our evening outreach. After this refreshing break, we ate dinner and walked to a public plaza where we performed one of our dramas. When the drama ended, Moe proclaimed Christ to the scattered ring of people surrounding us. He ended the sermon with a call to accept Christ, and a few people boldly stepped forward. After a while of conversing with students studying English and other people in the crowds we headed home, encouraged by how God used us all to present His Gospel.

Kathleen and a group of kids say “queso” for the camera

Marta, one of our missionary translators, and Katie play clapping games with the kids

The team worshiping God through song this morning

February 19 (PM)

Our smaller Iquitos team departed from Lima sent off with warm hugs and blessings from the rest of our teammates. We caught taxis and zipped through the streets of Lima to the airport. After getting through the ticket counter, metal detector, and airport fee, we finally boarded the plane heading to Iquitos. The smaller plane rattled through a bit of turbulence, but while landing, our bird’s eye view of the lush Amazon River and surrounding jungle dissipated these fears. We then acquired our baggage and then left in taxi cabs to our hostel. Pastor Albert gave us a brief orientation and then we went out to a nice Peruvian diner for dinner. We ended the day with a walk to a plaza where every team member had a chance to minister in different ways with the many kids there. We grew encouraged by witnessing God use the team’s as well as our missionary friend’s diverse abilities and giftings to reach out to everyone we encounter. God surely has placed us here with purpose.

Here’s a quick update from team leader Jeremy Andresen:

We are in Iquitos. I suppose it’s everything I expected. The team is excited to be here and have already been stretched by the climate, the people and the intensity of the surroundings. Tonight after dinner we went down to the riverfront area and just hung out with the people. It was awesome to have chances to practice Spanish and strike up conversations with anyone and everyone that passed by. One boy was particularly curious about our purposes here and decided to accept Christ there on the spot. It was cool to see God at work even in a casual “hanging out” kind of way. Praises for that.

(Please do keep praying. The spiritual heaviness of the area is palatable. I haven’t felt this kind of oppression from the dark realm since my first trip to eastern Latvia in 2002. It’s very much the same feeling though.)

We have much to do and an early call time for breakfast in the morning, so I must go. Thank you again for your prayers.

Hot, sweaty and satisfied.

– J

February 19 (AM)

The last report as a unified group (all 3 teams together) before heading to the separate destinations. Read about it on the main Peru page.

February 18

Track their adventures as an unified group (all 3 teams together) on the main Peru page.

February 17: Arrival in Peru

The teams have landed in Lima, Peru. Read about their arrival on the main Peru page.