N squad is in the desert! All together!
The whole squad is living at the Inkalink compound in Trujillo, Peru.
After an easy month is Quito, Ecuador and 36 hours of traveling we're finally here.
We've been here for about 2 weeks so far and we've been busy! Every week we are working with a different ministry in the poor area of Trujillo. The first week my team and another team worked with a daycare that's about 15 minutes away from where we lived. We spent time with the kids and also started some renovations to fix things up a bit. This past week we worked with an awesome guy name Joca. He is 25 years old and has started a sand boarding ministry here. The Inkalink compound is located in the poorest part of Trujillo, so he has a group of young boys that he ministers to every week. He is really showing the love of Christ to these boy who are surrounded by violence at home.
It's been a little rough here. It's very hot during the day and the mosquitoes come out at night. There are also these bugs called sand flies. When they bite you they make a tiny little blood blister and they itch way more than any other bug bite I've had. So currently my legs, feet and hands are covered with bites and scabs and I'm itching pretty much all day long.
But even though it's hot and I'm itchy all the time that's not the hardest part of being here. We live in a very dangerous part of Tujillo. There's lots of gangs and violence in the neighborhoods that surround us. We have a 7 PM curfew every night because the people here don't like that we're here. Our contact tells us almost every single day how dangerous it is and how careful we need to be even during the day.
In Trujillo, the gang leaders who are older have started to recruit young teenage boys to do their dirty work for them. So at a very young age some of these boys start killing people and become a part of these gangs. Every taxi, every bus, every resident of this place has to pay these gangs to keep them "protected". So what Joca is doing with these boys is so very important. He has such a big heart for them and is doing all that he can to keep them from getting involved in the violence that goes on in their streets.
So I would like to ask all of you to pray for Trujillo, especially where we are at. Pray for the youth of this city. And pray for N squad's safety.
