Tarapoto is a small Peruvian city packed with motorcars, (motorcycles with an attachment for passengers) There are lots of small markets filled with everything from homemade cheese to aguaje, a fruit known to me in Portuguese as buriti. It was never much of a favorite fruit to me, but Aulo had me try it in ice cream form, which I LOVED.
Paujilzapa on the other hand, where my future in-laws live, is even smaller, situated in the jungly mountains. It definitely brought back memories of growing up in Flexal, as it was filled with lots of thatched roof houses, and the people had similar mannerisms. I absolutely fell in love with the kids there, of course, and took lots of pictures. Let me tell you about one of them. 
Groner is a sweet little 5-year old who is in kindergarten. Though I only saw him a couple of times, I quickly saw how lovable he was. The first time, we were going to visit his parents to invite them to our wedding. His dad was in Aulo’s graduating class (for middle school) and we wanted to make sure to give them on of our invitations in person. As we walked into their house, I spotted his little face peeking curiously at me from behind a curtain. His mom asked him to run over to one of the bodegas, little “stores” that are actually just shelves in people’s living rooms, but SUPER convenient. She asked him to buy Oro, a typical Peruvian pop. He ran out, coin in hand, reminding himself out loud, “Oro, oro, oro!” Running back a few minutes later, hugging a huge 3-liter bottle, he panted, “Here, Mom, I got it.”
After serving us, his mom slipped out for a minute, and Groner ran to get some picture albums. Leaning on my arm, he would turn every picture, and most of them were of his dad. But he never failed to say, “Oh, and this is my papi, and here’s my papi…here’s my mom, and my papi.” His little toothless grin would light up each time. It warmed my heart to see a kiddo so proud of his dad. A lot of kids here don’t have dads who are present in their lives.
Later on that week, we saw him walking back from school, backpack on his shoulders, and I couldn’t resist getting a snapshot. I am excited to be able to go back to Paujilzapa at Christmas time, having already met some of the kids. Aulo and I hope to be able to plan some Christmas ministries for the kids and their families. There are a couple of churches there, one that has about 3 people, and another about 30. As we begin ministry in Iquitos next year, we also pray that when we go to visit his family at different times, we can encourage these two small churches and also explain more of the Gospel to those who live there (a lot of whom have known Aulo since he was little).
Another little kiddo who loved his picture being taken!
