Mission Peru

by James Nagy, Redwood Park Church

First off, let’s just say that going to a garbage dump is a little out of my comfort zone as a Canadian. Arriving at the dump shortly after 2; the kids running around swarming the bus, it’s one of the best feelings ever. The kids, they were amazing, despite the language barrier I felt that I got to know most of them extremely well. Now that you’re wondering about the title, I’ll explain, Chaparita is the Spanish word for piggy-back ride (or at least the one all of these kids understood/used), the little girl who was most fond of me was Andy, she was adorable, she kept screaming, “Chaparita... Chaparita” eventually I asked Elliot to ask her what she wanted, and he confirmed my suspicions, she wanted to be piggy-backed. The instant that she was on my back, I began to ask the other kids if they wanted a ride, they all said yes, I just pointed them to people on our team, explaining to them what the children wanted. Later on, after about an hour of running with children on my back, we had enough people to have a huge race, the kids loved every part of this. We had about 10 team members running screaming with children on their back saying go faster. To conclude, Elim, is an amazing ministry in Turjillo, I’m so blessed to have been a part of it for a small moment, the kids also made the experience something that will stay forever in my mind.