Iquitos: Peruvian pride

The following is a post from Ben, who is serving in Iquitos with his wife Karen:

August 4

Not long ago my wife and I had one of the most amazing experiences here in Iquitos. We were invited by a member of one of our Self-Reliance groups to see the village where she taught school. We arrived at this small village by boat, half an hour or so up the Amazon River. Upon arrival we thought we would just go to her school so she could leave an assignment for her students to work on and then she would show us around the village. When we got to the school, however, we were informed that they were having an assembly that morning and that we were invited to stand in the back and watch. From behind, we observed some two hundred students from kindergarten to high school walk out of their classrooms and line up in formation outside the school. Once all the children were in their lines they started the assembly with their usual morning announcements. After the announcements they proceeded to explain that they, like they always do, would choose someone to raise the Peruvian flag while the rest of the students sang the national hymn. To our surprise, they invited us to the front of the assembly to raise the flag while the students sang. It was an incredible experience for us to raise the flag and watch as all the students sang with pride, the song of their country.

            I walked away from that experience thinking how thoughtful that was for them to include us in their assembly. They didn’t know who we were or what we were doing there but they still blessed us with the honor of raising their country’s flag. I continue to be amazed by the love and friendliness of the Peruvian people. They allowed us to experience something that we will never forget.