Almost two months ago, to the day, I was on a plane headed to Lima, Peru for the third time. For the past three summers, I have gone to the South American country on a missions trip with my church, Cedarbrook Community Church. My first year I stayed in the capital of Lima for the full 10 days. The last two years, I have spent three days in Lima and seven days in Iquitos, a city in northern Peru next to the Amazon River.

Before going on my second trip, I was told that I was going to the Amazon Jungle. Naturally, what I was imagining was something resembling the movie "Emperor's New Groove."

I thought it was going to be a highly forested area with a low population. I was completely wrong.

Iquitos is just like any other city. There are lots of people and busy streets. Driving down the streets of Iquitos was both fun and terrifying.

The main mode of transportation is Motokars, instead of regular cars. Basically, it is the front of a motorcycle with a cart on the back that can fit three people. There are traffic laws, but they are followed very loosely. Everyone just weaves in and out with other vehicles.

While in Iquitos we stayed in a hotel at the heart of the city. During the day, we would visit a church in different parts of the city. We visited a total of three churches.

The first church was about a 30-minute drive from our hotel. It was on the outskirts of Iquitos. The roads were bumpy and dirty. It was hard for the Motokars to drive on them. The kids played with each other in the streets because they didn't have anywhere else too.

All of the houses were two stories. This was because, during the rainy season (February to May), they get so much rainfall at once that it floods the first level of their houses. They have to move everything to the second floor and build bridges coming from their windows so they can leave their houses.

One woman opened up her house to us. She let us use her restroom and eat lunch in her living room. She made sure that we had everything that we needed when we were there. This took me by surprise because we were there to serve them, and here she was serving us in return.

The second church we went to was about a 45 minute boat ride up the Amazon River. Riding on the Amazon is amazing. There aren't a ton of boats on the water, and if they are, they are small fishing boats.

The people in this village were very reserved. They weren't comfortable with newcomers in their territory. It took time for them to open up to us and accept us in their space. By the time this happened, we had to go to our next village.

It took us about 20 minutes by boat to get to the third church. This church was familiar to me because I had spent the full seven days there two years ago. The kids knew us, and they were ready for us to come and play with them.

This church didn't have any electricity, unlike the other two. The kids played on a soccer field with goals made out of sticks. They painted their church with paint rollers taped onto tree branches.

I saw a kid with a broken arm. He had it wrapped in a sock. You could clearly tell it was broken because it was bent right in the middle of his forearm, where your arm should not be bent. He told us that he broke it while he fell down the stairs and there was nothing else that could be done about it.

I never thought that I could go to some place that is so beautiful, yet so dirty. The streets were dirty, the riverbanks were dirty, and the water was dirty.

These villages on the river don't have any place to put their trash, or any money to take it anywhere. I saw a pastor burn a pile of plastic water bottles because he didn't want to throw them in the river, which is what most people do.

Even with all of the poverty in these communities, all of the people are so full of joy. The kids are always smiling. They were so happy to just run around with me, braid my hair, or simply just talking to me.

While this place wasn't what I was expecting, it was so much more. There was so much love between the communities, the pastors, and the kids.

This trip opened my eyes to a different culture and lifestyle. I really believe that I am a different person because of the things that I saw during my three trips to Peru.

This country, and this city, is one of my favorite places to be and even with all the major differences, I loved being there.