Photos: Mauldin United Methodist Prays for Departing Missionaries

Dozens of family, friends and fellow congregants came out Thursday night to pray for 20 missionaries from who will set out today for a weeklong mission to Peru.

One by one, missionaries came before Pastor Smoke Kanipe, who said a prayer for the missionary while friends and family huddled around in a show of love and support.

The church has sent missionary teams to Peru every year since 2004. Teams work with Scripture Union of Peru to help build Christian orphanages for street boys.

"Regardless of how they get there, street boys are considered the lowest of low in their society. They are often beaten and tortured, sometimes by the police and sometimes by their mother's new man," according to the church's Peru mission Web page.  

"Everyone considers them as non-human and eventually they see themselves the same way. They do anything to survive including selling their young bodies and stealing so they can buy glue to huff and escape their harsh reality."

Teams have worked on three different sites so far: Pureto Alegria, Kawai and Kimo. The 2012 team will be headed to a new location this year. The team will be headed to Urubama in the southern highlands (the Scared Valley of the Incas). The trip will be from July 13-22.

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