Back in Yurimaguas

Baptism in Bella Vista

We have settled back into the routine of Yurimaguas with the house constantly full of people. We have had lots of visitors (we which love). The leadership has been in town working on the Native House at the end of the block. They are putting up a metal gate in front since everytime a wooden one is built somebody steals the wood. This will keep the property much more secure.

Also, we have been visited by Enrique Pua, one of the Chayahuita missionaries. He shared about his trips recently to share the Gospel and encourage the believers in various villages. He and his family have only been home for a week or so since January. When they did get home they had to attend to their farm. While working out there Clementina, Enrique’s wife, cut herself quite deeply with a machete. Please pray for healing as it seems to have gotten infected. We are sending antibiotics home with him.

Enrique and Clementina Pua and family

Jesus Pua and his wife, Hilda and son, Alex also came for a visit. Jesus arrived with all the symptoms of malaria, but praise the Lord it was just a bad flu and he is doing much better. Jesus and his family have been traveling throughout the Jeberos district (the most isolated of all the Chayahuita districts with no rivers to arrive by boat). He has seen many make decisions for the Lord and be baptized as well as the discouraged believers be encouraged again. He and his team are very committed to go wherever God would have them go. Please pray for their safety and health. They have put many miles on their feet. Jesus and Hilda Pua

We are getting ready for the team from Grace to arrive in June. We will, Lord willing, be heading by boat to Balsapuerto. The rainy season is over and the rivers are once again becoming low. Pray for sufficient water to travel. We have also been informed of several strikes that are in the works for both June and July. One indefinite strike (one w/o a fixed end date) could take place in July or August. Typically those last from 2 weeks to 2 months. We have a couple of women from New Tribes planning on being here in July so please pray for all those plans and for flexibility.

Drop us a line or two when you have time. We'd love to hear from you.

Reflection of out trip

Many things happened during this almost month long trip. There were many learning experiences and many blessings. Here are a few of those.

In Bella Vista the community had been greatly encouraged by the frequent visits of Jesus Pua and his team. They are very hungry for God’s Word and Jesus and his team will continue to make regular visits. He feels called to be in that area where so few have come to share. They have received the Gospel and many have believed. As a result of that there were 9 new believers baptized. The community seems very united, which is not very common. They work together and enjoy being together. We learned many things from them this time about them, their surroundings and their dreams for the future. They had taken our advice about marketing their crafts and provided a great market for the team to buy from.

Leaving Bella Vista took 3 flights because it had rained and both airstrips were muddy. Jim Huff and I were on the last flight out of Bella Vista and the field had been totally dug up by the previous 2 flights. The pilot decided to head out the opposite direction and when he got to the end of the runway, he hit mud and we sunk. The tires went down about 12 inches into the muck. We had to get off the plane and push it out. All the men standing around wanted to help, however, at first with men on both sides it was a push me pull you situation. Once they received instruction from the pilot we were easily push out and turned around. Finally we were in the air. The same problem existed in San Antonio so we had to come in on the opposite side. It felt like I could reach out and touch the mountain we were so close to it. Thankfully, we had one of the best pilots flying.

In San Antonio it rained most of the time and undercurrent of the river was dangerous. This limited what we could do for a few days. We had planned a trip about 2 hours walk away to a fishing lake, but even the natives said it was just too dangerous to go. Oscar Pua (Chayahuita Association President) and Gregorio Yume (Secretary) joined us in San Antonio. Oscar was given a couple of nights to share God’s Word as was Ken. We enjoyed the worship with them on Sunday morning and evening. After the morning service 5 new believers were baptized. While we were there a team of medics came to give the Hepatitis vaccine. It was great to see that many complied and were vaccinated.

This village has suffered much in this last year. They have had several tornadoes destroy houses and part of their new church as well as several unexplained deaths. They need lots of encouragement. We were able to spend a morning in the jungle with them and ended up in an area that is one of my favorites; the big rocks that surround a swimming area. We all sat on one of the big rocks and chatted for a couple of hours. Part of this time was used to debug us. We had gotten into some little bugs they call “pee key” that bury themselves under the skin to lay their eggs. We had hundreds of them on us. We also spent time in a couple of the families’ houses just chatting and talking about the future. This village really wants to have tourists come. They are so excited about the possibilities. Are you ready?

We left on the 23rd for Yurimaguas by boat. Because of the rain we had to walk about 2 miles through another village to meet Pancho and the men on the other side of the rapids. It’s not that they are really big rapids, but it’s a wooden canoe not a river raft. After falling and trudging through the muddy path we all made it to wait at the river’s edge. It was a beautiful trip down the Yanayacu River to the Paranapura River. We made one stop in Maranatha where we were graciously served a bowl of soup for lunch. They thanked us for eating with them. That’s how little it takes to be encouragers, just sharing a simple meal. Wow!

We arrived in Yurimaguas about 8:30 and we all were looking forward to getting cleaned up in the shower. That all changed as we had no water in the house. We left early (4:30 AM) the next morning to head to Tarapoto. We were stopped about 40 minutes outside of town by a group of men with guns. It was an uneasy moment. They stopped us to warn us that there had been some assaults earlier and not to pick anyone up off the street. Within 10 more minutes there was another group of armed men. I thought this must be the ones that we were warned about, but fortunately they were just checking cars for the assaulters. Once we arrived in Tarapoto the team had time to get clean, rest and explore.

We arrived in Lima to almost perfect weather, which by the way; we had almost the whole trip. The hotel where we were staying is quite often full of people on missions’ trips. On the way in we met a group from a church in Denver that was there training leaders in the area. On the way out, a Chinese man (James) started talking to me and he shared his testimony and a little about why they were there. They have started a ministry to the Chinese restaurants. There are 5000 in Lima alone. He said they feel that if they can reach the Chinese they can reach the world! He was a real blessing as was the rest of their team.

Remember to pray for James!

It is so obvious that God is working here in Peru and even more evident in the Amazon Basin. Please continue to pray for those here. The Chayahuita have a desire to reach their own people, but also a desire to go to other tribes.

Pray -
For their safety both physically and spiritual. It is a spiritual battle.

For others from the outside to have a burden to help them be trained to do this important task.

For the health workers: for training, for understanding of the AIDS situation that they are now facing. We were told that one village near Balsapuerto has 200 cases of AIDS. It is running wild. There is much promiscuity. Pray for this to change.

For the team coming in June that they will be prepared spiritually and physically.

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement. You are partners in the many blessings that the Chayahuita have received.

Arriving in San Antonio

We arrived in San Antonio just before a big rainstorm. The airstrip became spongey after that, so we were thankful that we arrived when we did. The river was running very high and the current was strong. It made for interesting morning photos with the fog.

The team worked hard everyday with lots of sick showing up for the clinics and about 17 health workers showing up for clases that were taught. It was a very profitable time. The health workers were taught on how to diagnose children's diseases, HIV/AIDS, how to put in an IV, First Aid just to name a few things. Some of the men walked for a day or two just to be able to receive the teaching.

There were many new experiences for the team in San Antonio; drinking coconut milk, getting their faces painted with huito (a nut with a liquid that goes on light but turns black), climbing a mountain to a waterfall, playing in a Amazon Basin river just to name a few.




The week went by very quickly once again. We spent time visiting people and getting to know them. There was even a new baby named after Ken.

Two Kens

Jumping of the rock

A jungle shower

On Sunday, 5 people were baptized at the end of the service. Ken and Oscar baptized together since the current was so strong. Please pray for these believers as they continue on a path to maturity spiritually.

We readied the boat to head off to Yurimaguas. Pancho Tangoa had come to pick us up. The problem was that with all the rain the rapids were hard to manuever. He asked us to walk 2 miles to another beach past the rapids. That wouldn't have been hard under normal circumstances, but it had rained very hard the night before and the path was a muddy, yucky mess. We started walking following our guide and we came to a small puddle of water. My feet were so muddy and I thought it would be a great place to get them clean! WRONG! As soon as my left foot hit the water I ended up falling and doing the splits. No a pretty sight. So, now muddy and wet all over, we kept on walking. The path was muddy everywhere and we had to cross over several small creeks on logs. In the end we did make it to the river once again and had even beat the boat. The rapids were worse that Pancho had thought. Once we got into the boat it was mostly smooth sailing.

The river ride is always a highlight. There are so many things to see: people, boats, birds, etc. We made it into Yurimaguas around 8:30 or so. We had planned on taking showers and then sleeping a few hours to head over the mountain to Tarapoto, however, we had no water at the house. We aren't sure why at this point.

We are very thankful that nobody got sick until we hit Tarapoto. It probably was some bug that was passed around since several got it. It was just the headache, body ache and sometimes vomiting bug. Fortunately they had time to rest up and comfortably.

Lima seemed like a world away from the jungle experience. It was hard, as usual, to leave the jungle behind. Lima had some surprises of its own to share. More about that next time.