Please Pray

Thank you all for continuing to pray for the Chayahuita pastors. We have heard some great news from some and some discouraging news from others. We recently were visited by Pastor Dionisio from Inchiyacu. He and his family are here to collect some money from the Mayor. They walked 4 days to get here. Wow. That’s a lot of walking. This is the first time for his kids to be in Yurimaguas. Inchiyacu is quite a ways into Cahaupanas district and basically at the end of it.

One of the pastors that was living in a totally catholic community and had been persecuted a lot has fallen and left his wife. Please pray for Fabian that God will convict him and will return and be even a bigger light in the darkness surrounding him and his family. Unfortunately this is not one of the pastors that was given to a small group to partner with.

Almost

Finally just one more room to clean. It smells so much better now!
Today Dorcas, Tarsila and Luanith came over to chat and look at some photos. As we were going through some photos of days past, we ran into some of them about 5 yrs ago. They chuckled for a long time and made jokes about each other. It was great to reconnect. They have also been practicing English using a CD and book that had been given to them. They spoke some and took turns laughing.
After awhile, it seemed that they wanted to ask for something. They are always so shy when it comes to asking. Finally one of them spoke up and asked if we could make some cookies together. That was an activity we always shared in the past. It’s great to be a grandma.

Yurimaguas Finally

Wow! We are finally back in Yurimaguas. Things have not changed around town. It will take a few days to clean the cobwebs off the walls and ceiling and bleach down the cabinets but things will be back in order soon.
Dorcas, Pancho’s oldest daughter, will be starting college on Monday. She will be studying tourism so she can eventually help out her village of San Antonio and others that want to have a piece of the ecotourism pie. Guillermo, who is studying to become a nurse, is on the coast right now doing one of his practicums. He will return to Yurimaguas in May and work in the hospital to finish his practicum here.
We hope that in these couple of months we can get everything arranged for the trips coming this summer. There will be some challenges ahead as we do, so please keep us in prayer. Pray for the following: boats to rent for each of the trips (3 in all), water in the river to be able to get to the villages, and a good pilot for each boat. We usually use Pancho, however, he may not be available this summer.
We thank you all for your continued support of us and the Chayahuita as we continue on this empowerment venture together.

Observations about the Conference

As we reflect on the Chayahuita conference, so many things come to mind. There is such evidence in the growth of these brothers and sisters. Let me share a few things that happened this year.

• In April we were asked to buy some rice and beans to plant. The crops were harvested and all the participants ate 3 meals a day. This is significant because usually they don't have enough and we (team) gets asked to help. Not this year!!


• We usually help set up the hours of classes and other areas of the conference. This year they not only did that, but we were told what we were doing back in April and had plenty of preparation time.


• The women had a whole week of teaching without being in the men's classes. They have been asking for years. This year it happened.


• New believers have had a hard time understanding in the main classes, this year they were discipled in their own class.

God is definitely maturing these leaders and we are being blessed by it. Please continue to pray for wisdom for them and safety as they travel. Pray that many will be encouraged as we are just seeing their walk with the Lord.

Tarapoto

Normally on Monday after the conference we pack up our things and the plane arrives to take us all out. This time that didn’t happen. We had rain, low clouds and fog. It was an all day event. We all had a time to just play with the kids and talk with the adults. Really a blessing. Also we found out later that 2 of the leaders on the board had fevers and were sick. God had a reason for the down day.

On Tuesday even though we got off to a late start the team was able to fly out. We had to leave the Chayahuita leaders behind until the next day. We regrouped Tuesday as a team in Tarapoto. Paul Johnson, Jay Jackson and Shawn W. and Irma Espinoza were already waiting at the hotel when we arrived. At least the team got to meet them all.

After the team flew out, we met with the Chayahuita leadership and Paul, Jay, Shawn and Irma. A couple of days were spent with the men answering questions about their past, present and future. We learned many things about the Chayahuita in general. They told stories about many things from where the Gospel first entered to what their thoughts and dreams are for the future. Some of their frustrations were also shared. This is a great team of leaders. They are doing a wonderful job and growing rapidly.

Please continue to pray for the Chayahuita leadership, the pastors and us in the venture that we share as God guides us step by step. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:6

Balsapuerto Continued

Brent, Ron and Ken taught on different themes. Each took an hour a day to speak. It was very exciting to see the responses from the men. There were several roundtable question and answer periods and from what the guys said some of the questions showed incredible spiritual growth.

On Saturday those that had brought handmade articles set up right outside our “home” and we were able to buy things from their “market”. We look forward to showing the things to you. Actually some of the things we will be auctioning off this year, so be sure to keep your ears tuned and your eyes on the look out for exhibitions of the artisan things. You may be interested in making a bid on these one of a kind things from the jungle of Peru made by the Chayahuita Indians.

Of course one of the highlights of this time was to share the letters and photos sent by the small groups. The pastors were very encouraged when they received them. Unfortunately not all of them were there. Those that were there wrote letters. We were also able to get some video from those that wanted to share. Those of you in small groups that sent packets really blessed these men (and their families) immensely. Thank you.

Conference in Balsapuerto

We arrived in Yurimaguas and got everything organized to be able to leave on Monday for Balsapuerto. Unfortunatley it rained on Monday and the plane was unable to get to us. Tuesday we hoped for a better chance. We woke up on Tuesday to the same type of weather; rain and low clouds. When all seemed that we would have repeat of Monday the clouds started lifting and the rain stopped. Even though we got off to a later start than usual we all made it into Balsapuerto safely.

The week was one of many challenges and yet as usual God met every one of them. We do have a great God. The women were given their own classroom with their own studies. There was a classroom for the children, one for the new believers (which was the biggest one as far as attendees) and the pastors and older believers met in the church. At night we all were able to come together and sing and worship.

There were 3 other people that came and helped teach. They are all from the Swiss Mission in Pucallpa. Luz and Agusto are interested in teaching on the physical life: hygiene and animal husbandry and farming. Luz is a nurse. She taught the women everyday about hygiene and health. Agusto taught the men a couple of times. The other woman from Swiss Mission, Doris, taught spiritual lessons to the women everyday. Liz and I also had a time for Bible lessons as well as teaching handcrafts.

Suzi had a great time helping teach the kids. There were anywhere from 40 to 75. There were taught Bible stories as well as played games. The kids seemed very content to have had the time and a place for them to learn.

Counting the Many Blessings

How quickly time flies! It seems just like a day or two ago we were talking about leaving Tarapoto to go into the jungle village of Balsapuerto. Thank you all for praying.

For the trip over the mountain the weather was great. No rain, no landslides, no mud! Praise God. However, as we got closer to Yurimaguas there were two incidents. We were only an hour or so out of town when we were approached by several men in the street with rifles. It was unnerving as they approached. Fortunately they were not assaulters, but vigilantes. Somebody had just been assaulted and they wanted our driver to help them find the suspects. They were told no and thankfully accepted that answer. About 10 minutes later we were stopped in the street with an accident between a van and a motorcar (those motorized “rickshaws”). There was blood and glass all over the street. After a few minutes of talking to some of the people in the street we left, however our driver decided to turn around and go back. He had been on the phone with his company and it turns out that the man on the motorcar was killed.

N ow to back up a bit. You see God had all of this in control so obviously. Brent had been sick and was vomiting from the beginning of the trip. We had had to stop a couple of times for him to get out of the van to do just that. If we hadn’t had that issue we could have been smack dab in the middle of all this above mentioned commotion . We could have been the assaulted or the van that hit the motorcar. God knew we needed the delay. AMAZING!

(to be continued)

Off to the Jungle, the mighty Jungle

Church in Balsapuerto where the conference will be.

We are in Tarapoto and in the morning we head over the mountains to Yurimaguas. We ask that you pray for our safety. Also pray for the safety of all the Chayahuita that will be traveling by foot and by boat! They all sacrifice alot to arrive at the annual conference.

We spend the day tomorrow in Yurimaguas and get picked up by Samair on Monday morning weather permitting. Weather is always iffy this time of year. We know that in God's time we will arrive.

We will be out of the jungle on the 12th or the 13th. We will catch you up on all the blessings of that time. Can't wait to pass out the packets from the small groups to the pastors. It will be fun.

Everyone is doing well and acclimating back to the heat. Thank God for heat.....finally!