Enough Already

Just when you think everything in Yurimaguas has finally settled down another announcement of yet another, no another 2 strikes. School should be starting in the first week of March, but of course, we couldn't have the kids start on time!

Today we found out there are 2 new strikes planned. The first (March 9th) is a strike by the "indigenous" whatever and whoever that may be. We will have to ask around and find out. The other is by the people that always call strikes and usually for no real reason. This will be on the 13th of March and they say it will be indefinite which means it could last a month if they so choose. We are supposed to leave Yurimaguas on the 22nd to head back to US for ALTECO conference. During this time too we have scheduled a computer class from the 15th-19th.

We need wisdom and prayer for knowing what steps to take. If we stay we could get stuck since these indefinite strikes shut down EVERYTHING including transportation. I'm very tempted to go the the tv channel and as to talk to the President of this group calling the strike. They complain about no money coming into the area, yet tourists don't want to come here for this very reason. This needs to stop and the city politics need to not affect those that don't live here. These also shut down the market and everything else, so no food either.

Please pray!

What a Week!

This week has been very interesting to say the least. There has been a stream of visitors which has been fun. It has rained hard most of the week. That is good for the river traveler, but not so much for the road traveler. There have been many sink holes caused and flooding and of course the usual landslides. Please pray for travel mercies for those of us who travel a lot.

Ken has been trying for the last couple of weeks to get the latest census data from the area. The word here is that there are 16,000 Chayahuita now and we’d like to see how they are divided up. We did manage to get a list of communities in each district, unfortunately it doesn’t say what tribe lives where and there are many with the same name. Hopefully we can get some better data than what the city has given us.

Also, for the last month Ken has been trying to get a wheelchair for a man named Raul from Nueva Vida. When we first met him a couple of years ago he already had both of his arms amputated due to diabetes or at least that is what he was told the reason was. He was trying desperately to get prosthesis or at least a hook for one arm to be able to function better. After many consultations he was turned down. Evidently if it is diabetes that is plaguing him, it is not being treated. Now he has had to have a leg amputated. He is “getting around” (and I use that term very loosely) in a wheelchair that has wheels but no tires and one of the bars at the bottom is missing. There had been a campaign giving away wheelchairs but the hospital said they had none left. Then Ken went to the mayor’s office to see what they could do and got the same response. Finally after all this time Raul has been put on a waiting list to receive a chair when the next delivery arrives. Praise God. Please pray for him as he has also been told by some people from a different doctrine that he lost his limbs because of his sin. Ken and Pancho have been counseling him on this issue.

Update

It’s been awhile since I’ve had a chance to catch up on the blog. It’s hard sometimes since we have to use the internet café here. I did discover that they have a lan line that I can connect my laptop up to. That will help a lot. I can write at the house then plug in there. Praise the Lord.
Anyway, we have had some more visitors since last writing. Jose Yume was here from Sachavaca. His daughter has hepatitis B and was suffering some of the symptoms. They had to drain about 5 liters of liquid from her. Not fun. Jose was able to spend some time with us just chatting and catching up on his life and ministry.
Elio Solis also showed up in town on his way to Lima. He had hurt his leg and couldn’t make it to the conference this year. He is doing well and is excited to see that the Bible will be printed next year. We still aren’t sure if all the funds have been collected to do so and are trying to find this out.
Please pray for Jesus Pua and Enoc as they travel once again to the Jeberos area. They will be there a few weeks evangelizing and following up on the new believers and encouraging the others. Enoc will then travel to another tribe up north. Pray for safety and provision as they travel. There has been a lot of rain lately which will make for a difficult, at best, walking experience.