Trans Am Meetings Go Well!

Wow! What a week it has been. We met in Lima with the Trans Am Committee. This is comprised of indigenous leaders from the 6 countries of the Amazon Region. Many things were discussed. Meetings were long (aren’t they all), but with a wealth of information.

Dr. Dan Rickett spoke on Partnerships and explained what they are and what they aren’t especially in a Christian context. So many foreign missionaries enter into indigenous areas and impose their agenda on the indigenous without ever even consulting with them and asking what their needs are or what they would like to see in their futures. They control everything and the indigenous just politely say “yes” because that’s how they are, non confrontational. The foreigner teaches like they would in their own culture and think that contextualization is putting something into Spanish. Very enlightening information.

Empowerment centers were also a subject of discussion with Phil Goddard leading those discussions. We are getting closer and closer to make them a reality. So excited to see the possibilities and making this dream come true for our indigenous brothers. Many ideas of what to be taught and how to make them truly a partnership venture between the 3 waves of missions. Property possibilities are on the horizon as well.

A new team has been formed for South America Alteco. So far there are 6 of us: Irma Espinoza, Juan Carlos and Zulema Sanchez, Ken and I and Elmer Terrazas. There are so many things that will be accomplished by this team in the future. There is a list of things already in the works.

We also had the privilege of celebrating our anniversary (cake and all) with our indigenous brothers and the whole South American team. Thanks for making it memorable! One we'll never forget.

We are so excited to see how God has already answered so many prayers and is opening up so many doors. He is the one doing these great and amazing things for the Amazon Region!

Leaving is Bittersweet

Today we left Yurimaguas. It was a bittersweet time. It’s always great to reconnect with friends, but it’s hard to hear of the struggles. Before we left we asked that you pray for some fallen leaders. The update on that request is a follows; one leader repented and was restored, one lost face and left the jungle altogether and is somewhere in Lima and the other left his wife and is now living with another younger woman somewhere out of the Shawi area. Please continue to pray for them even though we haven’t divulged their names. Also pray for the other leaders that remain faithful but could so easily be tempted by the enemy as is the case with anyone wanting to follow the will of God.


Pray also that rain will come before the annual conference in January or it will be very difficult for many to arrive. The river is quite low. Rainfall has been sparse. It seems to have gone all to Colombia where they are experiencing floods and the rain continues to fall and say it will through April.

Pray for us as we continue to travel back to Lima.

In Yurimaguas

We arrived without incident in Yurimaguas. The highway over the mountain was unobstructed and the driver drove at a good speed. We however arrived to rain. It started out as sprinkles but within about 30 minutes we got downpours throughout the night. The good thing was that there wasn’t an air conditioned room so the rain at least help us stay cool.


We were able to visit Pancho and the family or at least the part that is left living here. Tarsila and her family (she now has a daughter) are living about 1 ½ hours from here. Bastiluz is now living with her uncle in Lima and has a job as a nanny. Well, kids everywhere grow up.

It feels very strange being in Yurimaguas. When we left in April our heartstrings were very attached and it was so hard to leave. Now it really doesn’t feel like we belong in so many ways. Our friendships remain intact, but it just feels totally different. God is helping us get some sort of closure to move on the the next step He has prepared for us. We really aren’t sure what He may require of us but we are ready.

Pray for us this week as we reconnect and say goodbye, too.

Finally warmth!!

We spent the last couple of days in Lima getting some necessary things accomplished. Got to meet with Irma Espinoza and Joey and Suzanne Johnson (and of course meet Oakley).It great to be back in Lima. Alot of things have changed in just a short 6 months. They even put a traffic light right outside the hotel and they are cracking down on jaywalkers with a fine of around $30. Watch where ya step!

Today we finally made it to Tarapoto and it is 90+ degrees and absolutely feels wonderful. We LOVE the heat and the warm tropical breezes. It's been great reconnected with friends here. We only stay one night and head over to Yurimaguas. Not my favorite city, but some of my favorite people live there....the Chayahuita (Shawi). We are looking forward to catching up with leaders. Oscar Pua and Jesus Pua are coming to town so we can talk with them. We miss having face to face time with them, however, we faithfully keep in touch by phone. Nice that they have a phone in their village.

Please pray for safety as we head over the mountain in the morning. You all celebrate Thanksgiving and winter and we enjoy heat!! We will praying for you all as well as you spend time with family and friends.

Have ticket HOPE to travel

Last night in Quito was quite the challenge. We arrived early enough to get through all the necessary rites of passage (getting boarding passes, checking in luggage, paying airport taxes, and security), however, once we got to our gate there was a loud protest at the neighboring gate. They were LOUD!! Screaming and yelling insued and then came security and police.

It appears that some 20 people were left stranded for at least the whole day (some say they had been there a week, but we were told since 3AM). However long they seemed to have been forgotten by the airlines and they wanted a resolution which is quite understandable. These people were actually threatening to hijack our plane, so the airline started asking people on our flight including us to wait until the morning to fly. We agreed to do so. Then at the very last minute they decided to give the people that had been waiting the vouchers and hotel accomodations instead.

We did make it into Lima although an hour or so late, but safely. Please continue to pray as we move forward this week to Yurimaguas. Thanks!!

Week in Quito

Quito, Ecuador appears to be a beautiful city with its mixture of colonial and modern. It would have been much nicer if it had been sunny. 95% of our time touring various places with our guides, Carlos and Becki Pinto was spent dodging raindrops. There is so much rich history in the city. One of the highlights the second day was going to a local church. Carlos spoke and we were invited to stay and eat lunch with the church body as they celebrated their 29th year. It was great to be able to fellowship with other brothers and sisters. After that, we headed up to “la mitad del mundo” (the middle of the world. That is where the equator is. Of course we had our photo taken there as all good tourists would do.

On Monday, we took a bus (which was really quite nice) 5 hours to Shell. There is a lot of missionary history there. That of course is where the Saints used to live when Nate Saint and 4 other missionary men went in to make contact with the Waorani tribe. The Indigenous Conference started on Tuesday morning with worship and prayer. Again it’s always amazing to have this time with other believers and realizing that one day we will forever be able to be together and praise our Father. There were 60 participants (men and women). A speaker from each of the 3 waves of missions (foreigner, national and indigenous) had time to share. Subjects such as alliances, leadership roles and churches doing missions were presented. There was also a time for church reports and then evaluation on the progress or lack thereof spiritually. It was a time to be transparent so that solutions could truly be sought.

Becki and I were able to, along with local pastor’s wife, Sofia, to have time to share with the women in a relaxed setting. After introductions, the women began to share some of their struggles with us. Many spiritual questions were also asked. Praise God that all the answers come from His Word. We also were able to help out in the kitchen which was fun!

On the last day we had a cultural presentation night. It was fun watching groups sing, dance and show some different cultural things.

On our way out we stopped to take a tour of the Saint house which has been turned into a museum and see the airport where all the airplanes go into the jungle.

All in all it was a great week. Now onto Lima for the second leg of the trip.Thank you all for praying, please keep up the good work!

Quito Ecuador

Friday night late we made it into Quito. Customs was fairly easy. PTL!! Saturday we spent walking in the rain and touring the colonial part of the city. Carlos and Becki Pinto have been wonderful hosts as well as the hosts at the GMU guesthouse. Quito is a beautiful city, but it would be nice to see it without rain. Sunday we went to a local church and worshipped there. They invited us to stay for lunch and the fellowship was wonderful. Just imagine how it will be in Heaven all together in worship and fellowship.

Sunday afternoon we were taken to the Mitad del Mundo (middle of the world) and stepped on the equator. Very cool!!

Today we leave for Shell and the indigenous conference. Please pray for safety in travel (mountain road) and for wisdom once we get there. We will give photos and details when we return.