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.

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.