Volunteer Profile

Birthdays
Both Isaiah and Landon celebrate their birthdays in July and this year we had a FUN pirate-themed party. The 40/40s were a great help in the planning and the games. As everyone arrived they were given a sword, water gun, and "pirate hat". I think the adults had just as much fun playing pirates as the kids did!

We played several games then had a treasure hunt. Two of the 40/40s (Kristy and Nancy) were the captains and helped the kids with the clues. The other 40/40s were dangerous snakes, lions, and monkeys that tried to attack the pirates on their hunt. Luckily, they found the treasure safe and sound and all got to share in the "booty".

Next we had the cake....

...and pinata - look out!!!!

Finally we finished up with a water balloon fight because it's HOT here :)

It was such a fun day and I know the boys made great memories of their Peruvian friends and 40/40 family. We are so blessed to be surrounded by this wonderful group of people who helped make this day very special for us. (And thank you to all of you who sent birthday wishes to the boys!)

Pucallpa Project
June 21 to 29 we had the privilege of hosting a group of 24 short-term volunteers from the States here in Pucallpa. Most of them were from Tennessee and West Virginia and they were a hard-working team!!

Each day, this group, led by 4 of our 40/40s (Katie, Emperatriz, Kevin, and Samuel), went to one of our church-plant areas and spent the morning doing community service and handing out fliers for the movie that evening. The community service ranged from cutting grass to picking up garbage to repainting the lines on a soccer court for a local school. These acts were designed to introduce the community to the Church of the Nazarene and to help create new contacts for our 40/40s to follow up on when they returned.


Each afternoon, the team provided a small clinic for those who were currently in discipleship classes with our 40/40s. We had a doctor who was available for consultations, hair washing and cutting, manicures, pedicures, and feet washing, and a dental care station. Those volunteers who were not involved in any of the stations played games and put on puppet shows for the small children who were hanging around to see all the "foreigners".

Then, each evening a positive-message movie was shown followed by a short testimonial film. Many people accepted Christ as their Savior on these evenings and many more filled out cards stating that they would like to be contacted by the 40/40s for classes and more personalized information on salvation. Exciting times!!!!! Our 40/40s are now busy visiting new families and setting up new classes. We will be forever grateful to those who came to share their time and their lives with these first 4 church plants in Pucallpa!!

Love Extreme
What an amazing weekend we had!!!! We flew out of Pucallpa at 5:30 Wednesday morning and arrived in Arequipa around noon. We spent most of Wednesday resting and catching up with friends. I was able to spend some time with my dear friend Carolina.

We also had a chance to visit our old church, Alto Libertad, and see the construction that has begun there. It was VERY exciting to see this building going up and hear of how the congregation continues to grow!

Thursday and Friday were spent at Cerro Juli (the place where the big event was held on Saturday) preparing the stages, chairs, "food court", children's area, etc. Love Extreme started early on Saturday morning. We showed up at the church at 7 am and took buses out to Cerro Juli. We spent an hour in prayer, and anointed each speaker, singer, presenter, and translator. The doors were opened around 9 am, and there was a crowd of between 2,000 and 3,000 waiting to get in. It was a HUGE success. We had a women's event, men's event, children's festival, family concert, and many special speakers.
I was able to attend the Women's conference and was touched by the stories of both Tammy Trent and Lonna Vopat. Over a thousand women sat through the messages delivered by these amazing women in whom God has worked major miracles of His love. At the end of their sharing, over 150 women came forward to accept Christ!

Later that evening, Nick Vujicic spoke to a crowd of several thousand about his struggles living without arms or legs and the difference the love of God has made in his life. When he finished speaking, he offered those in the audience a chance to change their lives and invite Christ into their hearts. 80% of those in attendance stood up to pray the salvation prayer!!!!! Nick later told our director, Brian Tibbs, that he has NEVER seen such a response and was certain that this event was bathed in prayer. THANK YOU to all of you who joined with us in prayer for this time!!!!

Half of our new "family" remains in Arequipa to follow up with those who filled out "decision cards". Please pray for them as they work to plug these new Christians into churches and cell groups around the city.
The other half of our family returned to Pucallpa on Monday with a group of 24 short-term volunteers. The next 8 days we will be working in the church plant areas to "get the word out" about the Church of the Nazarene. Please keep us in your prayers as we undergo this project (our first time to be "in charge"!) and touch the hearts of those in our city.

Top 15 things that no longer shock or surprise us
With Love Extreme and our trip to Arequipa just around the corner we're feeling some pressure here. So, I wanted to lighten the mood a little by writing a fun blog and hopefully share more of our lives here in Pucallpa with you all.
After 23 months in Peru and 4 1/2 months in the jungle, we have had to redefine what "normal" is several times. Below is our list of the top 15 things that no longer shock or surprise us. Enjoy :)

1. Putting used toilet paper in a trashcan next to the toilet
2. Whole families (including newborn babies) riding together on motorcycles
3. Losing your place in line if not actually touching the person in front of you
4. Not having a reliable trash removal system - we have to listen for a ringing bell then run out with all our trash and chase down the truck. The truck can come at any time of the day and may come as often as every other day or as infrequently as every other week.
5. Isaiah learning to write sentences in cursive and multiply by 2 BEFORE learning the Spanish alphabet.
6. Our children speaking Spanish 80% of the day and English only 20%
7. Getting hit in the back with the RAW hindquarters of a cow or horse while purchasing meat in the market
8. Only having access to cold water - yep, that's right, COLD for dishes, laundry and showers
9. Sharing our house with daddy long leg spiders and salamanders - and being thankful for them! The daddy long legs kill the mosquitoes and ants and the salamanders kill the spiders. I actually have had a daddy long leg spider living above my sink, at eye level, for several weeks!

10. Dirt rings, every day, in the fat creases, necks, and wrists of Isaiah and Landon
11. Pepsi that costs approximately 31 cents a bottle (500 mL)
12. Washing dishes, and some clothing, by hand are no longer quaint, "remember when" stories that my grandparents used to tell me
13. Calling our motokar (three-wheeled motorcycle) our "car" and riding in it next to and in between weaving semi-trucks.

14. Looking forward to going to the bank and waiting 15 to 30 minutes (occasionally up to an hour) for a teller - because it's one of the few places in the city with air conditioning!
15. Bars on every window and door and broken glass pieces on the tops of walls - I'm not sure we'll ever feel safe in a home without these again!

May happenings
May has been a VERY busy month as we are truly beginning to settle into our Cluster Support positions. Our new daily tasks include giving out transportation and ministry supply money, working with the cooks to purchase and prepare food, making copies and facilitating with the local leadership, going to the bank for LOTS of change (coins for taxis), handing out medicine, and pretty much being available for anything that might arise (this includes taking our cat to the girls' room when Nancy found a mouse in her shoe!!) For all who know me, this job is PERFECT for me!! Our house is rarely empty and I love the constant "busy-ness" of it all :)
Ryan is also embracing his new role and enjoys having other boys around to talk computers with. However, he jokes that the girls just want money when they come around :)
Isaiah and Landon love having more playmates (although the 4040s are getting pretty busy now) and have even told people that these are their new brothers and sisters. We love our enlarged family!!

The second Saturday that all the 4040s were in Pucallpa, our church held a welcoming service for them. People came from each of the 5 established churches and were able to meet the new missionaries. It was a wonderful evening of worship and fellowship.

In addition to all the hard work the 4040s have been doing, we've been able to squeeze in some fun. Mondays are their day off and one afternoon it was SOOOO hot that we decided to get in Isaiah and Landon's pool. After we had all cooled off, we chased the others around the compound and threw water on them. It was nice to relax and just enjoy the afternoon together.

This week we were able to have some very special guests over for dinner. Larry and Addy Garman, missionaries to Peru for over 40 years, are awaiting a work team in Pucallpa and were able to spend some time with us one evening. They are so inspiring and it was a wonderful, much needed, time of sharing. I feel like we have so much in common and was blessed and encouraged by the stories and advice they shared with us.

As we enter into June, we have another BUSY month ahead. Our entire team, along with many members of our church here, will be traveling to Arequipa on June 16 for an extended weekend of outreach and evangelism. We will be joining 4040 teams from the other 6 cities in Peru, along with 350 North American short-term volunteers. Please pray that many hearts will be changed and given to Christ during this event. On June 20, we will return to Pucallpa with a group of 24 short-term volunteers to help with our church planting here. We have 10 days of evangelism and community service planned. Please pray for Ryan as he leads this team with help from 2 of our 4040 pairs (Katie and Emperatriz and Kevin and Samuel).

40/40s arrive in Pucallpa!!!
Last Monday, we were thrilled to greet the first pair of 40/40s. Kristy and Nancy arrived by plane in the evening and Ryan took the boys to meet them at the airport. Isaiah took this picture of them coming out of security.

We had had quite a bit of rain prior to their arrival and realized during these downpours that the girls' room was flooding (water coming up through a drain in the middle of their bathroom). We had cleaned the room out and were not anticipating more rain, however, the following morning brought another storm. I called the girls to see if their room had flooded and, as Kristy sat up in bed and put her feet down, she realized it had! We rushed over to help them salvage what they could. All of their things had been on the floor, but thankfully nothing was ruined beyond repair. All their clothes had to be rewashed and Kristy's computer got wet but is still functional. (Sidenote: the water is brown from the dirt, not from sewage!)

Wednesday afternoon we got the call we had been waiting for - the other 3 pairs who were coming by boat were arriving in port! We all rushed down to the port to greet them and arrived just as their boat was docking. What was supposed to be a 4-day trip had turned into nearly 6 days! They were thrilled to get on dry land and take clean showers :)


Thursday morning we went with Pastor Dario to the first 4 sites where these pairs will be working in the next 6 months. They have begun formulating evangelism and church-planting plans and will begin door-to-door evangelism on Monday.

Big things are in store for Pucallpa and Daniel and Tim, Samuel and Kevin, Nancy and Kristy, and Emperatriz and Katie are excited to begin the work. Please join us in prayer for these courageous young people and the hearts and lives that will be changed as they minister to those in need.

Iquitos and Graduation
Our week in Iquitos was a great time of getting to know our missionaries better and learning how the cluster support family (the amazing Simpson's) have done things for the last 8 months. Each day we left our hotel and headed to the District Center where the boys and I would spend the morning with Heather and her children while Ryan spent his mornings in class with the 40/40s. The District Center in Iquitos is also a closed compound (like where we live) but much larger and, after becoming reacquainted with Anna and Micah (we had known them in Arequipa), Isaiah and Landon thoroughly enjoyed their morning playtime. We also had to complete schoolwork that was sent by the boys' teachers - I have definitely decided that I am not cut out to be a homeschooler :)

After lunch was eaten with the 40/40s, we would either head back to the hotel for a rest or spend more time with the Simpson's. One day, we went swimming while Ryan was in his afternoon class. I think we had a bit more fun than he did :)

Thursday evening, the 40/40s had their graduation service in the local church. After 5 months of biblical training by various pastors, missionaries, and professors from Peru, Argentina, and the US, they received their certificates to begin the church planting work. It was an exciting celebration and we were so pleased to be able to be a part of it. Below are two photos taken that evening - one of all the ladies (40/40s and cluster support - Heather is to my right)

...and one of our new family (left to right: Daniel and Tim, Katie and Emperatriz, Ryan and I, Kristy and Nancy, Samuel and Kevin)

We flew back to Pucallpa Friday afternoon to await the arrival of the group.

Preparations
In a little less than 2 weeks, our 40/40 missionaries will begin arriving in Pucallpa and, shortly after, they will begin the intense work of planting churches. Each of our 4 pairs will be responsible for planting 3 churches over the next 18 months. That's 12 new churches in the area in and around Pucallpa!!! How exciting to be a part of this!
While we are beyond ready to get started on the church work, there is quite a bit of preparation that needed to be completed first. The 40/40 missionaries will be living on the compound with our family and Pastor Dario's family. Dormitories were painted and a bathroom added to the girls' room in February by a short-term volunteer team. In the last week, we have had additional, last-minute things to take care of. First the beds were brought out of storage and set up in the rooms.

Next, we had to work on the dining hall/kitchen. A building with a sink was already in place, but had been used as storage for the last year or so. We spent a day moving the wood, extra beds, steel, and constructions supplies out of the room and then cleaning and setting up the kitchen area. We found lots of fun "treasures" - like big spiders, a toad, salamanders, etc. :)

But what a difference!!

We are currently working on painting the new bathroom in the girls' room and hanging curtains. We have two days left before we fly to Iquitos to join our 40/40s for their last week of class and graduation. We will be busy but are happy that everything, so far, is going smoothly!
As part of our preparations, last week Extreme Director Brian Tibbs and 40/40 Director Pastor Edilberto Solano came to visit us and answer any questions we might have about the next few months. We enjoyed two days of sharing (and speaking English with Brian!) and ended our time together with a homemade meal of tacos. It was the first time the Peruvian's had eaten tacos!

As we move into this exciting new phase, please continue to lift our team up in prayer. Please pray for safe travels, positive teamwork, and that the Spirit of God would fill each of us with His power.

Easter Weekend
We had a great Easter in Pucallpa this year! It was a weekend filled with fun and, most importantly, celebration of our Risen Savior!! Since Holy Week is widely celebrated in this Catholic country, the boys had Thursday and Friday off from school. On Friday afternoon, we drove out to a new church plant, San Jose, to prepare for a Jesus Film showing that evening. Several families and youth from another church were also there and we spent the afternoon handing out fliers and speaking to those who lived in the area. It was 26 kilometers outside of Pucallpa and we truly felt like we were in the jungle! The boys played with the local children and were able to try drinking coconut milk - they weren't really impressed :)


Later that evening, after a meal of chicken and noodles in the home of a church member, we showed the children's version of the Jesus Film to a group of nearly 80 - many of whom were children! It was a great experience to see Christ's life and ministry told through the eyes of children on the night of our Lord's death over 2000 years ago. I also thought the location where we showed the film was quite appropriate. This small community of several hundred people has no running water so everyone must get their daily water from the well. We set up right next to it (you can see it behind Ryan in the picture where he is drinking the coconut). We were providing Living Water in the place of their worldly water source. God is good!
On Saturday, Ryan helped present another Jesus Film - this time the adult version to a smaller group of 40. The seeds have been planted in this rich soil and we are anticipating a great harvest!
On Sunday, we held regular Sunday School services then our family had Easter lunch of chicken stir fry, mashed potatoes, and ice cream - not exactly typical but a family favorite :)

That afternoon we headed over to the University for the church-wide Easter program. (Side note: In the jungle, only Sunday School is held in the mornings. Church is always in the evening when people are off work and the air is a little cooler.) Five churches were represented at the gathering and we spent 3 hours worshiping together - singing hymns, watching special performances from each church, hearing a sermon, and taking communion.

During the sermon, I helped with a special children's service. We used puppets to talk about the reason for our celebration at Easter and sing children's hymns, then provided a small snack while teaching them a simple craft. It was such a fun time and I really love working with the children here - their hearts are so open and full of love!

Although some days have been difficult we are so thankful to be in the center of God's will. We had such a special Easter this year and I'm sure we will never forget it!

New family "car"
Well, the biggest news for our family since the last blog is our new "car". After several weeks of paying the moto-taxis to get us around, we decided to buy our own moto-car and save some money in the long run. Ryan spoke to several men from our church and finally found a nearly new moto-car in a pawn shop downtown :) He has since spent all his "free" time getting the paperwork in order and everything he needs to be legal on the road. I'll let him share a little bit about this lengthy process:
To get the title signed over I had to go downtown 6 or 7 times before all the documents were in order (this part doesn't require much, just a touch of ambition). After that you have to buy your SOAT (Peruvian equivalent of liability insurance) but you can't just buy it. First you have to become a member of a moto-taxi union. They won't sell the insurance to private parties in Pucallpa but they will sell it to the union on your behalf. After you get your SOAT you have to take your moto-car to a shack on a dirt "road" where they paint on your union logo and number, license plate number and make you extra license plates so that you have your license plate number visible in several places at all times. Then once you have your SOAT you can request your "Tarjeta de Circulacion". This is actually for commercial use only, but they tell me that since you have to register with the union the police will ask for it when (not if) you are stopped. So it is back to the union boss to get a new batch of forms to be delivered to the city. At the city they check your forms out and make sure you have them numbered correctly in reverse order and send you off to have your vehicle inspected for safety. After the inspection you finally get your "Tarjeta de Circulacion"
Poor Ryan! He needs a nap after this week :) But, we are finally legal and the boys LOVE riding with Daddy to school. (I think we're finally acclimated because in the picture below where we're all bundled up, it's probably 75 degrees!!)

In addition to the moto-car drama, we've had several fun weekends of sporting competitions between the churches here. Ryan has been able to play both soccer and volleyball and we've had a great turnout of young people from the community who are learning about the church through this activity. Several of them have started attending the local churches and that is very exciting!!

The boys continue to enjoy school and their classwork. However, the best part of their day is when they get to come home and play outside! They return home from school each afternoon around 1 and, after a quick snack and clothing change, run outside and I usually don't see them again until I call them for dinner at 6 :) Then it's time for homework, baths, and bed - busy days for busy boys!

Each day we continue to rest in God's perfect provision. Culture shock has descended on our family once again and, as always, is NO FUN! Although the boys seem to be spared the worst of it (our little guys are so adaptable!), Ryan and I struggle against it daily. Please pray for us as we move through this expected, yet unwanted, season. Our joy comes from the Lord, not from our circumstances or environment and we are so grateful for that!