Moving Roof

So, this past Sunday, we went in the afternoon to La Victoria to start Sunday School classes. We were suppose to start at 3:30 pm, and although we left at 10 til three, we were still in a car at 3:30 because there were no cars going as far as we needed them to go. So, we got out of the car at KM 19 (that is where the entrance for La Victoria is) and began our trek to the "Community Building" that is pretty much in the center of everything. As we were walking across the soccer field, I noticed a palm leaf roof moving along the road...I wondered what was going on...There were about 15 or 20 guys under the roof moving it to another location...then I saw the house with no roof (It is to the far right of the screen at the end of the video)...It was quite the comical sight, and definitely one I had never seen before. Although my video isn't the best, because I was walking too, I think you can get the point from it.

Zapote

This is a Zapote...it is one of the most glorious fruits that God invented!!! That is my very humble opinion on the matter... I waited for a year for them to be in season again, and am so happy to be enjoying them now. They are kind of stringy on the inside, with five large seeds. So, the fruit is cut into five sections and you eat if from the inside out. It has a unique flavor that tastes like it has milk in it. If you come to the jungle in February or March, and possible into the first part of April, we can enjoy some together! YUM!

Recent Happenings (or recent in light of the fact that my last blog was in July of last year!)

Okay, so keeping up to date on blogs is not my best skill...give me a newsletter to do or a form to make, but up-date a blog...wow! Anyway, I am only going to go back as far as December...In December, I had my birthday!!!! Yay for me! But we also finished up in Yarinacocha with our little church there, and a new pastora came to continue the work there. Her name is Luz which is light in Spanish. Anyway, at the middle/end of December, I went home to WV for a couple of weeks. I saw my family and lots of friends. My mom's idea was so great to have an open house at our house for family and neighbors because that freed up lots more of my time that I needed to go to the appointments I had. I had to get a new prescription in one of my contacts, and for only the first time in my life, it was actually better than before...now don't get all excited, it is still -5.25, but it was -5.75 (and the other is still -6). The river was frozen too, at least for the first week while I was home. Then it got "warm", but I was still freezing! On New Year's Eve we went to the traditional New Year's sing...Yes, I am almost as tall as Dan AND Cindy in that picture, but I think my shoes were somewhere around 5 inches. And Peruvians think I am tall!!! Hahahahaha!!! I also had the opportunity to share twice about my work here in Peru. I dressed in Shipibo clothing for that.

I came back Peru a week before I had to come back for work. I went to Chiclayo to visit some friends that have moved back there after 20 years in the jungle. I had some ceviche at the beach, we went to a movie, and we just spent some time talking and catching up. I have to say, it was more relaxing than my time in WV, although I loved my time in WV, because I only knew a few people there! That was the best thing I could have done! I was ready to get back to Pucallpa and start working.

When I got back to Pucallpa, I was the first of the 40/40s to get back. So I had time to get all my stuff organized...it was nice to have some time before everyone came back. I was glad for that time.

When we left in December, we were planning on coming back and working in Aguaytia for 5-6 days a week and starting two churches there. However, it was going to be rather expensive, and when we are finished here, it wasn't going to be a possibility to have a pastor there to continue the work because it is so far away from Pucallpa. So, Pastor Dario found us two other places.

The first is Jhon Hocking Weeks, and it isn't too far from Yarinacocha. There was one sister in the church who lived in Jhon Hocking Weeks when we first went, and she introduced us to lots of people who lived there and were already Christians but had no church. Some of them introduced us to others who were not Christians but wanted to know more about it. We have had a Vacation Bible School, where we had over 70 different children over the course of the week, and are holding regular services on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and have three levels of Sunday School each Sunday morning. We are averaging about 28 - 30 children in every service. Tonight was our second Thursday service, and we had 2 mothers, 2 teen girls, 11 adolescents, and 11 kids. How exciting to see the church begin to grow for the Lord.

The second location didn't have a name, but was near the PetroGas gas station, so we called it Petrogas. However, we didn't have much success knocking on doors there, I think because it is more of a business area than a residental section of town. So Pastor gave us yet another spot this week.

It is called La Victoria, and we are claiming "the victory" there! There is only one evangelical church there, and a 7th Day Adventist church, and neither have a temple structure yet. All the people we have talked to have been very friendly and helpful. We are looking forward to working there. Tomorrow, we are going to look at the plan of vacant lots to see if there is one that we can buy.

Please pray for us as we are working in these two new locations, as well as visiting in Yarinacocha sometimes. Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement. Also, there are lots more pictures on my facebook, so check them out!!!