Puerto Maldonado Short Term Trip

So, I arrived in Puerto Maldonado, with Mark and Cailyn, a couple days before the Short Term Volunteers came. By the time they arrived on Monday, after traveling all day Sunday and sleeping in the Lima airport, at about 8:30 am, they felt like it was afternoon. So they took a "walk" with Callie, ate some lunch, and then slept til about dinner time. The welcome bags that Cailyn and I got ready turned out well for them. The first day of work was Tuesday. The owner of the hotel took the group in the camión (truck) to the work site each day. The short termers loved that, because, as you well know, it isn't possible to ride through town standing up in the back of a truck in the states, without quite a few problems.

Each day, Cailyn and I made the lunches and took them to the work site for lunch so that the lunch meat sandwiches wouldn't be sitting in the jungle heat all morning. I guess the food safety I used to teach came in handy! We only had one short termer get sick the whole time we were in Puerto, and I am thinking it wasn't from the lunch! :-)

We also had an amazing donation! Girl Scout Cookies!!! If the short termers weren't excited about that, the long term missionaries were excited enough for everyone! So, we enjoyed Girl Scout Cookies each day with our lunch! What a treat! Thank you to the girl scout troop who donated cookies to missionaries in Peru!

Saulo, the youngest child in the family of which the local church is renting the property for the chapel in Castaños, was on the work site each day. He is not yet in school, and he found the construction very interesting...as interesting as the adults found dangerous for a child. He loved the styrofoam pieces that were cut out of the blocks and werenot needed. He used some for swords, guns, and even snowballs.

We had our first day of impact on Friday of the first week. The students, along with Cailyn, did an amazing job of presenting a skit to music. They presented the skit twice that day; once in the afternoon, and again in the evening between the two films that we showed. We almost didn't go to show the films in the evening because it rained, but after some prayer and a few sound/motor issues, the show was on the road and there were at least 60 people in attendance that night. That is truely remarkable, because usually jungle folk don't leave the house if there is rain.

The family at the hotel (Hostel Russell) was a great family to work with. Alberto was very willing to help in any way that he could. That involved ordering water each day, hauling the group to and from the work site, and taking the deconstructed church for Iberia to Iberia. His wife, Berly, cooked breakfast and supper each day for the group. They worked with our schedule and helped us get where we needed to be when we needed to be there.

On Sunday afternoon, Alberto and the fam took us to KM 19 where there is a recreation place. There are soccer fields, volleyball courts, and a lagoon to swim in. We had a great time with the family and were able to get cooled off in the water too!






Once the truck was loaded, it was very full. It took about 5 hours to drive the truck to Iberia the next morning. In Iberia, the workers who went reconstructed the church. Cuarto and Daniel worked another day to get the final 3 outside walls stuccoed.

Those who went to Iberia, at least North Americans, returned to Puerto Maldonado covered in bug bites. So many on their arms and legs that it looked like a rash. Peruvians get bit, but it doesn't bother them like it does North Americans.

The day that we went on a tour, first, we went to a zip line in the jungle, and then to Monkey Island. The only monkey we saw the whole day was at the zip line (the pet of our tour guide)...here he is...after this, when we were walking back to the boat. The guide put the monkey on my head. He wrapped his tail around my neck, and shortly after that I almost fell. I didn't ask for the monkey to be put on my head, so I wasn't going to be upset if it died if I fell on it, but I didn't fall, and the monkey wasn't falling...he was strangling me with his tail.

Overall, the trip was amazing. The group of college students really worked hard and were able to complete the church in Castaños and almost complete the church in Iberia. We had a great time with the brothers and sisters in the churches in Puerto Maldonado. We pray that God continues to bless these congregations in the months and years to come. Continue to pray for this as well.

I Finally Have a House (okay, so it's an apartment!)

So, I was able to move into an apartment a couple weeks ago, on the 27th of April. However, I didn't have anything except 4 suitcases of stuff and a mattress (thanks to the abundant supply of extra mattresses at the office). So, I was too late to get Lindy and Tricia's stove and refrigerator. But guess what, God provided a refrigerator and stove for free. And I was able to buy a bed frame, desk, two shelves, a table and chairs and the things I needed for the kitchen for about $200. Wow! What a blessing! I only lack living room furnature...so if you come over, you can sit on the floor or the table chairs... :-).
I got the refrigerator and stove all cleaned up last weekend, bought food on Sunday, thought I would pick up the rack and hose for gas for the stove on Monday and be set. Surprise, everyone coming from the house where my rack and gas line were, forgot it on Monday. So, Tuesday I went and picked it up during some errands, then when we got to my apartment and were hooking everything up, we discovered that there was no valve on the gas tank. So, I went out to dinner on Tuesday and then yesterday, I picked up a valve, and when I got home last night, I ordered gas. That was an experience! Thankfully, Gladys was there and knew what to do to get gas. We got it at 8:00 pm and cooked the mushroom chicken, with noodles and vegetables.
Tonight I am looking forward to some stir-fry, cause remember all that food I bought on Sunday...well, it needs to be used before I go to Puerto Maldonado on Saturday morning!!!! I did freeze the meat, so I just gotta use those veggies!
So, now, just looking for some living room furniture... :-) I can live with that!!!

Short Term Trip to Puno

We just had a short term project in Puno (March 29-April 10). On the way there, I rode with Ruben and Eliseo in the truck with supplies and suitcases. It is a 6 hour drive, and the closer we got to Puno, the colder it became. We stopped at a lake and took some pictures of the snow topped mountains. After that, we came to a traffic stop. The traffic was stopped because there was snow and ice on the road and a tractor/trailor had slid across the road, blocking it. This caused a car to run into the truck, followed by a bus, and SUV, and another car. This effectively stopped the traffic for 45 minutes. And fortunately, it was our side of the road that was opened first! We got to Juliaca and got turned around as to where we needed to turn to get to Puno. So Eliseo was asking everyone where we needed to go. I was cracking up! Then when we got to Puno, we had the name of the hotel, but didn't know where it was, so, let's just say, it took us a while to find that too. No one in Puno knew where the hotel was. We finally found it by accident. We happened to pull up right in front of it. And, of course, it was raining. So, even though we had plastic on the suitcases, some of them were still wet. Everything worked out okay...I got checked in at my hotel, and they went to their's. I thought Lynda was coming a little later, but her flight got canceled, so she came the next morning with everyone else. Tara did come a little later though.

And this was the view from our hotel room! Amazing! Lake Titiqaqa is at the top of the picture, the Plaza de Armas is to the left (you can see part of the cathedral and the white police building that are on two sides of the plaza).

Francis, Geremias, and I went to the plaza to eat lunch before the team came, so we took our pictures in front of the cathedral.

My little (little) brother Gere. jejejejejeje

The two Inca heads on the way to Ilave. We had to stop and take pictures!

Ruben and Gere at the Inca head on the right.

Another beautiful view from the hotel on a project morning.

A mother and her baby in Huascar.

She was happy to have her picture taken.

This little boy wasn't too sure about me until I helped him get to the top of the dirt pile. Then he came and got me every time he "needed" to get to the top of the dirt pile.

Some amazing views in the upper parts of Jaliwaya near Puno.

A view of Lake Titiqaqa from up above Jaliwaya.

Some pretty orchids growing in the middle of some wheat.

We had a "Huatia" (pronounced wateea) for the short termers in Jaliwaya. It is a method of cooking potatoes. They heat the stones with fire, put out the fire when the stones are hot, knock out the top of the "oven" so the potatoes can be put in, and the stones are put in with the potatoes. Then, dirt and grass is piled on top to keep the heat in. After 20-25 minutes, the potatoes are done, and dug out. Then everyone enjoys some potatoes with fresh cheese. Sammy had the job of digging up some dirt to put on top of the stones and potatoes.

There is a hill at the edge of Puno with a cross at the top. On Good Friday, the people make the trek to the top. Here you can see the zigzag to the right and then the line of people up to the cross. This is their penitence for their sins (they are mostly Catholic).

This is a closer picture of the zigzag up the hill.

In Yanamayo, there is a look out with a cougar/puma at the top.

This is the AMAZING view from there.

And here is me with the Puma.

This is one of my favorite pictures, because, even though it is blurry, it shows how hungry people are for the love of Christ. Gere was in the front seat to the left with his white baseball cap. He was evangalizing to the other man in the front seat. We were sitting back farther in the combi, so Gere had no idea what was taking place. The lady sitting behind him was intently listening to what he had to say. Some times she was leaning over almost right beside Gere's head so she could hear what he had to say. She got off the combi in Ilave, and we were going all the way to Juli, so we didn't get to talk to her, but Gere planted a seed with her, without being aware of what he was doing! It is amazing how God works, and how the seeds can be planted even when we don't know it is happening.

This was our group when we went to Uros. That is the floating islands in Lake Titiqaqa. We put on clothes of the people who live there and participated in a dance. Our hostess was Maria.

After Uros, we went to the island of Taquile. It is not a floating island, but a very large island in the middle of Lake Titiqaqa. This young boy was one of our servers. The men of Taquile where these types of hats. If there is a large white stripe in the hat, that means they are not married yet. The hats look like olf fashioned sleeping caps and hang down to the shoulder blades.

Yet another AMAZING view of Lake Titiqaqa from Taquile.

Francis and I at the top of Taquile in the Plaza de Armas.

Gere and I, also from the plaza.

And another view of some of the houses below.

I know I put lots of tourist pictures in this blog, but I want to say that their were many days of construction, impact projects, and services. The team built the central church in Puno, and we had our big Easter celebration service there in the church. Over 100 people came to know the Lord over the course of the project, and many more lives were impacted by the work of the short termers. Thanks to everyone for the prayers for this project.

And, coming up in May, we have a project in Puerto Maldonado and another one in Puno. Please be praying for these upcoming projects. Also, if you would like to come on any of the upcoming projects, look on the extreme website at www.extremenazarene.org.

Back to Peru from the States

Well, I am back in Arequipa, after spending 2 1/2 months back in the states. It is good to be back and I am looking forward to the work ahead. Thank you for your continued prayers as I continue to work here in Peru.

I did get to enjoy some time with my family (my youngest nieces and nephews recieved Peru shirts, even little Tessa Grace), as well as speak in many churches on the West Virginia North District. Thank you to all who have supported me for the next year through love, prayer, and financial donations.