Amazing God

September 5, 2010

Wow, what an amazing trip this has been. The team got here on Saturday and we left for Tamshiyacu that same day. We got all of our stuff loaded on a slow boat and headed out. The river is amazingly low and this group was a group of practical jokers so when we got to a place that had a beach type place, they pushed Pastor Mark from the top of the boat into the Amazon. Actually Pastor Bob will go down in history as the man that pushed Pastor Mark into the Amazon…of course Pastor Mark took Pastor Bob with him.

We got to Tamshiyacu that night and got settled in at the “hotel” for the night. The team was exhausted from two days of travel so we just ate supper, had devotions and went to bed so we could get started on the work the next day.

There was so much work to do just to get started. First of all we had to level the dirt floor in the church so that the cement could be laid. We also had to level the dirt under the house that we were building which was fortunate because we were able to use the dirt that was dug up from there to level the dirt inside the church. Also, all of the electricity needed to be changed inside the church so Aldolpho and Charles got started on that.

It was amazing how the team got right to work, every member doing his/her part. They were able to put up the beams and framework on the house so that the next day while some would be working on the cement for the floor, others could be working on the house. It was really incredible to see.

After working hard all day, we had a service with the children that night. Pastor Jim became known as “Wow wow” to all of the children from his dog puppet and every time they would see him from then on, they would come up to him and say wow wow. It was pretty cute.

The next day, the whole floor was poured with the help of a cement mixer. That was probably the best idea yet. We found one to rent in Tamshiyacu and it saved

mixing all the bags by hand like was done inSanta Ana last year. It saved a lot of time and the whole floor was down in 3 hours and while the two men we brought from Iquitosworked on putting the sheen on the floor, the rest began working on the house during the torrential rain. We ended up having to stop a little early as it became dangerous with the mud so slippery.

Within several more days of work, the whole project was completed. It was amazing. There is now a parsonage for the Pastor and the church is repainted and has a beautiful floor, new lighting, bricks around the wall where the boards were getting termites and gutters. As I said before, it was amazing.

We ended the time in Tamshiyacu with an open air service, then got all the supplies on a slow boat back with Javier and Abel (our two workers from Iquitos) and we got ready to go to Santa Ana the next day to see the church that we built last year and to baptize Michael.

As I said earlier, the river is really low and when we got to theTahuayo River, we couldn’t enter so we all had to get off and walk about a mile or so intoSanta Ana. We ended up having a service dedicated 5 infants then went down to the “Chismosa” the name of a pond there and 3 people, including Michael were baptized. It was awesome.

After buying some of the locals arts and crafts we headed on the long walk back to the Amazon to catch the boat back to Tamshiyacu, ate lunch then got on the boat back to Iquitos.

The Lord worked in so many ways on this trip. He protected us from major accidents, He worked on the hearts of the two workers that were brought fromIquitos, He worked on the hearts of the people in Tamshiyacu and He worked on the hearts of the team members. It was an amazing construction project that not only built buildings but relationships and I am very sad to see them go.

To change the subject a little bit, Lucy’s father is probably in his last days of life. He can no longer get out of bed for anything and is hardly eating. Pastor Bob called Lima to ask for permission for her and I to go see him before the conference in October so we will be leaving tomorrow and will be gone for a couple of weeks. Please pray for this situation as many members of her family are not Christian and there are some problems that we will have to confront there. It will be more difficult for me to stay in contact as this town only has electricity 6 hours at night so getting on the internet is more difficult but I will try. It usually takes 4 days on a boat to get to Lucy’s parents but because the river is low, it is taking a week so we are going to fly to Tarrapoto, then take a bus to Yurimaguas then take a boat to San Lorenzo. We should then be able to get there in 2 days. Please pray for safe travel.

Well, I better get busy, I have so much to do in so little time but I wanted to make sure I got you all updated on the team. They should be arriving home this morning so tell them all I miss them. Hope you all are very blessed and continuing to serve our Lord Jesus Christ.

In Christ

Kayleen