Hi All,
Hope you are all very blessed and doing well. These are my last days in Peru for a while and I wanted to catch you up on what's been happening here. We had to stay in Iquitos the past week and a half due to various reasons such as Lucy and I were ill, then I was scheduled to deliver the message at the church in Iquitos and finally they had the election here in Peru which as I stated in a previous email, it is mandatory that you vote here and if you don't you have to pay a fine. So with all of that said, there was no one able to travel with me so we stayed in Iquitos until the arrival of the people from Lima .
Pastor Daniel arrived this past Wednesday. Marleni and Ricardo also flew from Lima on Wednesday and arrived in Iquitos but could not land due to fog and ended up flying in on Thursday. In a way, this was good for me as I ended up in the emergency room the night before as I had been sick for 2 weeks with stomach issues, so it gave me an extra day of rest. Most of the people left Thursday morning on a slow boat for Santa Ana but we had to wait for the others and take a fast boat to Tamshiyacu then a small boat to the mouth of the Tahuayo River where we then had to push the boat up the river. It was pitch black outside as it was cloudy out so there were not even stars and they kept saying to make a lot of noise to scare off the stingrays. We then had to walk through the rice fields where I was once again scared of snakes. We finally arrived wet and tired and they invited us for some soup for supper. It of course was dinner by candlelight as there is no electricity in Santa Ana so we really couldn't see what we were eating. Lucy finally put a piece of meat in the light and said, "Oh, this is monkey." I thought Marleni was going to lose it, especially after she discovered she had eaten the head. Even without good lighting, I could see she had turned a weird shade of green.
We then had a short opening service until about 10:30 pm and went to bed. I could not sleep due to the snoring, then the drunks from the town headed “quietly” home. At about 4 am, I was drifting off and I heard someone say “kill it, kill it” and then the sound of a sandal smashing on the floor. I of course thought it was a tarantula but found out it was a naca-naca or coral snake that was inside the mosquito net crawling on the man's arm. I didn't sleep well after that and everyone was up at 5 anyway and we started the day. (Photo: Confraternidad)
The first day of the Confraternidad went well with 6 of the Wesleyan churches in attendance along with 2 others. I did my teaching on the first day and was glad about that as then I was able to sit back and enjoy the rest of it.
One thing that was really exciting for me was there were five people came from Nueva Esperanza which we opened up as a new preaching point and the Pastor from Yanashi is continuing to follow up with them and it is bearing fruit.
These Confraternidad’s have been a real blessing here resulting in 12 marriages with 4 more planned for the next year and 32 baptisms so far in the 2 years we have had them. These gatherings are something I have been praying for for years as I wanted our Pastors and churches to get to know one another, know they were not alone in this work and receive teachings. Marleni and Ricardo took it upon themselves to start this here not knowing they were an answer to prayer. Next year’s Confraternidad will be in the community of Amazonas. (Photo: Some of the Participants of the Confraternidad in front of the church in Santa Ana )
The second complete day of the Confraternidad we had the rest of the teachings until 1 pm then we had free time until the night services in which we had a banquet and a time of sharing. The Confraternidad ended on Sunday with 11 people being baptized and then communion. We said our goodbyes and headed in a boat for Tamshiyacu where some of the people stayed to wait for the boat that would leave at 11 pm, while Lucy, Pastor Daniel, Marleni, Ricardo and I headed to Iquitos in a fast boat as we had to be back in Iquitos Sunday night for church services. (Photo: Baptism)
Today we are going to just relax in Iquitos as Pastor Daniel, Marleni and Ricardo don’t fly out until tomorrow morning and tomorrow night I have to preach my last service here in Iquitos and say my goodbyes. I fly out on Friday night and arrive in Austin at 9:30 a.m. on the 16th. I cannot believe how fast time has flown by. I am sad about leaving my friends here and excited to see my friends and family in the states. It is really difficult sometimes to figure out my emotions as I love both places. I always have an adjustment period when I go from one place to the other so please pray that it all goes smooth without too much of a roller coaster feeling. Thanks to all of you for your continued prayers for the Amazon region of Peru .
In Christ,
Kayleen
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