Tamshiyacu, Santa Ana--Discipleship

September 24, 2011

Hi All,

Well, this trip really started out with a bang. Lucy and I boarded the 5 hour boat ride to Tamshiyacu and when I was getting off, the plank that I was walking down slipped and I fell. My melon went flying into the river where someone rescued it and I hit the boards hard. I wanted to cry so bad but there were so many people around that I just got up and walked off.

We got settled in at the parsonage that was built last year and then went around inviting people to service that night. The church there is without a pastor right now and the church is anxiously awaiting his arrival in February. We had about 70 kids and adults on Saturday night then 60 kids for Sunday School the next morning. We played with the kids in the afternoon then had a service Sunday night. I know that when the pastor arrives, he will have a good group of children and adults.

The house has termites so we paid a man to paint it with petroleum. We lent him the key Monday and looked for a boat that was headed toSanta Ana.

We arrived at Santa Ana late Monday so did not have service that night. We were doing a 4 day discipleship training there and began the next day with 15 students. It was such a neat time of fellowship. There were several in attendance that were not Christian but wanted to study and by the end of the week one received Christ and one reconciled her life. It was a really special time as the church has been struggling somewhat since the pastor decided to leave the church. There is a strong leader there who has replaced him but two other leaders are not doing well and are not congregating. We had a great time encouraging the church and saw their desire to continue on.

In the mornings we went door to door visiting people and in the afternoons and evenings we had classes. It really was a great time of fellowship and we hated to have to leave but we needed to get back toIquitos so we can switch directions and head to Yanashi and Nueva Esperanza. We left the people in Santa Ana content knowing that we would see them again at the church wide fellowship in Amazonas in October. It is going to be really exciting as there will be 6 people coming from Lima to teach including Marleni, Pastor Lucy Narvaez and the wife of the National Superintendent Felipe Jordan. (Photo: Lucy teaching Juanita who newly accept \ Christ)

Also the National Superintendent along with two other pastors are coming to Iquitos in November for another pastoral training program. We have been really blessed this year.

When we left Santa Ana, we hitched a ride with the students

from Santa Ana who were going to a spring festival in another community. This boat was like Noah’s ark and I had just had my arm put into its socket again so it was a bit difficult for me to get on and hang on with just one arm but we made it to Tamshiyacu to pick up the keys then catch another boat back to Iquitos.

We will be heading to Yanashi and Nueva Esperanza this next week for a few days then out to San Juan de Sinchi Cuy before we have to get things ready for the fellowship in Amazonas in October. It has been a very busy but fulfilling year here and getting close to Christmas. I would like to be able to have a small toy and the Christmas story for each child in the villages. If you would like to help in this let me know. Thanks so much for all of your thoughts and prayers. Please, please write me.

In Christ, (Photo: Noah's Ark)

Kayleen

---

You are receiving this email because you opted into our "Peru Update"" mailing list at our website, www.districtmissions.org. Click here if you would like to unsubscribe from this mailing list.

San Lorenzo

September 15, 2011

Sorry Looks like my computer messed up and only sent part of the message

Hi All,

I just got back from San Lorenzo last night (this morning) and wanted to send you an update of the past ten days. The engine broke down on the boat that usually goes directly to San Lorenzo so we had to get on a boat that was headed for Yurimaguas and try to find a boat from there. We were in luck. On the 3^rd day on the boat we encountered a boat headed to San Lorenzo. This time I felt even more like James Bond as we had to jump about 7 feet down into a little fishing boat which took us to the other boat. Those of you who know my extreme fear of heights will recognize what a challenge this was for me to do this at night with a huge river to fall into. I was very relieved when my feet hit the boat. We climbed up into the other boat and on the 4^th day of travel, we arrived in San Lorenzo.

(Photo-Flower Girl)

We arrived on Thursday and needed to prepare for the quinceñera which was Friday evening. I did not realize what a big deal it was. We had to practice Thursday night after church. It was quite an affair and I think that Maria had a good time although I know it was difficult for her since her biological mother and father did not show up. She has been raised by Lucy’s mother since she was 6 months old but she said it still hurt somewhat that her natural parents did not come.

(Photo-Maria's entrance)

Saturday we ate the turtle that we had brought for Maria’s birthday. It was my first time eating turtle and I really did not want to but I have to admit it was quite tasty. Many times I have to disassociate when I am eating so I don’t cause hard feelings. I just eat what is set before me. Sunday they killed a duck for us so we did eat well even though most of the time it was fish and bananas. I do like fish and bananas though.

We went to the cemetery to see Lucy’s father. That was a difficult time for me as well as Lucy. I had known her father for 3 years and loved him. His passing has left a huge hole in the house there.

Tuesday we caught a boat heading back toward Yurimaguas with hopes once again to find a boat and once again we were blessed. We arrived in Nauta last night at 11p.m. then took a taxi to Iquitos where we arrived at 1 a.m. It was a long quick trip in that the travel was long for a few days but it was well worth it to let Maria know she is important and worthwhile.

(Photo-Carlitos enjoying the turtle--guess that's slow food instead of fast food)

I got back to Iquitos and got all my clothes washed and mended. We are going to rest today and tomorrow then Saturday we are headed to Tamshiyacu for 2 days and then on to Santa Ana for 4 days where we are going to do some discipleship training with the churches. We will come back to Iquitos for a few days then head to Yanashi. With all of the teams this year, it has felt a bit like we have not gotten to all the needs of the church so hopefully we can get in some good quality time before the Confraternidad in October.

Well, I sure do miss y’all. Please drop me a line. I love hearing news from home. Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers.

In Christ,

Kayleen

Building the Church in Nueva Esperanza

September 4, 2011

Hi All,

Hope this email finds you well. This past week has been amazing. The team left yesterday and I am still exhausted but I will be traveling again tomorrow so I wanted to get an update out before I leave.

A team of 4 men led by Pastor Bob Ellis fromSan Antonio, TX arrived on Saturday the 27^th of August. They arrived a little bit too late to catch the slow boat so we had to take a fast boat to catch up to it. It was a little James Bond like as we climbed up from the fast boat to the slow boat and felt kind of cool. I heard one lady on the slow boat say that “these gringos didn’t have the money to pay the fast boat so they dumped them off here.”

The slow boat was filled to capacity—maybe overfilled due to the transfer of passengers from another boat that malfunctioned. We literally had to crawl on our hands and knees under all of the hammocks to get to the back of the boat. Right before we arrived at our initial destination, it began to rain. The water is low right now so the big boat could not get us to shore and we had to transfer all of our things into a smaller boat. I have to mention something really amazing here. We had never been to this community and really didn’t have a place to stay. Lucy had been praying about this as she was nervous since we had no place to go. She met a man on the boat and he said he had a big house and we could stay there. God is so good.

We got to the shore and it was a huge mud pit up a hill to the house. The guys made many trips carrying our heavy equipment up the hill. It was then named “the trail of tears.”( Photo trail of tears 1 in the daylight) Little did we know there was a greater trail of tears waiting for us.

The next day, we got up and got on another boat which took us to a river bank. There we were met by some of the folks from Nueva Esperanza. They helped carry our things up “Trail of Tears 2”.

It was a very muddy trail that took about an hour to walk. We had 9 five gallon jugs of water, 2 coolers full of food, a generator, tools ect. I had to have help even walking at times to keep from falling. As we got closer to the village, Lucy told me to grab a stick. I looked down and there was a little alligator sitting there. The church leader had killed it for us that morning but it sure looked alive sitting there and scared me for a bit. At least we had our first meal given to us. (Photo: Trail of Tears 2)

When we finally got to Nueva Esperanza, the guys got right to work on building the church and had an amazing amount of work done by the end of the day and we ended up having a short service that night.

(Photo: Lunch)

We were so fortunate to have men on this trip who knew about construction. Edgar came from here and built the roof and the rest of the guys made short work of building a beautiful church including benches and a pulpit.

On Monday afternoon, Lucy and I had a two hour service with the children. Many adults came too and we had a great time. Tuesday night we had our first service in the new church and invited everyone to the inaugurationThursday night. We had a packed house Thursday night and after Pastor Bob gave the message, we played games and had snacks.

Some of the really neat things on this trip were that several afternoons Pastor Bob took time to teach the young leader of this church. The young man is 23 years old and hungry for the Word. It was really special to me to be able to see the interaction. Another neat thing for me was that the team got to see a little clearer what my life is really like here. Although every team has to face many difficulties when they come, we usually take private boats and even though they may be slow, we have them to ourselves. They also got to experience some of the little jungle walks and the rain ect. It just felt good to me to have some other folks experience the real life. There is so much more I could tell you about this trip but just let me say it was great.

I really hope this email makes sense. I am so tired even though I didn’t really help in the actual construction. Tomorrow Lucy and I are headed on a 4 day boat ride to go to the quinceñera of one of my godchildren. We are only going to stay 3 days and be back on the same boat. When we get back we are going to travel to Santa Ana and do some intensive discipleship courses. Please continue to pray for the work here in Peru and please email me. God bless you all.

In Christ,

Kayleen

---

You are receiving this email because you opted into our mailing list at our website,www.districtmissions.org. Click here if yo