Past Few Weeks

November 21, 2012
Hi All,
Hope you are having a blessed time this Thanksgiving.  I wanted to write you all a quick update of the past few weeks. 
After the confraternidad of the churches, Lucy’s mom arrived in Iquitos.  She has been sick this past year and where she lives; there is no good medical care so Lucy has been busy the past few weeks taking her through the medical process here which means arriving at the hospital at 5 a.m. to have a chance of being seen.  She is now waiting for the tests to come back to see what is wrong with her.
We have also been buying the materials for the wells that will be put in San Juan de Sinchicuy and to repair the roof in Iquitos.  Monday, we took 60 bags of sand on a boat to San Juan de Sinchicuy.  We have been waiting for the water to rise to get the materials there and since we had some rain, we tried to take advantage of it.  We got half way up the creek and Lucy, Maria (Lucy’s niece) and I had to get out of the boat to walk because the boat would not pass with our weight plus the weight of the sand.  We started up a trail where we had no idea where we were.  Finally we met a lady who said we were going the wrong way and that we needed to cross the river and go to a trail on the other side.  Maria doesn’t know how to swim so I had to swim her across then tried to catch Lucy’s tennis shoes so they would not get wet (no luck there), one started floating down river and Lucy had to swim after it.
Once on the other side of the river, we found another trail which led into a tiny village of 5 houses.  After crossing a few log bridges, we came upon a house where the people told us we were once again going the wrong way and pointed us to the trail.  This trail led us back to the river where we once again had to cross and finally found the correct trail.  I cannot imagine what it was like in earlier days in the jungle when there were no trails.  It would be very easy to get lost for days there. 
I kept thinking of John 14:6 “ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” when we were walking and will probably use that as the theme of my sermon this Sunday when I have to preach in Iquitos. It is so easy to become lost if we do not have the correct guide.
That night in San Juan de Sinchicuy, we held a church service with a fairly good turnout.  This is still a preaching point but the gospel is becoming more widely accepted there which is exciting.  I hope someday that we have an actual church there. (Photo of Majas)
Lucy’s nephew killed a majas which is kind of like a huge rodent and a wallo which is a large frog for us to eat so we were well fed while we there.
We came back to Iquitos yesterday because I had to go to the dentist for an emergency root canal which turned into an extraction.  I am very sad to lose that tooth but have to take it in stride. (Photo of Wallo frog)
I can hardly believe that I only have 3 weeks until I will be heading back to Texas.  Time has passed so quickly and I know that these 3 weeks will fly by in no time.  I am really looking forward to seeing family and friends.  I have had a great year here in Peru and will miss the folks here too.  I arrive in Austin December 14^th  at 10:30 a.m. so will have a few days before Christmas to adjust which will be good.  It is always a little difficult adjusting back and forth between cultures. 
Thank you all so very much for all of your support this year in the Peruvian Amazon whether it was in the form of coming on a mission trip, financial support or prayer support, I am so grateful to the Father for you.  Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and see you soon.
In Christ,
Kayleen

4th Confraternidad

October 24, 2012
Hi All,
Hope this email finds you very blessed.  I know I have been by my stay here and am so grateful to God for it.  This past weekend we celebrated our 4^th Confraternidad.  This is a time when all of our churches get together and celebrate a time of fellowship and a time of learning.  It is one of my favorite times of the year here because all of these people are very special to me and they live very far from each other.  Lucy and I are the only ones that get to see them throughout the year so it is very neat when I get to see them all together.  It has really developed unity among the churches and now they pray for one another and are concerned about what happens in those villages and churches.
We held the conference in the village of Amazonas which is a 2 hour bus ride to Nauta then about 45 minutes by boat.  All of the other churches came to Iquitos first and we all took a bus together.  There were about a hundred adults in the conference and around 50 children.  The amazing thing about this year is that we had participation from all of our churches.  This is the first time for that to happen.
Four women, pastors and leaders, came from Lima to help teach in the conference.  Teo, who is Pastor Felipe the National Superintendent’s wife, worked with the children, Marleni de Casteñeda who is studying theology, Marleny de Sosa who is a leader in the church in Zarate, and Jessica de Yalta, who is the National Women’s group President were the other women who came to teach.  It was such an honor to have such a talented group of women.
The theme of our conference was “In Christ we are light and salt for the Amazon Region” with subjects such as the doctrine of holiness, evangelism, the mission of the church and stages of sin.  Also we had devotions in the mornings taught by the local pastors and put into practice what we had learned by going door to door evangelizing.  The final night of the conference we had a banquet, communion and a talent show and the next day we terminated the conference with 11 people being baptized.  With sad goodbyes, we returned to Iquitos where Jessica de Yalta preached in the service there.
This is the final large event of the year here.  The rest of my time here this year will be spent visiting the area churches until I return to the states.  I will be preaching in Iquitos this Sunday so please pray for me.  Lucy has classes the next 2 weeks so we will not be traveling for a while.  Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers.  Please write.
In Christ,
Kayleen`

October 8, 2012
Hey All,
We got back Friday with the construction team that built a church in Maynas and I wanted to send you an update about the team.
This team got off to a really rough start.  First of all, one person missed their flight out of Houston but was able to catch up to five of the other members of the team and travel with them.  Then those six were stranded in Panama City for the night while the other 3 team members had made it as far as Lima.  Two of those three came on to Iquitos in the morning while Pastor Bob waited in Lima for the other team members to arrive.  They finally got there and were all headed to Iquitos when two people got stopped for some type of glue in their suitcase and had to stay another night in Lima.  (The airport was being extraordinarily strict as they were having a President from another country arrive.)  We now had 7 of the 9 in Iquitos and got things ready to get onto the boat the next morning and wait for the other 2 to arrive.  They arrived at about 9 a.m. and finally we set out one day late with an exhausted crew.  The awesome thing was I did not hear one complaint from them as they took it all in stride.
Thankfully we had been having some rain and were able to use the larger boat where we could hang our hammocks and chill for the 10 hours it took us to arrive in Maynas. It really would have been grueling if we had to take the small boat as it does not have a roof, you have to just sit on a bench and the jungle sun was beating down.  I have done it and it is not fun.  When we arrived in Maynas,  the villagers were all waiting in port and we had an easy time getting the equipment up the hill and tents set up for the evening.  We went and looked at the church site and from then on we begin to imagine the finished work.

This team was a crew of 9 American men, 2 Peruvian men that traveled with us and help from the villagers of Maynas.  They were an extremely hard working crew taking very few breaks.  The church structure advanced so quickly, it was really hard to believe.  By the first day they had all the rafters up and the roof ready for putting up the tin the next day.  We had a little setback when the villagers said they wanted it a bit larger and they went out to look for some more support beams but everyone took it well and continued forward in the construction.  That day others leveled the ground for the cement and got the walls ready to put up.
The neat thing for me about the construction of this church was that it really was a joint effort between Americans and Peruvians.  The church members of Maynas all took turns cutting wood far into the jungle for the lumber for the church.  When it was dry, they all went out and brought it to the village.  We also sent the cement, sand and tools up early and the church members brought all of that to the village so this village has a lot of investment in this church and will take care of it.

There were several things that I was a little preoccupied about while there.  First of all, I was in charge of the water.  They brought a jerry can which worked out great except the filter was full of dirt from the river so the water came out very slowly.  I was concerned someone might become dehydrated.  Also I saw the river steadily becoming shallower.  We really needed rain if we were going to be able to get back to Iquitos.  God in His faithfulness sent a storm which raised the water enough that we were not going to have to worry about getting back.  I was a relieved until I found out that the pastor in Maynas had lent his boat motor to a young man to take some wood to Iquitos.  When his boat hit a wave, the motor fell off the boat and into the river.  I was sure it was gone and was praying for Pastor William as the boat transportation is a large part of his income.  Also no one else in the village had a motor large enough to get us back to Iquitos in the large boat.
It was amazing that by Thursday, the church was complete.  These men worked extremely hard to get it finished and were able to play some volleyball with the villagers which was a riot.  That night we held a service in the old church then walked up to the new church singing “I have decided to follow Jesus” in English and Spanish and prayed for the new church.  It was a precious time together.

We also found out that as the pastor from Maynas was headed out to another village to borrow a boat motor, he was met by some people returning from Iquitos with his motor.  They had found it and the only thing damaged was his muffler.  God is so good!  The men “slept” in their hammocks on the boat that night so we could get an early start to Iquitos Friday morning.  We headed back to Iquitos about 6 am and arrived about 1:30 p.m. since we were with the current the trip was much shorter.  We cleaned up, went shopping, out to eat and then the team got their stuff ready to fly out the next morning. I was not surprised by all the barriers we had in building this church.  That only encourages me that this church will be a light in the darkness.   Overall, an awesome trip but seemed too short to me. I am very grateful to each one of these men for their service to the Lord.
One of my favorite times of the trip was when Pastor Bob took time with the two young pastors to teach them how to prepare a sermon.  These young men are like sponges and have such a desire to learn.  The churches here are really beginning to move forward and they are beginning to have some depth to them.  Keep praying for the future of the church here in the Amazon.

In 9 days, we have the confraternidad which is where all of our churches get together.  We will be meeting in Amazonas and it is always a wonderful time of the churches getting to know one another, sharing struggles and knowing that they are not alone in this work.  We have 4 or 5 leaders coming from Lima and Lucy and I will also be teaching there.  Please pray that it be a fruitful time together.
Well, I better get busy preparing the teaching for the confraternidad and also I have to preach Thursday here in Iquitos.  May God richly bless each one of you and please write.
In Christ
Kayleen

Nueva Esperanza, San Antonio de Arambasa y YanashiSeptember 5, 2012 Hi All, We just arrived from a weeklong trip to Nueva Esperanza, San Antonio de Arambasa and Yanashi

September 5, 2012
Hi All,
We just arrived from a weeklong trip to Nueva Esperanza, San Antonio de Arambasa and Yanashi and I wanted to update you on this trip.  We headed out last Tuesday in this morning.  On the way there, we hit a sand bar and the boat almost tipped over.  It is a two story boat and we were on the top floor tilted way up in the air.  We had to hold on to the side to keep from sliding down and to counter weight the boat.  People were screaming and children were crying.  Another boat came and took some people off so that the weight was decreased enough to be able to get us off of the sandbar.  It was a close one because even if you know how to swim, we were in the middle of the river and the currents are strong enough to drown even a good swimmer.
After that excitement passed, we finally arrived at the mouth of the Yanashi River about 9 p.m. and got on a smaller boat to head the rest of the way to Nueva Esperanza where we finally arrived at 2:30 a.m. and set up camp.  The next day we went visiting the people in the village to invite them to the evening service.  The people there, because of the flooding this past year have very little food so we brought 2 sacks of rice, one for Nueva Esperanza and one for Yanashi.  The watermelon and sweet corn crops were ready though so people brought us offerings of melons, watermelons and humitas which are a kind of tamale made of ground sweet corn and cooked in the corn husk.  I think during the total trip, Lucy and I ate about 8 watermelons and 2 other melons.  I don’t want to see another watermelon for a while now.  Also, because of the river being low, there was plenty of fish to eat.
The first night we had a service in Nueva Esperanza with a full house.  It was a wonderful time and attracted people who don’t normally come as we borrowed a generator and so we had lights.  The next day we headed out in a boat with some of the members from the church in Nueva Esperanza to San Antonio de Arambasa which is a community about an hour away by boat.  It is amazing because the church in Nueva Esperanza is one year old this month and they already have their church plant in San Antonio with a large group of people attending there.  It is exciting to see the hunger the people here have for the Word of God.
We returned that night and the next day tore down the flood destroyed kitchen of the church and started rebuilding.  Before we had arrived, the church had rebuilt the pastoral house (although they still have to put up the walls) and repaired the church building.  This is all through the flood donation from Global Partners.  After a long day of work, we held our final service in Nueva Esperanza where 5 people accepted Christ.  It was really a precious time and we were sad to be leaving.(Photo left-the church and parsonage in Nueva Esperanza, Photo-right church in Yanashi)
The next day we headed out on a boat for Yanashi which is two hours away.  Yanashi is quite large and is built in a straight line along the river.  It takes about 2 and a half hours to walk from one end to the other.  Lucy and I went walking when we got there to talk with people and invite them to the evening service.  The church in Yanashi was just rebuilt (finished the day of our arrival) from the flooding and they will be rebuilding the parsonage which was completely destroyed.
The church in Yanashi is really growing and the youth group was in charge of the service Saturday night with Lucy preaching.  The next day we went and visited some other church members who killed a duck for us for breakfast.  We had a great time spending hours answering Biblical questions then returned to the church to get ready for the evening service in which I was to preach.  It was once again with sad goodbyes that we got ready to leave the next morning. (Photo inside the church of Yanashi)
We had to get on a small boat at 5 a.m. to drive the 2 hours to the larger boat.  We were loaded down with 6 watermelons, another melon, 2 huge turtles Lucy bought for her mom to eat, 3 dried majas which is an animal that was hunted, a huge bag of sweet corn, 2 birds and our luggage.  It is usually 24 hours to return to Iquitos but the boat we were on arrived much faster. We arrived in Iquitos in pouring rain and when I was crossing the small plank with my suitcase on my back, I fell.  Fortunately only my pride was hurt but I was afraid to cross the other plank and had to have help. We then walked up the hill and were soaked by the time we reached the church.  All in all an amazing trip.
I am so encouraged by the growth in the churches here. They are growing to a new depth beyond the salvation message into doctrine, mayordomia, ect to where they are on their way to becoming an organized church.  It is exciting and one of my dreams is that the Amazon area become its own district in the Wesleyan Church of Peru.  Next year, Pastor Leiter, Pastor Oswaldo, Pastor Harol, Lucy and I have plans to go to the different areas and teach for three or four days at a time so that the lay leaders can become more equipped.  It has really been exciting to see how the Lord is working here and I feel very honored to be a part of it.  The churches are still very undeveloped, but I think within the next 5 years, they will be well formed—at least that is my prayer.
This next week we are going to be getting ready for the lock in, getting more of the materials up to Maynas for the construction of the church at the end of September and probably going out to Santa Ana.  On the 22^nd we will be heading to Amazonas for a youth rally and another pastoral meeting.  I am tired but feel very encouraged.  I hope that you all are doing well and I thank the people who took time to write me.  You are an encouragement to me.  Please continue to pray for the Amazon region and that God continue to display His mighty hand here.  Thank you.(Photo--the work is for the future of these little ones)

update

August 25, 2012
Hi All,
Hope this email finds you very blessed.  I wanted to write a quick update before too much time passes to keep you updated on the happenings here in Peru. 
After the team from Lima left, Lucy and I made a quick run to Amazonas to clear up some problems then came back to get ready to go to Lima for the women’s convention there.  When we got to Lima, we took the new electric train to buy me some warm clothes since all I had was jungle attire.  We had a fun time shopping and then went out to the camp early to get things ready. 
Seven female pastors came from the Wesleyan Church in Columbia as the guest speakers.  We had an awesome time in fellowship and beautiful surroundings.  The last night Lucy and I dressed in typical dress from the jungle, another dressed in an outfit from the mountain area and another from the coast.  The main speaker placed a map of Peru in front and we stood there representing the 3 regions of Peru and prayed for each area.  It was really a powerful experience.
The next day the new women’s board was elected, we ate lunch and the conference ended.  It was a really great time of learning and developing new friendships.  Afterwards we went to stay with some friends for a few days so that I could get my eyes checked.  I went to the eye doctor on Monday, then Tuesday Lucy and I met with the National Superintendent during the day to discuss the work in the jungle region and in the evening we went up one of the foothills in Lima to a cell group.  It was a precious time with some people we had met at the conference.  Wednesday Gian Franco, Gladys son came and we hung out then had another cell group that night and Thursday we returned to the heat of Iquitos.
This past week we were busy loading up part of the cement to take up for the construction of the church in Maynas.  The water is sooo low, please pray for rain so we can get the rest of the supplies and the team up there.  Lucy, Edgar and I plan on going up there before the team comes to get the ground leveled for the floor.  Hopefully this will be possible.
Lucy and I also went out to San Juan de Sinchi Cuy this week to have a service.  Walking the 45 minutes through the jungle was especially difficult this time as each of us had about 40 pounds on our backs and the heat was absolutely suffocating and now because of the flooding the broken bridges were even more broken.  I have a terror of heights and in one place I had to walk across about a six foot gap over a broken board.  I was terrified.  Lucy said the broken board was not what worried her but the beam that supported it which was only held by one nail which she proceeded to stand on and show me.
When we got back to Iquitos we practiced the drama with the women’s group for the anniversary of the church which was last night.  I had to preach and I was nervous because tons of people come to  the anniversary but it went well and I am still alive. 
Tomorrow Lucy and I are headed to Nueva Esperanza and Yanashi to take pictures of the reconstruction of the churches there.  The pastoral house and churches were badly damaged by the flooding this year and thanks to the offering from Global Partners, we were able to have them rebuilt.  Getting to Nueva Esperanza is a bit difficult because we will arrive at a small village at night and either stay there or cross the river that night to a very muddy path 45 minutes through the jungle.  I hope we cross in the morning because that path is difficult even when you can see and it is somewhat dangerous at night.
We will be there about a week going to San Antonio, a village nearby that Nueva Esperanza has been evangelizing and to our church in Yanashi.  We are going to be taking a sack of rice to both Nueva Esperanza and Yanashi as all of their crops were destroyed in the flood.  We are also going to try to get to a nearby village that did not flood to see if we can buy some seeds so they can replant.
After we get back to Iquitos we will try to head up to Maynas before the team gets here to get the land leveled.  I am hoping we will get a few days to rest before they get here because I hate starting out exhausted when a team arrives.  We also have to buy all of their food and supplies before they get here. 
On the 15^th of Sept. we are having a lock-in for the kids here in Iquitos and on the 22^nd we will be helping with a youth outreach in Amazonas so things are pretty busy here.  Please continue to pray for God’s work here.  It has been steadily moving forward despite various difficulties and I believed it is because of the prayers of the faithful and I thank you.  I will write more when I am back in Iquitos.  Please write me even if it is just a quick note.  I love getting emails.
In Christ,
Kayleen

Lima Youth

August 4, 2012
 Hi All,
Hope this email finds you all well.  It has been a busy past couple of weeks here in the jungle.  On the 21^st of July, a mission team of teens/young adults arrived from Lima and we had a really blessed time serving the communities of Santa Ana, Tamshiyacu, San Juan de Sinchi Cuy and Iquitos.  There was no boat available for us on Sunday so that night they conducted the service in Iquitos. This group of young people has really grown spiritually through the years and they have great leaders in David Casteñeda and Candy Torrejon.   They were well received in the church in Iquitos and David preached an awesome sermon that night.
 On Monday we headed out on a slow boat for Santa Ana.  The slow boats are like the bus system of the Amazon River where there are tons of people on board and you make many stops in tiny villages.  The boat takes 6 hours from Iquitos to Santa Ana and it was so crowded we couldn’t put up too many hammocks so it was a difficult start. With God’s help we arrived safely and got all of our things up the hill.  After we got settled in, we went to bathe in their beautiful swimming hole so we could be ready for service that night.
It was the anniversary of the town of Santa Ana so they had electricity the nights that we were there so we were blessed with lights. We thought we might not have a good turnout due to the community activities for the anniversary but we had quite a number of people attend the service that evening. During the mornings that we were there, we went door to door evangelizing which was somewhat difficult as there is a division in the people there since the pastor left our church and had another one built in the same community.  It ended up being fruitful and we had many children during the afternoon services and  one man who had turned his back on God, rededicated himself to the Lord.  We had quite a few additional people to the regulars that night which was surprising since there was a huge Bingo game going on.

This team was a real blessing to Santa Ana as right now they are without a pastor so were in great need of encouragement.  They also surprised us by deciding to paint the front of the church and pick up all of the trash in the village.
We were in Santa Ana two and a half days then we headed to Tamshiyacu where Pastor Harol (One of the recent seminary graduates) and his family are.  As soon as we got there, the team got to work. They decided that the parsonage needed some work since it had not been lived in for some time and termites had gotten into some of the wood.  They decided to rip off the front of the house and redo it with new wood and paint it.  They also surprised Harol and his wife Eva with a mattress. It was an emotional time bringing tears of gratitude to the eyes of the young couple.
During the daytime they went to the plaza where they evangelized and invited the kids for the afternoon service.  We had over 160 children show up for the outreach in the afternoon and about 80 people showed up for the evening service. I think the team had the most impact on the pastor.  They were such an encouragement to him that there was a visible change in his countenance. That night after our goodbyes, we boarded a boat for Iquitos in which we arrived at the port at 3 a.m.  We got back to the church, slept late then got ready for the vigilia in Iquitos which is an all night church service.
After being up all night, we left for San Juan de Sinchi Cuy in the morning.  After walking the 45 minutes back into the jungle, we had a children’s service in the afternoon and a night service.  We had to come back the next day to have their free day in Iquitos where we went shopping and to the zoo.  The next day we said our sad goodbyes.  These kids truly were a blessing for us.
The day after they left, Lucy and I headed to Amazonas where there was a little problem that needed clearing up.  We got to see their new wells but were sad that they are not quite functional yet.  We are working on getting them finished and we talked to a man who is going out to finish them tomorrow.  When we returned to Iquitos, we had to buy the bags of cement for the church which will be built by the team in September in the village of Maynas.  We needed to buy the cement now because the river is very low and continuing to lower.  They bring cement to Iquitos by boat and we were afraid if we did not buy it now, there might not be any available in September. Now we have to get it to the village which is 9 hours away by boat.   Please pray for rain so we can transport it without many problems.
This Thursday, Lucy and I will be headed to Lima for the women’s conference there.  I am very excited about that. They want each part of Peru (mountain, jungle and coast) to dress in typical costumes of the area you are from.  Some women in Amazonas made us grass skirts and some beaded anklets and necklaces so we will be all decked out.  When we return we have a “lock-in” overnight party with the Sunday School kids in Iquitos.  We then head to Yanashi and Nuevo Esperanza where the wood is ready to reconstruct the churches and parsonages which were damaged by the flood. We will return in time for the anniversary of the church in Iquitos.
Lucy has started meeting with Pastor Leiter, Pastor Harol and Pastor Oswaldo once a month.  This has been really encouraging and has been a great way to develop long term plans for the Amazon Region.  This is something that has been very exciting for me as I see things continuing to growing rather than becoming stagnant.  We are hoping to teach classes to the lay leaders of the various churches so that they can be better prepared to serve their congregation.
Well, I better get going for now.  Lucy and I have to get to a boat to send a message to Maynas to let them know the cement is here.  I miss you all very much.  Please write to me and let me know what is going on in your lives.
In Christ
Kayleen

Hi All

I wanted to write you a quick update before the youth group arrives from Lima on Saturday.  We have had to stay in Iquitos for the last couple of weeks for several reasons.  First of all, I was sick and had to go through a bunch of medical tests but am doing much better now.  Also we have had a lot of other things that we had to do.  As I mentioned in a previous email, we received some relief aid from Global Partners for the flooding that took place this past year.  

The water has finally gone down to where we can reconstruct some of the buildings that were damaged so we have had to buy and get materials out to the affected villages.  We also had to get the materials sent to Maynas where the September team is going to build a church.  The water, when it did go down, went down quickly so getting the materials to Maynas has been difficult.  One day we had the delivery truck bring the sand as close as they could to the river, then dump it out.  It was still about 1-2 miles away so we had to load it up into bags and take it on a motorcycle truck the rest of the way.

  This took 7 hours and everyone got sunburned.  This week we had to take the sand from the place we stored it to the boat which only took about 2 and a half hours but I feel for the people in Maynas that will be carrying it up the hill to the village.  We still have to get the cement there but have to wait so that the cement doesn’t harden from the humidity.

This past week we found out that the Pastor’s son from Nueva Esperanza was bitten by a Bushmaster snake which is very poisonous.  They took him to Yanashi where they gave him fluids and an injection for pain and sent him home.  We sent some money to get him to Iquitos.  When he got here we took him to a clinic and they said if he did not get the anti-venom, he could lose his foot or even die since the venom was enclosed in a pocket in his foot.  

Thankfully we were able to get an offering for the medicine and the little boy is almost back to normal.  They headed back to their community yesterday.

On Saturday, I went with one of the people from the Iquitos church to present and evangelical program in a residential treatment center for aids patients.  It was a lot of fun and I was able to pray with an 18 year old that probably doesn’t have much time left on this earth, to receive Christ. (Photo: Viriato, the boy from Nueva Esperanza with a snakebite)

We have been busy with a lot of other things such as Lucy has had classes these past two weeks and we both have had to preach here in Iquitos. 

 We have a lot of things planned for this year and hopefully can get them all done.  Lucy has a pastoral meeting with Ps. Leiter, Ps. Harol and Ps. Oswaldo and I on Thursday.  We are looking at plans to start equipping the lay leaders in the communities since we now have more pastoral staff.  Please pray for wisdom to know how we can best accomplish this.  Also if anyone has any teaching material in Spanish, it would be appreciated.  I am very grateful for the Spanish Wesleyan resources on crea which have been extremely useful.(Photo: The residential home for aids patients)

Well, I better get busy now.  We have to go starting buying the food for the Lima team and have a few things we need to fix around the church.  Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers and please write.

In Christ,

Kayleen

June 19, 2012

Hi All,

I hope this email finds you doing well and blessed by our heavenly Father.  I wanted to write to y’all and update you on the team that just returned to the states.  Eleven people came from the Texas/Louisiana District to evangelize in the Amazon region.  Even though they came from different churches and states, they quickly formed a unified team and got to work.  They started off kind of bumpy with their flights being delayed, barely catching the connecting flight in Panama City, having to re-buy one of the national tickets due to a wrong name and losing ALL of their luggage.  I was very impressed because even though they were all extremely tired from spending the night in the airport, I did not hear one complaint.  The luggage finally arrived at 9 p.m. and we got packed to head out to Nauta the next morning.

We took a bus to Nauta and got set up in our “hotel” had devotions and lunch and got ready to go out and do some evangelism with the children.  This was a very interesting trip as we had never been in this area before.  We were starting out from ground zero not knowing if the people would accept us there or not.  Lucy and Pastor Oswaldo had come to ask permission from the authorities at an earlier date but that was all the approval that we had.  I was a little nervous about it but it went off without a hitch.  We had a good group of children and adults gather to watch the puppet show and sing with us. Lucy of course got the adults involved as well. We didn’t have a really long program because we were going to be returning in the evening for a service.  The evening service had a good turn out and we found out there was a group of six new Christians in the area that had been holding a cell group.  They were saying that they wished they had a church closer because sometimes they didn’t have taxi fare to get to church or that sometimes the rains made it difficult to get there.  They said they had been praying about it and that there was land for sale nearby.  Because Nauta is an actual town not a village, the price of the land is quite a bit more than we are used to but it was the actual price without knowing that there were Americans interested.  It is a nice plot of land, right next to two roads and the community so very easy access and several of the team members are praying about the possibility of buying it.

One of the women on the team said while she was praying about the team, she kept feeling like God was saying, pray big.  So many times we try to keep God in a box instead of realizing He is all powerful and sovereign.  When we set out to Nauta, I was thinking we could maybe get some people together and start a cell group but maybe God was already planning a church.  This has been a dream of Pastor Oswaldo for some time.  Nauta is a town of about 16,000 so it would be a great place to have a church that could help the churches in the nearby villages and the people themselves were asking for one.  I can’t wait to see what God has planned.  That has been one of the many privileges of being here is that I have gotten to see so many dreams come true.  It has truly been amazing and I feel so honored to get to see dreams become a reality.

The next day in Nauta, we also held two services with a great turn out.  I got a little sad because the kids kept asking when we were coming back and I had to keep telling them I wasn’t sure.  Some seeds were definitely planted there though.  Tuesday morning we headed to Amazonas where the 4 teenage girls on the team taught the teenagers from Amazonas a dance to “Jesus, You are My Best Friend.”  They caught on quickly and we decided we would take them with us to Peyorote.  Since the church in Amazonas is getting stronger, we are trying to encourage them to go out from their community and share so this was a perfect opportunity to start that.

 Later we held a children’s service in Amazonas and gave out the flip flops that had been donated.  The kids were so thrilled to get them.  That was a great idea to get those instead of toys since so many of the kids don’t have shoes.  After the program we bathed in the creek which was kind of a disaster since the water was just beginning to go down.  There was mud everywhere, an unstable dock which we broke but put back together and Becky, trying to keep someone else from falling, ripped off her big toenail.  I didn’t feel any cleaner after this bathing experience but everyone was a good sport and we got ready for the program that night.

The next day we headed to Peyorote.  This was our first evangelism attempt in this village.  We had been there twice with medical teams and at the end of the last medical team the town authority invited us to do an evangelistic program.  Many times medical teams have opened the doors for new places of evangelism.  We did the whole program, puppets, face painting, hair, balloons dramas the dance, and the movie.  There were over 100 people there and they asked us to return again to do more evangelism.  It was a great outreach.  We returned to Amazonas, went to bed and left the next morning back to the bus in Nauta to Iquitos where we did the service that night. 

The next day we went to the zoo and shopping then Saturday, I travelled with the team to Lima and had a great time until it was time to say good-bye.  That is the part of the trip that I don’t like.  It was an awesome time though and I am appreciative to all those who served.

The next team, the youth group from Lima, arrives the 21^st of July but we have so much to do before then.  We did get the roofing supplies and nails up to Maynas for the group that is coming to rebuild the church in September and Saturday we are going to get the sand and tools sent.  We have to wait until the last possible moment to send the cement so it doesn’t get hard.  Also we need to get out to Santa Ana since they don’t have a leader right now.  We will be going out there for a week then on to Yanashi and Nueva Esperanza.  Thankfully Lucy has class this week so we can have a little break before we go out again.  Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers and may God richly bless you.

In Christ

Kayleen

May 24, 2012
Hi All,
I hope you are all doing well.  I wanted to write and update you about the past couple of weeks here in the Amazon.  We have been incredibly busy since the team left because as I said, there was an offering given by Global Partners to help with flood relief here in the Amazon region.  We have been busy buying food to take out to the most affected villages.
Harol Melendez who is our new pastor for Tamshiyacu took food out to the villages of Yanashi and Nueva Esperanza.  These villages were perhaps hit the hardest by the flooding.  They had flooding which wiped out their crops last year also so they are truly in dire straits.  The pastoral house in Yanashi was completely destroyed and the water rose in the church up to the church sign.  The pastor’s wife and children had made a platform to sleep on but when her one year old rolled into the water while sleeping and almost drowned, she brought the family here to the church in Iquitos for several months.(Picture below: the church in Yanashi)
This year we hope to be able to rebuild the parsonage and will have to replace the floorboards out of the churches in Yanashi and Nueva Esperanza and see what other repairs are needed.  The people in these villages said they have not seen land in months.
(Photo Left: The Poles are the only thing left of the parsonage in Yanashi) Pastor Leiter took food out to Santa Ana.  The church in Santa Ana has been struggling with leadership so Pastor Leiter spent two weeks there encouraging the church to continue onward.
Lucy and I took food out to Maynas and to San Juan de Sinchi Cuy.  In San Juan de
Sinchi Cuy, there is an epidemic of malaria and dysentery so we also bought medicines to take with us to distribute to the people.  The water there is so bad because of all the rotting leaves and wood ect in it that the people have to strain it to be able to drink it.  Lucy and I brought out own drinking water but I drank some masato  without thinking which was made with the water there and have been sick the past few days (Photo right:  Taking food to Nueva Esperanza)
with vomiting, diarrhea and fever so I did not take the trip to Amazonas with Lucy.(Photo Left:the pastoral family in Nueva Esperanza)
Lucy took food out to Amazonas and will be back today with Pastor Oswaldo from Amazonas.  Tomorrow we will be heading out to Santa Ana with him as he is going to help us out with the church there until the June team arrives.  We will introduce him there and help him adjust and then will be returning to Iquitos Sunday or Monday as Lucy has class next week. (Photo below: The church in Nueva Esperanza)
Also this week, we began buying construction materials for the church in Maynas.  A team will be coming in Sept/Oct to build that but we have to start getting the materials there now while the water is still high because around the middle of June til Oct/Nov it is very difficult to get anything in and out of there.
As you can see, we have been extremely busy and will now start buying the food, gas ect for the team that will be arriving in June.  It should be an exciting time with them as we are going to be beginning a church plant in Nauta.  We will also be going to Amazonas 1 day and Peyarote one day.  The medical team from May helped open the opportunity to share in Peyarote which is truly a blessing.  God is doing such miracles here and I feel honored to be able to be a part of it. (Photos of people receiving food)
Please continue to pray for the work here and the safety of the team coming in June.  I thank God for each one of you.  Please write to me and let me know about life there.
In Christ
Kayleen