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
No comments:
Post a Comment