The Lord has seen fit to allow us to live and work in Peru for fourteen years! As time usually does, it has flown by. It feels like it was just yesterday, and on the other hand like it feels like it should be so much more than fourteen years! We are so very grateful for the life and ministry that God has blessed us with here in Peru.
Vann has been busy still working on the septic systems for the camp bathhouse, pool bathrooms and the mission house. The camp bathhouse has a roof on it, and is ready for stucco and to be trimmed out with its fixtures. This month has been full of hard labor in the scorching sun, but the Lord has sustained him, and I am so proud of him. For some reason, after nearly a year without a kidney stone, he is suffering with another one this week. Please pray for him, that the stone would pass quickly and as painlessly as possible, which would be a miracle!
The Dumitru’s are home from their furlough in Romania! It is part of our ministry to support them in their tribal mission, so to be able to do little things like clean their house, stock their fridge and cut the grass for them before they come home is super fun! We are so blessed to have them living here, and be our neighbors.
It was our honor and pleasure to help another missionary family as they are preparing to leave for some time in the States. They live the farthest away from us of any missionary in this town, and happen to be some of our closest friends. They have just moved into a new house with a garage that did not have a door installed on it yet, so it was not in a secure state to be left for a long period of time - not to mention all of the critters that would love to make the garage their home for the next few months! So we spent several days this week going over to install the door for them, and loved the time we got to spend together in the process!
The Petra pool has been full this month in this massive heat wave that has seemed to come through and settle down over our heads. There are of course the usual young families that come on the weekends, but we’ve also had swim classes from two schools added to the happy swimmers! There have been several people with various ailments that have consistently come to the pool several times a week for therapy. They have lovingly coined it the “Pool of Bethesda”, as they come with the hope of healing especially since I am a walking testimony of God’s healing hand through this pool. Praise God for His willingness to use this mission pool to bless and heal!
The mission house has stayed busy and full too! Prayer meeting was held here again, which I’m sure seems repetitive to say, but it is such a joy for us to see this house used as a house of prayer, and a service to the saints. I had a young, new missionary call and ask if they could come out for a day since word was that we take in weary missionaries, and offer rest and refreshment. Yes! That is exactly the case! What a privilege. Our children’s mission school’s youth group has also been hosted out here with Vann leading games, and the pool and grill playing a significant part of the fun as well! We are so grateful for other missionary parents’ willingness to pour into our kids lives, teaching them at school and in bible studies, so it is our privilege to contribute something to this precious community of missionary kids!
Speaking of which, I’ve begun teaching a handicraft class to some of the young girls that live on our road. They are such a delight to teach and spend time with. It doesn’t even feel like a class to me, I just love doing this kind of thing so much!
Another project we’ve been putting some time into is researching the possibility of installing a solar panel grid tie system to help us with the expenses of running this base. The electrical bill for this whole mission base is rising to the point where we will not be able to continue to foot the bill alone, so a solar system seems to be a wise move. If any of you have experience with these kinds of things, and would be willing to help us, we would be so grateful! This is going to cost a pretty penny to purchase, import, and install, so we would welcome any help!
Above all of the hard things that come with living as immigrants in a foreign country, we feel so blessed to be able to live here! We love our Peru, and we love the people that we’re blessed to serve and live with. Thank you all for praying for us and supporting us in this amazing mission that God has sent us to live out. This is the purpose of our lives, to tell the world about Jesus, and how much He loves them. We couldn’t do any of it without you and we certainly couldn’t do any of this without God’s amazing grace every moment of every day.
“No healthy Christian ever chooses suffering; he chooses God’s will, as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not.”–Oswald Chambers