Updates
Valleys and Summits.
Hello Loved Ones!
We hope that you all had a blessed summer! Ours has been full of blessings with a few struggles mixed in too. Without the valleys we wouldn’t sufficiently appreciate the summits.
Vanessa’s mother came for an extended visit, and was a tremendous help and blessing to all of us! Vann’s mom and brother also came for a couple of weeks. Those who live so far from family can understand the pleasure of visits. Though it’s never enough. The separation here on Earth makes heaven seem so much more inviting! It will be worth it all when we see Jesus!
We have another loved one in heaven. Our hearts are heavy at our loss of our Uncle Hobie. He was our stand-in Dad and our greatest advocate back home. He moved heaven and earth for us, and this mission. Many of the tools and equipment we have here now, he either personally donated, helped raise the funding for, or was involved in getting it here to us. He always wanted to come and see the ministry here, but His health would not allow him to come. We miss him dearly. Vann would have hopped on a plane right away to get to the funeral except that a camp he knew Uncle Hobie had been excited about, was happening here that very week. Uncle Hobie got to observe first-hand the souls that were saved, and the impact that his ministry that he had in the States was having on people here in the jungle. Even so, it is difficult at times like these to be so very far away from family.
Praise God with us as there will be more souls in heaven to worship Jesus
because of the ministry of Camp Petra! Our church held their second camp of the
year here at Petra this summer, and many lives were touched. Even without any
permanent infrastructure yet, the kids had a blast with the field games,
sleeping in tents, and an obstacle course through the jungle brush, mud and
pond water. There were no serious injuries, and God protected everyone from
myriad possible ways that things could have gone wrong with 76 kids sleeping
and playing out in the jungle for almost a week! God is so good, and it was
certainly worth putting all progress on our construction projects on hold for a
while.
The construction projects are now plural due to Vann beginning the construction of the Petra Pool! Taking advantage of the dry season this year, he broke ground in May hoping to have the pool ready for camp, but alas, we are in Peru. Peru, where nothing is easy, and where nothing is fast, and the weather never cooperates, and we could go on, but that would be rude. We don’t mean to complain, just stating fact. It took a month to dig out the hole leaving nice straight walls on all sides. We were days away from pouring concrete when it rained, and it rained buckets. Oh that’s right! We’re still in the rainforest. It rains here. A lot. Even sometimes in the dry season when it’s not “supposed” to. The walls all caved in, and set us behind another month.
The pool is slowly taking shape. The walls were poured, but not without troubles, and much redo and patch jobs due to the hired help not following Vann’s instructions. That set us back another few weeks.
As soon as the master brick masons that we hired to lay the bricks around the pool had laid about a square yard – they quit. The herringbone pattern was too complicated and confused them…Really? Yes. So, we will be laying the brick by ourselves. What a treat! It’s a good thing that we work together well, and enjoy learning how to do new things. Even when those new things are massively huge projects like building a house out of ironwood that we have learned how to mill ourselves, and running high-tension electricity onto the property, and running a farm, and a camp…and we could go on. This pool will be a fabulous tool for ministry for the camp, our national friends, and the local missionary community. We can’t wait to see what God has in store! Where He leads, He provides, always. Thank you to all of those who have been involved in the provisions for the pool and the plethora advice, as we have been like "lost balls in high weeds" on this project. Awesome to see how God gives us wisdom and abilities beyond us to accomplish His work.
The progress on the house has been at a standstill this summer, but the form boards from the pool will go a long way for the second floor walls when we get around to building them.
The Romanian family that has decided to build their house here at Petra have begun their construction! We are super excited to watch God put form to this vision of supporting tribal missionaries. They have been missionaries in a tribe here in Peru for ten years. Until now, they have been based out of Lima, but that has been very difficult with the cost of living and having to leave their house in the city for months at a time. They have gone on a short furlough, but will be returning this month to finish their house!
The new school year has started with a bang! The decision to homeschool the kids this year became a simple one when a dear friend and neighbor gave us all of Sonlight grade 6 that we needed for Corynn and Ethan this year. God again has provided for us abundantly.
There is a new name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life ~ Clara Eileen Brock! She made the decision to receive Jesus’ gift of redemption and salvation this past month. She is now the daughter of the King of kings!
If you have not made this decision, and do not know without a doubt that you will spend eternity with God, then you will without a doubt spend eternity without Him. Did you know that you are an eternal being, and that you will live forever? If you are a child of the King you will live forever in His presence, but if you have rejected His offer of salvation then He will reject you when you stand at the judgment after this life and will live forever in torment without Him. None of us know the length of our days, and we would urge you to make this decision while you have breath. Let every thing that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
With love, Vann, Vanessa, Corynn, Ethan and Clara Brock