We have a new German Shepherd puppy! Her name is River, and she is just the smartest, cutest puppy ever, and Marine is a good big sister! We are grateful to be rebuilding our guard-dog pack again.
Our Clara turned 14 this month! We are so very proud of the smart, beautiful-on-the-inside-and-out, kind, young woman that she is, and can’t wait to see the great things that God has in store for her life! She is a bright light in our family that points others to The Light!
The roof for the pool pavilion is finished, and it has already been used for birthdays and family gatherings for those needing a place to come outside of town for some rest and fresh air!
The third Petra Camp cabin is completed, and we have had a dozen bunkbeds made to fill two of the cabins already! The second bathhouse has roof trusses – just waiting to be roofed.
The next missionary house now has exterior walls and beams, and its septic system is in! It is fabulously exciting to see the vision that God gave us so long ago taking shape all around us! There is a waiting list of tribal working missionaries that need a place to live, and we are thrilled that God gave us the vision and is supplying the resources to meet this great need.
In these strange covid days when travel with children is so restricted, we are thrilled to have been able to provide a safe and comfortable place for our fellow missionary families to come and rest for their minivacations!
Then there are the things that have gone sideways – the internet is still not fixed after much trouble with businesses that have zero customer service (in Peru - the client is never right) sending us the wrong equipment and then refusing to resolve the problem. The motorcycle is still not fixed due to parts becoming more difficult to find in country. The generator is still out of service - it’s complicated. The boat is still not repaired due to the complete incompetence of the technician that we brought from Lima to do the job (trying to delegate doesn’t always work). And the big one – we have had to unplug our solar panels from the grid since the electric company was CHARGING us for the power that they produced. It will be a fight to get them to even try to work with us. UGH.
Sometimes we get so weighed down by the difficulty of every little thing.
This month has been full of fantastic progress, but that progress comes at a cost. Every accomplishment has been won with a fight, and Vann is worn thin.
Why do we continue to strive here – not one. single. thing. is easy or fair as foreigners in this blessed country. Why do we choose to live apart from our family for years that stretch into decades – missing them more with each passing year? Why? The answer is only Jesus. He is the prize! He is precious above all things, and worth our lives being poured out in His service. And if we are deeply honest - after the momentary tears - none of the “sacrifices” even seem like sacrifices compared to the all-satisfying pleasure it is to know and be in service to the King of Kings! Please pray for us as we press on and keep our eyes on the prize (Phil.3:14)!
“Nothing teaches us about the preciousness of the Creator as much as when we learn the emptiness of everything else.” – Charles Spurgeon