Tuesday, June 30, 2009

It's a Boy!

After over 48 hours of labor, Yoly gave birth to a beautiful baby boy this morning. We’re excited to get back to Yurimaguas and see him. She had a couple of rough days and they eventually delivered him by C section. We praise God for a safe delivery and that they are both healthy.

July 2 Update - At birth Jhon Alexander was 53 cm (20.8 inches) and weighed 3.45 kilos (7.6 pounds)

Integrity Fellowship Team

We have just finished with another great team here in Yurimaguas. Chad Fife and Brad Scott from Integrity Fellowship Church in Wayne, Michigan led a team of 10 youth and young adults who are youth camp leaders. They have been “doing” youth camps in Michigan for 20 years and have it down to a science. Chad and Brad have been coordinating with Susan over the past several months to bring the camp experience to the farm with the idea of introducing it to some of the Chayahuita youth. The mere idea is pretty radical, because they are not only introducing something completely different than the Chayahuita (as well as the mestizo Peruvians) have ever experienced, but to do so also requires crossing over not just one, but two cultural barriers.

There was some concern initially that the Chayahuita tend to be a bit stoic and stand-offish. Nobody was sure how they would react to situations where they would be asked to step out of their comfort zone and interact with others in close quarters. After all of the smoke cleared, I think that everybody involved agreed that the week was an incredible success. The Chayahuita youth participated beyond anyone’s expectation and really seemed to enjoy every part of the experience.

It is the hope of us all that the Chayahuita youth will take this idea and incorporate it into the local churches in their communities. Chad, Brad and their whole team are already planning for a follow-up trip in the future.

Thanks much to the Integrity Fellowship Team for blessing us with your presence!

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Congratulations, Mariliana!

We were pleasantly surprised this week to receive an e-mail (several actually) from Rahab Foundation in Costa Rica. As many will remember, we volunteered some time with them during our time in Costa Rica, and became friends with the founder and director Mariliana Morales, and her family. Well, this week Mariliana was one of seven people worldwide who were recognized by the Obama administration for their work against human trafficking. Mariliana was invited to Washington, where she met with Secretary of State Clinton, and was able to address the audience. Go to http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/06/124872.htm for a transcript of the presentation, as well as to view a video, that reportedly has Mariliana speaking (we wouldn’t know, because we are still in the land of dialup internet access).
Congratulations to Mariliana and the entire Rahab Team!

Friday, June 19, 2009

End of the Strike

Praise God! It looks like it is a done deal finally. Yesterday the Peruvian Congress voted to overturn the laws that were being used to take away land and water rights from the Indians. Today at noon the strike was lifted and the roads were reopened. The natives are planning to head back to their villages tomorrow, but not until they have a big party in the square tonight. It may be a sleepless one for us!

We are going forward with our plans to bring in the team next week. Susan leaves early tomorrow morning for Lima, and Ginnie is busy on a shopping spree, buying food for them.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers over this situation – Once again, God has opened the doors for the faithful!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

A Trip to the Picket Line

Today we were offered a different view of the strike – From inside the picket line. Last night Susan called to say that the pastor of a local church has been given permission to come in and pass out Bibles to the strikers just outside the city and wanted to use her truck to move them. Another of the pastors in the church is a member of the Gideon Society, and has 30,000 bibles in a storeroom of the church. Then Susan got the idea to hold a campaign in conjunction, to pass out pills to fight intestinal parasites. These campaigns are an integral part of most of the teams that come here and are welcome in the communities, as many of the children (and adults) are infested with parasites.

So we loaded up the truck with boxes of bibles and pills, and headed toward the picket line. It was a bit hairy getting through, as there were lines of vehicles (mostly 18 wheelers) waiting to move people and cargo in both directions. There was a very strong police presence, but everybody was in good humor and welcomed us warmly. There was evidence of a lot of people temporarily living along the road (estimates have gone as high as 8,000 people from the Indian villages are in the area).

After unloading and getting set up, Pastor Isael preached a short message and prayed, then the folks from the church passed out about 5,500 Bibles and the medical folks did the pill campaign. Additionally, there were more medical folks with the Ministry of Health (who have been working here through the strike) who came and did a basic health clinic.

The ironic part of this is that Susan said during the first strike in April, that she would like to go out and do a pill campaign at the picket line. She saw it is an opportunity to minister to people from the communities, without traveling up river. She was told that the Ministry of Health was out here doing their thing and that it really wasn’t needed. Today she realized that, although the folks from the Ministry of Health have been out here, they haven’t had any medicines to give to the people – Medicines that are available at the Hogar from previous teams, that could have been used with the people who need them. Lesson learned!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Preparing for Another Team

In the past few weeks we have been making preparations for another team here in Yurimaguas. They will arrive on the 24th and we will be taking them to the finca – at least that is the plan! We are still in the midst of the strike (for over a month now) and have been struggling with the decision whether to bring them in or not. Although the demonstrations haven’t been violent, and we have not felt the least bit threatened, to bring in a large group of gringos just makes us a bit uneasy.

The team consists of a group of 12 adults and teens, who have a lot of experience running youth camps in Michigan. The plan is that they are going to come in and present a three-day camp for about 30 Christian Chayahuita youth, who are coming in from the surrounding communities. The farm will be the perfect setting, as it allows that the space to live, eat and worship together in a wonderful, natural setting while giving the team an introduction to the work and the ministry of the farm.

The team has scheduled a variety of activities throughout each day, and at night there will be preaching and teaching by Pastor Alex Cotrina from Lima. Pastor Alex is a Peruvian pastor who we met on our first trip here last year. He is a dynamic and energetic pastor who Susan has been working with since she has been in Peru. He is pretty much the face of MV in Lima and oversees many of the ministries there. He pastors numerous churches and has a passion for young people.

We are praying for a fun-filled, Spirit-filled three days for the youth and a great jungle experience for the team from Michigan. And we continue to pray for a peaceful, equitable end to the strike …

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Comida Típica

This week Hugo (the agronomist at the farm) and I were talking about the food of the region, or “comida típica. (See our post of March 15 for a description of some regional cuisine.) He was asking if I had tried several different things. He asked me if I would like to try 2 dishes – Juane and Tacacho. Having had his wife’s cooking before, I jumped at the chance to try some more. A couple of weeks ago, Hugo and Betsy held a fundraiser for their house. Their’s, along with those of seven neighbors burned down a little over a year ago. At the fundraiser, Betsy had prepared ceviche and chicharrón, both of which were to die for. Ceviche must be the national dish of Peru. It is fish and seafood “cooked” in lime juice. Really it isn’t cooked at all, but the acid in the juice naturally “cooks” the meat. Chicharrón is fried meat – in this case fish. Both were delicious. So, when I was offered the opportunity to try something else, I jumped at the chance.
The Juane, is a combination of chicken, rice, hard-boiled egg and an olive. It is all cooked and then formed into a ball the size of a baseball, wrapped in large leaves and then cooked (I think probably placed in a pan of boiling water and covered). The other dish was tacacho, which is seasoned plantain, formed into a ball and grilled. Both were awesome! Now I’m waiting for the next meal!