Mission Updates Blog

Church and World Cup

Church Sorry these are getting to y'all a few days behind. The internet is not strong or reliable, and long, exhausting days delayed our updates and uploads. Church Service For church we went to El Camino with all three of the pastors' families. There was a team from Chile there as well, so there was some overlap between groups. But it was so exciting as Pastor Darvin (from the team from Chile) kicked off the first youth Sunday!! He preached about Jesus healing the Paralytic (Mark 2:1-12).During the talk, there was a part where the story was acted out. It was a good illustration to help bring the story into the context of today and making the story real to those present. Discussion Groups After sharing the Bible story we all broke off into groups to discuss different questions:What parts of the story did you like? Why? What are your thoughts on what the paralytic’s friends did? Why do you think Jesus forgave first and healed second? What is getting in your way of believing in Jesus?Keilah was in a group with all local women and helping lead the discussion and translate. Many of the answers to the questions were about the love and forgiveness of Jesus. A lady who is a more prominent figure locally, was battling with questions of “Why do I want to claim to be a believer when I'm not perfect and I continue to do wrong?” which, if we are honest, is an understandable statement. A good response is that being a Christian doesn't make you perfect. It doesn't make life easy or simple. It gives us a hope in God - who is Perfect. It also shows us that we know we aren't good enough, and we need his help to become better. The pastors' wives helped explain this from their cultural perspective and it was a neat experience for Keilah to hear how the wives were explaining it. The men were also split into two groups, with one being those that speak Spanish and the other mostly the non-Spanish speakers. This was decided on the fly in order to facilitate the group discussion without needing as much back-and-forth translation. Steve was put in the group of Spanish speakers led by one of the Chileans and was able to help explain some of the questions that came up to those asking (including the drivers of the trucks). Later on some mentioned that they were disappointed to not be able to interact with some of the locals, but God was able to use that group with some of the pastors in a special way to lead a local student and he ended up making a commitment as mentioned below. After discussion circles, the kids came and showed/sang a song about what they had learned - The Wise Man builds his house upon a rock and the fool builds on sand. CommitmentsAt the end of the time, Pastor Eli asked if there were any that wanted to make a commitment. One of the young men that is also a student at the center went forward as well as two ladies of the community. Meal and World Cup Watch PartyAfter church, we all had a special meal, "Pachamanca", all together that Arnold and his family had cooked. Pachamanca is a traditional Peruvian meal cooked in the ground with hot coals and rocks using a pit dug into the ground. It was a good meal and special time to celebrate the inaugural Sunday for the El Camino youth focus. That meal led us into watching the final game for the World Cup! Go Spain! (Most people were rooting for Spain.) During that time we had fellowship, fun, and just a good time reconnecting with old friends there. Soon after the game ended, we loaded back up into the trucks and headed back to Isco for dinner and the night, as our hotel was located in Iscozacin (Isco), but our days with the schools and El Camino were located in Villa America, about 30-45 minutes apart. How You Can Partner with UsPray for the commitments made on this Sunday and that those commitments would take root in their lives. Pray for the follow-up and discipleship of those that made commitments. Pray for the monthly services at El Camino going forward and that more youth can be reached in the community.

Traveling Days

Flights The flights from San Antonio to Lima through Houston were mostly uneventful. We had arrived at the San Antonio Airport as a team at 9 a.m. In Houston we had time to get lunch and rest a bit before taking off to Lima. On the flight from Houston, there was a group of three, a group of two, and a group of 8 that were able to sit together. Keith sat in the back by himself, in time out 😅, but honestly God blessed good conversation with a gentleman that was flying to Lima to stay for a few months. Once we landed and got off the plane, we were able to pray for the gentleman as he began his trip.DUN DUN DUN Once arriving at the immigration line in Lima, it was about 12:30 am and it took about an hour or so to get through. While waiting for all of us to get through, we see Fred get pulled into a back room. We're wondering what's happening and later find out that his name got flagged by Interpol! 😯 It all worked out, but was a point of discussion and joking for a bit. Once through immigration, we picked up our bags and were just waved through customs. In CountryUnlike prior years, the ticket counters and security were open and the team was able to check the bags for the domestic flight and get through security pretty quickly. After taking a photo in front of a frog in the central area of the airport, we decided to split up, with some grabbing a bite to eat and others heading to the gate to try to get some rest. We boarded the flight about 5:30 a.m. and were able to land in Pucallpa and get checked into the hotel about 10 a.m., just over 24 hours from the start of the trip in San Antonio. Pucallpa and Beyond In the afternoon, we met up and went around the central plaza of Pucallpa as well as going down to the river to see the sights and start to get accustomed to being in Peru. We tasted chocolate and ice cream as well as getting bottled water to make sure we were keeping hydrated. The following morning after breakfast, we met our transportation to Iscozacin consisting of four trucks and a car. The first half of the trip was pretty smooth on pavement. The second half was on dirt and gravel with several water crossings, one of which was on a ferry consisting of a platform across two large canoes. One of the trucks fell behind a bit and when it caught up, it seemed to have a leak of diesel from the engine. They tightened one of the hose connections and we continued on, arriving at the hotel in Iscozacin or "Isco" about 10 hours after starting the trip. Make sure to check the Photos gallery page as pictures are constantly being uploaded by the team throughout our time here. We're writing this on Sunday. Stay tuned for the next update for news about the service and time at El Camino today. How You Can Partner with UsThank you for your prayers for our travels. Praise God for safe travels. Pray for the man Keith was able to talk to on the plane. Pray for the city of Pucallpa and the region. We saw quite a bit of spiritism symbolism in the artisan works of the souvenir shops.

Four Days... um... Zero Days Left!!

We had our last meeting this past Sunday, time is upon us. We went over some packing list items, itinerary updates, gifts, and schedules. Itinerary Updates We made sure we all downloaded the airline applications and made sure that everyone knows how to be travel ready. An update is, since we are landing in Pucallpa around 8am, we weren't going to be able to check into our hotel until 2pm. That complicated meals and luggage security more than we'd like. So we will be staying at our hotel a “second night” so that we can go directly to the hotel to our rooms and breakfast! We also got a rough estimate of what our week will be like in Villa America! A basic format of the week is that after breakfast the men and women will load up into the trucks and head out. The women will be at the local schools in the morning (changing in the day). The men will be at Villa America technical college assisting in construction until the early evening. After lunch, the women will join the men at Villa America and assist with school clubs, kids clubs, and other activities being held until we drive back to Isco for the night. Communication & Blog News With lack of cell service, or at least limited service if team members decide to get an add-on international plan, we have all started a WhatsApp group chat and included our translator, Giulianno! We are super excited to see him again. We have added a gallery to the blog site so as team members all upload pictures, you can begin to see them as we share them! Hopefully service works enough to get everything loaded 😀🤞🏼 If you'd like to get short, team wide updates, this is the link the team will be posting at. But you'll have to reload the link daily for it! https://app.managedmissions.com/OurStory/2859/94739 Gifts Gifts! The bibles have been distributed! As I won't be having to pack so many on my own! Allen, took the image of our team shirts and printed them out as stickers, allowing us to add the stickers to each Bible. He also added them to the tape measures he is gifting so that the construction workers have a Bible verse.Matthew 28:18-20 ESV [18] And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” So that's pretty neat! I think other members of the team will be taking some collapsible water bottles for the workers. Soccer balls for kids club. And school utensils for Villa America. Devotionals & Music The Turners put together a devotional book for us to have some individual devotional times during our trip. The hope is to also have team devotionals during breakfast and then a debrief at night before bed time. Doyle has been working on some songs to sing in both English and Spanish for church on Sunday. The plan is to do How Great is Our God; and potentially Open the Eyes of My Heart. Last Minute Packing Questions At the end we went over some packing list questions and just reminders that are needed before we depart. We are on the last few days as we pack, but the last minute items. Order fans, clothes, trinkets, etc. And spray our clothes with permetherin. PrayersPRAISE God we're fully funded! Pray that our families here in the States will be safe and taken care of Pray for health (as I am sick) before we embark and for a healthy, injury free trip for the team Pray for the Blocks Pray for travel safety and ease of travel Pray for memory for the orality story Pray for the hearts set before us Pray for our own headspace and hearts to be ready when we leave Pray for God's hand to be seenAnd, We're at the Airport With all the things to get done, we didn't get this published until now, while we are sitting at the gate in the airport. We are excited to get going and be sure to check the gallery page for pictures as some are starting to be uploaded.

More Logistics, Bibles, Crafts, and Site Updates

T-Minus 10 Days till Takeoff We had our last official team meeting this last week, and it's all logistics and nitty-gritties. At the meeting we talked about arriving at the airport at 9 a.m., weight limits, transportation, and being travel ready. Some little inside jokes were made referring to previous years:Someone's luggage was lost, so have a change of clothes ready Don't forget and leave your passport at home Don't have rechargeable batteries or electronics in your checked bags.We also got our team shirts made by Fred! They look great and will be a huge help to keep track of everyone during travels and through airports. Cultural Lesson Another fun topic we discussed was the cultural perspective on gifts. The Yanesha are very big on community, so anything brought will be shared. This reminded me of elementary school where, if you bring something, you bring it for everyone in the class. Some ideas proposed for gifts to take were shirts, hats, water bottles, tape measures, and more. For me (Keilah), since VBS week it's been on my heart to take Bibles for the pastors' families kids. So I'm currently trying to figure out how to pack 15 Bibles. Crafts The ladies got together and were discussing what type of craft to take with us for the kids' club and ladies' night. We debated about cross stitch, jewelry, bracelets, and ended up deciding on small jewelry boxes that everyone can decorate and put to use. 10 days!! Oh No Vacation While Keilah was attending the meeting, I (Steve) was in Williamsburg, Virginia on vacation with my wife. It was a good time away learning more about the history of the USA while visiting Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestowne, and Yorktown. We were able to be there for the 250th July 4th celebration. Photo Gallery While there, I was able to finish up (with the help of AI, 😀) the Photo Gallery section of this site where the team will be able to share photos of the trip. I hope this will help you all get a better feel of the trip and what you're helping support. Work & Home-work Work is interesting right now with increased load due to a portion of the people around being let go during a re-organization. At the same time, we have scheduled the replacement of a couple of old fiberglass tubs in two bathrooms that were long overdue and cracking. It seems like everything is ramping up just as we are trying to get ready for the trip. How You Can Partner With Us This WeekPlease pray for us as we memorize the story in Acts 19:13-20 to share with the communities. Please pray for Steve's coworkers during this time of change. Please continue to pray for the Yanesha people: That God would already be preparing the hearts of those who will hear these stories this summer. Please pray for those we encounter as we travel: That God would have us ready to share with those we meet along the way. Please continue to pray that God will bring the rest of the funds before we leave. If you know of others who might want to join the partnership: To receive notices on blog updates: Subscribe to Notifications To support the trip: Keilah (currently 92% funded): Keilah's Profile Page Steve (currently 79% funded): Steve's Profile Page In General (currently 92% funded): Wayside Chapel Peru Donation LinkThank you for your continued support and for being part of this journey with us!

Lunch, Updates, Travel, VBS, and a New Author!

Team Highlights Peruvian Lunch This last Sunday, we had a team outing to a Peruvian restaurant. It gave the new team members an opportunity to try Peruvian food, as an example of the different types of traditional plates that we may encounter. Keilah had the Lomo Saltado, as it was one of her favorite dishes when she went last time. Lomo Saltado is a traditional Peruvian stir-fry made with marinated beef, onions, tomatoes, French fries, and rice. We also had some fried yuca (casava root), fried plantains, and some yummy freshly made juices to try. Dad and I really enjoyed our passion fruit juices which was one of our favorite drinks in Ecuador. Team Updates We are 51% funded! Thank you so much for your support thus far. Please continue to pray with us as we hope to be fully funded by the end of the month. Other good news – We bought our plane tickets! That was a big relief and a big purchase at the same time. We are continuing to practice our story of Acts 19. Some of the details of the story are a little more difficult to memorize, but we are doing ok with it. Updates from Peru The Blocks have shared their own updates with us this last time. A new semester at El Camino Training Center (or "El Camino") kicked off in April and a new cohort of students finished applying in May. The expected class size was not reached as the community has a negative view on the cost and online education. Because of cost, the mission has started scholarships for more students to attend El Camino. They also gained access to a Peruvian private scholarship called Superatec; however, they are still waiting to hear if the students will receive it. As for online education, COVID really damaged the reputation it could have as the state ran everything so poorly. Besides prayer for the school issues, they are also asking for prayer on raising new missionaries, as people are retiring and countries are closing; more people have yet to hear the good news of the gospel. Local Partnership: VBS Fundraiser This last week, Wayside Chapel hosted VBS "Rainforest Falls", where roughly 400 kids and 350 volunteers attended. The sweet thing about this is that the mission of the week was the El Camino Training Center in Peru. As ‘Missions Chloe’ shared with the kids about Peru and the school there, many of the little ones had questions but were so amazed about the jungle as well. They came together and raised over $6,000 for the center that will be used for scholarships – Wow God! How You Can Partner With Us This WeekPlease pray that students receive the Superatec scholarship Please keep in prayer for the community views on online education to change. Please pray that God will bring the rest of the funds before we leave. Please pray for safe travels on this trip Please pray for the Yanesha people: That God would already be preparing the hearts of those who will hear these stories this summer. Please pray for those we encounter along the way: That God would have us ready to share with those we meet along the way. If you know of others who might want to join the partnership: To receive notices on blog updates: Subscribe to Notifications To support the trip: Keilah (currently 61% funded): Keilah's Profile Page Steve (currently 72% funded): Steve's Profile Page In General: Wayside Chapel Peru Donation LinkNew Author We introduce Keilah to the blog here as a new contributor. We will both be updating you along the way giving you a different perspective and broader viewpoint to the posts. Thank you for your continued support and for being part of this journey with us!