Jungle living - week one

Ok, let's get something straight.  Yes, we have moved to the central jungle of Peru.  No, we don't live in a tree house or have a pet monkey.  Pichanaki is a bustling, commercial town of 50,000 people.  It started with just a few folks living along the riverbank, and has grown astonishingly fast in the last 30 years.  It used to be just a truck stop for trucks forging their way through the jungle, carrying fruit and vegetables.

 It is actually kind of sad how few trees, flowers and jungly stuff is in town.  Surrounding the town are the beautiful, majestic, tree-covered mountains under a clear blue sky.  There are also numerous indigenous, Asheninka Indian tribes just outside of Pichanaki on all sides.

Our first week has been a week of unpacking, cleaning, sweating, stomach bugs and blessings.  God has once again surprised me and blessed us with a lovely home.  We are living in a brand new apartment building, the only one of its kind in town and so far, are the only ones moved in.  It's a little different, as we've had to rent two separate apartments with one bedroom in each.  The boys are actually sleeping in the tiny living area of one of the apartments.  Complicated, but it will work and we are very thankful for it.  Compared to what most live in around here, it is a palace.

Brent and I have been taken back to our days in Cuba of intense heat, shopping in the stinky, open market, backpacking groceries home, electricity outages and delicious, cheap fruit.  God has prepared us for this already in many ways.

We are mostly excited to get a church off the ground.  Our first Sunday here together as a family was a disappointment as nobody came to church,  but we had a sweet time together, just us.  We know we are going to have to work very hard, but we also know God is the one who calls and stirs hearts toward Himself.

Tomorrow is a new day, can't wait to see what it holds.