Vilma's 5th baby was born this week, in her wood house. I am amazed at the strength of these women. Lydia laughed at my wide eyes and said, "All five of mine were born at home too, and the last one came early so my husband had to help me and he had no idea what to do! I had worked in the orchard all day long with pain but figured it would still be a few days......" Yeah, my eyes stayed wide for a while.
Some of these children are malnourished and/or don't have a healthy diet, which affects their abiltiy to concentrate. Brent has been working with them to learn John 3:16 and it is taking a while. Some of the 8-10 year olds just can't seem to memorize it. Songs, on the other hand, seem to stick quickly and easily. We have quite a group of singers. I want to video them one day singing "Jesus Loves Me", it is so touching and beautiful.
Lydia and her daughter, Kelly, are hungry to learn. We sat on the tree stumps in the dirt living room and talked about God's power to help us understand the Bible when we read it. As we talked, the hugest frog I've ever seen hopped in, followed by a chicken, which was followed by a tiny puppy. All without as much as a glance from these ladies....all in normal day, I guess.
Kelly has also started coming to our church in Pichanaki for Friday night youth group and has brought several friends. She may just be our first children's Sunday school teacher!
I'm pretty certain I receive more of a blessing on these Thursday evenings than our Ashaninka friends. I get hugs, kisses, more hugs, smiles and sweet conversation. Our heart's desire it for all of these friends to be our brothers and sisters for eternity.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Family
One of the hardest things about church planting in a foreign country, for us, is missing the encouragement and edification of our church family. Whether it be worship, play, shooting the breeze, prayer or praise, being with other believers refreshes us like nothing else. Our lives are enriched, we are able to share our gifts with others and our oneness in Christ binds like nothing else.
The weeks and months and even years we've spent trying to build something from nothing are very difficult, as any missionary would say. Not having consistent fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ is definitely one of the things that make this journey a challenge. We sense and feel (physically it seems, at times) the huge family size hole in our hearts and miss so much the familiar ease and comaraderie we have with other Christians.
As new believers are added to the church, it is with much rejoicing, and joy in the knowledge we will once again be surrounded by family, albeit new members we are only beginning to know. The relationship with new believers is different, but sweet and wonderful just the same.
Family is a gift. Family we will spend eternity with is a treasure beyond measure. Love your church family. You need them! They need you!
The weeks and months and even years we've spent trying to build something from nothing are very difficult, as any missionary would say. Not having consistent fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ is definitely one of the things that make this journey a challenge. We sense and feel (physically it seems, at times) the huge family size hole in our hearts and miss so much the familiar ease and comaraderie we have with other Christians.
As new believers are added to the church, it is with much rejoicing, and joy in the knowledge we will once again be surrounded by family, albeit new members we are only beginning to know. The relationship with new believers is different, but sweet and wonderful just the same.
Family is a gift. Family we will spend eternity with is a treasure beyond measure. Love your church family. You need them! They need you!
Friday, October 7, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Ashaninka volume 11
After praying to meet more of the adults in this community, yesterday we met five adults. One, a young mother of four, was in labor with her fifth. This baby, like the other four, will be born in her house without the presence of a midwife or doctor. Oh she has plenty of sisters and friends who will help out, but I was so surprised to learn that people still do that, especially these folks who live five minutes from a hospital.
We also met a sister and brother of Lydia, her brother-in-law and her mother. Her mother, Rosa, stands at about 4'11", may weigh 90 pounds soaking wet, and looks much older than she is, with her deeply tanned and wrinkled face. She speaks very little Spanish and we were not able to share with her from God's Word, but hope to soon. We learned that she was "given" to an older man as a little girl for him to feed and raise until she was of child bearing age, then she became his "woman". This was once the custom in this community. Thankfully, it is not anymore. In many Ashaninka villages, it is still practiced. It just broke my heart to hear her story, of how she was abused and used to produce children. I yearn to tell her of a man, who is also God, who loves her for her and who gave His life for her. I wonder if she will believe me.
As the children played tag, climbed trees, ate bugs and ran around, we sat in the shade of a large thatched roof, while Lydia explained how they make one of their typical, all natural drinks called masato. They cook down yuca and purple sweet potaoes until they are mushy, smash them all together with sugar and leave this mass in a pot in the hot sun. Then they strain the juice from this and drink. After a few hours, it starts to ferment. After three days, everyone gets drunk from it. They give this to their kids from the time they are babies. I wonder if this has anything to do with their propensity for alcoholism. Brent and I were both offered a glass. The smell about knocked me over and the polite sip I took was enough to bowl me over. To say the fermenting process was well underway would be an understatement. Thankfully, these are not the type of people to be offended if we don't like what they offer. More for them.
We also met a sister and brother of Lydia, her brother-in-law and her mother. Her mother, Rosa, stands at about 4'11", may weigh 90 pounds soaking wet, and looks much older than she is, with her deeply tanned and wrinkled face. She speaks very little Spanish and we were not able to share with her from God's Word, but hope to soon. We learned that she was "given" to an older man as a little girl for him to feed and raise until she was of child bearing age, then she became his "woman". This was once the custom in this community. Thankfully, it is not anymore. In many Ashaninka villages, it is still practiced. It just broke my heart to hear her story, of how she was abused and used to produce children. I yearn to tell her of a man, who is also God, who loves her for her and who gave His life for her. I wonder if she will believe me.
As the children played tag, climbed trees, ate bugs and ran around, we sat in the shade of a large thatched roof, while Lydia explained how they make one of their typical, all natural drinks called masato. They cook down yuca and purple sweet potaoes until they are mushy, smash them all together with sugar and leave this mass in a pot in the hot sun. Then they strain the juice from this and drink. After a few hours, it starts to ferment. After three days, everyone gets drunk from it. They give this to their kids from the time they are babies. I wonder if this has anything to do with their propensity for alcoholism. Brent and I were both offered a glass. The smell about knocked me over and the polite sip I took was enough to bowl me over. To say the fermenting process was well underway would be an understatement. Thankfully, these are not the type of people to be offended if we don't like what they offer. More for them.
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