I can remember the church janitors from every church I've ever attended! Church janitors often have a thankless job, but oh, so important and necessary. I appreciate their job much more now that Brent, the kids and I have the big job of keeping our rented church facilities clean!
Our rented space is on a dirt road so it is constantly dusty. The wonderful roof that was constructed by our friends from Lima and Texas has several considerable leaks so when it rains, there is plenty of water to mop up. We like to have soda and/or snacks almost every time we meet, so there are inevitably stains, glops or crushed chips on the floor. When we hand out candy to the kids, probably 10 wrappers make it into the trash and we have found chewed gum in every conceivable place. Then there are the two bathrooms. There is usually evidence of a rat friend or two, and other......stuff to clean up.
I am so proud of our kids, who are really a huge help and have hammered nails, scrubbed toilets, swept, mopped, painted, cleaned 80 chairs from top to bottom, picked up trash, sanded......on and on I could go, and all of this in extremely hot conditions. They are such a blessing to us and I know God sees their service and will reward them for it.
Mostly, I am just so thankful for the men and women who's job it is to keep our churches clean and in order. I remember the O'Mears in Kennesaw, GA, an elderly couple who volunteered their time to clean our large church building. Take a minute and thank your church janitor this week!
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Ashaninka volume 14
We forgot repellent tonight. Yep, the mosquitos were happy. Tomorrow we really need to go get yellow fever vaccines, been putting it off.....
Kelly, our 15 year old friend who received Christ recently is on our hearts this week. She goes to high school in Pichanaki so she takes a moto taxi (a motorcycle with a covered seat on the back ~ there are hundreds of them here, they are the main mode of transport) every day to and from school, and has to buy two uniforms and all of her school supplies to be able to study there. I have wondered where this money comes from. Her family lives on selling their produce and her dad's night watchman job, which pays very little. We learned that she is "sponsored" by a Catholic nun. To receive her "allowance" from this lady, Kelly must attend Catholic studies and do chores at the church. She really wants to leave this, but won't be able to go to school otherwise. We are praying for wisdom to know how to help her.
I had such fun handing out brand new dresses to all the little girls tonight! Oh how I wish I could have given them each ten dresses and new clothes for all the boys too. A group of ladies in the U.S. has a sewing ministry and they make dresses by the hundreds and send them to children who need them. I was able to get 20 of them and make 15 girls smile. A heartfelt thanks to the ladies who made the dresses, God knows who you are!
Something I love about these people is their thankfulness. The kids learn early to say thank you and to share. They are the most unselfish people I've met. It is such a pleasure to work with them and have them for our friends.
Kelly, our 15 year old friend who received Christ recently is on our hearts this week. She goes to high school in Pichanaki so she takes a moto taxi (a motorcycle with a covered seat on the back ~ there are hundreds of them here, they are the main mode of transport) every day to and from school, and has to buy two uniforms and all of her school supplies to be able to study there. I have wondered where this money comes from. Her family lives on selling their produce and her dad's night watchman job, which pays very little. We learned that she is "sponsored" by a Catholic nun. To receive her "allowance" from this lady, Kelly must attend Catholic studies and do chores at the church. She really wants to leave this, but won't be able to go to school otherwise. We are praying for wisdom to know how to help her.
I had such fun handing out brand new dresses to all the little girls tonight! Oh how I wish I could have given them each ten dresses and new clothes for all the boys too. A group of ladies in the U.S. has a sewing ministry and they make dresses by the hundreds and send them to children who need them. I was able to get 20 of them and make 15 girls smile. A heartfelt thanks to the ladies who made the dresses, God knows who you are!
Something I love about these people is their thankfulness. The kids learn early to say thank you and to share. They are the most unselfish people I've met. It is such a pleasure to work with them and have them for our friends.
Pure Joy International
Pure Joy International is a ministry to missionary wives around the world. I had the privilege of attending their Lima retreat last month and it was excellent. Pure Joy International is made up of a group of women who love the Lord with all their hearts, have the desire to serve Him and let Him use their gifts and talents, and who have a heart for missions. They raise financial support from churches and treat 50 missionary wives to a free 3 day retreat. Not only is it all inclusive and very relaxing for us, they travel with a music team and several teachers and counselors. They also come, after having spent hours in prayer for each one of us, by name.
This time was such a treat and such a challenge to me personally! The teachers were well prepared and vulnerably shared from their hearts. It was really cool to meet another Miriam Ruth and especially to be challenged by her to memorize books of the Bible. She was a special blessing to me. Another blessing was hearing Sharon Smith share. She and her husband were missionaries in Ecuador for 30 years and are now working in the BBFI home office. These women are human and faulty just like everyone else, but have allowed God to work in a wonderful way through them.
The theme of this retreat was "Take Off The Mask". What an important message for us women! Wearing a mask of happiness doesn't make us happy. Wearing a mask of importance doesn't make us important. Wearing a mask of a perfect marriage does nothing to change reality. Wearing a mask of kindness in public does not make us a kind person. Wearing any mask is silly, really. We may fool others, but we know what is in our heart and so does God. It's also likely that we're not really fooling as many people as we think we are. May we all be real, transparent and vulnerable. Masks are for Halloween!
God gave me a most special gift at the end of this retreat. My name and others were called and we were asked to go to the back of the room. I had no idea what for. When a lady handed me a huge stack of cards and said these were from my home church, I burst into tears and just couldn't believe it. First of all, someone from Pure Joy had taken the time to contact my church, Central Baptist, and explain that I was going to be in Lima, etc. Then someone at Central had to pass the word to those who wanted to send cards, collect them all and mail them to AR where they were packed in someone's luggage and brought to Lima and handed to me. These cards meant the world to me. For me, that was the highlight. Thank you, Central friends!
This time was such a treat and such a challenge to me personally! The teachers were well prepared and vulnerably shared from their hearts. It was really cool to meet another Miriam Ruth and especially to be challenged by her to memorize books of the Bible. She was a special blessing to me. Another blessing was hearing Sharon Smith share. She and her husband were missionaries in Ecuador for 30 years and are now working in the BBFI home office. These women are human and faulty just like everyone else, but have allowed God to work in a wonderful way through them.
The theme of this retreat was "Take Off The Mask". What an important message for us women! Wearing a mask of happiness doesn't make us happy. Wearing a mask of importance doesn't make us important. Wearing a mask of a perfect marriage does nothing to change reality. Wearing a mask of kindness in public does not make us a kind person. Wearing any mask is silly, really. We may fool others, but we know what is in our heart and so does God. It's also likely that we're not really fooling as many people as we think we are. May we all be real, transparent and vulnerable. Masks are for Halloween!
Friday, October 21, 2011
Ashaninka volume 13
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.
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.
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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