New and Different Beginnings

We are finally in Yurimaguas and I am just going to take a minute to reflect on that last couple of days. When we arrived on Thursday we were meet at the airport in Tarapoto by Mike and Katie Ewing and there three children, fellow missionaries in Yurimaguas that we had meet only once. This was an unexpected blessing. They had a van waiting for us full of food and cold drinks, and they showered us with gifts. I cry when I think of what a blessing that was to me and my family. 

On the drive to Yurimaguas we stopped at a waterfall and enjoyed a swim in the cold water. It was raining but no one seemed to care, we are in is the rainforest. After arriving in Yurimaguas we settled into a hotel for the night, the kids enjoyed their first cold shower, Maggie cried. 

We walked to a local market in the evening where we saw monkeys, turtles, macaws, parrots, piles of fish, and many other new and different things. Friday morning, we moved into the Hogar Materno the base of the mission here. We expected to work on preparing the rooms but the staff had the rooms ready with fresh towels and sheets, another blessing. We are staying in two bedrooms on the second floor. 

There is a laundry area between the rooms that we have made into a living room with the help of some plastic chairs. Jennifer and I enjoy sitting out there talking after the kids go to bed. The fresh air is nice; I just hope it doesn’t rain as our living room lacks a roof. Currently there are 18 women and children staying at the Hogar. 

Henry is a little scared of the Shawi children because they don't smile often and stare at us with blank faces, but otherwise the kids are enjoying playing and making new friends. Of course everyone loves Maggie. One of the workers told us that Maggie was the first white baby she had ever seen. But Maggie is struggling with the heat. She is grumpy, doesn’t sleep well, and has a heat rash. Please pray for here. I have experienced many 95 degree Indiana summer days with stifling humidity, but somehow it is worse here. The heat is unrelenting and there is no escape to air conditioning. The good news is that everyone says this is the hottest time of year and we will adjust. 

We spent Friday afternoon house hunting. Doesn’t work quite like in the states. Mike and Katie helped us again as they have been looking for months for a house for us. They took us around town and showed us all kinds of places. Some were very nice and others were very strange. Overall it was an awesome chance to see the town, ride in motorcars, and visit with some locals. House hunting is a little different here. You drive around until you see a house that has a sign that reads for sale or for rent and a phone number. If no one is there, you call the number and ask to see the house. You wait twenty minutes or so until the owner shows up and then you see the house. Often someone is already in the home, sometimes the taxi driver knows where the owner lives and goes to pick them up, sometimes you just talk to the neighbors, whatever works. 

Here is a picture of a house we found that we really like. 

It has a back yard with a couple of fruit trees and it is only four blocks from the main market in town. It is also only a couple hundred yards from the Huallaga River, the biggest river in town. It is almost everything we want in a house and we are praying about it for a couple of days. Please join us in praying for God’s direction in this decision. 

Friday evening, we had our first taste of street food.  Here many woman cook in their house and set up a stand out front to sell the food on the street. Often they even have a table and chairs where you can sit like a little restaurant. The food off the street is amazing! We had grilled chicken, piles of rice, boiled plantains, and juani. Juani is rice and chicken cooked inside a leaf. It is a traditional dish in Yurimaguas named after John the Baptist. The best part of street food is the price. We ate with Mike and Katie and their family so we bought seven meals, it cost 41 soles or $12.42. That works out to $1.77 per meal, and we had loads of leftovers! I am not sure how the economy works here but it is cheaper to buy food on the street then to buy the supplies and prepare it yourself. I need to figure out how that is possible.

Saturday morning, I woke up and realized there were bats in our bedroom, there were six of them in the corner. They were separated from the room by a screen which made us feel better until we realized that there are holes in the screen.  So I learned the Spanish word for bat.  We traveled around town Saturday and bought a few supplies, in the evening we went to a local church. The service started at eight o’clock and was very lively. It was some good preaching from the word of God, but the pastor jumped around the old testament. I struggled to follow along so I guess I need to work on memorizing the old testament books of the bible in Spanish. Henry couldn’t follow along either and since it was so late he slept through the whole service. We went to see some dancing. Susan’s five kids are involved in a Christian dance club that travels to different churches to preform. The thing that amazed me was that the kids were dancing like crazy and not even sweating as me and my family were just sitting there dripping. But they keep telling us that we will adjust, hope that happens soon.

Please pray for us that we can find a home. Pray for Maggie that she can sleep and adjust to the heat. Pray for Lucy and Henry as they make new friends. Pray for the staff of the Hogar as they minister to and meet the needs of the women and children. Pray that God is glorified here in the jungle.

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 6:31-33