Things are continuing to progress very well! Our little guy is growing and moving around a ton!! Here's the newest baby bump....its crazy to think he'll be here in 16ish weeks!! Time is flying!!
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Critters
I posted about bugs and other jungle creatures shortly after we first got here, and I'm sure there will be more stories to tell in the future, but here's a collection of critter stories from the past few weeks.
Tarantulas......
Marshall discovered an adolescent (not small, but not full sized) tarantula in our cool room one early morning. He caught it and put it in a tupperware bowl. I saw it later when I woke up and didn't think about taking a picture of course. He took it down the street and let it out in a wooded area since they are good spiders to have around to kill other "unwantable" things.
Then a few days later he walked out of the house, and saw one running up the sidewalk, full-speed ahead at the front door....well, in great defense of our home, this one didn't make it to the wooded area down the street, it got smashed instead!
Ants.......
There's a saying that the jungle is an ant's world, and I (Becca) think it's right!! There is such a WIDE variety of ants here....the small sugar ant, small black ant, small red ant, large black ant, large red ant, leaf cutter ants (who blaze their own trails as they carry off grass and leaves they've cut down).....I could go on.
There's a type of large fire ant that if you kill it, it puts off this horrible smell....and its on you for hours! I was in the kitchen the other day and felt something on my leg and knocked it off and killed it before I knew what it was. It took NO TIME AT ALL to figure it out! (Bleh)
Then, another time I was in the kitchen prepping something, I walked toward the front of the house for some reason, saw a large black ant and attempted to kill it. Granted, I was wearing some foamy flip-flops, but there was a lot of weight and pressure behind it. The little guy just wouldn't die! He would writhe around for a while, but then get back to walking. So I kept it up and he stopped moving. So I swept him up into our dust pan and went back to the kitchen. About 30 minutes later I felt something on my toes, and brushed it off to see another (?) black ant just like him. He put up a harder fight, in fact I somehow knocked only the 3rd large portion of his body (the abdomen) off, and he still kept walking towards me! It was a crazy site. I gave him the final blow, and threw him into the trash. Out of curiosity I went over to the dustpan, and sure enough that black ant wasn't there.....was it the same one coming back for vengeance?? Hmmmm.....we'll never know!
Flour Bugs......
At a local store you can buy white flour and wheat flour in bulk (also where I get my peanuts for peanut butter). Early on in using this wheat flour, I would see little black bugs crawling through it, so I started sifting the flour to get them out. The fine flour would go right through, but the wheat grains and flakes are a little more challenging to sift through.....you need to watch for movement and go in with a spoon to get it out. The black bugs are easy enough, but in doing this sifting, I also found some little worms, which unfortunately are the same color as the wheat flakes. (I also found silk-like flour webs in the flour container before learning I needed to sift).
I make bread about every other week, and sometimes don't need the wheat in between making those batches. The last time I went to make bread (fortunately had just bought some more wheat to add to my stash) I opened the container and 2 fly-moth-like bugs came flying out at me....that container hadn't been opened for about 2-3 weeks.....ugh! Those weren't ordinary worms....they were fly-moth-like larva. Yummy!! How many of those have we eaten????
Tarantulas......
Marshall discovered an adolescent (not small, but not full sized) tarantula in our cool room one early morning. He caught it and put it in a tupperware bowl. I saw it later when I woke up and didn't think about taking a picture of course. He took it down the street and let it out in a wooded area since they are good spiders to have around to kill other "unwantable" things.
Then a few days later he walked out of the house, and saw one running up the sidewalk, full-speed ahead at the front door....well, in great defense of our home, this one didn't make it to the wooded area down the street, it got smashed instead!
Ants.......
There's a saying that the jungle is an ant's world, and I (Becca) think it's right!! There is such a WIDE variety of ants here....the small sugar ant, small black ant, small red ant, large black ant, large red ant, leaf cutter ants (who blaze their own trails as they carry off grass and leaves they've cut down).....I could go on.
There's a type of large fire ant that if you kill it, it puts off this horrible smell....and its on you for hours! I was in the kitchen the other day and felt something on my leg and knocked it off and killed it before I knew what it was. It took NO TIME AT ALL to figure it out! (Bleh)
Then, another time I was in the kitchen prepping something, I walked toward the front of the house for some reason, saw a large black ant and attempted to kill it. Granted, I was wearing some foamy flip-flops, but there was a lot of weight and pressure behind it. The little guy just wouldn't die! He would writhe around for a while, but then get back to walking. So I kept it up and he stopped moving. So I swept him up into our dust pan and went back to the kitchen. About 30 minutes later I felt something on my toes, and brushed it off to see another (?) black ant just like him. He put up a harder fight, in fact I somehow knocked only the 3rd large portion of his body (the abdomen) off, and he still kept walking towards me! It was a crazy site. I gave him the final blow, and threw him into the trash. Out of curiosity I went over to the dustpan, and sure enough that black ant wasn't there.....was it the same one coming back for vengeance?? Hmmmm.....we'll never know!
Flour Bugs......
At a local store you can buy white flour and wheat flour in bulk (also where I get my peanuts for peanut butter). Early on in using this wheat flour, I would see little black bugs crawling through it, so I started sifting the flour to get them out. The fine flour would go right through, but the wheat grains and flakes are a little more challenging to sift through.....you need to watch for movement and go in with a spoon to get it out. The black bugs are easy enough, but in doing this sifting, I also found some little worms, which unfortunately are the same color as the wheat flakes. (I also found silk-like flour webs in the flour container before learning I needed to sift).
I make bread about every other week, and sometimes don't need the wheat in between making those batches. The last time I went to make bread (fortunately had just bought some more wheat to add to my stash) I opened the container and 2 fly-moth-like bugs came flying out at me....that container hadn't been opened for about 2-3 weeks.....ugh! Those weren't ordinary worms....they were fly-moth-like larva. Yummy!! How many of those have we eaten????
Mango Season!!
There may be some challenges to living in the jungle (like the intense heat and humidity), but one thing that is not a challenge for us, rather a HUGE blessing are MANGOS!! lt is both of our favorite fruit.
There are so many mango trees around, and the last few weeks, we've been collecting, washing, peeling, cutting, and freezing these delicious beauties. There are several different types of mangos, and I learned that there is a difference between the varieties.
The fairest of them all is the "chico rico mango" aka "small and delicious"....and that's just what it is!
I might sound a little like Bubba from Forrest Gump, but there's so much you can do with mangos.....and its sooo goooood!!! ......mango smoothies, mango juice, mango cobbler, mango jelly, mango salsa, mango glaze, mango sliced, mango diced......
As I mentioned, I learned there is quite a difference between the mango varieties. Marshall has been collecting all the chico rico mangos that he can, but I've seen so many others on the ground in our neighborhood that also need a good belly to go into...and if I'm "eating for two" why not help two of us out, right?!?!
He's told me that those mangos are the "common" ones, and more fibrous.....but fiber is good for you too, right?!?!? So a few days ago I was walking/running up and down our street and saw two beautiful yellow-orange mangos on the ground undisturbed by any ants, so I grabbed them and brought them home. I told him I had 2 "common" mangos, and he gave me the fiber warning again. I had one that day for lunch, it was juicy and sweet....BUT I needed to floss my teeth after eating it. Two days later I ate the other one, and it was worse! Some of those fibers were super thick and it felt like wood shards from a toothpick in my mouth!! Ugh....alright, I learned my lesson!!
Chico Rico's it'll be.....soft, juicy, sweet, and almost fiberless.....and I'm pumped that we have a bunch frozen for later when the season ends!
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| A "common" mango tree next to our house |
There are so many mango trees around, and the last few weeks, we've been collecting, washing, peeling, cutting, and freezing these delicious beauties. There are several different types of mangos, and I learned that there is a difference between the varieties.
The fairest of them all is the "chico rico mango" aka "small and delicious"....and that's just what it is!
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| A Chico Rico Mango |
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| Mmmm.....Mango smoothie! |
As I mentioned, I learned there is quite a difference between the mango varieties. Marshall has been collecting all the chico rico mangos that he can, but I've seen so many others on the ground in our neighborhood that also need a good belly to go into...and if I'm "eating for two" why not help two of us out, right?!?!
He's told me that those mangos are the "common" ones, and more fibrous.....but fiber is good for you too, right?!?!? So a few days ago I was walking/running up and down our street and saw two beautiful yellow-orange mangos on the ground undisturbed by any ants, so I grabbed them and brought them home. I told him I had 2 "common" mangos, and he gave me the fiber warning again. I had one that day for lunch, it was juicy and sweet....BUT I needed to floss my teeth after eating it. Two days later I ate the other one, and it was worse! Some of those fibers were super thick and it felt like wood shards from a toothpick in my mouth!! Ugh....alright, I learned my lesson!!
Chico Rico's it'll be.....soft, juicy, sweet, and almost fiberless.....and I'm pumped that we have a bunch frozen for later when the season ends!
PEANUT BUTTER!!!
Another adventure in the kitchen under my belt! Imported peanut butter here can be SUPER expensive....$10ish for a jar of 16 ounces. It's a yummy taste from home, but one of those items we've gone through slowly because of the cost. Especially making peanut butter desserts....ugh.....using 1 cup of peanut butter is so much more painful!! I'd seen on pinterest how you can make homemade peanut butter, but didn't know where in town I could get peanuts. Then a few weeks ago I was chatting with one of my friends and she said she makes her own peanut butter, and shared how she makes it and where to get it in town. There's a store here that sells roasted peanuts for around $3.50 for a kilo (that's 2.2 lbs).
So, I set out to attempt this task! My friend had given me a heads up to watch that my blender doesn't get too hot (I don't have a food processor yet...which would be the better option for this.) It was the peanuts, oil, and sugar (we added that in after the first batch needed a bit of help).
After posting on Facebook my excitement about the peanut butter, I was asked to show pictures.....so I made a new batch this week with pictures just to post on here!
Blender, roasted peanuts, oil, sugar (or honey instead of sugar is delish too!)
I dumped in about a cup of peanuts at a time (as I'm learning how my blender responds), a dollop of oil, and about a tablespoon of sugar. Blend until the consistency desired is reached. (For me I can't get the consistency "creamy". Its somewhere in between creamy and chunky. I've already used the peanut butter in recipes that call for creamy or chunky and they've both turned out well.) I often had to "assist" the blender stirring and mixing up the peanut butter.
Then once the consistency desired is reached, I spoon it into the container I want to store it in. The kilo of peanuts makes a bit over 4 cups of peanut butter.
Here's what I had on hand to store them in.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
The 10 Stars
A few years ago when Marshall was chronologically teaching the Old Testament here in Pucallpa, he came up with 5 stars/highlights of the OT to help explain how and why Christ had to come. Often the OT can be overwhelming, but he broke it down to the basics while covering the details.
You may remember that he had the opportunity to preach at the church we attended while in language school in Arequipa. He did a bible summary in 7 weeks from Genesis to Revelation which was a lot of hard work! In teaching the summary, he came up with 5 more stars/highlights of the NT to add to the 5 stars he already had for the OT.
These 10 stars in all, to us, are the biggest and basic highlights of scripture that go over how and why Christ had to come, what Christ did, where we are now, and that Christ coming back. There's a ton of great discipleship material out there, and we like what we're incorporating now with the BILD material, but not all the materials out there give believers an overview of the big story....from Creation to now to what's to come. These 10 stars, with their details, do.
Marshall shared these stars/highlights with the church leadership, and now for a 10 week series each star is being preached at our church. They split up the sermons between 4 pastors and leaders, Marshall has already preached twice and will twice more. He's done a great job! Here are some pictures from his first sermon introducing the series.
The 10 Stars are as follows:
You may remember that he had the opportunity to preach at the church we attended while in language school in Arequipa. He did a bible summary in 7 weeks from Genesis to Revelation which was a lot of hard work! In teaching the summary, he came up with 5 more stars/highlights of the NT to add to the 5 stars he already had for the OT.
These 10 stars in all, to us, are the biggest and basic highlights of scripture that go over how and why Christ had to come, what Christ did, where we are now, and that Christ coming back. There's a ton of great discipleship material out there, and we like what we're incorporating now with the BILD material, but not all the materials out there give believers an overview of the big story....from Creation to now to what's to come. These 10 stars, with their details, do.
Marshall shared these stars/highlights with the church leadership, and now for a 10 week series each star is being preached at our church. They split up the sermons between 4 pastors and leaders, Marshall has already preached twice and will twice more. He's done a great job! Here are some pictures from his first sermon introducing the series.
The 10 Stars are as follows:
- The Creation
- The Fall
- The Promise
- The Abramic Covenant
- The Davidic Covenant
- The Birth of Christ
- The Death of Christ
- The Resurrection of Christ
- The Holy Spirit as a Guarantee
- The Second Return of Christ
Peru BILD Conference
Early last month our church Mil Palmeras hosted a BILD conference for pastors here in Peru. BILD is the discipleship material we're using here to build up and train leaders. You can read more information about their international discipleship program here.
It was a great week as between 65-70 pastors and leaders from all over Peru came to Pucallpa to attend this conference at the church. (Even a few of Becca's friends from her previous team in Lima came...it was good to see them!)
The first day was a crash course of the make-up and philosophy of this socratic method of group discussion learning. The 2 following days were made up of discussion groups going over the first book of the material and practicing the socratic style of leading the group. The last 2 days were spent looking at the larger studies offered by BILD in church-based theological training where the socratic style of teacher/student and student/teacher dialogue learning take place.
Its exciting to see what God is doing with this program in our church here, and we're eager to see how else He uses this material in Peru! Please pray with us that His kingdom will continue to expand here in Peru!
It was a great week as between 65-70 pastors and leaders from all over Peru came to Pucallpa to attend this conference at the church. (Even a few of Becca's friends from her previous team in Lima came...it was good to see them!)
The first day was a crash course of the make-up and philosophy of this socratic method of group discussion learning. The 2 following days were made up of discussion groups going over the first book of the material and practicing the socratic style of leading the group. The last 2 days were spent looking at the larger studies offered by BILD in church-based theological training where the socratic style of teacher/student and student/teacher dialogue learning take place.
Its exciting to see what God is doing with this program in our church here, and we're eager to see how else He uses this material in Peru! Please pray with us that His kingdom will continue to expand here in Peru!
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| Group Photo of the conference attendees |
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