Video Update

We hope this is the first of many video updates to share with you all! This one is just the highlights of our ministry and lives here in Pucallpa. Pictures and words can tell great stories, but video footage says it best!

Small Groups

Mil Palmeras (the church plant we're working with) encourages people in the church to be involved with small groups. Last fall we were part of the small group of Julio and Olga Chaing (our SAM Church planting teammates) being "pruned" in order to start our own. We began our small group at the end of May, and we've met several weeks now (except on Father's Day). Our group meets on Sunday nights, and it's a time to discuss the sermon, pray, eat, games, and to enjoy getting to know each other.

Since it's a fairly new group, it's a little small right now, with 6-8 regular attendees. We'll be growing more in the near future as we've recently talked with several people in the church who don't have a small group and would like to be part of one. We're looking to mix the group up with people of different age ranges, professions, marital statuses, with or without children, etc. Its a great way to have a smaller community within the church to be able to encourage and edify each other!

Women's Prayer Group

A few weeks ago, I (Becca) realized that I don't really know many of the Peruvian women in the church very well. There are times that I still feel new, and outside of the table discipleship groups, there aren't too many activities (right now) to get to know other ladies. (And I'm not one to walk up to someone I don't know and start a conversation of out nowhere.....maybe I should be better at that!) The ladies that I know by name are volunteers at the crisis pregnancy center, but I don't know them well.

I was also feeling quite removed from things being a new stay at home wife/mom to a great husband and a beautiful little boy. I knew I would get involved with Latidos de Esperanza (the crisis pregnancy center) in a few months, but how could I get "out there" and get to know some of the women better? Then the idea came to me to have some key women over a few times a month to share and pray. After talking it over with Julio and Olga, and getting more cultural insight, it began.

We started meeting the first Saturday of June. Its a small group, right now 4-5 of us, though we'd like between 5-8 ladies, meeting every other Saturday morning. I talked with a few ladies in church, who were very eager, one saying she really needed something like that. Most work full time, sometimes 10-12 hours, Mon-Fri, or are young moms. I've been pleased to see the vulnerability already as we share our hearts, lives, what God has done and is doing. I pray this continues to be a great time of fellowship and mutual edification as time goes on and we share with each other.

Mother's and Father's Days

This year Marshall and I got to celebrate our first Mother's and Father's Days as parents. We know that being parents will present its many joys as well as its shares of trials and frustrations, and we won't be able to do a good job without God's help. We daily ask Him for wisdom to raise (for starters) Simon well. We're blessed to be parents. 

Here's a few snapshots from our home photoshoot on Mother's day.

Missionary Momma

I've always heard that being a mom is a full time job, but you never know for sure about many things until you actually try it! Wow is it so true! I learned VERY early that there is always still something for a mom to do even at the end of the day. I do delight in being a "homemaker" for this season in life, though there are times that I miss many stateside conveniences that would make this homemaker's life easier!

Like clean (er) fruits and veggies. It literally takes me all morning to get our produce edible. After a trip to the market, you've got to disinfect all of it, either in soaking in bleach water or using other products. The other product I use (called Kilol) is best (in my opinion) for the leafy veggies. You don't have to rinse with the nasty tap water, just let it dry completely.....so my lettuce, cilantro, basil, etc gets to lay out on the table in front of a fan.

Marshall has graciously taken over the chicken and beef prep (deboning) for me. Which is great! He does it more quickly and efficiently anyways.....and that's less salmonella on my hands!

And then there's the laundry. We are blessed to have a washing machine, but the Lord is santifying us more in not having much water pressure or a hot water heater for the clothes. We conquered the water pressure issue in that we have a HUGE plastic tub by the washer that we fill with water when the washer isn't filling. Then we pour the buckets of water in them to save time (a 40 minute cycle is about an hour and a half just because of how slow it fills!)

(Baby clothes on a jungle clothes line........'cause they're a lot cuter than our clothes!!) 

It's mainly the cloth diapers that need the hot water......so how do we work around it??? We carry out 4-7 buckets of hot water from our shower (which my great husband so lovingly installed a 'widow-maker'.....oooo....that looks worse typed out!). These cloth diapers need to be washed every 2-3 days. They require work, but are so much cheaper in the end! Several people I know use them, and have been saved thousands of dollars in diaper purchases.....and from what I understand, disposable diapers are more expensive here anyways.

We were awarded a diaper grant from Cotton Babies, and were also given many as gifts, either sent down by friends and family, or were financial gifts that we used to purchase the remaining needs. Here's our diaper collection....we should be set not only for Simon but for his future siblings (and no....there are none in the works right now!)

And then there's the cleaning.....We live on a dirt road that sees a fair amount of traffic, and our house only has 2 closed off rooms to help keep dust out. That leaves the rest of the house to clean. You can sweep and mop in the morning, but you'll have a new layer of dust to sweep by the afternoon.  It goes without saying (though I'll say it anyways) that there is always something to clean. 

And finally, the kitchen....we've gotta eat! So since we don't have the luxury of frozen meals or tasty take out, it's all done by scratch. This takes up time, and there are days between making bread, peanut butter, cleaning veggies and fruit, making dinner, and washing dishes that I truly feel that I'm in the kitchen all day!!

But most important of all is the time that I spend with Simon, so these things take place while he's napping or contentedly playing on his own. A mother's job isn't always easy, but it sure is worth it! Especially when I get to look into this sweet face all day! =) 

Simon's Segment

As proud parents of a great little baby boy, of course we have to give an update on him!! He is such a joy and we love seeing him grow by the day as he hits those developmental milestones as well as he develops new fat rolls! =) He's now 3 and a half months old, loves his bath, loves tummy time (until he exhausts himself), and loves to smile.

Here are some of the monthly changes we have seen:

Week One (poor lil' skinny guy!)

:

One Month

Cashibo 5K

A month ago a 5K run was held out at Cashibo, which is about a 20-30 minute drive outside of town. SAM Air runs their ministry there, as well as the Swiss Mission. Jack and Lisa Sluiter, SAM Air missionaries organized it. They served here several years ago and had organized these runs then, and were back here for a year filling in a need at SAM Air.

When I heard late March that it would be held on May 25th, that became my first fitness goal and motivation for me to get back into shape after having Simon. I really missed running in those last months of pregnancy, so I was eager to get training! It'd been over a year and a half since my last 5k, however I'd never done one in the jungle!! 

May 25th arrived, and I had already completed my own personal goal of running non-stop for 40 minutes (knowing my last 5k time was 36:36 minutes, plus adding in hills and jungle humidity). I was grateful that we had overcast skies that day. It was still humid, but without the sun, it'd be a lot easier for me!

It was a beautiful mix of people there! Adults and children, missionaries from various organizations and countries (USA, Germany, and Switzerland), and Peruvians from both the city of Pucallpa and from various tribes, either that live across the lake from SAM Air or that are studying at the Swiss Mission right now.  Some of us ran with good running shoes, others ran with flip flops, and others ran barefoot. I kept my own steady pace, but it was amusing in my mind when I knew that someone from a village was coming up on me it because of the shuffling of their flip flops behind me. 

Here I come!!

There I go!!

It was a beautiful and fun run. I'm so glad I did it! Marshall and Simon were waiting at the end for me! I  forgot to stop my watch when I went through the finish line, so I'm not sure of my exact time, however about a minute or so later I stopped my watch at 37:30....so I think I was close to my last 5k time! I hope there are more opportunities like this in the future in Pucallpa. 

Here's a  great video that Jack and Lisa did of the run, and you can see my handsome guys in the video as well!! Enjoy!!