New Airplane Hangar Project

 The past few weeks I have been working on the new hangar out at SAMAIR. A few years ago the roof blew off the old building, drawing attention to the fact that it was getting old and was in need of an overhaul. The money was raised and the preperations made and the above photo is a great view to see just how much bigger and stronger the new structure will be. In the picture, what you can see in the middle, is the old wood structure with the roofing taken off. Then on either side you can see the new steel structure. This week we have removed the old wood and are putting up the new steel trusses.

Here is a picture of one of the team members welding the new trusses. The flight ministry is still ongoing in the midst of all of this construction. In the foreground of the first picture you can see one of the planes that have to be parked outside for now.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Since moving to Pucallpa our daughters have found many ways of having fun. As many of you know, while living in Lima we had no yard at all and just a garage for our girls to run around in. Well now with all of this free space our girls can run and bike and play as much as they want. This past week it rained nonstop for several days and so on Saturday the kids finally decided to accept the rain and turn it into something fun. Thus the above photo. Yes that is Sarah doing a belly slide through a giant mudhole.

Somedays the trees are their playground. Myah really likes getting all of her friends up in the trees and climbing around. They even have a clubhouse in some trees behind a neighbors house. We have bought bikes for all the girls too and they love riding them around our property and also riding them to school. I bought a bike the other day too but don't actually receive it for a couple months more.

Swimming is a favorite activity of ours. Whether its in the pool at the hotel beside us or in a nearby lake we love to be refreshed by the water and play around while doing it.

Shoot, it even rained at night...

Forrest Gump: One day it started raining, and it didn't quit for four months. We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin' rain... and big ol' fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath. Shoot, it even rained at night...

Well guess what Forrest, we have all kinds of rain here in Pucallpa too.

We are right now in the middle of four months of steady rain. Last night was the most impressive that I have seen though. When we left prayer meeting there was constant lightning that Hannah was really enjoying watching. Then through the night the rain would go from hardly falling to torrential downpour in a single second. It went back and forth like that all through the night. Then as if the storm needed a gran finale a huge multi-fork lighning bolt hit the ground right beside our house around 6:15 this morning. I know the rain should not fascinate me like it does but after 4 years in Lima of not seeing it, this seems great.

Canoeing in Cashibo

Last evening I took two of my daughters out to Cashibococha to go canoeing. Now it had been a few year for me since I had done any canoeing and it had been even long for the girls. We borrowed a canoe from some friends who live on the cocha and we set out. At first I was relieved to see that I still had the touch when it came to paddling and steering which was good because the girls lack of paddling told me they were just along for the ride. After a while, Sarah started to hint to the fact that she wanted to go back to shore. I tried to ignore her and kept taking us to more interesting places, but she insisted. After about a half hour I guided us back to shore and Sarah got out. She went to play with our friends the Brocks, and Hannah and I headed back out.
     Once we got to the other side of the bay there were many trees in the water. The water is rising now because of all the rain so it floods way back into the trees. While exploring the trees in the water we noticed that Sarah was jumping off the back deck of the house into the water with her friends. Hannah and I found a tree that had hundreds of flat round seed pods that she recognized as being used in local jewelry making. We collected a few to try drying at home and headed out onto the big part of the lake. We met some indians who were paddling in the dugout canoes. It made me wish I knew how to make my own cedar strip canoe so that I could show them and offer to help them make one if they wanted. Maybe a future ministry opportunity there. It started to thunder so we headed back into shore and watched the kids jump for a while. Just before dark the rains came so we got in the car and headed back home.
   I really found it relaxing to be out on the water again but I also discovered some muscles that had not been used in a while. I think that canoeing on the cocha could be a favorite evening or weekend activity of ours.

Crazy Night of Conquering the World

Last night I got an invitation to go to a neighbors house to play his favorite board game. I must be honest and tell you it has been a number of years since I have played a board game, but I was intrigued by the description. It was called Axis and Allies and I was told it was something like Risk only a lot more involved. I like Risk, so I was interested, so off I went with another couple neighbors and we sat down for our lesson on how to play. The description that I got was accurate, it was way more involved than Risk, in fact the instructions for how to play took nearly two hours to explain. Finally we were ready to set up the board, which only has a couple hundred little pieces, this took another 20 minutes or so and we were playing. Now it might seem all harmless, 4 neighbor guys sitting around playing a game of world domination, but when 2 of them have German as their mother tongue and 2 of us have English as ours, there can be a lot of behind your back strategizing going on. In the end the game took a couple of hours to play with my team, the Allies, coming out as victor. It was a good night of entertainment and I was warned that it doesn't always end as fast as this game did. In fact there have been some games in the past that have gone on for days at a time.

New Ministry Opportunity

   With our transition to South America Mission and our move to Pucallpa, our ministry is going to change quite a bit. Brenda is getting involved in the crisis preganacy center and also has interest in studying. I am still going to be focused on construction of the SAM Center but there are going to be smaller projects that we will have the opportunity to be involved with. We both have interest in local church involvement in some way, maybe leading a small group study, and we have interest in learning more about SAM's indigenous center to see if there is a way we could minister to the people there. Today I wanted to share with you about a ministry idea I have had for a couple years but it seems more likely to be a fit here in Pucallpa than it has before.
   As many of you know, I have been involved in competition archery in the past and have taught archery at a local high school in Guelph and at a children's summer camp. I have heard about a ministry that is available to run in churches that uses archery to reach people with the gospel. I am currently trying to figure out if that ministry is something that I would want to incorporate into mine or just use some of their ideas and customize it to fit the culture here. The latter is the way I thinking of going.
   I have talked with several people who are interested in the ministry including school directors, camp directors and tribal leaders. The way I can see it working is I would buy the needed equipment with ministry funds and write my own curriculum that would link the sport of archery with real life, Biblical truths to help relay the message of the gospel to the young people involved.
I would then travel around to local schools,

I would run an extended program at a local camp here in Pucallpa,

and I would offer to go to tribal villages who are interested in renewing the interest of the young people in their communites in the use of bow and arrow as part of their heritage.

 

All of these opportunities and more would open up several ways to share the gospel with people who need to hear it.
   Some of you may be saying "Why archery?", "what does it have to do with the gospel?" or "What if the kids are not althletic?" The answer is that archery can be related to Biblical truths in many ways. For example the first thing taught in archery when it comes to actually shooting is that you need a good stance, a firm base. That is true too in our Christian lives, we need a good base or firm foundation in our faith to be able to share the gospel. Archery also takes a great deal of responsibility to ensure safety. That resposibility can be useful in many other areas of your life. As far as the kids being athlethic or not, the fact is that archery is a sport where it doesn't pay to be fast, you don't need to be strong and many kids can excel at archery even if they have don't do well in other sports. It is an activity that can include the entire family as well which goes well with what the Bible teaches us.
  So as you can see this could be a ministry that opens up many opportunities for me. I would not actually buy the equipment until we were back in Canada in June but you could be praying about it today.

Introduction to Pucallpa

Well here I am sitting inside on another rainy day. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. After four and a half years of living in Lima, where it never rains, I am happy to see it. In fact here in Pucallpa we are only a month and a half into our four month long rainy season. The rain doesn't have to keep me indoors but today I have decided to use it to repair some dining room chairs and make coleslaw. I am getting off topic now so let me get back on track.
   Pucallpa is a city in eastern Peru, is the gateway to the jungle, is on the shore of the Ucayali River, and has just over 300 000 people. The main industry is logging and fishing is a big part of the culture.

   Above is a picture of some cargo boats that go to and from Iquitos Peru and other villages along the river. These boats carry everything from fruits and vegetables to cars and trucks even tractors. There are no roads beyond Pucallpa so if you need to send something it needs to go by boat or plane.
   Since arriving here in Pucallpa we have been getting to know the other missionaries within our community and finding our way around town. There is no grocery store here like there was in Lima so we need to visit several markets and small stores to find the things we need. Our fellow missionaries are very nice and we have made lots of new friends already. Our time has also been spent reading, studying, and getting our family adjusted to life in a new place. I have been able to help a friend, named Vann Brock, who is preparing his property so that he and his family can leave to go on furlough. We have been finishing a wooden tower that will primarily be a water tower to get pressure to the property, but will also be used as a climbing wall and a launch point for a zip line.

 The tower is approx. 55 feet high and offers a great view of the surrounding property including Cashibococha which is a big lake at the back of the property. Our daughters have been enjoying lots of swimming since arriving in Pucallpa both in a pool as well as in the local rivers and lakes.
   So there you have my introduction to Pucallpa. This is also an introduction to my new blog. I hope that you will check it out frequently so that you can stay up to date on what it is that our family is doing here in Peru. As we get more involved in ministry and we grow more in the Lord I would like this blog to be an encouragement to you as well as a way for myself to relay information to you.