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We Made it to Pucallpa     12 April, 2025, 07:15 am On Friday, we flew from Lima to Pucallpa- about an hour long flight. After getting settled into our hotel, we went to a local restaurant for supper. We we thoroughly enjoyed the smoked chicken, banana/ plantain dishes, and the fresh fruit juice- especially the camu camu. Today, we will spend time organizing the medications and glasses. Thank you for your continued prayers

Pucallpa, Peru Project     11 April, 2025, 08:28 am Good morning from Lima, Peru! Our team of 7 arrived safely last night, along with all of our luggage. This afternoon, we will fly to Pucallpa, which will be our home base for the next 6 days. Thank you for praying for our safety in traveling. We look forward to what God has planned for the medical camp.

Finishing Lodwar Medical Camp     18 January, 2025, 02:33 pm On this, the last day of the Lodwar medical camp, we went to the village of Nadapal. We held the clinic inside and outside of a school building set in the middle of the sand, though not too far from the road. When we arrived, the people were waiting quite a distance from the buildings under the shade of the acacia trees. As we started setting up, they started coming, and they patiently waited in the shade from the buildings. It was very hot today, but as is typical of the last day of a week of medical camp, the team seemed to get a burst of energy to finish well. The translators that we had from among the Turkana people came back every day to help. They truly worked hard to be sure we could communicate with the people. This could not have happened without their help, as many of the Turkana don’t even speak Swahili, so even the Kenyans on the team needed translation. The leader of the team of pastors working in this area is a woman named Margaret. She has never had any schooling and cannot read. But she loves the Lord and has a desire to see her people come to know Him. She is encouraged, taught, mentored, and prayed for by the people at Lifeway. The men who are serving as pastors under her are men that she discipled and led to the Lord. Margaret continually walked back and forth between stations- from registration to the doctors’ area, to the dental area, and everywhere in between. She was always talking to the people, showing them where they should be, answering their questions, and praying with them. When we left in the morning to go to the clinic location, Margaret excitedly told us in broken English mixed with Swahili that we would be going to her home after the clinic. When the day was done, we had treated 203 people. That brought the total for the week to 875. Many of those people received reading glasses, had teeth extracted, and were prayed for. The local team was excited to have found 28 people who would serve as potential liaisons to get them into unreached communities. On the way home, we did go to Margaret’s house, where several of the local team members joined us. She repeatedly welcomed us, and showed us to a long and narrow stick and mud building. There were a couple of tables set end to end and just enough room for chairs around the tables. She invited us to sit, and then they brought out tea for us. After tea, she thanked us for coming and asked that God bless us. She then asked that we bless her, because, she said, “the Bible teaches that if someone welcomes you into their home, when you leave, you should leave a blessing there.” Before we left, the local team gave us gifts- baskets, hats, blankets, and even a goat. That poor goat has no idea that he is about to set out on a 2 day trip to Nairobi. All in all, the week was very good, and a success for the local team. They are feeling encouraged with the connections that the medical clinics gave them in 5 different communities. It was also encouraging to us to work with a team of young people who have a desire to bring others to the Lord and are willing to use their skills and their heart to go to areas that, even for Kenyans, are challenging places. Thank you for praying us through the week. You are as much a part of the team as if you had been here. We are grateful, and we are also looking forward to getting back to our homes in a few days. Please continue to pray as we begin the 2-day trip to Nairobi tomorrow (Sunday).

Lessons in the Desert     17 January, 2025, 10:43 pm On day 4 of the medical camp, we went to the village of Lokaparaparae, which means place of the mirage. That should give you a pretty good idea of the temperature there. It was hot and windy. While the wind helped to make the heat feel less intense, it also meant the sand was constantly blowing on you. But the people were glad to see us there and grateful to be able to be treated. I had a chance to talk with one of the translators, a Turkana man who is also a pastor in one of the villages we went to earlier. I asked a lot of questions about the culture and daily life of the Turkana people. It is a society where the women carry the brunt of any work that needs to be done. They are responsible for the cooking (which means building a fire, going and getting the water from wherever there is a well or any water source), care of the children, building of the hut, carrying the tools for the husband if he has something to do. They have no choice in who they marry, and they always walk behind the man (so he can protect her). I asked what the men do, and he said they take care of the animals and lay under a tree and play math games in the sand. He said “women are like donkeys”. (Keep reading- I know the blood pressure of many women is rising right now.) My next question to this man was, “When a Turkana man learns about Jesus and he comes to know Jesus as his Savior, and when he learns that Jesus loves everyone- even women- and he learns how Jesus respected women and treated them well, does anything change for him and how he is with his wife?” His response was, “Oh, yes. He changes immediately. He knows he has done wrong with his wife. Many times they will go to their wife and say, ‘Forgive me. I have put this hardship on you.’ , and they change.” It is not a preacher, missionary, or law enforcement officer who forces or convinces the men of the Turkana people to behave differently toward women. It is the love of Jesus changing their hearts. It is not an outsider coming in and “changing culture” as some would think. It is a personal heart change when a man receives the love that Christ offers to him. Then he in turn spreads that love to his wife. This is what these projects are all about. We are trying to show the love of Christ, so that people will want to hear about the love of Christ, and then will accept HIs love, and then spread that same love on to others. Imagine what would happen in our own country if we, as Christians, suddenly realized that our actions needed to change because of the love that we received from Christ. It was a hot day, but a good one. We treated 180 people from the area, gave glasses to 26, and 12-15 people had about 20 teeth extracted. The Lifeway team connected with 4 people of the area that they consider “persons of peace” (people who will facilitate in giving the church planter- a Turkana man- access to different villages to start to present the Gospel). Thank you for continuing to pray for us. We are all healthy and working well together, but the heat is sapping our energy, and we want to finish well at our last clinic.

Have You Heard of and IDP Camp?     16 January, 2025, 01:09 pm Today, we were in an IDP Camp (internally displaced persons.) in a place called Naparkakono, which, when translated, means a place of hunger. People from this area were living in another location with homes and land, but because of the violence after the 2007-2008 elections, they were forced to leave. The IDP camps were set up, and many people are still in them to this day. We held the medical clinic in a sheet metal church not far off the road. The pastor welcomed us and let us know how much they appreciated our being there. One of our team members noticed that even though the pastor needed services from the doctors, he got in line behind the people of his community. When he was asked why he didn’t just go first, he replied that he was called to serve his people, and he would not be showing love or service by going ahead of them to receive treatment before them. Hmmm, something to think about in our own lives. Triage, the doctors, and the dentist were all located inside the church, and thanks to very good crowd control, people moved quite efficiently through the narrow building. Registration, glasses, and pharmacy were all outside, chasing the shade. At times, the shade provided by the church was only slightly larger than the width of a the tables. The steady winds had a two-fold effect-hiding the intensity of the heat, and blowing a lot of sand all over everything and everyone. But when it was all said and done, it was a good day- 202 people were treated, 28 people received reading glasses, approximately 15 people were treated by the dentist, with about 25 extractions, and some of the people were prayed for. The pastor was encouraged, and the people were grateful. Our team is doing well. We are blessed to be working alongside the Lifeway team. God has protected us and kept us all healthy, and we are grateful. We are encouraged listening to the stories of the people (through translators, of course), and the stories of the connections being made.

Sand, Sand, Sand     16 January, 2025, 01:04 pm We headed out this morning to do our second day of clinics, and stopped about 1/2 hour from the village. Again, the truck could not pass through the sand in the dried up river beds. The drivers, Lifeway team, and local team all tried to find an alternative route for the truck to pass, but the decision was made that it just was not possible. They did, however, find a route that the Land Cruiser could use (most of the travel in this area is done by pikipiki- motorbike). The meds were offloaded from the truck, and an assortment of the most needed ones were put into bins, along with the supplies for the doctors, the triage station, some wound care, and reading glasses. They were loaded onto the Land Cruiser, and the doctors, local leaders, pharmacy person, and others piled inside. It was a full load. The first group left to make the 1/2 trek, and the rest of us waited for the return of the Land Cruiser. When our turn came, I believe we had 11 people inside, and 3 on top and hanging onto the back. Once again, our plans had been changed, and we stopped in an area that had some acacia trees for shade and set up the medical camp there. By the time the second group arrived, the first group had already seen 40 patients. By the end of the day, we had treated 173 people, gave out 7 pairs of reading glasses, and extracted 10 teeth on 6 patients. We then repeated the process of shuffling people, medications and supplies back to the truck. The clinic went very well, and was definitely a success for the local leaders. They made 6 connections of people who will potentially be a bridge between the church planting team and the village. Even though again, this was “not what we planned”, the whole team worked so well together that, as on person said, “it felt like we had planned it this way all along.” A couple of things come to mind for today. Proverbs 16:9 says, “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.” (NIV) And “coincidentally”, the song was playing as we were driving: “God will make a way where there seems to be no way…” We are thankful for a great team to work with, good health, safety, and the reminder that this is God’s work, and He knows how He wants it done. Thank you for praying for us.

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