Pucallpa Nov 08 Part 2

Following our TV appearance, time for a quick spot of breakfast before off to visit an Indigenous community in the village of San Fransisco. I have a real heart for such people, and would love to be more heavily involved with them. We eventually arrived 2 hours later, after getting lost and the rains starting. (A continuing theme) On our way to San Fransisco

As the rains poured down we walked around the stalls of the Shipibo people, selling their authentic, handmade products. Oseas then said to me 'let's go to the main square and then we need to leave, as we supposed to visit 2 churches this afternoon'. I responded to him 'we must be here for a reason, see if we can find any Christians to encourage, or spend some time with'. We then asked a young lady on the table next to us 'Do you know any churches or Christians here'? 'She responded, 'yes i'm the leader of an Assemblies of God church just round the corner'. What a coincidence, not that I believe in coincidences!

Views of the village of San Fransisco

We went to the church that Judith led and she then announced to her church family that some random weird white people had arrived and were here to share. Well she may not have said all of that.

Judith

Anyway about 20 people of all ages arrived to hear what Julian had to say. Julian preached, I translated into Spanish, and one of the congreagtion translated into Shipibo for those who didn't understand Spanish.Outside the church.

This was the 2nd time I have done this, and it was a great honour again.

Julian preaching, i'm translating, and then Manuel is translating again
These guys really appreciated our visit for several reasons. Firstly I believe it was a divine appointment, which nearly never happened. Secondly, Judith who has been the leader of the church for only a year and is only 21 (I think taking the job over from her Dad because he died a year ago) really needs support, as she recieves no outside support from her denomination and also she is obviously still very unexperienced. Our prayer is that a great team will be formed there and they will continue to see amazing things.
After preaching there we helped the members of the church to learn how to pray for each other and we again saw 2 or 3 healings. God is good. The Shipibo people praying for each other with Oseas and Julian overseeing

Following this time we left and headed back for lunch back at the church 2 hours late according to out itineary. Following lunch we visted another of the 24 church plants in Pucallpa called Las Melinas'. I shared and we then prayed for healing, and 1 old man who could hardly walk was healed and was nearly able to jump around. The joy of Jesus was obvious to see.

We concluded the day by preaching in another of the church plants called Tushmuy. This was a church I visited in March, and it was great to see these young pastors Manuel and his wife Jovannah again, leading their church forward. Again following a sermon (battling against insects of all types) on Stephen we again prayed for healing and the Holy Spirit and we saw the evidence of God's power in action again. Jovannah leading some of the worship at Tushmuy church

Pucallpa Nov 08 Part 1

I went to Pucallpa again for the 2nd time last week, this time with my Father in Law Julian.

We went on the Thursday 13th November and planned to return on the 17th in the early afternoon. This was scuppered due to rain, jungle style! When I spoke to the checking staff an hour before take off, the said the plane was still in Lima. We eventually left after the rains subsided and arrived back in our house at 8pm, 4 hours late.

A hour before bone dry, and a hour later dry again!

It's raining it's pouring!

We had an amazing time and we saw many amazing things as well as being very busy.We arrived Thursday late afternoon. I was asked to preach at the evening service, and we then prayed for the sick. This was incredible as we prayed for about 11 people and all 11 were healed. Our Western cynical view thought maybe they were saying they had been healed to please the visiting preaches, but the beams on their faces seemed to defy this.

We were also invited by Mercedes the leader at the church to preach on television the next morning from 7 till 8. This was an offer we would never have expected, and weren't really prepared for, but we both like new challenges, and so we accepted. We arrived at the studio (someone's converted front room to appear on the Christian hour of Pucallpa, Campo Verde and Ucayali's community channel), and we were told that we would have 4 sections of approximately 10 minutes each, the 1st an introduction from Pastor Benjamin interviewing Julian and I asking why we were here, and what we did. The 2nd section I was to give a devotional for the day. I spoke on Matthew 22 and the love of God that we need to accept and then show the world. The third section was a short (translated by me) talk on business by Julian, advertising his seminar to be held on the Sunday, and giving a few words of advice as well to those out there who were in Business.

Oseas, Julian, Benjamin, and myself after the show.

The final section was a prayer time from me, and a wrap up. It was a real honour to be able to share with so many people, and potentially to be able to have an impact on the lives of so many people. Benjamin said to me up to 50,000 people watch the show. I am guessing this is a Peruvian exaggeration, but it shows it is a high number.

BBC News next?

A Few Family Photos...

Sometimes life is so hard...

Playing at home...

A day out in the country...

Joel's dedication

Joel Simeon Burgess Burgess!
Yesterday was Joel's dedication, an opportunity for us to thank God for his life, and pray for him. We chose the name Joel Simeon for him, Joel meaning 'The Lord is God', and Simeon meaning 'The Lord hears', which is our testimony, and we hope it will be his as well!

Our friend and pastor Eduardo praying for Joel, and us as parents. Joel and Grandad Julian after the service. Daniel playing the drums after the service

Now we are four!

La Roca building update

La Roca from the front.

It has been some time since we started work again, but with a second son time seems to disappear like satsumas when Daniel is hungry. Hence the lack of posts this month.
Last Saturday morning I went to La Roca with Daniel (a normal part of our work). Normally we spend time with Richar and Mari encouraging them and chatting through any issues they have. Daniel of course just causes havoc and runs around there at 100 miles an hour!

Daniel moving a stool to go look out of the window, Mauro eating breakfast and Anita.

We are hoping to help Mari start a mums and tots group in La Roca there for the community and there are several things that need to be done before we can do this.

The view of the neigbour's children in their backyard from the 3rd floor of La Roca.

Last Saturday I met Mauro, a builder that goes to La Tablada church, and he, with myself and Richar tried to work what needed doing to make the building safe and secure. At the moment we have no money to do this, so we are waiting for this to come before work can be started.

Richar and Mauro standing by the back of the building.

There are 3 different pieces of work which need to be done over time, although number 1 is the main focus to start off with:

1. Securing the first floor, and making it baby friendly. This includes buying rugs/carpet, buying toys, putting doors on where they are none, making cupboards, and shelves, and also building a secure wall at the back, and putting in doors.

2. Making the third floor child friendly, which includes putting a roof on to give shade in the summer. It also means putting up walls to stop children jumping off(!) and perhaps building a small garden area, to teach about growing plants.

3. Building a stairway in between these 2 areas, so this bypasses the 2nd floor which is Richar and Mari's house. They have sacrificed their house for so many years for the work there that this appears to be a great way to seperate the church property (where the mums and tots group will go) and Richar and Mari's house.

The state of the 3rd floor ater rain.

The current state of the 3rd floor.

This is happening alongside the work of trying to get running water in the building, and formalising the community.
If you'd like to be involved in this work in anyway, please let us know.

The passage where the stairs will go at the back of the building.

A view of some of the southern shanty towns of Lima from La Roca

In other news: Anna's parents are due to arrive for 2 weeks on the 7th November, with Mark and Julian planning a trip to Pulcallpa in the jungle for 4 days, alongside visiting our other work here in Lima.

More photos of Joel

Welcome baby Joel!

Well today baby Joel Simeon arrived!

Had quick labour at home - managed fine until waters broken then baby came straight away! Very quickly!


It was great to have baby at home - very relaxed and great to have family and all comforts nearby. I may have even been spotted facebooking at 8cm dilated


Baby doing really well! He looks a lot like Daniel, but of course larger as Daniel was born at 32 weeks / 7 months. 52cm long and approx 3.5kg (around 7 1/2lb)

Labour at home

Just born

Mummy and baby

Daniel meeting his baby brother - he is very happy with the 'baby'!

Daniel kissing baby Joel

Proud Daddy

Ventanilla with Daniel

Last Monday I went to Ventanilla to do my monthly visit at the school, but as Anna had to go to the doctors I took Daniel. I took Cassie and Ben Schifano with me, who we know as they went to Anna's old church in Woking, as they were staying with us at either end of their holiday around our beautiful adopted country.

We arrived there during their break time, and Cassie and Ben played with the kids, who loved it, even though the main language was sign language as Cassie and Ben didn't speak Spanish, and the kids English.

Cops and Robbers, Peruvian style

It was a really lovely time as it always is. The main problem being without a car it takes at least 2 hours to get there, and 2 hours back, and so my time is always short in Ventanilla.

Cassie and Daniel playing catch with some of the girls.

Please continue to hold the school in Ventanilla in your thoughts and prayers, as there is never enough money to finish building the school, or to pay the teachers each month.

Jovannah (one of the teachers with Daniel

It is such a priviledge to be involved in such a work that supports good education in a country where you have to pay a lot for good education.

Drumming Daniel at 22 months

Today the sun shone! It is definitely the beginning of spring here. We opened up the doors into the back garden and Daniel set all his drums up out there on his own and began to play and sing. I caught a bit of it on camera for you. I have added some subtitles as well.



PS. Just to add to the translation...!
Makka Pakka is a character on Cbeebies 'In the Night Garden' who sings a song with lots of different sounds.
'Toma' means 'take' as in 'here we are, take this' in Spanish, 'bravo' is used for 'well done' and 'gracias' is, of course, 'thank you.'
Gymboree is a play centre that Daniel goes to.

Baby Shower (without photos)

Last Monday, our friends, and the leaders of our church, Eduardo and Cecillia threw a wonderful babyshower for us, at their house. We unfortunately forgot to take our camera, so as soon as we get the photos we'll put them on the blog for you.

This was our (yes our, in Peru babyshowers are for both parents) first babyshower as Daniel came 2 months early, so we never had one for him. It was amazing as the main church leaders were all there, many who we hardly knew, and all who brought us gifts. We now have enough nappies to sink the Titanic, and enough wipes to wash it!!

We had an amazing time, and played some typically silly party games and enjoyed spending time wih the guys.

We've so found the right church to be part of.

Trip to Yanas

This last weekend, I (Mark) went off to Yanas, a village in the region of Huanuco in the mountains of Peru. I went with Alfredo to see about the possibility of setting up a new school there, through a contact at the current school Alfredo has set up in Ventanilla.
The bus ticket said the bus was to leave at 7pm, but obviously this was pre-empting Peruvian time-keeping, as the bus timetable actually said 7.30pm. However, it was 8.30pm before the bus actually left and 10 minutes later after a bump in the road, the bus had to pull over at a garage for an hour to have the large dent in the wheel straightened out and a new tyre put on. (Worryingly, a sign at the garage read ‘wheel-fitter needed.’) 9.30pm came and went before the bus pulled out of central Lima.
The journey was not very eventful, although Felipe helpfully told us just as we were setting off that it would be cold going over the mountains. What an understatement! My jumper and blanket were NOT sufficient!

Views on the way to Yanas

Arrived in La Union at 8.05am and told there would be no public transport to Yanas until 1pm. True to Peruvian form a minibus (or combi as they are called here) turned up 10 minutes later, but we had to wait until it was full 1 ½ hours later.La Union at it's busiest. The banner is advertising the local festival 2 months ago!

Yanas was a ghost town but very beautiful set in the green mountains. We were hoping to be able to spend time with the different churches there, but on arrival we found that they were very cautious of us, fearing we could be a sect and also a previous group of missionaries had stolen from the churches. The people in the mountains are generally more reserved and closed too than the coastal people, and so we didn’t feel that welcome to begin with, which surprised us.
The main focus of the trip was seeing the plots of land that could potentially be used to build a school. One was larger, but further away and the other was more central but owned by someone who may not be looking to sell it.

Alfredo by one of the plots of land.

I also preached in a church on the Saturday night after we had been vetted by the pastor!

The village is built on a hill so I found it very difficult to breathe because of the altitude and so that didn’t help my appetite when I saw what was for lunch. I’m still not sure what it was, but here is a photo… The drink which accompanied it was apparently ‘good for your kidneys’ – but that is if you can keep it down with the frogspawn texture. Food generally here seems to be basically starchy carbohydrates – potatoes, yucca, maize and cereal crops. Of these products the people have an abundance, but they have no money to buy other products like oil or rice or fruit and vegetables.
We were staying in Felipe’s family home and Alfredo and I were shown where we were sleeping. A wooden double bed with no mattress!! Despite finding out that the local hostel only charged s/4 (80p) per night, we didn’t feel we could reject their hospitality. Needless to say, it was the worst bed I think I have ever slept in and that night’s sleep was sporadic!
Breakfast was 2 stale bread rolls from the day before with ‘coffee’ – which was more like very weak ‘hot’ chocolate with fried flour – yes fried flour. What was the most unbelieveable however was Felipe’s enthusiastic murmurings about how tasty the flour was ‘no?’ Alfredo turned to me and whispered: ‘There aren’t very many nice dishes in the mountains’.

Yanas' tourist trap! Some people thought I was there to see it

A local girl in La Union who befriended me. Didn't understand what she was saying most of the time as she spoke Quechua, the local language

All in all the trip was physically challenging with the different food, the cold and altitude (not to mention the two over-night trips to get there and back) but definitely worth it to help Alfredo discern if this could be a potential place for another school. Logically it seems a little crazy, but then God works in mysterious ways! Watch this space...!