Well, our team arrived back home safely, the home team (mom and kids) all had ugly colds to welcome Dad home with, and we immediately began our family vacation. That's the long and short of the lack of update. The away team was asked to share during the morning services at our church the Sunday following their return, so I will be posting about that shortly, when the link goes up.
In the meantime, I found this video, which I thought was thought-provoking. It details a father and son's mission trip to the Amazon in Brazil and how it affected them. The father states that it was his dream to go on a mission trip with each of his kids! What a really neat dream!!
Friday, August 22, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
Trip update
Our team, including my hubbie, arrived without incident (YAY!) in Lima late Friday night and headed to Pucallpa the next morning. Our senior pastor, Duke, is there for the first time and had an opportunity to preach in a Shipibo church on Sunday. He has told Steve that he is ranking this trip as one of the top five experiences of his life!! WOW!! Think about that for a second.... Top five! And this was only two days into the trip, really. I am psyched! I can't wait to hear about it from Duke's mouth.
Today began the 20th Anniversary celebration/gathering of the FAIENAP organization, which is a Peruvian national mission agency. Many people are flying in, walking in, boating in to be in Pucallpa this week. Our team is there, in the area, and will have an opportunity to meet with many of these missionaries. What stories they will hear!! I am so jealous... in a righteous manner... but jealous nontheless. :)
An item of prayer, for those who may be interested.... Steve came down with a really wicked cold a few days before he left. He still has it, and is without much of the medicine he would normally be taking (because he didn't listen to the wife God gave him). Please pray for quick healing and that he would find the time to rest. There is not usually much rest worked in to these trips as time is so short and the tendency is to make the most of every minute.
Today began the 20th Anniversary celebration/gathering of the FAIENAP organization, which is a Peruvian national mission agency. Many people are flying in, walking in, boating in to be in Pucallpa this week. Our team is there, in the area, and will have an opportunity to meet with many of these missionaries. What stories they will hear!! I am so jealous... in a righteous manner... but jealous nontheless. :)
An item of prayer, for those who may be interested.... Steve came down with a really wicked cold a few days before he left. He still has it, and is without much of the medicine he would normally be taking (because he didn't listen to the wife God gave him). Please pray for quick healing and that he would find the time to rest. There is not usually much rest worked in to these trips as time is so short and the tendency is to make the most of every minute.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Summer Update
In December 2007 Steve and 5 of our church leaders set out on a 10-day trip to the Amazon. These men were hand-picked by Temple Baptist’s leadership, believing they had the greatest potential for impact.
These expectations were met and greatly exceeded as one pastor, three Sunday School teachers, and a military leader all returned with GREAT, entertaining, and moving stories of God’s care and provision throughout their trip.
Although this team was already missions-minded and well-traveled, for the first time they came face to face with missionaries on their own turf. Some of these missionaries are fellow Americans, some are native to South America and others are indigenous (tribal) brothers, but all share the same heart which is reaching the tribes with the gospel of Jesus Christ and equipping and empowering them to carry out the Great Commission.
Our group also attended church in a tribal village, which required a one hour boat ride and walking through about a mile of mud on a Sunday morning! (Apparently, there is an unspoken rule in the Amazon that if there is heavy rain, church is cancelled. Our team was unaware of this though. So after slogging through the mud to reach the village, the villagers took pity on them and joined their visitors at the church! J)
Upon their return, the men relayed how the trip personally impacted them as they shared during their classes and morning services. (You can listen to their accounts from January 6, 2008 at http://temple-baptist.org/. Click on pictures in the slideshow on the right for more detail.) Months later, their experiences continue to trickle down thru classes and sermons as God brings things to their minds. It’s such a joy for us to see how God has used this one trip in the hearts of this amazing group of men!
Many of our group have expressed and a desire to return to Peru after seeing the many needs. There is much that can be done to support and empower the missionaries to focus on their work. One example is construction at the Amazon Focus property. You may recall the property was purchased several years ago to use as a base for missionaries and visitors. When construction is completed, it will also house AF Field Director Irma Espinoza when she is not in the more remote villages. Sadly, construction has been slow since there is no permanent presence there to supervise or coordinate activities. Because of this the property was looted last year by people scaling the surrounding walls, peeling off roofs, and taking away doors and things of that nature. As you may imagine, without doors and roofs there is not much security!
Upon their return, there was a great excitement about partnering with the missionaries in Peru, and a desire to return this summer. Several of the men from the previous trip have been unable to return this time around, but in the interim we have picked up two “newbies”: our senior pastor and a graduate student from Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) who also speaks Spanish. This trip will run August 1-10, and is quickly approaching, so we would ask you to be in prayer—both for the trip, and for Heather and the boys who will be staying at home.
These expectations were met and greatly exceeded as one pastor, three Sunday School teachers, and a military leader all returned with GREAT, entertaining, and moving stories of God’s care and provision throughout their trip.
Although this team was already missions-minded and well-traveled, for the first time they came face to face with missionaries on their own turf. Some of these missionaries are fellow Americans, some are native to South America and others are indigenous (tribal) brothers, but all share the same heart which is reaching the tribes with the gospel of Jesus Christ and equipping and empowering them to carry out the Great Commission.
Our group also attended church in a tribal village, which required a one hour boat ride and walking through about a mile of mud on a Sunday morning! (Apparently, there is an unspoken rule in the Amazon that if there is heavy rain, church is cancelled. Our team was unaware of this though. So after slogging through the mud to reach the village, the villagers took pity on them and joined their visitors at the church! J)
Upon their return, the men relayed how the trip personally impacted them as they shared during their classes and morning services. (You can listen to their accounts from January 6, 2008 at http://temple-baptist.org/. Click on pictures in the slideshow on the right for more detail.) Months later, their experiences continue to trickle down thru classes and sermons as God brings things to their minds. It’s such a joy for us to see how God has used this one trip in the hearts of this amazing group of men!
Many of our group have expressed and a desire to return to Peru after seeing the many needs. There is much that can be done to support and empower the missionaries to focus on their work. One example is construction at the Amazon Focus property. You may recall the property was purchased several years ago to use as a base for missionaries and visitors. When construction is completed, it will also house AF Field Director Irma Espinoza when she is not in the more remote villages. Sadly, construction has been slow since there is no permanent presence there to supervise or coordinate activities. Because of this the property was looted last year by people scaling the surrounding walls, peeling off roofs, and taking away doors and things of that nature. As you may imagine, without doors and roofs there is not much security!
Upon their return, there was a great excitement about partnering with the missionaries in Peru, and a desire to return this summer. Several of the men from the previous trip have been unable to return this time around, but in the interim we have picked up two “newbies”: our senior pastor and a graduate student from Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) who also speaks Spanish. This trip will run August 1-10, and is quickly approaching, so we would ask you to be in prayer—both for the trip, and for Heather and the boys who will be staying at home.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
ALTECO 2007 Update
Steve was asked to assist and participate with the ALTECO consortium held in Florida. So at the end of March we packed up the boys and flew down to Orlando.
Steve served where needed for the duration of the conference, while enjoying the opportunities to network and fellowship with delegates from various backgrounds & ministries. Everyone attending had one primary focus--empowering the Amazonian tribes. We wish that we could find a way to convey the sense of unity we witnessed at this conference or how exciting it was for us to be involved in it.
Steve Saint (son of Nate Saint and founder of I-TEC, the Indigenous People’s Technology and Education Center) joined us at ALTECO again this year. (He recently joined the board of ALTECO, which we are really excited about.) This year, he brought his new dental/birthing chair (which is an interesting combo, if you really think about it!) The chair was developed by I-TEC to equip our indigenous brother and sisters to minister in tangible and practical ways to their people and neighboring tribes. (They are also trained to do the dental work.)
Steve Saint also demonstrated another project aimed at indigenous independence: his "grasshopper", which is sort of a combination go-cart/paraglider. This two man flight vehicle is being developed for use in the Amazon as an alternative to planes. The "grasshopper" could be seen several times during the conference week, taking off, soaring, circling and touching down. It was awesome, in the truest sense of the word! (We have uploaded a few of the photos to our photo album, if you want to see for yourself!)
The April 2007 newsletter from I-TEC briefly mentions a little bit about the conference and their take on it. I’d like to encourage you to visit the I-TEC site if you have an interest in the dental/birthing chair or the grasshopper. They have some neat photos and you can even read their April newsletter (look for the Archives link on the Breaking News page).
This year has seen many changes for us as well as Amazon Focus. Although our status with Amazon Focus has changed to “Associates” we have found that there are still plenty of opportunities for us to remain involved with AF.
Steve has been hard at work, organizing a 10-day trip for five of our church’s key leaders. Along with Steve, they will travel to Peru in the beginning of December (Nov. 29- Dec. 9) for a time of exposure to the people and ministry of the Amazon. We are praying that the effects of this trip will spread throughout the congregation, as these key men share all that God is doing in the Amazon.
Steve served where needed for the duration of the conference, while enjoying the opportunities to network and fellowship with delegates from various backgrounds & ministries. Everyone attending had one primary focus--empowering the Amazonian tribes. We wish that we could find a way to convey the sense of unity we witnessed at this conference or how exciting it was for us to be involved in it.
Steve Saint (son of Nate Saint and founder of I-TEC, the Indigenous People’s Technology and Education Center) joined us at ALTECO again this year. (He recently joined the board of ALTECO, which we are really excited about.) This year, he brought his new dental/birthing chair (which is an interesting combo, if you really think about it!) The chair was developed by I-TEC to equip our indigenous brother and sisters to minister in tangible and practical ways to their people and neighboring tribes. (They are also trained to do the dental work.)
Steve Saint also demonstrated another project aimed at indigenous independence: his "grasshopper", which is sort of a combination go-cart/paraglider. This two man flight vehicle is being developed for use in the Amazon as an alternative to planes. The "grasshopper" could be seen several times during the conference week, taking off, soaring, circling and touching down. It was awesome, in the truest sense of the word! (We have uploaded a few of the photos to our photo album, if you want to see for yourself!)
The April 2007 newsletter from I-TEC briefly mentions a little bit about the conference and their take on it. I’d like to encourage you to visit the I-TEC site if you have an interest in the dental/birthing chair or the grasshopper. They have some neat photos and you can even read their April newsletter (look for the Archives link on the Breaking News page).
This year has seen many changes for us as well as Amazon Focus. Although our status with Amazon Focus has changed to “Associates” we have found that there are still plenty of opportunities for us to remain involved with AF.
Steve has been hard at work, organizing a 10-day trip for five of our church’s key leaders. Along with Steve, they will travel to Peru in the beginning of December (Nov. 29- Dec. 9) for a time of exposure to the people and ministry of the Amazon. We are praying that the effects of this trip will spread throughout the congregation, as these key men share all that God is doing in the Amazon.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Family Update
Just realized that I really haven't been keeping up much on this site.... Must've been all the emails we got asking what was going on! Heh! :) Well, if you MUST know, we HAVE had a lot going on in our personal lives, and here's the rundown...
At the end of November Heather delivered a beautiful baby boy into the world... We named him Shane, after much deliberation. He was a bit late. For some reason, none of our kids want to come into the world on their own. Must be very comfy in there. Being winter babies, maybe they both "knew" that it was going to be pretty cold outside. Anyway, Mother and son are both doing fine, and Big Brother is as proud as can be! Shane is exactly what we prayed for and more... a very contented baby and an excellent sleeper! God gets all the glory!!
Just as we were coming out of the post-baby stupor and getting our feet under us, we had relatives visiting from Scotland. So with a 2 year old and a two week old, we made a three hour trip to have a family reunion. An excellent time was had by all, but we had late nights and no naps, so when we got back home we just wanted to sleep for a week! LOL!!
Had one of the best holiday seasons ever with our families too. Sure was a blessing to have an exuberant toddler running around, decorating (and UNdecorating) the tree, and opening presents. We started putting presents under the tree days before Christmas and were impressed to find that they remained untouched till the fullness of time!! You can call me crazy at this point, but I wanted to see if it could be done. I had friends when I was a teen that did that, and I always thought it was neat, besides it teaches delayed gratification. :)
At the end of November Heather delivered a beautiful baby boy into the world... We named him Shane, after much deliberation. He was a bit late. For some reason, none of our kids want to come into the world on their own. Must be very comfy in there. Being winter babies, maybe they both "knew" that it was going to be pretty cold outside. Anyway, Mother and son are both doing fine, and Big Brother is as proud as can be! Shane is exactly what we prayed for and more... a very contented baby and an excellent sleeper! God gets all the glory!!
Just as we were coming out of the post-baby stupor and getting our feet under us, we had relatives visiting from Scotland. So with a 2 year old and a two week old, we made a three hour trip to have a family reunion. An excellent time was had by all, but we had late nights and no naps, so when we got back home we just wanted to sleep for a week! LOL!!
Had one of the best holiday seasons ever with our families too. Sure was a blessing to have an exuberant toddler running around, decorating (and UNdecorating) the tree, and opening presents. We started putting presents under the tree days before Christmas and were impressed to find that they remained untouched till the fullness of time!! You can call me crazy at this point, but I wanted to see if it could be done. I had friends when I was a teen that did that, and I always thought it was neat, besides it teaches delayed gratification. :)
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Shout out from I-TEC
Just received an email from I-TEC, the organization founded by Steve Saint to empower the Waorani tribe of Ecuador. If you are familiar with the story of the "Auca Indians" (or the movie "The End of the Spear") then you may know that Steve Saint is the son of Nate Saint, one of the first missionaries to the Aucas, now called the Waorani. I'm including an excerpt here as it pertains to the work of Amazon Focus. (ALTECO, mentioned below, is an extension of Amazon Focus.) If you are interested in reading more, you can see the full text at http://www.itecusa.org/breaking.htm
Steve [Saint] will be in Brazil September 5-9th, attending the CONPLEI (National Council of Indigenous Evangelical Pastors and Leaders) conference, to be held in Porto Velho, in the northwestern region of Brazil. According to a recent ALTECO bulletin, 3000 tribal leaders from across the Amazon will attend, many traveling by river for weeks to come to this event.
ALTECO is “Amazon & Lowland Tribal Empowerment Coalition”, and was formed to empower tribal believers to reach the unreached people groups in the greater Amazon region. Their purposes and concepts so closely match those of I-TEC, we are excited about our participation. Steve is on the steering committee and we hope to work more closely with ALTECO in the future, combining forces to reach a common goal.
The “ALTECO Pledge” is taken from 1 Corinthians 1:9-14: “Our desire from the very start is to always pray for you, asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will and with spiritual wisdom, in order that you may:
- Live a life worthy of the Lord
- Please Him in every way
- Bear fruit in every good work
- Grow in the knowledge of God
- Be strengthened with all God’s power
- Have great endurance and patience
- And joyfully give thanks to the Lord
That’s a great list to post in a prominent place in our homes and hearts!
We think so too!! :)
Monday, September 25, 2006
Peru Pictures Added!
Greetings one and all!
If you are here looking for information or pictures relating to Steve's recent trip to Peru, you came to the right place!! We have been digging through the pictures the team took--there are about 2900 of them, I hear. So far I think I've seen almost a thousand. Trust me, you won't find that many here! :) We have pulled out the ones we thought would be most interesting and help to tell the story of the trip.
I categorized them rather than put them all in chronological order, so if you are only interested in the construction or the village you can just go right to that particular album. All the trip pictures in the album start with "08/06". You can look at them on the right in thumbnail size or click on the album picture and see them in a larger format. Enjoy!! :)
If you are here looking for information or pictures relating to Steve's recent trip to Peru, you came to the right place!! We have been digging through the pictures the team took--there are about 2900 of them, I hear. So far I think I've seen almost a thousand. Trust me, you won't find that many here! :) We have pulled out the ones we thought would be most interesting and help to tell the story of the trip.
I categorized them rather than put them all in chronological order, so if you are only interested in the construction or the village you can just go right to that particular album. All the trip pictures in the album start with "08/06". You can look at them on the right in thumbnail size or click on the album picture and see them in a larger format. Enjoy!! :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
