Day Off Adventures.

(If you missed part one Pucallpa- A Simple Life... CLICK HERE)

After we wrapped up that time in San Juan, a desperately needed two days off had finally

arrived. Between the heat, and the ministry time we were worn out. So what did we

do? We fished.

One of my bucket list desires has been to fish in places like the Amazon. Why not

right? Not many people get that opportunity. So a bunch of us went along the river with

homemade fishing rods. We used some chicken guts, put them on a hook, got knee

deep in the murky water and put our lines in.

First fish- piranha.

I was hooked. We fished for a couple of hours, catching two different types of catfish,

and two types of piranhas. We saw leaf cutter ants, and a dead sloth. We also saw a

monstrous dead iguana that was being eaten in the water by the piranhas. Obviously it

is ideal to see these animals alive... but it was still cool to think that there could be a

sloth taking a nap in the tree right above us.

The second day we went to the zoo and held hands with monkeys. We then went over

to the jaguar cage, and Amanda somehow insulted a male jaguar which proceeded to

lunge at her through the cage. That was one of the coolest, scary moments in my life.

We are very thankful for the cage, otherwise I would have had to rip a jaguar in half and

pay the zoo for their loses. Ha!

their loses. Ha!

 

After our days off we prepared to check out of our hotel, and get on a boat. Where were we going? Up the Ucayali river, a tributary to the Amazon, to vist with a Shipibo community...

click HERE for part three...

June and July

We are now preparing for teams to start coming down in almost one month.  (In a later post I will describe each trip).  It has been quite an eye opening experience to plan each trip in a country foreign to me.  Sometimes in America things are as simple as a phone call.  Here a phone call can just be the beginning of a very long process.  Sometimes that "process" can change very unexpectedly.  Sometimes it can be a lot of fun; specifically the part about meeting new people, and trying to work out good deals.

Just a month ago Amanda and I were talking, and wishing that we could do more.  We have learned that this is a feeling we will probably have quite often as missionaries.  Now here we are in May, and sometimes there is so much work we can't even think straight.  This is something else we are also learning.

I was reading "My Utmost for His Highest" this morning and I thought it would be good to post Oswald Chambers words.  So here they are:

. . . add to your faith virtue . . . —2 Peter 1:5

Add means that we have to do something. We are in danger of forgetting that we cannot do what God does, and that God will not do what we can do. We cannot save nor sanctify ourselves— God does that. But God will not give us good habits or character, and He will not force us to walk correctly before Him. We have to do all that ourselves. We must “work out” our “own salvation” which God has worked in us ( Philippians 2:12 ). Add means that we must get into the habit of doing things, and in the initial stages that is difficult. To take the initiative is to make a beginning— to instruct yourself in the way you must go.

Beware of the tendency to ask the way when you know it perfectly well. Take the initiative— stop hesitating— take the first step. Be determined to act immediately in faith on what God says to you when He speaks, and never reconsider or change your initial decisions. If you hesitate when God tells you to do something, you are being careless, spurning the grace in which you stand. Take the initiative yourself, make a decision of your will right now, and make it impossible to go back. Burn your bridges behind you, saying, “Iwill write that letter,” or “I will pay that debt”; and then do it! Make it irrevocable.

We have to get into the habit of carefully listening to God about everything, forming the habit of finding out what He says and heeding it. If, when a crisis comes, we instinctively turn to God, we will know that the habit has been formed in us. We have to take the initiative where we are, not where we have not yet been.