The Latest

We got to talk to Natalie on the phone this afternoon. It has been about a week since we had been able to communicate so it was wonderful to hear her voice. She and Drew and Nestor are all back in Quito Arma, the village they were in the first part of the trip.

They had to leave their team leader Leslie back in Huyatata because she has been so ill. Today, Natalie said that Leslie's temperature was over 100 for about 5 days. They think it is the flu. It seems she is feeling better and hopes to join them soon, but the communication is so limited, they really don't know when to expect her. There are some other missionaries in Huyatara who have been caring for Leslie and will likely be the ones to bring her back to Quito Arma.

Natalie, Drew and Nestor have been working again with Leoncio (the school principle) and his wife. They are taking him through the book of Matthew right now. They have had lots of distractions in the village, so they haven't gotten to meet with him as often as they were hoping but they are pressing on.

As we have mentioned before, there was a group coming from Gyer Springs First Baptist Church to work with Natalie's team for several days. This is the church that has committed to 3-5 years of working with the Peruvians who live in this area. She was very excited to have them coming and looking forward to the different activites they would get to do and also thought that they might be going to some of the other villages in the area. Unfortunately, only a couple of days after the GSFBC group arrived in the area, they were informed by the main missionaries in Peru that there was a transportation strike about to happen and they would have to leave early if they were going to be able to leave the country anytime in the near future. Apparently, the strike would shut down the Pam Am Highway which is the main artery through Central and South America. So after only a couple of days, and having traveled all the way from Little Rock, they had to leave. It is one of those things that happens that you know is God's will, but you can't for the life of you understand it. We asked Natalie today if she knew if the strike was over, but she hasn't been able to see the news since returning to Quito Arma.

We were thankful that they were able to take her a rather large "care package." I knew that the food options there were limited when one of the things she asked for more than once was canned vegatables. Not that she doesn't like veggies, but not really canned ones. I sent some banana nut bread muffins as well as canned fruit, notes, a little book, her coat, a package from Stephen and more. The Gyer Springs team was wonderful to take it all!

PRAISES:
1. The mid-summer debrief was fun, refreshing and inspiring.
2. Leslie is better and has had a missionary from the US that is a nurse caring for her.
3. None of the rest of their team has gotten sick.
4. Leoncio and his wife seem to be grownig.


PRAYER REQUESTS:
1. For the team to be wise and discerning and for Leoncio and his wife to be hungry as they all study the word together.
2. Wisdom for the team as they plan their strategy for the remaining few weeks.
3. Safe travel for any and all of the missionaries, especially during this strike.
4. Natalie is doing well, but she is VERY homesick. She knows she is where God wants her but it continues to be tough.

Thanks for your love, prayers and partnership. She is so thankful for each of you! If you have a chance, you can send her an e-mail at nataloo87@hotmail.com. She may or may not get it right away, but whenever she can it will be an encouragement. She is limited on her abilty to reply even when she can get on the Internet so she likely won't be able to respond, but she would love to hear from you.