Our family was spread across the globe for a little while this summer. Corynn and Ethan were both blessed by generous friends who helped them attend a wedding in Switzerland! The bride and groom were raised here in Pucallpa, Peru, and are childhood friends of our kids. It was an absolute highlight for them to go to the wedding which ended up being a class reunion as well as the opportunity to see some of the beauty of Europe. Corynn’s adventure was extended a few days as she was stranded in Germany by the “global glitch”! Thankfully she was safe with precious friends. Clara is still working as a nanny in GA and enjoying time with extended family and friends. We look forward to her return home next month!
It’s been a full month with visitors and summer teams that so kindly and sacrificially came to labor alongside us! We were super blessed to have a dear couple come and work on the drywall in the Round Robin house. They worked so hard in this heat even while sick with colds. He is one of the few people who have bicycled over the Andes mountains while his wife very bravely drove the follow car from Lima to Pucallpa! As amazing as that is, that wasn’t the most extraordinary thing. His mother sadly passed away while they were here in Peru, and instead of flying straight back to the States, they were determined to stay and help us anyway. So, they did. They are very special people and very, very dear to our hearts.
Our neighbors were so kind as to share their summer team with us. They came on loan for a day and painted the exterior siding of the little house all in one day! Every bit of help is so appreciated, but getting to know them and spend a bit of time with them was certainly the cherry on top! It is a joy to meet brothers and sisters in Christ that are willing to sacrifice their time, energy, and money to come labor and serve. We are humbled and grateful!
Vann has run the electrical lines in the Round Robin which completed what needed to be done in the walls making it ready for the drywall to be hung. I have always been so amazed at his ability to do anything and everything and his drive to work hard and labor every day in extreme conditions to God’s glory. However, last week, we were soberly reminded to take as much care as possible with his diet, rest, and stress level. Vann’s older brother survived a massive heart attack and is recovering well, thanks be to God! He is so young. It shook us to have almost lost him. Every heartbeat is a gift.
We are all eternal beings who will spend eternity either in peace with God, or in agony without Him, FOREVER. We have all sinned and deserve the death penalty in God’s court, but he made a way to save us from eternal death! He sent his son, Jesus, who was born to a virgin, lived a perfect sinless life, died a gruesome death on the cross in our stead, was buried, and rose from the grave three days later. He is alive, and he is the ONLY way to God. Confess with your mouth that he is Lord, believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, and you will be saved!
Many thanks to each of you who love us so well. We are so grateful for you - you who pray over us, reach out with a word of encouragement, support our ministry, care for our big kids in our absence, and come down to visit and serve alongside us! May the Lord bless and keep you in His love and care.