This is a very personal update for such a public platform, and a bit uncomfortable for me to write mostly about myself, but if you can stick with me, I am hoping you’ll see the hand of God at work!

I have Addison’s disease, which is a rare, life-threatening endocrine disorder. My adrenals do not produce enough cortisol or aldosterone, which affects every cell and system of my body. Addison’s is a salt-wasting disease, which means it is impossible for my body to keep my electrolytes balanced without help. I have low blood volume and low blood pressure. I have to take a cocktail of steroids throughout the day every day to stay alive and I up-dose for extra stressful events like viruses, infections, shopping, traveling, being in large crowds or having visitors, heat or any time I break a sweat, and even for times of emotional stress, good or bad; all of which require time for me to recover for days or weeks which feels like recovering from a bad flu with heart failure. When people see me out and about, then it’s a “good” day, which means I have rested and prepared to be out, but that means spending energy I don’t have in order to look like there’s nothing wrong with me, and then I will pay for going out in recovery time. Some days are better than others, but every day is a fight.

Funny story: the laboratory we chose in town was the only lab here that, twenty-two years ago, used needles from a blister pack. This was a priority for me since we had heard horror stories of needles being “sterilized” for reuse. This lab did not use vacuum vials; instead, they used open glass vials, in which the phlebotomist would simply catch the blood as it was pumped out. I found this hilarious and would watch in amusement every time; usually, the sight of blood, even my own, does not bother me. This year, our normal lab returned to using the same paper-sealed, taped needles as the other labs. Oh well. At least they upgraded to vacuum vials.

After I got a slight cold mid February, I ran low grades every day thereafter for over two months, so we decided to get more tests done. The results found I had a massive infection which turned out to be an asymptomatic UTI. It took a couple of weeks of a strong antibiotic to clear up. I was hopeful I would feel better after the infection was gone, but I still wasn’t getting better, so we drove through the water over the road to go for more labs. This time, the phlebotomist struggled to find the vein and decided to twist and turn the needle around in my arm which made me faint and seize. Thankfully Vann was there to catch me. He said my eyes were open and I was not breathing except for a ragged snore every now and then - thankfully I didn’t swallow my tongue. I was unconscious for 5-8 minutes to the complete horror of the lab techs around me who could not figure out what to do. Poor Vann. After I came to, he carried me across the hall to lay me down on the only gurney in the place. Thankfully he was there since none of the tiny Peruvians could have moved me as I am head and shoulders taller than most of them. I slept for over half an hour on the gurney during which time they finished the six vial draw needed to send off to Lima. Recovering from this traumatic event took me a while longer than I would have liked. Actually, it was awful, but I was thankful it did not send me into an Addisonian crisis. Come to find out, my sodium levels are dangerously low, so after consulting my doctors I’ve been drinking over two teaspoons of salt in my water every day and upped my mineralocorticoid which has helped a bit. I am so thankful to still be here and in the fight.

I usually fight the fight of faith by being thankful and counting my blessings, which are many. This is a great tool I’ve learned to wield well, but being thankful for my blessings just wasn’t cutting it this time. Over the past couple of months, I have found myself more discouraged and angry about my limitations. I was lamenting and crying at God about it and begging Him for healing and help when He patiently showed me (again) how He himself is my prize, not the gifts He gives. I can thank Him in all things and for all things because His love is better than life itself. “The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me” Psalm 50:23a Sometimes thanksgiving feels like a sacrifice, but then God gets the glory, which is my primary purpose and goal in life.

I pushed myself beyond my limits to make a cake for one of my closest friends’ surprise birthday party. I volunteered to make it months ago, when I was stronger, and when I got a cold, I was hopeful I would be well enough in time, but I wasn’t. I worked on it in stages over two weeks. The day came to assemble and deliver it to the party, and although I was still not well, I was not willing to miss out on one more thing, so I got dressed and put makeup on for the first time in months. Vann drove me to the party in the rain while I carried this already wonky, very heavy, four-layer cake down our long, bumpy, dirt road. I arrived at the party completely exhausted and with a falling and battered cake. What a mess. I stayed only long enough for the fun surprise and to hug my friend’s neck, and then had Vann take me home. I was crashing out hard and was so sick. The next day, a team of eighteen people arrived for us to host, and I miraculously woke up feeling a little stronger, and by God’s grace alone, I was able to serve and talk to these precious people for five days in a row. Now, I did not do very much. I had lots of help, and this team took such good care of everything, but I did not think I’d even be able to get up out of bed, much less be able to serve and host. God gave me the grace and strength to do what He set before me to do. He is my wonder-working God who loves me and sees me. His love is better than life, therefore I will praise Him.

The Little Red School House team came again this year, led by our dear friend, Rozanna Leever, to teach English classes and share Jesus’ love at a local school, and to help out in a local church with Sunday School. This year, they brought their parents along to help us in various projects here on base. They are hard-working, super kind, salt of the earth people who finished the framing and did most of the wiring for the Little house, patched drywall in the Howe’s house, filled in the potholes in the driveway with gravel, weeded our garden, washed the dogs, and cleaned the pavilion and pool surround - all in two days! They were such a tremendous blessing to us, and this mission, and we look forward to hosting them again next year!

I know so many of you pray for me, specifically for my health. I thank you and beg you to continue. God hears your prayers, and He is good. Please also pray for Vann and the many, many things he does to keep this base running while serving everyone around him as only he can - fixing the fiberoptic lines and resetting satellites for the base internet, inventing and building the fuel-line for the generator, welding a wheeled cart to make his welder portable, bush hogging the fields before dry season, etc., etc., etc… We thank God for letting us be the ones to do this job - we love it! Thank you to each of you who pray for us, we ask God’s hand of blessing over each of you!

“People don’t enjoy salt. They enjoy what is salted. We are the salt of the earth. We do not exist for ourselves.” - John Piper

Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
My flesh and my heart fail;
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 73:25-26

What do you treasure in this life? Your house, health, family, job? I have recently been made aware of a treasure I’d been holding onto that now needs to be surrendered.

My grandmother’s two hundred year old house, built by my ancestors in 1830, is in danger of being demolished. It is one of the few homesteads in the Atlanta area to have survived Sherman’s burning in the Civil War. It is where my sister’s and I spent most of our childhood summers, where we lived after Daddy died, and where we all got married. It was our only “home” we ever had to go back to, and even though it’s not at all mine to lose, it feels like the loss of the only roots and stability I ever had. Cutting ties to the things I treasure does not come naturally to me, but when I look to Jesus’ face and see the One whom I treasure above all things, (that will all fade and rot anyway) then my heart is at peace. He is enormously worth the loss of all things. Like the man who found a pearl of great price in a field and joyfully went to sell all he had in order to buy that field - such is the Kingdom of God. He is of far greater value than anything or anyone.

We hosted a team retreat for one of our missionary families here on base earlier this month. It is a joy to see how God is using these precious people to plant churches in remote corners of this jungle. Hearing their stories of surrender and sacrifice and having left their families for the sake of the gospel is a reminder to us of why we’re here. This base is a necessary part of the church planting work among the unreached peoples of Peru. It creates a place of refuge, refreshment and rest in the middle of very difficult work.

The automatic transfer switch for the generator has finally been ordered, imported, and shipped over the Andes. Vann has received it on base and is now welding a stand and braces for it before he can connect it to the grid. We’re praying the connection happens smoothly (and soon) since we’ve been experiencing multiple outages recently. Base maintenance, supply buying and support for our families that are out in the tribe take up much of his time, and He loves it all! It really is a joy for him to serve our missionaries and see this base up and running just as we’d envisioned so long ago!

I have been rather unwell with a persistent low body temperature since catching a cold six weeks ago. Addison’s disease complicates everything, but I have help and support from my doctors, and I expect to get better soon. We’ve still been able to enjoy some delightful visits with precious friends. Thank you all for your prayers and support for us and our mission. We really couldn't do this without our faithful support team holding us up in prayer and encouraging us as we stay in the fight!

“The believer who treasures Christ learns to view all things in light of eternity, for Christ becomes the measure of all value and worth.” - Jonathan Edwards

Check this out. Vann’s grandparents built and ran a free camp for kids in Ila, Georgia called Camp Maranatha where he spent a lot of his childhood summers working with his beloved grandparents and many cousins. This is where his passion for youth camps comes from, since he has so clearly seen the enormous impact it can have in children’s lives. Well, guess what Iglesia Evangélica Emanuel chose for the theme of their camp - the very first camp of Camp Petra - “Maranatha”! It was like a little love note from Jesus for Vann!

We still have seven more cabins to build, the kitchen needs to be roofed (Vann just ordered the steel to build the rafters) and outfitted, and we need a dining hall. So far, the campers are cooking just outside the chapel on the new sidewalks (which works, but is not ideal), and eating/meeting inside. If you, your church, or Sunday school class is interested in sponsoring a cabin, or the building of the kitchen or dining hall, please find our “Contact.Donate” page for easy instructions, and write a note letting us know towards what the funds are designated. We are so excited to see how God is going to use this camp for His Kingdom work in our jungle region!

Please pray for these camp facilities, that God would protect every person who comes, that His Spirit would bring a revival to Pucallpa and many souls would be saved here at Camp Petra! All glory and honor be to Him and His wondrously great name! Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!

"If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.”- C. S. Lewis

All three of our children came home for Christmas break! We enjoyed every minute of time together as a family. We are so proud of these amazing young adults of ours that love God and each other and are diligently pursuing the path God has for each of them. We miss them terribly, especially since it’ll be a year until, Lord willing, we will see them again.

Our hearts are broken as we are grieving the loss of our dear friend, Felipe. He was a faithful friend and neighbor, brother in Christ, and great help to us in our mission. His kind and trustworthy spirit was an incalculable blessing to us. He was part of our family here as we are so far from our own. He has been with us for twenty years and it is hard to imagine what life will be like without him. His biggest prayer request and concern was the salvation of his children. Please pray for them and his precious wife, Juana during this very difficult time of loss.

We have a local church planning to come and use the Petra Camp facilities in February, but we realized that preparations on our own were going to take more time than we had. Our precious New Union Church Family came to the rescue! They called just asking for prayer requests, heard our need, decided they could help, and arrived within the week! In the two weeks they were here, they wired lights, installed screens, buttoned up the chapel, bath houses and cabins, and bush hogged all around the camp and all the pastures - which had been weighing on Vann’s shoulders to be done for quite some time. They worked so hard trimming up the grass around nearly every building on base and around the whole disk golf course. It had rained all the month before and solidly the week before they came, but in His goodness, God held off the rain just long enough for all this work to get done! Camp Petra is finally open!!! Thank you so very much New Union Church Family!

The second week our New Union team was here, we hosted a mission team from south GA of nine hard working men who came to help remodel a neighboring missionary’s kitchen, and a sweet couple from Canada who came for a vision trip and kindly jumped in to help wherever needed. It just so happens that he owns his own framing company in Canada and is helping build the interior walls of “The Little House”! God is so good. We hosted 14 people in our house and garage apartment, and received another missionary family in the Round Robin house for a couple months - Petra Mission Base Camp is full and we absolutely LOVE it!

Please pray for us as we are missing our children and grieving the loss of Felipe. Staying busy in the work is helpful, but our hearts still hurt. Life is so short. If you do not know Him as your Lord and Savior, please, please turn away from your sin, and confess Jesus to be Lord of your life, or you will ultimately loose your life for all eternity. Jesus is the only Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man comes to the Father God, but through Him.

“Rise, O Lord, into thy proper place of honor, above my ambitions, above my likes and dislikes, above my family, my health, and even my life itself.”― A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

Thanksgiving 2025 at Petra Base is in the books! We were super blessed to share the day with some of our dearest fellow missionaries and hear about the amazing things that are happening in this jungle! The variety and types of work and people groups being reached by the good news of Jesus Christ is absolutely extraordinary!

Vann bought a fan for the pavilion, welded up some bracing for it and installed it just in time for Thanksgiving! It is a game changer for events in the tropics! This was the first Thanksgiving ever we weren’t all drenched in sweat. Despite the fact it was a relatively cool and cloudy, 80° day, it was still steamy with the high humidity and very little breeze, but the fan made it just delightful! Along with helping a missionary couple move earlier this month, Vann has been going through, reworking and cleaning out all of the engines attached to the miscellaneous machines on base, fixing electrical issues, extending the slab foundation and roof for the generator, and diligently taking advantage of the few dry days to cut the grass. I am so thankful for all of his hard work keeping up this base!

I had a much slower month than I anticipated. I have now survived my 12th blood clot. This one was special though, since it is a “breakthrough clot,” meaning it was unprovoked while on blood thinners (for FactorV Leiden). Even though it was a surface vein thrombosis, it is still a significant, physically stressful event which (along with Addison’s disease) made me feel very ill for longer than I thought was necessary. I am thankful for knowledgeable doctors, the medication to help, and by God’s grace, I am still in the fight and was better enough in time to host Thanksgiving!

Thank you all who pray for us and support us and this mission! Your notes of encouragement through the mail, emails and messages mean the world and remind us we are not alone. As you pray for us, please also pray for salvation and revival in Pucallpa, and pray for the physical, emotional, and spiritual safety of each of our missionary families we support on base and in this community! May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

“The thing that awakens the deepest fountain of gratitude in a human being is that God has forgiven his sin.”
― Oswald Chambers

A few days after arriving home in Pucallpa, we turned right around and flew to Lima to purchase this brand new FG Wilson 80kw generator! We are SO excited about what God has done! This machine will be a blessing to countless people for many years to come and without the struggle it would have been to maintain an old, beat-up machine like the one we tried to purchase the first time!

It will still take some time and work for Vann to get it online with an automatic transfer switch and fuel tank - but how exciting! This extraordinary piece of machinery is a huge part of the infrastructure on this mission base that will make this jungle life so much easier for us and all of the dedicated missionaries we are privileged to serve here on Petra base. An enormous THANK YOU to each of you who gave so sacrificially to help meet this need! What a great God we serve who so abundantly provided more than we could even ask or think for the glory of His great name!

After several years of careful planning and saving, we were able to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary with a trip to Europe! This year we are also celebrating Vann’s 50th birthday and we are empty nesters; it’s a big year for us! We found $180 tickets from JFK to Paris that we couldn’t pass up, so we started in the beautiful City of Love, and then enjoyed visiting with some of our dearest, lifelong friends in Spain and Switzerland that filled our hearts with precious memories we will treasure forever. After training our way through Italy, the end of our trip was the cherry on top with a Nicolosi family reunion in Nicolosi, Sicily - what a dream come true! Daddy would have absolutely loved it all so much. He was with us in our hearts and our brother RJ and Kristina were with us in spirit!

God had the biggest surprise gift for me through this trip - Europe, with its lovely Northern Hemisphere climate, and So. Many. Steps! (meanwhile up-dosing my medication in order to walk so much), collectively helped strengthen my body beyond what I have experienced in years or ever imagined possible again! God gave me the time away in that beautiful place to help me heal so I could face coming home to an empty nest and get back to work. He is so faithful and kind! We had the trip of a lifetime! Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!

A few days before flying home, we drove to Liberty University to spend the weekend with Clara for her 19th birthday! She is excelling in her classes and enjoying college life so much; she has made some sweet friends and is already discipling a coworker! It was such a treat to get to be all together for a few days. We were especially blessed by our “LeahDahlin’” (Corynn’s best friend from college and Ethan’s girlfriend of over two years) coming all the way from Cedarville University where she is in her second year of her Doctorate of Pharmacology program to spend the weekend with us. She so sweetly joined in with our games, theological discussions, teasing and wonderful family time. These kiddos are all four doing so well in their studies and jobs. They’re each involved in serving in their churches, and they love Jesus; there is truly no greater joy!

Please pray for us as we are getting our feet under us here at home. We are still in the process of fixing things and getting the base up and running again; it usually takes a few weeks to do so after we’ve been gone for awhile, and now it’s just the two of us for the first time ever. I am hopeful I can keep up my strength even in the heat and the stress of life here. Every day is a gift. I still pray for healing, and am trying to keep moving in order to keep my momentum. I am keenly aware that my life is not my own, and God is still good with or without my health. Therefore, we will keep fighting this fight of faith knowing that life is worth the living just because He lives!

“After the Lord has tried our faith, He, in the love of His heart, gives us an abundance. For the glory of His name and for the trial of our faith, He allows us to be poor and then graciously supplies our needs.” - George Müller

Thanks be to God and to so many of you who have responded to His leading and have given sacrificially; we now have not only enough funds to replace what was stolen for a used generator, but God has supplied the funds to buy a new one! And not only that, but possibly also enough to cover shipping costs, an automatic transfer switch, and perhaps even a fuel storage tank. Our God is so good, so big, and so great! He has done so much more than we could’ve ever imagined! Praise Him with us!!!

This summer trip has been a full one! Traveling and being away from home for months on end is more difficult as we get older, but we have LOVED being able to see so many of our precious family, friends, and churches! We were given the opportunity to hug, pray over, and say goodbye to a couple of our dear friends that stepped into glory a few days and weeks since. Heaven will be a sweet reunion!

Our non-climate-controlled storage had not been sorted since we moved to Peru 21 years ago, so it was definitely past time to sort it. As we tackled the project, we found so much of it had been ruined by mildew and mold due to standing water from a plumbing mishap this past year. We thew away irreplaceable family memorabilia and heirlooms. It was hard. My sweet sister-in-law gave the experience a title: “surgery of the heart”, and that is precisely what it was. It was a reminder that this is what we signed up for; we left this world, friends and family behind to follow Jesus a long time ago, and He is still worthy of it all.

Clara drove herself to Liberty University with the help of some of the most precious friends-that-are-family! By the time we went to go visit her, she had already settled in, started a job, and her nursing classes have begun! We are amazed at her strength and thankful she is leaning on God for her needs and direction. He is faithful and able to care for her every day of her future as He has in the past.

Ethan is now a senior at Kennesaw State working on his Mechanical Engineering degree. He completed a second summer engineering internship and has continued his employment part time with the same company during the school year! We are so proud of his servants’ heart as he serves the youth in his local church and leads his Cru group on campus!

Corynn has been working as a Behavioral Health Therapist while studying through an MCAT prep course for these past many months. She took the MCAT last week and we are so very proud of her hard work! What a wonder to see her love God and love those around her while she works herself to the bone to follow God’s leading on her life!

We miss our kids, but it is our greatest joy to watch them walk in Truth as they learn to love God and follow Him on their own. Thank you all for your prayers, generosity, hospitality, and patience with us as we’re traveling and “out of pocket”. May the Lord bless and keep you all, and please, to those who can, come see us in the jungle!

“Jesus is more satisfying than all that life can offer and all that death can take.” - Mike Riccardi

The reality of living in two places is odd and at times challenging. It is a surreal feeling to arrive back in our “passport country” with our children and families, and where everything is familiar and makes sense, while at the same time our hearts are tightly tied to our Peru, and we find ourselves frequently thinking about and praying over our mission, neighbors, church, and friends. It is hard to leave our work, lives and home even for a brief amount of time. This magnifies our awareness that we are simply sojourners on this Earth and Heaven is our home.

We are extremely thankful for the Shüttlers! They are a tremendous blessing to us and to our mission as they have come all the way from Germany to “Base-sit” for us! They are perfectly equipped to handle the special challenges that come with running a mission base in the jungle and have the most sweet, servants hearts!

The poor things have already had to deal with a mishap where the 130’ communications tower on base collapsed! Thankfully, no one was injured and we are trusting God will provide for another tower to restore the base’s connection to the outside world. Please pray God’s hand of blessing and protection over them and their time of service in Peru!

One of the great joys of furlough is the opportunity to see our family and friends, and to make new friends. Although it seems there is never enough time with each of you, we thoroughly enjoy every bit of it, and look forward to an eternity of fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ! He is coming again soon!

In between Sundays - every one of which is scheduled with a church meeting - Vann is helping our children fix their cars, work on his mother’s house, and is helping Clara get her driver’s license, bank account, credit card, etc. All the things it takes to launch a jungle, missionary kid into her adult life in the USA.

Every time we are at Vann’s mother’s house, we work on one or more renovation projects for her. This time, one of our wonderful supporting churches came ahead of us and did the demolition and installed the sub flooring, which saved us so much time! We are so very grateful for their thoughtful help and care for our family. We are super blessed to get to be here, and look forward to seeing as many of you precious, dear ones as possible! May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

“My longing for home was never meant to be fulfilled in this life.” - Velvet Ashes

We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary this month! In sickness and in health, richer or poorer, for better or for worse; goodness knows, we have had our share of it all! By God’s grace, life together has been so sweet. It just gets sweeter as the days go by! We’ve been given a great, love-of-a-lifetime, storybook romance that has been the most precious gift as we walk through this amazing, challenging life. Thankful we work so well as a team - always toward the goal of Heaven and taking as many souls with us as we can! We just wrapped up leading a Bible study that focused on the purpose of marriage. The purpose being: to bring God glory as our singular focus while on earth, to make disciples along the way, and to use the short time we have to prepare one another for the day we will meet Jesus face to face. In comparison, nothing else matters!

Our Clara graduated high school with highest honors and two years of college credits! She worked so hard for this amazing accomplishment, and we are extremely proud of her. Clara has received a full tuition scholarship at Liberty University and will be pursuing a degree in nursing this coming Fall. She has already moved Stateside and is working through the summer to pay her room and board. Please be praying for her as she adjusts to life away from home and all things familiar.

The “Little House” is now dried-in and safe from the elements with windows, doors and exterior moulding completed! We are wrapping things up here in preparation to head out soon for our furlough. It’s not easy to leave a whole mission base to be running in our absence, but we are extremely thankful for our dear friends who are coming from Germany to base-sit for us! They are an amazing missionary couple who were in charge of the Swiss Mission’s base maintenance for many years, so not only are they competent and perfect for the job, they are very dear friends!

Thank you for your prayers for Vann’s kidney stones! It turns out after a CT scan, that what the previous ultrasound had showed as a 9mm stone (which is life threatening if it gets stuck trying to pass) and two other 6.5ish stones are in fact two small stones in one kidney and three small stones in the other. This is good news since they are passable sizes and he will not need surgical intervention! He has passed a couple of them in the last two months, so we are hopeful that he can continue to manage with pushing lots of fluids.

May the Lord bless and keep each of you as you pray, care, and walk with us in this mission to get the gospel to those who have never heard the good news; Jesus saves, and He is coming again soon!

“Let me make my service of Jesus my occupation, my life-work, my one pursuit.” - Charles Spurgeon

“April showers bring May flowers…” or they bring massive lightning strikes. A lightning bolt recently hit close enough to our line to blow up a bunch of lightning arrestors, fuses, and even melt some of the fuse holders off the poles. We were out of power for almost 40 hours. Super fun. Ironically, this happened the very day that Vann had another appointment at the police station about the generator scam while our whole base was without power which also means no water or internet. A generator would have been very nice. The electrical surge killed my ovens. Vann is trying to see if there’s a way to resurrect them, but until then, less baking for me! We are very thankful for the men that worked to fix the power, especially since they had to fight killer bees that had nested in one of the power poles - no easy day.

We were delighted to host a team earlier this month from Pennsylvania led by our dear friend, Rozanna. She is one of those friends that is like family, so when she wants to bring her class of ten eighth graders to the jungle for a missions trip, then the answer is a definite “yes”! These kiddos came willing to wade through the waters across the road with their bags on their heads, and along with our Clara, they cheerfully served in a local church and in the English classes in a local school. They were so very well behaved and a blessing to everyone who met and interacted with them. Their parents and teachers should be very proud. Please pray for the salvation of the van driver that we hired for the team as Vann was able to spend a considerable amount of time talking and sharing the gospel with him!

God had His hand of mercy on our dear Rozanna. As she was leading her group through Cuzco (after leaving the jungle) she miraculously survived a major heart attack! Clara and I left for Lima right away to meet her there as well as her husband, Steve, who was able to fly in that same day. Some dear friends of ours offered us the use of their beautiful apartment in Lima, so we had a safe place of refuge for Steve and the sweet nurse, Jodi, who traveled with Rozanna. From a safe evacuation out of Cuzco to the presence of a cardiac nurse already within Rozanna’s group, every detail worked out so perfectly by God’s grace. She made it to a clinic in Lima where she ended up having the two top cardiologists in the country perform her surgery, and to top it all off, God has given me the health sufficient to travel and serve even after hosting a team! Praise God! While I was in Lima, my phone was stolen right out of my hand while I was speaking to my Uber driver, so that added a bit of stress, but I am thankful that we were not harmed and the only thing lost was a phone.

The Round Robin’s kitchen is in working order! The countertops are installed along with the sink and faucet, so it is now a usable kitchen, albeit unfinished. The cabinets still have a long way to go, but we are thankful to be able to leave the house in functioning order!

We are in full wrapping-up mode here as we are getting ready to leave for furlough this coming summer. Clara will be moving to the States after she graduates in May, and Vann and I will follow her up in June to begin our whirlwind of visits. Since I am feeling so much better, it is my hope that we can actually visit some of our churches and supporters this time! Every weekend is booked and we are very much looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible. Please pray for our family as we come nearer this time of transition of launching our last child into her adult life and we become empty nesters. Most of our travels and visiting will now just be the two of us.

Please pray for salvation and revival in Pucallpa and in every remote corner of this country and for the safety of each of our missionary families that are all diligently working toward this end! All praise, honor and glory to our Risen Savior for his goodness to us and allowing us to live and serve in our beloved Peru.

“And I will cause the showers to come down in their season. They shall be showers of blessing.”Ezekiel 34:26

High water season is a normal, annual occurrence here in the jungle, but this year the water levels rose beyond what anyone has ever documented in our region - higher even than the “100 year flood” of 2010! It has been devastating for many, and we are thankful for this past week of sunshine that has helped the waters begin to recede. For three weeks the water has been too high for us to drive through, and we have no idea how much longer this will last. We have had to transport ourselves and supplies via canoe, and at times, our kind, indigenous neighbors help us with their boats. Our precious neighbors from the Swiss mission have allowed us to rent their vehicles when we had pressing need to go to town - we are so thankful for kind neighbors! As we watched the waters continue to rise, we thanked God over and over for his guidance so long ago in purchasing land on top of a hill - all of our structures are safe!

This is a hard bit of news to share - after saving for years and raising funds together with every family on this base, we finally went to buy a generator, and after much searching and shopping, we ended up getting scammed by some incredibly savvy thieves. It is a total loss. We found what appeared to be a mining operation selling lightly used and well maintained machinery due to government regulations that obligate them to renew equipment every 6 years. All of the paperwork and official documents as well as business accounts seemed to line up as a legitimate and reputable company. After paying them and sending a truck to pick up our new machine, we learned that this reputable company does not sell machinery of any kind, and we had been ripped off. What a sickening moment! It doesn't feel good to be duped and robbed - especially when we were the ones entrusted with the money to make a wise purchase. It took a couple of water crossings to go to the police station for long days of filing reports, but there is very little hope that there will be any resolution. While we are feeling somewhat devastated, we are praying that even in our disappointment, anger, and embarrassment, God will be glorified as we obediently give thanks in every circumstance. We ask the forgiveness of those who generously and sacrificially gave towards our generator project. We will have to wait awhile longer for a backup generator, and are truly excited to see how God is going to use this situation for His Glory. “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Vann’s body responds to stress by kicking out kidney stones. He passed one a couple of weeks ago and has continued in pain since then, so he went to get an ultrasound and found he has 9mm and 6.5mm stones in his right kidney, and a 6.2mm stone in his left kidney. The 9mm stone is cause for concern and is close to the emergency surgery point; if it doesn't get stuck, it would still take months for it to pass. The pain makes working, sleeping and life in general more difficult, so we are looking into his options for surgery as soon as possible in order to prevent prolonging his pain. Please pray for Vann.

Thank you all for your kindness in your prayers and support for us and Petra Mission Base. We are humbled and thankful that we get to do this work. Though we become weary at times, we are all the more grateful for your encouragement and care for us over the many miles and years. We ask God’s hand of blessing over you as He keeps you in His perfect peace.

“You will never know God's strength until He has supported you in deep waters.” - Charles Spurgeon

We are so thankful for the body of Christ! In God’s amazing providence He sent us a team from two churches in Georgia to come and help us with the mission for a week. They came just in time to help us make the “Round Robin” guesthouse ready for one of our missionaries to stay! Thanks to their hard work and generosity the “R.R.” guesthouse is fully furnished (except for the kitchen), and we now have both camp bath houses finished and functioning!

God knows what we need, and he sent people with the specific skills needed to bless this mission. An engine mechanic came that helped work on nearly all the vehicles and equipment on base which saved Vann so much time working on maintenance! One of the team members was a plumber at one point in his life and he finished all the hookups for the camp bath houses as well as fixing up the camp well pump. One of the pastors spent a considerable amount of time bush hogging the pastures – which is always on Vann’s never-ending to-do list. Everyone worked so hard with sweet, servant’s hearts painting bathroom vanities, hanging mirrors and curtains, making beds in the “R.R.” - for which they purchased ALL the mattresses needed for the four sets of bunkbeds – Praise God!

They framed out the windows for the little house to be dried-in soon, and even served breakfast and washed dishes every day to help ease my load. It is a beautiful thing when the body of Christ works together for the singular goal of the spread of the gospel to the nations. We feel so blessed by our churches coming to visit who encourage us and work beside all of us here on Petra base. Thank you, First Baptist of Blue Ridge, GA and Altamaha Baptist Church, of Jesup, GA for coming and serving so sacrificially - all for the love of God!

Sometimes, our days feel full of menial work that does not seem very glamorous, but we have to kill our pride and be willing to do the little things that God has set before us to do for the Kingdom and for the love of God! Jesus is coming again, any day now, and what are you doing about it? Are you ready to meet the King of Glory and give an account of your life? Please, surrender your life to Him while you have breath, grow in your knowledge and love for Him until every little thing you do is for His glory and for the love of God.

“That we ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed.” - Brother Lawrence

Our family has been soaking up every bit of the time that we’ve been able to spend together this Christmas season! Our kids have all aced their classes this past semester and are enjoying their break from studying and working. We are very proud of them and so thankful to have them all home!

Earlier this month, the Emmanuel Church came to use our pool for their baptism service! It was such a lovely celebration of these precious souls’ salvation. They set up chairs in the pavilion and had a beautiful worship service here in our back yard; it was glorious!

We had the pleasure of receiving some of our dearest friends from Switzerland for Christmas this year! These brothers are missionary kids who were raised in the Swiss mission a mile down the dirt road from us, and are precious, lifelong friends. It is a special gift to have loved ones that travel so far to come spend Christmas with us!

Corynn turned 22 years old yesterday! She is now a certified behavioral therapist and will be working at a clinic in the North Georgia mountains while she completes her pre-req’s for medical school. We are so proud of her amazing accomplishments, but even more so of her godly character and genuine dedication to loving and following Jesus.

Jesus, the God and maker of the universe, humbled himself by coming to Earth in the form of a baby - born to die in order to reconcile us to God. He knows what it is to suffer, to be human, frail and a homeless sojourner. We follow Him and his example, leaving our loved ones so that every tribe and language will know His name. It is our privilege to do this mission work. It has cost us everything that we could have been and done had we stayed in our passport country, but there is nowhere else we would rather be in the whole wide world! We cannot do this alone; we thank God for each of you who pray for us and support our mission, and we ask Him to bless and keep you as you follow Him in this coming year!

“My prayer is that people will see that following Jesus costs you everything you are and everything you have. And my prayer is that people will see that Jesus is worth it.” - David Platt

Thanksgiving 2024 is in the books! It always feels like a sweet family gathering when our fellow missionaries come to celebrate thanksgiving with us. Hearing about how God is at work in the various ministries in this jungle, and the list of blessings and miraculous provision is always our favorite part! We testify together that God is faithful to hold us fast and go with us as we live this life of faith.

We have so much to be grateful for - not the least of which is the fact that construction on the Round Robin guesthouse is finished! One week after our New Union team left, Friends In Action (FIA) sent us a work team for two weeks. They gave so much of their time, energy, and expertise to help us complete this house sooner than we ever thought possible!

We are absolutely thrilled with the progress and so very grateful for such good help and sweet fellowship with these hard working saints who have such kind, servants’ hearts!

All that is left to do now is shelving, cabinets and furniture. Vann will be in his wood shop for awhile - what we would do for an Ikea right now! If there’s a cabinetry carpenter out there that’s looking for a way to serve, we sure could use a hand!

Thank you to our precious support team for doing the hard work behind the scenes of praying for us and over us. You have faithfully sent the funds to keep this mission going in the service of the Kingdom and cared for us and encouraged us with your texts and letters so we don’t feel quite so far away. You all demonstrate so well how the body of Christ works together to proclaim the glory of the great name of Jesus Christ our Lord!

“The greater our present trials, the louder will our future songs be, and the more intense our joyful gratitude.” - Charles Spurgeon

This base and its function is running in a tangible way that our visitors can see! With the amazing help of a work team from one of our precious supporting churches in Georgia, we are in the finishing stages for the Round Robin house! Everyone worked so hard in this intense heat - painting, installing window molding, light fixtures and switches and after some grueling repair work to the concrete floor, they began the installation of the flooring! The exterior plumbing was connected to the septic tank after the ditches were dug out by the most hardworking and loving 73 year old pastor that you’ll ever meet, who also spent considerable time on the tractor bush hogging the pastures and even leveling out the yards of the missionary housing base - things that have been in sore need of doing but for which Vann has had so little time. This team had the unique opportunity to meet three of the families that we house and support on this base. We had lunch with each family as they shared about their tribal ministries and how living here facilitates their mission work. What a neat opportunity for visitors to witness the function of this base from the perspective of those who live within it and are served by it - praise God!

We are so thankful for the cheerful, hard work that was given by this group of godly men, but even more precious was their visit and encouragement to us. This church has come down many times over the years and have now adopted our kids in North Georgia into their church family making sure that they’re well fed and cared for - physically and spiritually. They are an answer to many years of our prayers for our children’s well being after they launch into their lives as young adults so far away from home and everything familiar to them - that they would be involved in a loving, Spirit-filled, Christ-following body of believers, and this church is an amazing answer to those prayers!

Vann came down with a gnarly cold that went straight to his lungs, and I went into hibernation the weekend after the team left. During that time, the Sunday School teachers from the indigenous tribe across the lake from us brought all the kids over for a swim in the pool. They know that there are bins of swim suits available for them to find which size and kind matches each child’s needs. The young people of a neighboring mission came over to play disc golf and swim, and several other young missionary families also came to the pool. It just delights me that all of these people know that they’re welcome to come, rest and enjoy themselves here at Petra Base - even without us personally entertaining them if we’re under the weather. The infrastructure and facilities of our hospitality center took a long time to build, but it was so worth it all!

Clara turned eighteen years old earlier this month! This was the last of the birthday parties that we have had the pleasure to throw for our children. It is the end of an era which feels a bit surreal. We are so very blessed to be her parents and to have watched her grow from our shy little girl into the beautiful young woman that she is now. She loves Jesus and others so well, and we cannot wait to see all of the amazing things that God will do through her precious life!

Thank you all for your love, care, and prayers for our family and for this mission. We absolutely cannot do this without you, and we are so thankful for your support and God’s amazing grace that holds us up. A huge thank you to those who came to serve and to those who sent them; it is a sacrifice of time, effort, and funds, but it is all for the glory of His great name and nothing is wasted!

“Facing a task unfinished, that drives us to our knees, a need that, undiminished, rebukes our slothful ease, we, who rejoice to know you, renew before your throne the solemn pledge we owe you to go and make you known.” - Frank Houghton

This month is the 20th anniversary of our move to Peru. Twenty years have gone by in a blink! Just yesterday, it seems, we were moving here with two infants in arms, utterly unprepared for all the complex and wonderful things that life in this jungle would bring. At the same time, it feels like we have poured our whole lives into this mission, and everything else that came before was another lifetime ago. Our children have grown up and are almost all gone. We have a few more months with Clara still at home, and we are soaking up every minute. 

Petra Mission Base Camp did not exist 20 years ago. Now, behind the hospitality center with our mission house, pool, pavilion, and garage apartment, there are four houses (two are under construction) in the missionary housing area, which will serve five families - probably more. The camp has three cabins and a foundation for another, two bathhouses, a chapel, and a kitchen still being built. It is good to pause and look back to count our blessings and see all of the marvelous things that God has done, for He has done great, big things! 

We have been here alone all these years - without teammates (for whom we still pray), but God so clearly proved to us that He is all we need. His goodness and mercy have been present with us every day of our lives. I had a difficult time in our early days here - life with babies and an unknown illness was challenging, to put it lightly. Those days, I would unkindly refer to this jungle as the “armpit of the earth - it’s hot, sweaty, and it stinks.” It took some time, but God and the Peruvians changed my heart; they are welcoming and wonderful people. Love for Peru came after stepping out in obedience and faith, and His joy became my strength. God’s grace is greater than all my sin, sickness, or discomfort!

We could fill a book listing all the ways God has blessed our family and protected us. He has seen us through so much - sicknesses and infectious diseases of varying kinds and severities, motorcycle and car accidents, pioneer living in a house under construction with three babies and no electricity or running water, a home invasion when evil men broke into and shot up our house, countless stings and bites from jungle critters that have both built up our immunity and sent us to the emergency room, mountains of paperwork necessary to live here legally, wildfires, strikes that shut down all road, air, and river transport for weeks at a time, nine presidents, the most prolonged shutdowns of the pandemic with the highest death rate worldwide, and through it all God’s grace has been more than sufficient. Every struggle and difficulty reminds us to turn our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

So much of our blood, sweat, and tears have been spilled on this ground where God placed us. He so clearly called us to go; he gave us the vision, the land, our fantastic support team, and the ability, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to do what he set before us to do. Where He leads, He provides, and He has provided all of the equipment we need, i.e., a tractor!, woodworking tools, a portable sawmill, vehicles, and everything it takes to build a mission base in the jungle. Building and running this base is our life's work, and we are so thankful that we get to be the ones to do this job and for all of you who have helped support, pray, and care for us along the way. We couldn't have done it without you and the magnificent grace of God!

It is easy in this "looking back" to see the tangible things that have been built - which are an incredible testimony to God's provision and Vann's ingenuity and capabilities, but there is so much that cannot be seen for which we praise God. The amount of time spent in discipleship, mentoring, teaching, counseling in quiet, and hosting multitudes cannot be counted. The tribal communities that have missionaries who are able to continue in their work, because they can come here to rest and be refreshed when needed, are incalculable. Vann's technical help for every mission around us is an inglorious job he absolutely loves. Support missions is not glamorous, but it is vital. We are humbled and grateful that we get to live and serve here in Peru. This is home. 

“The true end of life is, to live not to ourselves, but to Him who died for us; and while we devote ourselves to His service upon earth, to rejoice in the prospect of being happy with Him forever in Heaven.” - John Newton

It is deep winter in the southern hemisphere, and dry season here in the jungle. I very much enjoy this season for the cooler nights, fewer mosquitoes, and dry earth to walk and drive on instead of mud, with the exception of the wildfires all around and thick smoke that insufferably pollutes the air for weeks on end.

Our dear indigenous neighbors choose to burn their farmland in the middle of dry season every year, and the fires burn out of control and inevitably burn their neighbors’ land as well. This is not a surprise or a new problem. About half of the years that we’ve lived here we have had to fight wild fires that run unchecked from every direction.

This year the fires came closer to our buildings on our base than ever before. We nearly lost our camp cabins due to gusts of wind that blew the fire across our firebreak. Our base is safe thanks to the wonderful men of our own base as well as those of our neighboring missions and their willingness to run to help us when called with their water tanks. Vann fought this fire for seven straight days and nights when God finally sent the rain that so many of you had been praying for, and the fire was mostly extinguished. Even though we are out of imminent danger, we are still on fire alert until October when rainy season comes again.

When not fighting fires, Vann and crew have made some amazing progress on the Round Robin house! He is teaching a couple of local guys how to hang and finish drywall, so that is moving along nicely albeit slowly while they learn. If they can learn it well, they will be among the very few in this area who have this training, so should benefit them to have one more marketable skill.

Vann has set the tub and shower pan, and with some of my help, finished wiring the outlets, switches, and electrical panel. He is working so diligently to get this house finished!

One of the families that will be living in the Round Robin was just staying in our one-bedroom apartment with four kids while they waited for a flight out to their tribe where they are working. It will be such a huge blessing for them to have some space to stretch out and rest when the house is ready!

Our Clara is home!!! She had a wonderful time visiting and working with family this summer, but boy are we delighted to have her home with us again! Her senior year will be full of dual enrollment classes as she works toward graduating high school with her first two years of college classes completed. We are very proud of her hard work!

God is in control of all the earth, the wind, the fire, and the rain. We trust him to take care of the elements while we do everything within our power to steward well that which is entrusted to us. A huge “Thank you!” to all of you who pray for us, support us, and encourage us! You absolutely help keep us going along with the amazing grace of God. May everything we do be to the glory, praise, and honor of his great name as we make him known among the nations!

“God does not prevent the storms from coming. But He is a God who is both present through them and sovereign over them.” - Alistair Begg

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.

“Let us labor for this one thing, that we may lead men to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.” - C.H. Spergeon

It is amazing to see the vision that God gave us so long ago turn into 3D reality around us. Though sometimes we have a hard time seeing it clearly through the daily grind. We tend to live with a bit of tunnel vision, focused on doing the next thing among all the things it takes to build and run a mission base in the jungle. When visitors come and point out all of the growth and advancement since their last visit, their fresh perspective allows us a broader view of the progress and is a real encouragement!

The siding is finished on the little house, and the interior insulation is being installed. It is looking more and more like a house!

Vann is running electrical in the Round Robin house getting ready for the next step, drywall hanging and finishing. But guess what? Help is on the way! We are really excited about some dear friends of ours coming soon to help with the drywall project. God’s timely provision just shouldn’t surprise us anymore!

A couple of our bulls have been giving us awful trouble by breaking through our fences and leading the rest of the herd away a mile down the road and even onto the airstrip of our neighboring aviation base! That quickly went from an annoyance to an unacceptable danger. They have since been sold to market, but through these recent struggles it came to our attention that most of you do not know why we have cows on a mission base. Our reasons are twofold - they massively help keep the grass down which saves Vann days on the tractor every month, and they help protect our property from invasion. We actually have more legal right to defend our ownership with livestock than simply with a title. It’s wild, but definitely worth dealing with dumb bovine. The realities of living, building, and protecting anything in this jungle take an eternal perspective to make sense.

We were super thankful for a short getaway to celebrate our anniversary! It was a much needed time of rest in a beautiful, remote spot on Peru’s northern coast. One of the blessings of spending some quiet time away is a fresh perspective and readiness to jump back into the work that can seem at times so big and unending, but so very worth it all! Jesus is worth everything. He is more than anything we could ever accomplish, be, do, or have in this life.

A HUGE thank you for this new website and email format to my dearest brother-in-law who has all the talent and patience to help me, and no time to do it but chose to help anyway. SO thankful!

Thank you all for your love, care, prayers, and support for us, our children, and for all of the tribal working missionaries that we support from this mission base. We pray for each of you too. We ask God’s hand of blessing and protection over you, and we thank Him for blessing and enriching our lives with family and friends. For the sake of Jesus’ great name and making it known among the nations - he is worth it all.

“Radical obedience to Christ is not easy... It's not comfort, not health, not wealth, and not prosperity in this world. Radical obedience to Christ risks losing all these things. But in the end, such risk finds its reward in Christ. And he is more than enough for us.”

―David Platt

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