Back in the saddle
Hello our friends and family!
I’m sure you’ve been wondering, “What’s new in Peru?” Let me fill you in…. The biggest piece of news is that after less than a month after being back, we received all of the rest of the finances we set out to raise. Isn’t God amazing? We stand in awe.
We have had a lot more repair work to do this time upon returning than in previous years. Some of it was just that some stuff had put in its time and needed attention. We had to replace several engines on machines that our gardener had forgotten to put oil in, or in some cases, just not known how to properly care for things. All these things are probably normal for most folks who leave their home in the care of a native Indian for 5 months every 2 years. We had for some reason been paying nearly $150.00 per month for electricity while we weren’t even here, so we searched for problems and found that the conduit for one of our underground cables had been full of water and leaking electricity into the ground. That was one of the first things to be fixed. The dogs were extremely thin when we got back, and we wondered what was wrong. We found that the native who had been feeding them was trying to save us money and had been giving them half of the daily amount of food that they were supposed to receive. We believe that is part of the reason that our dogs killed all of our sheep. The poor things were starving to death. We found the leaf-roof on our pole-barn to be leaking pretty badly, and have cut 1000 palm tree leaves to re-roof the structure. Praise the Lord for all of the palm trees on the property that provide these natural roofs for many of our structures here. I must admit, it has been more than a little frustrating to come back with all the excitement to begin building our home and have to do all of this maintenance work, but we endeavor to remember that our Father in Heaven has everything – even timing - under His control.
Our first new project to tackle has been getting the Wood-Mizer (a portable saw-mill) set up and running. This will allow us to buy logs and cut our own lumber at almost a third of the price of buying pre-cut lumber from town. Cost is a consideration (since most products in Peru have gone way up in price, and our dollar only has two-thirds of the value against the local currency that it had 5 years ago), but also time and quality. There is no pre-dimensioned lumber supply house in Pucallpa. The last time we ordered wood cut in town for building this garage apartment we spent three months re-cutting every side of every board in order to make it usable. As we are anticipating much more construction here on the property, it makes good sense (we think) to try and get this up and running well. We have poured a concrete slab for it and made a roof. We ground off all the rust and repainted every piece, and have ordered blades from the States. It should be up and running by the middle of October.
Vann has just finished getting Jeff Morgan’s old Land Rover up and running again, so that we will have something to drive while he has our truck torn apart, rebuilding the engine. We praise the Lord for his ever-sufficient supply!
We are preparing for the import of some donated machinery. We have some wood tools and generators on the list to bring in. We are incredibly grateful for those who have donated things and are excited to receive them and put them in use.
We also know that generally dealing with Peruvian customs is an extremely stressful experience. We would ask for prayer that all would go smoothly and with minimal cost as we are at the mercy of the custom’s broker for what we will be charged.
Continue to pray for our health, strength and endurance as we finally begin this project that we’ve waited so long to do. Vann still works through his migraines and kidney stone pain most days and doesn’t quit until late into the night. Vanessa still struggles with energy management, and living within her limits. God has blessed us with help as we venture into construction again. A young woman named Ashley Waldmeyer is coming and helping with the children’s’ schooling four days out of the week freeing Vanessa up to help with construction and other projects – such an answer to prayer! Walter, Ashley’s fiancé has been coming as well and giving us much of his time to help and learn along side Vann in the many varied projects on the property. Again, God is in control. We are humbled to be in His service, and in awe that He wants us!
Thank you all for partnering with us in this ministry by lifting us up in prayer and your financial gifts. Truly, we couldn’t do any of this without your support. The peace that comes from being in the center of God’s will is a beautiful, peaceful place to be no matter the circumstances. For those of you who do not know this peace of resting in God’s hands we urge you to seek Him, and ask Him to take control of your life. See what happens, and see, taste and feel how He loves you! God bless each of you.
With much love and gratefulness,
Vann, Vanessa, Corynn, Ethan and Clara Brock