Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Bass Family News Greetings from the Bass family in Peru! We pray that each of you had a blessed Christmas season! We also pray that this new year might bring you many opportunities to serve our Lord in your home, in your church, and in your community!    We were blessed to have a busy Christmas and New Years! We had many guests with us during this time! Not only was Becky’s mom, Lana Whaley, able to be with us, but we were also pleased to host Bob’s mom and stepdad, Marlon and Terry Epperly. Additionally, Becky’s sister and brother-in-law, Tim and Barb Whatley, fellow missionaries in Peru, along with their seven children and their families spent several days close to us. The Lord blessed us with many special moments with family and friends, as we hosted several special activities, which included Colton’s third birthday party.   Ministry opportunities have kept us wonderfully busy, as well! We’ve been able to visit several area churches lately, and share with them our burden and plan to help reach Peru’s victims of abuse and human trafficking with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Most often we attend one church close to us, where we have been able to be involved in several ways. Bob filled the pulpit there and other churches, when the pastors had to be out of town. Becky was blessed to speak at a ladies meeting. Colton attends the kid’s program, whenever we are in town, and has made several friends! Also, the church came to our home for a special Sunday service and lunch. We squeezed over 50 people into our home that day!    During December and January, we put some of our family to work!  Marlon and Terry Epperly own a handyman company in the Kansas City area. They have also served with CBM, Continental Baptist Missions, as missionary builders. Several months ago, we shared with them some of the construction needs of our current home, which will also serve as our ministry office. They committed to come to help us for six weeks to help remodel our kitchen, which we had to completely demolish due to the fact that the house had been completely abandoned. They also helped us begin the construction of our ministry office. They were a blessing and help during their visit. Due to time and a community noise ordinance, we were not able to finish both projects but are so grateful for what was accomplished during their visit.

Becky, Colton, along with both of our moms took a ministry trip to the town of Iquitos in the northern jungle at the beginning of December. We were able to be a part of four different ministries during that time. Handmade crafts called “gizmos,” which were made by many of YOU, were given away to many children, some of which live three days travel by boat from Iquitos. We were blessed to go with one pastor to visit several families in some of the poorest neighborhoods in the city. We read Scripture, prayed with them, and encouraged them to to be faithful in their attendance to the Baptist church! We have many stories we could share with you about this trip, but suffice it to say that it was a huge blessing!

We are thrilled with the advancements that have been made in opening the children’s home in Salvación. Bob has been in countless meetings about Peruvian requirements for the home and about donation laws. Not only are we seeking support from the USA, but we are also seeking support from churches and Christian business owners here in Peru. Many people here understand the great need that we face and want to be a part of the opportunities we have to meet the spiritual, physical, and mental needs of these individuals in crisis. We covet your continued prayer, as we hope to open this home later this year. Both Bob and Becky have been busy with several Bible studies. Toward the end of last year, a local company who desires to support our first children's home, asked Bob to be their company chaplain. They often see 130 workers come to the weekly Bible study. It's a huge opportunity to share Christ and answer a lot of biblical questions from the workers about incorrect doctrines.

Would you like to serve with us?    Ministry Opportunities:   Construction Team and Medical Campaign in Salvación –   August / September 2020 In order to prepare the home we built in Salvacion to begin housing abused children, we need to finish a few construction projects. If you are a carpenter, electrician, plumber, or have mechanical skills and could help us for one week, please let us know. We would be glad to call you personally to explain specific needs. The week after the work team leaves, we are scheduling a Medical Campaign. As you have seen our photos and videos over the last five years, this area is very remote, and because of that, quality medical care is needed. We are looking for all available medical personnel who can come serve with us. Additionally, if you speak Spanish and would like to come help us on the evangelistic team during this week, this is another opportunity!  We have been given invitation in several remote villages down the road, so our time will be well used! One specific request from the community is eye care. Iif you are an ophthalmologist and could help bring down eye glasses and equipment for fitting the glasses, this would be a huge blessing to many people of this community. Even sunglasses would be a blessing, as many people in these areas have eye problems due to working in the sun without eyewear. Please pray about this opportunity and ask the Lord if He wants you to come serve with us during one or two of these weeks!

Prayer Requests: Health of our family. We passed around a lot of sickness during the holidays. We seem to be on the mend, except for Colton who has a lingering cold. Pray we can all recover after some very busy months.  Continued funding for the upcoming projects. For $50 a month, you can help feed one child in our first home for one month. But even a gift of what costs one cup of coffee per month, you can make a big difference in the life of these precious children.  Our personal support is at 80%. The is due to increased medical insurance and additional ministry costs.  If you would like to give toward the needs of the campaigns later this year, that would be a big help!  Pray as we continue to research laws, as we hope to open the home later this year.

January is Human Trafficking Awareness month. Here are some statistics that keep us motivated: In 2019 66.3% of trafficked individuals in South and Central America were children. Peru is in the top three counties in South America for physical and sexual abuse. The Venezuelan conflict brought with it a massive increase in human trafficking in Peru with the greatest increase being underage Venezuelan girls.

Last notes: We want to thank many of you who prayed for and encouraged Becky, as she made a quick trip to the States in December for the funeral of a dear family friend. We are grateful for the opportunity she had to be close to them during this extremely difficult time. We covet your continued prayer for the family. In our last email, we shared that we would be sending out a video. We want to apologize to you for not being able to send the video like we had planned. Between the busyness of the holidays, hosting our visitors, lots of house construction, Becky’s trip, and some technical issues, the video, that we began, was put on the figurative back shelf. We hope to get that done and sent to you soon! Thank you for your patience with us!

We hold fast to the promises found in Isaiah 40:31 and ask that you pray for us, both for our family and for the ministries here in Peru, as we depend on Him for our daily strength and guidance!

Gracie’s Story

February 18-24, 2019

We were all in! 

We researched. We prepared. We sought counsel. We spoke with lawyers and others to understand the adoption process. We talked. And dreamed. I was even preparing my own body to nurse our daughter. 

We talked a lot to our son about his new baby sister. For months Colton knew and practiced her name. We prayed for her each night before bed. When we finally had Gracie in our arms, he gently and sweetly touched her face and kissed her cheek. We enjoyed a blissful, sleep-less (almost) 24-hours with our Gracie.

The night after we returned Grace to her birth mom, Colton woke up in the middle of the night, crying and asking where his baby Gracie was. 

The reality was that we couldn’t wait to welcome this new little one into our hearts and our home. 

We reiterated to all involved that we did not want to force the birth mom to make a decision she didn’t want. She almost had an abortion but because of God’s mercy, she decided to search for a family to adopt her baby girl. We told her that we would support her decision should she decide to keep her baby. But, we let her know that once she put Grace in our arms, she would be our daughter. 

And so we grieve the loss of our daughter. We don’t grieve her death. No! In fact, we rejoice that the Lord spared her life. We had the amazing opportunity to be a small part of that! 

Please, friends, do not think we have lost hope. We are just grieving. We grieve because we invested our love, hope, financial savings, and time, dedicated to the preparation of caring for and loving this little one, for whom we have spent years waiting. We grieve because we recently lost our own little one, our little Hope, just a few short months before. 

Simply put, we grieve because our hearts are, once again, broken. They will heal. With time they will again be whole, even though they will always carry a deep scar. Grace has touched our hearts in a way we could never have imagined. 

So until our hearts mend, we need time, tenderness, patience, and love from those who truly care for us. Thank you for constantly lifting us up to our Heavenly Father, who promises to restore and heal His children. 

 ~ Psalms 34:18 ~

The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart;

and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit

The Jungle Chronicles - July 2018 Edition

"Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying,
'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"
Then said I, 'Here am I; send me'."
~ Isaiah 6:8

Greetings from the jungle! This is officially the first prayer letter that we have been able to send from the jungle. Normally, we have to travel the 8-10 hours to Cuzco, where we have to do all of our normal purchasing, just in order to send our letters! This change is because our community recently acquired an internet tower. 

Many of you followed us over the last six months, as we traveled from coast to coast and from border to border during our furlough. We were so blessed to be able to use an RV, which created a sense of home and stability for Colton. We enjoyed seeing many of you and want to say sorry to those we missed. 

In June we eagerly returned to Peru and quickly made our way home to the jungle. Upon arrival we were immediately met with some challenges, some of which surprised us and some of which we had anticipated. The main challenge that has taken much of our focus during this last year has been the construction of our home and ministry facility here in our town of Salvación. As you may remember, we had to dismiss our previous roof contractor for not completing the contract and for doing very poor work. We even hired a reputable home inspector from Lima to do an official inspection. In his professional opinion, we should completely remove everything that was done and start over, because of the poor quality of work that was done. 

                                         

Upon arrival we were able to see the gravity of the problems. Our new contractor and others who have had similar experiences with these kind of projects encouraged us to pursue legal action because of the overwhelming evidence that we have in our possession. They said we should have no problems winning in court. However, as my brother-in-law (a missionary in Peru for most of his life) pointed out, the problem is that, even though we are in the right and have all the evidence to support it, the justice system here is incredibly corrupt. More than likely, we would spend much money and time fighting in court with potentially no verdict. So with that information, we have decided to just move forward and pray for God’s continued provision and protection.

We are encouraged by the fact that over the course of the next two months, another missionary friend, as well as a friend from a supporting church in California, are both coming to help weld, remove, fix, and replace the roof. We praise God for His continued, faithful provision. Although we will have to purchase some extra materials, it will cost significantly less than the S/30,000 (soles, almost $10,000) it would have cost to have a different local contractor redo everything. 

As we returned to Peru, we knew things in the church plant would be suffering, as well. When we arrived to the jungle, all three of us were sick and had to delay advancing in the construction and in ministry for a couple weeks in order to recover. Edson, our national partner in the ministry, had done an incredible job keeping everything afloat during our absence and preached the two Sundays until Bob felt better. 

Please pray for the Radio Ministry, that the Lord would allow us to reach deep into the jungle with the Good News of the Gospel! 

Since our return, we have been able inquire more into doing more with the radio ministry.  We are happy to report that we have begun broadcasting Monday through Friday from 9 – 10am. We have had many people form our community let us know that they are listening to our broadcast and that they enjoy the music and preaching. We are praying that the seeds that are being planted would soon spring forth new life, eternal life.


In light of this exciting ministry, we are looking into the possibility of opening our own radio station here in Salvación that would reach deep into the jungle. Currently we are working in conjunction with our mission’s radio station in Lima to see how feasible this option is. The only reason this option is even a possibility is because, as we mentioned at the beginning of this letter, we very recently had internet installed and by the end of the month we are supposed to have stable electricity. These are two important items we would need to have in order to have a successful radio station. If the Lord allows us to start this radio station, we will live stream our radio in Lima via the internet and play it here for most of the programming. 

Please pray for:

-Church Plant Growth

-Radio Ministry

-Upcoming Busy Schedule

-Health and Continued Safety

Greetings from the Bass Tribe in the jungle of Perú! The rainy season has officially begun, which means that some days it drizzles steadily all day long and some days we get torrential rainstorms, which dump many inches of rain in just a few minutes. Already we have had several mudslides in the area. A few days ago, a young truck driver from our area fell asleep at the wheel, causing the truck to plummet down the mountain, instantly killing one man and severely injuring himself and the other passengers. A couple weeks ago, we had to use our winch to pull out a truck from the raging river at the entrance to our town, Salvación. We definitely covet your prayers during this time of year, especially as we travel in and out of the jungle. 

Sometimes it is difficult to know where to begin talking about all of the events and activities that have happened since our last prayer letter. In the last two months alone we hosted three different groups. The first group was a work team who came to help us in the construction project. The second was a young, talented couple from our home church who came down to help us with our furlough presentation video. The third group was a medical team who came to help serve in our community. All of these groups have kept us busy but blessed!

We have had some disappointments, as well. One family left the church, because we taught on giving tithes and offerings to the church and they said, “God is too expensive.” Also, a wedding was planned, but later rescheduled for next year.

However, the blessings far outweigh the disappointments. We have seen new believers who were living in sin quickly respond to biblical teaching and make significant changes in their lives. In November, we are blessed to host a membership class in our home. This four-part class goes over many aspects of faith and practice, including the Baptist Distinctives. By the time you receive this letter, we will have finished this class, baptized three people, and added four members to the church, la Iglesia Bautista Independiente de Salvación.

 Another answer to prayer is that the regional government and local justice offices have approached us about officially taking some of the counseling cases from the community. This is such an exciting step!!!

There is so much more we could say about these last busy weeks! It has been incredibly exhausting but also thrilling to watch God at work here in the jungle!

Construction Project

Thank you so much for your prayers for our construction. This property, called the Centro Bíblico Bautista del Manu (Baptist Bible Center of Manu), will not only house our residence but also will be used for counseling sessions, will be available to our church for activities, will be used for future medical campaigns, and Lord-willing will be used for a future Bible Institute. The on-going construction is advancing. We covet your prayers, as we try to finish the main construction before we leave for our furlough in January. We still have some needs, so if you feel lead of the Lord to help with this project, please contact us!

Furlough

Our furlough will begin right after the new year and will end in mid-June. During this time we will travel from Florida to California. We are looking forward to visiting each of our supporting churches, which means visiting 30 churches in little over five months. Although our time will be very short, we want to see each of you! We covet your prayers as we plan and prepare for this important time. We hope to travel in a travel trailer or motor home, as it will help us maintain some stability, especially for our son, who is not a newcomer to changes, but will need some consistency! Please pray for us to find something suitable for our needs. Contact us, if you have some information that might help!

Thank you!!!

As always, we want to thank you for your faithful prayers and support. We have been through some challenging months, but through prayer and encouragement, we have seen the Lord bless! Specifically we want to thank you for praying for our health and safety. We’ve had some bumps and bruises along the way. Most recently, Bob broke some ribs, when working on the construction. We’ve also had to take Colton to the doctor to take care of what we lovingly call “belly bugs” (parasites)! Overall, we are in good health, so thank you for praying for us!

We pray the Lord’s blessings on you and your families, during the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas season and look forward to seeing each of you next year!

Bass 2 Peru The Jungle Chronicles - July 2017 Edition     APRIL April was a busy month, as we focused on teachings surrounding Easter or what we call Resurrection Sunday. Traditionally people in our area are incorrectly taught that they should only eat fish during this cultural holy week because that is what Christ ate. While we did teach on why this practice is unbiblical, we focused on the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God! April also brought a huge blessing in that the Lord allowed us to purchase a small piece of property on which to build our home in the town of Salvación. Originally we received permission from the town engineer to move forward with building a facility that would house the church and other ministries. However after buying the property, the mayor who is Adventist blocked us from being able to move forward with these plans. We know the Lord’s plans are different from our own and we trust that His plans are best! The believers have been giving their tithes and offerings and we pray that we can purchase property for the church within the next couple years. During this month, Becky started a new ministry for our local teenage girls called “Señoritas para el Señor.” The desire is to provide a fun, safe environment to do activities, as well as go through a Bible study specifically for teen girls. MAY May brought some exciting times both personally and in the ministry. Bob’s mom came in May to help us for two months! Her presence allowed Becky to be involved in different ministries to a greater extent. At the church we had a special Mother’s Day service and had several visitors. One young man whom Bob was able to lead to the Lord last fall brought his entire family, who are Catholics. This young man has since moved to the capital city of Lima to be close to his fiancé and child. We are praying for the salvation of his entire family! Our big activity in May was a medical campaign with a group from ORH (Operation Renewed Hope). During the four-day campaign, this huge 40-person group was able to see over 1,000 patients in two different communities. Over 100 people accepted Christ as a result of the one-on-one introduction to the Gospel. We are still working on the follow-up from this ministry! JUNE June kept the same busy pace. We had our special Father’s Day service, at which we had some visitors from the community. Our special speaker for Father’s Day, Larry Fogle, was also our special speaker for our 2nd Annual Family Conference, which we hope to have each year. This year the conference went from Wednesday to Sunday. Each night we increased in number, almost doubling our original attendance by Sunday. Two families that have been regularly attending our church services faithfully came each night, bringing different members of their family. During the conference church members made some exciting decisions. One of the issues in our area is that people don’t usually get married. It’s an epidemic throughout Peru, especially in the jungle. We had one couple who has been faithfully attending the church decide to get married on August 31st! Bob is privileged to be able to officiate the wedding. Another couple would like to get married, but the man is currently not a believer. We have been working with this couple, praying that he will accept Christ. Pray with us that we can have yet another wedding this year! We were so blessed and encouraged by the ministry of Larry Fogle here in Salvación. After our campaign, Larry had the opportunity to speak at two more family campaigns in the Cusco area. He has certainly been a blessing to all of us in Peru! On the Saturday of the campaign, we hosted a special ladies ministry during the family campaign. Becky used her Polaroid camera to take an instant photo, which they used for the stamp craft that Bob’s mom Terry brought. We didn’t have a huge attendance, but the ladies who came really enjoyed their time!  From ladies ministries to children ministries, the Lord greatly blessed our 2nd Annual Family Campaign! We praise the Lord for our special speaker, Larry Fogle, who is director of the PEP ministries at BMM.

What’s ahead: August: New radio ministry September: Group coming to help our building project (Please pray how you might involved financially) -Videographer from our home church coming to help us with our furlough video October: Medical Campaign with group from Baptist Mid-Missions January - June 2018: Furlough Prayer Requests: -Co-pastor - We are praying the Lord will provide us with a national pastor and family, who can partner with us in the ministries in Salvación and further into the jungle -Finances - $10,000 needed to finish our house, so we can live in the community where we are ministering -Growth spiritually and physically of the new ministry in Salvación -Furlough from January to June 2017. We need to find a travel trailer, as our schedule is extremely busy -Other financial, physical, and spiritual needs that we have yet to understand or consider -Continued healthy and safety for our family. We are grateful Colton has adapted to the jungle so well!

Check out our Facebook Page for our most recent photos!!! --> Click here <--- Bob, Becky, and Colton Bass Apartado 368 Cusco, Peru South America E-mail: bass2peru@gmail.com Blog: http://bass2peru.com Phones in Peru: Bob - 011.51.990.000.779 Becky - 011.51.999.907.675 Our Home Church: Olivet Baptist Church 4901 Mission Rd Westwood, KS 66205 Serving with: Baptist Mid-Missions PO Box 308011 Cleveland, OH 44130-8011 Project: Bass #701364 Phone: 440.826.3930 Website: http://bmm.org

Surprise Announcement!

Surprise! Baby Bass is on the way. We would like to be able to announce this special delivery a little more creatively, but because of some complications with our new miracle, we feel it's best to let you know, so you can be praying for us. 

Baby Bass is due January 1, 2017. This has come to a HUGEsurprise, considering our past (almost) fourteen-year struggle with infertility, as well as the stresses we have faced lately with Bob's accident. But, God is great and still works in miraculous ways. 

Because of some complications and the high-risk nature of this pregnancy, Becky will need to be on bedrest, which means that she cannot travel back to the jungle for at least the next month. After that, we will see what the doctor suggests. 

Please pray for Bob. He traveled to Cusco on Monday and will soon travel to the jungle. As you know, he has not fully healed from his shoulder surgery, so pray for him, as he makes this trip. He needs to make this trip in order to organize for upcoming visitors. Also, he will be trying to do some basic cleaning on our home. He will return to be with Becky on the coast, as soon as he can get those things arranged. From there his travel plans to the jungle depend on Becky's status. 

God's plan and timing is often not our own, but His plan is always perfect! We covet your prayers as we prepare for this new blessing. This means many changes ahead, although our resolve and ministry focus have not changed. However, for the safety of Becky and the baby, we will have to make some sacrifices. 

Thank you for praying for us and for rejoicing with us.
We truly consider this a miracle from the Lord!

1 Samuel 2:1-10

 

May News

Although the last few weeks have been difficult, the Lord has bountifully provided for us and has lovingly protected us from the situations we faced. It was a wonderful reminder to us of all of the amazing gifts God gives to His children.

A few weeks ago, we took a scheduled trip to Lima for several reasons. While in Lima, we also took advantage of being in an area with good medical care to have Becky’s thyroid checked. She had been struggling the last few weeks in the jungle and the check up proved necessary.

During our time in Lima, we were invited on a short trip to the southern coastal city of Ica, where we would enjoy some activities there, including riding four-wheelers and motorcycles on the sand dunes. Unfortunately, Bob suffered an accident on the first day of the trip and ended up needing surgery for an AC joint separation, which means that his clavicle bone separated from his shoulder. In turn this injury tore the ligaments connecting those bones. Additionally, he suffered multiple fractures and bruising of his ribs, as well as deep bruising on his body. Thankfully, we did not face a life-threatening situation and are grateful to have received excellent medical care at the clinic in Lima where we ultimately took Bob.  The Lord lovingly protected us from a crooked doctor in Ica, which is why we chose to return to Lima.

Because of our extended time in Lima that the recovery has given us, we have been able to reconnect with friends from our time in Lima, as well as gain some new friends the Lord put into our path. Please pray for Juan Antonio. We met him on a day that we had appointments. Bob had the opportunity to speak with Juan for over three hours about his spiritual condition. They exchanged numbers and have been in contact ever since.

Due to this accident, we have had to delay our return to the jungle in order for Bob to recover. Unfortunately, the jungle environment, which is hot and humid, is not a good place to recover, as infection can easily set into a wound. Our current plan to return to the jungle is on the sixth of June, pending clearance from Bob’s doctor.

So, with all of this, please pray for:

1  1).   The ministries in the jungle. We have been in constant communication with our national pastor and the members of the church. The pastor is doing a wonderful job in our absence and even had a successful Mother’s Day event for the ladies of our church!

    2).   Bob’s healing. The last stage of his healing will be to remove the pins connecting his shoulder and clavicle bones. He will have one titanium screw located on the underside of the bones that have been essential in helping the ligaments reattach. The doctor has been happy with how he is healing and says that Bob will eventually regain his full strength and mobility. Praying for that to be the case!

    3).   Becky’s health. Thankfully her thyroid levels have once again stabilized and because of that fact, she is feeling much better. Additionally, a special “Thank You!” to those who prayed for her, as she finished her Masters Thesis! She received an excellent report and has since graduated with her Masters in Biblical Counseling with a 4.0 GPA. We would love to share her Thesis entitled “He Chose to Call Me Barren: Experiencing God through Infertility.” Please contact us if you would like for us to send it to you!

    4).   Future ministry plans. Currently, our plan is to return to the jungle the first week in June. We have a very busy June and July planned, as we have two groups and a special church anniversary celebration planned during these months.

Additionally, we are thankful to be nearing the end of our first year of ministry in the jungle. Over the next few months, we hope to begin Bible studies in neighboring towns with hopes of a future church plant. Pray for God’s direction in these future plans!

Again, we want to thank you so much for your love and care for the ministries in the jungle.