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