Last week I (Micah) spent five days in the village of Huimbayoc [wim-bye-YOKE] where we had the bi-anual convention. About 300 believers came from the surrounding villages to worship the Lord and study His word together. This is always an exciting, yet exausting time for me as I try to maximize my time with the brothers. I taught from the scriptures for 5 hours each day, had many personal meetings with leaders of the different assemblies, marked out time for one-on-one evangelism, preached open air a few times and corrected about 75 Emmaus Bible courses that the brothers handed in.

The assembly here in Tarapoto is doing well and many were encouraged as we just recently baptized eight new believers. We have had many ups and downs in this new work over the last two years but recently we've been encouraged that some of the believers are showing signs of maturing, including taking more responsibility. The building project is progressing little by little and in the last few weeks we have advanced a lot with the wiring, finish work and painting. We thank the Lord for this provision.

Our entire family is doing wonderfully well and we've all enjoyed the special events surrounding Christmas. We want to send a special thank you to all of you that sent us Christmas presents or money this year!

Lord willing, the following are our plans for the next few months.  Many of you know, that the owners of the house we've rented for the past two years, have need of their house.  So, we are once again in the midst of packing up and preparing our things for storage.  We plan to go to Trujillo where I will be teaching some classes in IBEM, and then in Februrary the family will stay in Trujillo while I travel back to this area to help at “Capacitacion Biblica” in Yurimaguas.  Somewhere around mid-March we plan to travel to the States and hope to be able to visit many of YOU over the summer!!   We will be posting a schedule of where we'll be and when in the coming months.  Or, you can get in touch with us by sending us an e-mail - thetuttletribe (at) gmail (dot) com

Almost everyone here in the jungle believes that something called "El Tunchi” exists and is very real. The people that live in the small villages and out in the countryside have all had their run-ins with the “Tunchi” and he is greatly feared by all.

The “Tunchi” is the wandering spirit of a person who has died and goes about the countryside haunting whoever it can. This “Tunchi” makes a distinct whistling sound and if you try to imitate it's whistle it comes closer and closer in order to terrorize and even kill you. “El Maligno” is the Devil himself who is always flying around behind the “Tunchi” trying to catch him and take him to hell. According to the belief, you really shouldn't mess with the “Maligno” because he will treat you even worse than the “Tunchi” would.

We who know the True and Living God have nothing to fear because we are to: “ be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.”  (Eph 6:10-13)

“Yacumama” is quetchua for “mother of the water”. This is the term that the jungle people give to a supposed 150 foot long anaconda with bristly hair, big ears and lion-like eyes that have the power to pull you in like a giant magnet. The legend of this “monster” has it's many variations, all of which are quite far-fetched, yet almost everyone that lives here believes it. On my last trip down the Haullaga river I talked with three people from three different villages who claim to have seen Yacumama in the last few weeks. The sightings have made quite a stir in the villages and have put a temporary halt to all swimming and fishing in the area..... Huge anacondas do exist.... But when does “yacumama” become a lie of the devil that enslaves people to fear and spiritual darkness?

Thanks be to God for the truth of Romans 8:15 “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

Missions involves a lot of different things: it's preaching the gospel, it's making disciples, it's planting churches, it's strengthening the churches, it's helping the needy, and it's, above all things: MAKING GOD'S NAME GREAT AMONG THE NATIONS.

Missions last week, was leaving home at 3:00 a.m. It was preaching on the radio, it was visiting several remote villages , it was discipling three young men along the way, it was handing out tracts and giving away New Testaments, it was preaching in church buildings and it was preaching in the open air. It was defending the brothers from false doctrine and it was reading the Bible out loud for hours.

Missions last week was hunting a jungle pheasant for lunch. It was showering in a hot water spring, it was hiking for hours through the muggy jungle, it was eating smoked ocelot meat, it was using filthy outhouses, it was getting soaked in a torrential thunderstorm and it was sleeping on hard dirt floors.

Missions last week was praying with the believers, it was singing hymns in the canoe, it was having meetings with the elders until 1am, it was giving council to broken marriages, it was being mocked by a group of drunken men, it was giving out anti-parasite pills, it was preaching in schools and it was putting on evangelistic films by generator.

Missions last week was helping make bread in a mud oven. It was playing volleyball with a bunch of high-schoolers, it was living one whole day on just coconut milk, it was hearing stories of 30 meter long anacondas, it was watching incredible sunrises and sunsets, and it was a dusty, bumpy 5 hour drive back to town.

Missions last week was hearing squeals of joy when I knocked on the door, it was hugging my wife and my kids when I walked in the house. It was thanking God for His love and protection. It was MAKING GOD'S NAME GREAT IN OUR HOME.

Micah for the Tuttle's




Click the link below to see the photo album of highlights from the trip!

October. 2010

At 3:30 am this morning, Micah met up with the guys who were to accompany him on this current river trip starting today (10/12) until Saturday (10/16).  They had to wait while the car filled up with other passengers who will also go to the town near the river (Chazuta), where they will take a motorboat (way faster!) to the first village.  The plan is to visit another 4 villages before returning Saturday night. 

Please join us in prayer for this trip! 

We are praying:

• that many brothers and sisters from the villages would be challenged to be reconciled to God or continue on in faith (as the case may be).  
• that those who purchase and commit to study the Emmaus courses would grow by leaps and bounds in their knowledge of Christ - and that this would be contagious!
• that the time Micah spends with the young guys from our assembly would be extremely profitable (this is one of the main focuses of these trips - mentoring these young guys).

Thank you for your prayers!

 preaching in Pucalpillo

Friday Sept 25, 2010
A big, bright, beautiful moon this morning at 4:45 a.m. Read Acts 1-7 until the sun fully came up. People started to come to the hut at about 6:30 so we started singing and then I preached on Joshua 1. Three people that had been convicted by the message last night made professions of faith this morning and we all rejoiced with them. We must pray that this fruit will be lasting. Two of the new believers and a few of the others were eager to start on the Emmaus discipleship courses. I'm really hoping that these courses will help establish the faith of the brothers in these villages.

After breakfast we packed out the house by putting on the movie Fireproof. This movie is great in these villages because fornication, unfaithfulness and broken relationships are rampant everywhere. Almost no one gets married and trading sex partners is commonplace. This is always the first area that we have to work on when someone comes to Christ. After lunch we played soccer with the men of the village (very rough) and then walked 45 minutes through the jungle to the next village.

When we arrived in Pucalpillo everyone was weaving palm leaves (Krisneja) for their roofs. They said that one week ago a “Huracán” came through, destroying many of the houses and ripping off their roofs (there were plenty of demolished homes). We tried to help one family with the palm weaving but we were doing more damage than good so we decided to go door to door and hand out tracts. It was encouraging to backtrack through the village an hour later and see that many small groups of 5 or 6 people had formed around someone with a tract who was reading it out loud to the others.

At the open air meeting I preached Mark 8:35-37. About 200 people gathered to listen as I preached at the top of my voice for an hour. It seemed that many were seriously reflecting on the state of their soul but in the end there was no outward sign of God working in anyone. Only time will tell. His word will not return void.



sunset over the Huallaga River

Thursday Sept 23, 2010
After praying with the brothers in Ricardo Palma we headed further down river this morning. We were able to catch a motor boat (11 year old driver) and we quickly made it to Achinamisa where about twenty brothers were eagerly awaiting our arrival. They had asked me to bring a keyboard, 35 hymnals and 10 Bibles. I was glad to finally get rid of all that weight and not have to worry about the keyboard getting stolen or lost or going overboard. We had hoped to just hand over the requested goods and continue on to the next village but it's soooo difficult when they tell you that they have prepared a special meal of fried tucan and yucca spit juice!

After our exciting lunch we continued on to Solterito where lunch #2 was waiting for us. The real problem with eating so much on these trips is that many of these villages (including Solterito) don't have outhouses. You just have to find a tree and then the pigs do the clean up work.


It just so happened that the village was celebrating their anniversary and they had brought in a generator and a set of loud speakers. We asked if we could use the sound system for one hour before the party and the authorities agreed. Not only did all of Solterito come out to listen but also many people from the nearby villages showed up too. I preached on Matthew 7:13-14 (2 doors, 2 ways, 2 classes, 2 destinies... which will you choose?). Everyone seemed shocked afterward and I think I ruined their party. Everyone had come to get wasted on sugarcane gin and ended up getting shaken by God's word and forced to choose which path they would take. God planned it. Glory to Him.

-Micah for the Tuttle's




baptism from the previous day

Thursday, September 23

Since the moment we arrived here in Ricardo Palma we've been harrassed by a very annoying drunk that follows us around everywhere. He went door to door with us, ate with us, and continually interrupted our times of singing and bible reading. I tried to be patient with him but it was very clear that he wasn't going to sober up and had no intention to sincerely turn to the Lord. At the open air meeting he kept trying to come forward and “repent” (in a mock sense) but I told him to sit back down. One time I even had to take him by the arm back to his seat. It was a tremendous distraction to all, and in the end, this village was the least responsive to the gospel.  It reminded me of Acts 16:17-18 (except I didn't cast out any demons).

At the open air meeting I preached Ezekiel 7:8-9 and then we put on the Fireproof DVD (I always take a few evangelistic movies to use whenever a generator and a T.V can be found). At about midnight we had a piping hot cup of chocolate milled from their own cocoa beans and then we were off to bed.

At 5:00 a.m the believers began to show up at the church building where we had slept on the hard ground. Thankfully they didn't catch us snoring away, we were up and ready to go. Eber started playing his guitar to lead us in worship and when he finished I preached on 1Thes 4 and Rev 20. The believers seemed to be very encouraged and had many questions. We finished up around 9:00 a.m and then had a scrumptious banana breakfast with coconut juice to wash it down.

Before we left, the three main brothers expressed a desire to start the Emaus corespondence courses but they didn't have any money to buy them (less than a dollar for course #1). I always insist that they pay for them because otherwise they just don't value the opportunity. One of the brothers offered to pay with his coa coa beans and just like that we struck a deal. Now they are happily studying their Bible courses and I'm happily drinking hot chocolate every day.

-Micah for the Tuttle's

Wednesday September 22

This morning I baptized the four people that placed their faith in Christ yesterday. Most of the village gathered around to watch and listen as I preached in the river. It was another good opportunity to preach the gospel. After the baptism we went back to the hut where we were staying and I preached from 1 John on four proofs of genuine Christianity. The believers were very attentive and we had a great question and answer time. Four of the men here bought the Emmaus correspondence courses that I've been pushing everywhere I go. They are showing a real desire to study and prepare themselves to lead this new work!

Three interesting things in this village are:

1. Good hunting: last night one of the men checked his “trampero” (Shotgun set up on a trip-wire) and found that he had shot a wild boar so we've been eating smoked “Sahino” meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Yum! 
2. Interminable salt mines (click here, or see video below): The people harvest tons of salt and sell it down river in the “big cities” 
3. A pristine, crystal clear creek: the water cascades down a natural waterslide rock formation into a beautiful pool (just how I imagine the garden of Eden).

At about 3:00 p.m two of the brothers took us down river in their small paddle canoe. They guided us through a few difficult white water spots while Eber and I bailed the water that kept pouring in over the sides. After about an hour of sopping wet excitement we arrived in the next village (Ricardo Palma) where the believers were surprised, but, elated to see us. The message hadn't gotten through to them that we were coming but all the same they stopped everything to receive us. One brother went out to catch some fish for dinner, another went to mill some dried chocolate beans, the sisters got to work boiling plantains and cooking rice and the rest just gathered around as Eber and I sang hymns and read the Bible out loud. Praise the Lord for this opportunity to serve HIM.

"Wild boar brains, eyeballs, toucan meat, and yucca spit juice were just a few of the delicacies on the menu as brother Eber and I visited several villages last week." 

 - Micah Tuttle

Um, yeah.  So how's that for an intro?  Does it whet your appetite to read more?!  Awesome!
Well, we have another series of posts coming up this week from Micah's journal over the last week while he was out on the river going village to village.  The dates of his trip were Tuesday 9/21 - Saturday 9/25.  So without further ado...

Tuesday, September 21
We left Tarapoto at 3:30 this morning and about three hours later arrived in Chazuta where we immediately went to the radio station and preached on the air waves. The only communication access that the surrounding villages have is by radio and so it was a great opportunity to get the gospel to a lot of isolated people (it encouraged us when in each village people commented that they had heard the radio message). After breakfast with the believers we got the next boat down river and within an hour we were in the small village of Callanayacu.

This was an extremely exciting visit for me because just six months ago there were no believers in this village and now there are fourteen! In June two men from Callanayacu happened to be in another village where they heard me preaching open air. Both made professions of faith on that day and when they returned home they started sharing the gospel with everyone in Callanayacu. In three months eight more people have made professions of faith. Today Eber and I went door to door and then preached open air. Praise the Lord, four more came forward tonight to place their faith in Christ! Pray that this new infant work would produce fruit that will last!

- Micah Tuttle

What's new: 

Here and there and everywhere... pastoral visits are like a sprinkling of sweet water in a parched place. After a busy July and August, Micah has concentrated his energies on visiting church members and leaders to help carry the weight of their burdens and give them some life-giving Scripture to soak in. Personal visits seriously encourage the downhearted, sick and the heavy-laden. We know it to be true.

By August, attendance at church was considerably down after two months of extreme busy-ness, but after only a week of visits, we had the highest attended mid-week Bible study meeting EVER! And has maintained. Praise the Lord! Micah's gifting is admittedly NOT in the pastoral realm, but when there is NO one else, the LORD glories in showing HIS power through our weaknesses. He continues to wow us in this. :)

This week, Micah is off again on a river trip to visit four different villages along the Huallaga River. His goal is to try and visit four villages each trip of 5-6 days, rotating which villages he visits each month. This is such an encouragement to the believers in this region.

Prayer Requests:

• River Trip - that it would bear MUCH fruit.

• There are two young men that are very dependable and carry much responsibility at church (when we are here, and ESPECIALLY when Micah is away). Both of them have spoken of traveling/moving to other parts of Peru (one of them plans to buy tickets next week! He is our music man). We ask the LORD what will happen to the work if there are no men apart from Micah to carry the load. Pray with us that the LORD would prove Himself faithful to His work by providing in some way for this huge need.

• Our landlord advised us that he has need of the house we are living in by January of the coming year. Pray with us that the LORD would continue to lead and confirm the direction of steps we ought to take.

• Solidarity in our family - growth in love, peace and joy.

This is some video taken on the last trip. [see previous post]
Micah took Bria for 5 days as he visited four of the villages on the Huallaga River.

On Monday morning Bria embarked on a four day trip with me down the Huallaga river to visit four different villages. It was her first time going on a trip like this and so she was extremely excited even while Amy and I were a bit nervous. Two Peruvian brothers accompanied us and were very careful to help me watch over Bria's every move. She had lots of fun being the jungle princess with her three knights in shining armor, they being ready to fight off the snakes, jaguars and tarantulas at any given moment.

There was quite a commotion in each village when they saw this white American princess enter into their forgotten corner of the world. Bria handed out tracts, showed the evange-cube to everyone and sang with me at the church meetings. Each night I preached open air and all kinds of people came out to listen (I'm not sure if they came out to listen to the gospel or to see Bria... :).



In one village there was some kind of an epidemic of eye infections, as lots of the kids had puss in their eyes. When Bria saw the disease, disorder and dirtiness in this village she was quite alarmed thinking that she too might get sick. It was a good opportunity for me to explain to her that we need to try to love the people, be willing to do hard things for the Lord, persevere in difficult moments and trust God that he will take care of us. After having prayed together she felt better and in the end we made it out of that village without any eye problems.



In all it was a great trip. We were able to preach the gospel and encourage the brethren in each village. Bria was able to experience what life is like in the amazonian villages and we thank the Lord that we came through relatively healthy. We are suffering from numerous bug bites and chiggers but I'm confident that we'll heal quickly. Thank you for your prayers.

Micah for the Tuttle's

How is it possible that these months have already happened?  Oh my. 

Well, we are alive (albeit barely) after two VERY amazingly busy months.  Thank you to those of you who have reminded us that we are completely out of touch by not posting for two whole months!  Perhaps you all will understand when I get finished with this update :) 

July.
Basically we were in Trujillo for the entire month.  We left Tarapoto on the 2nd (right on the tail end of a river trip that last week of June) and arrived back here the 29th.  During that time, Micah was IBEM for the third week of classes (doing devotional, class on Psalms, eating lunch with the students, practical studies and fun nights in the evenings).  No internet during all this time.  The following week, we hosted a very good friend and co-worker from the US for 10 wonderful days.  Only a few days after saying goodbye, we received Amy's mom on the 21st just in time to pack up for heading back to Tarapoto.  We made the LONG drive basically in one long haul this time because of it being Peru's Independence day and there being no room at any of the inns.  We made it without issue even with another passenger in our already too small vehicle. 

August.
The first weekend Micah traveled all the way back to the coast to participate as one of the key speakers in a national youth convention in Chiclayo.  He was back for a few days before leaving to speak again at the bilingual church in Sisa's 14th anniversary the next weekend.  It was VERY nice to have Amy's mom here during all that time.  The day after Micah got back, Amy traveled with her mom to spend a few days in Lima together before her mom flew home.  While at-home-daddy, Micah was also working full bore on installing the bathrooms in the church preparing for a young people's retreat coming up this coming weekend.  Today, Micah left for a 5-day river trip.  He took Bria with him and Lord willing they will be back on Friday.  Saturday, the young people from Yurimaguas arrive for a three day 'retreat', but we're both pretty sure they'll go home wanting nothing but rest after the packed schedule he's lined up for them!  And then August will be over.

Phew!  So you may now understand why you haven't heard from us!  :)

Please keep praying!  We have some important decisions to make in the very near future, we are looking to the future and are dependent on the Lord's guidance.  Pray that the Lord would bless the work of our hands.  Pray that we would stay tightly knit to Him as well as to each other!

Pictures coming soon!  stay tuned :)

After 5 hours in the back of a 4x4 truck eating dust and getting burnt in the hot sun we finally arrived in Yarina where I promptly found tremendous relief by jumping into the river. Without delay our team of six believers headed down river in a canoe (two more hours) until we came to the village of Huimbayoc where our bi-anual convencion of river churches would take place for the next 4 days. About 350 brothers and sisters from 30 different villages showed up with great joy and anticipation (these conventions are a real highlight for the believers every six months).

Myself and two other expositors preached a total of 9 hours of meetings each day. It was an excellent time of fellowship and encouragement as everyone always comes with a real hunger to learn from God's word. I took with me 15 Bibles, 35 hymnals, 5 sistematic theology's, and 400 tracts to sell at a reduced prices and everything was sold out by the second day (the bretheren are always begging for Bibles, hymnals and any theological book that they can get their hands on).


At meal times we drank plenty of chicha and ate lots smoked majaz to go with our bananas that had been cooked in the ashes. On Sunday I had a great time preaching in the river and then baptizing 13 new believers. The whole time I was in the water there were schools of small piranas swarming me, all the while I could feel them nipping at my fingers and toes with their sharp teeth (if your not bleeding you have nothing to worry about, they just like to tickle you a bit). Thank you all who prayed for this event. It was a great time of learning and encouragement for all.

-Micah for the Tuttles


PS. Pray for us as we're leaving for our 2-day trip to Trujillo, right after I hit send! ;)

Micah returned Monday afternoon from June's river convention dirty and tired as is normal.  He got back early while the kids and I were out on one of our very rare outings, so he broke into our house and was able to get all cleaned and unpacked before we got back.  Surprise! 

I've put a slideshow up in the sidebar with a lot of pictures, but I thought I'd give you a link here to the pictures taken on this latest trip.  (Click here, or on the picture below to see the whole album.)

Micah is in Huimbayoc for the bi-annual convention of the river churches. He called me this evening to let me know that he was relieved to be finished with all six of his talks and that he felt that they all went well. He'll be excited to tell you all when he gets back of having spent time with a young man who trusted Christ at an open air meeting on one of his latest river trips.  We know that the Lord is under no obligation to make us aware of this fruit, but isn't it something that he chose to share it with us? What encouragement!

I also want to post a few pictures from Father's Day. After church in the morning, we ate our own chickens in inchicapi soup (peanut chicken soup) and escaveche de pollo (onions with chicken on rice). Then at the night meeting we had well advertised that we would be showing the movie Fireproof. It was excellent and very well received. The electricity went out actually just as the meeting was set to begin, so Micah just preached until the lights came back on.  The lights came on just in time and the movie played all the way through (which is sometimes a concern ;).  It worked out rather nicely.

Our four fathers, eating at the table of honor! :)

and this is about half of the kids...

Thanks for praying!

Micah and Amy Tuttle

Early this morning, I read Psalms 1-30 with the guys.  We walked 2 miles to Pelejo, talking.  Once in Pelejo, visited the main church leader, who gave us breakfast of plantains with HOT chile sauce.  During the day we visited many houses, sharing the gospel and inviting them to the meeting in the night.  In the evening, the verdant greens faded, the sun set, the stars began to glow.  Preached Isaiah 55, in the dark to a good crowd in the plaza de armas (town square).  I couldn't see anyone, until later when the light came on and sure enough I'd been preaching to a good sized group of people.  Many were shaken and wanted to talk afterward.  It seems like many people were interested in the message, but once again, we kept hearing the same sad story, people don't want church because of the bad testimony of a handful of leaders in the church.  We NEED leaders.

Up at 5 a.m to pray and read with the guys.  We read from Psalms 119 thru 150.  Awesome God!  After breakfast we went to pray for sister Patricia, she was in a lot of pain (everyone thinks it is appendicitis).  I could only urge the family to get her to the hospital in Tarapoto as soon as possible.

At about 10 a.m we headed up river in a peke peke (boat with a motor, the sound the motor makes sounds like 'peke-peke') to the next village.  Along the way, the propeller shaft hit a submerged log and the whole motor came flying out of its socket, flipped over and landed on Pablo's leg.  He had a pretty good gash and lost plenty of blood.  In the end he was alright, but the peke peke was busted and we were stranded on the banks of the river a few miles from the village.  There was nothing else to do but to set out hacking through the jungle with machetes until we found a trail.

After an exciting trek slogging through mud, eating a variety of jungle fruits and avoiding the many poisonous critters we finally made it to Puerto Mercedes, where we promptly began our regular hut to hut evangelistic visits.  After giving out N.T's and tracts to a lot of people one family gave us a fine dinner of rice, beans and majaz which was muy rico (very yummy).  That night the normally abandoned church building was so packed out I thought the elevated rotting wood floor was going to cave in (by some miracle it didn't).  I preached from Mark 14:66-72 and everyone was very attentive.  I was able to deal with several souls for a good amount of time afterward and I think the Lord was really working.  Many people begged us to return and help resurrect this church that no longer meets together at all.  If only there were 40 dedicated available men to serve in 40 different villages that all have a similar story.

At about midnight we said our good-byes, got into our canoe (the motor had been re-secured and brought up to the village by that time) and we headed into the pitch dark to sail the mighty Huallaga river.  Despite the tremendous darkness, Pablo our peke peke driver, had no problems guiding us back to Papa Playa where we happily retired to our tents (in the company of rats).            

This is a series of posts from Micah's journal that he kept on last weeks' river trip.  
The dates of the trip were June 2nd - 5th.  He plans to make at least one week long trip each month.

Here's part one:

6-2-10
Today I left Tarapoto at about 5:30 a.m with Edinson, Ever and Jerlin.  As we headed over the 'seja de selva' [mountain sloping down into jungle plain] in a rented 4X4, we read 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon and Hebrews out loud.  Each time the truck had to make a stop, we got out and sang, gave away tracts and shared the gospel to whoever would gather to listen.  When we arrived in Papa Playa a group of brothers and sisters were waiting to greet us.  This village has the healthiest assembly of all of the river towns along the Haullaga due to the presence of long time Peruvian missionary Arturo Napuchi.  He is almost blind, has very limited resources, but regardless is a great preacher.  He also has nearly the whole N.T memorized!  It was a great joy to give him and his family a 110 lb sack of rice, some money and some corrugated metal sheets for his leaky roof.

We spent the afternoon going from hut to hut sharing the gospel, praying for the sick and inviting people to the evening gospel meeting.  After a fine dinner of fish, banana juice, banana chips, boiled banana, and fried banana we hurried off to the meeting.  Many people came out.  Edinson and Jerlin led the music, Ever and I preached (you can't just have one sermon in these villages, they always ask for at least two).  It was a good time and I think that many were encouraged. When everybody had left we set up our tents in the church building and drifted off to sleep to the sound of rats scurrying up and down the tent poles.      

Micah got back on Saturday night, happy, tired and dirty. The trip was profitable... but I'll let him tell you all about it. I'll post a few pictures later tonight if I can... tonight IS date night though, so don't get your hopes up too high ;)

I did post a couple of pictures on my blog: HERE


amy for all

Micah left this morning for the river with 3 of the guys... you can pray for us. As always ;)

He'll be gone 'til Saturday.
He'll be visiting churches, encouraging believers, meeting with elders, and preaching open air.

Thanks for praying.

Amy for all.

Here's the video I got from across the street of the crazy bull.
I found a spot across the street and on the far side of a ditch where I hoped I'd be safe... :)

Monday, April 26, 2010

Today we were up at 4:30 a.m to pray with the believers and say goodbye. They gave me a chicken, 2 kilos of peanuts, 2 kilos of cocoa beans (unshelled), and 50 soles ($17). Wow! They gave out of their poverty! I was astounded! We headed down river. Amazing sunrise. 10 foot long snake crossed the river just ahead of our boat - very impressive! We read 1 & 2 Thessalonians out loud. We stopped in Huimbayoc to drop off a passenger and visit a brother. As we were about to leave, an angry bull romped through the street. They had a hold of it with some ropes but couldn't control it. It went wild and started taking out anything in it's path, including a motorcar... We got back in the boat and went on to Yarina where the road is. Upon arrival we ate lunch with the believers and then set up with a truck to take us back to Tarapoto. On the truck I found a brother that I hadn't seen since I'd met him nine years ago. I asked him how it was going and he told me the story of how he had walked away from the Lord. I spent the next three hours trying to encourage him and exhort him to draw near to the Lord. I realized that God had put us together. It was a good couple of hours. After his stop I prayed for him and then Samuel and Edy and I read 1 & 2 Timothy... We arrived home in Tarapoto at about 7 p.m. All the kids came running out and tackled me (Amy had left my arrival a surprise). We had a great time looking at my pictures and wrestling around. Got to take a real shower and shave. Amy and I went out for a romantic date. I ordered lasagna! We had a great time talking. It is great to be home.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

We hit the trail this morning at 4:30 a.m on our way back to San Jose. It is absolutely amazing to walk through the jungle as dawn breaks. We saw a few añuje cross the trail ahead of us. Very cool! After crossing the river twice (wary of stingrays, electric eels, alligators and boas) we came upon three houses (15 people or so) and gave out tracts and N.T's. The people listened to the gospel eagerly. We continued on to San Jose and as we reached the village we could hear the church joyfully singing to the Lord. I entered muddy, drenched in sweat, and half limping from a bloody toe. After lots of hugs, kisses and handshakes, the brethren explained that they were waiting for us and wanted to hear from God's word. I preached on Heb 12:2. Edinson and Samuel also preached. As we came out of the meeting, someone had just killed an anteater. Yum! They didn't want to share with us though and we had to settle for majáz. As we headed down to the river to load up in the canoe we came upon 4 guys skinning a 25 foot long boa. When they cut it open it had a deer inside! The guy that killed it said it was coming after him but luckily he had his shotgun... We headed back down river. Read Philippians and Colossians out loud together. Arrived in Santa Martha, cooled off in the river, ate dinner and went to the meeting. I preached on Judges 3:7-11. The Lord seemed to work in several hearts. Met with the leaders afterward and tried to help them to work out their differences. It went well. Got to bed* at 1:00 a.m.

*Going to bed on these trips means... setting up a small tent inside someone's house or the church and then arranging my semi-damp clothes over the floor for a cushion and zipping myself inside. It's definitely hotter, but it's worth it for the privacy and protection from mosquitoes and rats.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

All 60 members of the church here in Santa Rocio showed up at the 4 a.m meeting today. This church is by far the most mature and thriving. I taught on the gifts of the Spirit and miracles (there is much confusion over this topic everywhere). After a good question & answer time, I asked to have a meeting with the elders. I tried to encourage them in what they are doing. After breakfast we read Galatians and Ephesians and then went out to visit some of the houses in the surrounding countryside. We gave out tracts and shared the gospel with many. We ate fariña* and dried deer meat for lunch. On the way back to the village, we got caught on the trail in a torrential downpour and ended up soaked to the bone. Later, we ate doncella (fish) for dinner. We then went to pray for two sick ladies (they were moaning and wailing in pain). I wished I had a doctor with me. When we set up to preach that night there were not as many people gathered because on the other side of the village there was a big fiesta going on (competition with God's word). Once I began to preach, everyone left the fiesta running over to hear the sermon. My sermon was on the first questions of the Old and New Testaments. The people were very attentive. When I gave an opportunity to repent, Damian our peke peke canoe driver came forward. I had hired him on Monday back in Yarina when he was half drunk. In tears, he told how he had now listened to 11 sermons in 6 days and how he had heard us reading the Bible in every spare moment. He said that now he wanted to experience the forgiveness and peace that Jesus gives to those who repent and trust in Him... I am so overjoyed!

*Yucca left to soak, then ground and toasted (dehydrated yucca). Mix it with water and it sort of expands like cream of wheat. Many people on the rivers take a bunch of this on their treks and it serves for a simple meal.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Despite bad testimonies among the believers here, there are about 30 brothers and sisters that meet regularly and they, like the other villages, asked us to have the early morning meeting (4-8 a.m). I preached on Revelation 22 “Christ's last 3 calls”. Afterward, we met with the leaders and begged them to live lives worthy of the calling with which we have been called. At 10 a.m. we left promptly for our twenty mile trek on foot for the next village (the river was too shallow to travel in our canoe). After about two hours of hard walking we were startled by a 7 foot long black and yellow poisonous snake that came across the trail just a few yards ahead of us. It stopped and looked at us for a second and then disappeared into the forest. An hour later we had to cross the river. The locals say that people are always stepping on stingrays when they wade through and you have to throw rocks ahead of you to scare them out of your path. Very exciting! After about 5 hours of trudging through mud and traversing spectacular jungle landscape we finally arrived in Santa Rocio. We jumped in the river to cool off and then we were off to supper. One of the brothers had just killed a huangana and his wife made hot chocolate from freshly ground and toasted cocoa beans. Yum! That night I preached Romans 1 in the open air to all 150 inhabitants. Afterward we were very sore and tired but managed to read all of 2 Corinthians together in our tents before going to sleep.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

This morning our meeting with the church went from 8 to 12. I preached Philippians 2:1-4 and afterward Edy preached Acts 2:42. Two sermons wasn't enough for them so I then went through a Bible overview. To finish it all up we had a great time of questions and answers. The brothers were begging us to come back soon. Santa Martha is a very nice village. After lunch, once again we went back to the boat and back to the “Book”. We read 1 Corinthians out loud today. Arrived in San Jose and were served a second lunch (majàz, plantains and chicha). Prayed for a girl that was supposedly sick from a witchcraft curse. The girl is the grand daughter of the main elder in church here. Sadly, the elder was planning on taking the girl to a different witchdoctor to reverse the curse. The church here has a very bad testimony. Two of the other church leaders are drunks. I had to come down pretty hard on them. That night I preached open air 2 Kings 5:1-14. Lots of people (150) were there to listen and seemed quite moved but no one made a public profession of faith. It seems that in a lot of these villages (especially this one) a lot of people want the gospel but they don't want to have to be part of the existing church because of its bad testimony. Very sad....

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Up at 4:00 a.m again to meet with the church. Sang, prayed, read the Bible. Good time. The believers let me know that they were a bit upset that my sermons were only a hour long.... Met with the elders and found many internal problems. Tried to encourage them to work in unity, humility and love for one another. I'll have to deal with this further upon my return. Ate breakfast and headed back up river four hours to the next village. Finished reading Acts and then all of Romans. In Leche the believers were excited to see us and Jorge Luis immediately went into the woods to hunt for lunch. In about an hour he was back with a zahino. Maybe the best meat I've ever tasted! After a bit of door to door evangelism we began our open air meeting. The whole village came out (200 people). Samuel gave his testimony. Edinson led the music and I preached Gen 6:5-13. Everyone listened well. One lady made a profession of faith, and it seemed that everyone was impacted. Praise the Lord.

Another of Micah's journal entries:

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

We were up before dawn at 4:00 a.m for a meeting for the believers, I shared Hebrews 11 with them before they had to make the long walk back to their respective villages to work in their fields. We went hut to hut with tracts and the evangecube. The school director heartily allowed us into the colegio [school] and we shared the gospel with the entire student-body (all 20 kids!). Afterward, I spent 2 hours with Julio underlining a good Bible base for starting a church there... Around noon we were back in the boat and back to the 'Book' (today we read out loud the first 24 chapters of Acts). Arrived in Santa Martha at about 2:30 p.m. The brothers received us with much joy and love. Big lunch: chicken, majàz, rice, bananas, noodles, chicha. We had a meeting for the believers in the church at 7:00 p.m, I preached Jude 20-21. Afterwards, we went to the wake (funeral) of a three year old boy whose parents had abandoned him and was living from house to house. Some said that he had died of tristeza (sadness). The little body was a sorry sight on that table with candles all around his body. There were about 100 people gathered and they asked me to preach. I shared “three Bible trees”. Many seemed to be shaken. One made a profession of faith. Went to bed at about 2:00 a.m. We have to wake up in two hours.

Micah has worked hard this last week and we'd like to share with you a video he made live from the river (literally)...

Praying Friends,

Wow. SO much has happened in the last... well, the last 3 months really, that we have gotten all outta whack in regard to normal updates. We are WAY behind in updating! We are SO sorry about that.

I don't think we have ever before been SO busy. I think I always think that ;)

March

• 1st week - Micah occupied 24/7 with last minute preparations for his courses. Christ ever the subject.
  
• 2nd&3rd week - we had a harrowing trip but arrived whole at IBEM in Trujillo. The first week we had fewer students, which was altogether pleasant. Over the weekend, we all trudged 6hrs. up the road to Cajamarca to witness a very special wedding. Afterwards, we came back to a full final week of classes and enjoyed Pedro Torres from Bolivia who taught on church growth.
• 4th week - We then had a week of car repairs, good news publications, running here and there and everywhere, soaking in starbucks, sneaking in a solitary blazing day at the beach... and saying goodbye 14 times to our missionary family (because we did not leave when we said we were going to and had to keep saying goodbye - that was fun :) And the kids were happy, because we got to spend Easter with everyone.

April

• 1st week - celebrated a Risen Savior... all week long. If Christ didn't rise from the dead then we are above all men, most foolish.
• 2nd week - travelled back to Tarapoto; it went super smoothly :)
  
• 3rd week - Micah taught a homiletics (how-to preach) course each day from morning 'til the early afternoon.
• 4th week - we are plum in the middle of now...

Micah is currently on a river trip and tonight is staying in a village called 'Leche' [milk] or is it San Jose? memory fails. Micah will be able to fill you in on the details when he gets back. Anyway, the three guys, Micah and 2 of the young men from the assembly, set out Monday by car and then by boat to visit some of the villages that were beyond where they were able to get to last trip. They went 'further in' this time as the level of water is more conducive to reaching the pueblos farther away. Each night they hold an evangelistic meeting, and in the morning also, and then move on during the day. Tomorrow, they'll be on foot for 5 hours in order to get to the next village, Santa Rocio.

Please pray for health & safety
(they are in an area with high incidence of malaria, and traveling by river is unpredictable)
Pray that the Lord would be glorified and that this work would bear fruit
Pray that He would be guiding each day's meetings, drawing the people who's hearts have been prepared.
Pray for us while he's gone - homeschool, joy, holding down the fort
Most of all pray that we would LOVE Him with our whole hearts, and be ever willing and usable in our Potter's steady hands.

Hey there everybody!

So here we are in Trujillo! hah! Normally, we like to write before we travel to take advantage of all those extra prayers that keep us on the road and healthy during the LONG trip between Tarapoto and Trujillo. This time it was not to be, however, since our computer seems to be giving up on us. We're really not sure what the problem is, but we're hoping maybe someone here in Trujillo can fix it? We shall see.

Regardless of our lack of communication, we trust that the Holy Spirit has been reminding you to pray for us! We know that our Father cares for us and will not forget us, even if you do, so don't worry!! heheheh. But we know that MANY of you do pray faithfully on our behalf and we are SO grateful! We are ever conscious of our utter dependence on the Him, the Living God, our Father.

This month is IBEM! Please be praying for the students and the professors. There is so much to tell, and so little time to write at the moment. I'm hoping to write again while we are here with a little more information (fuel for prayer and praise!). The Lord is at work as always and we can't wait to share with you some of His praises!

In the meantime, will you pray for us this week?

• IBEM - Students and professors. Micah is teaching Christ this week!
• Travel to Cajamarca for the wedding of the year (2 fantastic friends of ours) and back
• All the other thousand things we've got to do while here...
• Tarapoto meetings, that all will go smoothly while we are away.

You guys are the greatest!!

The Tuttle Tribe -

residing in Tarapoto, currently in Trujillo, looking forward to the celestial city

The picture below is a picture taken during the Sunday morning Lord's Supper. Less people come in the mornings, but we are content that all the core group of believers are able to fellowship during this meeting. The kids meet for Sunday School in the back during this first service, the Bible Hour. The Breaking of Bread service follows with everyone present. Though every week there are a few glitches, we are enjoying working them out one by one.


The women have been really anxious to start meeting, as they haven't officially met for almost a year now. Here's a picture of our group this last Thursday. For the next few months, Amy will be co-teaching through 'Encuentros con Jesucristo', Moments with Jesus Christ. Pray for us as this is admittedly not the season for Amy to be involved in ministry outside the home, but the Lord is stretching us both in many different areas.


January through February has definitely been termed the season of visitors. Though it is rather disruptive to the regularity of life, we hope it will be this way EVERY year! :) It is summertime on this part of the globe, so classes are out, and most take advantage of their vacation time. Also, due to the fact that Bible Capacitation courses [Capacitacion Biblica] take place in Yurimaguas during February, and because Tarapoto is on the way to Yurimaguas, we've had LOTS of guests. We have enjoyed having all of them (14) as well as short-termers (2). All the kids especially enjoy the visitors despite the fact the boys have had to forfeit their room since the middle of January. Our house is not really adequate for guests, so we are thinking to look for another rental house when our contract comes up in August, with at least a couple of guest rooms! This picture was one of the more recent fun guest-filled days...


Thank you for praying for us, we can use every ounce of grace granted! These months have not been without trial, and we thank the Lord that His grace is sufficient and that His power is made perfect in weakness. We are so grateful for all your love and support.

In Him,
the tuttles