Team & Plans

Two weeks ago, we welcomed Jesse and Janel Mattix arriving with their kids, Isaac and Fionna. In that short time, they've rented an apartment and are quickly settling in. Their coming to form part of a team is a huge answer to prayer! Their friendship, added to ten years of experience in missions and working with a Bible school in Bolivia, will surely be invaluable! We are overjoyed and continue to look to the Lord to build a firm base of co-workers (Peruvian & foreign) to serve the region around Tarapoto!

Over the past few months, we've been revisiting the idea of hosting a year-long Bible Institute here in Tarapoto (remember IBEM? an extension of that program). With the Mattixes, we are praying about the possibility of a trial run for next year! As the Lord provides, we'll be doing a lot of construction for this next phase of ministry.


Construction
As many of you know, we have been able to buy and renovate a rustic building here in Tarapoto. A few years ago we were able to get it liveable for our family but there was (and still is) a lot left to do. In the last few weeks we have taken a major step forward with the project! Last week, we finished putting a new roof on, replacing the leaky, old, batty one. Yes, there were hundreds of bats living in our roof! This week, we are going crazy on the second floor. Lots of workers, wire, cement, tile, paint, decisions, expenditures and lots of excitement. We'll see how far we get, but we are hoping to have the building ready for ministry by the end of the year.


Short-termers
After three weeks spent in a remote village, our short-termer Ian Posey is back with us. He arrived here sun-burnt, bearded and maybe a bit skinnier. :) He learned from the villagers, ate their food and practiced his Spanish. Ian will head back to the States in a few days, but we will not be left without a bearded short-termer because Patrick Mueller from Germany, a student at Moody Bible Institute, arrived last week. He will be with us until mid-August doing his cross-cultural internship. Our goal is to do what we can to teach and inspire these guys, all the while they encourage us by wanting to help and be involved in missions!


Baptism
Our local assembly here in Tarapoto is going through encouraging times. On Sunday, about sixty people from our church piled onto a bus and headed to the Cumbaza river for a baptism celebration. I preached from Romans 6:3-4 before the baptism of two young men and our daughter Bria. It was a special moment as we performed this important drama that symbolizes what happens spiritually at the moment of conversion; the death and burial of our old self and then a resurrection to new life in Christ. Please pray for Fran, Kelvin and Bria. We are so encouraged to see their eagerness to grow in the Lord and to walk with Him.


Missions Quote for the day by John Stott: "His authority on earth allows us to dare to go to all the nations. His authority in heaven gives us our only hope of success. And his presence with us leaves us no other choice." (See Matthew 28:19-20)

-Micah for the Tuttle's