Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Today is a good day to ask the question: Where are the men?!?  Where are the men that love their wives unconditionally?  Where are the men that pass on a godly heritage to their children?  Here's a quote by C.S Lewis about the sorry state of manhood today:  "We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and then bid the geldings to be fruitful."

We had a great Father's day here with the church in Tarapoto!  At our morning service I preached on Biblical manhood.  After church everyone came over to our house for a BBQ.  Before eating I took advantage of the "hungry crowd" and preached on the importance of men loving their wives.  At the evening service we had a lot of people come out to see the movie "Courageous".  When it ended I preached on the necessity of Godly father's. 

Please pray that God would raise up a new generation of men that fear nothing but sin in their own lives and want no one but God and God alone.  Pray that we would see more men with chests' that lead their families, love their wives and invest everything they can in their children.

-Micah for the Tuttle's 

 

and...



Check it out! All we need is a lid and then to bury this monster.
We are SO close to being able to use this!! :)

The hall is still mud bricks and cement floor, but swept up looks WAY better!
Now... we just need water hooked up and we'll be all set to break these in! :)

and...



We're SO close to move in day... hopefully this week!
We're just waiting on the septic tank and water hookup!

...to be continued :)

Dear friends and family,

OK, normally I would try not to write in discouraging fashion... I don't want to discourage, but after thinking it through for several weeks I've decided that I will share some of our stressful situation so that you can pray more fervently and with more knowledge.

For these past two months of construction, we've been living with the neighbors, a Canadian woman married to a Peruvian. They are adopting a baby boy whose mother had abandoned him. Two weeks ago the mom came to the house and kidnapped him from right under Bria's nose. Everything turned to pandemonium, screams and commotion.  I ran to the car....  and the chase was on.  Four of the construction guys were with me as we caught up to the kidnappers at a gas station about two miles down the road.  We couldn't really do anything as she screamed at us and to everyone around that we were the bad guys.

We didn't touch her, or the baby, we couldn't do anything except just try to stay with her.  She switched motor cars about 4 times to get away. Finally she hid out in a friends house.....   
 
When our friends showed up they went into the house to rescue their adoptive son. Once again it was pandemonium, screams and commotion.   The police came, and not knowing the truth they hit and kicked the dad and took him to the police station.  Since then our host family is commonly either in court or with the lawyers either trying to stay out of jail or trying to keep their son.

For a few days we were expecting the police to come, who have a warrant for our host couple's arrest. One night they even went to a hotel to escape, and here we were left in the house waiting for the police to come and search the house. This is all new to us and seems to get more interesting (complicated) every day.  We know that God put us in the middle of all this for a reason..... but we are beginning to feel uncomfortable. It has been very stressful for our family.  

To add to it all.... one of the workers fell in the big hole! From the very top... 20 feet down. He dislocated a bone in his wrist, had a big gash on his head and several bruised ribs. But when I first saw him, I thought he was dead at the bottom of the pit. After much difficulty getting him out I ran him to the hospital where he spent a day and a half.  Now he's recuperating at home.  He'll be out for at least a month.  It could have been a lot worse. But even through this difficult time, I have had many chances to share the gospel with him and pray for him too.

The day the brick-layer fell, someone on the job-site stole 160 soles (+/- 5 days wages) out of another workers' wallet. Since then there has been a lot of distrust between workers. 

Through all of this we really feel the spiritual battle and much prayer is needed. I can't mention all the details, but I can say that I don't remember ever having such a time of serious trial... Things are quite difficult right now.... Pray that we would trust God moment by moment, putting all things into His hands.  Please pray... really pray. 

-Micah for the Tuttle's

Micah talks about what they are doing to dig out not one but two septic tanks. One pit is rectangular and about 3 meters (9ft) deep and the other is round and will be 6 meters (18ft) deep!

Almost exactly one month ago we posted here about work projects on the property!
We've been SUPER busy, but we've gotten SO. MUCH. done in the last 4 weeks!
Have a look...

April Projects' status:

• Fill the open outside walls in with brick so as to be more secure DONE!
• DIG the TWO septic tanks -- still digging! almost done! will have to line with cement soon! 
• Finish up the window and door frames so that they can have doors and windows made for them DONE!
• Windows with screen to keep out the bugs DONE!
• Doors, inside and out DONE!
• A toilet, sink and shower DONE!
• A basic kitchen counter and sink -- this is next on the list! 

New Projects (started by the mini-work team):

• Mud, sand, prime walls in the big room - DONE! 
• Wire downstairs with lights and plugs - DONE! 
• Install, sand, prime and paint rails on front outside wall - DONE! 
• Front arched windows - DONE! 
• Guest house - IN PROGRESS (see pictures below!)  

Upcoming Projects:

• Paint walls in big room
• Mud, sand, prime walls in small room
• Glass in arched windows and doors 
• Kitchen counter and sink
• Connect water to kitchen & bath
• Raise water tank on tower for water pressure
• Line septic tank w/ brick and cement 
• Wash things in storage & transfer to property
• MOVE IN! 

The weekend before last, I was able to visit with and encourage the brethren in Tarapoto. Praise the Lord, the church is doing well! We had meetings to talk about the transitioning leadership (the brother the Lord sent to take our place last year will return to his hometown and our young men will be taking over), we discussed logistics of the youth meeting, and we broke bread together on Sunday.

The following Monday, myself and 3 young men headed out on a river trip to visit several different villages. The believers in each village were very excited to see us as our visit was unplanned and quite a surprise to all. It's been about nine months since I last visited these churches, so it was a real blessing to see these precious brothers and sisters and to note their growth in the Lord.

Ministry included dealing with church problems, doing lots of evangelism, preaching open air and taking medicine to the sick. The menu included broiled fish, corn on the cob, plantains cooked in the ashes and the famous jungle drink "mazato" (manioc spit juice). The motive was God's glory, including man's salvation and the church's edification.

Please pray for Jilmer, Delmith, Martha and Jaquelin who knelt and made professions of faith in the wet grass of Achinamisa, late Monday night after the open air meeting. It was exciting to preach and watch the Holy Spirit working on people's hearts, convicting them of sin and driving them to the Savior.   

-Micah for the Tuttle's


Missionary quote for the day:   

"It will not do to say that you have no "special call" to go.  With the facts before you and the command of our Lord Jesus, you need rather to ascertain whether you have a "special call" to stay at home."  -Hudson Taylor

Tomorrow marks one week since Micah left to teach in a Bible capacitation program in the jungle (Yurimaguas). We talked briefly on the phone tonight as he's got quite a pile of papers and tests to grade, but he's happy to be finished with the teaching part. He's had a grueling week teaching 6-8 hours each day, and then sleeping in a tent in the same room as the students, who stayed up 'til the wee hours every night studying for his classes :)

Micah has been looking forward to traveling to Tarapoto tomorrow (where we've been for the last 2yrs). He'll spend two days with the church there before heading out of town for a week long river trip. I honestly can't remember which of the villages he'll be visiting, but then again, I'd venture that most of you wouldn't recognize them even if I did mention names, so I suppose it'll all be alright either way. :) Thankfully, the Lord is far more informed than we are, going before, working presently as well as following up afterward. Please pray that He would work mightily in hearts and that He would find Micah a useful instrument.

Please also specifically keep Micah and all the brothers who are still gathered there in Yurimaguas for another week of classes in your prayers as there has been an outbreak of dengue fever in the area. River trips always carry their own special risks as well, so please do pray for health and safety for the trip. Micah is excited because a friend/fellow missionary/adventurer will be joining him. You can also pray that the Lord would grant sweet fellowship and genuine encouragement for them both.

The kids and I are enjoying the time we've been in Trujillo, where we've had ample opportunity to catch up with friends and missionary family. What a neat blessing it's been to have some time here before we travel back to the States in mid-March.

Speaking of travel to the US... we do have a few dates set, but we'll be working feverishly on our itinerary plans just as soon as Micah gets back. We'll do our best to let you know where we'll be and when just as soon as we can. :)

Please accept my humble apologies for the lack of communication, as I had to leave the apartment for an internet connection until earlier this week, which for a multitude of reasons isn't as easy as it may seem at first glance:) Thank you all for continuing to pray regardless!


In Him,

Amy, on behalf of the rest of the Tuttle tribe

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 :)

Okay, by request I have worked on getting a picture on Google Earth so that you can see not only our house from space, but also where Micah is currently on the river! If you zoom in far enough maybe you'll even see Micah in the boat... heheheh. Just kidding.

Technology is SO cool :)

The first photo is the zoomed out version where you can see Trujillo, Cajamarca, etc.
You'll notice how we are on the edge of nothing but jungle. The second one is more zoomed in and you can see Tarapoto and Yurimaguas as well as markers along the river where Micah is at this moment.

Now, something REALLY cool... If you have Google Earth on your computer, you could even watch a little video tour I made today! If you have Google Earth software on your computer, you can download this little file RIGHT HERE, (right click and save file to your desktop, then click on it and it will open up in Google Earth**) and you will see where we live!! You can then use the little toggle on the right to zoom out from there and see where Micah is right now on the river! Wowza. Technology!

Enjoy!

*(you must have the google earth software on your computer for the video tour to work)

If you are like us, you too may have just found yourself on the brink of another Christmas season asking just how this year could possibly have gone by so quickly. Last year at this time, we were living in Trujillo, having recently made a trip to the jungle; still only contemplating work in this part of the country. Now, here we are. Sitting around our easy-to-assemble Christmas tree adorned with lights, and we're sweating. The tendency is languish in such temperatures of 95* during the day, yet things do seem to liven up as temps sink to luxurious lows of 86 degrees at night... quite without air conditioning. One's body does acclimate after all and we've decided that sweating IS healthy :)

After two very full weeks in Trujillo, we are back to work here in the jungle. Not that we stopped for a moment in Trujillo! Thankfully all travel was relatively uneventful, unmarked by car problems or major delays. During the first week Micah taught 1&2 Peter, loading the students up with LOTS of valuable info and helpful tools to use in their own further studies of the books (he has the reputation of giving many assignments, hehe). Each day as a family we ate lunch with the students, hopefully in some small way making up for lost time as we were unable to be away from Tarapoto for the majority of this latest module. On the weekend, Micah led a mission trip to nearby Cuidad de Dios, and although nothing went as originally planned, a sovereign design was evident. Another highlight, IBEM graduated its second group of students this module, which brings the total to seven graduates. We are encouraged by the brothers and sisters who have worked so hard to finish this phase of studies with the aim to increase effectiveness in their respective ministries. Our second week in Trujillo was equally full, with car-work, meeting with people to whom we continue to minister, the year end IBEM evaluation/planning meetings, and touching base with most co-workers and friends. We even squeezed in a late but very DELICIOUS Thanksgiving dinner with the Elliots and Pam Zarek. We had a great time.

In the months ahead, we plan to forge forward with activity focused on the establishment of the work here in Tarapoto. Our main needs are: co-workers, leaders, and the finished meeting place. The LORD knows that each is significant, which are most urgent and we trust Him to provide for every one. Please pray with us to that end. Pray also that we would faithfully look to Him in everything.

It has been encouraging to be able to look at the work in 3 month segments and to set tangible goals for those periods. Over the next several months, the plan is to work with two men giving them charge of teaching Sunday mornings, and Micah taking the teaching on Sunday evenings himself. This is a welcome change from the last three months when there was no choice but for Micah to lead all the meetings. The mid-week Bible study will be going through a basic discipleship course. With the coming year, Lord willing, we will start monthly meetings for women. We also hope to make a serious advance on the building project. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God.

Honestly, we consider the last months an intense trial period, and we continue to learn from the memory of the experience, as well as all we are currently facing, this being our motto: “But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God, who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver; in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us.” God. Who delivered and doth deliver, He will yet deliver. Woohoo! It just does NOT get any better! Now thanks be unto God, who always causes us to triumph in Christ and makes manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ. Glory!

Our sincere thanks to all who prayed for us during these recent months. Please continue to intercede with and for us, for the work here, that His body would be nourished, and that His church will be firmly established in this region.

We hope and pray that this season will be marked by remembrance of the only and precious Savior Jesus.

With much love,

the Tuttle family

With temperatures in the mid to upper 90's all week, Micah decided to put the thermometer out in the car! With no air conditioning, most people here ride motorcycles or the famous moto-kar with the wind blowing them cool. But, we gringos go around in our red hot oven on wheels with just the windows down...

An Introduction of sorts to the Work in Tarapoto

Senior missionaries, Bert and Colleen Elliot worked for nearly 40 years in the jungle town of Yurimaguas. During those years, they planted several assemblies in that town (a few of which are healthy and carrying on mission work among the river churches) and then nearly 40 more assemblies along the banks of the Huallaga river. I (Micah) have had opportunity to visit many of these churches and speak with various believers in these areas and I cannot begin to explain how great of an impact the Elliot's have left on this seemingly forgotten corner of the world.

Presently, there is tremendous need for follow-up work. Twenty years have come and gone since the Elliot's left this region and now many of those original assemblies are in great need of spiritual encouragement, biblical training and a renewed passion for evangelism.

About a year ago, as a family, we were able to make a visit to Yurimaguas in order to `spy out the land' and to begin to intelligently pray about the possibility of God using us in this region. On that trip we stopped over in the town of Tarapoto (only a 2 hour drive from Yurimaguas) and found that it would be a very a strategic town for a church plant, with relatively close access to the river, while at the same time being a suitable place for our family to call "home".

After a three month trial, much prayer, and much advice-seeking, we decided to make the move. So here we are, living and working in the jungle town of Tarapoto. Six months ago, we began meeting with about 10 believers, and now have grown to about 35 who come to services currently being held in our house, Wednesdays and Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this new church would become a mission-minded assembly that would reach out to the river villages and be characterized by a genuine faith, evangelism and love for the brethren.

We have been in desperate need of a building practically from the beginning. None of our homes are quite adequate for hosting Sunday school classes and we've found it rather imposing on healthy family life for one house to have all 5 weekly meetings.

The latest developments

God's provision has bought us a small piece of land (measuring 24' x 60') as well as materials for the first rough stage of building (a one-room meeting place with columns, thatched roof, half-height walls and a concrete floor). This building will serve a provisional purpose over the next few years, while we save for a future meeting place that would be bigger and better situated. The believers here over the last several years have been saving to come up with more than half of the money needed to get us to where we are now, which would really excite anyone able to understand their true poverty. We have recently started the excavation work, and will pour the cement for the columns in the next several days. Everyone is eager to work and brothers and sisters alike, all are contributing to the construction project.

For those of you who may be interested, we are now going to share a few of the grisly financial details. :) So far, including the purchase of the lot, expenses have totaled about $5,000. To complete the project as planned, we are praying for about $8,000 more. That would provide a finished meeting room to seat 85, three Sunday school rooms, kitchen, bathroom & office. Yes, that's a church building for $13,000! We'd be thrilled if the Lord would provide all or part of this amount very soon so that we can grow out of our living room and into the next stage of mission-minded church development.

By His Grace,

Micah and Amy Tuttle

a picture of the property last week before the columns

Dear Praying Friends,

Happy Son-day* to you! Thank you all for praying for us over these last months in spite of a serious lack of updates. We trust that the Holy Spirit has brought us to mind for prayer just at the right moments.** We could do nothing apart from the never-failing grace of God, in this wild and crazy life we are honored to share.

So, no one has heard from us over the last month+, so we thought we'd better give you all an update before you think the worst :)

Summary:
June - In Tarapoto (since April), we were involved in all kinds of ministry & enjoying the heat. Micah made a river trip the last week.
July - The first week, we traveled back from Tarapoto (the jungle) to translate/teach/etc. at IBEM (Bible Institute) in Trujillo. Here, we had a very full month, with a week of conference for full-time workers; then two weeks of classes, ministry opportunities, shared meals and some just fun stuff with the students.
August - During this month so far, we finished up IBEM and packed up everything we own (perhaps slightly more complicated than it sounds :) and are distributing it between two places.

What does this mean? ...well, we are moving to Tarapoto!*** There is a big pile of furniture/belongings in the front room of the lovely house we've rented for the last two years. It is waiting for the moving truck to take it to the jungle. Some of our things that won't stand the heat and humidity, we've moved to a small apartment that a lady from Centro Biblico is renting us for a very reasonable amount. We decided, that for now, for the sake of the family, we will maintain a small cheap apartment in Trujillo. That way, when we come back every couple of months for IBEM, we'll have a home to come to; thus easing some of the difficulty of re-adjustment between places.

Very soon, we'd like to send out some informational e-mails detailing some of the ministries we are privileged to be a part of. We regret not making time to keep you all informed over this insanely busy month. If we have a hard time keeping up with ourselves, we are sure that it must be that much harder for all of you far away to keep up as well! We'll try to do a little better as we have the time. These last months have been AMAZING.

GOD is good.

Thank you for participating in this exciting life of ministry, through your prayers and gifts. We are constantly amazed by the Lord's rich blessings.****

Looking to His return,

the Tuttle tribe - Micah & Amy
Javen, Cullen, Bria, Siah, Aleya Mya

PS. Amy is in Portland 8/22 - 9/2 in order to gather/take back clothes and homeschooling materials for the younger tribe members.

Today at lunch, the restaurant had the news tuned into the session of Congress dealing with the volatile situation taking place in the Amazon regions of Peru. This news has grabbed everyone's attention because of the violent situation that developed last Friday because of the confrontation between the police and the natives (see my last post , here and here). We have heard the roads are clear thanks to the patrol of the army. On the way home this evening we saw tanker trucks (petrol) coming from the direction of Yurimaguas (apparently, they are letting traffic through on both ends now!) and the streetlights even came on! yay! Life seems to be settling down a bit. But at no small price.

Here are a couple links to the situation on MSNBC.com describing how our situation stands politically:
Amazon Indians challenge Peru over land
Deadly Amazon clashes roil Peru
These stories follow pretty true to reality.

My own summary: The government has made mistakes, but neither are the natives without guilt. Both sides are have committed grave errors costing lives. This is a big deal, and permanent resolution seems remote. Neither side is very willing to concede anything to the other. I don't really specialize in analysis of these kinds of things, even though we have our share of opinions. We can see a little of both sides. The natives have a right to land, and that right ought to be established and protected. The government ought to seek progress and the responsible development of natural resources form a big part of that. Needless to say, there is serious division all over the country, and people have taken sides, knowledgeably or not.

It's complicated - I'm certainly glad I'm not a politician. As of this writing, the gov't has suspended the laws that have outraged the natives. We'll see what happens next.

I mourn for the souls whose earthly lives were cut short, and for their families that will miss them. In comparison to what people experience daily in the Middle East, this is nothing. Yet, for us, it is unexpected and new. I'm pretty confident that there probably will not be any more bloodshed for some time. I think it was a big shock to the whole country. Rightfully so.

And of course, we're hoping that the road can stay clear for the next several months so that we can get to and from Trujillo a couple of more times by car. Who would've thought that this would be our reality several months ago when we came here?! Well, of course... God did. :) We can rest in that!

Note: All photos courtesy larepulica.com

Some photos of the conflict in Bagua Grande:

My blog post on how this affects our family HERE.

From what we've heard the numbers in the following article are based on the injured or killed that have arrived in the hospital. But, the news here is that the natives have been carrying off their killed comrades and burning their bodies... the report we've heard (we have no idea of the reliability of the source) has said there are possibly hundreds of casualties. This is all happening in the town we always stay in on our way between Tarapoto and Trujillo. It feels just a little too close to home.

Here are some links to news stories on the situation here in Peru, in Bagua Grande:

Click Here for article in English
Click Here for articles in Spanish
(This one is the only one I've seen that actually talks about the severe rise in prices and increasing lack of basic necessities... our reality)



Also, there is now NO gasoline in the city... all the gas stations are out.
Prices on staples have been climbing again, and no doubt tomorrow will double because of the mania.

Just a quick note, as we know that you all are busy people...

Protests:
The mototaxistas have let up on their strike giving the government a week or so to resolve the problem! The natives continue to be restless, but we've heard there's a meeting in Lima today hopefully with a resolution coming in the next days. Chicken prices are still through the roof! And we were SO glad to get out of the house today for the first time in 5 days!! :)

Health:
With open roads, we were able to take Micah to the hospital to confirm that he does have Dengue. The doctor said that was good news because the alternative was something that has a tendency to go on for a longer time. My dizziness seems to have disappeared for the time being! Yay! Praise the Lord!

Travel:
The airport is now open and flights are available if we end up needing to go with that option... just so costly. But preferably, this week the road will clear, and we'll jump at the first chance to drive to Trujillo. We're hoping the car won't complain. We have things that we need to get in order there... particularly, Sam, our poor orphan dog. Though we've heard from friends that he is doing just fine ;) After a week or two in Trujillo, we hope to be back here again until July (IBEM in Trujillo).

So there you have it, your prayers have been effective, and we are super thankful for the reprieve!

the Tuttles

PS. Below are some pictures of a trip we took to Laguna Azul on our family day last week... probably where Micah got sick?!


Our contact information:
e-mail: majctuttle@yahoo.com
phone: 011 42 527401
mailing address:
Centro Biblico Trujillo
c/o Stephen Twinem - (Tuttles)
Av. Larco 1069
Trujillo, Peru