Yesterday, being Father's Day, was a great opportunity to thank God for the neat kids that He has given to Amy and I.  Our five kids are a tremendous blessing!  I'm not sure if it's wrong to feel this way but I can't help thinking that we have the ultimate family.  Praise God for his blessings!      

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.  Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth.  Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them" (Psalm 127:3-4)

Javen is 15 years old.  He is a fun guy to be with, great on the jungle trail, eager to help, musical, very involved in the youth group, likes to read and write, shaves, is learning how to drive,  is a big encouragement to me and is growing in the Lord.  The ideal first son.  Very manly.



Cullen is 14 years old.  He is a natural leader, good with people, athletic, shaves, plays the guitar, good at math, likes to visit the villages, very involved in the youth group, a great personality and growing in the Lord.  God placed him perfectly as second-born in our family.  Very manly.



Bria is 10 years old.  She is a precious princess girl, very pretty, very resilient, willing to take risks in the jungle, likes to help in ministry, reads her Bible all the time, loves to be with friends, brings joy to everyone around her, not allowed to talk to boys until she turns 40.


Josiah is 8 years old.  He is the kindest young man you will ever meet, very good at soccer, tough on the trail, quiet, fun, joyful, can catch almost any small animal with his bare hands, very smart, serious about reading his bible, memorized Romans 12:1-10 without being told to.  Very manly.


Mya is 5 years old.  She is a precious princess, very pretty, we call her "sunshine", likes to drink coconut water, likes attention, learning how to read, natural born ability to color-coordinate, willing to face the jungle if her dad is with her, prays, wants and try's to trust in the Lord.  Not allowed to talk to boys until she is 40 years old.

Family quote of the day: “What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.”

-Mother Teresa

What fun we've had over the last few days! Planning and scheming about how to love and serve Christ by sending food for the believers in Papa Playa, many of whom have lost whole crops in the recent flooding, has occupied much of our attention.


As we've worked out, we're hoping that the food in this truck is enough to sustain 50 families of four (complemented by their daily catch of fish) for at least a couple of weeks. There are about that many families represented at the village church, and we're making a gift of beans, oil and pasta for each family. Plus, the store where we bought most of the things was inspired and donated 10 boxes of panetones free of charge! Now, that doesn't happen every day!

Of course we couldn't take enough on this trip to give a gift to everyone in the village. But we have some really cool ideas for ways to use this opportunity to bring glory to God and hopefully the gospel to people, if we're able to send more later on this month. We're looking forward to it.


Our visitors, David and Joana, arrived yesterday from France, today assisted in loaded the truck, and will be with Micah until tomorrow finishing off the food drop; along with Miss Mya who is making her first river trip with Daddy!

Please pray that above all things the Lord would receive much glory from every aspect of this project: from how the items and the gospel are presented, to how the people receive them. Pray also that the people would see Christ and that the eyes of their hearts would be opened to His word and to His Spirit's working.


We are figuring on taking a truckload of rice within the next couple of weeks. But, I think we'll have to take a bigger truck! It is exciting it is to be part of a rescue project! Several of you have offered to send money to help. We consider ourselves lucky that we're the ones who actually get to deliver Christ's love into their kitchens. They are going to be SO excited! Oh, and those of you who have joined with us on this project by praying or sending, we too, want to THANK YOU!

May the Lord bless you as you continue to seek and serve Him.
Amy on behalf of the whole tribe.

Amy has kept you all updated on my health and now I guess I should give you a personal update to let you know about the last week and how I'm coming along now.....  After this, we just need to stop talking about it :)

Here in Tarapoto, God has given us a tremendous opportunity to serve Him. In the chapter that He is currently writing of our lives, we're continuing the building of something that hopefully will be of great use in His service; not just the part that obviously won't last forever, but we're looking forward to figuring out ways for it to bear TONS of imperishable fruit. :)

We arrived late last Friday night. Since then Micah has been itching to get started on the MANY projects needed to be finished on the property before we can actually move in. We're hoping (somewhat wishfully), to be able to move over there in just a couple of weeks. We shall see. In order of priority, our current projects:

• filling the open outside walls in with brick so as to be more secure
• digging the septic TWO tanks (this will take a couple of weeks of pure grunt work - they will have a combined depth of 27 feet deep! oh yeah!)
• finishing up the window and door frames so that they can have doors and windows made for them
• windows with screen to keep out the bugs
• doors
• a toilet, sink and shower
• a basic kitchen counter and sink

...and with those basic necessities we'll be all set to move in!




We are constantly in awe at what the LORD is making possible here! Thank you for praying and for supporting the work! :)

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

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.

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.

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

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)

The main strike has lifted, but there is one town on the way from Tarapoto to Trujillo, that still is blocked.

AND there is another mototaxi strike planned for Monday... so, we've decided to go for it.

• Please pray that we could get through without any hang-ups.
• If we do get stuck somewhere along the way please pray that the Lord would provide for that (He ALWAYS does!).
  
• Pray for safety, extra patience and flexibility.

We'll try to keep you posted on our arrival, and if possible of our progress along the way.

the Tuttles
Tarapoto-Trujillo, Peru