Work Group from the States

This past week a group from Oregon came down to Pucallpa to serve in one of the river communities and in one of the local communities. At the end of their week they invited the staff from the office to attend a praise and worship session at a local retreat center where we were served lunch and refreshments and were able to play a few games and relax. It was fun to visit with some individuals who spoke English and to be encouraged by their enthusiasm to serve the people. It is hard to maintain our enthusiasm when we are facing the everyday challenges of actually living here and trying to adapt to the culture. So the group was a breath of fresh air.

I was especially encouraged by one of the gentlemen that made the trip down. He was 80 years old and as tough as nails. He flew upriver with the group and stayed in the community for 4 days or so…sleeping in a hammock and working a pastor’s conference for the local pastors from the community. After this the group returned to Pucallpa by boat which took 10 hours. Then they spent their time in one of the local communities (La Perla = The Pearl) working a vacation bible school for the kids. I hope I have that much energy when I am 80! Anyway, it was enjoyable and here are a few of the pictures from our time.

This last picture was taken during one of the games. This game was chosen because we were also having a baby shower for Neil and Kelsey, fellow hunger core here in Pucallpa. They are due in the middle of December. So this game was interesting because you chose 8 people and then had them pair up into groups of 2. One member was the baby and the other was the mother. The babies had to literally crawl to their mothers, drink a coke, and the first to burp won the game! It was hilarious and I think it worked out ok because it was a co-ed baby shower and the men seemed to enjoy the game.