Our Foundation

Where is our foundation? Is it in our country, our state, our city, our churches or our homes? Or is it in the Lord?

We were having a devotional this morning and we were talking about having a foundation in the Lord. Carmen jokingly said, “ I have a strong foundation, our house.”

As I started to correct her …the next words that came out of my mouth shocked and convicted me.

I started to explain how our foundation should be from God. I told her about how I had moved 32 times before I was 23 years old. How this caused me to not have what the world sees as a secure foundation.  I told her that even though we moved all the time I always had Jesus with me. He was my friend. And, I always seemed to make new friends wherever I went. I explained to her that it didn’t mean it wasn’t hard for me and I didn’t struggle but my foundation rested more on Jesus.

I told her how I had always wanted what my other friends had i.e., getting to stay in one place, grow up with people you had known all your life, etc. And, how finally at 20 God had given me that in Bellingham.  I told her how I was able to finally put down roots. But, that it makes it harder to leave too.

That was when it hit me!! As I was trying to explain to my daughter how not having a strong foundation in the Lord makes us vulnerable to the world; I realized what had been happening to me.

In the last 20 years our family, friends, church, and even Bellingham have become my foundation. I realized that the reason I have been struggling so hard emotionally on the mission field is that my focus has been on the wrong foundation.

Ouch that stings just a little bit!

I was talking to Carmen saying, the reason her and I have been having a hard time with things is because we keeping looking to get to the time we can get back to our “foundation”….not good! This is really hard for me to write and I am ashamed to admit it. 

But, as 1 John 1:9 says: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

God spoke to me so clearly this morning… He is my foundation!!! I love Him with all my heart and need to turn back to Him as my strong foundation and my everything.

No matter where we go in the world, we will always have family and friends. We are not leaving anything behind or losing anything. Instead we are gaining so much and growing the family of God!

Psalms 62:2 “Truly He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.”

Snapshots of Peru

Just a little video I put together with some pictures and short videos of our trip home and activities since arriving home....Enjoy!!

And we're back...

We are back in Nauta and in full swing. It was an uneventful trip home ending in a tearful and joyful reuniting with our fearless leader. It just felt good to be home and in Joel's arms again. After a night in Iquitos we headed home to Nauta.

Carmen was greeted with quite the fanfare by the neighbor kids. I don't know if I could find something more heartwarming than hearing the kids running out yelling " Carmencita!!!" It was so lovely to come home and be greeted by neighbors with hugs and smiles. I love the relationships we have been able to build. After checking out what the neighbors have been up to, I made a quick pasta dinner, and we headed off to church. Some of you may remember me talking early on about visiting Pastor Juan's church in the small dirt house. It never ceases to humble and amaze me the level of love, compassion, and joy they have here amongst such a hard existence. I didn't realize until that moment how ready I was to return here and serve. Plus, I got to see Crystal, our missionary friend. and hug her...that was a big bonus too.

As morning approached I was up earlier than I had been in 12 weeks...5am! But, here in the jungle we go to bed pretty early which causes us to rise pretty early too. ( Wish that would hold true for me in the states) I needed to shop so, after about an hour (making coffee the old fashioned way takes a while) we headed down to the market. Boy, did I miss this.....the noise, the people, the food, and yes, even some of the smells.....all of it. I really do enjoy the market. Loaded down with supplies we headed home.
This is where the day got busy....Joel had done a pretty good job of keeping the house up but, it was definitely a bachelor pad! You could tell that three guys had lived here and been doing construction. I had a full day of trying to just get the kitchen back in working order! Haha  Plus, we were all having to relearn working together...after Joel only needing to worry about himself and us only needing to worry about ourselves.....well....it takes a few days to remember how to coexsist.

And, the house looks amazing!!  Carmen has her own room! Joel, Miguel, and Manuel did an absolutely amazing job on the house. The upstairs is so beautiful, we have tile on the bathroom floor, and Joel varnished the outside of the house too.The wood is so pretty and shiny!
We were able to visit another missionary friend Sarah yesterday.....I sure have missed our friends here. With all the coming and going my foot is aching quite a bit so today I am having to just keep it up and iced a lot. I don't like being down but, I guess at least I have time to sit and catch everyone up on life here in the jungle.

Please be praying for the months ahead as Junglemaster is moving forward and continuing to serve the people here in the jungle. We are needing clear guidance form Our Father and wisdom to hear and discern His guidance.

One last thing.... the first morning after we returned to Nauta; I woke to several (like a lot!) bug bites on my tushie (from sitting on the toilet)...welcome home, I guess?! ;P

Temporary

We have been home now for 6 weeks. It has been a whirlwind of catching up, speaking, meetings, appointments, and preparing to return to Peru. So many people to see and things to do...
Carmen and I will be staying a little longer due to the fact that I need to have corrective surgery for my little toe as a result of breaking it in Novemeber.
Since being home we have been asked a lot of questions. But, two stick out in my mind the most.....

Is it hard being back in the US?
Is it hard thinking of going back to Peru?

And my quick answer is ...No, because it is temporary....

Last year I was privileged to lead a bible study for Carmen and her friends called Faithgirlz. When I am asked these questions, I am reminded of the memory verse from that study.....

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."  2 Corinthians 4:18

Retuning home this time hasn't seemed as hard as coming home in the past. It is because I am reminded that it is temporary. God has changed my heart and the way I think of leaving and returning.

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:"   Ecclesiastes 3:1

Our time here is short so, instead of getting caught up in the world; we are valuing our time with family and friends. We are soaking up the comforts of home and realizing the treasures we have in the people who love us. We, of course miss our friends and home in Peru. But, instead of looking at that...we are just enjoying our time being at home.
The same goes for returning to Peru. Instead of looking at it as a time of sadness because we are leaving our family and friends; we realize it is temporary. We have been renewed and are excited to go back to Peru. Excited to continue to build relationships and strengthen our existing relationships. We know we are only there for a certain duration and we want to do as much as we can.
Along our journey, God has placed some amazing people into our lives. He has allowed our paths to cross with individuals that have impacted our lives immeasurably. And for me, saying goodbye to each of them starts with this gut wrenching sadness, due to the fact that I truly do not know if I will ever get to physically see them again. But, as I start to feel this way, I am filled with the Holy Spirit. He fills me to overflowing with gratefulness to my Father for the knowledge that I will get to spend eternity with them. The Holy Spirit also fills me with the urgency to share God's amazing gospel with others so that I will also spend eternity with them as well.

I will leave you with a quick story:
We met a young man from seminary school in the UK doing a five week mission trip. His name was Seb and he was quite an amazing young man. His heart for the Lord was nothing but inspiring. As it was time to say goodbye to him, I was sort of left with a feeling of uncertainty as to how to say goodbye. Because the reality was that we may never meet again in this life. I really enjoyed Seb and that thought was sad for me. As Joel, Carmen, and I were getting ready to leave in the boat; he reminded me that we would see each other again. Would we get to spend eternity together praising our Father in Heaven!! Just imagine that!!

Looking ahead....

The time has come…we have been looking forward to this time of going home with excitement but, I (Amy) have also been a little anxious. What will this time look like? Will we feel the distance that we have traveled in the last six months? Will we feel the joy of coming home or the distance of being out of everyone’s lives?  How hard is it going to be to come back? Will we have the strength to leave again? But, now that the time is here…I am starting to already miss Peru.

The last few weeks God has been putting different verses into my life that speak to the feelings I am having. He is speaking to me of renewing my heart for the journey ahead. He tells me of the need to put all trust in Him alone. He says to me that He will bless our time at home and give us this time to strengthen our relationships with family and friends. When I am worried about how to present and explain to everyone what we are doing and experiencing here. God is saying that He will tell the story. He will speak through our family.

But, also He has started showing me how He has built so many wonderful relationships here also. In the past few months our home has become a place that our neighbors are visiting and we are getting to learn from each other. It is a place now that our brothers and sisters in Christ are coming to rest on their journeys to and from home. It is a place that Carmen’s friends are playing and laughing and just enjoying. It has hosted teams and held prayer meetings.  In other words; this has become the Junglemaster Mission House. I am watching things come to fruition that we worried we would never see. I am seeing that our mission here is (a usual) not what we thought…but, better and more.

We are extremely excited to head home! I can’t wait for all the hugs and tears of joy and conversations, and just being with everyone. Ok, and let’s face it… I can’t wait to take a warm bath!!  And, well, maybe eat a lot of food! But, God is filling me with excitement for our return too. I know He isn’t done with us here yet, or with the mission.  I can’t wait to see what He has up His sleeve!

God Bless from Peru and see you all soon…

Amy J