Still in Pucallpa

Tuesday there had been some rain, so Papi did not expect anyone to come to home meetng - the mud can be very daunting. BUT, sister Rosa came anyway, and the four of us - my n-laws, Rosa, and myself - had ourselves a good study. A Little later the pastor dropped by to confirm our date with sister Carolyn from the US, who is a missionary to a local tribe. She arrived Wed. by motokar in front of our house and paid for the 2 motokars to take us to Yarinacocha - Levi came on his motorcycle - to a restaurant called Maloka. I was actually going to load some pix, but forgot my cable - so, when I get to Lima! It was a lovely place, and priced for tourists. No way would a self-respecting Peruvian pay 30 soles for one meal! But Carolyn treated us - I opted for Majas, which is like a wild peccary, since I'd never had it. It was delicious, very tender, served with fried yucca and maduros (sweet plantains),. We drank passion fruit juice, which I haven't had in ages!
Thursday Ma and I walked to my sis-in-law Marita's house, just a few blocks. It was overcast so I didn't roast. Had a nice visit with her and nephew Abel, who loved to pepper me with questions about the US and NY, and which I was happy to answer. Saw a cute wee toady no bigger than my fingernail on the way home!
Levi and I have had some good conversations about possibilities and options. for travel and ministry.
I was glad to see my last pay was good enough to let my DD cash a check I left for her. But I do have a concern about my World MasterCard which I haven't used yet, but the account showed $75 against it. It MAY be a start up fee, I don't know. I am going to call the bank when I return home - not NEW YORK home, but PUCALLPA home.
Ma is hosting the women's ministry meeting at 2 today (after we've had lunch, which I believe is fish.)
I will leave my cargo shorts here to be given away because they are too LOOOOOOOOSE on me!  Will also give my sandals to a sister in Christ whom they fit quite nicely, as she has same problem as I do, finding good shoes that fit my big wide feet.
I have taken pix of various flora in my walk with Papi because my sisters  always takes such nice nature shots!
No ministerig per se, except to bless Levi with massages after a hard day of work and keep up with his laundry. Even ironed for him once! Now THAT is LOVE!
Thanks for prayers! I leave for Lima on the 14th.

Ready In Season and Out of Season

So, My brother in law Victor was over onThurs. I think he may have taken us to the market - I'd have to consult my journal for details. But anyway, he gave his pastor a call when we got home and introduced us on the phone, and then as we were having lunch his pastor called him back and asked him to pass on to me the invitation to speak to the women's group that night. Well, hey, I'm a missionary..."Lista" ready! So he picked me up and his daughter Carmen and his mother in law sat up front with me. Since it's a "Missionary Alliance" church  I spoke about missions, starting with "Who wants to be a missionary?" Very few hands. I gave the good news and the bad news - we are ALL missionaries. But we don't all have to go very far to represent Christ. Anyway, it was a blessing for me to be able to share from the word - one of my favorite things to do! The pastora said that it was a surprise for them - as it was for me - as their original speaker had to cancel. I forgot my camera, but niece Carmen came through for me.
I went with the parents, uncle and aunt to church today, where we had communion. Afterwards I greeted fellow gringo missionaries, and we've been invited to go to a restaurant for lunch on Wednesday (we = Papi, Mami, and I, and Levi if he can switch his hours).
I have become interested in the World Cup games. For one thing, soccer is a lot easier to follow than American football! I root for the latino teams, but so far they've failed when I've rooted for them. Maybe I should root for the team I DON'T want to win?
I have some interesting pix but I think I,ll wait till I,m in Lima to download them. One is a big flattened toad...also have some pix of me with my honey. Levi and I have had some good talks about plans and visions. It's been a good several days so far.Anyway, again thanks for your prayers! It's a bit harder to get to the internet here in Pucallpa. When I am in Lima, it'll be easier.

Life in the Slow Lane

I am living life in the slow lane for now. Tuesday we had home meeting Bible study,with Pastor Decimo from the church Manantial de Vida here in Pucallpa. Papito introduced me to the 3 others who attended (the Pastor was surprised and delighted to see me again), and asked me first to share some scripture, and then some of my testimony as a missionary. As folks were leaving, the elder sister grabbed my face in her hands and gave me a kiss and thanked me for sharing my testimony.  I have been walking with Papi in the mornings, and having devotional times with him 2-4 times a day, as well as times with Levi. Every time we discuss the scriptures and pray together, it just makes me fall more in love with him, seeing his heart for the Lord.
 My hip bothers me a lot, but I am managing.
The evenings have been comfortable, not overly hot. We did have some cold ones - bear in mind, this is in the rain forest region, usually very hot. So it was unusual to have to wear y warm fuzzy pants and hoody and a blanket to bed! But cooler nights are easier for sleeping. No climate controlled rooms in the house here!
I have been contributing to the support of my in-laws by helping to purchase goods for the bodega. Today I will go with Mai and Levis son Josue to get a large sack of sugar and a box of coffee packets. I also join Mami in the cooking - we are learning each others recipes. Excuse the punctuation - keys here do not always coincide with keys there! I am such a gramar nazi myself it bugs me. Where is the question mark !
I am going to be getting together with niece Erika to plan an event such as we had in 2012. I hope we can pull off 2 before I return to Lima on the 14th. I will not post much from Pucallpa, but you will hear more from me when I am in Lima. Thank you for prayers.

Arriving and Settling In

After a long trip with various delays, I made it to Lima. And despite my telling my friends to sleep in, they couldn't wait to see me, and had arrived at the ariport between 1 and 2 in the morning, whereas I didn't arrive until 4:30, and then had to go through customs besides! However, I was so delighted to see them  - pastors Jorge and Sabina,their daughter Ruth, my "son" Jhon, sister Teresa, and her grandson Abraham. I treated them to a breakfast of Papa Joh's Hawaiian pizza, foregoing myself, having already eaten on the plane. After spending an outrageous 5 soles on a bottle of water, we decided to go outside of the airport to get cheaper (1.5 soles) - although I kept distant so that they wouldn´t try to charge more for the gringuita! Later when I was hungry, I didn´t want to pay airport prices, so Sabi and Teresa went out and bought me 2 nice sandwiches and papaya juice for only 3.75 soles.
It was a long wait - my next flight to Pucallpa was not until 8 pm,. They were willing to spend a lot more time with me, but I finally chased them home. Then I waited till about 1:30 before finally going to the gate - the chairs there were more comfortable. I felt badly, in case any other family mmbers tried to join me after that. Well, Levi met me at the airport in Pucallpa, along with his niece's husband Carlín who drove us in the motokar. I was quite hungry so we stopped at a chifa/pollería to get some chicken. At my Pucallpa home, Leví's sis Marita, her daughter Erika, and Erika and Carlín's 2 boys were waiting with Papí and Mamí. Leví hadn't eaten yet either, so we chowed down. We all greeted each other, and then they left. During the night the temperature fell with the rain, so it got chilly enough to make sleeping easier. And Sunday it continued cold  and rainy. I took a couple of good naps. Papí, Leví and I have gotten into the word, and I'm looking forward to the church home meeting tomorrow night. Did some grocery shopping today, my bro-in-law Victor driving me in his motokar with Mamí and Leví's son Josué. Pesently I'm using his cousin Camilo's computer, right next door. I downloaded a bunch of pix, and just wanted to post this quicklike so as not to be a nuisance! Thanks to everyone fo prayers.

Posada de Refugio Revisited

I have reconstructed a video, just under 10 minutes long, about our proposed ministry. We had toyed with the name, and at the time we did this trial run, we settled on Posada de Refugio, but recently Levi seemed to think Refugio de Esperanza - Refuge of Hope - was better, and I concur. We have not YET established anything - we are still in planning stages, and will probably start by enabling Erika and Carlin to carry on similar programs on a monthly, then weekly, and finally daily basis, until such time as we can set up another location. I am going to be communicating with my pastor of City of Refuge Ministries to see about covering to allow for tax-deductible contributions as I had when I was with Shepherd's Heart. In the meantime, if you want to contribute to the work, notwithstanding that I don't have tax-deductibility yet, checks can simply be made out to me - Shelley Saffer - note  "Refugio de Esperanza" - and mail to 77 Ridgeway Ave, Rochester, NY 14615. I am fastidious about such donations, and they shall be used only for this work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_E8tpbuvkE

Posada de Refugio

This is a video of the "trial run" of our ministry plan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V8UufmIoBc&feature=youtu.be

New Routines

I am working in the same building as I have for the past dozenyears, but it's now called All City High (ACH) at John Marshall Campus. I'm glad I can still work close to home. But the schedule is different, and I have to be there at 7 in the morning. So, while we are still on Daylight Savings Time, which is an hour ahead of peru's time (though we are technically stil in the same time zone) - I cannot call Levi for devotions before I go to work. He needs the sleep - and 6:00 am here is 5:00 am THERE. I have to wait until we "fall back" and then i can call him at 6 and have some time on the phone with him before I have to leave for work by 6:45.
So, I occasionally try to call him later in the day. I get home after 2:30, which is around 1:30 there - he's usually home for lunch around 2, Peru time. But he doesn't always go home for lunch. I occasionally try to call him when he gets home from work at night - but it isn't the same time every night, and sometimes he stops to see a relative - plus, since I'm an hour later, and I've been up since 5:30 am so I can get on the exercise bike, and then shower, well, I am EXHAUSTED. So I haven't been using the phone minutes as much! AND  - I really miss our devotional time. I miss just chatting with Levi. I will have to take naps so that I can have the stamina to stay up later to talk with him.

My second job has come pretty much to an end as well - the woman I helped had to find someone to fill in for me while I was away. But I'll look for something else.

The Clothesline Art Festival was not as productive as in previous years due to yucky weather on Saturday. I can pay some bills, and save SOME towards return to Peru. I have to put my trust in the Lord that He knows what's going on. Perhaps His purpose is to bring Levi here first on a fiance visa - so we can have a simpler time getting married - MAYBE - although I think of his parents, and how much it would mean to them to be there. 

Well, I think for the tithe from the art show, I'll wire it to Levi for another couple of Breakfast events, one this month and one next.