Missionary report from Lloyd Peace
The internet situation here continues to be VERY limited and we are unable to send updates out as often as we’d like to keep you informed about the ministry here.
A lot has been going on. Here are the highlights:
1. Lloyd leaves tomorrow headed for Manaus. He will spend several days there to track down some materials for the hangar construction as well as having a physical which is needed for his pilot’s license. Lloyd will fly to Campinas, near São Paulo, on August 11th. From there he will get a ride out to Ipeúna where he will spend a couple of weeks doing a needed training course (ground school) and completing 30 flight hours before he can obtain his Brazilian pilot’s license. A pilot friend from Manaus will meet Lloyd in Ipeúna and they will fly the plane back to Manaus together. It is a blessing to have this friend travel with Lloyd as he is an experienced pilot who is familiar with the route they will be flying. The current plan is for the return trip to take 3 days; probably August 27th, 28th and 29th. Lloyd will be gone for a month.
2. Tentative plans are for ABWE-AIR administrator Herman Teachout and his wife to arrive the beginning of October. Herman will be overseeing the hangar construction as well as spending some time flying with Lloyd. There is the possibility of one other man from the home office coming for at least part of the construction.
3. Ashley made it home safe and sound and we are very appreciative of her help as we settled back into life here in the Amazon. Lindsay, a young lady from First Baptist Church in Cottonwood, California, is here with us now and has been a big help with the kids’ schoolwork. These young ladies have been/are tremendous blessings for our family.
4. We continue to have a good group of jovens (the college/career/single’s group) meeting for Bible study on Thursday nights. We are about to wrap up a study on the book of Colossians. Culturally, people here do not reason out answers. They are taught in school how to spit answers back, but not really encouraged to think things through. We have been working on getting this group more interactive with the study. It is a sometimes slow and painful process, but we are encouraged to see several of them speaking up, even if the answer is wrong. They are making an attempt and it also helps us to understand better the areas where we need to reinforce teaching.
5. The adolescent group (13-18) meets on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Attendance has its ups and downs. Investing time in their lives is important in reaching them, so we have groups of them over for games, English lessons, flying model planes, etc. We are excited to see some growing and are pleased to see the leadership initiative that several have. There are some going through struggles right now who have come for counsel and for accountability. It is sad to see the pull the world has with some of them who have voiced the desire to flee from sin but who ultimately become ensnared.
6. The neighborhood kids hang out in our yard every afternoon, except for Sundays. There is ample opportunity to model Christ-like behaviors for these kids. The 8-12 year old girls have a club that meets on Saturdays and they asked Julia, our older daughter, to lead the Bible study portion. It has been a good experience for her to be involved with leading a Bible study.
7. We celebrated an exciting anniversary on July 30th. It was the one year anniversary of Athena’s last dose of chemotherapy. It was good to think back over the past year and reflect on all the Lord has brought us through.
Thank you for your faithful prayers for the ministry and for our family. We are anxiously looking forward to September when our coworkers will all be back from furlough – Dr. Chip and Laurie Phillips (and family) and Carolee.
In Christ,
Lloyd, Athena, Julia, Jessica, Jacob and Lucas Peace