Man, how time flies. So much has happened since I last got to write all of you! The DTS has reached the end of the classroom phase and we are all getting ready for the outreach phase. We have already started some of our outreach in the Amazon region on some of the rivers and communities close to Iquitos, but next Tuesday we will be getting on a plane and headed down to the capital, Lima. After 
Lima we have a few more cities in Peru, we’ll cross the border into Chile, work there, bus over the Andes Mountains over into Argentina, on to Bolivia and back to a few cities in Peru. Finally by first week in August, we will be back in Iquitos and graduating the students! Hurrah! Boy is the DTS a lot of work. I know I mentioned it in the last e-mail, but I truly have a new found respect for DTS staff, they work so hard to help people truly have a life changing experience with God. So, please pray for us as we prepare and fly out this Tuesday. Pray that we could really connect with all the churches that we will be working with and team unity. You have the
students in a structure for 3 months, they go through a lot of changes and get to know each other on a pretty deep level, but when on outreach EVERYTHING comes out. If there was a little bit of differences, it explodes. People get tired. Things can get hard with all the emotions of 3 months traveling in a new city each week. Let’s just say that, YES, it will be a great experience for everyone, but I would really LOVE your covering in prayer for this time. We have divided the 23 students into 2 teams, red & white. We are traveling on the same route and will see each other occasionally, but will be working with different churches. So, if in any future newsletters I mention red or white team, that is what I am talking about. BTW, my team is the white team and my co-leader is Rob Schenk. My brother Keith and Maira Sinaragua are co-leading the red team. Please keep us all in your prayers! Thanks!
Ok, news about the children’s ministry. It actually has been an interesting road for the past month. Lots of different factors have played in to the whole thing. First, the Amazon River level rises and falls each year with the season. Rainfall, snow melting from the Andes… etc. This is normal each year, but this year the river is at a record setting high. The bad thing is that a lot of the city, especially the poorer areas where most of our kids come from, has been flooded out. Many families home have been swallowed up by the river and are looking for higher grounds. That also destroys a lot of the crop and natural resources this region has to offer. This has put our city through an economic struggle it hadn’t seen in years. The changes in the global economy have not seemed to really affect this region of the globe, but because everything is based on nature here, the river is what gives and takes away life. The number of kids that we were averaging a few months ago was 45-70 tops. Now we are averaging 115-160. Because of the economy, all of the other organizations that are similar to ours have closed. Our kids know the kids in those organizations and naturally they have invited them to come here. At first we were fine with the added children. We were struggling financially, but making it. This past month though, has been really hard to make the food feed 150+ mouths. We prayed and thought about all different ways to make it. To test us a little more, we had a businessman in the city that had been supporting us in the past with donations of food each month and he had just informed us that he could no longer support the kids. He wanted to, but it was not possible at the time. We didn’t know where we were going to be getting the food for the next weeks as we saw the pantry getting lower and lower. David & Cecy Moreno are the leaders for this ministry and they decided to go straight to the government to see if there were any doors to be knocked on there. They got the appointment but had to go in everyday to “remind them” that they were serious about the appointment. I know, weird. It is different here. You have to follow up like crazy. Anyway, they finally saw the Governor and to make a long story short, we now have the money to continue to have our doors open each week. There are a lot of hoops that we have had to jump through, but the most important thing was that God made a way! He always does. I am getting used to Him answering in the 11th hour, but He always answers. Praise, praise, praise Him!!!
On a more personal note, I need your prayers for something. I have not been very healthy lately. I know a lot of it has to do with stress, but there are other factors that come into play. Staying healthy in the Amazon is quite a challenge. Everything is just more alive. The vegetation is amazing, but so is the bacteria and mosquitoes that have diseases! I can get medication, but the doctoral care to find out what medication you need in the first place, is not very reliable. My immune system has been on the rocks. When you are not 100% physically it is hard to give 100% in any of the other areas. Please keep my health in your prayers.
I am sorry for the lack of pictures this month. I have been really about about using my camera. But, I know a lot of the DTS have posted and tagged all sorts of pictures on facebook. Have fun! Ok, once again, I have made this newsletter pretty long! I love you guys and would love to hear from you!
Blessings,
Sylvia Barnard
Lima we have a few more cities in Peru, we’ll cross the border into Chile, work there, bus over the Andes Mountains over into Argentina, on to Bolivia and back to a few cities in Peru. Finally by first week in August, we will be back in Iquitos and graduating the students! Hurrah! Boy is the DTS a lot of work. I know I mentioned it in the last e-mail, but I truly have a new found respect for DTS staff, they work so hard to help people truly have a life changing experience with God. So, please pray for us as we prepare and fly out this Tuesday. Pray that we could really connect with all the churches that we will be working with and team unity. You have the
students in a structure for 3 months, they go through a lot of changes and get to know each other on a pretty deep level, but when on outreach EVERYTHING comes out. If there was a little bit of differences, it explodes. People get tired. Things can get hard with all the emotions of 3 months traveling in a new city each week. Let’s just say that, YES, it will be a great experience for everyone, but I would really LOVE your covering in prayer for this time. We have divided the 23 students into 2 teams, red & white. We are traveling on the same route and will see each other occasionally, but will be working with different churches. So, if in any future newsletters I mention red or white team, that is what I am talking about. BTW, my team is the white team and my co-leader is Rob Schenk. My brother Keith and Maira Sinaragua are co-leading the red team. Please keep us all in your prayers! Thanks!
Ok, news about the children’s ministry. It actually has been an interesting road for the past month. Lots of different factors have played in to the whole thing. First, the Amazon River level rises and falls each year with the season. Rainfall, snow melting from the Andes… etc. This is normal each year, but this year the river is at a record setting high. The bad thing is that a lot of the city, especially the poorer areas where most of our kids come from, has been flooded out. Many families home have been swallowed up by the river and are looking for higher grounds. That also destroys a lot of the crop and natural resources this region has to offer. This has put our city through an economic struggle it hadn’t seen in years. The changes in the global economy have not seemed to really affect this region of the globe, but because everything is based on nature here, the river is what gives and takes away life. The number of kids that we were averaging a few months ago was 45-70 tops. Now we are averaging 115-160. Because of the economy, all of the other organizations that are similar to ours have closed. Our kids know the kids in those organizations and naturally they have invited them to come here. At first we were fine with the added children. We were struggling financially, but making it. This past month though, has been really hard to make the food feed 150+ mouths. We prayed and thought about all different ways to make it. To test us a little more, we had a businessman in the city that had been supporting us in the past with donations of food each month and he had just informed us that he could no longer support the kids. He wanted to, but it was not possible at the time. We didn’t know where we were going to be getting the food for the next weeks as we saw the pantry getting lower and lower. David & Cecy Moreno are the leaders for this ministry and they decided to go straight to the government to see if there were any doors to be knocked on there. They got the appointment but had to go in everyday to “remind them” that they were serious about the appointment. I know, weird. It is different here. You have to follow up like crazy. Anyway, they finally saw the Governor and to make a long story short, we now have the money to continue to have our doors open each week. There are a lot of hoops that we have had to jump through, but the most important thing was that God made a way! He always does. I am getting used to Him answering in the 11th hour, but He always answers. Praise, praise, praise Him!!!
On a more personal note, I need your prayers for something. I have not been very healthy lately. I know a lot of it has to do with stress, but there are other factors that come into play. Staying healthy in the Amazon is quite a challenge. Everything is just more alive. The vegetation is amazing, but so is the bacteria and mosquitoes that have diseases! I can get medication, but the doctoral care to find out what medication you need in the first place, is not very reliable. My immune system has been on the rocks. When you are not 100% physically it is hard to give 100% in any of the other areas. Please keep my health in your prayers.
I am sorry for the lack of pictures this month. I have been really about about using my camera. But, I know a lot of the DTS have posted and tagged all sorts of pictures on facebook. Have fun! Ok, once again, I have made this newsletter pretty long! I love you guys and would love to hear from you!
Blessings,
Sylvia Barnard
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