The Call of Duty....

Hey there....well, I had a curve ball tossed at me last week. As most of you know I am the missions pastor of the church here, as well as a youth pastor to the mk's, as well as a PE and high school bible teacher. But, what you may not know is that another one of my responsibilities for the mission is being a security officer. That entails lots, but when something goes wrong we (there are two of us) need to respond and be there.

Last weekend we had a family - studying language in Arequipa get their house robbed while they were out discussing the "stresses" in their lives. We decided as a mission to send someone to Arequipa to assist them in their time of need....and, that person would be me! Sooo...I have been in Arequipa (southern Peru) since Wed assisting the Listro family as they need. It has been a good time of encouraging them and giving council.


Answering God's call to his service...is not always smooth sailing...things happen. Thefts here in Peru are numerous...and unless you are always on your guard you will get robbed or your house will get broken into. Sooo...when it does happen it shakes you. Being here with this family has been a blessing - to be able to assist them, talk with them, and encourage them with advice and knowledge of the city. They are a family of 7 (yep, that means 5 kids) learning language and heading to Pucallpa when finished.

For me - I return to Pucallpa tomorrow and pick up where I left off...teaching at the missionary kid school and beginning our first missions project for the church this coming weekend (one week from today!) Below is a picture ofSAM's common building that the church uses. Sooo...I am guiding the church to chip and scrape the old paint off and repaint the SAM building that the church uses weekly - the entire month of April!



We are looking to have high speed internet no later than the end of May on SAM Center....this will greatly help me in communicating with everyone!!!

Much love to you all....thank you for reading....

Marshall

Wow....its been 3 months!

That is a big woops on my part! Thank you so much for still checking my blog and being patient with me! The life of dial up...really stinks...I guess it might be different if I had never known about high speed...but man what a time consumer! I do not even check my email much nor do i like to respond...just because it takes SO MUCH time to download and upload things.

The last three months has been really good!

I have being teaching the Old Testament in Sam Academy and have covered from Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, Jonah, Micah, Amos, and Hosea....with Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Daniel, Obediah, Habakkuk, Zachariah, Zephaniah, and Malachi still to cover in two months of school!

In Mil Palmeras, I have finished up teaching 8 weeks of missions classes on Thursday nights and now we are making the transition into doing some work projects and should be taking off the beginning of April.

I have also begun discipling men at Mil Palmeras and look forward to the Lord bringing more men into the picture and watching them grow in the Lord.

I now, have just finshed two weeks of a somewhat break - SAM had its yearly conference in Pucallpa last week and that was a wonderful break from the norm. We had all SAM missionaries here to meet and refresh. Then this past week...I had a friend, Kimberly Roddy come down from the US and was able to show her around Pucallpa some as well as Lima. I showed her the rivers around Pucallpa, up in a cessna plane ride (I was not flying), ride on a scooter (she got stitches), two trips to the beach in Lima...it was a full trip!


Now, as I (who am in Lima now) is set to go back to Pucallpa and get ready for the final two months of school as well as the organization of projects for the church. Along with wanting to build a sand volleyball court for us to play on (need donations), Six mango trees to trim up near the main road, swim lessons to teach, youth group to do, fields to mow, and last but not least...get ready for my church to come down in three weeks...finally!!!

I´ll try to be better at writing!!!

Marshall

A New House and a Familiar Place...

Hey all - just wanted to drop everyone a line and touch base. Right after Christmas I moved from where I was living to a house on SAM Center. The house I am in is the house of my pastor Julio Chiang who is in the states visiting churches and raising support for Mil Palmeras and his ministry (he is also with SAM).

Sooo...upon moving in we (I live with two other single guys) discovered the house was kinda in bad shape. Sooo...the projects we are getting done are - repairing the main bath/shower (hole in the base of the tube), gutting the kitchen sink and cabinets and having them entirley replaced. Then...I have begun cutting/trimming the trees around the house. The house (as you can see from the photo) is surrounded by mango trees that hang low to the ground - it does not allow the the ground and such to dry after rain - hence mildew and mold is a huge problem. I will be taking on this project this coming week. Pastor Julio also has a dog named Brisa that I am taking care of as well!

These next two months are probably going to be the busiest I most likely have ever been. I am teaching Old Testament and PE at the missionary kid school. I am also subbing for high school Civics class for another teacher who is currently in Lima awaiting on the delievery of her grandchild. I am also doing two months of classes everything Thursday nights on missions. I am also preaching this Sunday and the following Sunday. Whew!....

That is a quick update on me! I hope all of you are doing well.

Marshall

Going backwards in time!

Hi all! I am currently using a friends computer who has high speed internet! I have recently moved and the house I am now living in has good ol dial up!! Yep! Sooo...I tried to set it up and move back to dial up...and discovered that my computer does not have a modem. AND also my computer is seeming to have more and more wrong with it everyday!

Sooo...if i seem distant...I'm not...just kinda out of the loop!

I will do my best to keep regular posts on the blog...it just might take some extra effort and patience!

Marshall