Hey Guys,
Im writing or should I say typing this blog from Chiclayo, Peru. I ended the last blog talking about what happened in the jungle. It was a wonderful time and I miss it so much. We spent a week in Iquitos, Peru doing ministry with a Christian Missionary Alliance Church and it was such a great experience. My outreach team has 11 people, ten students and a leader. We got split up to live with different church families for the week, and my family was just amazing. The dad was a ton of fun and had us cracking up till late at night, he would speak portugese to me and then laugh when I would just nod my head and say si... During the lecture phase of the shcool we lived in the YWAM base, and it was really nice, well furnished, and very safe. Im not saying the house wasnt safe, but I feel like I got a better feeling of what Iquitos is really like living with a family in their home for a week. I actually loved the city in a new way, it wasnt just foreign and exciting, it was like I saw the need of the people and was able to be work with the people, and it was incredible. We did many impacts or street evangelism if you call it, and the first day I gave my testimony and preached to end the impact. A couple of people accepted Christ and it was amazing. The most amazing thing of the whole week for me was talking to a teenager names Priscilla. She accepted Christ and we ended up praying for her family and other things in her life. This was on a wednesday morning. On Saturday night we had a youth service,but I didnt invite her to it because I didnt know we were doing it at the time. So Saturday night rolls around and were at the youth service and Priscilla walks in. She has a blast and made some friends, and I pray that she gets plugged into that church. It really blew me away, how she found out about the youth service, I dont know, but she came and was impacted by God even more. Overall the Iquitos outreach was really great, I learned alot about my team, and we grew in unity with God and one another. That sounds cliche, but we did. We flew into Lima last tuesday morning, spent the day in Lima, and took a 16 hour bus ride to Chiclayo, Peru. Ive been here since Wednesday afternoon. I LOVE this city. Its a little ugly where were at, Im not going to lie. Coming from the lucious (SP?) jungle to the arid desert is a shock, but the weather... makes all the difference. It is PERFECT!!! 70´s during the day 60´s at night, its dry, you DONT sweat... Ive gotten used to sweating for the past 3 months, well not anymore!!! God has been moving in me more mightily it seems like. We did our last service last night and we were just going to do a drama, so we were told. Our leader comes in and informs us that one of us needs to give a sermon in like 20 minutes, an hour sermon... I stepped up to the plate, and God knocked it out of the park. I shared my testimony and ended it with many bible verses. I did an alter call and no one came forward. I was like alright God no biggie, Id never done one of those before, but I felt God leading me to do it. So after about a minute I asked if anyone needed encouragement from God and wanted prayer to come forward to be prayed for. A flood of around 30 people came before I knew what was going on. They were crying and praying and crying out to God. It was incredible. In the beginning I was just hoping to make it through the sermon, but God truly spoke through me and edified that church. It was an incredible experience that I will never forget. Im getting more bold in my faith and I love the opportunities to preach and pray for people and be of service however I can. Thanks for reading this blog, and next week I will have an update from Camena, Peru, a fishing village on the southern coast. God bless you all and you´re in my prayers.
Love
George Palmer
Monday, June 20, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
River Update and whats to come!!!
Hey guys,
I just got back yesterday from a community by the name of Nuevo York off of the Rio Tigre. First we stayed in a place called Nauta for four days, its a normal jungle city, population around 20,000. Nauta is the only other city that Iquitos can get to by road, and its a lot more rural than Iquitos. We stayed at a church-school-camp ground where the pastors family lived as well. One of the leaders of the school gave me her tent and I borrowed someone elses air mattress they didnt need. It worked out awesome, let me just say that a jungle hammock is not a very good investment... We did some impacts with drama and stuff through out different "neighborhoods" and that was awesome. I will never forget visiting a women who lived with her kids in a tent. Im not talking about an REI tent or even a structure with a roof, Im talking about some poles in the ground and a tarp hanging over it. I invited her to an event we were putting together for her community and she was overwhelmed with joy. I was appalled at her living conditions, I mean I just felt so bad, and she was just happy. I was given the opportunity to preach in Nauta the last night we were there. It was awesome, I invited people to pray with each student and the Holy Spirit rocked that place. I lead a couple of people through a prayer and I encouraged them to attend the church we were staying at. God just totally worked through me in awesome ways and I was so encouraged. After four days in Nauta we loaded up a huge Lancha - a big boat, with all our luggage, water, food, well supplies, and other miscelaneous things you need in the jungle. When we arrived, I was really surprised at how nice the community was. All the grass was cut at a nice level, everyone was wearing shorts and a tshirt, it wasnt the typical community experience for me. The way I was affected by this trip was very strange. So most of you know I am a people person and I automatically started talking to people about nemerous things. I ended up speaking to one person for a while and became friends with him. I find out he was in charge of the school. The people in the community were so friendly, they laughed at times of my broken gringo spanish, but they knew I was tring and I think anyone respects that. I had a blast with the kids. We all showered in our bathing suits, and on the first full day I found myself with about 30 kids jumping off the bank of the river in the water. I love kids, and they love me. I dont know what it is about how Im a magnet but they followed me around everywhere. The leaders let us spend around 5 hours a day just seeing how we could serve in the community. I fished with a bunch of kids and teenagers. I fished a lot and caught a bunch of catfish. Everyone I caught I would put it in a different canoe and each kid took a couple to their house for food. It was incredible. I also got the privelege to go spear fishing with some teenagers at night. They would strap flashlights to their head and with a canoe, a paddle, and spear, catch fish. It was an incredible experience. For a variety of reasons. Here I found myself spear fishing on a tributary of the amazon, at night, with some teenagers and we were conversing in spanish. It was incredible, and a little nerve wrecking at first, no the whole time. Finally the teenager straight up told me i weighed too much and that he needed to catch more fish and I was in the way of that. So we rowed to shore and went to bed. We also drilled a successful well and that was an awesome experience. Tiring, but so rewarding to see there reaction, the joy and excitement on their faces to see clear water flowing in their community. I prayed and spent time with people and it was just such a wonderful time. I prayed with a family and the whole family recommitted their life back to the Lord. One word for word asked me I want to be a child of God. I prayed with him and handed him a spanish bible and pointed to verses that said what he was in Jesus Christ. He was so excited, he was 20 and had a wife and 2 kids. His father came up to me later that night and with tears in his eyes said thank you so much. I was overwhelmed with joy and just the power of God. I had such an incredible time and was invited back by the chief and govenor whenever I want. Personally, that was special. Thank you guys so much for your prayers and I want to let you know whats going on in the next few months.
I will be spending 1 week here in Iquitos, doing ministry and such
1 week in Chiclayo, Peru
1 week in Arequipa, Peru
1 week in Cochabomba, Bolivia
1 week in Santa Cruz, Bolivia
1 week in La Paz, Bolivia
1 week in Cuzco, Peru
and 1 week in Lima, Peru
After that I spend 1 more week in Iquitos, and Im planning on being back in the states on the 15th of August. I want to share each place with you guys for each blog. Blessings on all who read this and I thank you so much for spending the time to read it!
Blessings,
George Palmer
I just got back yesterday from a community by the name of Nuevo York off of the Rio Tigre. First we stayed in a place called Nauta for four days, its a normal jungle city, population around 20,000. Nauta is the only other city that Iquitos can get to by road, and its a lot more rural than Iquitos. We stayed at a church-school-camp ground where the pastors family lived as well. One of the leaders of the school gave me her tent and I borrowed someone elses air mattress they didnt need. It worked out awesome, let me just say that a jungle hammock is not a very good investment... We did some impacts with drama and stuff through out different "neighborhoods" and that was awesome. I will never forget visiting a women who lived with her kids in a tent. Im not talking about an REI tent or even a structure with a roof, Im talking about some poles in the ground and a tarp hanging over it. I invited her to an event we were putting together for her community and she was overwhelmed with joy. I was appalled at her living conditions, I mean I just felt so bad, and she was just happy. I was given the opportunity to preach in Nauta the last night we were there. It was awesome, I invited people to pray with each student and the Holy Spirit rocked that place. I lead a couple of people through a prayer and I encouraged them to attend the church we were staying at. God just totally worked through me in awesome ways and I was so encouraged. After four days in Nauta we loaded up a huge Lancha - a big boat, with all our luggage, water, food, well supplies, and other miscelaneous things you need in the jungle. When we arrived, I was really surprised at how nice the community was. All the grass was cut at a nice level, everyone was wearing shorts and a tshirt, it wasnt the typical community experience for me. The way I was affected by this trip was very strange. So most of you know I am a people person and I automatically started talking to people about nemerous things. I ended up speaking to one person for a while and became friends with him. I find out he was in charge of the school. The people in the community were so friendly, they laughed at times of my broken gringo spanish, but they knew I was tring and I think anyone respects that. I had a blast with the kids. We all showered in our bathing suits, and on the first full day I found myself with about 30 kids jumping off the bank of the river in the water. I love kids, and they love me. I dont know what it is about how Im a magnet but they followed me around everywhere. The leaders let us spend around 5 hours a day just seeing how we could serve in the community. I fished with a bunch of kids and teenagers. I fished a lot and caught a bunch of catfish. Everyone I caught I would put it in a different canoe and each kid took a couple to their house for food. It was incredible. I also got the privelege to go spear fishing with some teenagers at night. They would strap flashlights to their head and with a canoe, a paddle, and spear, catch fish. It was an incredible experience. For a variety of reasons. Here I found myself spear fishing on a tributary of the amazon, at night, with some teenagers and we were conversing in spanish. It was incredible, and a little nerve wrecking at first, no the whole time. Finally the teenager straight up told me i weighed too much and that he needed to catch more fish and I was in the way of that. So we rowed to shore and went to bed. We also drilled a successful well and that was an awesome experience. Tiring, but so rewarding to see there reaction, the joy and excitement on their faces to see clear water flowing in their community. I prayed and spent time with people and it was just such a wonderful time. I prayed with a family and the whole family recommitted their life back to the Lord. One word for word asked me I want to be a child of God. I prayed with him and handed him a spanish bible and pointed to verses that said what he was in Jesus Christ. He was so excited, he was 20 and had a wife and 2 kids. His father came up to me later that night and with tears in his eyes said thank you so much. I was overwhelmed with joy and just the power of God. I had such an incredible time and was invited back by the chief and govenor whenever I want. Personally, that was special. Thank you guys so much for your prayers and I want to let you know whats going on in the next few months.
I will be spending 1 week here in Iquitos, doing ministry and such
1 week in Chiclayo, Peru
1 week in Arequipa, Peru
1 week in Cochabomba, Bolivia
1 week in Santa Cruz, Bolivia
1 week in La Paz, Bolivia
1 week in Cuzco, Peru
and 1 week in Lima, Peru
After that I spend 1 more week in Iquitos, and Im planning on being back in the states on the 15th of August. I want to share each place with you guys for each blog. Blessings on all who read this and I thank you so much for spending the time to read it!
Blessings,
George Palmer
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