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July 26, 2009 Update
A Part of You is in Perú
Hudson Taylor and many great missionaries of the
past were careful to remember that they were only
part of a team God was using to touch lives. Lately
in these southern Andes Mountains of Perú we have
been reminded of this in dramatic ways. We would
love to relate the amazing story of Bible School
students who were mobilized, trained and sent out to
isolated works and churches. Eliú, one of our
faithful jungle students, didn’t want to go 10 hours
up to 14,000 feet in altitude and minister in
Quechua Indian communities. As he yielded his will
to God’s, he and the rest of the team were
privileged to see 34 people make decisions for
Christ. At the same time, our single co-worker,
Rachel Tarvin, took a group of students 14 hours
into the jungle. Surprisingly, in that mountainous
coffee-producing part of the jungle many communities
have very little water. In this dry time of year,
the seeps barely produce enough water to cook with,
so after several days of very hot, arduous work,
including a funeral and special meetings, the Bible
School students and Rachel were ready for a bath. On
Thursday they were thrilled to get down to the river
after they arrived at the next church, but their
wonderful opportunity to wash clothes and take baths
turned into a near tragedy. Javier, a great mechanic
who came from northern Perú to study at the Bible
School got swept away by an unseen current in the
river and was powerless to get to shore. Pastor Saúl,
our Arín church youth pastor, is from the deep
Amazon jungle. Having experience with these
treacherous rivers, he immediately recognized the
dangerous situation and dove to the rescue; however
neither his expertise nor his agility were enough to
remove Javier from the heavy current. After
supporting a rapidly failing Javier through two sets
of rapids, Pastor Saúl became concerned that they
might both be drowned. He noticed a log on the river
band about twenty yards away and realized it was
their best hope of making it through the next set of
rapids. Saúl says he was thrust to shore by an
unseen hand and there he picked up the heavy log. As
he tried to locate Javier, he realized the mechanic
was almost gone. Javier’s head and body were under
water, but as he flailed his hands again Saúl
launched the log those twenty yards aiming slightly
downstream. Saúl says that at the moment he threw
the heavy log it felt like a piece of plastic pipe.
Rachel who was watching in fear says that Javier,
who could see nothing, appeared to wave a final
farewell to them when his hand fell on the log. He
grabbed it as hard as his failing strength permitted
just in time to go through the third set of rapids.
Once he got to the calmer waters beyond the rapids
an unseen whirlpool began to suck him and the log
toward the center. Javier told Tim that once he
realized why he was going in ever tighter circles,
he hugged the log with the last of his strength and
was finally sucked under. He felt his feet hit the
rocky bottom of the river and than he was launched
out of the water with tremendous force and landed on
a huge boulder on the opposite side of the river
still hugging the log. The lower half of his body
was still in the water as well as part of the log
and the force of the river began pulling him in
again. At that point he had the presence of mind to
let go of the log and drag himself further up onto
the boulder. After a time he was able to sort of
climb off of the boulder onto the beach beyond and
tried to get up and walk, but he had taken in too
much water and he began throwing it up. Too
exhausted to do anything, he just lay on the beach
and threw up water for over an hour until a man and
a young boy came along with balsawood raft and
paddled him back across the river where Rachel and
the rest of the group were waiting. Javier continued
to throw up water for the next 4 days. That night in
the evangelistic service, two families made
salvation decisions. Now Javier is more consecrated
to God than ever and is regaining his physical
strength. A neighbor commented that a death in that
river could have been the end of the Bible School,
as people here are still very superstitious. Pastor
Saúl, almost sobbing, said there is no way he could
have saved Javier. God intervened. As confirmation
of that, Saúl uses glasses and can’t see much at all
without them. He obviously didn’t have them on in
the river. How did he even see the log as he was
struggling to help Javier keep his head above water?
Once he reached shore and grabbed the log, how was
he able to see where Javier, who only had his hands
above water at that point, was? How was he able to
aim the log directly where Javier could unseeingly
touch it? How did he have the strength to launch the
heavy log well over twenty yards and land it right
where it needed to be? His answer is that the Lord
did it all!
As we praise the Lord for his divine direction and
for his provision of fellow laborers here on the
field, He reminds us in dramatic ways that the team
is much bigger than those we are working with. In
June a work team form Council Bluffs, Iowa and
Omaha, Nebraska came down to help us lay the cement
floor of the Bible School Chapel. Unfortunately, a
national strike had cut off supply routes to Cuzco
during several weeks prior to their arrival so we
had no cement! Nevertheless, the Spirit directed as
we prayed and worked. We had four large children’s
programs, and an open air meeting in the town
square. Several decisions for Christ were the result
and we saw God over-rule the violent strike. He
granted us a two-day reprieve during which we bought
enough cement to get the floor done. Then the strike
resumed. Several on that dedicated team are willing
to return to Perú as missionaries. All of us grew in
faith and patience. Praise God we have a useable
chapel for the Youth Retreat which starts in two
days!
These recent memories give us fortitude as we face
enemy sabotage of the next group that is to arrive.
Their goal is to install plumbing and electricity in
the Arín church building. They were to arrive at
7:05 Saturday, but a delayed departure from the USA
caused the 11 people to lose their flight from Lima
to Cuzco. Rachel, who went to the airport early
Saturday in hopes of picking them up, decided to
take advantage of being in the city to buy a new gas
cap, since hers had been lost on the jungle trip.
While she was in a shop for a matter of minutes,
thieves used a screw driver to break into her
vehicle and rob her back-pack. At this point it
appears the work team will arrive in Cuzco on
Monday. What a blessing that there are several
Spanish speakers among them! What a blessing that
Rachel chooses to trust God, even as she counts her
material losses.
But today’s battles do not surprise us. The
adversary’s onslaught during the last month has been
glaringly evident. On July 11, the doctor informed
Barbara that recent X-rays reveal necrosis, or bone
death in her injured ankle. The proposed solution,
which appears to be the only option, is to fuse the
ankle using bone from her hip. This probably means
that our family will have to be divided three ways
for a time. Tim would remain in Arín and continue
the ministry, the children would stay with their
aunt in Lima to attend a missionary school there,
while Barbara would travel to Omaha, Nebraska for
surgery. But what would we do about Fredy? The
immigration lawyer who was helping us with his case
free of charge has changed agencies and can’t come
up with a statute appropriate for his situation. She
can’t even determine whether it would be more
helpful for him to be in the USA or remain in Perú!
By a strange twist in our insurance coverage, if
Tim, as the primary insurance holder, stays in Perú
we would not have to pay the normal $5,000.00
deductible. We want to do what God wants, but
exactly what does He want? Thank you for praying
that we would be sensitive to His guidance. Another
obstacle we are experiencing regarding this work
team has to do with the swine flu epidemic. The
Government has closed down all schools until August
10 due to the threat in this immediate area. But the
work team is coming prepared to minister in the
local schools that have demonstrated a keen interest
in the gospel. They have prepared hundreds of
wordless book bracelets that convey man’s need and
God’s provision by using colors. What does the Lord
have in mind for these materials and these schools?
As we follow Him minute by minute, He will reveal
this as well!
But the Cuzco ministry team is much larger even than
this! The prayers and financial support of those of
you in the USA fuel the efforts on the front lines
around the world! But you are also under enemy
attack. The political, social and economic pressures
have seldom been greater, and America no longer has
the spiritual or moral strength to deal with them
adequately. Some of our churches are faltering; at
least one has ceased to exist. Distant relatives who
provided about 18% of our support are now about to
lose everything, maybe even their home. This
precious family has been in the tractor business for
60 years; they have been used by God to fund vital
ministries all over the world, including Russia,
Mexico and Perú. Around half of the property and
equipment we have for the Bible School was paid for
by them. Now they are in danger of losing
everything. AS if that weren’t enough, one
son-in-law, a committed man of God, is fighting for
his life against an incurable illness. Please pray
for these valuable members of the Perú team! May we
not be weary in well doing as we overcome evil with
good, by the power of God. Together!
Much love
Tim & Barbara Whatley & family
BMM in Urubamba, Perú
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