The pond where we intend to end an obstacle course with water games at our camp in January
In order to empty it out of eels, it has to be drained completely. This is the water pump system they are using.
Now that we're in rainy season, the pond quickly refills, so they also had to dig a ditch so that it would constantly drain on its own when they were not pumping water.
There has been other progress at the PETRA grounds as well. The Big House has come a long way, thanks to Vann's hard work and the hard work and motivation of a couple from GA who came to help out with construction for a month. All the first floor walls are up and half of the tresses to support the second floor. Another team from the same church will be coming for two weeks over the Christmas holiday to continue with the construction. Even though the picture below (which is a month out of date) shows a good amount of progress since the summer teams were here, it really is nothing compared to the current progress. The second floor is already being worked on and the day after Thanksgiving, many missionaries will come out for a picnic and "barn raising" to put up some second story walls that Vann has been preparing.
The "Big House"
I, of course, haven't been able to help much with the outdoor and heavy lifting jobs. I'm now three months along in my pregnancy, but still trying to stay as active as I can. I continue teaching dance classes, which are going well, but a little stressful as we only have 2 practices left until the Christmas program. The girls are hard workers and love to learn, which motivates me even more to do my best to teach them what I can. Our devotion this week was about how, even though our earthly bodies are limited in what they can do, our heavenly bodies will have no boundaries. Knowing this should help us to not get discouraged when we find certain dance moves difficult, but give us hope and joy in knowing what the Lord has in store for our eternity. And knowing about this eternity should make us thankful and motivate us to do our best to worship him with the abilities He has given us, even if our "best" is simple compared to what we will do in heaven. If you're interested in more dance-related devotions, check out my sister Alyssa Campbell's book Time to Dance. Below are some action shots of me teaching the older girls' class and Olivia teaching the little kids (they're so stinkin' cute!)
Well, that's all the news here. I forgot to post a picture in my last blog of Walter's 26th birthday party. He finally caught up to my age on October 12. Here's a picture of the whole group that celebrated with him and one of him after the Peruvian tradition of shoving the "victim's" face into the cake.
Melanie Sisley, Raquel Sisley, Luz, Dick, Gloria (Walter's mom), Walter, me, Cristina, Jean Franco, Jimmy Sisley, Guillermo Sisley, Eduardo (Walter's dad), Salomon
In Peruvian tradition (or at least in Pucallpa), after singing three versions of the birthday song in Spanish and in English and the candle has melted down to nothing but a puddle, the person who is celebrating their birthday has to watch out for any nearby friend because it is likely that that person will shove their face into the cake. Among our group of friends, that person is always Salomon...at least he has the decency to bring a separate cake for the occasion, since no one can eat it after the birthday celebrator's nose and mouth have been all over it.
