Tuesday is Falling Tree Day

We arrived safe and sound at Jaguar Creek on Tuesday, January 16th. Shortly after saying good-night to Tono and the maintenance crew, we heard a very loud cracking sound, followed by a huge crash. A 60 foot tree which was rotten near it's base, decided to come down. The tree hit "Pepe's Hotel" (the former home of a pet chicken), hit the roof of the "DWP"* breaking a few of the solar panels and then hit our rental car, but didn't damage it. Today, Tuesday a week later, we heard another loud crash. This time a large high branch of another tree broke off and came down near the JC van. Fortunately no harm was done. So now we know what to expect on Tuesdays.

The other thing falling from the sky is water. This is far from the wettest month of the year, but it has rained almost every day. We noticed that people hung their clothes out on clotheslines anyway. They just waited four or five days until Saturday, when we had a nice long period of sunshine, then quickly took the dry clothes in. It is so humid here, that our floor usually becomes wet around mid-morning as the cool tiles condense water from the air. And most things that are shaded all day just seem to stay wet.

Because of the height of the jungle around us, we can't see the horizon. (We also don't have internet, TV or a radio). So, for weather forecasting we rely on the staff here. The maintenance guys are always willing to take a guess; "Do you think it will rain tomorrow?", "Yes, maybe it looks like it". The staff here are great; friendly down-to-earth people.

Here is a picture of our new home. We have a small entry porch, a little sitting area, two bedrooms (one of which will soon be occupied by our nephew, Matt), and a bathroom. The entire cabin has only screens for windows, so the cacophony of nighttime sounds from the jungle is amazing.


If you are willing to pray for us, we'd sure appreciate you keeping these things in mind:
1) For the ability to build a good working relationship with the staff here. This is one of our top priorities since almost everything we want to do depends on them.
2) For connections to people in ministry, and to children in need, so that we can develop great opportunities for people to come and serve.
3) For help adapting to the environment, protection from harm. So far everything's fine, but there are a few hazardous bugs, animals and geological features around.
4) For us to develop some local friendships. We still like each other, but "Uno" for two players is getting a little boring. We are looking forward to having our nephew Matt here for six months as a volunteer.


*DWP: Department of Water and Power, a small building covered with solar panels. It houses the water treatment system, the electrical system, a shop and laundry room.