Update on the Belen Fire

Thank you to all our friends who have asked for an update on the fire in Belen, Iquitos! On December 20, a fire broke out in the neighborhood surrounding our Latin America ChildCare school (Victoria de Jesus) in Belen. Over 150 homes were destroyed and over 200 families were displaced. We began feeding the people on the first day, using the food from the children's feeding program (provided by Feed My Starving Children).


The people had nowhere to sleep, so we put them up in our school and in the Assembly of God church associated with the school. We also bought bedding, mattresses and housing supplies.

In January, the rains came. Every year the pueblo of Belen floods when the Amazon river rises. This year, the flooding came too quickly for the families to begin rebuilding their homes (which are really shacks on stilts).

Now, the rains are receding. Thankfully, it is early in the season to see dry ground in Belen. Normally, the flooding lasts through April. But, as you can see below, the waters are going down and we can once again see the first floor of our school.

That means it is time to work. The school lost part of its roof, all the furniture and the bathrooms. So, there is much work to be done. Unfortunately, we won't be able to get it all done before school starts next week (the 2nd week in March). But, as you can see below, Pastor Jose is already preparing the walls for paint.

Please keep us in prayer as we try to recuperate what was lost in the school, while continuing to bless the community. Also, if the Lord leads you to help in the cost of repairing the school and purchasing new furniture, please send your offering to Assembly of God World Missions, 1445 N. Boonville Ave., Springfield, MO 65802. For Bill Shrader - Peru, Acct # 248382.

Thanks, also, to Peoples Church (Cincinnati, Ohio) and the LACC emergency fund for their generous support!

50 things we don't do?

Courtesy of: Mozy


The list, above, is interesting and (in part) a good indicator of how much has changed in a very short time. But, for those of us not living in the U.S., it is an example of how different life is outside the U.S. I completely agree with numbers 1, 4, 6, 9 and 10. I don't call theaters for movie times, directory assistance or the phone company to set my watch. I also don't carry a Sony Walkman. But we frequently visit a travel agent's office and occasionally use public telephones, print photos and hang classifieds in windows. In fact, in the jungle and the mountains, we do those things every day! In fact, the majority of the rest of the list are things we do here on a regular basis. Here's my list of the things we still do, with a few comments regarding some of the others:

2. Visit travel agents - Yes! (Especially when booking travel for teams.)
3. Record on VHS - Not since it broke. But we don't have DVR.
5. Use public phones - Yes -- especially to call the U.S. when I'm away from home.
7. Print photos - yes
8. Put a classified in a store window - yes (especially outside of Lima)
11. Handwritten letters - yes. (Many here do not use e-mail.)
13. Change for pay phones - no, instead we take change for taxis or the bus!
15. Pay bills at the post office - Sort of ... we pay them at the grocery store.
16. Use an address book - Yes! It is a staple of Peruvian business culture. BTW - they all have Blackberry phones, too!
17. Check a map - everyday!
18. Collect Calls - Yes - here we do it with cell phones when we out of minutes.
19. Go to the Bank - Yes!!!
21. Own an encyclopaedia - No, but I still like thumbing through the real thing.
22. Renew car registration at DMV - Yes.
24. Yellow pages - no, but I feel guilty throwing it away.
25. Use a real dictionary - almost daily.
26. Remember phone numbers - often, I can't even remember my own.
27. Watch videos - yes, all the time.
28. Have pen pads, write letters - yes.
32. Buy CD's - yes
33. Pay by check - yes. I use them to pay for stuff in the States.
34. Make a photo album - no, but we always plan to.
35. Watch TV shows when they're shown - yes.
36. Warm drinks on the stove - yes.
38. Try on shoes at the mall - yes! There's no Amazon.com down here.
39. Hand wash - yes. For many of my friends, it's the only way.
43. Buy flowers from a florist - yes and they're much cheaper and better than in the states!
44. Use a dictionary to find out how to spell something - Yes, everyday!
45. Personal diary - Yes! It is invaluable for a successful devotional life
46. Send Post Cards - yes!
47. Buy Newspapers - Every Sunday.
48. Hang laundry out to dry - yes, it is the norm here.
49. Keep printed bills - yes. Many still do not recognize digital statements as a legal receipt.
50. Visit yard sales - I wish! We miss that part of American life.

Hands of Jesus - Video

This is a video produced by my friend Curtis Smith of Smith Cinematic (SmithCinematic.com). He shot the video while working with a mixed medical and construction team at our school in Catacaos.

Thanks, Curtis!

Lena's Top Ten of 2012

Every New Year, Lena writes a Top 10 summation of the year we’ve left behind. Here’s her summation (in no particular order) of the best of 2012:

1)      Construction in Catacaos: Another way to say this is--The Shraders get to be a part of making an educational dream come true in Catacaos, Peru. When we came to Peru in 2008, Pastor Walter Carranza showed us his plans to add a high school to the existing Latin America ChildCare (LACC) elementary school. We didn’t laugh at him out loud, but we knew at the time we didn’t have the funds to help him.  Well, our Isaac was born this year as we are completing the third floor of a four story high school. Thanks to the churches and teams from the U.S. who’ve given time, money and sweat to see this dream take form. Thanks to LACC and the Ohio Women’s Ministries for helping us raise the funding. We couldn’t—and didn’t—do it alone. 

2)    Hannah (age 18) prepares to launch into her college career with some kickin’ SAT scores and a ton of intensive scholarly pursuits.  Hannah took an AP History course solo and completed it by sheer grit.  She’s maxed out the number of Spanish credits one can apply toward colllege and got an “A” in Stats.  She is amazingly dogged both in her studies and her pursuit of the Lord. If she could major in “Soaking in the Presence of God through Worship,” she would have picked her major a long time ago.  We know she is ready for college.  The question is, “Is college ready for Hannah?”

3)      Will busts into Bible-reading. Will (age 10) wakes up early—often an hour before the rest of the family. Bill challenged Will to put that time to good use and read the Word.  Since then, Will has read many of the books of the Bible, including Revelations and Song of Songs.  Will had great insight into the latter two books, which is crazy-exciting for Bible geeks like Bill and I.  He called out while reading Song of Songs, “Hey, Dad, is this book just about being in love?”  Good questions, smart boy.

4)      Abi continues to blossom as resident artist and Hannah-in-training.  Abi continues to surprise us with her gift for artistic expression.   She draws things that make you feel something, and we love seeing her latest creations.  Her favorite color is all of the rainbow, and she has a great eye.  She also shows signs of budding vocal talent and imitates Hannah in everything but fashion sense (Abi is much more flowery than Hannah’s sporty style). 

5)      Colton shows promise in developing musical talent and growing facial hair.  Colton has been working on mastering the drums, as well as picking up the bass guitar.  He has come quite far already with starter hints from Dad, video tutorials, and an occasional lesson from a friend.  He continues to be a sweet young man who is known for his character at school.  He also passed up his dad in height this year and, every day, looks more like someone who needs to get a job instead of someone who needs to go to high school. 

 6)      Bill and Lena take on working with young adults in our home church and it feels really good. Twenty plus years in XA left serious grooves in our ministry style, and we have very much enjoyed getting to work with the young adults of our church.  We don’t have the same time to put into it, but we so love those chat times after church with young people, praying for them, and teaching them to find God’s will for their lives.  When they come to our house for a cookout, our old XA selves get all happy. 

7)      Bill hosts 7 missions teams, a bunch of visiting missionaries and assists in hosting a major international educational conference all in one year.  The amount of planning and prep that go into a successful missions trip on this end is equal or surpasses the prep stateside.  For our friends who have led trips, they will remember how much work that was for them.  Now multiply it by 7 and stick a big conference at the end.  It was a HUGE undertaking for Bill, but had great returns.  Hundreds received Christ as savior, thousands received medical care, the school in Catacaos took shape, many received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Gospel was preached in the mountains and at University, and we made a lot of really good friends!

Avon Christian Heritage in Cusco (with Colton and Hannah)

Capital Christian Center (Sacramento) medical team

Brown University XA in Ayacucho.

 

8)      In addition to ministering in churches and working with Latin America ChildCare, Lena becomes president of the PTO at our International Christian School -- and loses the capacity to separate Spanish and English in her brain. This school year brought growth and increased diversity to the International Christian School our children attend in Lima. Lena accepted the position of president of the PTO and has enjoyed the challenge of leading—which involves a lot of Spanish and team building.  Participation this year in PTO has grown significantly and she has enjoyed being in the middle of it all.

Lena giving out Christmas gifts to LACC children.

9)      Bill gets serious about seeing Peru moving in the Spirit. Unfortunately, many members of the Peruvian Assemblies of God have never experienced the Baptism of the Holy Spirit or even heard teaching on it. One of our Peruvian pastor friends strongly encouraged Bill at the beginning of this year to preach on the Baptism wherever he goes.  Bill has taken that challenge seriously, and we have seen many people receive this year.  The Peruvian culture considers public embarrassment or exposure of weakness something to be avoided at all costs, so helping people get to the point of receiving and trusting can be a huge challenge. But, many Peruvians are also serious prayer warriors and lovers of God. It is a great pleasure to help people who have yearned for this for so many years to finally receive. 

 

Bill and Hannah help lead worship at Quechua speaking adobe church.

10)   Bill and Lena are honored by having two Peruvian babies named for them. I (Lena) have always wanted someone to name a baby after me.  I just thought it would be fun.  I gave up after leaving lots of little unsuccessful hints to our XA alums.  Pastor Walter Carranza and his wife, Sonia, wanted to name their baby after a missionary and surprised me with this honor. Sonia assures me that little Lina (preserving the pronunciation over the spelling) is a remarkably peaceful baby, always cheerful, and only complains when she is hungry (we definitely have that in common!). Another couple in the church (Gerardo and Maria, who are incredibly humble servants) were pregnant at the same time. What a surprise when, one week later, little Billy was born! Now there’s a Lina and a Billy growing up in the same church.  Maybe they will grow up and fall in love!

The Shraders doing some very serious ministry at the beach

2012 LACC Christmas in Peru

Each year we  are blessed, getting to distribute Christmas gifts to the children in our Latin America ChildCare (LACC) schools. Here are some of my favorite photos from this year.



Every time I take a picture of this girl it turns out great.

The children from Ayacucho presented me with Christmas gifts.



The gift is upside down, but the smile on this girl (from Iquitos) is perfect!

It's great to get a race car in Iquitos.

I love taking photos of the little girl on the left!

I stitched three pictures together, to get this shot of the kids in Ayacucho. When you stitch photos, sometimes you lose some minor details. If you look closely at this composite photo, the girl in the forground has no head. It's hard to go to school without a head; but, it is apparently not impossible.

I call this one: Cut kid with race car in Iquitos.

Lena presenting a gift to a kindergartner in Catacaos.

Boys displaying their basketball game at our school, Luz del Saber, in Iquitos.

Hannah and her friends, from the International Christian School of Lima, wrapping Christmas gifts for the LACC kids.

Kids in Catacaos doing a display of traditional Peruvian dances for their Christmas party.

Lena with a student in Catacaos.

Nothing says Christmas like wearing a rodent on your head!

All the Single Ladies

I have been watching the awakening happening for some time now.  I remember my daughter’s  14 birthday.  She wanted to have a “mixed”  party.  I remember watching her shyly inviting a group of boys to our home for the gathering, and then marching down the street to the Revlon store to buy the long-awaited make-up.  It was a rite of passage we had set in place years before as a moment when she would pass from the world of little girls to that of young ladies.

Four years later, the tones are more serious, but the heart is the same.  Most of us ladies—apart from the occasional peaceful soul—have to accustom ourselves to a certain ache and longing that is part of being a single woman.  I wish it wasn't so, but my memories are so clear.  There were days when I just had to fake it to get through.  There were plenty nights in tears, crying out to God for relief from the feelings that were customary to those years for me.  Even worse, my single lady friends all assure me that it doesn't ever really go away.  We are wired for romance, to respond to a single noble man who recognizes our value and beauty.  And to make it worse, we have precious little control over it. 

We Christians don’t talk much about this…but it is there.  I want my daughter to be able to function, to pursue her personal goals, to be a focused, mature person, but I can’t promise her that there won’t be dark days when her heart is breaking and she has to take the final anyway, or has to go to work, even if that means a few trips to the bathroom to wipe her eyes and try to pull herself together.
 I know there is an option.  She can try to turn it all off, and some do. Some of us Christian parents, in the interest of protecting their hearts, encourage our daughters to ignore what is happening in their hearts, and instead of keeping them from pain, we end up training them to be distant with men.  I don’t ever want my daughters to turn their hearts off to the possibility of finding love, to the beauty of walking through life committed to loving someone and knowing someone else as deeply as is possible in a good marriage. We can't be slaves to our wayward hearts, but neither can we pretend like they are machines controlled by pressing a few buttons.  Love is crazy, messy, and sometimes defies logic or circumstances. Love makes life rich, even when it is at the same time disappointing. 

All the single ladies (and even the married ones!) have to walk through this and learn to pour out our feelings at Jesus’ feet.  In my single days---days in which I really didn't believe I would ever marry—I started imagining myself dancing with the Lord in a white dress.  I had to make Jesus the one who met those needs.  Even when I knew the ache would return later, I could pour out my feelings and find relief.  Now my girl is joining the single ladies, and she will have to learn to do the same thing.  I am so thankful that He is able to keep her, the Lord of crazy, risky love.  He understands.

Belen fire thoughts

Here are a few random thoughts about the fire in the neighborhood of our LACC School in the Belen district of Iquitos.

1) Ironically, Belen is Spanish for Bethlehem. As I shared previously, I was in Iquitos to give Christmas gifts to the kids in our LACC schools. The gifts were supposed to arive four days prior, but were still on a river barge when I landed in Iquitos. The shipping company said they wouldn't be available until Monday (Christmas eve). We begged and prayed and the gifts became available on Thursday. We were at the shipping company when we got the call about the fire. If the kids in our school in Belen had received their gifts that morning, as was planned, the gifts would have burned in the fire.

2) The day before the fire, I took photos of the street because we were in negotiations to buy some of the houses next to the school. Then the fire struck. After the fire, I took hundreds of  photos and various videos of the site. I wanted to show everyone the before and after shots, but they were all lost. Something happened to corrupt the files on the card (perhaps the security X-rays in the airport?). I was (and still am) really upset. I've never had anything like this happen before and feel doubly frustrated by such a loss at such a critical time. By God's grace, I had copied photos from Pastor Jose's camera and also had photos on my phone. I definitely feel that the enemy does not want to bless the people of Belen. Destroying my pictures was just one more way to hinder our mission work there. May the Lord turn their ashes into something beautiful that gives Him glory!

3) Since we didn't have the gifts to give out on Thursday, I took some of the High School Seniors and teachers out to lunch to celebrate their graduation. When we got to the restaurant, I saw that some of the Seniors hadn't come. It was because they didn't have 30 cents for the taxi ride and they were too embarrassed to tell me. I would have paid for their transport, but they don't have cell phones so there was no way to tell them that. I felt horrible. Nonetheless, with those who did come, we had a great lunch at a Chinese restaurant. I sat with the Seniors and talked with them about their dreams for the future. It felt great getting a chance to talk with them personally. I've watched them grow up over the past five years. We had no idea what was about to unfold.

4) For those who are able to help, donations can be made payable to "Peru ChildCare"
in the check memo line, please write 8481046 Class 46
Send to: Assemblies of God World
1445 Boonville Ave.
 Springfield, MO 65802

Fire in Belen

On Dec. 20, a fire destroyed the community surrounding our LACC school in the Belen district of Iquitos. Over 1000 people have been displaced. Thanks to all who have expressed concern and are praying for Belen. I just got back from there and need a bit of time to pull it all together. Here are the main points of interest:

1. The fire broke out because of a propane tank explosion. The community thought that two children died, but (thankfully) they were found the next day.

2. About 1000 people have been displaced and are using our church and school as the relief centers.

3. The biggest needs are food, a place to sleep/live and clothing. We do a feeding program at the school, so the members of the church are now using it to feed the community. Some of the people you see in the photos, feeding the community, are the very ones who lost their homes. There is no gas, water or electricity in the community, so they are cooking the food over the wood scraps from homes.

4. We have enough food on site to serve about 500 meals for about 10 days. The government is also shipping in food--though the people like ours better! Lena Shrader, Emily Sandoval and Ron Smith (along my kids and other friends) shipped 120 boxes of food yesterday. It'll take about 14 days to arrive.

5. I had $1500 in my ministry account in Peru, I gave it to Pastor Jose to buy mats that the people can sleep on, to buy some meat (to go along with the fortified rice and vegetables we had on hand) and to buy emergency supplies. I told him that more money was on its way.  (Please see the post below, from Phyllis Rose, for the account number and address.) When we get the money transferred to Peru, I'll be able to transfer some to Pastor Jose for immediate needs and also negotiate purchasing things in bulk from Lima. Iquitos is in the jungle and does not have the infrastructure to just buy what you want.

6. The president of Peru visited the site, yesterday. I missed him by a few minutes. He's promised every family two sheets of plywood and some tin. I think I didn't understand the translation very well, because everyone seemed to think that was excellent news. I asked Pastor Jose, "So, people are going to build a house with two walls and no floor?" His response was (and I'm not kidding), "They're pretty big pieces of plywood." He also said the president was going to outlaw thatched roofs--which is like blaming the conditions of a refugee camp on cardboard.

7. I've asked Pastor Jose to give me a plan and a budget. He's working on it, but is mostly preoccupied with handling emergencies. We can't start rebuilding yet. I'll post an update when we can start rebuilding.

8. Clothing is a big need, but it cannot be shipped in easily. The Peruvian government is very strict about this. It will likely be easier to buy it here and ship it down. I need to work this out with my missionary colleagues who have more experience in disaster relief.

For those who want to come and help right away, please be patient. Jungle culture does not move as quickly as Americans do. At the same time, the people in this community are not complaining as much as Americans do, either! It is amazing how they are not complaining. They just went out and started collecting the remaining wood to save it as fire wood.

I'm currently coordinating different aspects (and just got to see my family). I need to make some calls and get more information. So, I'll post more in the very near future. Thanks for your prayers. Many of the displaced people are the kids in our school and are my friends from the church. As such, your concern is a great comfort to me and has enabled me to encourage them that help is on its way.