update

Sorry its taken so long to write another post. We've been really busy with new visitors and the baby. i wanted Braeden to write something on his trip last month to the jungle but he has been so busy with videos and things that i will just tell you a little bit about it. The boat that they were planning on taking up the river turned out to be a small fishing boat. So for four days they were crammed into this boat with ten guys, eighteen liters of water and all of their backpacks and supplies. They tried fishing for their meals but when they caught their first meal it was all rotted by the time they stopped for the night to cook it. The rest of the days they couldn't even catch anything because a family of dolphins was following their boat and kept scaring the fish away. Half way through the trip they realized that they wouldn't have enough water to get through the trip so they had to ration. Only one small glass of water each every few hours. On the third day they ran out of gas before they reached the first village so they had to hike through the jungle to the village. Once they got there they got as much water as they wanted from a well and bought some gas. Braeden said that it was one of the hardest things he ever did but all in all he had a great time and was glad he did it.

Braeden's mom, aunt and brother visited last week and it was so great to see them again. We got to show them around the city and take them to all of the ministries we do. They got to spend time with Miles and bring down an enormous supply of diapers and toys and clothes. The only downside about their visit is that they had to leave and now we are very homesick. As it gets hotter and hotter here everyday we are really missing the leaves changing color and the upcoming snow. All i want to do is take Miles for a walk in downtown Holland and stop in at JP's. For some reason i am especially missing our church Beechwood these past few weeks. When we sing hymns at our church down here it reminds me of Beechwood and its hard not to cry, thinking of all our friends back home sitting in church at the same time as us. But it also reminds me to be thankful that we have a church that we love so much that it makes us homesick when we sing familiar songs. Thanks Beechwood!

On the ministry side of things we are starting to get busy and will continue to do so. A couple of weeks ago we added another family to the mission here. The Vanderwerfs have three young daughters and they plan on staying long term, my parents will finally have permanent help down here once Braeden and i leave. We are getting another permanent family in December and a couple planning on staying a year that are coming this summer. This coming Thursday we get another intern, a guy named Jed who came down on the first short term mission trip that Braeden and i helped on. We are going to be really busy up until Christmas helping these new families get settled but thats a great thing because it means that the ministry is finally growing in help.