Huge prayer requests

I have a huge prayer request for this week. Actually a couple. First, we are having our first campaign starting on August 19, which will last for a week. Then two of our nurses will stay in the village for six weeks living with the people and trying to teach and educate the villagers about nutrition, hygiene, home improvement, etc. This is the first campaign so it’s going to be kind of crazy! This week, there is a dentist visiting who will be training Brent and I about administering anesthesia and pulling teeth. Please pray that the campaign will be a success and God will guide our hands and minds to treat the patients and villagers in the best way!

I have another huge prayer request. There is a good possibility that in the area where I’m living there will be a strike starting on August 20. This basically means that all life stops in Peru. No transportation anywhere, food bought or sold, no stores open, so pretty much nobody does anything. I don’t know all the politics involved with the strike or why it’s all happening, but the strike would not be a good thing for us. There was a strike at the end of June that lasted for about 10 days. Many of the Peruvians hadn’t prepared for the strike and they starved. It wasn’t a good situation for many of the Peruvians. The people who could afford to stock up were fine, but most Peruvians can’t afford to buy lots of rice ahead of time.

If there is a strike, we are not able to go anywhere or do anything. It is safest to stay at km 38 and hang out, waiting for the strike to end, which could possibly last for 30 days or so. The sad thing is if there is a strike, we will have to cancel the medical campaign and possibly the health campaign that the nurses would be doing. A lot of work has already been put into this campaign. Dentists and other volunteers are traveling down here to help out during this campaign and it would really be sad if it didn’t work out. So please pray for this situation, as we don’t really know for sure what is happening!! We are going to be stocking up on rice and beans and other basic essentials to be prepared in case the strike happens. It would definitely be a memorable adventure. So if you don’t hear from me for a while, it’s because of the strike. God knows what we can all handle and He will work out everything for the best!!