Everything has changed
Dear Friends and Family,
It is not very often you can look back at a prayer letter while writing your next one and discover everything you planned did not happen. We had speaking engagements planned and penciled in. Awana programs, a mission conference, a women's brunch, and a trip to Brazil to renew Bill's visa were all on the agenda. They were not to be; God had other plans.
All of us have had our lives turned upside down. The day before traveling to the wedding, William received the shocking news that Wheaton College had made the decision to shut down the campus and move the last quarter online. He returned to campus that following week to say a few goodbyes and pack his room. Good news for him is that he completed his finals last week, and his first year of college is one to remember. Camilla and Cullen also transitioned to e-learning that week, a temporary solution that later became reality for the rest of the semester. Cullen's graduation ceremony was cancelled as was Camilla's production of Charlie Brown through the Chicago Christian Youth Theater program. However as resilient children, they make these loses and transitions look easy. They have followed schedules without any prompting from us, starting each day around at nine o'clock and finishing shortly after a lunch break. As I type this letter, Cullen is taking his AP Calculus test online. He feels well prepared, he says.
Through all this we have seen the hand of God active in our lives. We had hoped to return to Peru in January, with Joy flying to Lima for treatments once a month. When COVID-19 shut down not just America, but the whole world, we realized that God had spared us a huge trial as Peru's restrictions were more severe than Chicago's. Within 24 hours, the Peruvian president suspended all international and national flights meaning either Joy would have been separated from her family if she had been in Lima at the time or making Joy's treatment impossible for us without having to request emergency evacuation from the US embassy. Here in Chicago, while Bill is not able to go with her, Joy has been able to continue monthly treatments and scans requested by her doctor. Her last scan in April continues to show no growth of any tumors anywhere else in her body.
While we were sad that Cullen was not able to return to finish his senior year in Peru, because we were here in Chicago, he had the opportunity to apply for a scholarship for urban leaders. We were first made aware of this scholarship to Taylor University last fall. It was a long application process, with three steps involving essays, evaluated group dynamics, and interviews. At the end of February, Cullen was named an Acts 6 scholar and given a full ride scholarship to Taylor. He will start classes in the fall, studying film and media production. This scholarship is also an internship as it invests heavily in urban students who want to make a difference in their communities. Cullen already has begun online classes with his fellow scholarship cadre and is looking forward to other activities this summer before school starts in the fall.
While we are not speaking at conferences, Bill is working on teaching materials and developing his writing skills by reworking stories he wrote about growing up in a large family here in Chicago. There have been hours spent trying to get our pictures safely archived from old CD's to an external drive and then correcting their dates and compiling them in a format that we can find and use in the future. Joy also has some nursing continued education credits due this month as well. Of course we are enjoying being together as a family one more time before everyone separates in the fall. We were reminded at Easter that we are at the one year mark of Joy's cancer diagnosis. Last Mother's Day our family was separated by a continent as Joy was facing major surgery that next week. Those reminders make us immensely grateful that God has brought us through this past year, and we can rejoice in the many amazing gifts He has continued to give us.
Our future plans remain in God's timing. We have already tried twice to plan our return to Peru only to be postponed. This time we are waiting before attempting to nail down a firm date. However, with this said, we hope to return to Peru in August. We will confirm the date after Joy's last treatment and result of last scans. This time we will return with only Camilla in tow, a big change for all of us.
We have a few prayer requests as this season of our lives moves forward.
(1) Pray for continued healing for Joy. Her neuropathy continues in her feet and any decisions regarding future flying will be contingent on the healing.
(2) Pray for William and Cullen as they try to decide what to do this summer. Jobs are scarce and we don't know that working outside the home and returning everyday is a good idea while we live with Bill's parents.
(3) Pray for summer plans as far as finishing our furlough goals of visiting supporters and friends that are not in Chicago. We typically make a long trip and even had lined up dates with a few churches in July. Pray for God's will to be done about our plans.
(4) Pray for the Lord to have mercy on His world and to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Pray that these locked borders and quarantine orders will not affect our plans to return to Peru and/or that we be patient with God's timing.
One final note or thought: If our shelter in place continues further into the summer, we would like to hear from you if there is a time that you'd like to meet with us for a internet based missions report. This could be a Skype/Zoom/Google-Talk with any small groups, churches, or families that would like to hear more about our ministries in Peru. If we can figure out how to share a power point, we can call this a tele-furlough! In all seriousness, we would love to connect with you despite this time of social distancing.
In Christ,
Bill and Joy Carrera
