June 2021 School is done...

 

Don't know who is prouder,
Dad the Principal
or the Graduate!

Greetings from Peru. We hope the start to your summer has been a good one. For the month of May, we were able to have our sons with us for a few weeks, and while it was sad to see them leave, we are so thankful for the time together. They both found jobs at a Christian camp for the summer, which was an answer to prayer. 

With graduation a few weeks ago, the academic part of the school year came to a close. The 8th-grade graduation (8 students) and the high school graduation (5 students) took place on different nights due to COVID restrictions. Camilla was excited to march with her friends, and she proudly insists she is now a high schooler. The list of projects the school staff put off during the months we were not in person has now become our priority. Mosquito screens need repair, books have to be organized, and classrooms need to be cleaned and painted. Bill has also started working on outlines for classes. We anticipate returning to in-person instruction and are planning accordingly. 

Next week Joy begins her new role as interim program director for the aviation department while her boss goes on a four-month furlough. She will be picking up additional accounting tasks this summer as well. The flight schedule is getting busy as we have the privilege of helping our partner mission organizations get back to normal. For the first time in a year, we will be flying young indigenous leaders and their families back to Bible school. The Shawi Bible conference canceled last year has also been rescheduled. We continue with an increased number of medical emergency flights. Pray for us as we negotiate payment from the national health services for over three months of flights that need to be paid for. Lastly continue to pray that the FAA would grant Joy her flight medical. The oncologist consultant has been sitting on her file since March. Pray that this individual would feel compelled to review her file and rule favorably in this case.

Everyone enjoyed a boat ride with friends.

Camilla plans on sleeping, riding her motorcycle (she recently figured out third gear), and spending as much time laughing with the few friends who are not traveling this summer. She now has a bird, a dog, and a cat, although the dog is mostly Bill's dog. She is going to be the leader of worship at school chapels next year and has collected piles of music to look through.

We have a trip to Chicago scheduled for the end of July for Joy's medical scans and are looking forward to seeing family for the short two weeks we will be there. The boys will be ending their time at camp, and we should be able to see them as well. William is moving into an apartment at Wheaton College and we might be shopping for kitchen supplies and giving some impromptu cooking lessons.

Prayer Requests:
(1) Continued safety and protection during the emergency flights SAMAIR is doing.
(2) Pray that Joy's scans in the first week of August would be clear and that the doctors would be able to give a good report.
(3) We praise God for his protection from COVID during our time here in Peru.
(4) Pray for ministries to resume to normal this fall including aviation, churches, and in-person school.

In Christ,
Bill, Joy, and Camilla