Spring News 2022

 

Christ has risen!

 

Spring is always a favorite time of year as we celebrate the reason we are serving our Lord in Peru: the hope of eternal salvation that springs from the truth of Christ's death for all, knowing that because of His resurrection, we have new life in Him. I Cor 15

As we are reminded why we are here, we count it a privilege to serve in our respective fields. Aviation has continued with a tight flight schedule this spring, but we are looking forward to increasing the number of people we can serve and fly in the upcoming months. The spring months for teachers are always busy as they come through the "home stretch." Bill continues to look for ways to keep his students engaged while knowing that their minds are already focused on all of the end of the school social events. Next year SAM Academy already knows that it is losing three of its long-term teachers: elementary, high school Bible/history, and Spanish teachers. Pray for us during the recruiting process as we try and fill these positions for next semester: 

Besides our normal weekday ministries, we are also involved in other ministries to encourage both Peruvian nationals and the missionary community. One of these events was an evening of worship that Bill, playing the keyboard, and Camilla, playing the guitar, participated in. They practiced for many hours and in the end, the service was a meaningful time of praise and adoration.  We were also encouraged during a week-long South America Mission and TEAM Peru missionary conference, which focused on unity. This is the first time in almost three years we were able to gather from all the different ministry locations around the country to celebrate what God is doing and to spur each other to live in a community. (see photos below)

We also wanted to give you an update on our church's second construction phase. Our local church, Mil Palmeras, has been asked to move off the SAM property where it has been renting for many years. We are trusting God for funds to put in bathrooms, an office, and storage facilities so that we can meet more regularly at our new property site. Please watch this video for an update on that project. 

Lastly, we need to brag on our youngest daughter Camilla. Next week we will be celebrating a big 15-year-old party, Latin American style with a modified "quinceañera". We are proud of her kind and cheerful spirit, her desire to minister to children through helping in the church's nursery and the Peruvian outreach "Granito de Amor" that is restarting its ministry to kids, and her gifts and talents in music. She is not only a diligent student but her writing has recently been recognized as she won honorable mention in a young writer contest for the Baltimore Science Fiction Society. Here is another example of a story she wrote a while back about our non-traditional Easter hunt celebration. Cascarones 

In two weeks, Joy returns to Chicago for another PET scan. We continue to thank God that the medication seems to be effective in keeping her cancer in remission at this time. Some of the side effects of nausea have subsided. Continue to pray that the neuropathy in her feet (caused by the first immunotherapy treatment in 2019) would completely heal and that the muscle cramps she currently experiences would subside.

We have some SPECIFIC PRAYER requests and NEEDS for this summer: 
1. William has an internship lined up in downtown Wheaton but is in need of housing in that area since at this point he does not have a car to commute from his grandparents in Chicago.
2. Regardless of the housing, we are looking to purchase a small used car for William to serve as his first car. We are aware that this is extremely challenging for almost everyone purchasing a used car in the US at this time and is complicated by us living overseas. Fortunately, we believe in a God of the impossible.
3. Pray for Cullen as he volunteers at Lake Geneva Youth Camp this summer as their videographer for the many weeks of camp. He also knows that he is in need of a vehicle for his last few years of college at Taylor University.
4. Pray for Joy's upcoming scans at the beginning of May and her visit with our sons and family in Chicago.
5. Pray for new teachers for SAM Academy for next year; both for the logistics of the ones we are hoping to recruit as well as for those we don't know about yet.

As always we appreciate your prayers and support. We simply could not be here without them.

In Christ,

Bill and Joy Carrera

Bill and Camilla taking part in the missionary worship service.

The 2022 SAM-TEAM Conference saw missionaries from all over Peru gather to worship, study Romans 12, and encourage each other.

Cascarones

“No-no-no! Iz-”

Too late. Her hand came down. The shell broke. Confetti rained everywhere. Paper 

bits ran down my shirt and arms, sticking to my sweaty hair. Izzy had won. She laughed and ran away, not bothering to help me up. 

Most Easter egg hunts are normal. Parents hide the eggs, the kids go find them, eat the candy, and you go home. Hooray! But that is not how I grew up doing it.

Unless you're the Brewsters, my family starts to save eggs a month before Easter. (If you are a Brewster, you collect months and months worth of eggs.) When you use an egg, instead of cracking it normally, you get a knife and crack a hole in the top.  The raw egg comes out and you save the shell. Once you have enough, you dye them.

After the eggs have dried they are stuffed with confetti. Finally, with tissue paper and glue you cover the hole. “Guys, I need you to dye and color the eggs today, okay?” Aunt Megan asked us the day before the Easter egg hunt. Only my girlfriends helped. The boys weren’t helping… as usual. The eggs were brown so they didn’t dye. Instead, our fingertips were the ones getting all the color.

“Hey, look!” I exclaimed. I examined my fingers and showed my friends. “If you leave your hands in the water it dyes your fingers.” Soon everyone had their hands deep in the bowels.

“That's awesome!” Ella said, taking her deep blue hands out of the dye. “It looks like I have frostbite!” 

I said with a laugh, “You're turning into a smurf.” By the end of the day, everyone had different colored fingers. 

I race down the side porch, the plastic bag slapped against my arm. My eyes scanned the grass looking for the eggs.

Early that day, all the dads at the event had hidden the eggs. Knowing this, I didn’t have to look very hard. The first egg I saw was a yellow one hidden in the lemon trees. That was easy. I ran across the grassy field looking and searching. In the tall grass is where I found the jackpot.

“We were so tired of hiding them,” Uncle Joe explained to me later. “So we just took all the extras and put them into a pile.” And that’s exactly what I found. Being nice, I make sure to leave some for the next person to find.

No one exactly shouts “it’s time to fight.” It just kinda starts. Once the first egg is smashed you know it's time for fun. Grabbing an egg, I quickly ran and smashed it on someone's head. They shout something. But I wasn't paying attention. I have a new target.

Everyone is free game, no one is out. The one rule is you have to crush the egg in your hands and sprinkle the confetti on their head… but even that rule is broken. My chance to get Uncle Joe had arrived. He had his back turned. I quietly sprint towards him. I leap. Yelling, I smashed the egg on his head. I only had time for a small victory. Soon he was after me. I ran forward, dodging around people and trees. But he was gaining on me. Almost on me. I saw a hand reach out. I screamed. I took a sharp turn. Leaving him behind.

“Oh, man! I missed,” He shouts. He fell as his feet slipped in the wet grass.

“Ha-ha!” I turned around to laugh at him. 

I can’t explain what happened, but before I knew it I was on the ground. The trees 

blocked the sun out of my eyes, I knew I was finished. Down, I lost. My breath was hot and I pant wildly. The wet grass filled my nose, along with the smell of sweat and dirt. I scrunch my nose. Soon a man comes into my view. Uncle Joe is standing over me with a smug grin. My head falls on the grass. I groaned, but a smile crept up on my lips. Laughing, he grabs an egg out of his plastic bag, taking time to enjoy his moment of victory. He smashed the egg on my head, rubbing the colored paper bits into my sweaty hair. He walked away, almost skipping in his slow swagger. I lay there defeated. But a full smile comes, reaching the corners of my eyes. Laughing and panting widely, I got up, brushed the itchy wet grass off my back, and I went off to hunt the next person.