Author: schrocks4christ

“You must go to immigration immediately.  You cannot leave Peru unless you have your card.”  This was the email message I received from the lawyer as we landed in Lima on the first leg of our trip home to the states on April 30.

I received approval for my foreigner card several days prior.  Ruth had received hers several weeks earlier.  Denver’s card was not approved yet so we were expecting special permission papers to pick up our foreigner cards when we returned to Peru in June.

We rushed through the airport picking up our luggage and getting the first taxi we could to take us ½ hour across town to the immigration offices.  We made it to the offices only 15 minutes late.  They would not help us that day no matter how much we begged and we had learned that the next day was a holiday.  Our flight to Miami left the next day on May 1.  Again the lawyer text me, “You cannot leave without the cards!”

So we forfeited our original tickets and purchased new ones so we could return to the states on May 3.  We spent the international workers day holiday (May 1) in Lima, Peru and had a great time as a family visiting the big shopping mall and eating the first American food in 6 months for some of us.  The next day we picked up our foreigner cards which will allow us to travel freely to Peru and flew back to the states on May 3.

We have spent almost 2 weeks in our old home area of Alabama/Florida catching up with friends and supporters and also some legal matters.  Austin turned 18 in February and also graduated from high school.  He has chosen to stay in the states and will live with my parents in New Mexico.  He has a job lined up at a tire/mechanics shop there.

We traveled to northeast Ohio to spend several days with Ruth’s mother and then headed west.  We will stay in New Mexico for a week with my parents, helping Austin get settled in before leaving for Peru on May 30^th from Las Vegas.

We do not know why the delay and extra expense associated with our return to the states.  We do know God is in control and guides our steps.  We have felt His presence with us all the way.  Thank you for your prayers.

Stan Schrock

What affect does abandonment have on a 4 and 2 year old? How would it affect you or your kids if this happened to you? This is the case with 2 kids that came to the home recently. They were found abandoned on the streets of Iquitos and taken to the police station but no one came to claim them. There was no information with them and they don’t talk much so we’re not sure of their names or their ages. The girl, who we call Clara, is probably around 4 and her brother, who seems to answer to Ever seems to be at least 2. Ever is doing fairly well with potty training but we have to make sure to take them both regularly. Clara does things that are borderline naughty to get attention. You have to wonder what goes through their minds.

It is so good to have Israel and Cynthia back from Mexico. They were gone about a month and we really missed them. They both speak English. Since they are our translators it was good for us because we were forced to communicate in Spanish. We still have a long way to go!!

Segundo, the other two year old has learned to how to walk. Now we are trying to potty train him as well. He has such a sweet personality but is also easily offended. He is still learning to talk. Supposedly he is three years old but Cynthia and I have our doubts that the birth certificate is correct.

Cynthia really has her hands full right now so I’m helping her. Four mornings a week I help get the children up and ready for the day at 6:00 am. In the afternoon around 4:00 pm I help with showers. On days when Cynthia is gone or has off I’m basically responsible for the 2 youngest and help take care of the others. It’s a big job and I get tired but I miss them when I’m not available to help.

Stan is very much involved with the chicken project here and is doing everything he can to learn how to care for them. He also helps with taking the kids to school or whatever needs doing.

We are really enjoying our new house. I especially like having a kitchen although I don’t have much time to cook. It’s also hard to find some of the ingredients I want but little by little we’re learning where to shop.

Please keep us in your prayers. Also please pray for the need of help here especially for Israel and Cynthia. They have their hands full with the little ones caring for 9 kids under 5 and addition taking care their own 4 year old and 8 month old. Israel also pastors a church in Nauta and they are very involved there. They really could use more help than I am able to give.

We are really looking forward to coming back to the states around the 1st of May and counting the days. We had some issues with our return tickets because of a flight cancellation so our return date has been shifted several times. Hopefully, it is nailed down now to arriving in Miami May 2, 2:30 am. We look forward to seeing many of you soon.

God bless!

Ruth

I just realized how long it’s been since I wrote the last update. Sorry to leave you
all hanging.

It seems that life is one adventure after another. Some we enjoy and others we’d rather not experience! Before I get into too much detail of what has happened since Dec. I want to thank those of you who sent mail with the last group who was here to visit. It was so good to hear from you all. It is a rather lonely life being the only Americans here but God has been so good and has always given us strength for the journey. Your letters certainly helped!! 🙂

A piece of good news is that now all three of our washing machines in town are working again. Also the 1⁄4 mile long bridge we have to cross to get to it has recently been opened to pedestrians. Now we can drive to the bridge and carry everything across without trying to find another way. This means I am no longer doing all the laundry by hand. I do a little now and then but not much. 🙂 What a blessing!!

January 15 we had three people from the church of Summerton visit the home here, Troy and Shannon Allen and their pastor Billy Carlisle. They helped with some maintenance work here at the home and had fun with the kids. Since we are still living in the guest house we had the privilege of spending more time with them. Billy preached Sunday morning about following Christ with ALL our hearts. It was so refreshing to hear a sermon in our own language as well as witness a young girl giving her heart to the Lord.

On January 22 some of us from the home took our visitors to Iquitos to catch their evening flight to go home. Israel, Stan and I stayed in Iquitos for the night and then caught an early flight to Lima the next morning. Stan and I had to go to Interpol to have background checks done to get our religious visas so we can stay in Peru. Israel went along to translate.

We were in Lima three days. It is certainly a different world compared to the jungle. There are people everywhere and the traffic is crazy! It is definitely more cultured. They have some very nice markets and a really nice mall. We enjoyed some good eating there as well. They have better access to fruits from the outside world there than we do here. Since the prices are good as well, we loaded up on fruit for the home here.

I also want to say Israel was a real blessing in Lima. Since he’d been there before and knew a bit what to expect he was a great guide!! I hate to think what we would have done without him.

We received more guests right after our return from Lima. Jason and Trina Corbit,
their son Benjamin and his friend Bobby are also from the church at Summerton.
Stan had met them when he first visited Peru last January. We also stayed at their house when we visited Summerton in July.

They hung out here and played with the kids. Not sure who had the most fun, they or the kids.

I know the kids loved every single minute of it. Their stay was short but we are so grateful they came anyway! It was also good for the boys to have teenagers they could converse with freely again.

There have been 6 new children added to the home here from 2 different families. Margolit (12) and Jovana (10) are sisters and arrived several weeks ago. Their mother abandoned them years ago so they were living with their father who was an abuser and a drunkard. The other 4 are Cesar (12), Keko (6), Maria, (4) and Secundo (2). They were obviously neglected and malnourished! Little Segundo, the 2 year old, couldn’t walk or anything. After receiving care and love as well as plenty of food, he is already beginning to fill out and it doesn’t look like it will be long until he’s walking.

I know some of you are wondering about our house. It is nearing completion but you know how long those last details can take. Hopefully by the time you hear from us again we’ll be in or at least have a ‘move’ date.

God bless you all.

Ruth

While you all are enjoying Christmas vacation we are just trying to adjust to the idea that we actually had Christmas. 😊 It just doesn’t feel like Dec. here. In fact, the other morning I put on a long sleeved shirt because I was chilly. I checked the temperature and it was 78*.

We are still trying to get our house finished. We are having some difficulty getting the concrete guy out to finish the job. He only has about 2-3 days work left. Meanwhile Stan is working on the septic. It all has to be done by hand of course. He said it got pretty hot working in that hole when the sun was shining and there was no breeze down there. It means washing some very dirty clothes at the end of the day!

I have recently resorted to washing by hand. As I mentioned in another post, our machines are located in town and you can access them by crossing a long bridge. Several weeks ago they closed down the bridge for construction. Now we have two other options. We can pay someone, usually young boys, to ferry us across the river in wooden boats or pay a taxi to take us a long way around which involves several wooden bridges and a bunch of pot holes. Now when we finally get there the electric may or may not be on. On top of that, only one machine is working right now. I found it’s no more hassle to simply wash everything every day. I usually need to get the boys to help me wring out the heavy things.

Right now the kids are out of school for the ‘summer’. Whew! There’s a lot of energy around here that needs to be harnessed. Cynthia usually tries to keep them occupied with activity books in the morning while others color some pages. Occasionally someone will put a puzzle together or some will play Bingo with pictures. The older girls help in the kitchen. The older boys help with maintenance, building, weed
eating, etc.

About two weeks ago we changed the seating arrangement at meal time. We split up the kids among 5 tables putting an assortment of ages to each table. Each set of parents is responsible for a certain table. It takes a lot of concentration to communicate but it is good for us. Juan Carlos is at our table and wants
to learn English so we have him teach us Spanish words and we teach him English words. He has trouble with pronunciation but he’s very persistent!

We have been running out of water the last few days. ☹️ We decided there is a bad leak somewhere. Actually there was a small one we were aware of but the just found the other one. Israel and Austin are working at fixing it. Hopefully we will soon have water again. 😊

There is a cold/flu bug going around. I think most of the kids are over the worst. Denver and I have it now and Austin has an itchy throat too. I hope we can all go to church tomorrow.

Wishing you all a very happy New Year!

The Schrocks

It doesn’t seem as though much has been happening other than normal living the last while. We are trying to adjust to a life of changing schedules. Did I mention that flexibility is key to survival? Yes, we do get frustrated at times but we have to constantly remind ourselves that they don’t know anything else. We also try to remember that change is difficult in any culture.

Our house is still being built. Most of the brick has been laid. Fortunately the brick layers haven’t been set back by the rain very much. It is exciting to look out the window and watch the house take shape.

Today Stan and Austin, with the help of boys from the home, are digging the trench for the septic line. They are getting some help from Dennis this afternoon. It’s a hot job and I think Stan will be happy when it is finished!

As some of you already know, on Thanksgiving Day we had the opportunity to share about the tradition of Thanksgiving during the devotional time. Stan had everyone mention something they are thankful for and then we passed out packaged cookies. (since I can’t make homemade ones yet.:

Several days later I taught the children how to make snowflakes. It was the first time they had ever done anything like that and they loved it. I found some great talent in the group. The next day we hung them on the dining room walls.

Homeschooling is going pretty good. We just make it a habit of doing school in the morning regardless of what is going on around us. Of course there have been those days when we needed to go to Iquitos that we took a break.

Denver got his piano 1 ½ wks ago. He is so happy to be able to play again. He needs a stand for it yet. He and Stan will probably make one out of wood.

Austin has been doing some fishing in the pond and has been fairly successful. His fishing equipment is pretty basic! He has a line and hook fastened to a small rough handmade handle. All I can say is it works.

We have really been enjoying the mangos that fall from the tree outside our door. That is, if we can beat the kids to them!:) They are even better than peaches! Cynthia and I both think they would top a cheese cake very well.:)

Spanish continues to be a challenge but little by little I can tell we are understanding it better. I met with Cynthia this morning for an hour and she suggested we meet every day for Spanish. That is probably what we will try to do. I’ve always heard that Spanish was easy to learn but not sure I agree.

Please continue to pray for us that we would be faithful in what God has called us to do. At times we wonder why we’re here but we continue to trust that God is in control.

-Ruth

Thank the Lord we did get all our missing luggage. My pillow was in one of them and I didn’t realize how much I missed it until I had it back!

We started school last week. It’s nice to have something normal in our schedule. It’s been an adjustment not having internet at our fingertips but we are learning to improvise. Flexibility is certainly key here!!

Last week they dug the pad for our house. Some brothers from San Juaquin came and helped get it started. Then Saturday since the kids were out of school most of them were out there helping as well. Even the little ones were helping to carrying dirt on feed sacks to Stan where he used it for fill. The job went a whole lot faster with so many helping!

Stan has been kept busy with the many projects here. They started a fence before we came but were having trouble so he helped them work on that on Thursday.

One day this week the cooks were all gone when it was time to cook supper. They have their main meal at lunch time so it wasn’t quite as crucial. Cynthia decided we would have ‘spaghetti’ as the main dish. The older girls were here and they usually help in the kitchen so together we made spaghetti. Cynthia had to stop and take care of her baby so she told me what to do and I finished it up. It was completely different from anything I’ve made before but was very good. It was good to have a break from rice. ☺️

Our main cook came home, soon after we started, and was very happy to see she didn’t need to cook supper.

Israel has been teaching a series of classes for young believers. He invited the boys to join the Sunday morning class. They are pretty excited about it. It’s all in Spanish so studying is a challenge but it should also help them with their Spanish.

On Sundays Stan takes our family, Cynthia and their children in to Nauta for church in the van while Israel rides his motorcycle. We leave here about 8:30 and take laundry along with us. When we get into town we have to stop at the end of the bridge and tote our laundry, back packs and all across a ¼ mile bridge by foot. Our laundry room is real close to the church so while Israel teaches his class Cynthia and I wash clothes. I usually finish hers up while she goes to help Israel set up for the service which starts at 11:00 and lasts until 1:30-2:00. I try to do a few batches of my own laundry then. I don’t think I’ll ever take my own washing machine for granted again!

Yesterday we had the blessing of being part of a baptism for 5 new believers- all youth. It was scheduled for Saturday afternoon. As we left it started to storm with thunder, lightning and rain but that didn’t deter the locals one bit. Here the baptisms are kind of a party – a time for everyone to play in the river before and after. So while the rain poured and the lightning flashed for 3 hours everyone had a great time. (Austin and Stan were the only ones that used raincoats.)

Wishing you all God’s blessing until next time.

-Ruth

We arrived safely in Iquitos Peru late Wednesday evening. Our flight arrived early so no one was there to meet us when we walked out of the airport with our mountain of luggage. We were immediately bombarded by taxi drivers who wanted to take us. Fortunately Stan was able to tell them a friend was coming to pick us up. It is a strange feeling being in a new country where you don’t speak the language, your phone doesn’t work and there is no familiar face to meet you. Our ride did arrive eventually and after a bite to eat at a nearby restaurant we drove the 1 1/2 hrs to Mi Refugio. We were all very weary and happy to see beds waiting for us!

We had no problems going through customs but we were missing 2 pieces of luggage when we got to Lima. We are still trying to track them down. We are hoping to have them by tonight or at least some answers concerning those 2 pieces. Most of it was my clothing so I’ve had to wash cloths by hand quite frequently. Thankfully I had packed a few extra light weight items in my back pack.

We are all doing well so far. The boys seem to be adjusting very well and enjoy trying out all the new food. They have also been involved in the general work at the home as well as in the chicken market when needed.

Stan has been busy with little bits of things here and there. We’re very thankful that he was able to buy a new chip for his phone so it would work down here. He has done a bit of maintenance at the guest house where we’re staying as well as helping with the chicken project.

I haven’t had as much to do as the men. I did help make work charts one day for the Home. Today Cynthia and I are in town washing cloths. It is very refreshing to have someone I can speak English with!:-) We came in with the school children that need to attend school in town and we’ll stay here until someone from the Home comes to pick them up.

They plan to start preparing ground to build the house this wk. We would welcome your prayers for this project, especially for Stan as he makes decisions and tries to communicate with the other brothers here. It is certainly different from building in the states!

Please continue to pray for our family and the many adjustments that we need to make. We will try to keep you updated as much as possible. But it is rather difficult without internet or cell service so there may be occasional stretches of silence.

May God bless you all!

Come to the spaghetti supper fund raiser at Grace Community Church on September 23, 4:30 – 7:00 pm.  There will be food, fellowship, and more information on the Mi Refugio children’s home.  You also will have an opportunity to sign up to keep getting additional updates.  You can choose to eat in or grab and go before the Saturday night game.  The funds raised from the sale of food will go toward expenses accrued in helping the children at Mi Refugio.

What would you do if the government stepped in and told you that you no longer could take your children to church?  That is what happened this past June at Mi Refugio Children’s Home in Peru.  Mi Refugio has taken the kids from the children’s home to the local La Roca church in Nauta on a regular basis ever since it opened eight years ago.  Nauta is the closest sizable town about 12 miles away.  The younger kids would go on Saturday and be part of the Awana Club.  The older children from the home would attend the youth activities at the church on Saturday evening and go along to church on Sunday morning.  Now this has been stopped by the government – but God is working!  The home responded by starting an Awana Club at Mi Refugio and opening it up to the locals.  Over 60 kids attended the first club meeting!  God is using this trial to reach more kids and to start a new work at Mi Refugio while the Awana Club and youth ministry continue in Nauta.

Charlie and Esther have been with the home since it opened.  Last week Charlie spoke with people in the local village close to Mi Refugio about this need of the kids going to church.  God moved in the village and they called a meeting.  Together they decided to donate some land to build a church!  The land they donated is large enough to also have an Awana field on it for its activities.  Now the kids at Mi Refugio will have a church to attend and a new church in a new area will be planted!  Charlie has agreed to lead this new church in the local village that is close to Mi Refugio.

Now all three couples who are caretakers at Mi Refugio are also leading churches.  Dennis and Margarita lead the church at San Joaquin.  Israel and Cynthia lead the church at Nauta. Charlie and Esther will lead the new church plant.