{"id":93,"date":"2010-10-18T10:43:24","date_gmt":"2010-10-18T15:43:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/barry-spor\/?p=93"},"modified":"2011-02-07T10:38:21","modified_gmt":"2011-02-07T16:38:21","slug":"93","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/barry-spor\/2010\/10\/18\/93\/","title":{"rendered":"Reaching the least reached by being Dorm Parents"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"HereHere we are! Barry\u2019s in the middle in the back, I\u2019m beside him and Austin on the other side.\u00a0 Then starting on the left we have Michael who will be 13 in December.\u00a0 He\u2019s from Germany, his parents are with New Tribes.\u00a0 Then the Korean twins, Joshua and Caleb.\u00a0 Their parents pastor a church in S\u00e3o Paulo.\u00a0 Yeah, they come quite a ways just to go to school! They are 12 \u00bd and just learning English, so they are struggling in their school work.\u00a0 But they are very bright and will get it before long. Next are our two 13 year old girls.\u00a0 Michaela\u2019s parents work in Manaus with Brazilian Christians.\u00a0 They are from Indiana.\u00a0 Allysa\u2019s, (said \u201cA-lee-sa\u201d) parents are with Wycliffe down in Porto Velho.\u00a0 They were the middle dorm parents here last year. (Another comment on dorm parents later.) Then in the front we have Sheldon who just turned 9 and is in 3rd<\/sup> grade. His parents work in the tribe down in Acre and are with New Tribes Mission.\u00a0 On the right is Michael \u2013 yes, another one \u2013 who is 11 \u00bd. His parents work in Manaus and in a town a little north planting churches among the Brazilians. They are from Canada. One interesting factoid about our group is that 7 out of 10 of us are the \u201cbaby of the family\u201d.\u00a0 Oh, dear.<\/p>\n

When we came here from up river the end of July, Barry unknowingly brought malaria. As we were getting our apartment fixed up and getting settled he was feeling terrible, but it wasn\u2019t the classic symptoms he had other times.\u00a0 So, when he finally got tested and it came back positive for vivax malaria he took the medicine, which is given free here.\u00a0 However that posed a threat for all of us living in the same mosquito neighborhood.\u00a0 So we all had to get tested, too.\u00a0 Thankfully no one else showed up with it.\u00a0 But then, his symptoms came back! \u00a0\"KapocWe think it just resurged and was not fully eradicated, so he went on a harsher treatment the second time \u2013 which is not an enjoyable experience. Consequently all the kids in the dorm had to get tested as well.\u00a0 Not only once, but three times.\u00a0 Oh, dear.\u00a0 The malaria guys were being careful and we appreciate that, but it was kind of traumatic for our little charges.<\/p>\n

This is the soccer field and the long building you see is our dorm. How do you like our \u201cJungle snow\u201d? This is the kapok fluff from the large tree which is to the left of where this picture was taken.\u00a0 The river is beyond the dorm and parallel to it. The yellow building on the right is the grade school.\u00a0 You can also see a staff house and part of the dining hall which is right next to us.<\/p>\n

With our back to the dorm, now, here we see Austin and Barry taking the boat to the river.\u00a0 You can see the jungle encroaching on the unused staff houses in the back. (Don\u2019t believe the guys who say the rain forest is being destroyed \u2013 with all the rain we get, it always<\/span> comes back. As thick as ever.) The field is a little brown because we are in the dry season.\u00a0 In our houses only small parts \"Austinhave\u00a0ceilings and it has gotten up to 98+ degrees at Barry\u2019s desk here. It is now 124 out in the sun at noon. The mangos are coming into season. Papayas go year round depending on the tree. The amaryllis which were gotten right from the jungle brighten the dry season with their brilliant orange flower. The Brazil nut trees lose their huge leaves making a big job for the kids on work day. The river is going down and the rocks at the bend in the river make swim time oh so much fun.<\/p>\n

But, speaking of the unused staff houses, this school could use more personnel.\u00a0 As beautiful and great an environment as it is, each year it is a struggle to fill the necessary positions. Often they have to double up and be overloaded in order to meet the kids\u2019 needs. Dorm parenting, for instance, should be filled by people whom God has led and prepared for such a ministry. Has God<\/strong><\/em> been speaking to your<\/span> heart about ministering to missionary kids?<\/p>\n

We are here in response to a need, both in our son\u2019s life, whom we are helping through his senior year, and for the dorm. We are taking time away from ministry with the Guanano Indians in order to fill these needs. Our coworkers are feeling the load, but with Indian coworkers, as well, God is cultivating His church.\u00a0 Those of you reading this who have followed the Guanano work and are part of the team know that there are lots of good things going on these days.\u00a0 Your prayers have strengthened Guanano believers to obey and grow spiritually. Your support has gotten the missionaries to where they need to be.\u00a0 Also being here at the school, Barry has had opportunities to encourage other missionaries as the Church Planting Consultant. We find opportunities for ministering wherever God has us, for sure.\u00a0 And God always provides what is needed for the situation.<\/p>\n

One last plug for anyone interested in working with young people at an MK school like this- These kids come from all different backgrounds and styles of living. Whatever skills or experience you have can be used of God as you put yourself into His hands to be His instrument. Every year the needs are different and the mix of personalities is unique. Who can say what God wants to do through you and in<\/span> you?\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here we are! Barry\u2019s in the middle in the back, I\u2019m beside him and Austin on the other side.\u00a0 Then starting on the left we have Michael who will be 13 in December.\u00a0 He\u2019s from Germany, his parents are with New Tribes.\u00a0 Then the Korean twins, Joshua and Caleb.\u00a0 Their parents pastor a church in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":673,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-ministry","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/barry-spor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/barry-spor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/barry-spor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/barry-spor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/673"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/barry-spor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/barry-spor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/barry-spor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/barry-spor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/barry-spor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}