June 1, 2007

Dear Friends,

May has been the month of protests and strikes all over Peru. I tried twice during the month to travel out to the North Jungle town of Iquitos to take care of some mission business and check up on some of the building projects going on there. But, the Lord had other plans. The coca growers from the jungle areas blocked the highway between Huánuco and Lima and demanded the government allow them to grow more coca. Coca is the leaf that the drug cocaine is made from. Twice I lost plane tickets trying to get to Iquitos. Now I am to travel out to Iquitos in a few days and I hear the teacher's association has declared an indefinite strike out there and will be blocking the airport and roads. I am hoping it will be over with before I need to travel! Making travel arrangements is sometimes quite a challenge in Peru.

All of the national mission works that we help support are doing well. Most of the missionaries call me each month or send letters and their reports are encouraging with news of souls trusting in Christ and many baptisms. Some are going through difficult times but have shown that their faith remains strong. Brother Carlos Gonzales' wife, Maria, seems to be getting worse by the day. I asked prayer for her a few months ago because she had been diagnoses with cancer of the stomach. She cannot eat and as a result is getting thinner and weaker by the day. Please remember her and this family in your prayers. Thank you.

At this present time Anita and I are enjoying a visit from her sister, Wanda, and her husband Charles Leffler, of Raleigh, North Carolina. We have had a great time with them and hope they will be able to come back again sometime soon. It is always a joy and an encouragement to have visits from family and friends. Anita and I hope many more of you will take the opportunity to come and visit us here in Peru. Write or call when you can.

Until next month.

Serving Jesus in Peru,

Sheridan and Anita Stanton