July 2020 Prayer Letter

July 12, 2020

Dear Friends and Family,

“This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness”

Lamentations 3:21-23

Peace comes when we remember that God is with us in every circumstance, and He is faithful.

The message of peace is being shared with the people here in Iquitos. I am using this time to do a lot of visitations during the evening hours. When I engage people in conversation, I remind them that God is always with them and not to fear. People are asking questions and doors are being opened. 

Life is very different in Iquitos at this time. There is only a handful of missionaries remaining here because of the pandemic. I have no information about when or if they will return. We are experiencing a medical system breakdown, where hospitals and clinics have closed. The supplies that make the city of Iquitos function are extremely limited. There are brothers and sisters that I remain in contact with in San Lorenzo and Estrecho.  They inform me they are doing as well as can be expected, since they are still under heavy quarantine and curfews. The central government does not reach out to small villages. They are cut off from flights coming in or out of Lima. This means there are no supplies reaching into the most remote areas. Right now there is no river transportation, to get to the isolated areas. Therefore, the communication is almost impossible due to NO travel along rivers. Please pray that the rivers will open soon for travel. We have received some information that there is finally hope that limited supplies will start to come into Iquitos and beyond.

But our God is so good! He has enabled our ministry to have the funds necessary to purchase food for the local food banks. The cost of food has almost tripled since the pandemic. I have been blessed to serve side by side with three local ministries, “Genesis” which is a church group, “Sunshine Kids” and “Every Tribe-Every Tongue Ministry” that are here in Iquitos. We are bagging up food and delivering to the needy families. We have been delivering to 300-400 families every week. Some of the local churches have been receiving donations from the states. Praise God. I’m always amazed how He supplies our needs. I am thankful that we can share this blessing.

“How is Clif?”, you ask. (Peachy)
I am physically fine. Spirits are high, and I am blessed beyond all measure during this current situation. Due to the scarcity of the internet and limited communication, we must cancel the Pastors Conference for August 2020. International travel arrangements are impossible to predict at this time, so I will not be coming back to the states until 2021.