Testimonials
I had no plans to go to Peru. Actually I wanted to go vacationing in Costa Rica.. It must have had something to do with my bed time prayers, praying for God's will, not mine. I had not heard of Jungle Master Ministries before. God put this opportunity in front of me. I have known Tom Clark for many years. He is one of Bellingham's best and trusted marine technicians. He has strong family values and I have never doubted his integrity or ability. I had heard something about him making small boat motors in South America. I thought maybe it was one of those Internet sales things, I was slightly mistaken, to say the least. I had no idea of Tom’s love for the Lord and his willingness to serve. I did not know how long he had been involved in doing mission work in South America. I had no idea of the scope of Jungle Master Ministries (still don't, God does and it's big). Today I can say I've been blessed to have witnessed and been a small part in Gods work on Amazon, through Tom and Jungle Master Ministries. I'm not trying to sound like an infomercial, but you just don't know until you go. Having been on short term mission trips before, I knew to leave my expectations at home. I did, but was still blown away at how God works in His time, reflecting in others life's as well as mine. We had delays, mishaps, breakdowns, letdowns, tears and sweat. We also had Prayer, Meditation, Joy, Love, Fellowship, Companionship, Understanding and a common bond in our Love for God. The Amazon Jungle is so big, so amazing, it could only be Gods Creation. I saw so much, experienced so much, I’m still in awe. The people are so friendly and happy. They have little but they have so much. This trip strengthened my faith and proved there are good things happening in the world. Maybe I made a difference and I know you could as well. If your reading this, God may have plans for you in South America with Jungle Master. If you are unsure, pray about it, talk to others who have gone. I was fearful on my first mission trip (Mexico) but I found if I am doing Gods work he will take care of mine. Everything works out. Like it's been mentioned in other testimonies I felt secure with Jungle Masters experience, respect and reputation in Peru. But initially I had to take that step (leap) of faith. To sum it up for me it was all about relationships. A relationship with God and the people in Peru and the people on our team. I still vividly see their faces, I will never forget. It’s life changing. I want to go back in a year or so to humbly serve again. My prayer is for God to continue to bless Tom's work in the Jungle. To provide what is needed to assist Jungle Master to spread the Love and the Word of the Lord. To venture further up the river or over the horizon, God knows.Maybe, just maybe this mission is for you? Gratefully
Date of Posting: 28 May 2010
Posted By: Larry Milne
I don’t think I can express in words the life-changing experiences of Peru and the complete blessings of a great job…but I’ll try. I think that our trip can be summed up with one statement: “God’s plans are bigger than ours and we should not let our expectations come before His glory.” Let me explain. Getting to Peru for me proved to be the biggest challenge of the whole trip! I got incredibly ill on the flight from San Francisco to Miami; it was a terrible stomach pain that made for the most discomfort and agony I have ever had to endure. At one point I spent half an hour in the lavatory freezing and shaking from the pain, and afraid to go back to my seat! During the layover in Miami, I laid in the corner on the ground in pretty bad shape. Two of the ladies, Jan and Karen, were praying for me and discussing between each other whether they should call the ambulance and have me taken to the hospital. I was faced with a terrible decision at this point…to make the “easy” decision and go for the security of a hospital bed in America, or to lock myself in another metal box for five and a half more hours…one that is landing in a third world country. I decided that the Lord’s work in the jungle was more important than my discomfort on an airplane, so I boarded the plane in blind faith, and my life was about to change forever! I cannot claim to know what God’s voice sounds like, or that he has ever talked to me before, but this day was different in many ways. On the airplane, in the midst of an hour-long delay due to hydraulic complications, I felt a sense of peace come over me and the voice of…God, I am assuming... say, “if you stay on this plane until it takes off, I will heal you.” I didn’t think it was my imagination, and that was all the hope I had to hold onto because I was dehydrated, running a high fever, and the pain threshold was a nine out of ten. Two hours into the flight, I ended up in the back of the plane laying over three empty seats and silently crying out for the Lord’s healing! It was in that moment when that peaceful sensation returned and this time I heard, “My people are praying for you, you’re not alone.” I drifted off to sleep again. I was only asleep for an hour, and when I sat up I was just waiting to feel the pain again, but the crazy thing is…it was not there! I twisted and stretched, I even socked myself in the gut just to be sure! Whatever the pain was, it was no more! I thought to myself, this isn’t real…people aren’t just healed anymore are they? Especially not me! After landing in Lima and meeting up with Tom and Lucho, we made our way to a hostel, where we grouped up for a quick briefing on the next few days, then prayed before calling it a night. Tom asked me to tell him about the plane and my adventure, so I told him. Tom looked at me and smiled. He told me that his wife Jan called from Miami and told him I may not make it to Peru and was very ill. Tom had emailed his church in Washington, then called the mission center in the jungle. Tom said that Pastor Javier called during our flight and told him that all the people in the jungle were praying for my healing and safe arrival in Peru. That was day one. The plan was to ship a large drill down a week early and bring it to the JungleMaster mission center in Santa Rita. We found out really fast that God had a different plan for us. Anything that could have gone wrong…pretty much did; my illness on the airplane, almost missing our ferry ride down river, getting stranded in the jungle, flight reservation cancellations, and everything in between. Santa Rita was the location of the mission center, and it was a 24-hour ferry ride up the Amazon from Iquitos. Once there we were given the news that the drill was not going to be released from customs in time, and therefore we would not be able to dig the well. We spent much time with the children and serving around the church. We purchased 30 live chickens and many pounds of rice and eggs and cooked two different meals for the entire village. The second village we went to was San Jose, two hours up river and more rural than Santa Rita, where we were to dig the well had the drill made it to there in time. When we arrived we discovered that sometime within the past year a different mission, most likely YWAM, had come up river and installed a well already. This was part of God’s plan for our team though. Instead of spending our time, money, and resources digging a well there, we were able to pour the life-giving water of Jesus into their lives and the well can be dug for a different village down river that does not have any source for sanitary water. While there we were fed turtle soup made from a 100 year old turtle that was alive and well when we arrived. It was an honor for us and a delicacy for them. As a gift the family that owned the turtles gave me the shell and breast plate of the turtle that we ate! The day we were to leave San Jose to return to Iquitos for our flight, the ferry never came and we were stranded there. Another ferry was to leave very early the next morning from Santa Rita. We were forced to take our canoe with a small outboard motor up river in the dark with our only source of light being a small head lamp to spot logs and trees cruising down river. We made it to Santa Rita that night safely and got some sleep. The ‘ferry’ was a junky cargo boat, and we spent 10 hours sitting on top of corn and rice in the hull of this boat. After coming out of the jungle, we got to spend time in Iquitos, Lima and the mountain regions of Cusco. From there we took a train to Machu Pichu where we got to hike around the Incan ruins and take many pictures. This was the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life. The views just took your breath away! I just marveled at God’s creation. We all returned home safely, with our lives incredibly touched and changed. Being in the jungle with those people I saw the love of Jesus transcend cultural and language differences. Without knowing the language, we expressed Christ’s character through service and loving the people. While in Santa Rita we never saw a single toy, they had no cars and no material possessions to make life easy for them, but what we did see was an incredible passion for Christ and a desire to show His love to other villages deeper in the jungle. Jeremy
Date of Posting: 28 May 2010
Posted By: Jeremy Sankwich