From Trail to Joy
November 15th, 2011
First off we would like to apologize for not updating so regularly. So much has happened in the past months but we would like to just share a few highlights with you all.
Our precious Eliya is now 1 yr. old and is walking all over the place, she is growing up so fast. She is such a sweetie, one of the things she loves to do is smile and wave at every one when we are out.
Well if you haven’t heard already just this past month our house got broken into as well the Bible College which is where we live. They pretty much took all electronic things; our laptop, hard drive, camera, iPod, and a portable dvd player. One of the things that hurt the most wasn’t that we lost those things but it was all the pictures (which is why we have no pictures for this update), video’s, and etc. that we had on them. We were sad but at the same time we knew that God had a purpose for all things and we knew that He was by our side along the way.
Now with good news… The Lord has blessed us with a new laptop, thank you so much for those who blessed us with one. We are very grateful for it…!!!! But it doesn’t stop there…. Just this last week we heard from the Embassy and they accepted Sandra’s visa, which means we will be going to the States for Christmas!!!! We cannot believe it, we were not suppose to hear back from them until 6-9 months but through prayer and fasting and God’s faithfulness we heard back in only 4 months. God has been speaking to Sandra through prayer, and she had peace that God was going to respond in a quick way. She was doing her devotions in James 5 where it speaks of the effective prayer of a righteous man avails much, it said that Elijah prayed “earnestly” for rain and God gave him rain, and then he prayed “earnestly” for no rain and God gave him no rain. God was faithful and continues to be our Faithful One. The same day we got a call from the Embassy. God responded in a quick way, and we give Him all the glory. Praise Him when He takes away and Praise Him when He gives!!!
Thank you all for your prayers and we look forward to seeing you all when in the States!
Love to all and we will keep you all up to date as time goes,
The Swans
Ps. Please check out our prayer requests as well…!!!!
Eliya
It’s the month of July and Eliya is crawling everywhere and so eager to walk!!! She will be 10 months on the 25th and this little one comes up with something new every day, from standing in her crib to flirting with Daddy..!! She is so precious…! We thank God for her, she is such a good girl, the only problem is that she is a picky eater and is so hard to get her to eat her food, but we are trying different things.
We are starting to see more of her character, she is very observant and it is so precious when she discovers new things. Sometimes she reminds us of mommy and sometimes of daddy, but we see more of her own little personality, she loves dancing, books and cheese, she knows where the birds are, where the light is, and knows what flowers are, one of the cutest things is that she knows how to say hello and gives daddy high fives… but mommy’s favorite thing is when Eliya gives her kisses.
IBCC
Well the semester is long gone and so are the students…. We had a great semester getting to know them all and seeing the Lord work in there lives. Jesus as well is back in Iquitos and had a great semester, it was really neat to see how the Lord worked in his life as he was studying here. After he left, his understanding of the bible and how to live a Christian life was amplified. He shared how his desire to study more and teach increased while being here and his personal walk with the Lord has never been so rich before. Thank you all for your prayers and support for Jesus. If you would like to continue to help him in the falling semesters please go to the Donate page for more info.
On another note, the Bible College here in Lima, Peru will be moving to Cajamarca ( The Andes Mountains) this August. For us we will not be going to Cajamarca but staying here in Lima at the Bible College until they sell it. So we will continue to be doing what we have been doing since January and in the mean time we are waiting to hear back from the US Embassy. Our plan is to head to the States, hopefully for Christmas and then from there wait on the Lord for what He might have for us next….!!! PLEASE keep all that in prayers….!!!!!
Also in August Lord willing we will head back to Iquitos for a quick trip to visit and reconnect with our friends and for them to meet Eliya for the first time….
We can never say it enough, of how appreciative we are of each of you for all the prayers and support.
We love and miss you all…!!!
Time is flying by…
March 25th, 2011
Eliya
Our precious little Eliya is six months today….. it’s so cool to see her grow up little by little. We can’t wait for her to start eating food, at least the eating part but the mess that comes after “hahahaha,” not so much. Now that she can see colors something we found out is that her favorite one is yellow, whenever she sees it she gets excited, and another thing is she loves looking at pictures. Also this past Sunday we went to get Eliya her first haircut . Her hair was growing unevenly so we decide to shave it all. She looks so adorable…
Just a couple of weeks ago we had her dedication here at the church in Lima, Peru. She was such a good girl and just sat there looking out at all the people who were looking at her….!!!! We are excited to see what the Lord has for her in the future.
She is also starting to talk more, especially in the mornings, there was one time that we thought she said “Daddy” It was pretty clear but of course we knew that it was just her blabbering words… Now that she has mastered rolling over, Eliya is now starting to sit up on her own and shortly I am sure she will start to crawl… One of the things she loves to do is kick her feet, I think she is going to be like Daddy; a runner, but then again she could be a swimmer like Mommy, who knows… hahahaha!!!
IBCC
Not only is time flying by seeing Eliya grow up, so is the semester here in Lima at the Bible College, we are half way through the semester now. Things have been real good here, we have a great group of students here and have enjoyed getting to know them all. Each week Sandra has a great time of fellowship, worship, prayer, testimony, games, and etc. w/ the girls. As well so do I w/ the boys; each week is always different, as the Lord leads….!!! Also in a few weeks the students 
will be taking a trip to Cajamarca up in the mountains for there week of mission trip. We were wanting to take a team up to Iquitos but the timing and $$ of it wasn’t right. But after the semester is over Sandra and I are wanting to take a trip up there to see everyone and for them to meet Eliya.
Jesus (from Iquitos) is doing good, more and more he is getting 
use to the rhythm of things here. In the beginning it was a bit hard for him, everything new, not knowing what to expect. Over all he has learned a lot and continues too. When he got here, he really didn’t know how to study the Bible or even teach a little message. And now he has and is doing all that…This is his first time being away from home so at times it has been hard for him, but through it the Lord has been teaching him so much, for him to trust more on the Lord. It will be cool to really see him after two years when he graduates, the change the Lord will have done. One of the things Jesus has shared w/ me is that when he gets done if its the Lords leading he would love to go up and down the rivers and sharing the gospel. That would really be cool to see the Lord use him in that area and for Him to answer that prayer!
Us
Being parents is a true blessing all-round almost any parent would say that, but they would also say that it also has its ups and downs!!! Just in the same way a Christian would say the same thing, “a true blessing, but it has is ups and downs” Spiritually speaking and honestly speaking that is how Sandra and I are doing. Ever since being in Iquitos, leaving Iquitos and until now that is how it has been for us. Never the less the Lord has been faithful, loving, and patient through it all. For some reason it has been hard for us to find a balance in the midst of our everyday life to spend time w/ the Lord. Maybe I speak for a lot of us but humbly on our part we ask for your prayers. That we would find that time each day and everyday, to always put the Lord first in all things….!!! We have seen at times how we tend to push Him aside b/c of the “so called busy life we have,” but deep down in our hearts that’s not what we want. We want more of Him and less of us… Even through the midst of all this He continues to bless us, our marriage, and etc…. He truly does love us; what a GREAT God we serve!
Thank you for your prayers….
Los Swans
January…!!!
January 21st, 2011
First of all we just want to say thank you all for your prayers w/ the Embassy….!!!! Due to certain things we have a bit longer
process for the visa. We are waiting and trusting in the Lord for the process and for His provision financially, we know in due time it will come to pass, and by faith we will be home this Christmas!!! With that we are having to be in Lima for the process, and so an open door for us to work at the Bible College has been presented (will give more details later), which we accepted and will be starting this February when the semester starts!!!
In the being of January I took a short but sweet trip up to Iquitos. It was great seeing everyone again yet sad saying goodbye… The cool thing though is that for some time the Lord has put on our hearts to help support one of the boys there into coming to the Bible College here in lima and study. He was one of my boys in the youth, a great friend, and was one of the groomsmen in our wedding. Starting this February Jesus will be leaving his home for the first time and will be here studying the word of God.
It is truly a blessing, not only for him but for us as well. Even though we are not in Iquitos it is like a part of Iquitos is here with us. If you could pray for Jesus, not only for his studies but financially. The Lord has put it in our hearts to help out, if you also would like to help out please let us know…???? Whether that is w/ tuition, school supplies, or even just some spending money to get around, you can go to our Donate page for more info.
For us, we are doing good, Eliya is getting bigger and more fun to play with, on the 25th she will be 4 months…!!!! She loves smiling and laughing at everyone, she is such a sweetie!!! We are all sleeping pretty good now, Eliya usually sleeps through the night and wakes up around 6:30-7:30 am. One of the things she is now starting to do is roll over. We can’t wait to see what other cute new things she would do next…
Thank you all for your prayers and will continually keep you all up to date….
2011….!!!
January 4th, 2011
Eliya is now 3 months and heading onto 4 this month…!!!! Crazy how fast they grow, she is
laughing and interacting more with us, we can’t wait till she starts talking…. Just the other day as well she found out how yummy her thumb taste. Before she just tried to stick her whole hand in and didn’t find it so appetizing until that little thumb popped out from under her fingers. But we are hoping she doesn’t love it to much to where it will be hard to get her not to suck on it when she is older.
In December Sandra and I were pretty busy running around all over Lima working on Eliya’s citizenship for the US (which now she is American/Peruvian) and for Sandra’s visa, which if you haven’t checked out our prayer request we have our interview next week, January 1oth….!!! Please pray for favor and that everything goes good.
We had a great Christmas/New Years even though far from home……!!! It was Eliya’s first
Christmas, she had a such a great time, sleeping, playing, laughing oh wait she does that everyday…..!!!!
Due to all the work we are doing w/ the Embassy we are not able to head back to Iquitos, b/c we have to be here for all of the Embassy things. For the future we are just trusting in the Lord and waiting on Him for direction. With that there has been a door open for us here in Lima; ministry wise and we are just praying about it and seeing what the Lord might have for us.
Thank you all so much for your prayers and please don’t forget to pray for our interview w/ the Embassy January 10th.
The Swans
Eliya and more…!!!
December 2nd, 2010
Eliya…
Is now 2 months and growing, she gets cuter everyday…!!!
She is such a good girl, sleeps 4-5 hours in the night, loves taking baths, loves Mommy’s milk and warmth, and always loves looking at Daddy and him changing her diaper . In this past month Eliya just started to learn how to make sounds, blow bubbles, and of course smile more!!!
In her last check up (this past week) she was weighting in at 10.50 lbs and growing. As well this week she had her 2 month vaccine shots, she was such a good girl, just a few cries and later that day she wasn’t feeling good from the shots and she shed her first tears :-(
One of Eliya’s favorite things to do is ride in her cool stroller and enjoy the fresh but smoggy air here in Lima and of course fall asleep shortly after that. And she also loves to dance to oldies music w/ Mommy…..!!!
For us we love being parents, of course the challenges come and go but we would never change the beautiful gift the Lord gave us!
Visas
Since we’ve been in Lima we have been working on paper work for Sandra and Eliya’s visa for the states. If you could please PRAY, this thursday we are turning in Sandra’s papers for her visa and on the 9th of Dec. we have an appointment for Eliya’s. Please pray for favor….!!!!
What’s ahead….???
As of right now we have our plane tickets to head back to Iquitos the 5th of January. W/ working on visas and trying to get to the states, and Eliya just being born and not with all her vaccines, we are praying for what the Lord might have us do. If you could please keep that in prayer!!!!
Short but hopefully sweet update….
Thank you all for your continual prayers and support for us!!!
We will keep you up to date in what the Lord might have….
Love to all and have a Merry Christmas
Eliya Nona Swan
September 27th, 2010
Our precious little girl is finally here….!!! Everything went great, Sandra did great, and had Eliya natural and with no problems. BornSeptember 25th at 1:02am, she weighed 6 lbs. 9 oz. and 20 inches long. Looks like she is going to be tall just like her Daddy, hahahaha!!!! Meaning of her name; Eliya is hebrew and means; God is my Lord, and Nona was my grandmothers name that passed away years ago but was very special to us. Thank you all for your prayers….!!!! We will keep you all updated as days, months go by….!!!!
Back in Lima!!!
August 16th, 2010
Grace Church
Just before heading back to Lima were our baby will be born, we had a great time with a team from my home church in Amarillo,
Texas. Not only were they blessed but Sandra and I as well were blessed and encouraged. It was cool to see a bunch of youth come to a foreign country not knowing the language yet stepping out in faith and allowing the Lord to use them.
It was a busy week for us but all worth it. The two main events that we did were a youth camp and a marriage conference. They both were a blessing for all… For the youth camp we had 60 kids all together and 2 days of fun; teachings (taught by James Grizzle youth pastor at Grace), worship, fellowship, lots and lots of prizes, games, FOOD and etc… The youth were from 4 different churches; one from El Terminal, the other from Pastor Javier’s Baptist church, our ministry in Ucayali, and Albert’s ministry in Belen. We all left w/ great memories and new friends…
The marriage conference we believe was life changing for lots. We had about 15 couples and some singles as well, it was a great turn out. Paul and Laura Grizzle held the conf. and taught from Ephesians 5, for many of them it was their first time seeing how to treat their husbands and wives as Christians. How to respect and love each other, how to wash your wife w/ the Word of God, how to submit, how to pray with each other, and etc. For them to hear all this was so cool, marriages were touched and changed FOREVER…!!!
We also did children ministry in Belen and Panguana, as well we had time for dramas on the blvd. And the cool thing with that was for most of them, it was their first time to evangelize. And even though they didn’t know the language the Lord still used them…. w/ faith all things are possible!
Even though it was busy for us through out the whole week, we truly were blessed by all and had such a great time of fellowship. Thank you all…..!!!!
Baby
After the team left we got to work and packed things away and stored it all in a storage and headed to lima. When getting to Limaafter a few days we had a surprise… What we thought was going to be a normal check up for Sandra and the baby ended up us staying in the hospital for 6 days due to early contractions.
We are home now, praise the Lord!!!! Sandra is good and so is the baby… but it was a bit shock for us!!! Now being home Sandra has to be on bed rest. Please pray for Sandra and Eliya (?) Nona Swan (this is the name we are thinking of), that she stays in until her due date, Sept. 18th.
We are so excited and can’t wait for this lil’ blessing, see how she looks and all the great memories we will have…
Thank you all for your prayers and support and for our soon to be baby girl…!!!
Summer Time…
July 12th, 2010
Baby News…
Well, for you who do not know, we are having a Girl…!!! We do not have a name yet but hopefully soon we will. Sandra is doing good, the baby is growing and is healthy. It has been a bit harder for her now that she is getting bigger or you could say the baby is getting bigger. And it is summer, so that makes it not so fun being pregnant w/ the hot weather… But soon we will be heading to Lima the beginning of August where Lil’ She (As my mom would say, since we don’t have a name yet) will be born. If you could keep us in your prayers…
As well, before leaving to Lima my church from Texas is coming out for a week, if you could keep us in your prayers. We will be doing different ministries from a youth camp to marriage conf., kids ministry to a river trip, evangelism, and etc… And after the team leaves, before heading to Lima we will be packing our belongings and putting them in a storage until returning to Iquitos, which we are not sure when we will be back, but could be in October.
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63
Teams:
Way back at the end of March beginning of April we had the students from IBCC come out for a week and help with the different ministries here. For the first time we did a couple of outreaches at the ministry were we started on Ucayali Street. We had a great turn out, what we thought would be more towards adults ended up being more kids. But we had a blast playing, dancing, and sharing Jesus to them…
Speaking of our ministry in Ucayali, just shortly after the team left, as I was sharing in my previous update that we had a couple who wanted to get married. Well, sure enough they did, Oscar and Ivonne are happily married now… please keep them in your prayers… For pictures go to my photos and they will be there!
The month of June we pretty much had a team every week. CC Merritt Island came out in the beginning of June w/ a bunch of youth and we had a blast w/ them. For us personally it was a great time of fellowship, thank you all…!!!
From there we had an unexpected blessing… A team that puts on the annual missionary dinner and medical clinic needed someone to go to Lima and pick up someone from their team who was traveling alone and bring him to Iquitos. Which we were able to do and gave us an opportunity to spend a couple days in Lima visiting family and friends…
Which by the way, the missionary dinner was GREAT…!!! I believe there where over 40-50 missionaries who showed up. We felt like it was Christmas all over again with all the goodies we got from them. It brought joy to a beautiful pregnant woman…!!! As well I believe the medical clinic turned out great, one of there last days here they were able to set up at the church in El Terminal and help the community there. Thanks to all who put that on….!!!!!
From there we had a team from CC Joshua Springs who came and helped with the ministry and held a ladies conf. Which had a great turn out and many were blessed including Sandra… when coming back she shared w/ me all that she learned and the little goodies she got. Another blessed, beautiful, happy pregnant woman…!!!
As well, Albert was pretty busy… For some time now Albert has wanted to hit the rivers and visit the pastors who we had meet from the previous 2 Pastor Conferences. So at the end of June Albert, and a small team headed out for 6 days on the river and showed the Jesus movie. We were not able to go b/c of the baby, but it was a great turn out… For more info check out Albert’s update at: http://perushope.com/2010-06.htm
Ucayali/Us:
We continue to have the ministry on Ucayali street. I am just now finishing Chapter 8 of John and Sandra is now teaching through Proverbs 31 to the women. At times it has definitely been challenging for us, even at times of wanting to just quit, but the Lord always comes along and encourages us to continue and to be faithful, even if it might not seem like anyone is listening or not seeing any fruit… The name where we are ministering at is called the “Red Zone.” Why? B/c it is where the highest rate of criminal activity goes on; such as drugs, theft, and etc… Don’t worry God is on our side, He’s our protection. And we are pretty known down there by the people, so that everyone has our backs, but if you could continue to pray for the ministry.
July:
If you are wondering what we did for the 4th, well we had a great time chillin and relaxing under the jungle sun w/ a bunch of missionaries from other churches. We had a potluck lunch… ummmmmm it was good. I felt American all over again!!!
From the 20-27th my church from Amarillo will be here, so keep that in your prayers and Lord willing I will update how that goes…
Thank you all for your love, prayers and support for us. We are so grateful each day for God’s provision for us spiritual, physical, and financially.
What’s Happening in Iquitos….
March 29th, 2010
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” -Matthew 28:19-20
For some time now the Lord has put on my heart to start a ministry more near the central area of Iquitos.
But I didn’t know when, how, where, etc…. what I did know was that if the Lord wanted it to happen, He would do it….
And with that, after coming back from our honeymoon to Iquitos we saw one door was closing for me as a youth pastor at the church in El Terminal…. At the time we had no idea what we were going to do but of course He did, so we trusted and waited upon Him, and sure enough that door started to open for us to start a little ministry more in the central area.
So with giving it into prayer to the Lord, as of late January the door was opened. The Lord had put on our hearts to start a bible study and see where He would take it, right now we are meeting in someone’s house, but in the future we are hoping for a more permanent place; as the Lord leads and provides. On Friday’s we have the bible study, which I’m going through the book of John. Sunday’s, Sandra is doing a woman’s study, and as of right now she is going through the fruit’s of the spirit. And on Tuesdays we have a prayer meeting.
During the times we meet we try and make it a bit fun for them; we have them memorize verses, play games (regarding the bible), and even dared them with the challenge of memorizing all the books of the bible. Which pretty much all of them did and through our support, we were able to take them all out to eat who did it.
As well with starting this ministry our eyes have been more opened to the needs of the people here. Where we have the ministry is in one of the poorest area’s of Iquitos. And with that we have seen lots of the needs from the people around us.And two of which I want to share with you, and how we have been able to help.
There is a huge need for education here, most of the people here have not finished school. One, either by just not caring and skipping out, or b/c they didn’t have enough money to go to school… For someone to be in school you have to have a full uniform, all your school supplies, and of course transportation. And for people who only make $5 a day (more or less), I believe all those requirements are to much. But who am I to say.
And as the Lord has given to us we have been able to give back to Him through helping others. Which two of the boys who go to our ministry wanted to go back to school and with them not having enough money for much of anything, we were able to pay for their uniforms…!!!!
Our prayer is that they would continue to have that desire to finish school and others to followtheir example in that. And for the fear of the Lord to truly be on their hearts and for that to spread to others around them.
The second thing that we have been blessed with is that of encouraging couples. What I mean by that is ones that are living together but not married. Which here in Iquitos there is a lot of, a bondage that covers this city; fornication. And even within the churches there is a lack of conviction in this area. Reasons that I have heard or seen over this is that; not enough money to get married, scared of commitment, immature, lacking of documents, lack of conviction of sin, and etc…
But little by little we have seen the Lord work and as of right now we are helping a couple who has that conviction of wanting to make things right, and get out of sin. So hopefully soon we will see a wedding….
All and all to say that the Lord is still at work… we might be nothing but He is not!!!!
If you are wondering as well how Sandra and the baby are doing, well….??? They are good, thank the Lord. Each day we are getting more excited and can’t wait to be parents. Her nauseous stage is pretty much over, and the growing stage is here, more and more, little by little it’s looking like there is a baby inside!!! If you could continue to pray for good health for them both and a smooth labor.
Just this week as well we had two teams come and help in the ministry here. One from Alberts church, CC Murrieta and the Students from Lima at the Bible College. We had a great time with them all. If you would like to see pictures go to my photos and check them out…. In the next update I will tell you how it all week.
Thank you all for your commits, prayers, and support…
