Many thanks to all of you who were praying for us on Sunday, July 11th! It was our first full day back at our mountain home, and our friends had a big party in honor of our return. They butchered one of the biggest pigs I have ever seen up here, and another small one just to make sure there was enough meat to go around! People began trickling in, until we were almost 100. While a few of the ladies worked hard cooking large pots of meat, plantains, yucca, and rice, the rest of the people gathered on our porch for a Sunday worship service. I was blessed to hear Sandra and Gilberto sing a new translation of a Spanish praise song that has always been a favorite of mine. Both Paulino and Milton shared and urged their many unsaved family members who had come for the big pig feed to listen to the Word of God. Then Doug shared a gospel message from the Word. It was a real blessing to be among our friends again.
Lunch went well, and everyone had plenty, but the enemy was not without his attacks on the day. One of the young boys was bitten by Brutus, the Outpost watch dog. There were lots of versions as to what happened and what provoked the dog (supposedly the boy had thrown the ball at the dog), but it did dampen the joy of the day. The Williams took the boy to the doctor and he will be fine. 
Then we were able to pass out the gifts we had brought up--many thanks to all who donated hats and handkerchiefs! I also used that opportunity to tell them that the reason we came back and left our friends and family was because God has given us an even greater gift than we could ever give them. And that's why we are here!
Our kids had been asking for a chance to go to swim at the river, so as the party began winding down, Keilah and Kimberly, along with their four Shaub cousins, Becky, and David (the 21 yr old young fellow staying with Shaubs to help with their house construction) headed off to the river for some fun. It had been raining upriver so I had warned some of them to watch out for high water. Well, to make a long story short, they were being careful not to get in too far and were out sitting on a rock with about 10 feet of waist-deep water between them and shore. The water had been clear but all of the sudden it turned muddy and began to rise. In a matter of a minute or so the river rose about 5 feet, over the rock, and then a log came down and pushed them off. Keilah said even though they knew to be careful, it all happened so suddenly. Praise the Lord that they were all able to make it to shore, one by one, with David helping Liana, the littlest. Quite a few of them lost their boots that they had left on the riverbank. All of them stopped on the shore and gave thanks to God for His protection. We were overwhelmed at God's mercy in our lives...to protect our precious children.
Thank you again for your prayers! It was quite the day.
In His Grip,
Kevin & Kathy, Keilah, and Kimberly
The suitcases are packed…even Kimberly’s compound bow and arrows, which turned out to be too long for our regular suitcases. We have mastered the delicate technique of getting each suitcase to as close to the 50 lb. limit as humanly possible! 
Kenny is getting settled in here in New Hampshire, with an official job (flagging vehicles for road construction) and a ticket to fly back to Wisconsin in August for his second year at NTBI. What fun it’s been to have this month together with him and Kevin’s family! Keilah flew down to Missouri the end of May and is happily settled into her routine there at camp. She did hurt her knee while playing Capture the Flag, so we pray that heals quickly. We plan to head out driving from New England soon after Father’s Day, spend a few days with Kathy’s family in Oklahoma, and then pick up Keilah and her cousin Laura at camp the 3rd of July. Our flight is out of St. Louis July 8th.
The Awa people are excitedly awaiting our return---we hear they are planning a welcome party, complete with a couple of pigs to butcher! (They also sent us a list of gifts we should bring them….we’d appreciate your prayers as we find the right God-honoring way to respond to their requests.) We pray that the Lord will graciously help us with patience and wisdom as we settle back into our responsibilities. While it’s easy to jump back into many things, we sure want to be discerning and keep His priorities on the top of our list! 
