This spring, Not Forgotten was blessed beyond measure in an unexpected way. One of our dear friends, eight-year-old Caroline, shared the story of our ministry with her classmates, Reagan, Abby, Selah, and Lucy, at Crestwood Day School. Under Caroline’s leadership, these students decided not only to listen to Not Forgotten’s vision, but to act in response to hearing it. After brainstorming over how they could do something to make a difference in the lives of others, they chose to have a bake sale. Recognizing they could not do this alone, these girls rallied their parents and younger siblings (five-year-old Natalie, Sophie Claire, and Ansley) to help them organize a bake sale that would benefit Not Forgotten and another local ministry. This bake sale took place Saturday, April 9, in Crestwood. Many neighborhood and church friends stopped by, along with curious passers-by and Not Forgotten supporters. Delicious baked goods such as muffins, cookies, and brownies were available for purchase, as well as original artwork by some of the girls. The weather was perfect and the bake sale was a huge success!

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So, I love to write and you’re going to find that I use this blog as a platform to megaphone the cries within my heart and the hearts of my Not Forgotten comrades. Cries relating to the needs of the people in the world around us, frustrations we experience when we can’t provide for those needs immediately, and encouragements on how we continue to press on amidst those frustrations. I frequently read a blog written by a missionary in Costa Rica. She’s honest. Sometimes shockingly so…and this particular post put picture to how we feel sometimes when we try to tackle an issue that we could never begin to conquer ourselves. This week she talked about poverty. The poverty that so often sends the children we’re fighting for to the streets. She acknowledges it’s overwhelming size and how the Lord calls her to face it. Remembering that only He is big enough…

Feeding the Ducks

I’m gonna go fight poverty for two and a half hours.

2.5 hours on a Tuesday morning to solve the biggest problem in the world. What a joke.

We will show up with a bag full of brad and an armload of bananas, and the children will clamber around us like ducks at a pond. A bunch of little ducklings, falling all over each other for a bit of bread and a soft pat on the head.

And for 2 and a half hours we will laugh and play and eat, and we will talk about Jesus. And when we leave, they will be just as poor as when we arrived. Poverty taunts us as we drive away.

It’s overwhelming.

The problem is so big, and we are so small. It feels ridiculous…. showing up to war wielding a loaf of bread.

Of course that’s how David showed up. Just a shepherd boy with some bread for his brothers, a kid who was quick with a sling shot. He chose for battle against a giant, not a sword, or the kings armor, but five smooth stones. And he won.

He said to the giant:

“You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God is Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s and he will give all of you into our hands.” -1 Samuel 17

I kind of love that.

I’m going to feed the ducks, now.

And then, with all my might, I will hurl a tiny pebble at their giant enemy. And I hope it hurts like hell.

-Jamie, The Very Worst Missionary

On December 27, 2008 our group of 8 from Alabama began the long trip down to Puerto Alegria. As much as I hate to fly, stepping off the boat the afternoon of the 28th to see 38 of my favorite faces was completely worth every second of our trek.

Our group and a group of 5 from Nebraska spent the week making repairs around the home. The screens on the boys’ rooms needed to be replaced and trash around camp needed to be picked up. Every morning we would wake up with the roosters, eat breakfast with the boys, and then begin our work. A small group of “gringos” would lead Bible Study for the older boys in the morning, and then separately for the younger boys in the afternoon after lunch. We taught the boys that God’s Word is a treasure and that it is our responsibility to share our knowledge of Christ with our community. Late in the afternoons we would swim in the river or play soccer with the boys and then clean up for dinner. After dinner we would play games and sing songs together or watch a movie before bedtime.

New Years Eve included burning “the old self,” shooting fireworks at the “gringos,” a piñata filled with whistles, and fruitcake. The boys were dressed in their best clothes and were all wearing their new shoes that they had received for Christmas and had saved especially for this occasion. Probably the best New Years ever.

The Friday before we left, we spent the day in Iquitos. We started the day with a walk through the market in Belén, where a lot of the boys are from, and a visit to Scripture Union’s Medical Center. We spent a few hours at the “beach” and the zoo and then took the boys for a movie and popcorn. That night we introduced S’mores to Puerto Alegria with a bonfire in the rain.

All week, we were constantly looking for ways to show the boys we love them, God loves them; they are not abandoned. It was only my second time to Puerto Alegria, but those boys have taken up permanent residence in my heart. Through this, I believe that the Lord gave me a glimpse into how much he loves his children.

On Saturday morning, I was not ready to leave. And now that I am home, I want to go back. A feeling I am afraid I will experience in increasing measure with each trip I take to Peru. ~ Claire Davis

Here is a video taken of the Christmas party we were able to provide for the kids in Puerto Alegria and 350 other children that Scripture Union works with in Iquitos, Peru. After enjoying an afternoon of songs, skits, dances, and clowns, all of the kids sat down to enjoy the traditional Christmas meal, panettone (a type of bread) and chocolatada (a chocolate drink). At the end of the clip you can see some of the boys from the home in Puerto Alegria handing out Christmas gifts to all of the other kids at the party. Thank you so much to all of you who gave and made Christmas possible for all of these children!

“O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.” ~ Psalm 10:17-18

“Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.” ~ Psalm 68:5

“Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” ~ Psalm 82:3-4

Welcome to the Not Forgotten Blog!  We decided to create this blog so that we could easily keep you updated with the latest news and information about what is going on with Not Forgotten and in Puerto Alegria.  It has been a very exciting year for us in many ways!  Below I’ll try to recap some things that have happened this year and also tell you a few of the exciting things coming up!

This summer Not Forgotten was able to send two work teams to Puerto Alegria! The construction continues as the teams finished the workshop/storage building, rebuilt the gazebo, and continued to build bungalows at the new site.  When the teams weren’t sweating in the hot Amazon sun, they organized Bible school for the kids and also took them for a day of fun at the zoo and movies.  The summer teams are always such a blessing to the kids – they love hanging out with their American friends!

Struggles and hardships are ever present in a third world country like Peru.  Poverty creates new temptations every day, and a well run, well funded place like the home in Puerto Alegria becomes a prime target.  In September, both the generator and water pump were stolen from Puerto Alegria.  Thankfully, due to the generous donations of so many people, Not Forgotten was able to purchase a new generator and water pump for the home.

For me, Christmas is a very happy, joyful time of year.  It is a time of year where I am surrounded by friends and family and can meditate on the thought that God loved me so much that he sent his only son, Christ, into the world to rescue me from my sin.  For street children, Christmas is painfully sad.  While others are surrounded by people they love, street children are reminded of the family that rejected them and threw them out.  This pain is compounded by the fact that their sense of self worth is so low that they could never believe a God cares about them, much less loves them and sent his only son to die for and rescue them.  So Christmas is a difficult time for the boys in Puerto Alegria, and at Not Forgotten we are constantly looking for ways to show them that we love and care about them, and so does God.  This Christmas, Not Forgotten, through the generous donations given by so many people, has provided funds to pay for a Christmas party, Christmas dinner, and Christmas presents for not only the 40 boys living in Puerto Alegria, but also for 350 other children that Scripture Union works with in Iquitos. We hope that through our giving, these children may begin to understand that we love them just as they are, and that God loves them as well.

On top of helping to make these Christmas festivities possible, a Not Forgotten work team will be teaming up with our friends from Nebraska and heading down to Puerto Alegria right after Christmas to spend the rest of the holidays and the new year with the boys.  Please keep this team in your prayers as you celebrate with your family this season.

Perhaps most exciting of all, Not Forgotten is going to be able to pay for two teachers to live in Puerto Alegria year round starting in January.  We are very thankful to Redeemer Community Church of Birmingham, AL for making this possible.  This has been a big dream of ours for a long time, because the education of the boys in Puerto Alegria is very poor.  The boys are educated at a government run school in the nearby village where they live.  The teachers at the school have to hike 1-2 hours every day from Iquitos through a very treacherous trail in the jungle every day just to get to school (To the left is a picture of me crossing a river along this trail).  As you may imagine, there are many days when it is raining too much (it is the rainforest) for these teachers to feel safe taking their daily commute, and there are other days when they just don’t feel up to it. Other times these teachers go on strike in effort to improve their salaries and will not work for weeks at a time.  These circumstances lead to a very poor education for these children and also instills in them the idea that education is not that important.  These are things that we desperately want to change because we believe that education is an integral part of bringing these kids out of poverty and empowering them to create change in their communities.

I want to thank all of you for your interest in and support of Not Forgotten.  We pray that you will have a blessed Christmas, and that we may all remember that the reason we celebrate Christmas is that, just like the street children in Peru, we were lost, but God loves us so much that he sent his son to this earth to save us from our own sins.

Merry Christmas!

Tyler Fuqua