September 2026

You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.

2 Timothy 2:2 (NLT)

It’s been almost four months since our last letter. A lot happened in between — we’ve chosen to share some of it, not all.

Rain in Río Blanco

We arrived in Río Blanco, and a couple of minutes later a tremendously heavy rain came down that didn’t let up all afternoon.

We went as a family — Miriam, Natán, Kari, and I — together with Kety and other colleagues. The trip’s purpose was for Miriam and Kety to test the materials they’d been creating and revising over the previous weeks (more on that below). Meanwhile, our translation colleagues took the chance to do the comprehension check for the book of Leviticus — each team with its own task, under the same rain.

Miriam and Kety tried out the Jonah lesson with the 4- and 5-year-olds in the classroom, while I used the free moments to see up close how the Leviticus check was going. The rain kept up so hard that we had to improvise and stay the night — thanks to the people of the community and to our colleagues, who took us in without a second thought.

A song for Jonah

That test with the children is part of something Miriam has been refining for weeks together with Eli, Kety, and Mariela: Bible lessons for children based on the story of Jonah, built in Bloom. Miriam had been going over the lessons with Eli, who also helped write a song. With Kety and Mariela, they finished revising the material, and they’ve now tried out the first full lesson in Río Blanco. What still needs work, they noticed, is the song — they need a catchy, easy-to-learn tune, the kind a child takes home without even realizing it. As for the content of the lesson itself, it was a joy to see the children interested and following along.

Alfa Tiles: from research to APK

Months ago we told you about Alfa Tiles, the app Miriam has been building to teach reading. Since then, she’s done the real work of a literacy specialist — researching the words, reviewing them, testing them with others — and I contributed by generating the images. Together we took part in the final workshop where we finally got the APK working. We now have a version ready, and the next step is sending it to specific people for a larger test of correct spelling and pronunciation, before finally handing it out to the children.

SIL: planning the year, and a team that advises

This week Miriam is in Lima, at her SIL department’s annual retreat, where they plan out the coming fiscal year: which workshops are needed and what resources it takes to bring them to different groups across South America.

For my part, at this stage within SIL I’ve been formalizing the team of people who want to join this work. Thank God, people have stepped forward willing to give some of their time to support us, and we’re working hard to learn more, so that everyone on the team can see themselves as capable not just of answering specific problems our colleagues in the field run into, but of offering them options they may not even know exist yet.

At home: Kari and the language

We’re thankful that our kids have gone a month and a half without a bad stomach bug or the flu. Kari, at preschool, interacts with children who speak Nomatsiguenga among themselves, and we trust that little by little she’ll build better friendships with them. She’s also taking English classes with Ashton, a young woman who decided to stay a few months here to help us with English classes for the missionaries and children at the Base and for the kids at the preschool. Kari is happy with her classes, and we’re happy to see how comfortable she’s becoming with that back-and-forth between languages. We’re very grateful for the effort of the Christians who come to support us short-term with family or education matters — the peace and companionship they bring is enormous.

Prayer requests

These are the requests we’re carrying these weeks:

1. For our work with SIL this fiscal year: that the decisions we make bring us closer to what He already knows is best, and that the resources come through for the workshops we’re hoping to bring to South America. He’s the one in charge.
2. For the materials Miriam keeps creating and testing: that it becomes clear, through the very work of making them, where they should be aimed — and for real impact in the schools and among the children of the church.
3. For the network of teachers and brothers and sisters in the communities, which keeps growing thanks to Miriam’s work — that it keeps growing stronger.
4. For Alfa Tiles: that the test with these specific people goes well, and that doors open to hand it out to the children soon.
5. For Kari: more chances to talk with the children in the area, that they fully accept her, and that she keeps understanding and speaking the language well.

This is a shortened version. We have a group that walks closely with us in prayer, and if you’d like to receive updates more often than these letters, you’re welcome to write to us.

We want to sincerely thank you for standing with us in prayer and support. We remain confident that the One who builds also sustains.

With love in Christ,
Pepe and Miriam