Meet the Family

Our group picture at the Christmas Party wearing our "Touch of Love" soccer jerseys.


Martin Carnona
Occupation: Dental team/Bible worker
This guy loves to talk to people. He grew up in the Catholic church and was only baptized in the SDA church 3 years ago. Anywhere he goes, he gets to know different people and then is able to share with them what we are doing in Peru here, and about his faith. Though he doesn’t know all the Bible stories (but learning), he still leads out in church where ever needed and has even preached a couple of times. Martin is a really interesting guy. Keith says that he always makes him smile, especially when he got left on the Island of the Sun, in Bolivia on Christmas break.


Kevin House
Occupation: Ecological Worker
He is a Biology/Environmental Science Major at Walla Walla. Kevin lives in Portland, Organ, and loves to tell everyone all the facts about the city. He has a particular fascination with fungi. Macheting in the jungle is a great way to see new and different species of mushrooms. Kevin loves to draw, read books, and play his mandolin (small stringed instrument) in his free time. He has come to realize that simple living is the best way to live. When he gets back to the States he plans to try out hitchhiking to get back home.


Hector
Occupation: Manual Labor Team
Hector is always cracking jokes. He just enjoys life, and likes to listen to American music. His house is next to the hanger, and has two boys, John Pier and Alex. (His wife died when his kids were young.) Though John Pier is only 10, you might think that he is 15 because of his maturity level sometimes.


Deborah Roquiz
Occupation: Community Ambassador
There is no one like Deborah, for she is one of a kind. She likes to read off the chore list after breakfast and then if something is not done she asks why. Sometimes it is her job that she finds undone. Her main job is teaching English classes as four different schools in the area. She also goes and visits the families of the kids she teaches. At her church she is one of the leaders, leading out in music playing the electric piano and other things.


Daniel
Occupation: Manual Labor Team
He can build just about anything with wood, but usually he sticks to building churches for what ever villages the travel team is in that needs a church. He is a quiet guy, and very much a family man. The stories of his past are very interesting to listen to.




Melanie Gallewski
Occupation: Missionary Nurse
She loves traveling and experiencing new cultures. Being from Germany, she has quite the experiences already, speaking: German, Porchagese, English, and Spanish. She likes hanging out with people and getting to know them. Melanie definitely has a place in her heart for cats.


Jose Duran
Occupation: was Manual labor, and now project cook
He absolutely loves to cook. His dream is to open his own restaurant in NYC. Jose is part owner in a motorcycle and takes it to Pucallpa as much as possible to visit a family he has become close to. He is greatly involved with his church, fixing it up, and has plans of helping it to really grow. Some other things Jose enjoys is playing basketball, skateboarding, listening to music, and keeping in touch with all his friends back home.


Hanna Rodriguez
Occupation: Community Ambassador
She may be quiet, but don’t let that fool you. Because she loves to experiment making different kinds of bread, which is always amazing! The past couple months she taught English classes at different schools. Now she is planning on helping out with three months of VBS for kids at different locations in the area. She misses her sister, who is in Argentina learning Spanish.


Eric Salsado
Occupation: Manual Labor Team
He is more quiet but likes to joke with people, pulling little pranks. He is one of my roommates and we joke around sometimes. He is pretty good at soccer, but not as good or dedicated as Ever, his younger brother. His parents live in Pucallpa and so they switch off every other weekend going home.


Lucho
Occupation: Manual Labor Team
I don’t know Lucho very well. He lives with Hector, his brother, and works with him on the manual labor team. He says hi to me every time I see him, but the language barrier prevents much more than that.


Mindy Schreven
Occupation: Missionary Nurse
She is an adventure-loving individual from the great Northwest. Being a very outgoing person, she loves helping others, but also coming back to km. 38 and sharing all the stories of things that happened. Mindy has wanted to be a student missionary since she was little, and is excited to be here in Peru to serve for a year.


Brittany Gimbel
Occupation: Missionary Nurse
She loves chocolate. Brittany gets the most packages out of all the SM’s, and it is always filled with great stuff. She likes to cook and has a heart for the people here in Peru to help them with whatever they need. She enjoys traveling around to different paces and doing clinics and then doing health classes with people in their homes.


Dane Harning
Occupation: Dental team worker/Manuel labor
He loves to play the guitar and lying in hammocks. Both at the same time, is awesome too! The rest of his free time is spent on his computer. He is really tall, and likes cats.


Colt Snier
Occupation: Manuel Labor/Dental Team
He loves the Dallas Cowboys. He is a big tuff guy that works hard out in the fields but also likes to pull people's teeth. After Christmas break, he bought back a skateboard and has been skating it up in the hanger ever since. Most of the time he is very chill and goes along with whatever the group does.


Richard Matthews
Occupation: Doctor/Project director
He is a hard worker and pushes others to work hard to. He is both the doctor and the director of the project, and he also runs a clinic in Pucallpa the majority of the time. I don't see him that often because he leaves early and comes back late from the clinic he runs. Occasionally he will call a meeting with the group and talking about the progress of things. Also when the travel team moves to a new location, the doctor is there with them to do a small clinic for a week for the people in that village.


Matthew Hartman
Occupation: Community Ambassador
Matt likes a good sandwich, beautiful sunsets, politics, challenges, meaningful conversations, and to tell stories. And lastly, he likes to learn, a process that never ends down here in Peru. He loved the chance to teach kids English for a few months and now is excited about the chance to try out Bible work. He already has told some amazing stories about being a Bible worker and talking to people that believe different things.


Lauren Kelley
Occupation: Missionary Nurse
What ever needs to get done, Lauren will do it. She can never sit still! It seems that she feels like she always has to be busy doing something. That comes in handy though, when she and the other girls makes awesome deserts for everyone. Lauren can throw a football better than a lot of guys, including all the Peruvians, since they only play soccer down here. Lauren is the leader of the traveling nurses. She enjoys visiting people and talking about healthy living, but she especially enjoys clinic weeks.


Tara Weeks
Occupation: Asst. administration
Hugs are Tara’s favorite part of the week. She is definitely a Southern girl, and finds cooking a joy as well as helping others enjoy life a bit more. Sometimes she can be sporadic and feel that she has to take care of us all. She was an SM here in the 06-07 school year. Her job is taking on some of the business stuff for the project, filling in for Jenny (project leader with doctor) when she left to go back for the States for family reasons.


Keith Ybanez
Occupation: Manual labor team worker
He is a senior at La Sierra University where he is a communications/pre-law student. Keith is following in the footsteps of his sister who worked here three years ago. Originally from the Philippians, he and his family calls Chicago home where the deep-dish pizza is amazing! Keith loves every professional sports team from Chicago. He hopes while in Peru, to fully experience the culture and learn more about the amazing people here and also to allow God to use him as a tool to teach others about God.


Andrew Vizcarra
Occupation: Project promoter
A lot of times it seems like he is still in school. He interviews the SM’s to learn about their experiences and writes it out for the weekly board inform. Then every month puts together the newsletter to send out to all the people that are supporting our project. On Monday and Thursday he goes to Pucallpa to pick up the mail and packages. Other than that, he likes long boarding, playing the guitar, and driving the project motorcycle (learned how to drive in Peru).


Michel Brival
Occupation: Manual Labor Team Worker/English teacher
He is very tall, and loves classical and jazz music. Hardly can you catch him with out a pocketknife, for just incase anything happens. Dogs are his favorite house pet and likes to spend time with our “guard dogs”. The first part of his time here was spent with the manual labor team out the fields. Often the question was asked, “Where’s Mikey.” He claim to have stomach issues and is not feeling good, but no one knows if it is that or him just feeling lazy all the time. Now he is working where the nursing team is teaching an English class.


Ever Salsado
Occupation: Manual Labor Team
He is probably the hardest worker I know. While everyone else is taking a break, he is still working. Ever loves soccer, and is really good at it. He loves it when the people from Yerbas Buenas comes over and we get a good game of soccer going. Sometimes I have got him to come with me to go camp out in the jungle for a night, and also go running with me. He is always trying to get me to play soccer with him.


Josh Kim
Occupation: Dental team worker/asst. administrator
He is a recent graduate from Southern Adventist University. He came here to do dental work and found that he loves it! When not working at dental clinics, Josh does errands for the doctor and takes care of some of the project business stuff. He loves Korean food, especially since he is Korean. His favorite football team is the New England Patriots.