A Reflection of Things Thankful For

Thanksgiving has always been a time of remembering the things we are thankful for. This year was my second year away from my family during this holiday. Thankfully (no pun intended), I was able to spend yesterday with a part of my team here in Bolivia: Trent, his wife Kay, and Cristian, a Costa Rican who recently joined our team. Kay really went all out yesterday to make it feel like a real Thanksgiving for us (to everyone else down here it was just a normal day, and it felt kind of strange). We had an oven cooked turkey, homemade mashed potatoes, creamed corn, homemade biscuits, homemade gravy, deviled eggs, and a fruit salad. Oh yeah, and to finish it off we had homemade apple pie with ice cream! We even decorated their fake Christmas tree after dinner. It was a great day! I’m still full as I write this blog this morning, the next day…
I guess yesterday was a time of reflection for me of the things I’m thankful for. I came to a realization as well; what I’m thankful for this year is for far simpler things than in the past. I don’t possess the earthy things that I would usually say I’m thankful to have. No car (donkeys don´t count), no house/apartment of my own, no latest gadgets-like a washing machine. What I am thankful for is my health (which has been varying recently), my family (even though they are thousands of miles away, they always make sure I know they love me), my friends here who have become like family, and for my LORD, who has provided for me so many different times while I was in the communities and now that it’s difficult to remember all of them. One of the biggest realizations I came to was that our God could take all of those away, and I would still be thankful for Him.
I will end this with three quotes from a man I admire greatly, Jim Elliot:
“To the soul which has tasted of Christ, the jaunty laugh, the tempting music of mingled voices, the haunting appeal of smiling eyes-all these lack flavor. And I would drink deeply of Him.”
“In fact, those loves which we regard as closest, He told us must become as hate in comparison with our desires to uphold His cause. Grieve not, then, if your sons seem to desert you, but rejoice, rather, seeing the will of God done gladly…. Surely those who know the great, passionate heart of Jehovah must deny their own loves to share in the expression of His.”
“Job is a lesson in acceptance, not of blind resignation, but of believing acceptance, that what God does is well done.”
But a quick update before you leave! I´m currently in Cochabamba, Bolivia with Cristian so he can study Quechua at a school here. He has two more weeks of classes and then we´ll head back to Sucre for Christmas. I´ve been keeping somewhat busy doing various things for the bosses for the time being so that´s been good. Thanks for your prayers, and please keep Graham and Efrain in mind as they continue telling stories in Quchumi.

Unforseeable Happening

This is way sooner I was expecting to write a blog to all of you. I´ll start at the beginning and work my way up to this point in time; how does that sound? :)
We left Monday morning as planned in a taxi for Pocoata. It was on that ride that for some reason my muscle started acting up and was bothering me (for those that don´t know, I tore my pelvic muscle during training in February and returned to the States to get it diagnosed and rehabbed). I didn´t think too much of it then as I was looking forward to our five week trip into the communities. But by the time Wednesday rolled around, it was hurting me just to walk with my backpack. We found a small village called Turwiriya to stay in until my muscle got better (like it usually does) but by Friday it was still hurting just as much as Wednesday. By this time I was worried about re-tearing it and being out of action for the months it would take to heal all over again. Our boss, Trent, told us to return to Sucre so I could start strengthening it again before it tore out there in the communities. So here I am…
Even though this was my shortest trip thus far, I believe I learned the most during/from it. I had some very bleak days mentally as a result of this injury, much to my partner´s, Javier, chagrin. Hehe I had even brought up the possibility of a transfer because it seemed I couldn´t do the minimal physical work required for our team. Dark times indeed… I felt so betrayed by my body breaking down on me (in the middle of a trip nonetheless) that a couple of times all I could do was cry. After quickly tiring of that, I turned to God to comfort me. And comfort me He did. I won´t go into all the details but He showed me that even though I was `broken´ in my eyes He still loved me (for all of me, brokenness included) and wanted to use me. Also as a result of having to stay in that village, we made some great Christian contacts who are ready and eager to help us with our work in the area in the future.
I guess my biggest prayer request right now is my health once again. Please pray for a speedy recovery so I can get back out there. Also pray for our team as well (Javier and me); this injury coming back to affect me changes pretty much all of the plans we had. Pray that we have patience and wisdom during the coming weeks. Please keep in your thoughts and prayers Graham and Efraín as they have had a little difficulty reaching their village with the stories. Pray that hearts will be opened and people see the glory and love of our Lord.

Third Trip!

Good evening everyone. It has been a couple of weeks since I last updated my blog but as nothing has been going on that would warrant much attention, I figured that I would save all of you from reading another droll update. But as of this morning, we have great news! Trent, our boss, gave us the green light to head back out to the communities; thanks for all of y´alls prayers! We are leaving on Monday, the 20th, pretty early at 8am straight for Pocoata. On Tuesday, we will start our trek back into the villages to continue looking for a man of peace who will share his house and food with us for over a month this time. We are planning to stay out until the end of November, around the 28th, when I will head to Peru to meet my family for a small vacation.
This morning my partner and I had virtual missions to practice encountering a Quechua man on the hike. It was very fun because we used a Quechua that we are good friends with and the requirement was we could only speak Quechua during this simulation. I was a little nervous because Trent was filming it as well so we could go over and critique our performance afterwards. During take one, Javier dominated the conversation but on take two I was able to do the majority of the talking to Simón, our friend. Afterwards, we went to town to buy ponchos for the cold and to blend in more with the Quechua and we also got a haircut :( haha… It was necessary said our Quechua contact.
Please be praying for us to encounter a man of peace on this trip as it is our third and we still have yet to find one. It has been getting a little discouraging to be honest. But I have high hopes and faith that the Lord will guide us to someone eager to hear about His glory. We will also need your help with prayers for us to understand and learn Quechua some more while we are in the village. We are going to share the creation and the fall of man stories (Javier has creation and I am sharing the fall) during our time there so please pray for the people to be receptive to them, and enthusiastic to hear more. Finally pray for our other team as well, Graham and Efraín. They are in Quchumi with a vice president of the IMB, Ed Cox, for a couple of weeks. Ed is returning to the States at the end of October, and then the team is heading back to Quchumi for a while longer. Thanks to all of you for your support and prayers. I can´t wait to share all that God did on our trip when we get back!

A Time of Growth

As most of you know, our team has been grounded for quite some time now: one team member has been here in Sucre for over two months now, and I have been here for a little over three weeks. We´ve been `grounded´ here because of the situation with the government, and their anti-American stance as of late. So to make the best of our situation, the four of us living in our wonderful pink house began studying the Bible, a chapter a day. We get together usually right after lunch and discuss with each other what the chapter means to us, verses that touched us, and any past experiences we had- positive or negative- with regards to the chapter of the day. These sessions take any where from 45 minutes up to close to two hours; it all just depends on what we each feel led to share.
Today´s chapter happened to be 1 Corinthians 4. As I read it, I feel like I was almost reading the chapter for the first time (even though there were notes scribbled next to the chapter from the last time I read it). It was like God opened my eyes, and showed me a situation which Paul was in that seemed like what I was going through in this moment. Verses 12 and 13 are the ones that really stood out to me in this chapter: ¨When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.¨ As I read it, I realized that I was feeling the same way. The government here is slandering North Americans to the common people. Apparently, we are at fault for all of the problems here in Bolivia… I had no idea… The local governments have now begun to mildly persecute missionaries from North America as well. Just last week, the government of Chuqisaca, of which Sucre is the capital in which we live, kicked out of the country some North American missionaries who were handing out food to the poor. The president applauded them for doing so; it`s a big deal when the president and local government are uniting on some fronts, usually they´re at each other´s throats. Reading what Paul had wrote has encouraged me greatly, because I have been questioned by countless people why we are still here. I can say we are enduring the persecution against us, still hoping to be able to shine the light of the Gospel in our province to the lost people that need Jesus. We will wait it out as long as possible and God has been using this time to bash (chip is far too small a word) away the parts of my life that really need to be transformed so I can more effectively serve him in whatever way He wants me to.
Please be praying for us as we continue to endure the situation here. Also, for patience and protection here in Sucre. Thank you so much for your suport! I´ll be sure to keep you updated with any new information.

Kill or Be Killed

On our last trip, I read the book Velvet Elvis as I explained in the blog before the last one. The other things that deeply affected me shall be the subject of this blog. You´re probably wondering, ¨what kind of title is that for a missionary´s blog?¨ Well, I´m glad you asked… hehe It will make more sense in just a minute when I quit rambling here and actually get to explaining what I mean by that title.
One of the chapters of Rob Bell´s book dealt with his perception of what a pastor should be, not what was realistically possible. His term for this is super-pastor: the pastor who can preach wonderful sermons on Sunday mornings, make visits to pretty much all of the members of his church every week, be a great role model every day all day, be a great father and husband without hardly trying, etc. He said that this perception of his was mostly subconscious; the effect of years and years of people, and the media (have to throw that in there for sociology… :P), saying what a pastor has to be in order to be effective. If you´re not doing all of the things listed above easily, then you´re just not a good pastor; that´s the thought that was drilled into his- and might I add, our- head throughout his life. Mr. Bell confessed that he always felt guilty because he couldn´t live up to those expectations, and I bet there are many, many pastors who feel the exact same way. Then he went on to say that he had to kill this idea of the super-pastor or it was going to destroy him, and burn him out (sound familiar? We all know of someone who got burned out quickly because they were trying to be the super-whatever in their eyes, and especially the eyes of others). So he took a day for himself and just sat down alone and focused all of his attention on the perceptions he had of the super-pastor, and methodically broke them down so that they weren´t causing him guilt. He said that it took a while and that they sometimes still haunt him- but not to the degree when he had no idea what was causing his anxiety and guilt- but that he feels tons better about being a pastor now, and that he´s just a human (no way!!) who has limits, and makes mistakes. He finally became authentic to himself, and more importantly the fellowship of brothers that is his church.
The next paragraph after he shares this story, he states that all of us have a super-whatever in our minds of our profession: super-missionary, super-manager, super-plumber, super-wife, super-Christian, whatever it is you do, you have an idea, most likely subconscious, of what you should be doing in that job to be worth anything (to the world) in it. He then said that we have to realize and kill the idea of super- (fill-in-the-blank) or be killed by it.
This touched me profoundly because I realized that I had a perception of super-missionary, and that I was by no means living up to that. So as a result, I felt like I was a super-failure of a missionary. I mean, a missionary is supposed to be planting churches left and right, baptizing hundreds of people, able to bring people into a relationship with Christ with just one conversation; that´s what I had been taught and read about when I was younger (just look at Acts, that´s a giant standard missionaries try to live up to). I hadn´t done even one of those things (surprise, surprise; so far I´ve walked and walked and walked) in my time with the IMB so far and I felt horrible about it, like I was just soaking up money from Lottie Moon and the churches who faithfully tithe to support the IMB. I was having this idea floating around in my head of the super-missionary, and that I was inadequately performing to that idea. I didn´t even know that this thought was affecting me so until I read Velvet Elvis and realized that I was being hindered greatly by this super-missionary. So, I think for the first time in my life, I set my book down in the middle of a chapter without finishing it, and went off to be alone for a while to try to sift through my perception of a missionary. I finally realized that I was obeying God´s plan for my life at this time, and that He has a plan for my time here; even if I never reach one single person in my time here, even if I get rejected in every village, even if I have to walk for countless and countless hours through the mountains. I will have faith that He is faithful to His children, and that He will always be with me, even if it is my darkest hour. After getting away by myself for a few hours, and reflecting on super-missionary and dispelling those ideas of him, I felt like a great weight had been lifted off of my chest. I returned to Javier, and the village, changed I believe. I realized I didn´t have to live up to the expectations of man, but only be obedient to God; He would take care of the rest.
I would like to challenge everyone to look inside themselves and discover their super-whatever and take time, be it an hour or a day, alone to dismantle your idea of him/her. If you don´t, your super-whatever will surely, slowly kill you because each one of us could never live up to that expectation we have of the super-whatever, no matter how hard we try. We need to be authentic with each other, and take off the mask that we are able to accomplish and be that person. I feel that if that were to happen, people being honest to themselves and others, we could be that much more successful in being the church.
A quick update to follow this blog: we are still here in Sucre, Bolivia. Things are slightly calming down, and we have been able to tentatively set a date to head out to the communities once more. But, as is the case in all countries, things could change in an instant so please keep praying for the talks to progress and a resolution reached. Also, we have news that one of the vice-presidents of the IMB will be visiting our team in October, and experience our life in the communities with us. So please pray for his safety as he travels here and also in the village. We have been translating and memorizing the Bible stories in Quechua so that´s another big request to keep in mind. Thank you so much for your support and prayers thus far. A definite praise of the result of your prayer is that things are somewhat more stable here in Bolivia in the last few days; this is a miracle in and of itself, because always things are volatile here. Tikunakama (until later)!

New Records

I guess I should fill y'all in on our last trip... :) I know you're thinking, "Dang, Jeff, it's about time!!" and I apologize for the lateness of the update. Things have been quite interesting here in Bolivia so I use that excuse for the length of time it's taking me to write this... hehe
After we returned to the communities after our short trip into Llallagua to talk with our boss, it was with a different outlook that we set out. We changed our trip into an investigation trip to check out the villages to see if they had a church or believers in each. We started walking from Qolqa Pampa and crossed the river back to Pata Qhuchi. We were actually received this time by the caretaker of the village and he gave us a room to stay in whenever we are there so that was a very pleasant surprise supplied by God. The next day we walked to another village that had a church and we attended the service; there were only about eight women in the service because pretty much all of the men on that side of the river were away working in the cities to get some extra money during this slow month. The women didn't speak any Spanish so we had to utilize the Quechua we had learned to speak with them. It was a great and humbling experience because the women took an offering at the end of the service and then, surprising us greatly, gave all of it to us! They told us they wanted to support God's work in the area and the faith of these women was incredible. We were both struck speechless by their act of faith, and couldn't express our gratitude enough to them. Afterwards we went to another village that had, yet again, an amazing lack of men. We were sitting in the plaza and no one was showing any interest in us; it was getting late in the night, and we still had no place to sleep. I prayed outloud to God to provide a man to give us a place to sleep and after that literally four men approached us to talk. Shortly after that, we had a place to stay for the two days we were there. It's always amazing how God can provide for us while showing us that we need Him; there was no way that is was us that caused those men to come to us. We then spent the rest of our time on this trip in a village called Charaqi. Most of the men that were there were drunk for most of the time and there was no work whatsoever for us to help with. Because of this, we, at the most, got fed once a day for five days; and most of the time it was a bowl of potatoes to split between Javier and me. But God gave us that much at least as Matthew 6 says: he will provide for us, so there's no need to be anxious about all of it.
The records we set on this last trip are quite impressive if I don't say so myself... haha, and one will be disgusting to most people. The first is that Javier and I walked over 40 hours total on this trip. That's the most that any team of the Xtreme Team has walked in one trip to the best of my knowledge. My legs can definitely feel the difference of all that walking. And the second is that I didn't change any of my clothes for two straight weeks! I'm very proud of that, if for no other reason that people will be shocked, and grossed out by it. ;) We travelled very light the second time, and I decided that another set of clothes would be unnecessary to carry; very wise choice... hehe
I want to thank everyone for their prayers and support during this trip. It has been the most difficult trip we've had, including training. Without y'alls prayers, it would have been impossible to accomplish. The biggest prayer request I have right now is the situation with the goverment still. At least they are talking with the insurgents now so we're expecting things to calm down a little bit in the near future. We have been asked by the IMB to not leave Sucre for another week because of the conflicts. Also, please pray for us to be able to focus on practicing our Quechua while here in Sucre so that we can engage the people once we return to the villages. Thanks again to everyone for praying, and until next time!

Heaven to Earth

I meant to post this blog during the few days that Javier and I had in Llallagua but something held me back from doing so then and I didn´t know why but I think I do now: this will be a challenging blog to read and digest for some and I usually try not to rock the boat but this time I can´t help it. I need to get this off my chest and out there so y´all can be a part of it as well. Buckle up and put your hands above your head (figuratively, of course... but if you want to, really do it for a couple seconds ;P) because here it goes! Also, grab your Bible and look up the verses as you come upon them (I didn´t type most of them out to save space, but they are all important).
The first part of this last trip Javier and I were on, I was able to have a few days of rest. During that time I read a book called Velvet Elvis. Some of you may have read it as well; it´s by a pastor named Rob Bell, the goofy guy from the Nooma videos. I read this book one time a while back but I decided to read it again on this trip. And I am very, very glad I did so. For those of you who don´t know me very well, I freakin´ love books! And for me to say that a book has `changed´ me had never happened... before now. I don´t know what I was doing the first time I read Velvet Elvis but I must have been in Neverland picking my nose! Because this time, from when I opened it for the first time to when I finally was able to put it down completed, I got so much from what Mr. Bell wrote that I can honestly say it opened my eyes to a few things.
There were three different things that Rob Bell talked about that have deeply affected me but I will only share one of them in this blog (the other two might be another blog... hehe). He pointed out that everytime Jesus talked about the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven/God, he talked about it like it would come here. This deeply affects the way we should view this life we have here. We have had this view of us ascending into heaven to spend eternity with God and our Lord Jesus Christ, but that is never mentioned in the Bible (for an awesome picture of what will happen, read Revelation 21). Rob Bell then made a great point that I have been trying to apply to my life every day since I read it; he said that it should be our goal to, in every possible moment, bring heaven to earth. We should always be looking for opportunities to share the Kingdom with everyone we come across. I am not saying that we have to preach to everyone we come across in order to `win them´ to the Kingdom. Just the opposite, in fact: our actions should speak far louder than any preacher, pastor, evangelist, missionary, etc to open people´s eyes to the Kingdom. We should be on the look out to share, though our actions, how Jesus has changed us to be different from the world. Little acts of kindness can go a heck of a lot farther than the best sermon (sorry, pastors...). Romans 12:9-13. Helping someone load their groceries, giving your leftovers from Cheddar´s (mmm...) to a homeless person, visiting a nursing home just to talk and make a connection with the lonely people there, anonymously paying for someone´s dinner, volunteering time in the community, helping someone whose car broke down on the side of the road, the list is quite literally endless! Matthew 25: 31-40.
This is the part that I was hesitant about until now: I would like to challenge everyone who reads this (and don´t be shy to share with your Christian brothers and sisters; this is for everyone, not just the readers of this blog) to bring `heaven to earth.´ It might help in the beginning if you set a goal for every week (or day) but please, I beg you, DO NOT limit yourself to that goal. If another opportunity arises, don´t think ¨Oh well, I already reached my goal, can´t help ya....¨ Be eager and ready to share the Kingdom with everyone at any time with your actions. Galatians 6:9. If the person asks you ¨Why?¨ just reply ¨I´m just trying to demonstrate my love for Jesus Christ by doing everything I can to bring heaven to earth.¨ You´ll definetely get strange looks every now and then, but I bet they will be intrigued more often than not about the difference in this stranger who just randomly helped them. John 13:34-35. Lastly, please, please, please do not share with each other your `latest act´ lest it become a competition to see who can be the better `good samaritian.´ Matthew 6:1-4. Rather, simply ask one another ¨Have you brought heaven to earth lately?¨ Hear me on this, brothers and sisters, the answer is not important (in fact, it would be better if you didn´t answer) but the fact that that each one of you is keeping this in the front of your mind to be ready to jump at the opportunity to help another person is what´s really important.
I pray that, together, by `bringing heaven to earth´ we will be able to show people that we are different from the world and that we are trying to become more like our Lord Jesus (John 13:12-17) every chance we get. I believe that we can change the world by these acts into a better place (which would be heaven, would it not?) because these acts will open people´s eyes up/lead them to the Kingdom far more effectively than if you preached to them the Roman´s Road, the Four Spiritual Laws, Creation-to-Christ, or any other evangelism tract. As Rob Bell put it so perfectly: ¨The goal of the Christian faith isn´t escaping this world but making this world the kind of place God can come to.¨ ¨So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, `We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.´¨ Luke 17:10.
Here are a few Scripture that might help you with this task as well: Mark 10:42-45, Luke 6:35, Luke 12:32-34, Luke 14:12-14.

Give Thanks in All Circumstances

Surprise, surprise! I bet y´all weren´t expecting to hear from me for at least another three weeks; well that´s too bad for y´all. haha Javier and I were able to pass through a town called Llallagua that thankfully is just large enough to have internet. Let me fill y´all in on what´s happened so far on this second trip of ours.
We left last Saturday, the 16th, with our boss and his wife to check out some villages where they were intertested in planting churches in the future. It went well, and the little Quechua I tried with the people resulted only in laughter... I don´t know if it was ¨Gosh, I´m surprised this red-headed gringo can speak some Quechua¨ laughter or if it was ¨HAHA, look at this white dude butchering our language¨ laughter. :) On Sunday, we headed from Pocoata to Qolqa Pampa to try to cross the river yet again. In QP, we met Pedro Condori who lived in Kayanta, which was were we wanted to try to cross from, and he offered us a place to stay in his house! God was already preparing our way into the province!! We had heard that Kayanta didn´t have a church or Christians, but it turned out that Pedro was the pastor of the evangelical church there... yet another blessing from God! We had service one night with them in which we got to share who we were, what we were doing in the area, and the Quechua wanted to hear a song in English so I got to sing a capella. Amen! hehe The next morning we walked from Kayanta to Pata Qhuchi, which was on the other side of the river. One man said it only takes three hours, but we knew better, and we weren´t disappointed. It took us about seven hours to reach PQ. The thing was we had to go down to the river, about 2,700´ below Kayanta, and then climb another mountain about the same distance up to finally reach PQ. The sad thing is that Kayanta and PQ are about a mile apart facing each other but on opposite mountains... PQ turned out to pretty much be a ghost town. There are about ninety houses there and we counted about fifteen people in total. All the rest were working in larger cities across Bolivia. We were very discouraged when we arrived because no one was interested in us at all, not even to see what we were doing there; which is very strange. We were getting ready to leave when a man showed up who was a Christian living there in PQ. He let us stay with him that night and he turned out to be a really blessing! To see his faith in Christ was amazing; he is the only Christian living in PQ and his wife went blind three years ago so he has to do everything. But he still trusts in the Lord, and seems to never be discouraged by his situation. The next morning he excitedly shared with us all of the activity going on all over that side of the river with at least six different missionary agencies!! To say the least, we were shocked... we had been expecting nothing to be happening on that side of the river at all, but ¨bam!¨ God is working heavily in the area. After hearing this unexpected, but awesome, news, we hiked back to Qolqa Pampa to talk with Trent about what to do now. That day was probably the hardest I´ve ever had; we each had one liter of water to hike up 3000´ to QP because our extra two liters somehow fell out of my backpack down the cliff about thirty minutes into the hike. Thank God we made it back to QP, even though severly dehydrated, in one piece. After resting a lot that night, we called Trent the next morning to inform him of the situation. The plan now is that we are turning this into an investigation trip to see what is happening in the villages on the far side of the river. The next two weeks we will be going from village to village to check out the progress and doctrine of the believers there.
The day after our ¨fun¨ hike back to QP, I read a really encouraging passage of Scripture that I would like to share with y´all from 1 Thessalonians: ¨See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you¨ verses 15-18. When I read this, I was convicted that I needed to give thanks always, in every situation. To be perfectly honest, before we reached Pata Qhuchi, I had a seed of pride in my chest to be the ´first´ missionary there, and to share the Gospel with them, but God was way ahead of me and showed me that I would not be that person. I was humbled greatly then, because I recall my first reaction to hearing that those Quechua already had heard of Jesus was disappointment that I wasn´t the one, not the rejoicing like it should have been... To even be here and be part of the work the Lord is accomplishing down here is worthy of thanks every hour and day. I pray that I can keep this in mind as we continue to delve into this area that God reached before us, and that I can give thanks no matter what happens.
One praise that I have is that God has done incredible things in the area where we were going to work!! There are Christians aplenty, and more and more missionaries are flooding the area! Amen! Please keep praying for Javier and I as we investigate these villages and talk to the missionaries. Pray for safe travel to the area and villages. Also, please pray that we might have good contacts with the other missions agencies working in the area. Lastly, pray that we have success in the villages with finding that they are following the Lord Jesus as taught in the Bible. Thanks to everyone who reads this, and I will be back in September!!

Looking Ahead

As I´m sitting here at the internet café trying to think about what to write, I´m hitting the famed writer´s block... hehe. This one is going to be pretty short (I know that all of you are sad to hear that ;P) because I´m planning on just letting y´all know what the plan is for this next trip. We--Javier and me-- are leaving tomorrow to head to the villages. We will not be going to the same village as last time but this time we WILL cross that dang river to get to Pata Qhuchi, which is where Trent wants us to start planting chuches if they have none (if they do have one then we move on to the next village). We are going to be in the communities for a month, after which we will go directly to Chili for Javier to renew his passport. We should be back to Sucre by around the 16th-18th of September. So I´ll send out an update when I get back.
Please be praying for us for safe travel as we try to get to Pata Qhuchi. It will probably take us about four days of walking after we reach Pocoata, our local base camp, after a day on a bus. Also, pray that we are able to encounter a man of peace in Pata Qhuchi who will vouch for us, and allow us to stay with him. Just two more, and that´s it... :) Keep in your prayers our ability to communicate with the Quechua as in these villages across the river, they do not speak much Spanish, and we will have to try to talk to them mostly in Quechua--that should be an experience... :) And lastly, please pray that the peoples´ hearts and minds are open to the saving power of Christ, and that through us, these people may know the hope and peace that comes with the knowledge of knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus.
I can never thank y´all enough for your prayers and support! Without it, it would be so much harder to do the things that I have to do. I will try to keep y´all in my thoughts as much as y´all will keep me in yours. God bless, chantá Septiembrekama (and until September, in Quechua)!

Sacrifices

I have now been in Sucre for about a total of three weeks (I did take a small trip to Peru to get my visa, which I did get by the way! Thanks for your prayers!!) and I have had a lot of time during these last few weeks to think about home back in the States. I´m not really wanting to go home anymore--sorry, mom--but from time to time I find myself thinking about Texas and all the things I´m missing back there to be down here obeying my Lord to the best of my ability. We all have to make sacrifices in order to follow Jesus, and I am just now realizing the extent of what I have sacrificed to be here in Bolivia.
The most obvious sacrifice I made was two years of my life in a third-world country away from family and friends. I have found myself pondering every now and then what they´re up to, do they ever think about me, or how could things be different if I was back there. I know that most of the time it´s pretty dangerous to think about stuff like that because this train of thought can easily lead to obsession and/or depression on the field, and can hinder the work. I´ve found that I have to keep myself focused on the reason I´m here so as not to go crazy with homesickness; if I wasn´t here, then there would be no one else to reach the Quechua in the mountains, as God has has planned since before everything came to be. But even with this thought, it´s fairly hard to keep my imagination from returning to Wichita Falls from time to time. I´ve had to sacrifice spending special days (birthdays, celebrations, etc) with my family for being here. They know I love them; but they also understand the need I have to share the awesome Word of God with the lost people here, and for that I can never be thankful enough of them. I talked with my mom, brother, and grandparents last night for example. My mom, brother, and a friend drove to Oregon to visit our relatives on the West Coast. I would have loved to be able to go on that trip to see my grandparents but I´m called to be here serving however I can. I knew coming down to Bolivia that I would have to give two years of my life to serving God full-time, but that still doesn´t make it any easier now. I´ve already missed my entire family´s birthdays once, and there´s still another round to miss; trips with family and friends that would be priceless for years to come have been traded for other trips into shabby villages that are far more priceless to the advancement of the Kingdom; family meals around our dining room table are traded for meals of potatoes in a dark hut, but with the knowledge that after this life I will be able to share meals with my loved ones and the people I love in Bolivia altogether; hours with good friends in the building some people call the church, doing ¨church,¨ are traded for being the church with my brothers and sisters here, waiting in breathless anticipation for the moment the Bride is reunited with her Groom. It´s thoughts like these that are able to keep me sustained through the trials I face, and all of the dark thoughts Satan´s minions throw my way.
The other sacrifice that missionaries, and all children of God, make is to sacrifice a life of comfort; it may not seem very comfortable at times to those who have it in the States, but, for example, most missionaries on the field would almost weep tears of happiness to have an actual toilet, or even toilet paper... :) The material thoughts that run through my head make me laugh sometimes while I´m out in the villages: ¨Man, what I would do to eat at Cheddars!¨ ¨If I see another potato again, someone is going to loose an appendage.¨ ¨To have one uninterrupted night´s sleep would be a little slice of Heaven.¨ We all make sacrifices, that´s the obvious truth, but it´s funny to see how much hype missionaries get for ¨what they go through.¨ If only people knew how much of a blessing it is to suffer even one night of cold, dehydration, not sleeping, and hunger to reach a village that is so shocked that some ´gringo´ would care to come to them in the middle of nowhere that they are eager to hear the message we bring! The look in their eyes when they hear for the first time that there is more to life than just slaving away trying to scrape up a living, that there´s a loving, caring God who loves them too is worth all our suffering alone, much less knowing that these people now have ¨living water¨ and will never thirst again (and we´ll be able to party all the time in Heaven together).
The piece of Scripture that I read on my last trip that really gave me a new perspective on this is in Matthew 19. It´s just one, simple verse but it really caught my attention and allowed me to reflect on those thoughts of home and material goods with a whole new perception: ¨And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name´s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life,¨ verse 29. This verse was like a balm on my mind because before this I was almost constantly, obsessively thinking of home. All of the suffering we push through will be rewarded to us one day; maybe in this life, but if not, oh well, just more to look foward to in Heaven. To know that we aren´t the first ones to experience the pain of leaving loved ones behind to share the Gospel is an incredible gift as well. Christians throughout the ages have done so, and it works wonders for our faith. People will almost always ask ¨Why are you here, when you could be living it up in the USA!?¨ Well, I just thought I would share this little thought that´s been running through my mind for the last few weeks with all of y´all.
I want to share a praise with all of you because it was a huge hurdle that finally crumpled for me: I got the first stage of my visa in Peru to be here in Bolivia as a missionary! It was such a huge weight off my shoulders, and one that had been there for a long time. I know that your prayers helped with this because I used the exact same papers as last time, with the same guy as last time who said I didn´t have the right papers, and he gave me my visa!! God is so great! I do also have a few prayer requests as well for you too, if it´s not too much to ask... our trip has been postponed for a little bit; we were supposed to leave today actually, but our boss wants us to stay a few more days so my partner can finish making hammocks to support himself being here (much like Paul being a tentmaker, and supporting himself). So please pray for Javier, my partner, and I as he is trying to complete his hammocks so he can continue working with our team. Also, we are taking Quechua language classes every morning for three hours. It´s pretty tough so far, but we are trying our hardest. Please pray that we can get a grasp on the language so we can start to share the Bible in the Quechuas´ heart language, patience for learning it as well as we can, and for an opportunity to open up to share the Gospel with our language instructor. I will try to put out one last blog before we leave for our next trip, whenever that may be. ;) Thank you for reading and until next time!

Whatever situation to be content

¨I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strenghens me. Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. ¨ Philippians 4:10-14
Sunday night our whole team (which is four guys and our boss and his wife) met as the church in the house of Trent, our boss. We ate a great dinner that Kay prepared for us, tacos -they were delicious!- and then we discussed the passage of Scripture above. Trent said that these verses ran through his head constantly while we were in the communities for the past month. We each got to share our thoughts on the passage and also how it related to our experiences in the villages. Trent asked us what were some of the ways that we `learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger´ and it was really good to get to hear and share the ways we coped with our situations. So I´ll share mine with y´all...
I have to admit to y´all that the first five or six days were very dark for me spiritually. I had many thoughts running through my head that nearly had me convinced I was in the wrong place. There were a couple of days when we first in Qolqa Pampa that I just wanted to give up and head, at the very least, to Pocoata, and at the most transfer to another, easier job. After a couple of days of feeling this despair bordering on depression I finally got smart enough, or desperate enough, or inspired by the Holy Spirit, to open the Word of God. Even after just an hour of reading it, I felt refreshed and my eyes were opened to the folly of what I was considering doing, breaking my covenant I made, not with man, but with the Almighty God. After this I spent as often as I could soaking in story after story from the Bible. Of course there were days where I wasn´t able to read my Bible before we worked for that day, and I noticed a big difference in my attitude that would permeate every situation for the worse.
The second thing that helped me through our first trip was that I realized I needed to have faith in God to take care of us no matter what. I know that sounds really cliché but it´s almost like I had an epiphany when I read parts of Matthew 6; ¨therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on¨ verse 25, ¨and which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his life?¨ verse 27, ¨but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.¨ verses 33 and 34. There was a time during our stay where we didn´t have work for four straight days... and no work means no food from the people. I was really worried about what we were going to do until I read that passage and just let God take care of it. And He did; we were able to eat crackers from a store for those four days! Hey, it was better than not eating... I had been worrying about all the details and had gotten frustrated whenever our plans changed, or fell through. Once I had released all of that stress and tension that my OCD side so much enjoys feeling, I was able to fully rest in Him like Jesus says in Matthew 11; ¨Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,¨ verse 28. I thought I had learned my lesson to keep focused on His Word in order to survive, like Deuteronomy 8 says: ¨that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord,¨ verse 3, but like the Israelites time and time again in the Old Testament, I forgot and went my own way. Thankfully, God is a God that constantly pursues us no matter what, so He was right there when I turned back to Him once more.
So for an update now. Our plans have changed slightly. Now Javier and I are in Puno, Peru once more working on getting my missionary visa... again. I supposedly have all the necessary documents I need now so I should be able to get it. I´m just asking all of you to pray that the process goes smoothly so I can more effectively serve our Lord. If we can´t do it here in Puno, then I will have to go to Lima for about two weeks and mail my passport to DC so they can do it there and mail it back.

21 Days To Be Exact

For this blog I figured that I would tell a few more stories of our trip... maybe some of the more funny ones, to lighten the mood. :)
If you can´t guess the reason for the title of this blog, that was how long I went without a shower or bath of any kind. We couldn´t really bathe at all during our trip because there wasn´t a place that was appropriate for us to do it. So we had to ¨suffer¨ by not bathing. ;) But, at least, we were able to blend in with the people more (as much as a red-headed, white guy can)because they rarely bathe as well. There´s just not time in the day to do because they´re always working- sunrise to sunset, practically- and the water is very, very cold that they use for everything. So when we finally returned to our base camp, Pocoata, on the 5th of July I took my first shower in three weeks. It looked like I had a river of mud off my body. I have no idea how I got dirty in some of the places I was dirty, like my stomach and my thighs... crazy dirt can travel by itself! hehe
Another interesting story is that we got to work for the Bolivian government for a day! The village where we were stayting was also inhabited by construction workers who were literally carving a road into the side of the mountain for the buses to travel to the next big city. We got to know them very well and have some great conversations with them about various aspects of Bolivian life. So one day, when we didn´t have any work in the village, the workers asked us if we wanted to help them that day. Now they had been working with bulldozers, other heavy machinery like that, and, best of all, dynomite so I was thinking that they were going to try to put me on one of those or use the explosives... I could picture myself bringing down the entire mountain. But thankfully all they wanted us to do was to dig a ditch with a shovel so that water wouldn´t flood the road. So Javier and I got to be ditch-diggers for a day, but nonetheless we can say we worked for the Bolivian goverment! Don´t tell the US government... They may not like that. haha ;)
Hmmm, what else.... on the day that the workers left for a little vacation, their cook asked Javier and I if we wanted some sugar. We told her that yes, we would like some but that we didn´t have a container there for her to put it in. They were in a big hurry to leave that night so I thought that we weren´t going to get any sugar then. But the cook told Javier to take off his hat, and that she would put it in his hat. We both thought she was joking so he took it off and offered it to her, and then, all of a sudden, she poured a scoop of sugar into his hat! We were very shocked, and somewhat humored by that act of kindness from her. It was really thoughtful of her to do that for us because without them (and their food) we would have lost a lot more weight than we did.
I think that may be it for the stories of our trip this time. I really appreciate everyone taking time to read this and praying for us. As of right now, the word on the street is that we are going to head back out into the communities on the 20th of July, and that will most likely be for another month or so. Please keep praying for our language acquisition so we can share the Gospel with people who are so ready to hear it!

First Trip into the Communities

Well, I´m back in Sucre after spending about three weeks in the area where I will most likely be spending the rest of my term. Overall, I think that this trip was a good first trip. About the only bad thing that happened to Javier and me was that we weren´t able to cross the river that we needed to to reach the villages that we wanted to. But we were able to stay in another village so we didn´t have to return all the way to base camp.
The first three days were the hardest of my life, quite possibly. The first day we climbed up a mountain 2000 feet in tire rubber sandals and with 60 pounds on our backs. There were so many times that I wanted to turn back on that first day but my stubborness, but mostly God´s provision, kept me going. Then we had to walk down another mountain two days later to try to cross this river in a very deep gorge but we got lost on the numerous trails and had to turn back. When we finally reached our village for this trip, Qolqa Pampa, we were very depressed at not being able to cross that dang river. But God works in wonderful ways! Just when we were getting ready to move from this village to try to find another, God provided us with work (which wasn´t available before this time for a few days). I guess he wanted us to stay there and make some good future contacts. We did unfortunately have many days without work, eiter because no one came to offer us any or they fell through on coming to get us to work with them. But yet again, I realized that God even used those loooong days with no work for His glory. I was able to, in this trip alone, read the entire New Testament and Leviticus through Job of the Old. It was great to be able to dive into the Word like that and see how God loves us and is constantly pursuing us.
Some of the work we did included sorting potatoes (there were many days of this) into large, medium, and small. It was interesting because there really seemed to be no standard for any of the three sizes, just your best guess. We also shucked corn for a whole day... that was quite an experience. Not exactly rocket science to do, so we had lots of time to sit there and think while we shucked that corn. But as Javier says, ¨Mejor de nada (better than nothing).¨ But probably my favorite job that we helped with happened on the 4th of July. We got to drown two pigs for the owner to take to market and sell. It was probably the worst culture shock I´ve had since I´ve been here. We had to tie up the pigs, and then stick their heads in a hole in the ground full of water until they died. Next we poured boiling water on them and scraped them with knives to get all the hair off of them. Then the Bolivian men gutted them while we watched. It was quite a day... I mostly stood back like a `gringo´ and took pictures. ;) I don´t think too many people will be able to top that 4th of July... haha The other group, Graham and Andrew, worked like dogs the entire time they were in their community, so I feel a little shame that we didn´t get to work somewhat like they did. But I´m pretty sure my time is coming... :)
Needless to say, we made it back in one piece. We didn´t have to many problems health-wise. I got sick one day, Javier got sick once or twice, Graham´s hands looked like they were going to fall off, and Andrew got sick one day as well. Also, I´m pretty sure that my blisters on my feet from the tire rubber sandals had blisters on them as well. But everyone is healing up and getting ready to head back out on the 15th of July for our next trip.
I want to thank all of you for praying for our team as we were out in the communities. It was a very difficult trial, but I hope that the process will get easier as the months wear on. I need to keep in my mind that this is where God wants me to serve for the next 15 months so I can stick it out, but not without a lot of help from y´all. Just knowing that we have such a strong prayer base back in the States helped us get through most of the days. So again, thanks to everyone for praying for us and keping us in their minds during the last month.
Some prayer requests for this next trip are:
The language (Quechua) that we need to learn in order to tell the stories to the people- It´s pretty difficult to learn while we´re in the communities because all of the people speak it so fast and mumble most of the time.
Crossing the river this time- We need to get to the other side because that is where people have not heard the Word of God at all.
Our health- Please pray that we can keep healthy enough to work and have enough energy to learn the customs and language of the Quechua.
Thank all of you for taking the time to read this and I´m going to try in the next couple of days to put up some new pictures of this last trip. In His Hands.

Psalm 19 - Part Two

So yesterday I was sitting in our house, marvelling at the South American mindset. I was planning on going into town in order to get this next blog posted for all of you readers out there, but unfortunately there was a "bloquero" all day yesterday going on all over Sucre, and quite possibly Bolivia. The only road between our house and the city was blocked so we couldn´t leave the house at all yesterday... we watched about seven movies, haha. Our house is on the road to the airport above Sucre so I have no idea what the protesters were trying to prove/get from the government by blocking our road, but whenever people are dissatisfied with things around here they love to block the roads with rocks, vehicles, and other handy, various rubble strewn about. Anyway, onto other news: I got word from my boss, Trent, that we are most likely going on our first trip into the communities on Monday. I believe we are going to be in the villages for at least two months so please be praying for us during that time for patience while learning the language, Quechua, and open hearts among the people we are going to living with. I am really excited about finally getting to be able to go on a trip!
Psalms nineteen... did you think I would forget why I'm writting this blog for these three times? :) The second part of the psalm reads: "The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward." Just reading this section of the chapter lifts my spirits whenever they are low. It may not always be easy to follow Him, but it's here, plain as day, why. All of the different parts of God are perfect. This part of the chapter is very poetic (very astute, I know, this is after all the book of Psalms...). David loves to write about the Lord and His attributes; over and over, he praises different parts of God.
I have to admit that the second to last sentence is hard for me at times. I have to consciously remind myself that this earth is not our home, and therefore I need not the material goods that are so highly sought after by my home culture and society as a whole. My focus should be on the real treasure which is obeying God and glorifying His name throughout all the earth. Part of Jesus' teaching dealt with this Psalm as well it seems; in Matthew six he talks about treasures and the eye as being the light of the body. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness." As the Psalm says, following the commandment of the Lord will bring light to your eyes and make your whole body healthy as a result. I like the imagery of the Psalm and Jesus' teaching because it's very easy to picture how important the eye is, and if it's unhealthy how it afects the rest of your body. We must keep our eyes healthy by keeping them fixed on the truth that is Jesus Christ.
In the last verse, we are told that we have been warned and have no excuse for not obeying God´s law, but at the same time we are rewarded by following it. Paul says in Colossians: "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ." This verse is one that I will keep in my mind as we go and work among the Quechua for however long we can. I must let my life be the witness to others in the beginning since I´ll have no idea how to communicate with them until I learn their language.
I will definitely try to get the last part of this series out before I leave on Monday. I´ll also include some more information on where we´re going and some more specific ways you can pray for my partner and me.

Psalm 19 - Part One

Just to let y’all know, I made it to Sucre, Bolivia on the nineteenth of May. I really want to thank all of you for your support and prayers while I was trying to get into Bolivia. That was one of the most trying parts of my term so far, and all I was doing was sitting around… I most likely would have gone crazy if not for knowing that everyone back in the States was keeping me in their minds and prayers. So thank all of you again! Tomorrow we are traveling through our province to get our equipment from our other house, so please keep our travels in your prayers. And please pray for my missionary visa to all work out sooner or later.
As I was having my quiet time one morning I decided to read one of my favorite Psalms: number nineteen. When I read it, I saw three distinct parts to this Psalm. The first part reads, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and the night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their measuring line goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.” It reminds me every time I read it of the glory and majesty of God’s creation in the natural world; especially the wonder of the sun. Every morning I am greeted by the rising sun coming through the windows in my room. It is such a great experience to be able to enjoy seeing the sun rise over the city of Sucre day after day. I think often of this part of Psalm nineteen whenever I see this sight.
Also, one of the most eye-opening experiences I have had related to this Psalm was on my first mission trip to Thailand in 2004. One of the days, our hosts took us to an ancient Buddhist temple located at the summit of a nearby mountain. It was a long, hot walk up those steps to the top, but once we reached it, I can definitely tell you that it was worth every drop of sweat (and the sunburn). The view from the top of the mountain was priceless and indescribable… You could see out for miles and miles and miles of forest. Below the mountain was where three countries bordered each other: Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand. These three countries have a horrendous history of wars, slave trade, and corruption, but at that moment at the top of the summit, all I could think about and cry out in my mind was how could humans look at this wonderful display of God’s power and not believe that there is a God who created everything in the universe.
Paul words it very well (of course… he’s Paul) in Romans: “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” This verse is one of mant that I get my fuel from to go and try to reach these people groups that are isolated from everything and everyone.
Every terrifying act of nature, every picturesque scene, every sunrise and sunset, every clear night sky revealing the stars practically screams out God’s sovereignty to human kind. I am reminded of His power and glory every time I am able to be part of one of these wonderful things.
The second part should be following closely behind this one.

Reflections While Trying to Wait

First, I want to thank everyone who reads this blog for taking the time and commitment to do so. A little update is due I figured as well before continuing. I have been in Puno, Peru which is located on the coast of Lake Titicaca in Southeastern Peru for about seven days so far. I have been here working on getting my missionary visa in order to enter Bolivia and begin to minister to the Quechua living in the Andes mountains. Please be praying for God to transform my heart to refocus on Him, and Him alone. Also, I will be traveling this weekend, so please pray that it is a safe and smooth trip through immigration, and that I stay open to promptings from the Holy Spirit during my travel to Sucre.
At first, this town really annoyed the heck out of me, to be honest, but then I began to realize that it wasn´t so much the town as it was my attitude regarding my situation for the past two months. On the exterior, I have been fronting a very calm, go-with-whatever-happens demeanor, but under the surface I have kept hidden how I really feel about the situation I am in. One night while I was in Cusco with one of my teammates, we brought up the question, ¨If God wants me there (wherever that may be for each of us; physically, mentally, spiritually), then why is it so hard to get there?¨ We talked about it in regards to us and another missionary, somewhat lightly, but ever since I have realized that question has been haunting me for the longest time, since training, but I had never put it into words and confronted it; I had always kept it in a dark place in my mind so I wouldn´t have to try to answer that question. After my teammate left, I read a book by Bill Hybels, Who You Are When No One is Looking, and I have to admit it hit me pretty hard. The book talked about character, and some of the traits that are tied into character. The trait that most affected me when I read the book was endurance. Hybels says it is common if our expectations are not met overnight, we have a strong tendency to quit. I have to admit that the past two months has been really trying on my endurance for this reason; I expected to be in Bolivia almost two months ago, and still I am in Peru. I have thought so many times ¨Why can´t I just go home? What is God doing keeping me from Bolivia? I could just transfer to an easier, safer job, and still be doing God´s work, can´t I?¨ After reading the book and its chapter on endurance, I realized that I need to keep with this even though it may be the hardest thing I will ever do. In the end, it will ultimately be satisfying knowing that I followed God´s direction for my life and went through with it.
I realized, after taking a good, long look at myself, that my attitude for the last two months was one where I expected to run into problems, of course, but that God would snap His fingers and solve them all instantly. I have been so focused on how God will use me once I get to Bolivia, but I have been completely ignorant of the fact that God is shaping me right now to better perform the tasks ahead. I had blinders on, figuratively, and I thought all would be swell once I finally reached my destination. Everything around me was simply a hinderance to ignore (or complain about), unless it helped me reach my goal. These were thoughts that I have to admit were in my head, and I had bought into. An event yesterday morning brought all of these thoughts to the forefront of my mind all at once, and I was surprised to actually realize that I thought these. The event I mention is that my boss gave me permission to head to Bolivia two nights ago, so yesterday morning I woke up and went to the bus station to buy a ticket for the first bus out of here. Once I got there, I quickly realized that it was too quiet, and something was up. There was no one at the station, either to sell tickets or to buy them. Apparently, for the next two days the entire city is pretty much shut down, and will reopen on Friday... My first emotion when I found this out was frustration and I thought ¨How could God let this happen?! I am so close to getting to where I am supposed to be! I am here to obey His will, and one thing after another has hindered me from accomplishing it, in my mind!¨ Then it dawned upon me, who am I to think that I know exactly when God wants me to leave, what God wants me to do, and how God wants me to do it. I had tried to take control of the situation, instead of letting God control me. He obviously knows what He´s doing, and I can only follow Him, trusting that He will take care of me. He never said that following Him would be easy: ¨If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.¨ Matthew 16:24 And I had let that slip from my mind, thinking that I´m a missionary, and therefore, would have an easier time of things because I am, well, a missionary. Oh, how the opposite has been true so far!
It feels like I have been in the middle of a war since before I set foot on Peruvian soil. Every day has been an uphill struggle to obey Him. I can´t remember a single day since training has been over where it was easy for me to open up my Bible, pray, or see people lovingly through God eyes. In retrospect, I had let myself into the trap of thinking that since I was doing what God called me to do, I needed to do nothing more. Oh, how I have been so wrong! God has already used this time to show me the rough areas of my life that He is trying to smooth out so I can be a clearer reflection of Him to others. To close this, yet again, long blog, I have learned, or relearned, that yes, God wants all lost people to turn to Him and love Him, but at the same time He wants me to become more like Jesus and is shaping me to resemble Him because in my present state I cannot most effectively glorify God and draw closer to Him. And He will do whatever it takes to accomplish these goals, if it means I have to be delayed two more days, or two more months. I need to follow His plan, not my own.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.

The First Blog...

Welcome to everyone who is reading this blog. Thank you for taking the time to read about some of my adventures and thoughts. I figured I would change my updates to a blog from the traditional e-mail that I have sent out in the past because this is much easier for me, and I believe for y´all as well. You can tell other people about this blog if they are interested, and there is no need for me to moderate who can see it; as this blog is available to everyone. Also, you can simply e-mail any blog entry that you want to whomever you wish as well. I will still try to send out an e-mail to my list of people whenever I update this blog so y´all can know whenever I add new stuff. Another great thing about this blog is that I have added links to the left of my fellow slaves of Christ; most of these are on the team I am on currently, and, if you are curious, you can peruse their blogs as well to get to know some of the wonderful, awesome people I am working with.
So onto an update! I am currently hanging out here in Cusco, Peru trying to acquire my visa to get into Bolivia to work with the Quechua in the Andes mountains. It has been a very trying time so far because I am simply sitting here, waiting for some important documents to arrive in the mail so I can get that visa. Cusco has been an awesome experience so far; it is a great city that is home to some of the most interesting history of South America. This means that there are ton of gringos (white people) who visit this city every week; I don´t think I have ever seen this many gringos in one place since I´ve been in South America! Next week I think I will visit MachuPicchu and some of the other ruins around the city simply to pass time waiting, and because people fly from all over the world to see some of the amazing sights that are just a few hours from me, so why not?
We -Graham and me- have been here since Monday (Graham left last night for Sucre, he already has his visa), mostly sitting around (or napping) and eating in between those important times. But these last few days have given me a lot of time to think about some stuff, which was helped by a book I read, Jesus with Dirty Feet. So, if you´ll indulge me, I will share some of those thoughts with y´all. I would advise you, if I can can, to keep an open mind while reading these; some are singular thoughts, others follow a train. There are two main ideas: being a Follower of Christ, and church (and in reality, they go hand in hand). So I hope you enjoy reading these as much as I enjoyed thinking them!
When we become a Follower of Christ, we have a new purpose that is completely transformed from when we were simply lost in the world: Jesus redefined greatness with a rag and a basin of water by humbly washing His disciples´ dirty feet. To serve others is to live.
The Follower of Christ obeys the King and, in the process, becomes more like the King. It is a lifetime of demanding, humbling, beautiful, risky ventures that are worth every ounce of sweat. Jesus´ commands are our life-blood; it should be impossible to follow anything else that is of this world. Jesus´ enduring, central message to His followers is ¨Be like me. Live like I did. Follow in my footsteps.¨
Calling a church a building is like calling a Follower of Christ a two-by-four. The plural of ¨Follower of Christ¨ is ¨church.¨ It´s nothing but a fancy way for Followers of Christ to say ¨we¨ or ¨us.¨ But church isn´t a chance happening; Jesus never meant for His disciples to be alone. The first thing Jesus did to start His ministry was to call His disciples together. Jesus went everywhere together with His disciples; and when He did send them out, it was at least in pairs.
The stuff of the Kingdom of God: seeing brokenness and repenting, talking with Yahweh, being named Valuable and Beloved, loving and serving others as Jesus did, and obeying the King should all be done with others.
All Followers of Christ mess up (it´s inevitable), and so all Followers must pick up the rag and water basin to serve and give and lead. Jesus called us His sheep, and Himself the Good Shepherd. All the sheep themselves must do some shepherding- strongly leading, humbly serving, and always following after Jesus; it is a necessary part of being a Follower of Christ.
There are no churches. There is only church. One church. Sure, there are a number of buildings that shelter Followers of Christ from the elements, and there are a number of names posted on those buildings... but there is only one church, one family. Every single Follower of Christ counts all the other Followers of Christ as brothers and sisters. Amen.