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.