Doulos of Christ

Last Post in Peru...

2010-10-16T06:21:00.000-07:00

Wow, it seems so weird to me to finally be leaving South America, especially since I've been here for three years!! The time passed by so quickly; where did it go?? This last week I've been in Lima, Peru, mainly to get LASIK done (it went well, I can see!!), but I've had a lot of down time as well. In this down time, I found that I've been splitting my time between reminiscing about my term here, and trying to picture the future, and what I'm supposed to be doing with the rest of my life... Yeah, I know, just some light thinking to pass the time... haha

I just wanted to share with y'all probably one of the biggest things that God taught me while I was down here. I may have shared this before with some of you, but please bear with me. :) Before I came down here to South America, I was a very Type-A, had-to-have-everything-planned-out-to-the-t, and nothing could change or it was the end of the world kind of guy. I'm pretty sure I was borderline OCD as well. hehe But when I came down here for my term with the Xtreme Team, I was in for a huge wake-up call!! Through our team over these three years, I learned, time and time again, that our plans are never sufficient, only His plans will work, and we have to obey. When we plan out the next 1, 5, 10 years to the minute (and allow no room for change), we do a great disservice to God, whose plans for us we couldn't even begin to imagine!! His Holy Spirit loves to move (seemingly to us) at random; He has no schedule that God gives Him every day on his iPhone, Blackberry, or newest Android... I'm not saying that plans are bad; please don't hear that. I still make plans, to a lesser degree, but I make sure that I am always open to the Holy Spirit, and willing to change my ways to His. It all comes down to obedience; are we willing to surrender our neat, tidy plans for His incredible, and sometimes scary plans for us. Are you? Obedience is life; it is the call for all Christians. Many believe that one is 'called' to missions or to a 'ministry', but that is simply not the case. All Christians are called to obedience, plain and simple. We have to be willing to go wherever God wants to send us, do whatever He wants us to do, and say whatever He wants us to say. Do we trust God enough to simply obey Him at every moment in our lives?

Less than three weeks...

2010-10-01T11:19:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to give everyone a quick update on how life is going down here in Iquitos, Peru... First, I want to thank everyone for their prayers with regards to the Training Manual that I´ve been working on since who can remember! :) But finally... it has been completed!! The English version has been finalized, and sent out to the various jefes who requested it. I only have 6-7 pages of just one more class to translate into Spanish, and the Spanish version is done as well; there is light at the end of the tunnel!
It seems that at least two of the trainees from this last training (Eliseo & Nestor) are very interested in joining the Xtreme Team. Please continue to pray for these young men; that they may obey wherever God leads them.
And finally, I have just 19 more days left in Peru; only 7 left here in Iquitos. It is amazing to think that my three-year term is coming to an end! It seems like yesterday that I was leaving the States to come down here... Wow... I ask for your prayers for the transition that I will begin when I return to the States; please pray that everything goes as smoothly as it can, and that I don´t experience reverse culture shock too strongly. Also, I still have nothing concrete planned as far as a job, or where I´ll be living, and that´s fine. :) Please pray for me to listen to Him for opportunities, and to obey whatever the Lord tells me to do.
I do have a confession to make... Before about a week ago, I wasn´t spending time daily in the Word; I would read from time to time, but it wasn´t a constant habit I had cultivated in my life. But for about a week now, I have been spending time every morning in His Word, reading the Scripture and meditating on what I have read throughout the day. It´s amazing how that "little" habit can make such a huge impact on your daily life! I say "little" because it doesn´t necessarily have to be an hour at 5am every morning reading the Word; it could just be a chapter, or even a verse, before breakfast, and then all day just think about that chapter/verse, and how it applies to your life as a Christian. Maybe I was the only one not reading his Bible consistently, but if I´m not alone, I challenge those like me to open it in the mornings, make it a part of your routine, and just see how it transforms every single thing you do all day!

Last Xtreme Training for Yours Truly

2010-09-06T07:26:00.000-07:00

Good morning fellow bondslaves of Christ. I hope all of you are having a great time wherever you are reading this blog from! Time for a little update from down here in Iquitos, Peru…

The training ended the 27th of August, and all of the students did incredibly well on their final exams! Thank you so much for your prayers for them during these extremely hard three months of training. After their tests, we had a party for them, congratulating them for a job well done. The picture is of the students at the party showing off their Xtreme Team jerseys; every person who has ever passed the training has gotten one of these. Left to right is: Juan, Felix, Pedro, Nestor, and Eliseo. We visited with the students shortly after they left Iquitos, and all of them are really enjoying the home cooking they missed for the three months. I think all the mothers are trying to ‘fatten up’ their children by shoving as much food as they can down their throats… even though each student actually gained weight!! Haha They were all pretty skinny to start with, so they added a lot of muscle throughout the training, compliments of the exercise they had to do almost every morning. Please be praying for the five students as they readjust to being back home, trying to incorporate the teachings they learned in training into their everyday lives, and for direction for their lives. Adam Huser, the Iquitos Team Leader for our team, is returning from vacation on the 23rd of this month, and after a couple days of readjusting, he’s going to ask the students if the Lord is telling them to join the team at that time. Adam needs at least two team members so they can start the work necessary in this area. Please be lifting up the students, and ask for obedience to the Lord whatever He may call them to do.

J and I have pretty much wrapped up the Xtreme Team training manual… in English. Haha. J is going over the final copy now before we ‘officially’ complete it, but after that the English version is done! Thank all of you so much for praying for us for the last who knows how long since we started putting this manual together. Now, I am focusing my efforts on the Spanish version… haha The majority of it has been translated already (maybe 80%) but I need to translate the classes and changes we added the past few months to the English version to the Spanish. This is my last and greatest task that I have left before I return to the States next month, on the 21st. Wowsers… I can’t believe I can say, “next month,” that’s crazy!! Please continue to pray for focus and strength for me this last months and handful of days.

The biggest question I’ve been asked the last couple of weeks is, “so Jeff, now that you’re so close to being done, what are your plans for the States?” That’s a good question; if anyone has a good answer for me, please let me know! Haha :) Honestly, I have no firm idea of what I’m going to be doing once I get home beyond resting for a couple of weeks at my parents’ house in Wichita Falls. I’ve considered staying in WF, getting a job there that’ll support me while I work on the Emergency Management masters program, or moving to the Dallas/Fort Worth area… even Stillwater has crossed my mind. Holla Mike!! :) But truthfully, my future is in the Lord’s hands, and I’m just trying to wait on Him to tell me what I should do. My biggest prayer is that I can obey Him; that’s why I’m not planning anything for sure, because God has a way of turning our plans inside out, and upside down.

No, I'm not dead... nor have I been kidnapped!

2010-08-17T06:48:00.000-07:00

Let me apologize for the lack of updates over the last few months; life down here is far from routine every day, and writing a blog was always on my list to do but it never made it to the top until today. I know that many of you have continued to pray for me even though I have not provided you with specific details; I want to thank you so much for those prayers. I let this fall by the wayside while I was focused on other things, mainly the training that is going on here in Iquitos.

In this current training we have five young men participating: Pedro, Juan, Felix, Nestor, and Eliseo. All five have been going strong since the beginning; that’s not to say that there haven’t been rough patches along the way, of course there have been. Most recently, they passed through the first church classes, and had a very hard time releasing their traditions in favor of the simpler model found in the New Testament. In their favor, I still have trouble some times with releasing my unbiblical traditions that are no more than that… After those classes, I partnered with Felix, and we all went on a seven-day trip to the communities so they could share stories with people who haven’t heard the Gospel yet. I had a great time with Felix as my partner; we had quite a few deep, profound conversations about the training and life in general. I also experienced some great alone time with the Lord away from all the hustle and bustle of the city, standing on the bank of the river at sunset, singing His praises and listening to Him. It was a welcome escape from sitting in front of a computer every day, but by the end of the trip I was anxious to get back and get trucking on the training manual once again. Right now, the guys are on another seven-day trip, sharing more stories they have learned in the same communities. While they’re in the communities, J and I are working full-speed on the manual; we hope to have it completely finished in English by the end of this week, before the guys return for their final week in training.

Please be praying that we can be open to the Spirit to guide us as we make the final touches on the manual. Also, pray for the students, as they are finishing up the training. Ask the Lord that He may guide them to what He wants from them afterwards, and that they may have the strength to obey Him, no matter what He asks. Finally, I have just over 2 months left here in South America... That's crazy to even try to wrap my head around right now! :) Please be praying for me that I might finish strong and focused on the work here, and not turning my attention to things back in the States.

I will send out another update on the 1^st of September, when the training has ended to inform everyone as to how it went, and what the next step is for me.

He must increase, but I must decrease

2010-05-05T08:33:00.000-07:00

For the past few days, I have been going through the book of John chapter by chapter with my girlfriend, Elaine, over Skype. Yes, you read that right, I did say girlfriend! :-) We decided that this would be a good opportunity for us to remain focused on the Lord, get to hear each other's opinions on Scripture, and give us another reason to talk. hehe She's had some great insights to the Scripture that I never would have seen before if not for her sharing it with me.

A couple of days ago we were talking about John 3, and this section just really jumped out at us: "Now a discussion arose between some of John's [the Baptist] disciples and a Jew over purification. And they came to John and said to him, 'Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness - look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.' John answered, 'A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness that I said, "I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him." The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease" v25-30.

John displays perfectly the servant attitude that Jesus talks so much about! A normal human would have responded, "Man! Why is that Jesus dude stealing all my thunder?? I was the bomb!! But now, everyone goes to see him, instead of me... What can I do to make myself better, so I can trump this guy?" (That would have been 'The Message' translation I'm sure...) But John the Baptist gets it! He's not mad at all, in fact he's rejoicing that everyone is no longer coming to see him. His joy is complete, as he says. How many Christians today actually display this servant attitude in every aspect of their lives? I know that many times, I fail utterly. Being raised in America, where it's all about me, me, me, and what I want, and how can people serve me, it's so hard to be counter-cultural with regards to this teaching.

That's why what I see in the institutional churches today makes me so sad... Let me pose a question: is a bigger, nicer building a way to decrease? Are better, more hip programs "every day of the week and twice on Sunday" a way for us to decrease? Is trying to hire the "best, most relevant" senior pastor a way to decrease? Or is all that junk just trying to make the institutional church increase in the eyes of the people? Brothers, WE ARE NOT CALLED TO TRY TO IMPRESS THIS WORLD!!! The church is not about the people, making them feel more 'comfortable'... sorry, American consumerism that has invaded the pews (that "me" attitude, "well, I like this better so we should do it"), it is about Christ! Sadly, institutional churches are run more like businesses today, rather than allowing Christ to move through His people, and speak to them.

But it's simple... if we try to increase, seeking glory for ourselves, and not for God, then we take the focus off of Him, and there's no opportunity for Him to increase. But if we give Him the glory He is due (all of it!), and let Him be responsible for everything in our lives, then people will take notice of that, and He will increase! The servant attitude isn't easy; it's my prayer every day, and some days I fail horribly. But the beauty of it all is that I can pray for God to work in me to make me more like my Lord, step by step, and know that His strength is sufficient.

A quick update on things down here... Hmm, last week I finished the first draft of the English Training manual for our team! That was a big relief! Now I'm fine-tuning it and seeking feedback from the leaders on how to make it better. Also, since that's mostly done, I've moved on to focusing on the Spanish version of the Manual. Please be praying for that because that is a bear to finish! Next weekend marks the start of our XGM, the annual meeting of everyone on our team, in all three countries (Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia). I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone again, most of them I haven't seen since the XGM, a year ago! Please be praying for the travel of everyone to and from Lima. Thank you so much for reading!

No, I Haven't Fallen Off the Face of the Planet

2010-04-22T07:31:00.000-07:00

It's been a long three months since I last updated y'all as to what is going on down here. I apologize (it seems every time I write an update, I'm apologizing...). I had plans to write at least one while I was in Ecuador, helping out with the training (it was even already typed up), but then the worst luck hit me when my laptop got stolen... among other things. But I promise to write every two weeks, until I'm finished down here in Peru. I pinky swear, there! ;-)

The training in Ecuador went very, very well! Puyo, Ecuador would be a perfect retirement spot!! I'm just saying... haha We had a solid group of 5 guys who really understood what the missionary's life is all about, and what it means to BE the church... amazing!! I wouldn't be surprised if the 3 Latins all joined up with one of our teams; the other 2 are IMB Jouneymen. I spent the first two months there onsite helping out J with anything that needed to be taken care of, and then we left the training in the last month in the capable hands of other Xtremers. The training ends in 8 days so please be praying for these young men as they are trying to listen to the Lord, and find out where they should be serving.

Right now, my principle job has been to finish our Xtreme Team Training Manual. There have been interesting moments, to be sure, while I've been working on it; moments that make it seem like I'm never going to finish it, but I need to just keep my head up, shake off the little roadblocks, and keep typing until it's done. :) The English version is almost completed; after that, I have to start on the Spanish version: seeing what classes I already have, which ones need to be translated, and then put them all into one manual for our Latin partners.

Other than that, there's not a whole lot going on down here. I haven't wrestled any gorillas, gone tooth-and-nail with a jaguar, or beat down an anaconda lately. I know, I know, I'm losing my edge... hehe Next month we have our annual team meeting in Lima, so I'm really looking forward to that! My mom is even going to be there... be that good, or bad... :-P haha No, I'm just kidding, I'm excited to see her. Then just a few days after that, I go home for a short vacation to see my brother's graduation, hang out with friends, and go on a cruise to celebrate Michael's finishing high school.

Please be praying for a few things these next few weeks:

Patience for me to get this training manual done.
That everyone's travels to our annual meeting in Lima is safe.
That I can stay focused on being in the here-and-now and get my jobs done, instead of thinking only about going home in 6 months from today (not that I'm counting... :D).

There are a few praises as well:

All of our teams are going to be able to make it to the annual meeting! There was a large possibility they weren't going to be able to, but they are!
This training manual is almost done; there IS light at the end of the tunnel!! haha

I think God knows what He's doing....

2010-01-24T07:22:00.000-08:00

I know my mother has been spreading the word about what direction I've decided to pursue after I finish my term here, but I figured that y'all would like to hear it from me as well. About two weeks ago, the earthquake hit Haiti as all of us not living under rocks know. At first, to be honest, I didn't pay much attention to all of the news articles written about it but then two days after it happened, one article caught my eye. It's amazing to me how God can take even one small, insignificant news article and remind me of His plans for my life. The article I read was about how the logistics for the relief for the Haitians was bogged down, and as a result, the victims were suffering even more from lack of basic things, like clean water and food. While reading that short article, it was like a smack to the back of my head that reminded me of things that I had forgotten a long time ago. When I was in high school, one of my mentors showed me a degree that she told me I would excel in; called Emergency Management, the study of the logistics of responding to national and global emergencies. Seeing as how I was in high school, I didn't really pay much attention to her advice at the time (even though I took her advice later, and joined the Journeyman program of the IMB). Now, a decade later, God, through this article, reminded me of that conversation like it happened yesterday, and everything seemed to click together, like only He can do. Talking with a really close friend and my family has only strengthened the feeling that I'm getting that this is what He wants me to do to bring Him glory in my life. I'm good at stuff like that (and enjoy it thoroughly), but only because God put it in me to be good at it for His glory. After talking about it with my friend, I realized that God even took it one step further... I've been thinking, brainstorming, planning, whatever you want to call it, about starting my own NGO that would respond to global disasters, and help the victims get the relief they needed the quickest possible way. And God has put very large plans in my head for this, as in a NGO with offices all over the globe to respond even quicker. So I've been looking at the University of South Florida's Masters of Public Health in Global Disaster Management & Humanitarian Relief (imagine how I would introduce myself with that title... haha) to do when I get back so I can start down the path God has put in front of me. So I ask for all of y'all's prayers in this. But at the same time, I ask for prayer that I can remain focused on my job here, and see it through to the end done well, and not looking at it as a hinderance to my 'life' afterwards. Thank you.
A little update as well as to what is going on down here in Peru because I know that not everyone has ways of finding this stuff out... Right now I am in Lima, the capital of Peru, but am heading to Ecuador today by bus (25 hours.... yipee.... and then another 12 hours.... woohoo...) to get everything ready for a training there. We have at least 10 confirmed trainees; they all know that it is 3 months long this time, and we have a really good feeling about it. Please pray for the trainees, and for the teachers as well during the next 3 months: that everyone can stay focused and seek God in all things. I will try to let y'all know how training went once it's over. Thank you very much for your prayers, and support.

The Easy Path is Almost Never the Right One

2009-11-25T17:13:00.000-08:00

This 'revelation' hit me hard tonight while riding in a mototaxi into town and I had no idea why at first. Fortunately, I was able to seriously think about it over dinner alone (yes, I know that's slightly pathetic... haha). As I began analyzing the statement, I realized that it was brought into my consciousness by the Holy Spirit. Because to be honest, I have not been trying to take anything BUT the easy path lately, and the HS convicted me strongly about it tonight. I don't know why tonight, but what I do know is that I can start figuring out how I can change my life to do more than just glide through each day. Let's take an honest look at ourselves (and I'll be the first to admit that I do this)... how many of us just try to get though each day with the least effort possible? It's amazing the number of posts I see on Facebook every single day that just beg for the weekend to get here already; why is that? Our path was never meant to be an easy one... In fact, ours should be the hardest path there is. Unfortunately - myself at the front of the line - we've lost sight of that, and we expect everything to be hunky-dorey, easy-breezy. God has given us this day - today! - to make something of it! Not to just be wishing that it was the weekend so we can 'officially' slack off. We need to be proclaiming God's glory with every word, act, and thought every day. We are called to be authentic with each other, and even love our enemies. Now, those two things are most definitely NOT the easy path! But we must do them, brothers and sisters, for they are what sets us apart from the world. They are what call the lost to us, and makes them realize that we are different from them, and then they desire to have what we have. Instead, most of the time, the lost see us no differently from them because we too try to slip into the Easy path, and we get stuck in 'survival mode.' The Lord gave us strength enough for each day, and He renews that strength every day, but He gave it to us to fulfill His Will for us, not to beg the weekend to get here faster.
For me, the Right path would be to spend time in God's Word every day, instead of watching 'Heroes' and 'Bones'; for me, the Right path would be to be a better steward of my time, focusing every action for His glory, instead of mindlessly stalking my friends on Facebook; for me, the Right path would be to become a better steward of God's money He gave me, instead of carelessly spending what I have so that I become reliant on my parents to help me out each month; for me, the Right path would be to develop deeper relationships with the people next door and back home, instead of closing myself off emotionally to make it easier for me. I can't do this alone; I would fail within the first 10 minutes! But with Him, and the strength He provides, I stand a chance to walk the Right path. How would the Right path look for you?? It's not going to be easy, and we may not always 'win' each day.... but it's going to be Right.

Family

2009-09-03T20:17:00.000-07:00

It seems to me that I start out way too many of these with an apology for not writing a blog sooner; and this blog will keep the tradition behind those. I apologize for the amount of time between this blog and the last; almost two months if I'm not mistaken. Yikes...
Well, the topic for this blog has been on my mind since my birthday, the 18th of August. I got to talk to my family back in Falls town, and it was really good hearing them wish me a good birthday. Before you think me a bad son, or out in the boonies of the Amazon rainforest, that is common for me. I try to talk to my family at least once a week to catch up with them. I love them dearly, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that without my parents' influence on my life, I wouldn't be here serving the Lord. And my brother.... what can I say about him besides I'm proud of the man I see him growing into, and that the hardest decision of my life was to extend a year down here; the main reason for it being hard was that I would miss being there for his senior year. But.... this blog isn't about them, as much as I love them. No, my intention in this blog is not to confuse you. Yes, I know the title is "Family." So how can this blog not be about my family in Wichita Falls??
You see, the profound event that happened on my birthday was not a phone call, but a toast from one of my Latin partners working with us down here, Isaac. His toast touched me greatly because in it he talked about how even though we're from different countries, different continents, different hemispheres, we are brothers. He went on to say that he felt like I was his brother because of the times we hung out, and once when I gave him some advice when he needed a different perspective on an issue. I remember those times, but not with the vividness apparent in his eyes as he shared them; moments that I took for granted affected him greatly. He ended with saying that Jesus showed us how we ought to live with other Christians: Mark 3:31-35 "And his [Jesus'] mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting aorund him, and they said to him, 'Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.' And he answered them, 'Who are my mother and brothers?' And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoeever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.'" We spent a lot of time together, but every person who does the will of the Almighty is my family, and should be treated as a very close, and loved, family member. I sometimes forget this, and then God has to smack me upside the head again, like He did on the night on my birthday. I need to apologize to some of my brothers and sisters for not treating them the way I should be treating them, like my family. I have a lot of people down here who are like family to me, and have been big parts of my life: J and Susan, Trent and Kay, Doug, Jose, Isaac, Linzi, Nadia, Enoc, Misty, Amy, Johnathan, and so many more that I'm sorry I don't have the room to list. It's so easy in today's culture to just avoid someone that rubs us the wrong way when we should be loving them and hanging out with them because that's what family does. We admit that there might be a few nuts in the family fudge, but they make it a better family for it. :)
Well, thank you for letting me share this thought that's been rolling around in my head for a couple of weeks. A little update for y'all: on Monday, I'm flying to Lima, the capital of Peru, and from there I'm taking a bus to Quito, Ecuador, Thursday the 10th. We are going to be starting a two month training there in the jungle southeast of Quito for a group of indigenous tribes who want to reach some of their lost cousins farther up the river from them. It should be a good time!! But please be praying that everything goes well logistics wise, as well as the training itself. Oh yeah, one big praise that happened this last couple of weeks. The man of peace from the village where we work in Bolivia (I passed through the village once or twice) asked to get baptized!!! It's amazing what He does!

A Clarification

2009-07-08T13:19:00.000-07:00

It has been brought to my attention that my previous blog might have caused some confusion among my home church with regards to a certain situation there.... That was not my intention at all, and I apologize to anyone that may have been confused by my blog.
I mentioned that we had asked two Latins to leave the church, and currently there is a similar situation that occurred in my home church. There are two differences in the situations that should be made aware to those reading my blog. First, is that those two young men were bringing major division to the church by their attitudes, and were completely unrepentant. They were given chance after chance to redeem their ways; sadly that is not the case of the situation in my home church.... Secondly, and most importantly, our ENTIRE church was in agreement with the decision we made; it was not a few people making a decision for "the greater good" of the people. I know for a fact that my home church (which means every member according to the Bible!) has not been in unanimous agreement with this decision, and that is the biggest difference between the two situations. Please also keep in mind that I am still a member of my home church, even though I am serving here in Peru for God's glory. It is not my intention to cause division in the church, only to bring the bride of Christ back to it's Biblical roots.
Again, I apologize to everyone that I may have confused, and I hope this has clarified it. If anyone wishes to talk to me, please feel free to email me at redhusky03@gmail.com and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Being the Church Is Not Easy (a.k.a. It's Hard!!)

2009-07-06T07:50:00.000-07:00

I would like to share with y'all what's been going on the past few days down here in Iquitos... Where to start, where to start?? Well, I'll start at the end, and work my way backwards. Yesterday, as the church, we asked two believers to leave the training, and return to their home town. Some sins came to light about a trip they had recently made while going through the training here. We asked them about it, and they were completely unrepentant so we had to do what the Bible calls us to do in the situation (Matt 18:15-17): we had to, in loving kindness, ask them to leave because of the harm they were causing to the church. Through their attitude they were destroying the other believers' focus on God, and refocusing it on immature things of this world. I'm not going to lie; the last two days have been extremely hard on me because this is not the first time I've done this. I've done it before, last December in Bolivia; same situation... A missionary was in sin and was unrepentant, so we decided as the church to send him back home. I thought to myself; "When have I ever heard of a 'church' in the States asking someone to leave?! What in the world?! How can I have partaken two times in the last seven months asking people to leave and there are 'churches' in the States who have never done it in their entire history??"
The answer is simple enough: being the church is not easy! Yes, I know that pretty much everyone will agree with their mouths "we are the church all the time, Jeff" but the majority are not practicing that in any way. They've learned to parrot it whenever someone says that so as to feel Biblical in some small way, but to look at their lives speaks something completely different. Easiest example of this: where do Christians go Sunday mornings? To church, of course! Well, that seems to me like the underlying feeling then is that people aren't the church, and a place is. As a result, people revere the building because "it's God's house." I can't remember how many times I've heard that phrase from pastors talking about the building. That is nowhere in the Bible! Every time the New Testament speaks of church, "εκκλησία" in the Greek, it speaks of people. The word literally means "congregation." Hmm, that's interesting... Just crack open Hebrews and start reading; that letter just tears to pieces the idea of a building as 'the church.' Just listen to this (Heb 3:5-6): Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope." So we are his house....
1 Corinthians 3:16- "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" 2 Corinthians 6:16- "What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, 'I will make my dwelling place among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.'" So we are his temple....
Read chapter 9 of Hebrews... Go on, this blog will still be here after you finish. What did you think?
"So why did Jeff go off on this rant against the 'church'?" you ask yourself. I haven't... I'm just trying to open eyes and hearts to see that we are called to be the church every day, not just one pitiful hour on Sunday morning; that is NOT the church as Christ imagined it, yearns for it to be. At home with our familes, we definitely need to be the church. At work with our co-workers (as much as we may loathe them), we must continue to be the church. Yes, even in that building sadly called "church," we need to be the church. Being the church is not being hunky-dory all the time; it's being real, raw, more than the "I'm doing good" (when you're not good) of Sunday morning answers. And that scares people. To see the church in great action, read Acts. They knew what it meant to truly be the church. They were human as well; sometimes we lose sight of that, and picture all the real people of the Bible as saints who found it easy to be the church. No!! They struggled just as much as we do today.
I pray that God may encourage you in some way, and that He can give you the love, strength, honesty, and patience to be the church all the time in your life.

Lightly Controlled Chaos

2009-06-02T11:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry everyone for the lack of update on my blog... It's been quite the roller coaster ride since I last wrote. I was just planning on writing about the stuff going on now so y'all can know and be praying for everything that's happening.
Ummm, where to start, where to start? Well, I have finally settled in Iquitos, Peru located smack dab in the middle of the Amazon rain forest (we're three degrees from the equator). I finished all the necessary upgrades needed on my house like paint, furniture, and the like, and it wasn't a moment too soon because now I have three Latin roommates and it's all working out great for us. I'm now living with Jose, from Ecuador, Enoc, an indiginous from the jungle, and Isaac, from a small town on the river to Pucallpa from here.
The biggest news is that we are now neck deep in two trainings going on at the same time. We have a girls training that started about two week ago, and a guys training that started last week. There are five girls in their training, and there are seven guys and one couple in the guys training. Today has been our first real day of rest since the girls training has started so we can finally slow down and breathe a little. Please be praying that the people going through the trainings may find their strength in Him, and be able to complete the training so they may be effective missionaries wherever they may serve. A praise I have is that no one has voiced any thoughts about quitting the training thus far, and that is great news for us and them!
That's pretty much it for now; my life is revolving completely around these trainings until they are finished so please also be praying for Jeremy and I that we may be given sufficient patience and strength every day to keep going out there to teach. I have to constantly remind myself that I cannot do this on my own; I need your prayers, and the grace of my Lord to get me through these next three months.
On a great note, my family will be coming to visit me in just three days!! hey will be here for nine days, and I am going to show them Lima, and then we're headed here so they can see the training and get to know the people involved. Please pray for safe travel for them and us this next week.

Called to Suffer as Christ Suffered

2009-04-12T14:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter fellow bond slaves of Christ! It’s been almost a month since my last blog, but the reasoning for this gap of time cannot be claimed by nothing happening. On the contrary, quite a lot has been going on down here in Peru.
We had our Xtreme Team annual reunion a couple of weeks ago now, and it was amazing! Renewing old friendships, starting new ones, and hearing from all of the people connected to our team from all over South America is remarkable! We also shared the Bible chronologically from Creation all the way to the new church in the group times. The four days we had all together wasn’t near enough I thought to get to know all of the forty-ish people that were there. Afterwards, I had a couple days of rest in Lima to hang out with some really good friends (at Starbucks a lot of the time…) before I headed to Iquitos, Peru. I went there with my boss, Jeremy Taliaferro, and two other Xtremers, Adam Huser and Jonathan Jackson. Our main goal was to find houses for our team that was going to be starting up there this month. Amazingly, within three days we found two houses that are perfect for our team. That was truly an answered prayer because we had heard from other missionaries in Lima that it would take us close to a month to find a suitable house. Once we got those houses squared away, Jonathan and I stayed behind for last week to search out good places to have training for the new recruits at the end of May.
I recovered quickly my loathing of the jungle… haha I had somehow forgotten how the jungle was; I guess from all my time in Bolivia in the mountains. When we first stepped off the plane, I felt like I had walked into a sauna. The sweat immediately began pouring from my body like a river, good times, good times. :) To be honest with y'all, this is the most I’ve suffered in a while; and it's still nothing near to the level of suffering of others in "closed countries." The last three months had been pretty laid back for me, but now I feel I’ll more than make up for it now in Iquitos (look it up on a map…) and Peru between the climate, being at Jeremy’s side now to work, and the travel related to my job. What’s been running through my mind for the past two weeks have been the countless times in the Bible that we are called to suffer for Christ. Many have lost sight that to truly follow Christ is to suffer; there is no other way, no "easy Christianity." As Paul says in Philippians “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.” 1:29 Wow… we have been ‘granted’ the great gift of suffering for the name of Christ. How many of us, me included, count it something incredible to suffer? To Paul, there was no higher way to show allegiance to Christ than that of suffering. Why? What is so great about suffering? The obvious benefit of suffering is that those not really serious about the cause they follow would quickly ditch. How many examples of this have each of us seen? Or the number of people we can think about who would ditch if “things got hard?” The second benefit of suffering is that we grow exponentially from the trails we face. Here are just a few verses that talk about it in the Bible: James says “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” 1:2-4, Peter says “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1:6-7 and again “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed… Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.” 4:12-13, 16, and one more from Paul “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame.” Romans 5:3-5. When we face the trials that life and this world throw at us, we have the opportunity to show them who we truly are, and that we are not just weaklings following a senseless religion that the world seems to believe we are. But that we are the real people (not perfect) whose strength comes from a source larger than anything we, or they, can imagine, Christ Jesus.

Moving

2009-03-15T07:56:00.000-07:00

The last week has been really hectic for me because tonight I am leaving Sucre, Bolivia for good. I still don´t know how I´m feeling over the move, but I know it´s necessary for the good of the team (so I can be in the same city as our chief boss in Peru). I have a great thing going on for me here in Sucre with the three Latin teammates I share the house with. We meet every night after dinner and discuss a chapter of the Bible, and I feel like I will missing out on that side of relational living when I move to Iquitos, Peru because I think I will be living alone for the first few months at least. It´s going to be a big change but I know that God will see me through it, no matter what happens. I just wanted to let ya´ll know about the fact that I´m moving and also to ask for your prayers. We are going to be traveling over the course of the next three days to Lima, Peru, eventually. Please pray that we have safe travel, and that at the Bolivia/Peru border we don´t run into a lot of trouble from the border police. They like to act more important that they really are. Please lift up us during that situation so we can reflect the glory of Christ through all we do to the police.

Celebration

2009-02-22T14:29:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the length of time between posts, my friends. Maybe before I start this blog I should explain how I go about writing these and when. Most of the time I will write a blog whenever something happens in my life or to our team down here, to update y´all on the things that are passing here. Other times I will write a blog whenever I feel the prompting of the Holy Spirit to do so; take the last one for example, and at least one of my entries from a while ago. This blog will mostly be the latter, but I will also throw in some of the things that are happening down here since it´s been a while since you have had much news.
The last few days have officially been Carnaval here in Bolivia. I say officially because for pretty much the last month, the youth have been celebrating it in one way or another (usually involving water thrown at someone). The celebrations I have seen the last few days are incredible compared to anything I have seen in the States: people dancing and singing in the streets with a band following them everywhere (traffic doesn´t matter to these people), families standing on their balconies with water balloons, water guns, and buckets filled with, yes, water waiting for the unsuspecting passer-by, and the all-out water balloon wars in the main plaza between the youth. It seems everyone gets caught up in the celebration of this holiday here: children dress up in costumes, young people enjoy their water, and even the parents and grandparents have been spotted throwing the occasional water balloon, and then playing it off like they are innocent! I have a confession to make… even I, the serious, hard-working Jeff :P, have been caught up in the celebration the last few days. I have no idea when this came to be, all I know is that I now find myself laughing trying to dodge water balloons and shaving cream (and even an egg once) aimed at this poor gringo while I am trying to pass through the plaza and streets downtown. A week ago I couldn´t stand the celebration but something in the air, something electric, almost palatable, has transformed me into someone who enjoys getting water balloons thrown at him!
This has led me to think about life back in the States: the mostly monotonous routine we live day-to-day, with a little variation on the weekends perhaps. We, as children of the Most High, as followers of the King, as citizens of the Eternal Kingdom, might be going through life with no celebration whatsoever—minus our singing on Sundays—that others can see. People notice no difference between the followers of Christ and other people with regards to joyfulness. In fact, some may say they notice that we are shockingly less joyful than others; the ¨typical Christian kill-joy.¨ How can that be?? How can we, who have the promise of eternal life, be any less joyful, celebrate any less than those we label ¨non-Christian¨ in this life we have?? Yes, we know this world is not for us; Jesus said as much (John 17:14). But that doesn´t mean that we aren´t allowed to be joyful! On the contrary my brothers and sisters; we are supposed to be the most joyful of all people because of our relationship with the Father through the Son! The Psalms are filled with expressions of the joy we should feel; 4:6, 5:11, 13:5, 21:6, 30:6, 92:5, 95:1, 100:1, 118:24. The Gospels preach joy from start to finish, from the angel visiting Mary in Luke 2:10 to Jesus himself speaking on it in John 15 and 16 to the discovery of the empty tomb by Mary Magdalene in Matthew 28:8. The Apostles´ letters are also filled with joy: Romans 15:13, Philippians 2:2 and 4:4, 1 Thessalonians 2:20 and 5:16, James 1:2, 1 Peter 1:6, and 1 John 1:4. We should be exuding joy so that it becomes contagious, and the people around us are caused to wonder how and why we are so joyful. Joy is a vital, prevalent part of the Christian walk. Our situation should have no affect whatsoever on our joy, in fact we are advised to ¨rejoice¨ and to ¨have joy¨ when we do suffer! This wonderful oxymoron that we are called to follow is just one of many that the world says makes no sense, but we know the truth. ¨More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God´s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.¨ Romans 5:3-5. This is one of my favorite passages from the book of Romans; it is just so powerful and inspiring to me. My challenge to us as the body of Christ is one that may be hard for some. I challenge all of us to rediscover the true joy we have in Christ through His sacrifice on the cross for each and every one of us. Let your co-workers wonder and marvel at this joy you have, and when they ask about it curiously, you have the perfect opening to share the wellspring of your joy.
Right now, and actually for the last few months, I have shifted in the type of work I am doing for our team here in South America. I have moved from being a ¨front-line, mountain walking missionary¨ and have become the administrator of our team. My job has involved many different aspects of things in relation for our team: from producing promotional materials for our Latinos and for the churches in the States, to coordinating several features of our annual team meeting next month, to pretty much anything in between as my boss sees fit to assign me. Our Bolivia team is doing well; Roberto and I are here in Sucre after a month in Cochabamba for Roberto´s Quechua classes, Efrain and Javier are in Cochabamba right now taking Quechua classes, and Trent, Kay, and Jack are getting back from a three week trip into the communities tomorrow. Please be praying for all the travel that will be taking place next month from all over South America to Lima, Peru for our annual meeting. Thank all of you so much for all of your support and prayer thus far in my journey here; as of today I am sitting at my one year and four month anniversary and only eight months to go.

A Fatal Flaw of the Traditional Church

2009-01-20T06:00:00.000-08:00

Seeing how about 90-95% of my readers are currently in a traditional church setting, I´m betting the title does one of two things: it either makes you uncomfortable, or you´re already deciding to ignore this blog as a rave against the traditional church. Let me assure you, I love the traditional church and I plan on attending my home church once I return to the States. In fact, last night I hardly slept at all thinking about this blog and how I could write it lovingly. I really feel led to write this and even asked the counsel of one of my team members about doing it.
Last night, my mind began racing with thoughts about my home church as I tried to go to sleep. Recently, as most of you know by now (I´d be surprised if you hadn´t heard... but that´s another blog), the senior pastor of my home church has decided to follow God´s direction for his life and that direction is leading him away from my church. It really got me thinking about the traditional church culture as a whole. I was reminiscing about the past when our former senior pastor left and ¨coincidentally¨ a surprising amount of members left as well. I wonder if that will happen this time too. Of course, those people will use a plethora of different excuses as to why their leaving coincides with the pastor leaving, but the truth is, everyone knows. ¨For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.¨ 2 Timothy 4:3-4 ESV Wow, that sounds remarkably familiar... Research shows that about 15% of the church members leave whenever an able pastor leaves that church (Weese & Crabtree, Elephant in the Boardroom).
This research alarms me because it points to a fatal flaw of the traditional church. I recently read something that struck me profoundly as true, ¨Members of the traditional church often mistake a leader´s charismatic personality for His Spirit.¨ So, when that charismatic pastor leaves, people feel free to leave as well. The flaw is that the vast majority of Christians in the traditional setting attend ¨their¨ church for one reason or another that has nothing Biblical about it... For example, ¨I go to so-and-so Church because I like the pastor (or the music, or the people, etc).¨ Fill in the blank with whatever the fad is at this current moment. It´s the ¨I/Me¨ focus that pains me; the point of church has become to please the attendee (i.e. hip music, impressive buildings, fancy stages and the ¨performances¨ of the worship leaders) and we have lost the point that church is to worship and praise our Creator. It doesn´t matter how we ¨feel¨ about it, but American culture has permeated and warped the meaning of the church from Him to ¨me.¨
So the point of this blog is to issue a challenge to all of my readers to examine, critically, the reason one attends your church. Please ask yourselves these questions, ¨Why do I go to ______ Church?¨¨Is it because I like the pastor, or the music pleases me, or the fancy stage presence?¨¨Or do I go because I can honestly feel a connection to the almighty presence of God while I´m there?¨ I earnestly pray that you can take the time to look deep inside yourself and, most importantly, ask God to show you the reasons you attend.
One disclaimer before I end this blog: this blog is not advocating that if you are unhappy with your church, you are free to ¨shop¨ other churches for one that fits you. Yet again, the focus of that kind of thought process is back to ¨me.¨ This blog is only asking that you find the right reasons for attending your church.

An Organic Appetite

2009-01-02T07:30:00.000-08:00

The following entry was an article in a magazine I read this morning as part of my quiet time. When I read it, I identified with everything the author said… I just felt like sharing it with y´all since it affected me so much. It was written by Margaret Feinberg, and is taken from her book, The Organic God. Enjoy.
¨All too often I find myself tempted to live a distracted life. You know the kind—the one where within the busyness of life you still manage to perform the stand-up, sit-down, clap, clap, clap of regular church attendance, hope for a new nugget of knowledge or insight from the weekly sermon and check off a random, albeit short, list of acts of kindness.
That´s when the hunger appears in my belly and overtakes my soul, grumbling that there must be more. More of God not only to understand but to discover.
Deep down inside, I still hunger for a true, pure relationship with the Organic God—the One True God.
While organic is usually associated with food grown without chemical-based fertilizers or pesticides, organic is also used to describe a lifestyle: simple, healthful, and close to nature. Those are all things I desire in my relationship with God. I hunger for simplicity. I want to approach God in childlike faith, wonder, and awe. I long for more than just spiritual life but spiritual health—whereby my soul is not just renewed and restored, but it becomes a source of refreshment for others.
I want to discover God again, anew, in a fresh way. I want my love for Him to come alive so that my heart dances at the very thought of Him. I want a real relationship with Him—a relationship that isn´t altered by perfumes, additives, chemicals, or artificial flavors that promise to make it sweeter, sourer, or tastier than it really is. I want to know a God who in all His fullness would allow me to know Him. I want a relationship that is real, authentic, and life-giving even when it hurts. I want to know God striped of as many false perceptions as possible. Such a journey risks exposure, honesty, and even pain, but I´m hungry and desperate enough to go there.
In some regards, the journey to know God isn´t too different from a first encounter with someone you´ve never met. I want to know what God looks like and what His interests are. I want to know His likes and dislikes. I want to know what makes Him tick and also what ticks Him off. I want to fall in love all over again. I want to know God.
I want to know the Organic God.¨

The Desolate Places

2009-01-02T07:28:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning while I was having my quiet time, I came across a verse in Mark that really struck me. I stopped reading, and just had to try to wrap my mind around what the verse was saying… It is amazing what the Lord uses to speak to us because I am sure that I had read that same verse many, many times before without giving it a thought, but this time it hit me. The verse is as follows: ¨But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every corner (emphasis mine).¨ Mark 1:45 ESV
This phrase just made me stop and think for a while. It´s not a very striking verse, though. What I mean is that this verse hadn´t jumped out at me before yesterday; I would read it and just keep on going, but yesterday was different for some reason. I came to the conclusion that there was a reason Jesus was out in the `desolate places´ at that time. His fame had begun to spread as one who could heal people with a touch and cast out demons with a single word. I think he went to the desolate places because there, only the most desperate and believing people would come find him to be healed. Think about it: if Jesus were in the city, anyone with a cold or something slightly inconvenient could confront Jesus to be healed, and I´m sure He would (as time consuming as it would be). But if He´s out in the middle of nowhere, then people will think twice about going to see Him to be healed. The people with no hope (lepers, the blind, the lame, etc) would seek Him out no matter His location. I believe this is a test of their faith in His power to heal them. And the verse says that still people were coming to Him; I can picture the most broken and hopeless people being the ones to go to Him in that desolate place.
Many of us find ourselves in `desolate places´ at least once in our lives. It seems like nothing is going our way, we´re struck with a hopeless situation, everyone seems to desert us at a moment´s notice, or we just feel at our wit´s end. It is there that I believe that Jesus is waiting for us. He wants to help us at all times, but in those desolate places of our lives it seems to me that He jumps at the opportunity to comfort us with His presence. We sometimes forget that Jesus´ main goal while He was here on the earth was not to heal the physical infirmities He confronted, nor was it to cast out the demons He came across in His travels, and today it is not to make His church´s life easier; far from it. His main goal is to bring the lost and broken into His family, no matter the cost (His painful death being the ultimate one).
We, as followers of Christ, should be going to the `desolate places´ of others to reach them in the name of our Lord. All that this requires is our ability to be transparent with others and to be able to recognize when someone has reached that desolate place. It will take us looking beyond our own lives, and actively trying to empathize with our neighbors around us (neighbors being everyone…). My prayer is that I, for one, can look beyond my own selfish pity and be able to help a hurting human being out of their desolate place, or at the very least point them on the path to the One who can heal them of their woes.

A Reflection of Things Thankful For

2008-11-28T06:56:00.000-08:00

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

2008-10-26T17:27:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-10-17T17:31:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-04T07:30:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-21T15:37:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-14T07:22:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-26T06:20:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-14T08:22:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-15T13:36:00.000-07:00

¨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

2008-07-12T12:07:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-08T09:58:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-30T07:38:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-28T09:59:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-05-02T17:20:00.000-07:00

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.