Becoming All Things to All Men

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised:

Leah and I were recently able to attend an evangelical conference in the small town of Pocoata. Though it was a slightly overwhelming cultural experience, it was a blessing to get to meet and spend time with a number of believers we did not know before. We were also able to advertise our upcoming women's evangelism conference, and we have a number of people who have expressed interest!

Prayer Necessities:

1. Leah recently left for a three-week vacation in the States. Please pray that I would have wisdom to know what to do during this time in Sucre and that I would make disciples here.

2. Please pray for Nelly and the remainder of the believers in Ayuma during this time when we are not with them. Pray that the stories we have taught them would come frequently to their minds and that they would meditate upon and obey the teachings in them. Pray that they would share those truths with others.

3. Pray that Leah would be encouraged during her time at home and that she would be able to encourage others as well.

Inquiring Minds Wanna Know:

So, as you can probably tell from the title, I've been thinking a lot lately about Paul's words to the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 9:19-23:

"Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings."

In context, he is talking about how, as an apostle, he has the right to receive financial support from the church at Corinth, a church he himself planted, though he has never demanded that they fulfill this right. Instead, he has freely given himself to the Corinthians, sacrificing any rights he may have had, so that the Gospel would may be advanced.

What has me thinking so much about this lately is wondering whether it's alright to lie about things in order to "become all things to all men." Here's my situation:

We go into the Quechua village where we're working and there for up to a month at a time. During that time, we dress in clothing similar to, though not EXACTLY like, theirs. We normally cook for ourselves but, from time to time, they bring us food which we, of course, are obliged to eat. We work alongside them in the fields or pasturing their animals and, at times, we are invited to watch Quechua music videos with them as entertainment (here is a typical church service, complete with an impromptu concert :)).

But here's the thing: I don't like Quechua music. No, it goes beyond that. I absolutely LOATHE it with every fiber of my being. It's screechy and uses too much off-key accordion, and I'd just as soon drive a stake through my right eye as spend an evening listening to it. And there are certain things that they eat that I'm not crazy about either, though most of the food is very good (pictured here is our friend Gabriel eating a normal meal).

So what should I do when they ask me whether I enjoy watching their music videos? To tell the whole truth would be offensive, which would hinder the advancement of our work here. But I wonder if my enthusiastic, "Of course, I absolutely LOVE your music!" is leading me down a slippery slope towards the justification of dishonesty in the name of a higher cause.

So I just wanted to ask what y'all thought. What does it really mean to "become all things to all men"? Surely Paul didn't necessarily enjoy everything he ate or every song he heard, so how did he handle it? How did he do all of that for the sake of the Gospel, so that he could share in its blessings?

Would love to hear your input!

South American Missionaries

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised:

Leah and I recently had a wonderful time of encouragement and edification with our church here in Sucre. When some were discouraged, others were able to lift them up either by their actions or by their words. It was just a beautiful reminder of what the church is all about: Being the body of Christ!

Prayer Necessities:

1. Please be in prayer for Leah and for me as we begin our vacation time in the States. Pray that it would be a time of refreshment and rejuvenation for us both as we begin our final year in Bolivia. Pray that we would be able to encourage and be encouraged by our churches at home. And please pray that I would get my passport back from immigration officials in La Paz in time to make the trip!

2. Lift up the church in Ayuma, asking that they would be sensitive to the Spirit's leading and would be transformed by Him into the church He wants them to be. Pray that they would be light in the darkness to those around them who do not know Christ and would care for the needs of their brothers and sisters around them.

3. Please pray for our upcoming women's evangelism conference in Ayuma beginning in late July. Ask that the Father would send the women He has prepared and that their lives would be changed by His Word. Please pray that the results would be far-reaching and that His Word would spread like wildfire through this region.

Inquiring Minds Wanna Know:

One of the goals of the Xtreme Team (or Equipo Xtremo, as it's known in Spanish) is to find and equip Latin believers to be missionaries taking the Gospel to the farthest corners of South America. And I am proud to say this is one are in which our team has been highly successful.

See, American missionaries are not the most effective people at reaching South America - or any other continent besides our own - for Christ. We speak a different language and so have to learn one or more new languages, a process that takes months to begin and a lifetime to complete. We have different cultural beliefs and have to spend significant periods of time - and make many mistakes - to learn the worldview of the people with whom we work. And all of that doesn't even take into account the possible difficulties - or even impossibility - of gaining access to another country and/or people group.

Now contrast that with a South American national who already speaks at least the trade language (Spanish), who looks and thinks more like the people with whom they work, and who potentially has less government bureaucracy to plow through in order to minister. Don't you think they'd be more effective at the work than we can be?

Don't think I'm saying that God can't work through United States missionaries in South America. Of course He does. I'm living proof. But I think we often try to do the work ourselves, rather than equipping others for the task. And that's not a very efficient way to spread the Gospel. We need all the workers we can get, especially those who don't have to go through quite as much preparation as I do.

So, that being said, I wanted to introduce you to the South American members of our team. Each of these people is someone I consider a hero, an example to be followed, and I hope that you'll remember to pray for them.

1) Javier and Roberto. Along with North American journeyman Landon Ginn, these guys make up the Bolivia men's Xtreme Team. Javier (on the right in the picture below) is a 23-year-old Peruvian who was been with the team since he was 18. Roberto (pictured on the left), from Argentina, is a whopping 26 years old and has been with the team for three years now. Javier has struggled with receiving a steady source of financial support since he joined the team, yet he remains. He has been robbed multiple times on community trips, but he never thinks about leaving. Roberto battled salmonella poisoning a couple of years ago yet, as soon as he could hold food down, was raring to return to the village where they were working at the time.

Currently, these guys are working in a little jungle town on the eastern side of Bolivia. They are faithful and tireless in their efforts, and it always encourages me to be around them, not to mention it spurs me to be more faithful to the Lord as well.

2) Eliseo. At 22 and fresh from Xtreme Team training, this young Peruvian is one of our newest members but also one of the most passionate ones. He recently made a trip that required 18 days of boat travel just to reach the target community! Once there, he and his teammate spent about a month with the people before returning to their home city. Eliseo is raring to go out on another trip, and this time he wants to go for six months! The only thing missing is a partner, as his previous teammate has since left the team. Please that God would send the right young man to accompany him.

3) Caleb. This young Quechua man from Peru was previously part of the men's team in Bolivia, but lack of financial support forced him to return home. However, rather than giving up on his missionary calling, he is in the process of starting his own team of young missionaries to be sent out to Quechua villages near his home in the Andes of southern Peru. Recently married, he and his wife Deborah raise animals to sell in order to support their ministry.

4) Jose and Zarai. Pictured to the left, this young man from Ecuador and his new Peruvian wife now live in the northern jungles of Peru and are beginning a team of young men to go out and plant churches among the many indigenous tribes around them. Jose is a boisterous guy who makes friends easily and has a passion for Jesus Christ, and Zarai, though much quieter, has the same passion. Please be in prayer for their young marriage and their young ministry.

5) Uzias and Sabina. Pictured to the right, they are a middle-aged couple from the Huitoto tribe in the Peruvian jungle, but they have lived for the last two years among another tribe, the Esse Eja, on the border between Peru and Bolivia. The government limits outside access to this tribe, but Uzias and Sabina, being indigenous peoples themselves, are welcome there. They have been sharing stories from God's Word with the people and living life with them, and they now have a few who seem ready to follow Christ. A few months after moving to the area, Sabina's mother died but, because of limited communication, she did not find out about until several months later. But, instead of harboring bitterness over that, Sabina remains eager to serve her Lord among the Esse Eja people. She makes and sells jewelry in order to help support their work.

Please be in prayer for all of these heroes of the faith and for the peoples among whom they work.

Getting to the Other Side

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised:

Leah and I finally accumulated and turned in all of the necessary documents to receive our two-year visas. It has been a long process, but we are thankful to have completed at least this first step of it! Now it is just a matter of waiting until the visas are granted.

Prayer Necessities:

1. Because my passport is now with the Bolivian immigration officials in La Paz, please pray that I will be able to get it back in time for my vacation to the States in late May. I have been told that it is no problem to pull the passport back out of the process, so please pray that this is so.

2. Be in continued prayer for our upcoming women's conference in July and August. We are soon to begin advertising for this, so please pray that God would prepare the women that He desires to participate and that they would obey His call.

3. Please continue to pray for the church in Ayuma. The more time we spend with them, the more problems we see. Please pray that the Lord would pour out His Spirit upon them and that they would be transformed into the church He wants for them to be.

Inquiring Minds Wanna Know:

It seems that all of my recent blogs involve crossing rivers, but I hope you can bear with me. That's just life during rainy season in Bolivia.

Every Wednesday, most of the people in Ayuma make the 1.5-hour trek to a nearby town called Pampa Colorado to buy things at the weekly market there. You can buy vegetables, live animals, gas for cooking, and even Quechua music videos! (Believe me, you might be curious enough to watch one of their videos once, but I can guarantee you that you would never want to see it a second time! :))

Going to the market is always a fun time for Leah and me. We enjoy the walk through the mountains, and Riley always has a good time running ahead of us. Once we get there, we buy whatever we need, along with a 2.5-liter Coke and a lunch of fried chicken and noodles, which we then eat at our normal spot under a tree on the return route to Ayuma. It's often the highlight of our week because it's such a break from the routine of life here.

Well, on our last trip to Ayuma, Nelly asked us to go to the market with her, and we agreed, thinking the long walk would be a good time to go over the stories with her. Little did we know what we had gotten ourselves into!

When we arrived at Nelly's house that morning, we discovered that it would not be just the three of us. Her husband Oscar, her mother-in-law Philippa, her three-year-old son Elvis, and seven donkeys borrowed from a neighbor would be joining us on the trip. I felt like I had just been thrown in the middle of some caravan in the Middle East! :)

Once we got going, things went well for awhile. Oscar, Philippa, Elvis, and the donkeys went on ahead while we talked and rehearsed a few stories with Nelly. But we were about twenty minutes from Pampa Colorado when we arrived at the river, and that's when the trouble began.

Though it hadn't rained that morning, it had been raining heavily for the previous few days. That made the river run almost to its banks, and it was moving really fast (the picture below, though it doesn't do it justice, might give you some idea). Oscar decided we would be better off trying to cross a few hundred yards upstream, so we followed as he herded the donkeys in that direction.
But, when we got there, the donkeys refused to cross. No matter how hard Oscar beat them, they wouldn't budge an inch into the fast-moving water. Hey, those donkeys weren't stupid! Too bad we humans can't take a lesson from those "dumb" animals. :)

So we herded the donkeys back downstream to the normal crossing site, where a few others from Ayuma were getting ready to cross with their own animals. There were two older ladies, Paulina and Ines, together with their donkeys. Cornelio, a local non-believer, was there to help them. And Juan was there with his pig. We must have looked hilarious!

I stood on the riverbank and watched as Juan jumped into the water behind his pig, who was obviously none too keen on being in that river. I watched Cornelio and Oscar finally manage to push the donkeys into the river, and I looked down at the rushing water and was just about to tell Leah that I was going to head back to Ayuma when Nelly said, "Hermana (sister)! Carry Elvis across for me. I have to help my husband!"

Before I even had the chance to object, Nelly had loaded her son in a cloth bundle tied on my back and was dragging us out into the river. She held onto my left arm, while Ines held onto her other side. Leah was on the other side of Ines to make four of us in a line. But, somehow, that didn't make me feel any better.

I was trying to take slow and careful steps to be sure I had solid footing on the riverbed, especially with someone else's three-year-old on my back. But Nelly was wanting to move faster and kept pulling my left arm, making me feel even more off-balance. I finally wrenched my arm free and told her that I would get there on my own.

When I finally reached the other side, after what seemed like an eternity of baby steps through the torrent, I don't think I've ever been so happy to be on dry ground (to the left is Oscar and a few others from Ayuma, along with their donkeys, right after crossing the river). But my happiness was short-lived as Nelly pointed to the sky and informed us that we needed to hurry because more rain was coming, and the river would only get worse.

Leah and I quickly got what we needed from the market and, as Nelly and her family were staying longer, we headed back on our own. When we arrived back at the river, despite the ominous clouds threatening overhead, it looked no worse than before. We had no choice but to go forward, and it helped to know we had made it across once before.

Riley, being a strong swimmer and much less afraid of the water than she had been just a month before (see March 24 blog), jumped in and quickly made it across with no problems. But it was interesting to see how the current pushed her about 20 feet downriver before she made it.

Leah and I locked arms as we had done with the women earlier but, this time, the difference was that we went at a common pace, being careful to not push each other too quickly. And, as we walked, I didn't take my eyes off the opposite shore, breathing a huge sigh of relief when we finally set foot on it.

That second walk across the river, though it still made me somewhat nervous, didn't utterly terrify me as the first had. There were several reasons for that, and they all have significant spiritual application.

1) I didn't have a burden strapped to my back. And, as I'm trying to navigate the treacherous waters of life, I can't be weighed down by a load of guilt or sin or anything else either. Scripture tells us to:

"Throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." (Heb. 12:1)

Just maybe, without the extra weight throwing us off-balance, we are better equipped to make it across the river.

2) I had someone to do it with me, someone who cared enough to go at a mutually beneficial pace. When I was going with people who were too fast for me, I felt like I was going to fall. When Riley did it on her own, she made it but landed a long way from the mark. But, with Leah beside me, I felt like I was better balanced and had someone to help steady me. Do you think that's why Scripture tells us this?

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!" (Ecc. 4:9-10)

3) I was completely focused on the goal. The first time I walked across the river, I was looking down at the water, trying to see as well as feel for solid footing. But it didn't help, as I couldn't see anything in the muddy water. And it just made me more fearful and hesitant in my steps as I saw exactly what I was stepping into. But the second time, as I just focused on making progress toward the opposite shore, I was more calm and confident. I think that's why Scripture says this:

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb. 12:2)

4) And, last but not least, I knew it could be done because I had done it before. Though it had been hard, we had made it and had a better idea of how to do it the second time. That's why Scripture tells us to:

"But do not be afraid...; remember well what the LORD your God did..." (Deut. 7:18)

It is absolutely VITAL in the life of a believer to remember how God has brought us through previous trials. We are so easily discouraged and tempted to give up when walking against the current of the world and its ways, but we have to remember God's faithfulness in past tough times. This is the only way we will persevere.

And remember:

"He who stands firm to the end will be saved." (Matt. 24:13)

I hope you will remember this the next time you are going through something difficult. And I hope I'll remember it, too.

Always an Adventure!

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised:

The new church that has been established in our friend Simon's house continues to meet every other week, and they are doing so well with encouraging one another and persevering in the faith. Though we want to meet with them and have not yet been able to, we are excited that they continue to do this without any input from us!

Prayer Necessities:

1. Please pray for our upcoming women's evangelism conference that will be held in Ayuma in July or August. Ask the Lord for wisdom for us in knowing how to put this together, and ask that He would send women who want to learn His Word and obey it.

2. Pray for Nelly, Marina, and Agripina, the three women in Ayuma who are learning the stories we are teaching. Pray that they would be doers of His Word and not hearers only and that they would be willing to begin teaching the stories to others in their community.

3. Please pray for Xtreme Team members, Trent and Kay (pictured with their daughter Maya in the top left in the photo here, with their son Jack being held by the young man at the bottom right) and Adam and Jessica (pictured with their daughter Sophia at the bottom left), who are currently investigating new people groups in Peru. These couples are traveling together with their families by bus and boat deep into the jungles to meet with leaders of these tribes. Ask the Lord to guide them to people of peace and that He would give them wisdom to know whether they should work among these groups in the future.

Inquiring Minds Wanna Know:

Leah and I are preparing to leave tomorrow to make a one-week trip to Ayuma to work among the women there. We are now teaching stories about the New Testament church, and we are excited to see what the Lord will do in this village as we begin to teach them about the acts of the Holy Spirit!

We had intended for this trip to be longer, at least three weeks, but it has been complicated by our visa process, something that always seems to be something of a hassle. We will have to return to Sucre on April 7 in order to complete the last piece of paperwork required to receive our two-year visas. Hopefully, after this, we will be granted the visa that will allow us to remain here for the rest of our time in Bolivia. There's something else for you to pray for!

As the changing of our trip's timing illustrates, life here rarely goes according to our plans. It just confirms the Lord's words in Prov. 16:9:

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps."

I think the LORD illustrates this to us almost every time we go to Ayuma, but never more clearly than on our last trip. As I've often said, life is always an adventure in Bolivia. :)

Our last trip was our longest one yet to this community, a full two weeks and, by the end of it, I was definitely ready to return to Sucre. I was looking forward to my shower and my comfortable bed after two weeks of lukewarm sponge-baths and a straw mat to sleep on. We were due to leave on a Friday morning, and I had been looking forward to it for a week!

We had chosen to make the trip to Ayuma via public transportation because, during rainy season, it can be particularly nerve-wracking to drive our truck. Despite the fact that it's four-wheel-drive and has great tires, sometimes the deep mud on the roads and the high river waters are too much for any vehicle except the largest buses. So we hopped on a bus for the first three hours, followed by two minivans for another couple of hours, and finally a 1.5-hour walk to Ayuma. We figured the trip back would be slightly easier because we would have less food to carry.

Our first week in Ayuma was beautiful. It was almost unusually sunny, with no rain at all for five days. But the second week was exactly the opposite. By Wednesday, the sky was completely overcast, and there was daily rain that made the ground a muddy mess and the rivers treacherous to cross (I'm pictured here after we returned in the rain and hail from the market in a nearby town).

I kept hoping things would improve by Friday. There is a river between Ayuma and the main road that we would have to navigate, and I was worried about that. So we kept an eye on the sky, and every day of grayness just seemed to make the ground that much muddier.

By Thursday, there were overcast skies, but it did not rain all day, so I was hopeful that the river would be down by the following morning. We were due to leave at 6:00 am, and I had been counting down the hours for the previous few days. When we went to bed that night, there were about nine left.

I heard the rain begin at about 4:00 am on Friday morning, and I prayed for it to stop. And, after about an hour, it did, something that gave me renewed hope.

Well, we got up to pack at about 5:00 am and, when I went outside around 5:30, the sky was gray in every direction. It looked as though, once the rain started, it would rain forever.

At exactly 6:00 am, the rain began again, and I was nothing but angry. I began to complain to the LORD, "Why are You doing this to me? I have done everything You asked of me on this trip, and now all I want to do is go home to my shower and my bed. Is that really so much to ask?" He reminded me of the crucifixion story I had taught to Nelly earlier that week. You know, the part where Jesus, in the garden of Gethsemane, says, "Not my will but Yours be done." I hate it when the LORD does that to me. :)

But I was hearing none of it. I didn't WANT His will, I wanted my own. Knowing it would be miserable travel for both Leah and me and for our dog in the rain, we chose to remain inside our house until things calmed down. But, as I sat inside and stewed made frequent trips outside to glare at the gray sky, I couldn't imagine that the rain would ever stop. I began to wonder what it would be like to live in Ayuma forever. Um, yeah, I get a little dramatic when I'm angry. :)

A few hours later, our friend Piscinta came in with food and asked when we were leaving. We told her that we were trying to wait for the rain to stop, and she looked at us like we were crazy. She then told us that it wasn't raining that hard and that we could go whenever.

After investigating for ourselves, we decided to take her advice, and we left our little house in Ayuma at about 10:20. The rain had slowed to a sprinkle and, as we walked up the muddy path toward the main road, it stopped completely, and the sun eventually came out. Just making progress toward home made me happy, and I found myself thanking the LORD rather than complaining. I even stopped to take pictures of some dirt formations in the hills on the path out of Ayuma (pictured here).

We knew the river near the main road would be too dangerous for us to cross, but we knew there was a bridge about a half mile up-river from where we normally crossed. We took a different path that took us toward that bridge, and we only had to cross a small stream to get there. We were loaded down with all of our stuff, but we were happy to be going home!

As we were getting ready to cross the stream, with the bridge in sight about a quarter of a mile in front of us, we met two men who were crossing in the opposite direction and headed toward Ayuma. They asked us where we were going, and we happily told them Sucre. They looked at us with strange expressions and then asked, "Don't you know that there's a strike today? There's no transportation on the road."

Seeing our crestfallen looks must have been comical, but they took pity on us and told us we could possibly find a private vehicle that would give us a ride. There was nothing to do but press forward, so we walked on toward the main road.

Just like that, my previous happiness was gone, and I began to wonder why the Lord was doing this to us. We made it to the road and tried to flag down four or five vehicles, only to watch them wave their hands at us in a "there's no room" gesture. We had made that gesture ourselves many times to hopeful Quechua people standing on the side of the road, and I had done it simply because I didn't want to share my truck with someone I didn't know or to try to communicate in a very difficult language inside my own vehicle. Now, with the shoe on the other foot, I realized what a selfish jerk I had been in the name of my own comfort.

As we sat on the side of that road in the now blazing sunlight for about an hour, I felt so abandoned. I began to wonder why God had let us come this far, only to leave us on the muddy side of this gravel highway.

We finally decided to walk a half-mile back up the road to a little town, hoping to find a vehicle there. Once we got there, we found a man we had met previously and asked him to drive us to Potosi, a larger city about three hours away from where we were and about 2.5 hours away from Sucre. I was prepared to offer him every penny I had because, even if we had to spend the night in Potosi, we knew we could get hot water and a nice bed in one of the hotels there.

The normal procedure on this type of journey is to drive to a little town called Ventanilla, which is about halfway between where we were and Potosi. In Ventanilla, there is a constant supply of minivans that make the journey between Potosi and Ventanilla all day long for abou $1.50 per person. But our concern was that, with the strike, there would be no transportation from Ventanilla, and we would be stuck there.

So, when this man offered to drive us to Ventanill for about $20, I was getting ready to make a sizable counter-offer to get us to Potosi.

That's when a dump truck loaded with people drove up. We ran to ask the driver if he could take us toward Ventanilla. He agreed, and we climbed in the back of this dump truck and tried to make ourselves as comfortable as possible among the rocks, pickaxes, and gas tanks that lined the truck bed.

There was a Quechua couple in the truck bed with us, and we discovered that they were believers. I conversed with the wife in my broken Quechua for a bit and then contented myself with standing up to watch the surroundings pass us by as we drove. We made it to Ventanilla in about an hour.

As expected, when we arrived, there were none of the normal minivans lining the streets. It was almost shocking to see how deserted it looked, but we prepared ourselves to wait and try to flag down a passing vehicle. That's when the owners of the truck got out and asked us if we were going to Potosi. We said yes, and they said they were also going there and would be happy to drive us. Praise the Lord!

Just one problem: The sky was once again threatening rain.

We had not been going more than half an hour when the driver stopped and pulled out a large plastic tarp. We spread it over the four of us (well, five, counting Riley) and tried to make ourselves comfortable for the two-hour journey. It was not easy, though, as we were freezing, trying to avoid sitting in water, and sitting in an very uncomfortable position hunched under that tarp.

But the drivers made it to Potosi in record time, and they dropped us off just outside the bus station at 5:00. I've never been so excited to see that bus terminal in my life!

Leah, Riley, and I headed inside and quickly found the bus line that we had taken from Sucre, the one that would allow us to bring our dog with us... with the purchase of her own seat, of course. :) The sign told us the bus left at 6:00, so we shelled out the $6 that would allow the three of us to travel and headed downstairs to the restrooms and snack stores while we waited for the bus.

At about 5:30, we decided to check our tickets. When we did, we panicked. They said the bus was to leave at 5:15!

Leah ran upstairs to question the clerk at the bus station, who confirmed that our bus did leave at 5:15 (not 6:00, as advertised). We then had to buy a new set of tickets for a bus that left at 7:00. At that point, we decided to wait right by the bus terminal door so there was no way for us to miss this bus home.

We did make it onto the 7:00 bus, which made the 3-hour drive to Sucre in four hours. After getting our bags and our dog off the bus in our home city, we got a taxi and finally walked in the door to our house around 11:20. We made a trip that normally takes six hours in about thirteen, but we were so happy to be home!

So what did I learn from our latest adventure? Well, I'm still a spoiled brat who feels entitled to always get what she wants and expects the Lord to give it to her. I'm still an untrusting wretch who gets dramatic when she doesn't get her way. And He didn't during this trip, nor will He ever abandon me. For His Word tells me this:

"The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." (Deut. 31:8)

Maybe one of these days I'll learn that lesson. Until then, I'm so glad He is patient with me.

The Resurrection and the Life

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised:

Leah and I just returned from a two-week trip to Lima, Peru, where we attended our annual team meeting. We now have five teams of missionaries working in Bolivia and Peru, and over half of these missionaries are from South America! (Check out the picture of our team below.) This excites all of us because it means the local people are grasping the vision for doing this work, and they are far more effective at it than we North Americans.

Prayer Necessities:

1. Please be in prayer once again for our visa process. Leah and I have begun the process to receive our two-year visas to live here in Bolivia, and we are hopeful that it won't be quite as dramatic - or traumatic! :) - as last year's version. Ask that the LORD would once again grant us favor with the Bolivian immigration officials so that we can continue with our work here.

2. Continue to lift up the community of Ayuma and its church there. The believers love us so much and are so wonderfully hospitable to us, but there doesn't seem to be much love shown toward one another. Please pray that, as we begin to teach stories of the New Testament church, this little church would grasp the concepts Scripture gives them and would love one another as they love us. Pray that this love shown toward one another would be attractive to the non-believers in the area and that the disciples would begin to multiply there.

3. Please pray for our upcoming women's evangelism conference that will be held in July or August in Ayuma. Pray that God would send women who will be workers in His harvest field and that they would learn and share the stories we will teach.

Inquiring Minds Wanna Know:

Since Leah and I no longer have short-term missionaries on our team, our role has transitioned from that of team leader to more of a frontline role in the work. Our goal in the community of Ayuma is to teach a set of discipleship stories (eight from the life of Christ and eight from the New Testament church in Acts), followed by a short set of stories for evangelistic purposes. The women with whom we work are already believers, so the goal is to give them these stories so that they can effectively share the Gospel with non-believers.

All of that means we have recently been spending more time out in this village of about 75 people. It's definitely a difficult life, but we are encouraged by Nelly, who has now learned all eight Jesus stories, and by Marina and Agripina, who have recently begun learning the stories as well.

On one of our recent trips, something happened that really drove home for me the reason that we are doing this work. Leah and I were spending a Saturday with Nelly, who had asked us to go to her field with her to bring back some onions. We agreed, not really realizing exactly what that entailed. For those of you who are agriculturally challenged like me and have no idea where onions come from, they're a root that you dig out of the ground. (I'm pictured to the left digging up one of them.)

We set out in the late morning and soon discovered that Nelly's field is on the other side of the river. No big deal, right? Yeah, that's what we thought, too.

But we were in Ayuma during the latter part of rainy season, and the river was raging. It wasn't all that deep - maybe just up to my knees - but the river was raging.

Now, there is a bridge over the river, but it's not quite finished. That means you climb up to it by means of two rickety wooden ladders tied together - up to a height of about 20 feet. Once you're up there, you just walk across the bridge to the other side, where a few wooden planks pushed together make a makeshift ramp down to the dirt path. (You can see a picture of it below, but it's not very good quality.)
Oh, and have I mentioned that I'm terrified of heights?

So, yeah, there I was, clinging to that wooden ladder and refusing to look down for fear of losing my nerve. I finally made it to the top of the bridge and over to the other side, where I just wanted to kiss the ground under my feet and forget about the fact that we would have to get back across that river again later.

But there was one problem: Riley.

We couldn't take our dog up the rickety ladder with us, but she loves the water, so we assumed she would just cross the river on her own and meet us on the other side. We didn't count on her being afraid of the fast-moving water just as we were.

So I wound up going halfway back across the river to pick her up and carry her to the other side. Thankfully, we both made it across with no problems.

On the way back, things were a bit more harrowing. I was carrying about 25 pounds of onions in a bundle tied across my shoulders (see the photo to the right) and 20 more pounds of Riley under my right arm as I tried to navigate the fast-moving, shin-high river waters. Once again, we made it with no problems (aside from sheer terror on my part! :)), but I was more than happy to be back.

Once we made our way to the town plaza, we learned some distressing news. Emiliana, one of the older ladies in town and a local believer, had just a few hours earlier been swept away and killed by the very same river Riley and I had just crossed!

Death in Bolivia is, of course, just as sad a thing as it is in the US, and funeral customs are relatively similar. But one major difference is that, because of the lack of embalming, there is a legal requirement to bury within 24 hours.

So, on Sunday afternoon, Leah and I, along with nearly everyone else in the community, went to Emiliana's house to pay our respects. We ate all that was offered to us, while Emiliana's body lay on a table in the room up above us. Once everyone had finished eating, they loaded her into a black wooden coffin (pictured below), and we all began the short walk outside the village to the cemetery.
As we followed the procession through the plaza, Emiliana's granddaughter began to cry and, as I reached out my hand to rub her back in a meager attempt to provide some comfort, I was surprised to find tears streaming down my face, too.

If you know me at all, you know I'm not a crier. As a matter of fact, I HATE to cry. And we had barely known Emiliana. We had never spent any significant period of time with her, and the only time I had ever even spoken to her was when she asked us to pray for her. So I wondered why I was so emotional over this woman I had hardly known.

That was when I thought about the shortest verse in the Bible. You know, "Jesus wept"?

We laugh about knowing that verse, but do you know the context in which it was written? If not, let me share it with you because it was a very similar situation to the one I was in. Lazarus had died and, despite his sisters' request for Jesus to come quickly, He had arrived four days later. When He did come, Mary went out to meet Him, and the story goes like this:

"When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.'

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 'Where have you laid him?' he asked.

'Come and see, Lord,' they replied.

Jesus wept.

Then the Jews said, 'See how he loved him!'" (Jn. 11:32-36)

Jesus cried because His friend was dead, and He cried because of the grief He saw and felt in those who loved Lazarus. And I'm sure He cried because of the cause of it all, the sin that would eventually send Him to His own death.

I think my tears were for similar reasons. Though I didn't know Emiliana, I could see and feel the grief of her granddaughter, who would never again see on this earth someone she loved so much. And I cried because of the sin - MY sin - that caused it all.

But I rejoice to know that there is a cure for this sadness, that Jesus' sacrifice makes Emiliana's - and my - eternal life possible. This is why we must keep going to Ayuma, why we must keep impressing upon these believers the importance of allowing the Spirit to work in and through us so that the life of Christ may be seen in us, why we must keep sharing the truth with those who don't know Him.

Jesus said, "He who stands firm to the end will be saved" (Matt. 24:13).

May these words be said of me!

You of Little Faith!

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised:

Our wonderful and God-sent Quechua friend Simon and his wife Daria have begun a church that meets in their house here in Sucre. The participants at this point are all Daria's relatives, and they want Leah and me to come and begin teaching stories from Scripture to them that they can then share with others. What a blessing and encouragement this is for us, and it was completely uninitiated by us, which makes it even more exciting! These Quechua believers are beginning to do this on their own!

Prayer Necessities:

1. Please pray diligently for Nelly, our sister in Ayuma who has battled some long-term, undiagnosed health issues. But her bigger problem is the crippling worry over her health that plagues her constantly and is beginning to alienate her from friends and family. She remains interested in hearing God's Word, but the worry is an enormous barrier to her focus. Please pray that she would trust in the One Who truly controls her health and that she would seek first His Kingdom.

2. Begin praying for this church in Simon and Daria's house. Pray that they would be unified and would be determined to exalt Jesus' name here in Sucre. Pray that they would learn the stories from God's Word and use them to reach others for Christ.

3. Please pray for Ester and Soledad, two of the young women who had planned to participate in our missionary training. We recently discovered that the reason they could not participate was related to their alcoholic father. Please pray for their father Guillermo, that he would see the difference Christ makes in their lives and would surrender himself to the One Who can change lives.

Inquiring Minds Wanna Know:

We recently made a short trip out to Ayuma to visit our dear friends, and especially to invest more time in Nelly, the one woman there who has consistently been interested in memorizing the stories. We are so excited about Nelly because she has already learned eight stories from the life of Christ!

However, this trip was a little discouraging for us. When we first saw Nelly, she began to talk to us, once again, about her health problems. Ever since we met her, she has had some sort of medical issue, a problem that no one has really been able to diagnose, predominantly because she lives three hours from the closest modern medical care and doesn't usually return to the same doctor for follow-up.

The problem is that Nelly assumes the worst. Her mother died from something that was probably cancer, so Nelly assumes she also has cancer and is going to die from it. It doesn't matter that her symptoms are nothing like what happened to her mother; she is assuredly going to die from this cancer that is causing her problems.

As a former medical professional, this is highly frustrating for me. But, truly, as a believer, it's even more frustrating. Our good friend is just worrying herself into a frenzy all the time, crying every time she sees us and beginning to alienate her friends and family there in town because of her constant fretting. And I honestly don't know what to do.

During this trip, Leah and I tried the compassionate approach, saying, "We're so sorry, Nelly. We can't relate to what you're going through, but we know that the Lord loves you so much and has this situation right in His hands." We tried the harsh approach with, "You have to stop worrying. You're just making yourself miserable, and you can't even do anything about the situation! Trust God!" I even spent an afternoon memorizing Matt. 6:25-34 in Quechua to share with Nelly. At least four times in that passage, the Quechua Bible specifically says, "Ama phutikuychischu!" (Don't worry!). Still, the words from that story still hung in the air when Nelly started asking us once again, "Sisters, what will I do? My children are so young. What will happen if I die?" I just wanted to bang my head against the wall.

One story that Nelly has learned that has spoken to her is the story of Jesus calming the storm. Just so your memory is refreshed, here is Matthew's version (the parallel passages can be found in Mk. 4:35-41 and Lk. 8:22-25):

"Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, 'Lord, save us! We're going to drown!'

He replied, 'You of little faith, why are you so afraid?'

Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, 'What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!'" (Matt. 8:23-27)

Nelly enjoys this story and has even told us that the Lord has used it to calm her when she has awoken in the middle of the night worrying. So Leah shared it with her again on this trip, hoping to remind her that the One Who has command of the wind and waves surely has control of her health also. After sharing the story, we returned to our house, a little discouraged with everything that had gone on. And the Lord tested our own belief in that story that very night.

The houses in Ayuma are made predominantly of mud, though the inside walls and floors are often concrete. The roofs are usually tin that is not attached to the house but is held down by heavy rocks. Our beds are straw mats on the floor with our sleeping bags on top. These pictures should give you some idea of what our house looks like:


























Well, the night that we had told the story of the calming of the storm to Nelly, there were heavy winds in Ayuma. This is normal for them, and they don't think about it at all. But for us to hear the wind howling in the trees and the tin roof being banged against the top of the house was a little nerve-wracking. I was asleep when the winds began around midnight, and the sound of tin against concrete is not a pleasant way to wake up, let me tell you.

I've never lived in a place where I've been that scared of wind. I've lived through two hurricanes and a few tornadoes, any of which would have been strong enough to destroy my house, roof and all. But I've never been in a place where just an ordinary wind was frightening. Of course, I've never before lived in a mud house with a tin, non-attached roof.

So, as I listened to those winds howling and thought about all the ways I could die if that roof came off, I was reminded of how the disciples must have felt when they felt the strength of the wind and saw the water pouring into their boat. As fishermen, they had been on that sea all their lives. They knew what a deadly storm looked like, and this evidently appeared to them to be one.

But when they wake Jesus to tell Him they are going to drown, He says they have little faith. And I knew I was exactly the same as they were. Here I had been so confident in telling Nelly not to worry, that the same Jesus Who calmed that physical storm could most certainly calm the spiritual storm in her life. Yet, here I was, lying wide-eyed in my bed in the middle of the night, fearful of a physical storm. How ironic and how fitting.

I resolved that night to trust the Lord to keep the roof on that house, and He did. Obviously, we made it out of Ayuma alive. :)

But I've been thinking about the story ever since and would love to hear input on it from any of you. Why did Jesus say they had little faith? There was no guarantee they would not die as long as they were His disciples, so why was their asking Him to save them a lack of faith? What is the significance of Jesus sleeping during the storm? And how did their amazement (or terror, as Mark describes it) at seeing Jesus calm the storm affect them from then on?

Would love to hear from you! Until next time, thanks for your prayers for us and for these people. We all desperately need them!

Only in Bolivia

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised:

Leah and I were able to spend a wonderful Christmas with our friend Simon and his wife Daria, along with their children, Ruben and Cesia. Check us all out here in the picture below. We ate authentic Louisiana gumbo (very well done by Leah!), read the story of Christ's birth from Luke 2, and watched "A Christmas Story" in Spanish. And I'm glad to report that "You'll shoot your eye out, kid!" is funny in any language. :)


Prayer Necessities:

1. In just a few days, Leah and I are headed out to Ayuma for a 10-day trip. Please pray that we would learn how to teach the women there to obey everything He has commanded us.

2. Please continue to pray for Nelly in Ayuma and begin to pray for Ilaria in Taramarca. These two women have learned 7-8 stories from the life of Christ and are beginning to share them with others in their villages. Please pray that they would hunger for more and would long to share the Truth with those around them.

3. Please pray for wisdom for Leah and me as we confront some problems tomorrow.

Inquiring Minds Wanna Know:

I had something else in mind to blog about, but this was too good to pass up. I figured y'all might like to get a little taste of what life is like in Bolivia. You'll get the other blog idea at a later date.

We recently had to make a trip to Cochabamba to meet the president of one of the local denominations. We are hoping to get his support for some upcoming evangelism conferences that we plan to do, so it seemed like a great idea to go and meet him in person. Plus, Cochabamba is probably the most western city in Bolivia, and they have some really nice restaurants, so we were not all that disappointed to make the trip. :)

So, on a sunny and beautiful Tuesday morning, we got in the truck to make the 8.5-hour drive. There is not much in between Sucre and Coch, so we had packed snacks and planned to eat Chinese food when we arrived. We made it there without incident at around 5:00, checked into our hotel, ate Chinese, and even went to see a movie that evening. We were pretty much happy as clams.

On Wednesday morning, we got up to go to our appointment with the president and arrived at his office promptly at 10:00. However, if you know anything about Latin American culture, you know that the time they give you for an appointment is usually 30 minutes to an hour prior to the time you'll actually be seen. It's kind of like a visit to the doctor's office in the States. :)

As expected, we did make it into the president's office at around 10:30. What we DIDN'T expect was the presence of his Executive Council, two pastors from other local churches, and his wife. It made us just a little bit more nervous, but we wound up getting through our presentation with no problems.

On Thursday, we got up early to make the trip home. We had a few errands in Sucre that we planned to do when we arrived, so we left Cochabamba at about 9:30, expecting to make slightly better time and arrive in our home city at about 5:30 (most offices in Bolivia close at 6:30). Since our trip to Cochabamba had been uneventful, we expected more of the same on the return drive.

Boy, were we wrong.

I should explain a few things about Bolivian roads. There are some very nice paved roads in my adopted country. The one between Cochabamba and Santa Cruz (the largest city in the country) is one of them. Half of our drive between Sucre and Cochabamba plants us firmly on that very nice highway. However, the other half of the drive is a road that is pavement for about an hour, cobblestone for about 90 minutes, and dirt and gravel for the rest.

Even the dirt and gravel isn't the problem, though. The worst part is an hour-long detour through a riverbed that is dirt and large rocks. It's not so bad when the river is dry, but this is rainy season.

And it rained Thursday morning.

We had just gotten into the dirt and gravel section when our problems began. We topped a dirt ridge only to find what amounted to a small, muddy pond waiting for us on the other side. By that time, it was too late to stop, so we tried to plow through it with our trusty four-wheel-drive.

The problem? We've never really learned how to use the four-wheel-drive.

The truck got stuck about three-quarters of the way through the pond, so I got out to try to find some rocks to give the tires some traction. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take off my sandals before I stepped into a foot of muddy water, which only added to my already stellar attitude. I tried to traipse around in the mud for about 30 seconds before taking off my shoes and angrily flinging them into a nearby field.

Yeah, my temper is not a pretty sight. But it can certainly be amusing. :)

After putting rocks next to all four tires, I asked Leah to get in and try to drive while I watched the tires to figure out if there was one in particular that was our traction problem.

Where did I stand to do this, you might ask? Well, directly behind the truck, of course.

Genius.

As you might expect, the minute Leah hit the accelerator, mud went rocketing all over me. My hair, arms, shirt, shorts, and legs were all covered in it. (This picture was taken after the fact, but you get the idea.)



Nice.

And I was in my only Mississippi State T-shirt. And it was a white one.

I repeat, I'm a genius. :)

At that point, I was hopping mad. But, thankfully, a local Quechua man had seen our little adventure and come out of his house to help. He got me in the driver's seat and directed me with some reverse and forward movements until we made it out of the mud. We were more than a little grateful.

Once back on the road with Leah driving, I changed into a clean(er) shorts and T-shirt and put on my only remaining pair of shoes. But that wasn't the end of our adventure.

We had decided to avoid the detour and stay on the dirt-and-gravel road, which was mostly finished. People kept stopping us to tell us the road was closed, but we decided to remain on that part until someone told us to turn around. We had heard stories of cars getting stuck in the riverbed below and decided our chances were better with the dirt-and-gravel road.

We had been driving for about 45 minutes when we came to a giant dirt mound blocking the road. We got out to look at it and discovered there was no way around it. We were stuck, and there was nothing we could do. We keep a shovel in the back of our truck, and I was seriously considering pulling it out to dig us a path when several other cars drove up beside us. Most of them were either cars or SUVs like ours, all too small to try to plow their way through the river below without fear of getting stuck.

They informed us that a bulldozer was on its way to dig a path for all of us to continue on the road. One of the women kept telling us, "El rio es peligroso! (The river is dangerous)," and we were definitely in agreement. We made some new friends in the ten minutes or so that we waited on the bulldozer. And one woman laughed at me when she saw the mud in my hair. I explained what had happened, and then they all laughed!

We finally made it back to Sucre at about 6:30, none the worse for wear, if a little muddier than we had expected. (Check out the truck after our arrival, pictured to the right.) We were happy to get to meet some new people, though. I guess that made it worth it. :)

Seriously, this sort of thing can only happen in Bolivia. :)