Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised:
Leah and I received our two-year residency visas last week! We will not be here for two years longer, but we are glad to have in our hands the documentation we need to be able to legally live in Bolivia until our mission term ends in May of next year.
Prayer Necessities:
1. Please continue to pray for our friend Nelly, who continues to have some health problems. Despite several visits to doctors and a few rounds of antibiotics, she still has intermittent abdominal pain that remains unresolved. She is often worried about this, so please pray that the Lord would resolve this and that she would trust Him with her health.
2. Be praying for our friend Sabina, who lives in Ayuma. She is a non-believer and is well-known for her drinking and for making the local alcoholic beverage for others to drink. We have heard that she says she will just drink herself into the grave, but we have had an opportunity to build a friendship with her. We got the chance to share the Gospel with her through Quechua Bible stories this past weekend, so please pray that His Word would touch her heart and bring her to salvation.
3. Please pray for Leah and me as we very soon make the transition into working with another people group, the Guarayo, in October or November.
Inquiring Minds Wanna Know:
The second weekend of our women's conference was August 13 and 14, and the results were not what we had hoped. When we began this conference, we had the intention of teaching seven stories from Scripture over the course of three weekends. The goal was for the women to learn the stories, then to go home and share them with at least one other person.
We had made those expectations very clear and had told them that we would be asking two questions when they arrived on August 13: 1) Did they still remember the stories? and 2) With whom did they share them?
We knew that most people would not share the stories, but we were hoping for a few who would. When we got there, we asked the two questions. When we asked the first question, several of the women raised their hands, and we were excited. Then we asked who all had shared the stories, and there were still a few hands raised. But, when we began to ask them individually with whom they had shared, only one person could say that she had shared the stories.
But we were excited about the one! Yhovana is 17 and had shared both stories with her mom and with two friends from school. Wow! We gave her a can of milk as a reward (milk is kind of a precious commodity in the village), and we also gave milk to Nelly, who had missed learning the second story but had shared the first one with her family.
We then set about teaching the next story - the story of God testing Abraham's faith by asking him to sacrifice Isaac. Just like the previous week, it was very obvious that many of the women were not interested at all, but there were a few, including Nelly and Yhovana, who were really trying. Leah asked for Nelly's husband Oscar and one of the local boys, Luis, to come up and help her as she told the story (in the picture below, Luis is to the far left and Oscar is beside him as Leah teaches the story), and they played the parts of Abraham and Isaac. I think it was a really great visual for them to get to see what it might have looked like for a man to sacrifice his son. Afterwards, the question time went really well, as one of the women confessed that, if God had asked this of her, she would not have been able to sacrifice her child. And Yhovana offered the insight of the night, as she told us that, just as He did with Abraham, God also wants to test each of us to know whether or not we will obey Him. We went to bed that night truly encouraged by Yhovana and Nelly, who continued to impress with their quickness to learn and willingness to share what they had learned.
But Sunday brought great discouragement when Yhovana didn't show up to learn the story. We had seen her at her house that morning and knew she was healthy, so we didn't know what happened. It was my turn to teach, and I just looked around at everyone and wondered why exactly we were doing this when no one really seemed to care. But Leah encouraged me by reminding me that, even if everyone around us was disobedient, we still had to give our all. Our great God deserved that.
I knew she was right, so I got up to teach the story of the woman at the well from John 4, determined to give my best effort in teaching it. It is an incredible story that always touches my heart so, after the second time of telling it, I was really into it. In acting the story out in front of the women gathered there, I really thought about what that woman must have thought when Jesus told her He was the Messiah, this long-awaited One Who knew everything she had ever done... and yet still promised to give her living water. I knew how excited she was to meet Him, and it made me remember the excitement that I had - and still have - 
when I really meet with Him and feel that spring of living water flowing inside of me.
Among the 40 women or so who were gathered there, I could see a few who were really interested. There was one woman in particular, a lady named Ines, who would crane her head as I moved, just to be sure she could see what I was doing. It was encouraging to know there was someone who really wanted to know this awesome story of love and forgiveness, so I focused most of my attention on her and the few others who were interested (pictured here are Nelly sitting down by the "well" as Jesus and Noelia as the Samaritan woman, while I help coach them with the story).
At the end, I asked several questions about the story. One of the questions was about what the Samaritan woman did after Jesus told her He was the Messiah. The answer? She went back to her town and told everyone to come and hear Jesus. When we talked about that, Ines spoke up and explained that they didn't have time to go and tell others. They were all so busy cooking and washing clothes and working in their fields that there just wasn't time to go and tell the Catholics about Jesus. (Ines is pictured below with me as we go through the story of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well.)
That might have been the most discouraging thing I heard that weekend, but I know I do the same thing. I get so caught up in what I want or "need" to do that I don't take the time to tell others the Good News, that the Messiah has come and offered us living water so that we might never be thirsty again. When Ines said that, I wondered how the 5% of Quechua people who are believers can withhold such a valuable truth from the 95% of their people who don't know it? And I wonder how can I withhold it from so many around me who also don't know Him?
Scripture tells us this:
"Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil" (Eph. 5:15-16).
Since our lives are nothing longer than a vapor and then are over, let's heed this advice. Let's spend ourselves in His service, making Him known and telling everyone about the living Water. There is NOTHING we do that is more important!
Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised:
We are so blessed and grateful for the help of our friend Lidia, who translated for us in the first weekend of our women's conference (I'm pictured here with Lidia in the middle and one of the students, Mariela, on the right). Not only did she do a wonderful job of translating, but she was also a great encouragement to the Quechua women, as they could see someone of their own culture who was doing the Lord's work. She exhorted them to go out and share the stories with others, and we are hopeful that they will take her words to heart!
Prayer Necessities:
1. Please continue to pray for the women's conference and the women who participated in it. Pray that they would go out and share the two stories they have learned and would return for the second weekend excited and eager to learn the next two.
2. Pray for wisdom for Leah and me as we think through the rest of our time on the mission field and some potential changes that are coming within the next couple of months.
3. Please be in prayer for our bosses, Trent and Kay, who will be returning to the US in September to begin a nine-month stateside assignment. Pray that they will have a smooth transition and an enjoyable time of reconnecting with friends, family, and stateside churches.
Inquiring Minds Wanna Know:
Well, our women's evangelism conference began this past weekend, and the only thing to be expected was that everything was unexpected. :)
Things did actually start out a little discouraging, though it was probably just a cultural misunderstanding. We had advertised the conference in April at a previous conference held in a larger city called Pocoata. We had brought posters and letters describing our women's conference and had talked about it in front of the approximately 300 people present. We had mentioned that it would be held over three weekends, with each Saturday's teaching beginning at 3:00 in the afternoon, and Sunday's beginning at 8:00 am and ending around 11:00 am, just prior to the morning worship service in Ayuma.
The people in Ayuma kept telling us they were expecting about 200 people to attend our conference and, to be honest, we didn't want that many. We knew there was no way all 200 of those people would actually want to learn stories and share them, and it's easier to really teach the Bible stories in a smaller group. But we figured we'd just try to handle it the best we could and, for the subsequent weekends, there would be fewer people, once they figured out what we were doing and expecting of them.
We had agreed to provide half the food, so we loaded our truck up in Sucre with about 80 pounds each of noodles and rice, about 50 pounds of sugar, and plenty of oil, carrots, onions, tomatoes, and a few spices thrown in for good measure. On Saturday morning just before 6:00, we picked up our translator Lidia and hit the road for Ayuma.
We arrived just after noon, expecting to pull up to a big group of people already cooking over a huge fire for the expected crowd of 200-plus. What we found was just the opposite: Ayuma was an absolute ghost town. One church member, Roman, and an elderly lady from another community were standing outside the church building, and that was it. After we knocked on a few doors, we discovered that almost everyone had gone to a market in another town and wouldn't be back until evening. And we were also told that most of the people who would come to the conference probably wouldn't even come until Sunday!
Now that was a problem because I was supposed to teach the creation story on Saturday, and Leah was going to teach the fall of man on Sunday. If most of the women didn't come until Sunday, t
hey'd already be a story behind. And creation is a really important story to set the stage for the Gospel.
So, needless to say, we were pretty discouraged by all of this. Our conference was set to start in less than three hours, and there were five people there, three of which were teachers or translators!
All we knew to do was to start peeling potatoes, knowing that would be the first thing our Quechua friends would do when they arrived, and a few people slowly began to arrive (here are some of our friends peeling potatoes). We had decided that we would start at 4:30, regardless of who was there. But, at 4:00, when there were still were no more than 15 people present, we decided to take a short walk to gather our thoughts and regroup.
Leah suggested that we pray, and we each said a prayer asking for the Lord's help and wisdom in how to go about things. And Lidia was very encouraging in her prayer, asking that the Lord would give us strength and wisdom to be able to proceed. After that, we all felt much better.
We returned to the town and decided to begin the conference at 5:30 with Leah teaching a health class. She was teaching on how to prevent back injuries and on good nutrition, and it went really well. We had about 30 women there, and they asked some great questions. It seemed like we were finally getting things rolling!
After that, we had some dinner (which was prepared mostly by the men) and then returned to the church building as I began to teach the creation story. At that point, we had around 40-50 people, some of whom had walked a great distance to come. There were three teenaged girls from the community of Saqa Saqa who had walked four hours to get there. So we were excited to see what the Lord would do with that great sacrifice on their part!
They and several others seemed very interested and, at the end of an hour and a half, they had learned the story and were able to tell it back with very little prompting. We had also explained to the women very clearly that they would be asked two questions when they returned for the second weekend of the conference: 1) Do you remember the stories? and 2) With whom did you share them?
Lidia, Leah, and I climbed into bed exhausted around 10:00 that night. We stayed with our friend Nelly, the lady who has learned nearly all of the stories we've shared in Ayuma. She had come and learned the story of creation on Saturday but told us she wouldn't be able to be present on Sunday when Leah taught the fall of man.
But the next morning, Nelly had changed her mind. She told us that she had gotten up early to cook for her family so that she could come and learn the next story. We were so excited to hear of her willingness to sacrifice to obey the Lord! We knew He was pleased with this!
We had planned to start teaching the story at about 9:00 on Sunday but, as usual, our plans were not what came to pass. Leah was finally able to start teaching a little after 10:00 but, once again, the women did well in learning. At Lidia's suggestion, we even broke up into two groups to do a competition: A drama of the story of Adam and Eve's sin in Eden. It went great, and it was obvious there were about 10-15 women who had the story down really well!
But we were saddened to see that Nelly did not come after all. She showed up for the last few minutes of the story, asked Leah to teach it to her, but left again before Leah had the opportunity. We found out later that she went to help make bread for the local school's upcoming celebration. It made us sad to see that, but we are hopeful that we will have the opportunity to catch her up with that story when we return to Ayuma next week. Or, better still, we hope that one of the other women who was at the conference will teach it to her.
We're not yet sure how successful the conference was, but we will know more on the second weekend. The ladies will arrive again (we hope!) on August 13 and 14, so please continue to pray that the Lord will work in their hearts and that they will be obedient to learn His Word and share it and will thus fulfill the Great Commission!
Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised:
Leah and I have memorized the stories for the first weekend of our upcoming women's evangelism conference, have lined up our translators and, after buying a few items tomorrow morning, will have fully completed our preparations. We are excited and a little nervous about getting things started!
Prayer Necessities:
1. Our dear friend Simon is going through some significant trials lately related to his family and to his hometown. Please be in prayer for him and his family as they seek to navigate the difficulties of raising two teenagers and of facing major opposition for the cause of Christ from many in his hometown. (Pictured here is Simon with his wife Daria, and their children, Ruben and Cesia.)
2. Please continue to pray for our upcoming women's conference. Ask that God would send to us the women He has prepared to participate and that there would be much fruit as a result of their participation.
3. Pray for wisdom for Leah and me as we are seeking the Lord's direction regarding a major ministry change in the coming months. This would involve leaving the Quechua and going to work with another people group for the last six months of our time on the field.
Inquiring Minds Wanna Know:
Several months ago, I read a book that had me looking at Jesus' parable of the sower (or, more appropriately, the parable of the soils) in a whole new light. In the context of our upcoming women's evangelism conference, I've been thinking a lot more about this parable and thought I'd share those thoughts with you.
The parable goes like this:
"Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times." (Mk. 4:3-8)
Jesus went on to interpret the parable like this:
"Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop - thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown." (Mk. 4:13-20)
Leah and I have been working in Ayuma for well over a year now and, when it comes to seeing fruit in those with whom we have worked, we have precious little to show for it. Nelly, the woman with whom we have spent the majority of our time, has learned ten stories from Scripture. Two other women have learned at least one story, but none of them has shared what they have learned with others. And since the whole goal is for them to be doers of the Word and not hearers only - meaning they, too, should be going out and making disciples - the results have been more than a little discouraging to us.
All of that has me thinking again about this parable which, according to Jesus, is fundamental. He asks in verse 13, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?"
During the women's conference, which will run every other weekend for three weekends in July and August, we will teach seven stories from the Bible, beginning with creation and ending with Christ's resurrection. Not only will the women need to learn all seven stories, but they will also be required to tell them to at least one other person.
Leah and I fully expect to have 100 women or more there for the first weekend. Oh, the Quechua DO love their conferences. They will expect to come and sit on wooden benches or stand in the back of the church's building to listen to some teaching, eat a few large bowls of food, and listen to their brothers and sisters sing and make music well into the night. What they'll get, aside from the food, is something VERY different. From the very beginning, these women will be asked to be active participants in the conference, rather than passive observers. They will have to interact with us as the leaders, speak in front of the other participants, and then go put into practice what they've learned. On the second weeked, they will be asked - in front of everyone present - whether they shared the stories they learned with someone else. If they didn't, they will have to go out and share them before they can learn the next story.
No, this conference is not for the faint of heart.
More accurately, it's not for the disobedient.
And we don't expect to have very many that will fulfill the requirements we have set. But the ones that do will be the good soil. And, after spending so much time sowing in non-productive earth, I long to plant God's good seed, His Word, in soil that will produce fruit at a yield of 30, 60, or even 100 times what was planted.
Please pray that God would cultivate that soil ahead of time in preparation for the sowing of His Word and that we would sow it faithfully. (Pictured here are a couple from Ayuma as they sow beans in their field.)
Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised:
I just returned from a four-week vacation in the US, followed by a week-long meeting with other missionaries in Peru. Both were times of great encouragement for me, and I am refreshed and excited to return to work in Bolivia for the remaining ten months of my time on the foreign field!
Prayer Necessities:
1. Leah and I will begin conducting our women's evangelism conference for three non-consecutive weekends starting on July 30 and 31. We will teach the participants seven stories from the Old and New Testaments so that they will be able to share the Gospel orally with their friends and neighbors. Please pray that the Lord would send to us only the women He has prepared to learn these stories and share them.
2. Pray for wisdom for Leah and I regarding some future changes. I will share more about this in the future but, for now, please be in prayer for us that we would be able to discern the Lord's will and obey Him.
3. Be in prayer for the members of our Xtreme Bolivia men's team, Javier, Landon, and Roberto. All three will shortly be returning to their home countries (Peru, the US, and Argentina, respectively) for a time of rest and relaxation. Pray for their transition back to their home cultures and that they would remain faithful to continue the Lord's work in whatever He calls them to do next.
Inquiring Minds Wanna Know:
As I mentioned above, Leah and I recently returned from a meeting of IMB missionaries serving in five South American countries. The meeting was held at a resort in Peru, and there were about 225 people present (including about 65 MKs!). We had a wonderful time of swimming, sandboarding, horseback riding, dune buggying, and a host of other activities... in addition to getting some work done. :) (The pictures below are of me after dune-buggy riding with Leah and our new missionary friend Audra, who serves in Ecuador, and of the pool at the resort.)
But the best part had nothing to do with what we did. It was just an absolute joy to be around so many like-minded people, people who are all consumed with a passion to see the nations come to worship Christ.
Towards the end of my time there, Leah and I had the privilege of sitting down to talk with two women who are now my heroines. I'll change their names because both work in high-security areas such that exposing their identity could result in physical danger or deportation.
Marian has served as a single missionary for more than 25 years and is now working with an unreached group of indigenous peoples. The area where she works is quite dangerous for foreigners, so she travels by night with some South American brothers who help to hide her from the paramilitary groups who would kidnap her at the first opportunity. Once they reach the village where she works, she spends the day in the home of the local pastor because the villagers cannot know she is there. Once a month, she travels by night to a hidden camp several hours down the river. To get there, she must rely on her South American brothers, who hide her under a canvas for the duration of the trip. When she gets there, she is greeted by a group of indigenous people who have to learn stories from the Bible from her. They will then return to their own villages to share the Word of God with those who have never heard of Him!
Sandra has served as a single missionary for more than 15 years and began working in the cities of her country doing music ministry. Before long, however, she couldn't escape the faces of the many indigenous peoples who needed to hear about Jesus. Notwithstanding multiple government obstacles that could have resulted in her deportation, she now travels out to tribal areas to share God's Word with the people. On her first such visit, she met a man who asked her why she was there. Not wanting to identify herself as a missionary, she simply told him, "I work for a church." When he heard that answer, his face lit up, and he said, "Do you know Jesus?" When she answered yes, he excitedly asked, "Can you tell me about Him? I want to go back and tell everyone in my village about Him!"
Can you imagine being the first one to tell someone about Jesus? And, what's more, knowing that they will go and tell others who have also never heard of Him? If that's not encouragement to keep pressing on, I don't know what is!
But those wonderful stories were not the only things I learned from Marian and Sandra. We got into a deep discussion about sacrifice and just how far we were willing to go to follow the call of Christ.
What prompted all of this is the fact that both of these ladies are single, and so are Leah and I. Our conversation started off along those lines, with Marian and Sandra, both of whom are in their 50s or older, describing to us how they have struggled with the desire for husbands and children and how, despite the lack of fulfillment of those desires, they have chosen to remain faithful in service to the Lord, knowing that where they are and what they are doing means being single makes them better suited to be His servants.
Now that resonated with me because, having never married at age 40, I also struggle with those desires. Having faced that particular landmark birthday earlier this year, it has really made me confront the likelihood that I will ever have children. But now, unlike earlier in my life, I find myself not really caring whether I ever do. I think I just don't have the patience to be around kids at my age, so it's kind of nice to be able to be around other people's children when I want to but hand them back to their parents when I get tired of them. :)
Marriage, however, is another struggle entirely. That is a desire I've had since I was a teenager, and it's always been my greatest wish. And that particular longing doesn't seem to be going away, nor do I anticipate it ever will.
A few years ago, I was sitting in a Bible study, and our singles pastor asked the group a question that cut me to the heart. He said, "If you had the opportunity to choose between getting married and having a family but living kind of a mediocre Christian life vs. being single for the rest of your life but living out everything God has for you and having a perfectly fulfilling relationship with Him, what would you choose?" I went home and cried that night because I had to admit that I didn't know.
I think often about the life of Abraham. I feel like my life is supposed to parallel his in many ways, and I hope that someday I'll reach the level of faith he had.
Abraham waited 25 years to receive the son God had promised, and he got that boy when he was 100 years old. Several years later, God told him to take that precious son Isaac three days into the wilderness.
And sacrifice him.
Can you imagine? Here is Abraham's dearest treasure, the greatest longing of his heart, this precious boy that God had promised him. And now God is taking him away? That doesn't make any sense!
But you know what happened. Abraham obeyed. He took Isaac up on that mountain, and the young man willingly allowed his father to tie him up and place him on that altar. And, at the last possible moment, when Abraham raised the knife to slaughter his son, God stopped him. What the Lord says to him then is so telling:
"Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." (Gen. 22:12)
I want God to be able to say to me that He now knows that I fear Him, because I have not withheld from Him my longing for marriage. If it will glorify Him more that I remain single, I want to be willing to do that. And, honestly, there are days when I am definitely willing, but there are days when I'm just not. But, thankfully, I think the former is starting to outweigh the latter.
Recently, I thought about that old question of my singles pastor, and I asked it to myself again. This time, my answer was different. Day by day, if I choose to walk in God's grace, it can remain the same, that I choose Him over anything this world and its temporary pleasures have to offer.
Thanks for reading about my struggles! I figure you can plug your own greatest desire into that verse to find out what the limits of your own willingness to sacrifice would be. And, if you're not there yet, don't worry; you're not alone! But He'll get us there.
Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised:
I now have my US passport in my hand just in time to begin my four-week trip home for vacation next week! The officials in La Paz had already returned the passport to the immigration office in Sucre even before I went to request it to be loaned back to me for the trip. When I return to Bolivia after vacation, I will have to send the passport and one more piece of paperwork to La Paz, but the visa should be complete soon thereafter. Thanks so much for your prayers! See y'all soon! Just to get you in the mood, here are some pictures from last year's vacation: Me with my parents and me hanging out with my friend Amy at the beach. :)
Prayer Necessities:
1. Please continue to pray for our friends Simon and Daria and the church that is meeting in their house. We have still not been able to participate in one of their meetings, but they continue to be faithful to meet every other Saturday to study God's Word and to pray. Ask that the Lord would continue to grow them in the faith and in numbers.
2. Pray for Leah as she returns from her vacation next week. She is a little concerned about being in Sucre alone for so long while I am out of the country. Pray that she would have wisdom to know how the Lord would have her use the time in the city and that she would feel safe and secure knowing that she is well cared for by our Lord.
3. Please continue to be in prayer for Ayuma's church. Ask that they would love one another and that this extraordinary love would be noticed by the non-believers in the village, making them want what the church has.
Inquiring Minds Wanna Know:
As time seems to fly by us so quickly, and especially so for those of you living life in the hyper-paced United States, many of you may not realize the length of time I've been overseas. Well, it's been 2-1/2 years and, if that shocks you, let me ease your mind by saying that it blows me away, too. It just reinforces for me the truth of this verse:
"You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath." (Ps. 39:5)
The IMB requires its missionaries to go for a period of assignment in the US after 3-5 years of overseas service, and my period of eligibility for that stateside time begins in October of this year. My partner Leah and I have decided that we will heading home around the 3-1/2-year mark in May of 2012.
With my first term as a career missionary nearly complete, I have had some decisions to make. The IMB has recently undergone some major organizational changes, with the end result being that the majority of its missionaries will focus almost exclusively on unreached people groups. For Board purposes, an "unreached" people group is defined as a group with less than 2% evangelical believers. I am in complete agreement with the new strategy, but it means that our work with the Quechua (who, as a whole, are about 5% reached) will end when we leave after this term.
All of that brought me to a place of decision before the Lord regarding what I should do after this first term overseas. Should I return to South America, but in a different capacity and in a different place? Should I go to another foreign country, perhaps somewhere in Asia? Well, after much seeking of the Lord's face and receiving confirmation from other believers who have sought Him alongside me, He has shown me that my next place of assignment is back in my home country, though now on the opposite coast.
My next step in this nomadic life to which the Lord has called me takes me to Seattle, Washington.
At first, my response to that was resistance. I mean, really? Seattle? I have never lived anywhere west of the Mississippi River, nor have I ever had any desire to do so. And, honestly, it rains there something like 360 days a year! :)
Plus, leaving the work overseas means leaving the IMB and all of the financial security that it entails, but that just lends another aspect to this step of faith to which God has called me. Thankfully, I do have a skill in being a pharmacist that allows me to have a job nearly anywhere in the country, which gives me an effective tentmaking plan (see Acts 18:1-3). So my tentative plan is to work part-time as a pharmacist and full-time making disciples.
And, in time, the Lord has given me a peace and even an excitement about following Him there.
Seattle is, if not quite an unreached people group, at least an unreached city. Only about 4% of the people there are followers of Jesus Christ. That means that, in this city with a metropolitan area population of nearly 4 million, only about 150,000 belong to Him. And it is not a city that was once filled with His people but that has now grown cold. It has actually NEVER followed Him.
It is a very multicultural city, with some 190 languages spoken there, but that also means that there are a variety of world religions represented. Most people would classify themselves as "spiritual but not religious."
Have you ever wondered if it was possible that there could be a city in the US where the people haven't heard of Jesus? Well, this is it.
But, despite the spiritual darkness - or perhaps because of it, I am excited to go to this new place where the name of Christ is not yet exalted. I want to see the Holy Spirit move there in a mighty way to claim for Himself this modern-day Athens (see Acts 17:15-34), these people who worship so many false gods but not yet the One True God. I long to be a part of His work and to help harvest what He brings to bear.
But for now, my work remains here in Bolivia. He has called Leah and me to make disciples among the Quechua here, and we strive to be faithful to that calling. I have not been distracted from that by what God is calling me to do in the future, but I did feel it was time to let those who have so faithfully supported me in this journey know about where He is taking me next. My hope is that you will add the people of Seattle to your prayer list without removing the Bolivian Quechua.
I'll be in the States on vacation from late May until late June if you would like more information or clarification on this next step in my somewhat nomadic life. Or you can always feel free to shoot me an e-mail at dogfight17@hotmail.com.
I'm looking forward to seeing many of you during my time at home!
A few fun facts about Seattle:
- Highest percentage of college graduates of any major U.S. city
- Home to Microsoft, Boeing, and Starbucks
- Population is about 30% non-Caucasian, including 14% Asian and 5% Hispanic
- Average yearly rainfall is 36 inches, as compared with 39 in Washington, DC, and 40 in New York. The least amount of rain falls in July. On average, there are 226 cloudy days per year (not 360, as originally assumed :)).
- High cost of living, with an average 1-bedroom apartment costing slightly over $1000 per month and an average family income around $85,000 per year
- Is the same distance from both London and Tokyo
- Approximately 18% of its population is foreign-born
- Has four professional sports teams: The Mariners (MLB), Seahawks (NFL), Storm (WNBA), and Sounders (MLS)
- Major export, by far, is aircraft parts
- Is about 85 square miles in area
- Most famous landmark is the Seattle Space Needle
- Nickname is The Emerald City
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 vil
lage 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 abou
t 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!
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 sta
rting 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 coup
le 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.
when I really meet with Him and feel that spring of living water flowing inside of me.
