We are preparing to leave for the airport. Heading to Lima. I want to share my devotional today...written by E.A. Kilbourne:
"He knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, Iwill come forth as gold. (Job 23:10)
Faith grows during storms. these are just four little words, but what significance they have to someone who has endured life-threatening storms!
Faith is that God-given ability that, when exercised, brings the unseen into plain view. It deals with the supernatural and makes impossible things possible. And yes, it grows during the storms--that is, it grows through disturbances in the spiritual atmosphere. Storms are caused by conflicts between the physical elements , and the storms of the spiritural world are conflicts with the supernatural, hostile elements. And it is in this atmosphere of conflict that faith finds its most fertile soil and grows most rapidly to maturity.
the strongest trees are found not in the thick shelter of the forest but out in the open, where winds from every direction bear down upon them. The fierce winds bend and twist them until become giant in stature. These are the trees that toolmakers seek for handles for their tools, because of the wood's great strenth.
It is the same in the spiritual world. Remember, when you see a person of great spiritual stature, the road you must travel to walk with him is not one where the sun alway shines and wildflowers always bloom. Instead, the way is a steep, rocky , and narrow pathe, where the winds of hell will try to knock you off your feet, and where sharp rocks will cut you, prickly thorns will scratch your face, and poisonous sncakes will slither and hiss all around you.
the path of fait is one of sorrow and joy, suffering and healing comfort, tears and smiles, trials and victories, conflicts and triumphs, and also hardships, dangers, beatings, persecutions, misunderstanding, trouble, and distress. Yet "in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Romans 8:37)
yes, "in all these"--even during storms, when the winds are the most intense--"we are more than conquerors." You may be tempted to run from the ordeal of a fierce storm of testing, but head straight for it! God is there to meet you in the center of each trial. And He will whisper to you His secrets, which will bring you out with a radiant face and such an invincible faith that all the demons of hell will never be able to shake it.
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I pray this message blesses you as much as it has blessed me....Have a great day and rejoice in it for it is the day our Lord has made!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
July 12, 2009
We've started our journey to the states...left Moyobamba and are now in Tarapoto...tomorrow we leave for Lima and then Tues for florida....hate traveling but love when we make it to our destination.
We start our doctor visits right away...please be in prayer for Angel's doctor's reports to come out good so we can continue forward....we don't know what we'd do if we'd have to return to the states...we love where we are living and there is nothing like living on pure faith trusting God for all your needs. Each day His Spirit guides you and you get to see the miraculous wonders He creates just for you. we have so much to do when we get back. We are going to be helping a church develop a youth ministry...angel will be starting to visit tribal villages...I am going to start an English school at the house, teaching cooking once a month and Lord willing starting an outreach in the Yantelo area for the young mothers with babies.
Sometimes I get anxious and begin to worry about Angel..especially when he gets tired so easily, something he never did. But the one thing I have come to know is that as I run to the lap of my everlasting Father's arms, He comforts me and brings peace to my soul. We are in His hands...and whatever the outcome it will be for our good and for His glory!
We start our doctor visits right away...please be in prayer for Angel's doctor's reports to come out good so we can continue forward....we don't know what we'd do if we'd have to return to the states...we love where we are living and there is nothing like living on pure faith trusting God for all your needs. Each day His Spirit guides you and you get to see the miraculous wonders He creates just for you. we have so much to do when we get back. We are going to be helping a church develop a youth ministry...angel will be starting to visit tribal villages...I am going to start an English school at the house, teaching cooking once a month and Lord willing starting an outreach in the Yantelo area for the young mothers with babies.
Sometimes I get anxious and begin to worry about Angel..especially when he gets tired so easily, something he never did. But the one thing I have come to know is that as I run to the lap of my everlasting Father's arms, He comforts me and brings peace to my soul. We are in His hands...and whatever the outcome it will be for our good and for His glory!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
July 9, 2009
Our journey begins in 3 days. Sunday we leave Moyobamba for the 2 hour ride through the mountains to Tarapoto where we will stay overnite to catch the morning flight to Lima. Monday our flight leaves at 11am for Lima. There we will stay overnight to wake up Tuesday the 15th, at 4:00am to get to the airport for our 7am flight to Tampa. Cannot wait to see our family.
Yana our Great Dane has been having problems with her front left leg ever since she hurt it trying to get out of her cage where she loves to sleep even though it is too small for her. We have since secured the door so she cannot get in it. Yesterday the vet gave her two shots in her back left leg muscle. Today she is not putting her back leg down and is having muscle spasms in all her legs. The vet came and checked her out and said it was normal for the shots he gave her and he rubbed her leg down with something that smelled like bengay but was black. She's having a hard time getting up and laying down...hasn't eaten or had any water all day...I pray she is better tomorrow because it will be hard to leave her in this condition.
other than that nothing else much new...just getting ready, trying to not get anxious, I am not a good traveler and keeping focused on all I still need to do...
Yana our Great Dane has been having problems with her front left leg ever since she hurt it trying to get out of her cage where she loves to sleep even though it is too small for her. We have since secured the door so she cannot get in it. Yesterday the vet gave her two shots in her back left leg muscle. Today she is not putting her back leg down and is having muscle spasms in all her legs. The vet came and checked her out and said it was normal for the shots he gave her and he rubbed her leg down with something that smelled like bengay but was black. She's having a hard time getting up and laying down...hasn't eaten or had any water all day...I pray she is better tomorrow because it will be hard to leave her in this condition.
other than that nothing else much new...just getting ready, trying to not get anxious, I am not a good traveler and keeping focused on all I still need to do...
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Father's Day weekend
Not much going on....staying at hotel trying to download my antivirus which supposedly takes 11 hours....a renewal....has been a real pain ....not sure if it finished or not because I can't find the temp file it was supposedly put in.....arrrggghhhh....these are times you miss the states where you can just call someone and get help....oh well....anyway looking forward to the quiet.
Getting ready for our trip to Florida...going to be really fast...but we really need prayers that Angel's reports will come back that the cancer still has not spread so we can go back to peru and carry forward with the task assigned us by our Lord.
We had a wonderful team come from South Tampa Fellowship in Florida. It was a medical team of 18 people and they were awesome! We miss them already. They served with us in an area called Yantelo and helped open the door for ministry for us there. We look forward to our return from the states to get started.
Angel will also be visiting some tribal villages with one of the pastors and we are really excited about that. I will be looking to help bring some money into the house by starting an English school out of our home. We will also be raising chicken, cuy and rabbits for eating and selling again to help with ministry finances.
Many of our long term supporters have stopped supporting. We are praying with our visit home which is mainly for doctor visits and time with family, that we may be blessed with new partners and some current partners praying about increasing their support. But we leave it all in the hands of our Lord who shelters us and cares for us daily.
Our Great Dane seems to have hurt her leg. She loves to sleep in her dog cage which is now small for her and we think she hurt herself trying to get out of it one day. All the other animals are doing really well. Lulu, our macaw, is a terror. I'm trying to acclimate her more to strangers but when I'm around she just gets really territorial and bites not them but me...what a duh!
Well I'm excited about spending time with my grandbabies...can't wait.
Getting ready for our trip to Florida...going to be really fast...but we really need prayers that Angel's reports will come back that the cancer still has not spread so we can go back to peru and carry forward with the task assigned us by our Lord.
We had a wonderful team come from South Tampa Fellowship in Florida. It was a medical team of 18 people and they were awesome! We miss them already. They served with us in an area called Yantelo and helped open the door for ministry for us there. We look forward to our return from the states to get started.
Angel will also be visiting some tribal villages with one of the pastors and we are really excited about that. I will be looking to help bring some money into the house by starting an English school out of our home. We will also be raising chicken, cuy and rabbits for eating and selling again to help with ministry finances.
Many of our long term supporters have stopped supporting. We are praying with our visit home which is mainly for doctor visits and time with family, that we may be blessed with new partners and some current partners praying about increasing their support. But we leave it all in the hands of our Lord who shelters us and cares for us daily.
Our Great Dane seems to have hurt her leg. She loves to sleep in her dog cage which is now small for her and we think she hurt herself trying to get out of it one day. All the other animals are doing really well. Lulu, our macaw, is a terror. I'm trying to acclimate her more to strangers but when I'm around she just gets really territorial and bites not them but me...what a duh!
Well I'm excited about spending time with my grandbabies...can't wait.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
May 6th, 2009
How is it that we are missionaries? How is it that the call on our heart became such for us that we knew it was an invitation from our God to work with Him in the jungle regions of Peru? Have we and do we continue to do all we can to fulfill this amazing invitation? Many times I wonder if there is not more we should be doing, saying, praying? Yet His word tells us to wait on Him...to be still and know that He is God....oh how humanly weak we are and so self-focused to think we could do anything for God beyond what He has called us to. And what about our dependence? Where does our trust, peace and confidence lie? What has become of the true call to missions...what has become of the true mission? Look at the work of missionaries in this current world. We have become humanists focusing moreso on the physical needs of the world than their spiritual needs. This is not to say that there are not certain areas where we can aid the wounded and hungry but when we depend on sources from progressive countries to provide the funding for the hospitals we build, the schools we construct, the feeding centers and nutritions centers,we've done nothing more than create a dependency that cripples the receiving countries. In these times where the economy is crumbling around us, funding for these good intentioned projects have either been diminished or totally abandoned, not for lack of desire but for lack of the good old almighty dollar's power it once had.
We need to get back to what Jesus modeled for us as Christians...to preach the "Good News" that salvation comes to all who believe in Him, repent of their wicked ways and follow Him. And with this comes the promise of eternal life... redemption....peace and joy....beyond measure...
We need to empower nationals to seek God for both their physical and spiritual needs, maintaining their culture yet leaving behind that which God calls sin. We need to teach them to set up their own nutrition centers funded and run solely on local support from both secular and christian sources. Hospitals need to be set up so as to be able to continue whether the missionaries are there or not...whether good hearted people fund it from outside or not....what testimony do we leave if we can no longer support that which fed the needs of the people. There has been such a history of this even here in Peru...we see where years ago Swiss missionaries came and set up bible schools, built churches and medical clinics only to have them abandoned once the missionaries returned home. The nationals never took ownership but continued to see them as buildings, works etc belonging to the outsiders. One example is given of a church once built entirely by outside funding. Once the missionaries left some years later they received a letter from the nationals telling them that the roof of their church (the missionaries') was leaking and they needed to come back and fix it.
I may be wrong but as I study the word of God and His direction for those who follow Christ, no where do I see that we are to be pouring money into buildings or projects. We need to get back to basics. Heal the sick, feed the poor, take care of the widows and orphans in such ways that their lives are made better for it and they can then support themselves and go on to bring the Good News of God's great love to others.
Look at Jesus....He healed the sick and them left them to carry on....He fed the hungry by showing them how to use what was available to them ...He spiritually filled them and then sent them out on their own to mature and grow in the ways of God.
My heart is crying out for the many feeding and nutrition centers I hear that are struggling and near shutting down...for the hospitals that cannot go on for lack of pay for the doctors....and for the churches once dependent on foreign funds that they are barely surviving.
God help us all.
Lord I pray we keep ourselves pure and humble before you in all we do and say. Forgive us for making the Great Commission more than what you mean it to be. I do pray for all those whose project support has been cut or lessoned and pray that instead of pleading for funds that your Spirit will fill them with creative ideas to teach the nationals, or encourage the nationals to take responsibility for these programs themselves. If they don't then maybe we need to take a step back and come to realize that maybe these great projects were never Your plan in the first place but from the sympathetic heart of man. You never called us to have pity on the lost but compassion. You never called us to solve their problems but to provide the knowledge of the Great Provider. Father, even as my heart desires to do so much in the name of missions, may it be set on You and You alone, obedient to Your direction only....and may we all as missionaries come to be a blessing and not a hindrance to your great Commission.
Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life! He is the only means by which man shall be saved and although some think men need no saving I beg to differ and say look at the depravity around you. In Christ Jesus we have a hope and a promise. Seek Him and He will be found by you.
For He cares for you and will never leave you nor forsake you.
this is my prayer in Jesus name...
Amen!
We need to get back to what Jesus modeled for us as Christians...to preach the "Good News" that salvation comes to all who believe in Him, repent of their wicked ways and follow Him. And with this comes the promise of eternal life... redemption....peace and joy....beyond measure...
We need to empower nationals to seek God for both their physical and spiritual needs, maintaining their culture yet leaving behind that which God calls sin. We need to teach them to set up their own nutrition centers funded and run solely on local support from both secular and christian sources. Hospitals need to be set up so as to be able to continue whether the missionaries are there or not...whether good hearted people fund it from outside or not....what testimony do we leave if we can no longer support that which fed the needs of the people. There has been such a history of this even here in Peru...we see where years ago Swiss missionaries came and set up bible schools, built churches and medical clinics only to have them abandoned once the missionaries returned home. The nationals never took ownership but continued to see them as buildings, works etc belonging to the outsiders. One example is given of a church once built entirely by outside funding. Once the missionaries left some years later they received a letter from the nationals telling them that the roof of their church (the missionaries') was leaking and they needed to come back and fix it.
I may be wrong but as I study the word of God and His direction for those who follow Christ, no where do I see that we are to be pouring money into buildings or projects. We need to get back to basics. Heal the sick, feed the poor, take care of the widows and orphans in such ways that their lives are made better for it and they can then support themselves and go on to bring the Good News of God's great love to others.
Look at Jesus....He healed the sick and them left them to carry on....He fed the hungry by showing them how to use what was available to them ...He spiritually filled them and then sent them out on their own to mature and grow in the ways of God.
My heart is crying out for the many feeding and nutrition centers I hear that are struggling and near shutting down...for the hospitals that cannot go on for lack of pay for the doctors....and for the churches once dependent on foreign funds that they are barely surviving.
God help us all.
Lord I pray we keep ourselves pure and humble before you in all we do and say. Forgive us for making the Great Commission more than what you mean it to be. I do pray for all those whose project support has been cut or lessoned and pray that instead of pleading for funds that your Spirit will fill them with creative ideas to teach the nationals, or encourage the nationals to take responsibility for these programs themselves. If they don't then maybe we need to take a step back and come to realize that maybe these great projects were never Your plan in the first place but from the sympathetic heart of man. You never called us to have pity on the lost but compassion. You never called us to solve their problems but to provide the knowledge of the Great Provider. Father, even as my heart desires to do so much in the name of missions, may it be set on You and You alone, obedient to Your direction only....and may we all as missionaries come to be a blessing and not a hindrance to your great Commission.
Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life! He is the only means by which man shall be saved and although some think men need no saving I beg to differ and say look at the depravity around you. In Christ Jesus we have a hope and a promise. Seek Him and He will be found by you.
For He cares for you and will never leave you nor forsake you.
this is my prayer in Jesus name...
Amen!
Friday, May 1, 2009
May 1st 2009
Man I have never seen so much rain. Seems where we now live although they told us rainy season is from Dec to March, just keeps on going and going and going. But the coolness is a refreshing change from the horrendous heat of Tarapoto.
Our marriage workshop went really well. What a spiritual high it was to be working side by side with my husband in one spirit as our Lord ordained from the beginning.
We are preparing for the medical team coming the end of this month...please keep them in prayer...it's a team of 18 people. We are so looking forward to their coming and serving in the Moyobamba area with us. Pray for many souls to be won for the kingdom of God.
well time's up at the internet cafe...must be going....desperately need internet at the house...pray for an open line to be available soooooooooooooon!
Our marriage workshop went really well. What a spiritual high it was to be working side by side with my husband in one spirit as our Lord ordained from the beginning.
We are preparing for the medical team coming the end of this month...please keep them in prayer...it's a team of 18 people. We are so looking forward to their coming and serving in the Moyobamba area with us. Pray for many souls to be won for the kingdom of God.
well time's up at the internet cafe...must be going....desperately need internet at the house...pray for an open line to be available soooooooooooooon!
Friday, April 24, 2009
April 24th-so much time has passed
without internet in the house it is hard to keep up with all I must do communicationwise....so this is just a quick update.
we are doing great! we love Moyobamba! hopefully soon I will be able to download pictures.
we are preparing for a medical team the end of May and have been busy preparing for that. Yesterday we started a 2 part teaching on marriage at a church in the area. How amazing it is to see us finally working together in one spirit...a blessing and answer to long awaited prayer. Our God is faithful and knows all things from beginning to end and although we suffered much along the way I can say it was worth the pain, sorrow, frustrations and waiting. Our marriage is more than I could ever have imagined. maybe one day I'll write a book on our experience.
Today we go to Yantalo for the final arrangements with the medical post we will be working in.
This morning Angel met with the commander of the police dept here. As some of you remember when we first moved here in December, Angel began visiting the police dept on Mon's and Fri's at the request of the commander but then in February a new general took command and because we are not Catholic refused to allow angel to continue attending the roll call and praying for and encouraging the police officers. Many officers see us on the street and comment how his prayers and presence are truly missed. we are praying for the general in the meantime keeping outsice contact with the officers. Today as Angel prayed with the commander, he (the commander) expressed his frustrations with the churches and NGO's in the area who come to him for information on working with the prostitutes, street children etc but then nothing is ever done. angel shared our heart and Lord willing we pray to see the results of this conversation.
well I must be going...time is almost up at the internet cafe...still praying for internet at the house....our Lord's timing is always perfect...so we wait...
we are doing great! we love Moyobamba! hopefully soon I will be able to download pictures.
we are preparing for a medical team the end of May and have been busy preparing for that. Yesterday we started a 2 part teaching on marriage at a church in the area. How amazing it is to see us finally working together in one spirit...a blessing and answer to long awaited prayer. Our God is faithful and knows all things from beginning to end and although we suffered much along the way I can say it was worth the pain, sorrow, frustrations and waiting. Our marriage is more than I could ever have imagined. maybe one day I'll write a book on our experience.
Today we go to Yantalo for the final arrangements with the medical post we will be working in.
This morning Angel met with the commander of the police dept here. As some of you remember when we first moved here in December, Angel began visiting the police dept on Mon's and Fri's at the request of the commander but then in February a new general took command and because we are not Catholic refused to allow angel to continue attending the roll call and praying for and encouraging the police officers. Many officers see us on the street and comment how his prayers and presence are truly missed. we are praying for the general in the meantime keeping outsice contact with the officers. Today as Angel prayed with the commander, he (the commander) expressed his frustrations with the churches and NGO's in the area who come to him for information on working with the prostitutes, street children etc but then nothing is ever done. angel shared our heart and Lord willing we pray to see the results of this conversation.
well I must be going...time is almost up at the internet cafe...still praying for internet at the house....our Lord's timing is always perfect...so we wait...
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