Tracking Along - Peru 2010

Well, as you can tell, I still don´t have a stable wi-fi connection for my laptop. This means I can´t post pictures or videos, and this really breaks my heart because I can´t send my personal video message to my wife and sons! I know that they know I love them and miss them so much, but I still wanted to tell them "myself".

Nevertheless, let me give you an update from the field today and some prayer needs for tomorrow. The mission team members who went to the school today reported a wonderful day of ministry to the children. Also, the host pastor, Dr. Tolbert, and I all had the honor of delivering our teaching sessions today at the conference. It´s truly amazing how these dear servants of God sit literally for hours everyday at the confence attentively, taking notes, and then asking for copies of the PowerPoint presentations so they can take them home with them! How humbling to have the privilege to serve the Lord Christ and His people in this way.

Well, please pray for us tomorrow in several ways. First, some of our team members will be going to one more school at 10:30 AM - a deaf school. Wow! So here´s the channels the Gospel will travel through to get to the kids. A team member will share in English, someone who knows English and Spanish will have to understand the message, and then they will have to sign it to the Peruvian children. Interesting, huh? This is what I think: There´s just no stopping the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Second, please intercede for Dr. Tolbert and I as we meet with one or more pastors tomorrow at 11:00 AM. We´re prayerfully looking into the possibility of having a conference in another city in Peru that´s about 40 kilometers from Huancayo. Obviously, we want to seek the Lord and carefully saturate every possible opportunity in prayer. So please ask God to give wisdom, insight, and a clear sensitivity to the Spirit´s leading in this way.

Third, please pray for the people at the conference as we divide into outreach teams and share the Gospel on the streets of Huancayo tomorrow. The Lord has worked in awesome ways in the past as He has brought to past a harvest of souls every year. But this is a new year! We´re trusting God to work in a great way tomorrow. Please pray for the Spirit´s ministry of conviction to be present and that we would witness Him draw many to the Father through salvation in Christ.

Fourth, please pray for the final session of the conference tomorrow night. After we have the opportunity to share the Gospel, report on the great things God did, and enjoy our last Peruvian meal with our Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we´ll hear a final session from Dr. Tolbert on our victory in Jesus Christ.

And this brings me to a fifth prayer item, we need Christ´s stength everyday, and tomorrow is certainly no exception. After we wrap-up the final session, we´ll have to pick-up tables and chairs, move pews, sweep, and pack. Of course, we won´t begin this until about 9:30 PM. So it´ll be a late night followed by an early morning because we wake up on Saturday and travel back through the Andes Mountains for Lima. Can you believe it? This trip seems to have flown by this year!

Now, sixth, please pray for our "So-longs" tomorrow. That´s right. As Believers, we don´t need to say "Good bye" to one another because we´ll meet again in Heaven someday. But it´s still difficult to leave our new friends and partners in the Gospel. New friends and partners like missionaries David and Cameron and our translators J. B. and Javier. Also, familiar friends like Tatiana and Suzie and Missionary Rolando. When we go through this moving departure, you get a better sense of what it must have been like for the apostle Paul as he labored with other Believers in the Gospel and then departed for other cities with more work to do. We need God´s grace to sustain us as we keep our eyes on Jesus because He promised that as we go and make disciples of all nations, He would never leave us nor forsake us (Matthew 28:18-20).

Thanks again for all your continued intercession, and may God bless you abundantly for your faithful prayer support. You´ve truly been our extended mission team, and we appreciate your partnership in the Gospel!