Through the many challenges I've been through in my personal life, I can joyfully say: They were necessary. Granted, during those I would only say, 'Yeah, these trials and tribulations are necessary.', but I would be whispering those words underneath my breath with but a 'not-so triumphant tone'. You know? That tone that as we all who are Believers in the Body of Christ should have because the battle was already won by Jesus and all we have to do is walk in victory as have Him in our hearts. Though just when I thought the trials were over, the enemy was just getting warmed up; he threw some more deceitful whispers to me as I was planning to go back to Peru to go serve the Lord. It wasn't just a 'dry season' like we all have when we feel or say, 'I don't quite hear the Lord, today or this week.' This has been a 3 week long; Yes, a 3 week long period of daily battle where the enemy would cast one arrow of doubt to me and I would respond with Scripture. Following that would be another battle, then one after the other. Though with all these things that have stretched me, I consider it worth it. This is really preparing me for Peru and even with these trials and tribulations for any Believer these are small compared to what we can expect in Heaven as we are praising God. These very trials I have considered a reminder of the thorn in the flesh that Paul had with his ministry to Corinth. As for me, these certain things have been a bitter sweet blessing as I see that the Lord is doing some serious heart surgery in me through these challenges, but in the long run I see that it is all worth it.
I do know that by the time I go back to Peru, I will think back and thank God for these challenging times, because I will see that these challenges were to get me out of my stagnant and stale mood in my faith and really thrust myself outside of my comfort zone to truly be used by Him. For example, today I got to talk to an old high school NJROTC buddy of mine who is in the Army and is now a husband and is a brand new father. It was such a joy to talk to him about Jesus and I was even so much more blessed and fortunate to send him a Soldier's Bible with him name enscribed on it. This was a friend whom in NJROTC were very close but when I come to the Lord around my senior year he was going through some unfortunate times in his personal life. I prayed for him and hoped that one day we would be able to talk again and put whatever bitterness or arguement we ever had behind us and now it feels like a brand new slate. Man, what a blessing from God to be able to be given a second chance to renew a friendship. We had known each other since we were but freshmen in high school and we ran side by side in formation aroudn the school with the rest of our platoon for physical training. I knew that someday he would join the military, I, on the other hand prayed for being in the military. It's just, I may not be in the United States Military, but enlisted in the Army of the Most High. Not a army to wage war, but an army to deliver the Gospel, teach disciples, minister to others and we have one amazing Commandant; Jesus Christ. As I sit here in my kitchen, this Halloween and remembering the 'groggy feeling' I had from running around Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale's 'Final Hour' the night before, I came to a great conclusion. From the time, I wake up to the time I rest my head is the amount of time I have in this day to willingly make a decision to follow Him and deny some certain selfish opportunities and come closer to Him in the process. Only a gracious God like Our God would do such a marvelous thing but to come down to a very spoiled, complaining, child of His and be ministered to by His love. Love from the Lord is but a free gift, how great is it to be given the opportunity to spread it.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
The Basics...
The times that I can recall about my previous two semesters at Calvary Chapel Bible College in Lima,Peru were more than just memorable, but God given. Since, my return to the United States it's been difficult to transition back to a culture that is very different in many ways compared to the culture and lifestyle in Peru. But to accurately paint a picture of this nation and what it's like to live there I need to pull out the many masterpieces that I call memories that have been created there and that I still carry with me and that are truly a work of art from God compared to the priceless 'market artwork' I bought with pocket change in my travels in Peru.
Peru, that is when it was not called Peru, but the nation of the Incas was a rising empire. One that grew from the valley of Cuzco which is embedded in the spine of the Andes Mountains that runs from Chile all the way to the northern region of South America. Its empire stretched into many present-day South American nations and then at some point the ever adventerous and curious Spaniards conquered the Incans and has strived to be a nation on its own and then after one victorious war for independence to many disappointing wars between other South American nations, Chile in particular. This very nation sits on a tectonic plate and its very safe to say that Peru's history and present has been painted with struggle and disaster in addtion to terrorism, violence, famine, as well as the very common and contagious act of drug production and distrubtion as it can be seen in many struggling nations in South America and Central America amongst drug lords and gangs. So,one could find it hard to believe that when you tell a Peruvian that Jesus loves them or in Spanish- Jesús te ama that it is very common to see a Peruvian very open to the Gospel and most likely will accept the Lord right then and there given the circumstance presents itself for a time to share the Gospel. But that simple phrase is so easy to say for any native English speaker and is very easy to bring a Peruvian to their knees to want to know more about the Lord.
My memories and experiences in Peru can stretch from going to an interesting neighborhood called San Juan de Lurigancho. Where every Saturday night I had the opportunity to minister to a VBS ministry and develop a relationship with the children and help out in any way I could as they would learn stories from Scripture through their activities. While some stayed with me, others went off to go reach out to others in the neighborhood further up 'The Hill' where the poverty was much more evident and the hunger to know the Lord in the hearts of these people was unavoidable. From such a ministry as that, I was able to venture to the jungles of the northeastern region of the nation known as; Iquitos. Where it seems like a completely different world compared to the city life of the burrows and districts of Lima. This mototaxi filled city was also filled with a huge conglomerate of heresy,blasphemy,and witchcraft in exchange for the level of materialism and commericialism that can be found in Lima. It's a common sight to see old ladies roam the street to sell witchcraft 'charms' with the mixture of signs in certain areas that state such phrases like: "No child prostitution". Needless to say, the prayer for those missionaries in Iquitos like Jeremy Swan and Alberto Smith need our prayers as they are representing their churches from other reaches of the world as they minister to this hurting region, but also where the enemy has a stronghold in this city. Needless to say, just spending a week in a place like that challenges every bit of yourself even if you're not preaching in the streets of Iquitos, just the fact that you have Christ in your heart is enough for the enemy to attack you in anyway shape or form. I can recall nightmares to be much more frequent, I can recall times where if I woke up in cold sweat in the middle of the night I found it so hard to pray for myself, but I found that praying for others in my missions group that their dreams were so much more pleasant than mine seemed to be a better idea or an easier task, before I would reluctantly go back to sleep. That was an idea of 'sleep' for a week in Iquitos, Peru and as I recall that experience for a week I can only feel for those missionaries I met in Iquitos and pray that they would be stronger and continue in their ministry to want to bring more people in 'The Floating City' to the Lord. Hence it's name during its rainy season.
I wish I could share so much more in this first blog entry, but this is just the beginning and I pray that this blog entry would be the very thing to spark something in you to pray for this ministry or to support this mission that the Lord has placed in front of me. I thank you for taking the time to read this blog and God bless you all.
Peru, that is when it was not called Peru, but the nation of the Incas was a rising empire. One that grew from the valley of Cuzco which is embedded in the spine of the Andes Mountains that runs from Chile all the way to the northern region of South America. Its empire stretched into many present-day South American nations and then at some point the ever adventerous and curious Spaniards conquered the Incans and has strived to be a nation on its own and then after one victorious war for independence to many disappointing wars between other South American nations, Chile in particular. This very nation sits on a tectonic plate and its very safe to say that Peru's history and present has been painted with struggle and disaster in addtion to terrorism, violence, famine, as well as the very common and contagious act of drug production and distrubtion as it can be seen in many struggling nations in South America and Central America amongst drug lords and gangs. So,one could find it hard to believe that when you tell a Peruvian that Jesus loves them or in Spanish- Jesús te ama that it is very common to see a Peruvian very open to the Gospel and most likely will accept the Lord right then and there given the circumstance presents itself for a time to share the Gospel. But that simple phrase is so easy to say for any native English speaker and is very easy to bring a Peruvian to their knees to want to know more about the Lord.
My memories and experiences in Peru can stretch from going to an interesting neighborhood called San Juan de Lurigancho. Where every Saturday night I had the opportunity to minister to a VBS ministry and develop a relationship with the children and help out in any way I could as they would learn stories from Scripture through their activities. While some stayed with me, others went off to go reach out to others in the neighborhood further up 'The Hill' where the poverty was much more evident and the hunger to know the Lord in the hearts of these people was unavoidable. From such a ministry as that, I was able to venture to the jungles of the northeastern region of the nation known as; Iquitos. Where it seems like a completely different world compared to the city life of the burrows and districts of Lima. This mototaxi filled city was also filled with a huge conglomerate of heresy,blasphemy,and witchcraft in exchange for the level of materialism and commericialism that can be found in Lima. It's a common sight to see old ladies roam the street to sell witchcraft 'charms' with the mixture of signs in certain areas that state such phrases like: "No child prostitution". Needless to say, the prayer for those missionaries in Iquitos like Jeremy Swan and Alberto Smith need our prayers as they are representing their churches from other reaches of the world as they minister to this hurting region, but also where the enemy has a stronghold in this city. Needless to say, just spending a week in a place like that challenges every bit of yourself even if you're not preaching in the streets of Iquitos, just the fact that you have Christ in your heart is enough for the enemy to attack you in anyway shape or form. I can recall nightmares to be much more frequent, I can recall times where if I woke up in cold sweat in the middle of the night I found it so hard to pray for myself, but I found that praying for others in my missions group that their dreams were so much more pleasant than mine seemed to be a better idea or an easier task, before I would reluctantly go back to sleep. That was an idea of 'sleep' for a week in Iquitos, Peru and as I recall that experience for a week I can only feel for those missionaries I met in Iquitos and pray that they would be stronger and continue in their ministry to want to bring more people in 'The Floating City' to the Lord. Hence it's name during its rainy season.
I wish I could share so much more in this first blog entry, but this is just the beginning and I pray that this blog entry would be the very thing to spark something in you to pray for this ministry or to support this mission that the Lord has placed in front of me. I thank you for taking the time to read this blog and God bless you all.
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