Shippin' Out

It's funny the last few weeks I've had sometime to reflect on a lot of things. First, my disgusting and unorganized closet; which I am very proud to say is cleaner than before and far more presentable now, than....anyother time in my life. During my 'Spanish Inquisition-like' filtering process of memories,books,notes and such in my closet I found somethings that mean a lot to me, my High School Diploma for starters,tons of Christian literature that have been MIA(Missing In Action) for a long time now, but now I can say are found and very much preserved. One 'treasure' I stumbled upon was my NJROTC ribbons,decorations, and medals I was awarded in High School. I remember every word that was spoken to me when I was awarded those ribbons,how I received them,and who saw me receive it. It's funny where I found them though, I found them in a cigar box(I never smoked before,nor do I now, or ever will) tucked away with Way Fest tickets from my past prior to accepting the Lord and even after.

I remembered something that one of my NJROTC instructors said to my graduating class our senior year and it was this, "This program, that uniform you're wearing today, this Military Ball coming up, you all will NEVER FORGET this and this probably will be the last time you guys wear a military uniform unless, ya'll join the Armed Forces". Yes, today I will say that I do agree with this mentor from my past who pushed me passed where I would give up (Yes, he was a Marine. To me, the best one I've ever met.) I can recall my Physical Training days with this gentleman and there was a time in my time in NJROTC where I had the privilege to lead cadences that would bellow from my diaphram and all of my school heard myself and my platoon(class)talk about some 'Jody Boy'.Haha.We would jog in formation to our designated area to stretch,do calisthenics rooting from Marine and Navy SEAL workouts and then do whatever our Instructor wanted us to do. Senior year I can recall after a long session of stretching,calisthenics and what not in the April sun on a Friday afternoon; my whole class (yes, guys and gals) we were soaked from sweating like mad dogs. We all could look at eachother as we heaved and panted and that would be enough non-verbal communication to say in our expressions that said, "This guy is really NUTS!Let's march back to the classroom, NOT double-time it." He had one last trick up his sleeve, as seniors he was much more lenient to us, so we could say things to him what freshman couldn't say and get away with.

One of my friends, said "Master Sergeant! This is WEAK! Let's run!" And everybody exclaimed, "Dude, you're an IDIOT!" Others said worse comments than that and resulted in their arms burning from doing way too many push-ups as a means to correct their 'language'. Our instructor exclaimed, "Ok, fine! Let's go for a little run." Trust me it was anything but little since our bodies were destroyed. One of my friends said, "Hey Master Sergeant! How many laps we doing? 5?" He replied "Nope!" Another cadet I knew said, "Oh man, how about 2?" Another cadet said, "Hey Master Sergeant! How about we do none at all?" My Master Sergeant replied, "How about you do some push-ups in the wet grass." Finally, one friend of mine said, "Alright, Master Sergeant. How many laps do you want us to do?" He replied "Until I tell you to stop."

Funny it's memories like those and many more that leads me to look forward to the many places I will be in the future and ministries I will be part of that I know will be challenging and I'm sure I will think, "Lord, seriously? How many more laps?" Eventually, I say, "Ok God, I'll run until YOU tell me to stop." It brings me back to 1st Corinthians 9:24-27, I must say I've never been big into running and I especially hated it in NJROTC because that was the one thing that lowered my score on my Physical Training tests....endurance.Something I have a feeling will be a huge lesson for me this coming semester, but we shall see. I know that everytime I'm in Peru, I see God wanting to teach me how to endure more than I did the day before or my last semester in Lima. I must say this, everytime I'm in Peru right where the Lord wants me to be; I tend to see more of the spiritual warfare that Paul speaks of in the New Testament than I feel most choose to see,haven't seen, or been exposed to for whatever that reason is. For example, When I was in Iquitos, Peru aka 'Da Jungle' the attacks from the enemy were so intense that I almost felt trapped in the 'mind-set' from one of the most emotion stirring war-films that I've seen based on 'Nam that is 'Apocalypse Now'. Which I must say the 1st and Last time I saw it was years before getting saved.

That mindset in Iquitos was like pollution, but the missionaries who are there in Iquitos in my eyes are like the Marines, but the Lord's Marines when it comes to spreading The Gospel behind 'Enemy Lines' such as places like Iquitos. Few are willing to do it and at this moment there are at least that I know of four brave pastors along with their families that minister to this region.

I must say I've been AWOL(Absent Without Leave) from the missions field and Bible College education for a few months, but that hasn't stopped God from teaching me one on one and reinstructing this soldier to go back to 'the front'. So, tomorrow I will be heading back to the front and continuing my education there at Bible College in Lima,Peru. It has felt like forever since I was there, but I have every confidence in the Lord that I will smoothly fit right in with my classes and a few of my friends that are still there and the new ones I will make. I have no idea what sort of 'Gettysburg-like' battles await me or even 'Battle of the Bulge' stand-offs are under-construction, but I do know that God is for me and God is for those who follow Him. I am reminded this very moment that His Grace is so much greater than any other endurance building workout. So, in closing this soldier will no longer be State-side tomorrow night, but Peru-side. Thanks for all of you who have been reading and keeping up with me and I pray you continue to do so.

-Danielito