If any of you know what my deal is with Iquitos since March of 2009 you know that Satan had a field day with me for a whole week in that year. I was at risk of having 3 seizures, had adominal pain the whole week, and was spiritually attacked unlike anything I've ever experienced before. It took me literally months to come to the conclusion that there was any good that came out of that trip from my perspective. This time as I went to Iquitos this year for a week I saw the Lord speak to my heart and gave me words of encouragement that were promises regarding the trip for example: On my flight to Iquitos with my team the Lord said to me two things: 1.) "Daniel, the angels have cleared the way." 2.) "Daniel, you will be tested." Sure enough, time and time again everywhere we stepped I could see that the Lord touched the hearts and prepared them for our arrival so that we may have the God given opportunity to give them The Gospel and minister and encourage those who have already given their hearts to Jesus. My body was put to the test as one day I would feel feverish along with being sunburned and incredibly tired from the life-draining humidity that was a freak of nature that only dwells near the Equator(by the way, we were only 3 degrees off from it.)
I had the amazing opportunity to travel down all of Iquitos' rivers including the Amazon. Our first river trip was to a river village called Centro Fuerte(very young ministry and is just in its early stages). Our boat was like a giant gondala with a homemade motor that was manned by a 15 or 16 year old Peruvian teenager and the ministry was fantastic as we put on skits to deliver the Gospel message, played with the youth and get to know them and converse with others our age and older. To get to this village we had to hike in the rain for a good 20 minutes or so before arriving at the church. And as time slipped away that day we would find ourselves hiking back to the boats from which we came in and found ourselves in the pitch black darkness that dwells in the Peruvian jungles without lights on the boat to find our way, but only that of the moon's light was our guide. It rained quite a few times on our boat ride to the village and from and story is that the boats that travel on the river during the rain typically tip over and sink due to the wind and sure enough.....we were riding in those kind of boats that are capable of capsizing. As we were making our back to the city of Iquitos we noticed the other American team that was with us that was from Calvary Chapel Murrieta had went down a short cut with their boat and as OUR motorist lost sight of it he continued to drive FULL throttle towards the jungle's banks and shores, which could hardly be called those but be compared to my homestate's jungles of mangroves(Florida).
Calvary Chapel El Terminal (aka HQ)
Everybody yelled back to him since his view and hearing was obstructed "BE CAREFUL! REVERSE! REVERSE! WE'RE GONNA HIT THE LAND! FULL REVERSE! FULL REVERSE!" Sure enough I saw that kid move faster than I had ever saw him move and I could hear the motor change tunes as it went from full throttle forward to full throttle reverse, but he let loose on the gas and damage was done and his mother whom was guiding him from the bow of the boat ran back into the shelter of this jungle-version gondala and we struck the jungle's arms like the Titanic struck its iceberg. We began to tip but DID NOT capsize. And surely I saw the Lord protect my life once again in this part of the world, really...no matter where I am. Then we continued our trip down the short cut we should've SMOOTHLY went down. Our night came to an end as we made port in Belen a region in Iquitos and took a convoy of loud screaming moto-taxis down the silent streets of Iquitos at about midnight.
A couple days later we would make our way down another river just on an opposite end of town from which we made port two nights before hand. Instead on this boat we had to move around, walk, and swing. Swing, you ask? Yes, ladies and gentleman, swing....in our hammocks that is. The hot Iquitos sun burned me up pretty well, particularly my 'two shades to the right short of albino' shoulders. Made our way to the river village, Panguana, but in order to get there we had to travel down the Amazon. So, after three hours or so of traveling by boat at a pretty slow pace we finally arrived at our destination: Panguana. This time we had to hike on creeky boardwalks which are normally submerged by gallons and gallons of water from the consistent amount of rain. I had taken this hike before and remembered it well, but this time I would come back to this village anticipating the awesome opportunity to teach Colossians 3:12-17. It would be this missions trip that the Lord had given me permission to teach the Word openly in Peru to a Peruvian audience for the first time since I started my studies in the Fall of 2008 and my waiting had paid off. So, I preached my heart off and allowed The Holy Spirit to speak through me with whatever He wanted to say for that group of people I was teaching to. It would be this trip that I'd seen all the lessons the Lord has showed me with speaking before people and what a teacher of His Word looks like. It made me incredibly thankful that I had two opportunities to teach. On the boat ride back to Iquitos, my stomach was ill again but did not up-chuck or anything, but just sat outside on the stern of our boat in a hammock and was left staring at the stars above me and saw the largest orange full moon I have ever seen accompanied by thousands of stars. Of those thousands, I saw four or five disappear and die before my very eyes. Yes, I saw four or five stars die and would eventually become black holes or become stars again.
Praying with missionary Jeremy Swan outside of Panguana church plant, before Daniel taught.
Almost had a third time and this time people were really depending on me to teach at this other church that the Calvary Chapels in Iquitos work with and even though I wasn't feeling 100% physically I went for it. By the time I got there, I was sweating more bullets than the average bear, my heart felt like it was going to burst, I felt like my stomach doing flips and I thought: "I usually never get nervous before teaching. But why is my body acting like this?" So, I stepped outside and grabbed the missionary I was with along with the pastor of that church and told them what I felt and they expressed to me that if I couldn't do the teaching then either one of them could cover for me. Sure enough, I would find myself in a moto-taxi to the nearest clinic with a friend from Calvary Chapel Murrieta and the missionary in Iquitos; Albert Smith. Turns out I did have a borderline fever, dehydrated(but still drank TONS of water), blood pressure:150/100. So, they gave me a shot for the fever and they gave a powder to bring down my blood pressure and I gave them the biggest red flag regarding my medications and my medical condition regarding my epilepsy that I could possibly hoist. And they assured me 100% that the meds wouldn't conflict with my epilepsy or my medicine. In a matter of minutes my flushed face regained color and as I recovered from the rather large intermuscular shot they gave me in my rear for my fever I walked in and out of the clinic pretty much 100% within 2 hours or so, only having to pay S/. 100=$35.00?
Made it back to my hotel feeling strong again and smiling wide for the Lord. There were prayers that night that I never thought I would feel I needed to pray. I said "Lord, send Your angels to whisper to the hearts of my friends to pray for me and lift my health up to You. I need You now, Lord! Lord, I know because of the close relationship I have with You, today is not THAT day. But God if it is, I'm ready. I'm ready to come home and worship You for all eternity. I am satisfied with Your will." I prayed that prayer twice that week. Because I was put in those situations to be comfortable praying those prayers it made my faith stronger than anything I could imagine. On our flight back to Lima I walked about the Bible College feeling like I was back in the United States. Back to the hustle and bustle of the city and 'civilization'. I was experiencing some reverse cultural shock even just in Lima the capital of Peru. But it eventually wore off as I was struck with a pretty bad cold and cold sore, and now 6 days later feeling strong and smiling again.
Oh! The pastor of the church I was supposed to speak at had wished me a friendly good-bye and we both agreed that if it was the Lord's will that I would return to speak at his church. Once again, I see the Lord opening more opportunities for me here in Peru and hopefully in other regions of South America and my relationships with other ministries, pastors, and missionaries are growing stronger and stronger and I have only God to thank that He would teach me to get outside of my shell in the U.S. and my shell of my personality. So, in closing. I can only say this that if that missions trip was a battle or war I would say that we could have raised banners of victory in His Holy and Precious Name, Jesus on the streets of Iquitos and even to the silent and humble abidings of the Peruvian jungles and even in the churches that we served at and ministered at.
Two brothers of a friend of mine I know in Lima who live and minister in Iquitos.
To God, be the glory and the victory always be remembered that it belonged to Him and we inherited it as His children through His Son, Jesus Christ.
-Danielito
Our group, from the bottom: Lauren Evans, Lara Lanphere, Andrea Latorre, Megan Bauer,
2nd row start from right: Tyler Campbell, Daniel Sadowski, Shirley Molero, Joshua Richards, Holly Delgado, Steven Sutton, Rachael Hicks, Jeremy and Sandra Swan, and Nate Bauer.
