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| Am I really here in the AMAZON? |
One week ago we returned from an
intense two weeks in the jungle of the Amazon. From the base in Iquitos, it’s
about an hour by bus to Nalta, where we got back into the Logos
boat that previously took us to the ‘farm’ for a jungle initiation of sorts.
This time, however, we had two missions:
Week 1 - We had a lecture from a
Japanese-Canadian pastor named Ryoichi (ee-o-chi) that was hard hitting,
questioning the Christian church cultures we have created in the Modern Era and
in our respective cultures of North America, Latin America and Europe. We were
able to work on the property of the YWAM jungle ministry by helping reenforce a
fish farm with massive bags full of dirt and reconstruct over half of the
wearing barbed wire fence surrounding the property. (I got to chop down a tree
with a machete!)
Week 2 - We had a interim week of
outreach to 6 communities in 5 days. It was a huge blessing and joy to see God
open doors in each community Monday thru Friday and even one extra! We’d boat
up early in the morning and meet with the leaders and a typical day involved
going door to door, sometimes to evangelize, followed by a kids program in the
afternoon and an adults program in the evening. Sam was a proud leader as he
was able to see his students engage the children in games, skits and puppet
shows. I was involved in many activities as well from on stage to audio tech.
In the evening we typically shared testimonies, did dramas (which draw huge
crowds here) and had calls to salvation. I would estimate in total we probably
interacted with 500-600 people in those 5 days. :)
Without further a do... I want to share
with you some of my journal entries. I journaled almost every day because the
details are easily forgotten and I wanted to remember each place as the unique
community that it is. I call this unedited because it’s not all the glitz and
glamour of the missions life. I am sharing candid thoughts, some of which are
brutally honest.
Here are some [UNEDITED] Journal
Entries...
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| The very boats I saw in my vision last year. |
The Farm-
“Hard to
believe I’ve spent one full week in the jungle. I’m starting to get used to always having at
least 3 different kind of bites on my body, my feet being devoured by chiggers
and my elbows always being raw with mosquito bites.
...
I really do
not like the jungle. Last night was one of the worst nights ever trying to
sleep in my life. I had at least 6 things keeping me awake. 1) The ungodly
heat. 2) Being wet and sweaty. (in my musty, smelly sleeping bag) 3) Itching 4)
Swatting bugs 5) Uncomfortability and neck pain 6) Noodle’s snoring! [Love you,
Newell!]
That being
said I am trying to maintain the best attitude I can considering this is one of
those ‘Once in a Lifetime’ Opportunities.
We went on a
hike yesterday [INTO the jungle], roughly two miles to a creek. Risto shared
some cool facts, but overall it was not far from a hot and humid hike in
Minnesota summers. I guess my highlight was finally seeing bullet ants and
getting to chase them around with my telephoto lens. I checked my feet
frequently because although Caleb said their bites effect people differently,
once they discover your presence, they are pretty vicious.
... [skipping
an uneventful monkey hunting experience]
It’s amazing
all the daily “conveniences” of the modern world we are living without. I
really miss a washer and dryer. Things get much dirtier and mustier here. You
clothes are never truly dry. They always smell. I don’t think I’ll ever take
clean water for granted again. (which we are close to rationing) I still look
out at the river and think to myself, “Am I really LIVING in the Amazon?”
For only
being 24 years old and having done this before, I’m pretty set in my ways and I
think every person should live in a completely different culture at some point
in their lives. It really grows you in maturity and in spirit if you allow it.”
Buen Pastor & Canaan-
“Today was
Day One. I think it’s safe to say today was my favorite day of the entire trip
thus far and if
it was all over tomorrow I would be satisfied. Seeing a child smile is such an
awesome thing, I can’t explain it. So simple, but so gratifying. Today I saw my
vision FOUR different times. [God gave me a vision of
the Amazon involving children on the bank watching the boat I was in. This was
March 2012.] We boated up to the first community Buen Pastor. [Good Shepherd]
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| (click to see full size...) The kids in Buen Pastor couldn´t sit still. They had visitors! |
My reaction
was ‘Wow! Am I really doing this? Never thought in a million years this would
be my life!’ Buen Pastor is known for Francisco de la Cruz, the Brazillian
missionary who came and spread magic and a cult called the Fellowship of the
Cross. This community has recieved extra prayer from the team.
It rained all
morning after half an hour on the river, we boated up to shore. Pepe, Caleb,
Risto, Magly y [and] Katie went to meet the ‘heffe’ or leader. [1] All the kids ran out of the school,
waved, smiled and stared. We were the first YWAM group to visit and there is no
evangelical church in the village. They [were timid and] did not grant us a
full day in the community but allowed us to invite people to the school by
going door-to-door. Renita, Lydia and I went too far and invited people from
the neighbor community, Canaan. We changed into our [costumes and clothes] in
some random person’s house and set up in the school. We did a kids program and
two dramas. Rey de Corazones y Familia. [King of Hearts and Family.] Newell
gave his testimony. People from Canaan sat outside the school door. One had a
machete.
The leaders and teachers were so ecstatic.
They said we could come back anytime, that they ‘need more of the Word.’ Praise
the Lord! [2] From the boat, the
kids played and waved good bye on shore.
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| One of our kids shows... |
The place
definitely had a weird spiritual atmosphere in it, but we Korean styled-it-up
in victory for Jesus! [Korean style prayer is where everyone prays aloud at
once.] The
most noticeable place was the church (or temple?). It eerily stood,
greyish-blue, atop the hill always surrounded by storm clouds. It said “La
Nueva Jerusalen Celestial Moccae”. We didn’t know what it means, but upon
further inspection of the place, it has upside down stars adorned above the
doorways. [This is a demonic symbol.]
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| The eery building. |
We had lunch
and left... to Canaan. We got to do a much more well rounded program. The kids
were much more receptive and warm, they were not reserved or in uniforms. They
greated us [3] on shore and asked
questions of Joanna and I as we did dishes.
Angelo and the other kids thought it was so funny when one of them got
up the nerve to give me a high-five!
Canaan was
definitely the highlight of the day as we had what must’ve been the entire
community (roughly 150) watching us. The kids were fully interactive in the
songs. Sofia gave a testimony. Moises & David did ‘David and Goliath’.
...
Not being
able to tell the kids in Espanol about Jesus is frustrating. God must’ve heard
my heart because not only did Edu preach a salvation message, but he talked to
the random group of kids I was with. This little kids started poking me in the
ear with blades of grass. This lead to a massive fight with cattail-like weeds.
50-60 kids chased Noodles, Jessica and I all over.
[4] As we began
to sail away, the kids not only lined the shore, they were crawling IN the
boat, jumping OFF the boat and swimming after us. I teared up in greatfulness
one last time today. I felt a sense of confirmation. How could I do anything
else with my life but work with kids?! They bring me joy like nothing else! And
here we are...doing a portion of what I believe I came here to do. ¡Gloria a
Dios! [Glory to God!]
Sante Fe-
“We had more
freedom in Sante Fe, but it still amazes me that a village like this one, that
isn’t 5 or 6 hours down river, but one, by and large is not being reached.
Lydia, Renita
and I went to four homes. In 3 of them, when I asked if they had a church,
mentioned Buen Pastor and Francisco de la Cruz. They didn’t seem to have a good
impression and Lydia did a great job of communicating what it means to have a
relationship with Jesus over religion. It’s unclear but we believe their
evangelical church is old and abandoned. There may be a Catholic church but
none of the people I met attended. The people asked for a pastor to come. These
places are so simple and they need such basic things we take for granted.
The community
does not have electricity. They light their homes by candle at night. Most
people here have not spent much, if any, time out of their community and only
one lady I met had lived in Iquitos previously.
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| A casa Renita, Lydia and myself visited. |
We prayed for
healing of children and for Christ to impact their lives in new ways with an
emphasis on Jesus. We also met a blind girl and took her to the river to help
her with her laundry.
...
Getting the
generator and lights set up for the adults program at night was interesting. It
was the only light source and it wrapped around the basketball posts. The bug storm that
ensued was disgusting and having them crawling in all parts of your clothing
and in each crevis is something I won’t forget. I will never complain in MN
again!!! It was raining june bugs and they
would swoop down and whip you in the face! The bats, however, were having quite
the fiesta!
Unfortunately,
it started to rain, so we pulled all the electronics into a room and dried out
what we could. We were set up in a community center. We got a few cables dry
and used the speaker and iPod. It was pretty epic, especially El Campeon [The
Champion] drama in the dark with our torch lights to illuminate the angels and
demons.
Moises got to
preach salvation and the Prodigal Son. It was awesome! I pray they will receive
a pastor and that more people will rise up in the giftings!”
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| A common view from the Logos boat. |
Oliyah-
“We continue
to see crosses worn around the necks of the people. I asked the first lady,
“¿Porque tu tienes la cruz aqui?” (Why do you have this cross here?) Bielgui
helped ask, “Why is it important to you?” Bielgui later asked tough questions
such as how she knew she was going to cielo? (heaven) Same vague answer, ‘I
don’t know’ followed by an explanation of doing good work and hardly sinning.
The highlight
of the day was the service at the church. We’ve gotten used to the bugs being a
thick cloud, whipping us in the face, etc. The 3 dramas all went very well, the
best I`ve seen in public so far and no one flinched from the bugs! Annelies
preached on what the Kingdom of God IS and HOW you enter it, NOT by good works,
etc. Risto followed up with an altar call and the Holy Spirit was moving.
I had
connected with a group of boys ranging 5 years to 12 or 13 years old. I asked a
few questions and told them a bit about Minnesota. The hit of the night was,
“¿Té gusta zancudos en tú boca? ... ¡Mas zancudos en mi boca, por favor!” (‘Do
you like mosquitos in your mouth? More mosquitos in my mouth, please!’)
At the altar
call people began to go up and pray. Despite the language barrier, I knew I had
to move. I looked at the boys. A 10 or 11 year old looked right at me. It was
an obvious deer-in-the-headlights look the other didn’t have. A desire for
more. I
asked in Español if he wanted to pray. He said si and we went to the altar. I
prayed all I knew in Español:
‘Thank you Father for entering his heart, for
unconditional love and for a new life...’
I asked the boy, Secundo, if he understood.
He said yes and then Edu clarified with him. It was an awesome moment!
[PLEASE PRAY FOR SECUNDO.]
I told him
later that I will always pray for him. I told him to read his Bible with his
friends. (Very few people in these villages have Bibles. We even found out the
Assemblies of God and Methodist churches have abandoned the native missionary
pastors here.) His favorite books are San Juan and San Mateo. [John &
Matthew] I told him a bit about my testimony and to read Romans 8. In Espanol I
told him, “Dios es mi Padre!” (“God is my Father!”)”
9th de Octubre-
9th de Octubre-
I hope amidst the pictures and videos
(if they worked) you have picked up a small glimpse of what we were able to do
in two weeks. Hard to imagine we are about to embark on 2 months in 6 different
cities/jungles. I hope you enjoyed some of the insights. You may have
questions... feel free to write and ask. I skipped a few parts, such as ‘We
have now lived through one of Israel’s seven plagues. The plague of
grasshoppers!’
They even popped about 75% of the Mother’s Day balloons. :-/
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| Locust Plague - Night 5 in 9th de Octubre |
I thank you all for embarking on this
journey with me. We leave for Lima in 2 weeks, so this is likely my last
official blog from the lecture phase of the Discipleship School. All of us guys
just threw the girls a Girl’s Night with awards and flowers and dinner JUST for
them. They loved it!
We leave June 5th. I, however, am going
to leave you with some prayer requests. PLEASE send yours along to me as well
and I will respond and update my blog as I am able throughout Peru and Bolivia!
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| The Tranquility was a bonus. |
- My Health - Unfortunately, this is still on the prayer roster. I had a fever Wednesday and felt pretty crummy some of the week. My feet are finally healing, maybe because I distracted by a different rash on my legs. (On the bright side this has incited some good conversation on healing scriptures.) I have decided to do a special fast this week. Please pray if there are any foreign parasites living in my body they would be flushed away. It does appear to be most of the gringos that are getting sick. Please don’t pray for only me.
- Jungle Weeks - You just read about this. Please pray for God to continue His work in glorifying Himself
through healing, salvations and discipleship to be abundant and bottom line,
that glory upon glory will bless the communities! The
Pastors (where they have them) need serious prayer against evil twisted
versions of Catholicism/Fellowship of the Cross and works based worldviews.
There are some twisted superstitions out there.
- My Spanish - Being in the communities
has helped and I’m eager to get back to the classroom because I am unable to
full evangelize on my own. I need to be able to capitalize on sharing my
testimony.
- My Finances - I came here partially
raised, in faith on the testimony of the vision God has given me. If you feel
lead to give, there is a link above straight to PayPal. My email address is stbtome@msn.com. If you would like a tax deductible option, please send me a
message.
- Preparation for Outreach- In
June we leave for 4 locations in Peru and 2 in Bolivia where we will spend
one-to-two weeks in each place doing an expanded version of what we just did in
the communities in the jungle here. Pray God will soften the ground and prepare
the hearts of the people in those places.
The Journey Continues! In Christ,
Sam
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