Most Recent from Ica

This morning, Pam and Melissa headed down to Ica in a two-truck caravan. Pam and Melissa will be there until Monday, at the latest. Pam has given a lot to this project in the past two weeks. When she was not in Ica, she was here, often working on gathering supplies until nearly midnight. Please pray for Pam (featured below) and others like her who have given so much of themselves to this effort.

Today she told me that the people of Ica are very sensitive to the gospel right now. She said we could start ten Bible studies tomorrow if we had the personnel to pull it off. My heart was crushed; we have personnel. There are believers living there. But the believers living there (and here, for that matter) are still bound up and convinced that they are somehow inferior and incapable of leading out in such a work. I want to ask you to pray for God to raise up workers among those of Ica. Pray for God to free up our resources!

Photos from Ica

Outside a hut this family erected when their house in Ica
was destroyed in the August 15th magnitude 8 earthquake

God has given us a small window of oportunity to change a country for the glory of Jesus.

Pray we will be wise in our stewardship of resources and time!

Relief Work Continues

In interest of time, if you are interested in updates on the relief work in and around Ica, please go to: http://reliefinfo.dreamhosters.com/blog/. Jeff and Judy Hughes have done a great job keeping that blog updated with the latest information.

Our Peruvian Baptist partners are working hard in Chincha, another hard-hit city. Some of our missionaries are headed there in the morning to try to help with food distribution for many homeless families.

Men and women are responsive to the gospel. Their hearts are tender, due to this terrible tragedy. Even in Lima we are seeing positive things happening as a result of their brush with disaster. Where I preached on Sunday (a day to promote missions in a local church), many indicated they were repenting and believing on the Lord Jesus. Including those who recommitted their lives the Lord, there were 24 public decisions.

God is at work in Peru. Help us seek the Father's face so that we respond his way.

Ica, Peru: The Word Is Out

I just got off the phone with some of our missionaries onsite in Ica. The word is out that a group of missionaries is helping the earthquake victims. Our disaster relief leader is being overwhelmed with more requests for help for more communities.

Please pray for our team to have wisdom in the distribution of the supplies we purchase. You can only imagine what it is like to have hungry men and women staring at you, hoping for some help in the midst of their dire circumstances. We are grateful for their confidence; we are grateful for the outpouring of love by many from around the world. But we need to be very judicious in our support.

Some of the team has returned to Lima today; they will head back to Ica tomorrow. Others are returning to Lima tomorrow to get more supplies for the base camp. They will return to Ica on Thursday.

Me? Well, the work here has to be done, too; I have my hands full with that. Have you ever tried to work without a heart? My heart is down there, amongst those hurting people. I am in a real pickle; I need to be here, but I want to be there.

Pray for Peru! Now is the time for a spiritual awakening of great proportions.

Saturday News from Ica

The earthquake has changed the heart of Peru for the next few weeks, at least. I hope it changes Peru forever--for the good.

Today I heard from our base camp in Ica. The missionaries are working hard distributing food and other items in stricken areas. Then we learned today that there is one community that was almost completely destroyed and has not received any help from anyone. They have not eaten in two days. The research team that discovered them found a well-organized system; all they needed was the means to prepare the food and the food to prepare. Our team quickly prepared relief packages and are in the process of delivering them to this community.

Tonight another truck leaves carrying supplies to the base camp in Ica. Pray for their safe arrival.

The Peruvian Baptist Convention is preparing to enter into Chincha, another devastated city. They need to make a difference there, too. Their research team left out today to prepare a base camp to meet needs there. Next week, once the team has reported back, we will prepare supplies for that camp.

We are preparing and distributing supplies; their physical needs must be met. But we also desire to meet the deeper needs in their lives. We are spiritual beings. We must meet those spiritual needs. There is only one acceptable food for that spiritual need: the word of God, the Bible. We will minister this with as much passion, if not more, as we have demonstrated in reaching their physical needs.

May we all be more concerned with the eternal!

News from the Quake Zone

I just returned from Ica, Peru. Ica is the largest of the cities that fell victim to the August 15th 's magnitude 8 earthquake. In some ways we were pleasantly surprised; but in others, we could only weep with those who wept.

The surprise was how quickly the government had the Pan American Highway up and repaired enough for regular transit. There was this one bridge, though, that we did not relish crossing. On the way back even that bridge had been closed and a by-pass set up; this confirmed our earlier reluctance to cross it.

We arrived in Ica in a relatively short amount of time. There were still plenty of closed roads all over the city, but the main thoroughfares were open and well-transited. Up and down the deserted side streets, one could see house after house, store after store crumbled; it was as though a boy stomped on his sand castle and kicked the pieces all over.

But the government agencies were hard at work, cleaning up the rubble that littered the streets.

Meanwhile, our team was hard at work, readying the damaged church property to serve as our base camp for relief in the Ica area. We had to finish tearing down a damaged wall; we had to tear down the collapsed roofing structure; and we had to clean up pounds of dirt, bricks, and adobe.

Yesterday some of us went out to coordinate our first attempts at food distribution. We walked among shells of adobe houses. The initial panic was over, but the people were still hungry. The Peruvian Government is slowly and systematically delivering primitive stoves and gas bottles, along with a large cook pot. The rice and other goods had already arrived. Their spirits were good. One father and his little boy approached me with a big smile, thankful for our attempts to help them.

No words and no still photos can truly capture the essence of what we saw and experienced in the past week. We need your continued prayers. We need your prayers for lives to be radically changed in Peru. Of the nearly 30 million who live in Peru, close to 27 million live a Christ-less life. We need Jesus to make a difference.

Setting Up Operations

Our lead team has determined that Ica, Peru will be the base of operations. We can set up there for housing purposes; but please pray for the relief team to find a place to store the goods we will obtain to distribute to the earthquake victims. Today they tore down the front wall of the church property. It was leaning, about to fall out into the road. Tomorrow we will purchase plywood and put up a temporary wall.

Two trucks of us will head out tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. Our purpose is to help set up the base camp and begin the tedious, but very important, logistics coordination.

Pray for a safe trip for those traveling.

Quake relief efforts

Fox News carried an interesting story this morning. You can read it here.

Baptist Press also carried an interesting article. You can read that here.

We are trying to find drinking water to take down with us tomorrow; it's for our teams. It's a challenge. Most water companies have sent their boxes of water down to the relief effort. Yes, they sell water in boxes here. Naturally, it's in a thick plastic bag with a spout, and only contained inside the box; but it makes it easier for transportation.

We are making progress; but we can't seem to make it quickly enough. God grant us patience and endurance to run this long race...

You can follow other updates at our relief information site.

Quake Response

Tomorrow, a team heads out to "ground zero" to find a place to set up a base camp for our relief operations. The team will also be looking for contacts among certain groups that will enable us to coordinate the relief the most efficient manner possible.

On Wednesday, a second team will head out with much the same purpose. Some of them will be going down to try to counsel us as to how extensive our response should be. Others will be part of those who will dedicate the next couple of weeks to the establishment of the base camp and the logistics network in the quake area.

In addition to this team, another one will depart from Arequipa to travel to Nazca, a city south of Ica, to research the availability and prices of basic items for more immediate relief. It will be easier to get some things shipped to Ica from there than from Lima.

On Thursday, a team will travel down to aid in both relief and perhaps equipping the base camp. Since conditions are nowhere close to optimum, those going down most likely will be roughing it for the duration of their time in the area.

Thank your your overwhelming response and encouragement to us closest to the disaster.

The Tragedy of the Michael Vick Saga

This is a respite from the constant news about the earthquake. My mind needs the break.

Mr. Vick is in trouble. He reached an agreement with law officials. His crime? Dogfighting. Mr. Vick may go to jail for this. He can spend up to five years in prison for his crime. What he did is ugly. It's despicable.

The tragedy is this: Mr. Vick will probably go to jail for killing dogs. That's probably something he deserves. Killing dogs for sport is a sick-minded thing. Yet, hundreds of men and women who murder babies through abortion walk the streets of America as free men and women. Kill a dog and go to jail; kill a baby and make a few thousand bucks.

That is the tragedy of the Michael Vick saga. His crime is worse. Dogs win. Babies lose. America loses.

God help us.

Planning and Preparation for Disaster Relief

The Mission has already sent one team down; their job was to assess the damages from last Wednesday's earthquake, give some immediate relief to the few they could help on short notice, and then return with a report. We meet today to form the response teams.

There are several teams in place all over the stricken area. But there are so many communities that were affected that no single entity can do this alone. We plan to be as strategic as possible, sending help where we can make the most difference.

Meanwhile, the aftershocks continue; with them, death continues to sting the survivors. Yesterday's 5.7 aftershock claimed a 12-year-old boy when a cement beam fell on his head. He had gone over to that part of his fallen house to pick up the sledge hammer and bring it to his father. It was his last act of obedience.

Heart-wrenching stories like this can be replicated a thousand-fold. There is no way to paint an accurate picture.

One local paper showed hundreds trudging out of the city, looking for other places to live. Hunger is driving them out. There is no food to be had. What food is available is under lock and key for fear of looting and robbery.

On the positive side, one pastor lost all he had. His house was completely destroyed. Yet, this man of God ignored his and his family's needs for shelter to help his and surrounding communities with their needs. His selflessness is astounding. May we find many more like Pastor Cesar before this tragedy ends!

More Photos from Ica

The front wall of the Baptist Church in Ica leans precariously over the sidewalk.

This family stands within distance of the civil defense tent (black, in the background) set up in that area to try to meet some of the needs.

Note the dog sitting on top of his master's "house," as though he was guarding the remaining possessions.

The Earthquake: A Perspective from Within

The following is from the relief team leader's report to our regional leadership:

The first city we arrived in was in Cañete. We went to a section of the town were we have a new Baptist church. This community is called Santa Cruz. There are about 300 adults in the community. Counting children, the community is over 1000. This area suffered some structural damages to houses with 8 to 10 houses be completely destroyed. These families were sleeping out in an open field. They did not have any type of shelter. The community had been without water and electricity for two days. The community had organized a common kitchen area. With large pots, they were cooking food for everyone who could contribute something. While we were there, a small water truck from the government arrived. However, he only had a limited amount of water and was not planning to return to the community. Through the local pastor, we were able to contract a water truck to provide water for the next several days. We want to return to provide some temporary shelter for these the 8 to 10 families. There is the potential for a volunteer team to help with rebuilding the homes, since there was so few that was completely demolished. We would probably want to build the homes with materials that are similar to the other houses.

We went on to the next major town called Chincha. We decided to leave the trucks full of supplies on the main road and Debbie and I entered the town with the pastor and British missionary. The concern I had was that if the people saw the trucks full of supplies, they would want the items. We did not have enough to give out to large groups. The town, like most of the area was without electricity. When we entered the town, there was a lot of damage to the brick buildings downtown but some of the greater damage was in the poor areas. In these areas, the houses are made of adobe (mud brick) walls. We have a new Baptist work in a poor area called Pueblo Nuevo. Caesar, the young pastor, lost his entire house. When I refer to “house” I am typically referring to a one or two room structure. It is incredible to see the concern of this pastor for helping the people in his community when his house was one of the hardest hit. There were blocks of these houses that were completely demolished. In his community there are about 120 families. Again, the greatest need was water, food and shelter.

Caesar then took us to a larger community called Húsare de Junin. This community has 360 families. When we arrived in the community in my truck, several hundred people quickly made two lines behind the truck, ready to receive any help. I was very surprised how orderly the people were. This was not the case in most of the communities. I had to explain to them that this was an investigation trip. As we talked to several hundred people, the main need they had was for food and water. We told them that we would try to get a water truck to help them that day and return with other supplies. We rode around the town of Chincha in search of a water truck who would take water to these people. Water in these towns is a business. Owners drill wells then use trucks to sell water to the poor communities. We went to several areas that had wells many were already empty and the ones who had water did not want to sell it to us. We were very discouraged. Then we say another truck and Pepe and Caesar approached the driver. The driver was moved by our desire to help the people. He agreed to take water to the communities and only charge $16 dollars for over 5000 gallons of water. Only God can make that happen! We left money with Cesar to take 6 loads of water to the communities in the next several days. We need to return to these two communities to provide food and shelter.

In these two communities in Chincha (really, all of Chincha), the markets had closed because of looting. The small stores that were still selling food had raised the price to as much as 3 times the normal cost. The people who had a little money were not able to get it since it was under the rubble of their homes. Due to the disaster the town has virtually stopped functioning. There was no work and most people live day to day, buying food with the money they earn in that same day.

I will also add that when we were leaving the community Húsare de Junin, we made a wrong turn and entered another community. Several hundred people approached our vehicle asking for help. The people were somewhat upset that we were unable to help them. They were yelling things like, we need water, we need food. We left this area with several people running after our vehicle. While the people did not harm us or the vehicle, we understand how volatile the situation is. The people are desperate. In several occasions when we were talking to the people, they expressed their frustration that no help is arriving. They would often say, If you cannot give food to all of us, please give some food to the children.

When we left Chincha, we went toward Pisco. This town is one that has made much of the headlines. Most of the deaths had occurred in Pisco. It took several hours to get to Pisco because of the damage done to the roads. There were places that the asphalt road had been lifted or dropped 4 feet. Some parts of the road had slid off the cliff on the side to the ocean. Another difficult part of the stretch of road was damage done to a bridge. We waited over 2 ½ hours to cross the bridge. They would only let a few cars cross at a time. While we were waiting in line, looters were assaulting the vehicles that had supplies. There were some military soldiers who would shoot in the air and run off the looters. However, when the soldiers were some distance away, the looters would return. Some of them were able to open the back of one of our trucks and take several items. We were finally able to get the attention of one of the police who chased the looters off. This type of looting was happening all along the road from Chincha to Pisco, to Ica. When we approached Pisco, we decided not to enter the town for several reasons. One was that we did not have a contact in that town. Another reason was that our trucks were loaded with supplies that were headed for Ica and we felt that we could be at risk for looters. When we returned to Lima we would go through Pisco with the trucks empty.

We continued to Ica. We have a Baptist church in Ica. The Pastor of the church is named Daniel Terrones. When we arrived at the church, we had to unload the supplies quickly. There was a lot of looting taking place in Ica. The day before, the main market was closed due to looting. The church was completely destroyed. The front wall is leaning forward to the point that is will fall at any minute. Since no one can enter through the front door, the only access to the church is climbing on the roof of the property next door and going down a stairway to the pastor’s house that is connect to the church. The church is about 30 by 60 feet with a metal roof structure. The columns on one side of the church collapsed causing the roof structure to fall.

That evening, I went with the pastor of the church and Pepe Flores to a community called, Los Pollitos. This community is a squatters area. There are over 300 families in this community. It was dark when we arrived in the community. However, I could tell that most of the houses were completely destroyed. We talked to the people and asked them to prepare a list of every family. The community did not have water so we said that we would return the next day to talk about how to get water to them. Like all communities, we prayed for their needs and thanked God for sparing their lives. of their homes. In this area, like most of the areas we visited, the evenings drop into the 40s° with heavy mist.

There is a small school beside the church property. The guard of the school agreed to allow us to park our trucks in the school, on the courtyard. This was another work of God. The town of Ica is not safe and I was concerned about where to park our vehicles. The guard said that as long we were gone before the administrator of the school arrived at 8:00, we could stay. Several of the missionaries slept in the vehicles while others slept on the floor in a school room. Throughout the night we heard gun shots, police whistles and people shouting. Since the community had not electricity, there was looting most of the night. Several of the looters would approach a house with guns. They would enter the house and rob what they could. At times, people would bang on the metal gate that led into the school parking lot. I stayed awake most of the night walking around the vehicles. At one point in the night, we had two significant tremors. We could hear a lot of people screaming. They were running into the streets, thinking that another earthquake was happening. The people in the area are very traumatized.

The next day, we returned to the community, we found that they had water. Since this community is near more developed residential housing, they have access to several water faucets. We mentioned to them that God had heard our prayers and had help restore the water. However, as we looked at the houses, every house was damaged. Most were completely destroyed. The needs were similar, food, blankets and shelter. They also asked for flashlights since at nights, looters would come in and carry off any item they had that had survived the earthquake. Most of the people were sleeping in the streets, in front of the rubble of their homes. In this area, like most of the areas we visited, the evenings drop into the 40s° with heavy mist. The needs were obvious. While there were over 100 people around us, we were able to talk to the four community leaders. They presented a list of all families living in the fours sectors of the community. We told that we would plan to return with food and plastic to help them have temporary shelter. While we were talking with them, two other communities came to use with the list of their families. We quickly toured their communities, noting similar situations. We told the people that our contact was pastor Daniel.

When we returned to the church decided on a plan to distribute the water, blankets, and hygiene kits. The pastor would work with the community leaders to decide who has the greatest need at this moment. He would rent a taxi to take the materials to them. The pastor also mentioned several church members than needed some of the supplies. We had originally planned on giving out the supplies while we were in Ica but due to great number of people who where in need and the problems of looting, we decided it would be best for the pastor to give out these items on a personal basis. One idea he is going to do is to give each church member several of the hygiene bags. They are to find people in need and use the bags as a witnessing tool.

After we met with the pastor we began our trip home. The traffic around the difficult parts in the road had increased. In fact we passed about 16 miles of stopped cars and trucks going in the opposite direction. I know that many of these vehicles will not make it past the difficult areas of the road until tomorrow. On the way home we went to another town called Paracas. This town is directly on the ocean. When the earthquake hit, the large waves entered all the houses. While it did not demolish the houses, it did do damage. However, the houses are still livable, once the mud is cleaned out. We talked with a volunteer groups from the Civil Defense of Columbia. They mentioned that the 200 to 300 people would not return to their homes. They were living on a large sand dune. They were afraid to return to their homes. The problem is that they are out in the open without any shelter. The volunteer group has met many of the immediate medical needs of the people. They did share with us that they were low on medical supplies. They shared with us the most common medicines used in their disaster relief response. This list will assist us in the future. We may purchase some medicines to help this volunteer group. We don´t feel that we need to give anything to the people at this time but we could help in the cleanup.

From Paracas we went through parts of Pisco, the town we had bypassed earlier. There is considerable damage in this town. We later found out that one of the members of the church where Debbie and I attend has family in Pisco. This person may be a good contact for us. We should know more about this person this next week.

We arrive in Lima around 6:00 this evening. The return trip took about 9 hours. It typically takes 4 hours for us to make the same trip.

We found the people to be very responsive to our help and open to talk about God. Several times Pepe Flores mentioned to the people that they were blessed because they were still alive. They openly agreed with him. Pepe led the large groups in prayer, asking for Gods protection, provision, and forgiveness for not always following him. It was incredible to hear several hundred people repeating the prayer that Pepe was leading. This prayer will lead many toward a saving knowledge of Jesus. It was also so encouraging to hear Pepe and the local pastors talk about how they could start new churches and cell groups among the communities we are going to help.

Pray for Peru!

Photos from Peru

A local church in Ica was destroyed by Wednesday's temblor. At least one wall collapsed, along with the ceiling. The building was only a few months old.

In a small community an hour and a half south of Lima, Peruvian Baptist Convention President Pepe Flores looks on, hands clasped tightly, as the local lay pastor exhorts a crowd who had gathered around the research team.

Almost no houses were untouched by the strong quake. Many were not as blessed as this family. Many lost everything. In spite of only having 3 walls standing, many have to remain inside their homes to protect what precious little they have from the roving gangs of looters that have surfaced since the quake.

More Photos from the Quake Zone

Note the drop in the road. This scene was all too common. In some spots the road dropped away; in other places, the damaged part was pushed up.

Life still holds some joy for some, as seen below:

The rule at this feeding station was that you had to contribute to the common pot if you wanted to eat.

The tremors continue; we just had one (8:23, Lima time) that lasted well over four minutes. If we felt it that long and that strong here, imagine what those in Ica and the surrounding areas must have felt!

Pray for Peru!

Damages on Every side: the quake in Peru

If you look carefully, this dear lady on the right is almost stoic in her expression, resigned to the destruction that characterized her home. She stands where her door once stood, looking off at what can only be a memory of her precious few belongings that were buried by Wednesday's quake. She is impervious to the icy wind that bites at her exposed extemities. She is in survival mode.



The young family above stands in the entrance to their house. They lost everything. Everything but their faith. They cling to their life in Christ.

This scene is repeated thirty thousand times all over Ica, Pisco, Chincha, and hundreds of small towns.



Entire communities crumbled under the force of the magnitude 8 earthquake. One community had moved to their location just a few years earlier, having been forced out of their old community by mudslides. Once again they have lost it all: pots and pans were crushed under the load of the collapsing walls. Clothes, buried under mounds of rubble are now useless.

It will take weeks and months to recover from this terrible tragedy. Peruvians have shown themselves to be a resilient people. But this has taken its toll. This has bowed the backs of some of the strongest.

Pray for Peru.

Peru Earthquake - The Team Returns

The Team is back in Lima. They will compile a report and share their strategy in the next few days.

Today they were stuck in lines of cars as much as 12 miles long. There are many sightseers; but there are many up to no good, as well. They spoke with emotion about the danger they sensed while in Ica. They also recognized God was with them.

The team was very frustrated to not be able to give much away. The needs are just too overwhelming.

Give thanks for a safe return.

The Quake in Peru - Saturday afternoon

The team is slowly making its way back to Lima. They are still more than 100 miles away. Traffic is snarled and crawling at the pace of lukewarm tar.

The team was able to visit both Paracas and Pisco, both very hard-hit areas. They will give a better report when phone reception is better, or when they arrive.

Meanwhile, Peru's local paper, El Comercio, reported that they have 20% of basic services restored in Ica, with hopes of reaching 80% by nightfall. Lighted streets and running water will make a significant difference for the survivors.

Saturday morning, part 2

Pam just called in. They did not sleep very much last night. There were two strong shakes, looting, gunfire, whistles, and shouting went on all night long in Ica. The store owners won't open their stores this morning for fear of being looted. The desparate victims loot even more when they see there is nothing available to buy. The cycle must be broken. Pray for order to be restored.

The team is going to try to make it to Paracas, a historical town that is mostly under water now. Situated by the sea, Paracas was innundated during the quake.

The team hopes to be back by "bedtime" tonight.

Peru Earthquake, Saturday Morning

The research/relief team is hard at work. Meanwhile, local newspapers report some 33,200 homes have been destroyed in the Ica/Chincha areas. The destruction is overwhelming. The discrepancies you will read in the death tolls are due to the fact that, until a body has been identified, it is not "officially dead." So the volunteer firemen and other workers have one set of statistics, while the government publishes another set.

No single entity will be able to reach out and make a difference. And, as it is with all major disasters, this won't be fixed overnight. But nations from around the world have responded in compassion, giving all kinds of help.

Looting and raiding continues to be a problem. Local officials are asking for the government to send in the military to control the chaos.

Aftershocks continue to frighten almost everyone who feels them. Even this morning at 1 AM the house was popping, cracking, and shuddering; and we were not among those who suffered damages!

More when the team calls in...

Latest from Ica, Peru

I spoke with the research/relief team about ten minutes ago. They had an answer to prayer in that the school administrators allowed them to bring all vehicles inside the walled school property. They have also allowed them to set up tents inside and to use this place as their initial base of operations.

The team reports that the church building there is in shambles. There have been several thousand dollars of damage to that one structure.

Tomorrow the plan is to give each family of the church a relief package for themselves, as well as one to give to an unsaved family to minister both evangelistically and holistically.

The team thinks they may head back to Lima tomorrow to refit and head out again next week.

Thanks for your continued prayers.

In Ica, Peru

The investigation team is in Ica, Peru. The church that they planned to coordinate distribution efforts with has a building far too damaged to use. The school next door was in better shape and has allowed the church members to offload our supplies there.

The pillagers who ransacked one truck, by the way, only got away with a minimal amount of their blankets and personal hygiene items we had prepared for distribution.

My wife Pam tells me they do not know where they will sleep tonight. They are working out arrangements with church members at this time. They went prepared to sleep on the ground, or in the trucks.

Two words describe Pam's impression of what she has seen so far: devastation and danger. The people are desparate, hungry, thirsty, and very frightened. Pray for all involved.

Quake update

I just spoke with one of the members of the investigation team. They have been stuck on the Pan American Highway for the past 3 hours (approximately). As the traffic finally began moving across a bridge at a town called San Clemente, some people converged upon the trucks. They managed to get the windows open on one of the trucks and took out the supplies the team was taking to Ica.

No one was injured and the team is fine; but your prayers are important!

The pastor from Chincha was able to get one truckload of water delivered to his completely destroyed community. The team rejoices that they have been put in the right places at the right times to be able to minister.

The Quake, part 6

I just spoke with the team. We are pricing tarps for folks to use for coverings/walls. They are stuck outside Pisco, the hardest-hit city. The military has stopped all traffic on the Pan American highway.

In Chincha, an hour north of Pisco, the team was able to buy at least 5 truckloads of water for a neglected area in that city; that area is cut off from the main distribution center in Chincha. A local pastor will be on hand to coordinate the distribution of the water, which will supply that area for as much as 3 days.

Earthquake, part 5

News reports by local television showed large crowds of men and women standing along the highways, rushing any vehicle they thought might be carrying relief items. Vigilante justice is beginning to take over the harder-hit areas. Pray for our caravan of 4 vehicles that are loaded with relief items.

The team had stopped outside one of the hard-hit towns; there they sent in one truck with the adminstrative support leader for our missionaries. He was going to consult with officials and try to get some better indication as to where the team should consider investigating.

The aftershocks still continue at the rate of about one an hour--this, 2 days later.

Thanks for praying!

Earthquake, Part 4

The first report from our team is from Cañete. There is a tremendous lack of potable water. Our team coordinated with them to purchase a truckload of drinking water for the part of Cañete they visited.

This will be the greatest need, no doubt. Where there are wells, the water is very muddy from the constant aftershocks, making it undrinkable.

More as we receive reports...

Earthquake in Peru, part 3

Yesterday was spent checking on outlying areas around Lima where we have ministry sites. About 5 of us assembled at 2 to plan a trip for today to the most devastated areas, all between one hundred and one hundred-fifty miles south of Lima.

The death toll is above 500 now. We have heard of many small villages that are in desperate need of relief. Many villages in the areas most affected were completely leveled, are without running water, and without lights. People are sleeping in the streets; others are afraid of looters and are staying in houses that are structurally unsafe. Our team, which left an hour ago, will determine to what extent we can be involved.

The aftershocks continue. We just had a 30+ second shock of over 5 in the Richter Scale. I thought I was going to have to leave the house.

Pray for Peru!

Earthquake in Peru, part 2

Civil Defense puts the death toll in the cities south of Lima at 337 and climbing. More than 1,000 were injured. The Pan American Highway collapsed 200 kilometers south of Lima. Traffic is snarled and slow through that area.

As Drudge says, "developing..."

Earthquake in Peru

Our supper last night was rudely interrupted by the strongest tremor we have felt in more than 18 years of time in Peru.

Let Quentin Roberts tell the story from downtown Lima:

"We were downtown in the building when the tremors began….the building floor was shaking a lot….we quickly exit the building to meet total chaos on the streets. The streets were moving like water waves. All the people were running out of the discos and buildings. A lot of tension and confusion was in the air. The people were gathering in the streets and obstructing the traffic. We tried unsuccessfully to get a taxi….they were all filled…we finally got a bus and after 2 hours we arrived home safely.

Prayers are needed for the people who live in the buildings downtown…they are afraid to reenter the buildings because they are adobe and very weak."

It was a frightening 2 minutes. News reports claim hundreds have died. Today we will assess our participation in disaster relief in the towns south of Lima. It will be tedious and difficult due to the chaos this has produced.

Pray for Peru!

Who Built Your Walls?

I was supposed to be a part of a wall-dedication yesterday. Yes, you read that right: a wall-dedication. We used human needs funds to build a retaining wall around a community of 350 people. That wall is to protect them from landslides that can occur from seismic activity. The Andes Mountains are known for their frequent tremors. I saw one of those rocks come down the hill one day. It was ugly. The ground shook as the big boulder bounced its way downward. You would have been mortified to have been there. The boulder came to rest against a part of the wall that had been completed. The wall demonstrated it was doing what we constructed it to do.

Before we could build the good wall. We had to tear down the bad wall. There was a wall that was poorly constructed; one that was formed by piling rocks, one on top of the other. Had a boulder come down the steep hillside, that wall would scattered like bowling pins.

It made me think of the walls around us. Some of them are there by the grace of God. He is our fortress. He is our protection. He keeps the big rocks from pounding us. He keeps the enemy at a distance with the walls he sets up.

Sometimes we tear down those walls of protection. We do it through willful disobedience. We do it through rebellion. We do it through anger, grudges, and an unrepentant heart. We actually dig under the foundations to try to escape submission to God. And he lets us do that. He knows that Jesus' true followers will be back; they won't tarry long outside of God's protection.

Sometimes we build our own walls, thinking that we are keeping some things out. The truth is we are keeping too many things in. Those walls become strongholds. They become prisons of our own doing. Imagine the insanity of that! Yet we do it. I never met anyone who has not built up some kind of stronghold in his life. I met plenty who are now free from those strongholds.

Sometimes we are passive in our relationship with Jesus, and we allow his enemy to build walls around us. That is also a stronghold. You have seen those strongholds before. Fear. Doubt. Bitterness. Rage. We may disguise them; but they are there.

Those kinds of walls need tearing down. We need to let the Master Builder go to work and build the protective walls.

Oh, the wall-dedication got put off for a few weeks. That happens in this culture. They forgot to tell me. That also happens in this culture.

In the same way, we can be tempted to put off our homage to Jesus--our worship of the Master Builder. Don't! Thank him every day for his protective walls he has placed around you.

Take a good look at your life. Who built your walls?

A Thief in the Night

The thief has a three-fold purpose. He never comes to pay you a visit. He comes with a specific goal in mind. He wants to steal what you have, destroy what you have, and to kill.

We lived that last Sunday afternoon. Right after I had admonished all of us to stand in the valley and praise God in the face of a strong enemy, the enemy broke into our house--literally.

I went off to participate in ministry in one of our hundreds of shantytowns all over our city. I left at three Sunday afternoon. I returned at seven (after dark here) to find our home as the latest target of the thieves that often "visit" the wealthy neighborhoods. Now I never considered myself to be wealthy, mind you. But compared to many, we are living like kings.

The thieves stole what we had; we lost all our files for our work--everything. They even got our backup files. We lost many personal possessions; some of those are irreplaceable. We lost ministry items. And we have lost countless hours of time, trying to put things back in order.

They destroyed our property--the entrance doors were jimmied and the locks were obliterated. For a few hours--perhaps more--they destroyed our peace of mind. The first night every bump I heard brought me to a sitting postion. It was not a good night's rest.

And they killed the joy of the day's ministry. Now they have been known to kill dogs and people who get in their way; but no one was home, thankfully.

Now all this was bad. You have no idea, unless you have lived it.

But that is not as bad as The Thief. He is one whose singular goal is to take you to hell. His goal is to destroy your ministry. His is to wreak havoc in your daily life. You must know that his heart is filled with hatred, even for those actively serve him. He hates you. He hates us all.

Don't be fooled by the thief. He may pay you a visit and be so friendly. But he is only looking around to see how he can destroy your life. He will come back in the night and destroy what he can.

Jesus, on the other hand, will give you an abundance as you have never seen. It may not be in material terms; but it will be treasures in your heart and spirit. It's a far better payoff.

Standing in the Valley of Praise

Let me tell you a really old story; it can even begin with "Once upon a time, in a land far away, there was a king."

Now this king was kind, generous, honest and wise. He insisted his judges be impartial and honest in all their dealings. He feared God and tried to follow him. Oh, to be sure, he was not perfect in all his ways; but mostly his heart was right before God. And God was with him.

As it is with all of us, one day the enemy showed up at his gates. This enemy was strong, formidable. Someone came to the king and said, "Sir, you're in a tight spot. The enemy is coming against you." Now the king had a choice to make. He could call on some of his neighbors to come help; but they did not follow the Lord. His neighbors decided long ago that following the Lord was stilted, rigid, and--well, not tolerant or cool. The king could call on them. Or he could do what he did: call on the Lord.

So the king called for a prayer meeting. He was pretty forthright in his prayers, too. He said, "Lord, we have only shown these people kindness. Now look at what they are doing. Are you going to let them get away with this?" This is where the story gets good.

Every man, woman, and child showed up for this prayer meeting. The rich were there. The poor were there. Young and old alike, they were all there. Even all the choir showed up. And God spoke. There they stood, or perhaps many knelt, when God whispered into the heart of one of the men there. He was a worship leader, maybe; or maybe he was just a member of the choir. But don't discount him! God spoke to him.

You would think that God would speak to one of his prophets, right? Or maybe a preacher. But no. God does what God pleases; and what God pleases always brings honor to God. So God chose to speak in an unlikely manner. I wonder how unexpected it was for God to speak like this?

The choir master lifted his voice and said, "Jumpin' Jehoshaphat! I think I have a message for you, majesty. Don't sweat this army. Don't give up. You just stand back and watch; God's gonna take care of them." The man told the king what route the army was taking and where they should go. And remember, he told them to just stand there and let God do the fighting.

But there was more. God told them to put the choir in front of the army. Imagine a choir marching in front of the army, singing with all their might about the holiness of God. Onward they marched, singing and praising the Lord.

The air was pregnant with praise. The angels of the Lord were shouting in agreement, no doubt. The demons of hell were cringing in disgust, I am sure. Two groups of the enemy rose up against another. Then those two turned on themselves. Before long the battle was over; the enemy was defeated. And the king's army had not lifted a single weapon.

There they stood, victorious. There was so much stuff there that it took three full days to haul off what they could. And what did they call the place? The Valley of Praise. Some call it the Valley of Blessing. Here "blessing" stands for "praise."

The king prospered for many years after that.

May I remind you of something? When you choose to follow the Lord Jesus with all your heart, you are going to make an amazing discovery. You will discover that the Lord's chief enemy, Satan, is going to send his forces against you. Paul told Timothy, "Everyone who chooses to live a godly, Christ-like life will suffer persecution." That means they will find themselves in a tight spot. Satan wants to discourage you. He wants you to get so low in the valley you can't see the mountaintops. Turn that valley into The Valley of Praise. Let God rout your enemies. You just praise him, draw near to him, and let him do the dirty work.

Oh, you can read that story in 2 Chronicles 20, in your Old Testament.

Where Are the Heroes?

A-Rod hit #500. The world--more than 99% of it--barely stifled a yawn. But for someone out there, A-Rod is a hero. Folks are speaking of his historic achievement. Really? Five hundred homers is an achievement, to be sure; but historic? Hardly. But, as I said, sports figures are heroes for a number of people.

On my television at this moment is a series called "Heroes." I heard that this show is one of the hottest in the U.S.A. It has two dimensions to it: it is spiritual; and it projects men and women doing heroic things.

Harry Potter is a hero for a lot of kids (maybe some adults, too). So is Britney. So is Paris. And Brad. And too many more like them.

One common thread runs through many of these modern heroes: they lack moral fiber. I am not saying A-Rod lacks it; I don't know him. But we know that a lot of sports figures, music stars, and movies stars, and even fictional characters are morally bankrupt. They live a duplicitous life, partying and doing things that cannot be mentioned in a public forum; or, when they find themselves in trouble, talking about how much they love the Lord. And these are the men and women that we try to immortalize in our minds.

Here is the true definition of a hero: "a man [or woman, in the case of a heroine] of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities."

Where, may I ask, are the true heroes? Where are the men and women that make a difference, but for the greater good of this world and of eternal things?

They are out there. They work quietly most of the time. Many would never consider themselves to be heroes. Their eyebrows would raise so high they would run under their hairline if they knew you thought of them as your hero. But there they are: sacrificing their lives for others, loving unconditionally, spending sleepless nights so you can rest comfortably. They leave their comforts behind to help take others to a higher level. Some work in offices, some in labs, some in hospitals, some in the streets.

Do you have a hero? Do you have a heroine? Take time to pray for them. Take time to tell them.

Pray for the Korean Hostages

We must pray. Our body is hurting; we must pray. God will hear us. I don't know what his answer will be; but he will hear us.

Press On!

Today I read where a 94-year-old received her Masters degree. What a story of perseverance! What a message for us all!

Paul said, "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3:12 - 14, NKJV) The NIV says "I press on..."

Just as Phyllis Turner pressed on for her Masters, we must press on towards Christ, ever growing, always reaching higher and higher. It will seem like many things set themselves against us, preventing us from reaching our goal. What we often see as a hindrance, though, is God's training room to make us fit for the next level.

You can bet Phyllis Turner did not waltz through the program. You can be assured she worked hard for what she got. She stretched until she finally reached her prize.

We, too, must stretch. We will not reach the prize of the upward calling, the price of Christ-likeness easily. We will have days we are discouraged. We will have days we don't believe we can do. But we can; we will. We must press on!

A Day at an Oasis

Yesterday I was with three volunteers, working in a squatter community called Oasis. Believe me when I tell you it is a misnomer to call this place Oasis. Oasis is built right on top of a garbage dump. It smells. Because of the lack of sanitary conditions, it smells even worse than the landfill covered with sand and dirt that it is. I am not looking forward to next summer (January through March down here); the flies, already swarming, will be plague-like in their presence. That's another story.

Before the Bible study I spoke with two ladies. They both asked me to visit their "house" after the study. They called it a house; we would not even call it a shack. These are huts. I was in more than one of them in the past few weeks. The majority have dirt floors; the walls are made of woven straw mats. Or cardboard. Or plywood if they can get a little money together. Some have tin roofs; most are plastic, like you may use in construction. I have to duck to stand up inside any of them; their ceilings are only about 6 feet. They are illuminated with single light bulbs. I was headed into these after the study.

The study was good. The pastor was very encouraging for the small crowd who had gathered. After the study finished, before I could join the ladies who asked for a home visit, a lady approached me. She had a question, one that led to eternal life for her. Ana asked how she could belong to our group. I opened The Book and preached Jesus. She readily identified with her need for salvation and, with tears in her eyes, she prayed to receive the Lord. As I began her immediate follow-up, a leader from the next group of squatters came up to me, drunk and belligerent. He wanted to know what had these people done to merit my personal attention. I made him repeat himself, and afterwards told him what he needed (not wanted) to hear: God loves them; that is why we are there.

I asked him to let me continue my conversation with Ana, our new believer; but he kept interrupting. If it could get worse, I didn't believe it. And maybe things did not get worse. Maybe it was just one of those days.

I was sipping the hot chocolate they served to me while I was speaking with Luis and Ana, alternating between the two in the time I could divert Luis away from us. As I got to the bottom of the cup, I looked down. The styrofoam cup was full of little black spots. I put on my glasses and saw that those spots had even smaller legs. They were bugs! How appropriate! I had a 6 foot tall bug standing before me, interrupting my witness to this new believer. Now I had no telling how many swimming around inside my stomach.

I finally dispensed with Luis and made arrangements for Ana's discipleship. Now it was time to visit the two ladies' homes. I entered these homes with a little reluctance. They know I live better than they do; it's embarrassing for them for The Gringo to visit. But I was there at their request. We prayed, we talked, and we tried to listen to the Holy Spirit. We tried to encourage these broken women to walk with the Lord Jesus, to let him have first place in their lives.

By now it was dark. You don't want to spend much time in Oasis after dark. It's not safe. And it had been dark for close to an hour. We finally got away, bugs and all. But we all left a part of our heart in Oasis.

And so went another day at a not-so-typical Oasis, somewhere in South America.

Miracles: Don't Seek Them; Don't Discount Them, Either!

I received this story the other day:

Source: Joel News, July 10, 2007

"Recently I conducted a small crusade," says Indian pastor K. John Moses. "The first day we gathered in a small house [to pray]. After the prayer was over, the owner of the house came and told me he had a 22-year old daughter who was mentally affected. They had spent all their earnings on her, and consulted several doctors, but all had been in vain. After saying this he wept like a child before me.""I was moved with compassion for their situation and told the brother to not be discouraged. That night as I went to my room I wept bitterly, remembering them in my prayers. The next morning I gathered together the girl's parents and relatives. I spent the next whole night in prayers and supplications. Suddenly, I received a great power in my room. I felt as if I was ready to see a great act of Almighty God.""When the parents opened the door to their daughter's room, they noticed a great change in her behavior. They could not believe their eyes! As the result of the prayer meeting that night, she was free from all her madness! She was calm and polite. Her past strangeness and ugly deeds had vanished completely. The parents washed her and put new clothes on her and fed her. She went to her bed and slept continuously for two days. The parents [were filled] with boundless joy! It was nothing but the power of prayer and the Lord's good will towards her!""The people who witnessed the miracle praised God. Many more attended the next day's gospel meeting. Fifteen people were saved and brought into the glorious Kingdom of our Savior through this one prayer meeting."

God is at work around us. He is showing his hand in countries all over the world. The average Westerner has trouble with that. We are so scientifically oriented that to hear of a miracle is beyond us. We often believe, in fact, that even what God called miracles in the Bible can be easily explained away. Or we devalue the true meaning of the word "miracle" to a point that it holds nothing special for us. Not so!

First of all, miracles are in the faith arena. If you can explain something, there is nothing miraculous about it. A miracle surpasses the natural; it is the supernatural invading the realm of the natural.

Be assured, God is still very active in this world. He still heals the sick, makes the lame walk, and even raises the dead (read The Heavenly Man). He can make cars go farther on a tank of fuel. He can cause it to rain in times of drought, and dry up in times of rain.

Here is what you need to remember about the miraculous: true miracles are intended to bring honor and glory to God. That is why he does it. [WARNING: the devil can perform miracles, too, if he thinks it will take you farther from Jesus.] I think that is why Jesus said it's an adulterous and evil generation that seeks miracles. So don't spend your time looking for them. But don't discount them, either. Raise the bar of your expectations. God may want to do something in and through you that will only be explained as a miracle.

Pray for Peru

It's cold in Peru. At least 70 children have died from the cold. Temps will continue to be as low as -4 F (-20 C) for at least one more month.

Pray for this country and its nearly 29 million people.

That's bad. This is worse: Ninety percent of this country's people walk in darkness--not absence of electrical services. They walk in spiritual darkness. They bow to false gods. The worship the gods of the mountains, of the winds, of the water; they worship the gods of the trees, of the elements. They worship the sun. In many cases, they hide idols within their statues of the saints that the parade through the streets. They pray to icons, to images.

If one hundred percent of men and women in Peru died today, ninety percent would spend eternity separated from God. Ninety percent would be in hell. God wants that to change.

Pray for Peru.

Embraced by Love

July 27, 2006 began as all days do down here in South America. The work was plentiful; the opportunities to share Jesus abounded. At 7 that evening, though, our world changed forever. It was violently shaken; it was suddenly and inexplicably pillaged by man’s greatest enemy: death.

It was a normal day for my oldest daughter and her family, too. My son-in-law went to work, as normal. My daughter was home, caring for their 11-week old baby girl; it was their firstborn, our first grandchild. Michelle put Grace down for a nap sometime in the afternoon. Sometime later she went to check on Grace and found her lying there. She was still. She was not moving. She was not breathing.

Michelle called 911 and the rapid responders came as quickly as possible—within minutes. They transported the baby and mother to the hospital, where all the wonderful doctors and nurses tried with all their might to revive Grace. It was too late.

When Kory called we were stricken; we were numb with pain. It was the most inconceivable thing that we had ever experienced. It was the most painful. It still is some days.

We traveled to the states as quickly as possible. There we mourned and grieved with all who had gathered. The family honored me by asking me to preach Grace’s funeral. I did; but it was only in the strength of the Lord that any of us were able to endure that interminable day.

Almost a year has passed now. We had a choice to make after Grace died. We had to decide how we were going to let her passing affect us. We had to choose to live and let that experience become a growing time for us. Or we could choose to stay there, living in that terrible moment of pain and sorrow, remaining paralyzed and growing bitter. That's what happens when you drink from the same bottle of water for too many days. It grows bitter. It sours.

Someone I spoke with wondered aloud how any of us could move on with life. The answer is easy; and at the same time the answer is complicated. Let me be very honest with you: some days come and I don’t know if I will be able to look at a child without pain in my heart. I have had to turn away with tears in my eyes when I came close to a child Grace’s age. I have had days of pain that I have, right or wrong, hidden from those around me. And I was not the parent of this child; think of them! Think of their pain! I have seen what they write; I have spoken with my daughter. Their pain is intense, even a year later.

How do you get by that?

I find the answer in one verse of Scripture: “And now abide faith, hope and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” – 1 Co. 13:13

Those three are ever-present companions for me; that is what “abide” means. They are there; the Holy Spirit uses them to carry us through the day. And on some days that is how we make it. One step. One hour. One morning. One afternoon. One night at a time.

We live by the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 2:20). It’s faith in him, not faith in faith.

We live by the hope—that wonderful expectation--to be reunited with Grace in the presence of Jesus. It's hope based on faith. Otherwise it would be wishful thinking.

We live by the love of the Father through Jesus Christ. He loves us far more deeply than we can ever understand. Someone said something like, "When you can't see his hand, trust his heart."

A friend called me the other day. We were discussing this and other issues on the phone. He reminded me that Satan cannot send anything our way that is not filtered through the love of the Father. Our Father in Heaven loves us. He wants the best for us. He understands our separation in ways that we cannot comprehend. After all, we were separated from him until we were brought to him by the blood and death of Jesus. He was separated from his only son when Jesus died on the cross and bore our sins.

The greatest is love. The other things--faith and hope--are powerful in and of themselves. But without the love of the Father, they have no real meaning.

Now I want to ask a favor of all who read this post. Take a moment and pray for the Kidd family and the Shearer family. It’s going to be a hard week for us. July 27th will be a painful day for us.

Pray that God will prepare us now.

Pray for healing for both families.

Pray each of us will sense he or she is embraced by love.

What's in Your Chest?

In a small room in my backyard, I have a tool chest. It's not just a box; it's a 6-drawer chest that once belonged to my father. Each drawer is carefully arranged, filled with the tools that I have for whatever project I may find myself involved in. In the top drawer you would find my screwdrivers. In the next one, my wrenches are carefully laid out. And so on and so forth goes each drawer.

I don't use just any tool for any job. I have seen it done, mind you. I have seen someone grab a pair of pliers and use that important tool as a wrench on a stubborn bolt. I have seen others grab a regular screwdriver and try to use it in a phillips-head screw. When we use our tools that way, it just slows us down; don't you think? It often makes the job that more difficult the next time, too. My late father-in-law, a bivocational preacher, was a master mechanic--a specialist in diesel motors. He would often wave his wrenches at us and admonish us, "Boys, you have to use the right tool to do the job right!"

As a missionary, I have another tool chest. In that one I have a lot of different ways to try to start a church. There are the storying tools; there are inductive Bible study tools; there are mass evangelism tools; there are house church tools, simple church tools, and other church styles. And that list goes on, too numerous to describe in this short post. There is no one tool that will suffice for every place I want to start a church. Each area of this megacity is distinct; each church start requires a unique approach. And that is what is important, I think. We must use the right tool to do the job right.

Don't overlook this little analogy. Don't think one tool will do the job. Don't use a house church model when another model is called for, and vice-versa.

Stop and take a look. What's in your chest?

Are You in the Grist Mill?

The elderly gentleman smiled as he pulled on a rope that lifted a gate on a stone canal and let the water flow. He stood there explaining the nature of the apparatus before us. It was a mill. A grist mill. The farmer put his grain into a bin that slowly, methodically let it flow into the path of a large stone. That stone pulverized the grain, producing a fine flour; the farmer was quite proud. The water turned a wheel, the wheel turned the gears, and the gears moved the perfectly round stones in such a way that the grain became flour.

I looked and felt that there was a true lesson in that. Sometimes we are visitors at the grist mill. We stand aside and witness difficulties in other's lives. But sometimes we feel like we are in the mill. We feel ground up. We feel like we are being pulverized.

Let's get real. Sometimes we are being pulverized. We are under the rollers, being pressed. Maybe not literally, but certainly emotionally and spiritually. Think about it; someone calls you with devastating news from a doctor. I read some news like that this very morning about a friend of mine. I was grieved for her. Someone calls in the middle of the night and tells you a loved one has died. I received that e mail this morning, too; one of my friends lost her father. That, along with many other things, has happened to most of us. If it has not happened to you, yet, hang on; it will.

The big question is, what will you do when you are in the grist mill? The purpose of the mill is to provide sustenance--nourishment--for others. Your crushed life can be something that helps someone else to grow and be more like Jesus. The one phone call that has impacted me most this year was from a friend in another South American nation. He told me that he was ready to quit, to pack it up and go home. But when we stayed in spite of the terrible, crushing blows that came our way a year ago, it inspired him and his wife. He said our "flour" was his nourishment and helped him to stay. I learned a lot from that single call. It was like a love letter from Christ to my heart.

That is not the only lesson for us. When life crushes you and me, others will see what is inside. They are supposed to see love, joy, peace, endurance, and a few other kinds of grain the Master has sown in our hearts. But sometimes others see weeds, don't they? Sometimes the cares of this world overtake the fruit of the Spirit. God shows us this so that we can correct the problem; and the problem would be that we are not walking in the Spirit.

Are you in the grist mill? Are you being crushed by life's pulverizing stones? Let the Master Miller make fine flour of your circumstance; then go feed others with it.

A Week of Miracles, part 2

This is the second installment on A Week of Miracles.

The 28-person volunteer group was a hard-working group. They started early and worked hard all day long. The bulk of the effort went into VBS and personal evangelism. There was a small carpentry team along who helped with some renovations to a community center the community loans us for our meetings.

What is so miraculous about that? Nothing, in and of itself. The miraculous happened before our eyes some 327 times. Yes, 327 people prayed to receive Christ. Some were delivered from a life of rank sin. Some were young, most were adults. We saw men, women, young people, and a few children older than ten who opened their hearts to Jesus.

It was miraculous that the men and women opened their homes to us. That is not the most common thing in these parts. They don't like people to come into their homes. But they did. The asked us in. And in we went. The floors were often just packed dirt. Sometimes the walls were made of woven mats; sometimes they were made of thin plywood. And sometimes they were made of a thin tongue-in-groove wood. Sometimes they would have a tin roof over their small hut; sometimes it was just a bit of plastic--plastic that leaked. But they all had one thing in common: there were two rooms: one for eating in and one for sleeping in.

In those primitive huts, with dangerous electrical connections and no running water or sewage of any kind, we sat (or stood stooped over because the ceilings were too low) and shared the love of Christ. They were so ready to hear the gospel. They responded with tears, with smiles, and lots of hugs.

Not all wanted Jesus. Some, like Jose, Manuel, and Naomi, rejected the Savior. They were happy in their sin. Even that was a miraculous thing. We parted as friends. The door is still open to share Jesus once again.

The fact no one was dog-bit, no one became ill from the exotic foods, no one came away with lice (which we really did see), or other potential problems was also an answer to prayer.

God was at work in our midst. For that, we give him praise and the spotlight shines on him.

A Week of Miracles

This blog has been silent for the past week. It was not a "blog fast;" I am not into such designations. It was due to plain, hard work. It was plain fun, too. It was a week of miracles.

The smaller miracle was among the sadder things I have witnessed in my 29 years of Christian ministry. It began with a phone call from Pam, my bride of nearly 27 years. She had received a call from another part of this city of around ten million. The lady on the other end of the line was crying, unconsolably so. Her father had gone on a rampage. He beat his 16-year-old daughter. He beat he wife, breaking her arm. Mom and daughter locked themselves in a room upstairs, frightened.

What kind of man would do such a thing? What kind of man would beat his family? It enraged both Pam and me. It was worse by the knowledge that this man was a pastor. Yes, a pastor. A man of God. A preacher of righteousness. And here he was, acting in as heinous a way as one can imagine.

I was over 2 hours away. They wanted me to go and speak to the father. I did not know if I could leave 28 volunteers to do so. But God had supplied a need before we ever knew about it. One of the men was an orthopedist--an M.D. from MS. He asked if he could go with me. So did a young carpenter-turned-preacher who was with the group. The doctor had begun the trip by telling me that he did not know why, but he had brought casting supplies in case of broken bones. So off we went.

When we found the family, father included, there were tears enough to fill a swimming pool. I asked to see what the dad used to beat his family. I cannot do justice to the size of the piece of wood the man used. It was a 2 X 2, over 2 feet long. It was hard and heavy. And with that piece of wood this man beat his wife and daughter. The doctor was livid. He rebuked the man, with me translating.

After some time with the family, and after an examination of the daughter's leg, the doctor told them she should get an X-ray. His conclusion without the X-ray was that it was broken, just as the mother's arm had been broken (X-rays supported that already). All other tests showed the leg was broken; it seemed very clear to all of us there. Even the protrusion on the side of the leg warned of a break.

We laid hands on the girl and prayed for her, anointing her with oil. And we left them with strong counsel to get that X-ray. They did so the following day. And when they took it to the doctor, the place where there was supposed to be a break was fine. No breaks. No broken bones. The doctor grinned like a goat eating briars. The young preacher did, too. God had healed this young lady's leg. It was a true miracle.

We serve a God who delights in demonstrating his power. This was the smaller of the miracles of this past week. Tomorrow, I will share the greater miracles that we witnessed.

Urban Migration and Missions

Today I read an interesting article that should be important to missionaries and those interested in winning our world for the glory of God. The article deals with population trends around the world. It can be found here.

The long and short of the story is this: the world is moving into cities. Now that is not news for many; we knew that. What we may not have known is that many are moving to smaller cities of a half-million or so. The larger cities are not the ones growing; it's those smaller ones where we need to begin concentrating our forces.

Those interviewed have an apparent concern that, due to the lack of a good political/governmental infrastructure, these cities could be targets for religious extremists. That is good news for us. It means what we already knew. The people will be, in all likelihood, receptive to hearing the gospel. If they are targets for extremism, they are targets for Jesus!

What does this mean for mission strategists? It tells us where to send new personnel, where to deploy existing personnel. While we are committed to reaching all the world for Christ, we should be careful not to ignore the migration of over half the world. We should not wait until unrest develops; we must get our personnel in place now.

What does this mean for the local churches around the world? It tells us how to pray. It tells us how to plan. It tells us how to encourage those we send out.

Lord, send forth your laborers!

Pray for North Korea

Consider the following from Christianpost.com

The South Korean Church urged believers worldwide to participate in the Global Week of Prayer for North Korea, June 25-July 1, when it declared 2007 as the International Year of Prayer for North Korea. The 2007 North Korea prayer event is particularly important because it occurs on the 100th year of the 1907 Pyongyang Great Revival – considered the base of Christianity in Korea.

The gates of hell will not prevail against the church that advances on its knees!

Blended Worship

This morning, after my prayer time, I turned on the local news broadcast. I learned some interesting things. First, today (June 24th) is Saint John's Day. Now, you would think that this meant that folks would be excited over the life of John, the Beloved Disciple. He was the one who sat next to Jesus, leaning against him during the Lord's last Passover celebration with the disciples. He was the one who, led by the Holy Spirit, penned simply and powerfully those words that have changed perhaps billions of lives.

The celebration in this part of South America, however, is different. The celebration I saw on TV was the clearest evidence of a successful blend of a form of Christianity and folk religions from both the jungle and the mountains of Peru. Scantily-clad young ladies representing jungle worship gyrated to music, while pythons slithered and slid over their arms and shoulders. To their right, and just behind them, sat six witchdoctors with their potions laid out, calling on their gods. Beyond them were others, vigourously shaking their bottles of beer, spraying one another, and dancing to different kinds of music blaring in the background. It was a cacophony of sounds, none of which had anything to do with John or Jesus, or the true God.

But that is life in this particular form of Christianity. One of their religious leaders once told me that they discovered that, so long as they allowed the locals to incorporate the former gods into the worship, all would be well. So he allowed men and women to worship the sun, the mountain gods, the wind, the moon, and other animistic things. It is not uncommon for a statue of some saint being paraded through the streets to have inside of it the figurine of some local deity. Often, once the local religious leader leaves a mountain church, a witchdoctor will enter the same building to hold his religious services.

"Horrible!," you cry. You turn your head in disgust. And so you should. But before you lift another stone, consider your own ways. What have you added to Jesus that does not belong? I went to a local church in the southern United States not long ago who had to cancel services so that the members could spend the entire day in the cemetary. It's called Decoration Day. I know of churches whose age-old traditions carry more value than the written, clear word of God; is that god any different than those of the mountain religions? If something stands taller than God, it's too big. If something moves you more than God, it's in the way.

It's this kind of blended worship that makes God sick. And you thought I was going to speak of hymns and praise songs...! Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength!

Celebrate!

I took some men to a poor community the other day. These men, Don and Tim, were visiting from the great state of Mississippi. We went to try to share the gospel. I say "try" because you just don't know what may happen in any given moment. I went to specifically share with men, men I knew would be there because they were helping us build retaining walls on the steep, dangerous hillside this community sits upon. I knew they would be there. I knew they would not mind a break from that back-wrenching work, either.

So off we went. The first part of the journey within the community was easy. It was up the new steps we had poured just 6 weeks ago. But we got to the top and my guests were on the winded side. So was I. It was a steep climb, even on stairs. We watched the men work all around us. Soon I called to the foreman and had them bring the men into two groups, well apart from one another.

It was a dirty walk across the hill. Don's navy blue pants were now blue and brown. His brown shoes were covered with the same light-brown dust. That's partly from the dirt; it was also from the fragmented grey rocks strewn all around us. We slid down the rocks on the part of the hill where we were going to be preaching. We were both covered in dirt, Don more than I. But a little dirt would not deter us from our mission. Don joked that he hoped he did not cause a landslide coming down the hill. He looked as though he tried.

My friend Don preached to one group, with me translating. Another man translated for the other guest. Off we went, preaching the gospel. There sat those men, filling up the stairs in front of us. Don startled them with one question, "If you died today, do you know if you would spend eternity in heaven?" He had their attention. The men before me live for today. They don't like to think about eternity. Or death. Or heaven. Or hell. But now they had to. It was before them, like an open chasm for them to look into.

Don shared simply, but with passion. The men listened intently. I did my best to translate with the same passion Don showed them. He ably demonstrated by Scripture that we are all sinners. Sin has wages: death--separation from God. Someone paid the wages; his name is Jesus. Jesus died for our sin. Jesus paid the price. We can be free from those wages, if we so desire. All this Don showed in the word of God.

Before long, fifteen men bowed their heads and asked Jesus to save them. I feel that most of them were genuine in their repentance and plea for salvation. Their tears seemed to indicate it. Their hearty applause and handshakes also seemed to show it.

I wish I could take you there with these words. There are no adequate words to describe the scene that unfolded before us. It was a God-moment. I almost thought I heard the joyous shouts in heaven.

Let the celebration begin!

Why Not Just Do It?

I read a lot about church planting. Sometimes I think I read too much. Maybe we all do.

Honestly, I am getting a little frustrated reading the different websites who claim to have the answer. Is there a panacea for church planting? Is there a single model that will launch all of us into such a planting frenzy that we finish the task in my lifetime? The short answer is, "No!" Please consider what Oswald Chambers said last century: "Never try to make your experience a principle for others, but allow God to be as creative and original with others as He is with you." - My Utmost for His Highest, June 13.

So here is my advice to my church-planting friends: just do it! Find God's pattern for your people and do it. Find God's plan for your people and use it. There is no short cut. There is no easy way. It's all hard work. Just do it.

Where will we find that pattern and plan? We will find it in the prayer closet. That may sound too simple; well, it is not. It is blood, sweat, and tears. Seeking the Father's face may well be the most challenging part there ever was to church planting. So, with no further adieu, let's just do it!

Still Seeking,

Kevin, Somewhere in South America

First Fruits

It was a cold day. The ocean mist hung over the city like the wet blanket it was. We were all wrapped up like cocoons, trying to find some warmth against the cool, heavy humidity that penetrated our bones. Yet, in spite of the cold, there were some who were about to demonstrate their love for Jesus.

Two brave souls endured the cool air and even cooler water in the baptismal pool. Two demonstrated their love for Jesus in a work that is only two months old. We had hoped for more; but we rejoiced with the two.

Because the work is so new and because of a shortage of national workers, I found myself doing the baptizing. It's not my preferred method of working here. I am that school of thought who wants the locals to do the work. The man we baptized was not a good candidate for that; I won't go into reasons why. I just intend to rejoice over the the first fruits of this new work.

Now, I want you to meet Hilario. I am including this profession of faith because of its uniqueness. Hilario saw us gathered like sardines in our little building the community designated as the "temple." He chose to stop by on his way home with his tiny bag of herbs for his meal that day. He listened to the story from Acts 16. He watched intently as I baptized the two new believers. And he gave his heart to the Lord. I asked Hilario his age. He is 91. And yesterday he met the Savior for the first time in his life.

But Hilario was not the first that day. A 14-year-old named Junior was the first to profess Christ yesterday. I wrote about Junior sometime ago. Junior is the one who tried to kill himself with rat poison. Yesterday we celebrated the death of the old man and the birth of the new Junior. He stood before us with a big smile telling us about his conversion. A child led Hilario. A young man will now become a warrior for Jesus.

It was a day for rejoicing and celebration. It was the Lord's Day. It was Strong Tower Baptist Church's first fruits.

Here Am I! Send Me!

They gathered in small groups. Some stood with their heads bowed, tears coursing down their cheeks. Others wept openly, shoulders heaving with the sobs that came between gasps for breath. Some stood stoically, but resolutely.

This scene was repeated no less than six times in my presence. Others witnessed similar scenes unfold before them.

In all, I think the final tally of the recent missions conference will reveal that close to one hundred men, women, youth, and at least one young boy all answered the call of God to be on mission with him. Some will stay here, but find ways to be involved in their church's missionary endeavor. A few will go to some foreign land. A few will cross over the mountains and minister in the Amazon jungles.

None will ever be the same again. God spoke their names. He whispered into their hearts and called them out. His Spirit nudged them forward. I suspect some were pushed along; I know I was 23 years ago. I hope I am not the only hard-head left in the world! I suspect others were slowly led to this point of commitment. For some, it was the first time God had spoken to them and they responded as soon as they heard. God bless them for it!

None will ever be the same again. Not even I, and I was one of the messengers. All of us said, "Here am I, Lord! Send me!"

Calling Out the Called

I am in a major missions conference this week. It is with my friends from the Christian and Missionary Alliance churches. I was floored when they asked me to participate in this conference of mega-proportions. I was humbled even more when I sat with the other two principal speakers. I felt like a small child amidst "giants" of the faith. These two men are Davids, armed with a sling and smooth stones, going up against Goliath and his brothers. I came with a pea-shooter, by comparison.

The two men and I will each speak at least thirteen times in a total of 6 different churches; that's twice in each church and once at the missions fair. We will challenge men and women to give, go, and pray. We are calling out the called. And some are responding. It is my sincere hope that someone will close the conference with an invitation to publicly repsond to the call to missions. I believe God wants to mobilize the good men and women of the CMA churches to go into all the world.

Last night I taught around two thousand men and women about what to do when one is called to missions. So now that I have said that, let me ask my friends who may read this: what would you tell someone to do who felt called to missions and/or ministry? I am interested in hearing your opinions.

Also, someone asked me last night, "How do I know if I have been called?" What you you say to that question? How would you respond?

These are exciting days in South America. God is raising up a mighty army to storm the gates of Hell all around the world. I am humbled beyond words to know that I have been able to play a very small part in His plans.

The Joy of Making Others Weep

Today I watched a grown man cry. In fact, I made him cry. But I did not cry with him. In fact, I laughed. The more tears he wiped away, the more I laughed. Such cruelty. Such hardness. Not really. Not this time.

The man cried for joy. A little more than a month ago he lost his car to a hit and run driver. When some acquaintances in the United States learned of his plight, they were moved with compassion and to action. They took up a love offering and sent it with me to him. So I was the messenger for this dear brother. So the man cried and I laughed, all of it for the joy of the Lord.

He kept saying, "I knew God would take care of me; I never expected it to be all at once." And he would cry some more; I would laugh some more. Before long, his tears gave way to laughter, too.

After all, we serve that kind of God. Sometimes, when the chips are down, when we don't know which way to turn or what to do, God shows up. He scoops up a handful of whatever we need and sends it our way. Sometimes that is something tangible, like money. Sometimes it is hope. Sometimes it is peace. It's always exactly what we need for the moment.

Don't misunderstand me. God did not bless this man instantaneously. The man has struggled for more than a month. His car was his livelihood. He drives for a living. No car, no money; no money, no food. No food, no rent, no lights, no water, nothing. But God is good. And God saw his faithfulness in spite of the severe trial he faced. And God answered with a physical blessing.

I also know that sometimes God says, "Not this time." I don't always know why God does that. But I do know that many times God holds back the blessings to teach us that, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." Faith in God's words is more important than faith in God's blessings.

But this was one of those times that God let us see a blessing unfold. And it was a wonderful occasion. The man left here with a spring in his step and a stronger hope in his heart.

Who knows; maybe you can go make someone cry today. If you do, be sure it brings fruits of faith in the person's life.