Annointed

Last weekend was fabulous (Can straight men use that word?). What a joy it is to know Christ and be His Bride!

First, i want to sincerely thank those of you who sponsored me in the bike race. R.W. pulled me 18 miles on his bike as i rode in a kiddie trailer behind him. It was a site! So funny.

Sunday night was so cool. Of course, we ate about a million lbs. of food. More importantly, God met us there. I got to address the guests, announcing that i didn't want the focus to be on me, like a way-to-go-corey-the-missionary party. You know? I told them it was a celebration of being in the will of God, and that's for everyone who is in His will. The Lord's Supper was served. I asked everyone not to line up and receive the elements, but to get by themselves sometime in the next 30 min. and seek Him and confess any sin that needed cleaning out prior to taking the Supper.

A little bit later, my grandfather, Papa Jack, called everyone to atention and he adminstrated annointing my head with oil with the aid of my dad and two uncles. It was such a cool picture of God's hand on our family. I know the oil has no intresic healing power, but it is symbolic, much like baptism, of our family trusting in God for my healing: physical, mental, and spiritual.

Now i am ready for this mission. I am annointed for this calling. God be praised!

Who can know the ins and outs of His character? Who can fathom the depth of His grace? Who's heart does He not see fully and He still loves them infinate? Who can say, "God doesn't know me. He hasn't suffered as I have."? God is good!

He has every treasure and knows every thought in all of existence throughout time, yet He still desires a relationship with us and to possess our hearts. He know every deed and thought i have ever made, yet still loves me in spite of it all. Who is He? My Master, Savior, Husband, and God! Be glorified, Lord!

Given the Circustances...

I've heard 4 ways in which Christians attempt to understand the will of God.

1. The Bible
2. The Holy Spirit
3. wise council of other Christians (accountability)
4. circumstances of a situation in question.

I can see where God can and does use all of these, but i must use the latter with extreme caution. For instance, if i thought God wanted me to go to the park but then it started raining, i might could pass and say, "It must not be God's will for me to go to the park because of the circumstance." Or, Abram could have said, "I heard God say that i was going to have a baby. My wife Sarah is too old to have one. Therefore, because of the circumstance, God wants me to have a baby with her servant, Rahab." See how that works? I've heard rumors from people that maybe it's not God's will that i go to Peru. It's true, i have a torn ACL. But, i cannot allow the circumstance to trump what i know the Holy Spirit has said. I also can't allow it to put doubt on what God can do or will do, in light of what He's said.

I know God will heal me and take me to Peru and have me witness to exactly who He wants me to. I will go to the communities He wants me to, no more, no less.

Also, i've been thinking about this verse lately:

"Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

Often, when this verse is addressed among Christian circles, it's paraphrased with something that resembles, "The Bible's not saying that God will give you whatever you want. If you delight in the LORD, then you'll want what He wants and He'll give you those things." Ever heard that?

Yes, i agree that God isn't going to give me a million bucks (something i desire out of my flesh) as a reward for delighting in Him. However, He's also not going to give me the honor of leading millions to faith in Christ (something i desire out of the Spirit) for delighting in Him either. See how that works? I have a desire for thousands of Peruvians and Ecuadorians to get saved through my ministry. I've delighted myself in Him. That is a desire He's given me. Certainly, the Devil did not give me that desire. However, God has not promised to grant me the manefestation of this desire even though i delight in Him.

What the verse is saying is this: He will give me that desire, period. If i delight myself in Him, He will give my heart desires (such as souls being saved). This desire will drive me to share the Gospel with many people, but a desire doesn't have to become a reality. Whether or not that desire becomes a reality is God's business. I'll just keep delighting in Him and He'll keep giving me a heart for the unreached.

o for a thousand tounges to sing

Today I was brought to tears as I sat under the intense testimonies of two Haitian orphanage pastors, as they spilled out their burden for the lost in their homeland. Charlenor remarked that the reason the children of Haiti are in such an unruly predicament is easily traced back to the sin of their fathers, grandfathers, and ancient ancestors. He is absoultely right. For generations, the people of Haiti have refused Creator God and have faithfully pursued the craftiness of voodooism. The children that darken the doors of that orphanage are under a generational curse... that is simply spelled out for us in scripture. An appropriate fear of God has not been instilled in the lives of those children, so of course they cain't see right from wrong or righteousness from sin. This sad reality is where the vision arose for these two men to reach Goniaves with the Gospel, and it is precious to hear about. Their strategy to begin instilling the fear of God and the blood of Christ in the lives of the abandoned children is encouraging. To see a calling practically unfold... to watch a generation of brand new creations rise up and change the lives of Haitians forever... this is missions. So many people have such an inappropriate idea of what missions is. They think they've arrived when they "sacrifice" for a week without an air conditioner. Sure.. building bunk-beds, acting out the gospel in puppet shows, and doing VBS in third-world countries are effective avenues for reaching the lost. But they should never be the goal, ever. Rather, to take the sweetest story of redemption ever told to a people who are unfamiliar with it... and to train them how to take what they've experienced to their people, and to their people's people, and to their people's people, all the way to the ends of the earth. This was God's plan for missions. Not for white missionaries to try to Americanize the nations. May we always yield to these convictions and live obediently in teaching all tounges and tribes to trust and love Christ.
God's call on my life to do this very thing excites me to no end. Today, and again, my heart knows confidently that this is what my life will look like all of my days on earth.

Habbakuk 3:17-18

Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

Commissioning

Today i went to Mt. Vernon Baptist Church (where i'm a member) up in Boone, NC, and was "Commissioned." It was was a special event, getting to speak from the pulpit about my mission trip for a few minutes. Friends laid hands on me and prayed for my physical healing (as i'm 2 days out of surgery) and for the ministry in Peru, and for souls to be saved there. I got to speak in front of the college sunday school class seperately as well (about 200 people). I shared John 9, of how Jesus healed the blind man with spit and dirt and how ironic that was. The i told them that God was sending me, a broken (physically and spiritually) person, to go backpacking in the Amazon Jungle and how ironic that was. I asked for prayer that this clay vessel would hold together long enough for those indigenous people in Peru to hear the Gospel.

On the way home, i got to thinking about what it meant to be "commissioned" by Mt. Vernon. I got commissioned 2000 years ago by Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20). I think that was sufficient, but i think that rather than a commissioning at Mt. Vernon today, something else happened. My home church committed to pray for me, and that is something that i can always use more of.

Interestingly enough, i was greeted by a tall, elderly man in the foyer i'd never seen before. He just shook my hand. Feeling something in his hand, i asked, "What's this?" He said, 'That's for you," and he turned and walked away. Opening my hand, i found a $100 bill. I tried to catch up to him but a friend stopped me, unbeknownst to the situation that had just happened, to engage conversation. I didn't see him again. PTL.

On a lighter note, i heard my grandpa, Alvin, use a phrase that deserves repeating. "She was as happy as a june bug in a pile of dooky."

TO THE PRAYER WARRIORS

2006-09-07 10:41:19 pmI know this is short notice, but my mother is going into surgery tommorow at 7am... Please pray that God would be with the doctors and that she would be safe and recover quickly. They have to carterize her uterus and if that doesnt help she will have to have a historectomy

Valley River Road Race

September 23rd, SWO is having a fund raising bike race to support SMO, their local missions outreach. I'll be competing, and as you can imagine, will be in no shape to ride in after my surgery. So, Brody Holloway has elected to pull me the 21 miles of the race via tandem bike (if we can find one) or by his bike's doggy-trailer attachment. Either way, you can sponsor me/us and give SMO an opportunity to reach the local community through service projects for Jesus!

1. You can sponsor me by the mile. (I suggest $1/mile.)
2. You can sponsor Brody, since he'll be doing all the work. (I suggest $2+/mile.)
3. You can give a flat donation of any amount you want. ($10, $20, $50, $74.58, etc.)

All gifts are tax deductible. Please email me to let me know, so i can put you down as a sponsor and mail a check with "corey - bike race" in the memo, payable to

Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters
75 Mae Johnson Way
Andrews, NC 28901

Thanks a bunch!

AHHHHHH!!!!!

GOD IS AMAZING!!!!!!!! I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!! I LOVE THESE KIDS! I LOVE THIS MINISTRY! I am blown away. EVery day is an incredible experience that draws me closer to the Lord and opens up an opportunity for Christ to be seen in my life. I'll try to update you on the majority of things going on. It was discovered Saturday that i could play the drums and Sunday I was on stage playing. I am amazed at how many doors have been opened. Monday, Amber and I put on a play for the younger kids in Dilicias yard (one of the yards the kids play in... Dilcia is in charge there thus it is her yard...lol.) It was so funny. My Spanish isnt well wnough to tell an entire story correctly so Amber spoke and I acted out. Praise God for the hock of Ham he created me with eh? We were telling the story of the lost sheep. We picked five of the girls to be sheep, and put goofy masks we made on their faces and I played Jesus and a shepard as Amber Narrarated. Oh it was so fun and animated. The kids enjoyed it and they picked up on the moral of the story quite quickly... I was highly impressed. Well, Monday and Tuesday Mariam, Tammy and I are teaching the Special needs kids and Wednesday and thursay we teach the toddlers. We decided to start with our senses. This past week we taught them about their cinco sentidos and used application for better understanding. We had them taste some of the sweetest to some of the grosses things. It was quite amuzing. Things from Coffe to lemon juice, chile sauce, pina, flour, pepper, salt, sugar, jelly, etc... it was so fun and both group understood quite well. Today when we took the toddlers to the field we took along some kites and had them "experience" the power of the wind. It was so fun! They had a blast. Did i mention i love these kids? Then Yesterday, after I had finished with the toddlers, Wilmer (one of the older leaders here) made a joke that i should build the fence outside my house by the yard , so he wouldnt have to, and my response was...ok. I told him i would ber there at 10am after the toddlers. This was a huge thing.. One of the main things that has really been affecting me is that i cannot use any of my gifts that God has already cultivated in my life. Working, teaching, encouragment etc.. because of the language and culture... But this week God has been blessing me tremendously, not only revealing new gifts and attributes He desires for me, but being able to use my old ones as well. Yesterday four of the boys, Marco, Domingo, Mateo, Edwin and myself plus some help from Delmar, he left after he showed me what they were doing) built the fence. It was so great. After working with the boys I was inspired and i went on a walk in the mountains... I found the most beautiful spot. You can see all of Guimaca and the surrounding mountains. Stunning. Well any how I spotted Philipe (One of the older boys) and asked where i could get a machette. He looked at me like i was insane and interogated me for a minute...lol. After explaining i wanted to cut my grass, he laughed and led me to the carpentaria. They were out (out of 300 machettes!) and Armando told me to go to the Mechanic shop. After walking for about an hour i ended up back at the farm, where all the boys were on the hill side cutting the grass with the machettes. I love it becuase no matter where I go, when one of my boys see me they run up and give me the biggest hug of my life. I love it. As i continied up the road, Carlos (one of my younger boys) started talking to me and this huge man with a machette jumped out of the tall grass with a machette and almost made me wet my pants. lol. It was Pedro (the one with the toes) and he generously gave me his machette. Well let me just say that cutting your yard with a machette is not for the faint of heart! I cut all the bushes...which was hilarious because Tammy thought i was going to kill myself with that thing, and after cutting the grass for an hour and a half i finished a 6 foot square. Ridiculous! lol. So yesterday i went and watched the boys tequnique and today i went out side and the boys were doing it for me. Theyre so sweet. They were laughing really hard while i was attempting to cut it. On another note, Last night was the first drum lesson, and five boys showed up when only one was supposed to be there. I sent the disruptive ones away and kept 3. Armando, Carlos (older) and Allan. Armando is more than half way deaf, but has amazing rythm. The lesson lasted for about an hour and a half and i gave Allan things to practice for next week. Armando and I went to Papi, who gave me permission to start teaching him also. So we start tonight. woot woot. I am really excited. My goal is to teach them to were they can take my spot during service. So we can have all the kids on stage leading their own people. (My gol in long term missions as well) Indigenous peoples leading their own people. Amazing. Please pray for Watson, he is the boy who got his toe mawled by the tractor, we sent him back to Tegus to go to the hospitol and because they couldnt handle him they sent him back. His toe is awful, it is literally seperating, swelling, etc. When he went to the hospitol they re stitched it, but it looks worse than before. I fear that he will have to loose it. There is nothing Amber and I can do for him here. We clean it in an iodine soak like the doctor told us, but it doesnt seem to do any good what so ever. Please Please PLEASE pray for this. Mandy and I are going to Tegus on Tuesday so i can renue my visa. When i entered the country i asked for 90 days but they wouldnt give it to me, so please pray that they will give me atleast 60 days this time. It is a huge hassel to have to continuously renue it, its a long process and very expensive. (A main reson they make you renew it). Yesterday Tammy and I went to town to buy food for the staff dinner tonight and while we were in the market we noticed a boy of about 12 years old following us on a bike. Tammy had told the lady at the market we were from the orphanage and to them that means "Youre a rich american who can afford to lose what you have" He followed us forever and Tammy was getting really paranoid while situations kept running through my head..."ok if he grabs this i'll elbow him in the nose and if he grabs my back pack i'll grab his arm and throw him to the ground" But instead i decided to talk to him so he knew i knew he was there. Then he started asking me questions... i think. Tammy and I were both confused he either said i will stab you with a pencil and light you on fire or Do you have a pencil and some pop...lol. Needless to say we said no, and stop following us, and praise God he did.