...Anybody else having trouble getting Guns N' Roses out of their head?...Didn't think so.
- New photos on flickr! ( Puerto --> Pucallpa, Saman and the Well, Shave and a Haircut, Knots Tied in Spanish, Tigre Quichuas second trip)
- While passing through Saman, we encouraged the brothers and dug a well for this old lady.
- Jeff and i are preparing to head to the Tigre River!! Quichua land!
- PrayeRequests below.
Dear fellow hypocrites for Jesus,
The joys of Pucallpa were short lived. Now it's back to work... We were able to leave Pucallpa on a barge headed north, downstream on Saturday, the 7th.
What a blessing it was to be back in Saman! We stayed in the church's building and were invited to share with the congregation on Tuesday night. The Lord had been telling me all day to wash their feet, but you know how you try to reason out of stuff with the Lord. When i sat down, painted in big letters behind the pulpit read (in Spanish) "HUMILIATION 2007." I took it as a confirmation, so i slipped out and prepared the water, soap, and towel, returned and read the story from Scripture. As i washed i told them how it feels a little awkward to have your fee washed. In the same way we feel weird and ashamed to bring our filth to the wash basin of Christ. Nevertheless, it is a pleasure for me to wash these feet, just as it is for Christ to forgive us of our daily filth. What an honor to bring a basin to each foot in the room and clean it! To humble myself like our Christ is something i need to experience more. Obedience to humiliation... hmmm. Think about it.
While in Saman, we were surprised to find a missionary named Joseph Shunskis and his assistant, Jeff McClain, digging and maintaining wells. He invited us to help and we were blessed to do so. I think it was a divinely planned encounter as i learned a skill that could really help down the road in whatever country the Lord leads me to in the future. As Mr. Shunskis says, "Everyone needs clean water." You can make some spiritual application to that without thinking too hard.
Once back on another barge, i found my hammock neighbor to be a long haired, long bearded, Chilean traveler named Patricio (In English, Patrick). He knew a lot about the Bible and we instantly dove into Scripture together. I was having an excellent philosophical discussion with him until he told me that the " sign of Jonah" was actually talking about God Himself. He told me God's name was Jonah, that the Bible wasn't true, and that Jesus was merely the salvation of 144,000 souls. Turns out he is in a cult called the Israelites and wears a shirt he painted himself that says in Spanish, "JONAH, JUSTICE, DEATH," and "YES, JONAH IS MY GOD." Weird stuff, to say the least. Sadly, Patricio and i reached an impasse and walked away from it.
Jeff and i reached Iquitos at the head of the Amazon River on Sunday, the 14th. We've been here ever since trying to leave on a boat headed to the Tigre. Looks like one will push off tomorrow night, but we won't know for sure 'til she leaves. You see, for the last three days now, we checked the boat staff to see when it planned on leaving and every time they said, "Tomorrow night." We will for sure leave the moment the Lord ordains.
Ah, it's back to the end of the earth for Jeff and i. We've already seen some freshwater river dolphins. The stars, once you get 2 days out of a small city, seem to overcome the dark spaces of the sky between them. However the Tigre River is not all stars and dolphins, i'm afraid. I'm sure the Quichuas haven't forgotten all those faces Drew and i peeled last time. They will no doubt be suspicious of us. They will probably get drunk a lot and annoy horse manure out of me. They will most definitely call me "Meestair!"
I prolly won't be able to tell yall when the time comes so i'll go ahead and wish a happy Halloween and Thanksgiving. We plan to return to Pucallpa just before Christmas.
- Pray for God's son of peace (aka. "man of peace") to be getting ready.
- Pray for dreams and visions from God among the people to help them be more accepting of us and, more importantly, the Gospel.
- Patricio (see above story)
- We'll be starting to learn the Quichua language again.
- We've got many stories from the Bible we're going to memorize in Spanish and lace Quichua nouns into.
- The students are still in training in Pto. Maldonado.
We were on the river barge and met an old Peruvian man with a cane who knew a few phrases in English like "Hello," "How are you?," and...
"Are you married, or are you still a happy man?"
"In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my Light, my Strength, my Song
This Cornerstone, this Solid Ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ i stand"
†il the whole world hears,
corey reid pendergrass
0 comments:
Post a Comment