“Come and take me to the airport…”

"Come and take me to the airportCome and board me on that plane,'Cause i've got no expectationsTo ever pass this way again." -Johnny Cash, "No Expectations" - the song stuck in my head

Downshift: (essentials for the skimmers)
Feast your eyes! The new Xtreme Team website!
Feast some more! My new photos!
Levi and i are back from the Tigre River. *sigh*
As you know, the last Xtreme Training ended.
I will be in Peru for a couple more weeks wrapping up loose ends.
PrayeRequests below.

Mash the gas: (extras for the readers)
Dear Church,
And so it ends. Levi and i have wrapped up my final trip to the Tigre Quichuas, for now. From Iquitos we were able to purchase flights to Lima. At the moment i'm back in Pucallpa for a few days and Levi joined José Chillambo to renew their visas on the Ecuadorian boarder. As for my plans for the near future, i should be back in Lima this weekend and will be there finalizing some paperwork 'til i arrive in the States on the 30th of May.Now for the juicy details from the Tigre: All together, we stayed in the Quichua community of Paiche Playa for a little better than 7 weeks. We had many worthwhile conversations and taught only a few Bible stories as the people showed little interest, and their common drunkenness often betrayed the people's spoken desire to hear the Word of God. In other words, several told us they really wanted to learn the Word, but none came when the bottle was offered next door. It's sad, for obvious reasons, that these people are still on the path to hell without our Jesus. I also feel the human (or should i saw "prideful" or "fleshly") frustration and disappointment of not having any quantitative or qualitative data to show my "successfulness" as a missionary. That's of infinitely smaller consequence compared to the prior tragedy, the fact that they are still lost. That is out of my hands, but may every soul praise God that salvation doesn't lay in the hands of corey, who would screw it up, for sure. To anyone who has ever said, "All your sacrifice and hard work are worth it if just one life is changed," i have news for you. I have failed your standard of worth, but not my God's. "And Samuel said, 'Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.'" (1 Samuel 15:22) All the sacrifice and hard work are worth it if and only if our Lord is obeyed. He was obeyed. Therefore, it has been more than worth it.
As of right now, the Conoco-Phillips oilers are starting a 6-month work in the virgin jungles surrounding Paiche Playa. Thus, all able-bodied males will be away from the community working for the oil company. We don't know what the future looks like regarding the Xtreme Team's work in Paiche Playa and other parts of the Tigre River, but please join us in prayer for where the Lord directs.
As for the upper Tigre, we met several people you should know about. Here's some of the key players:
"Lapiz," whose nickname means "Pencil" in Spanish, is an alcoholic claiming to be an Evangelical Christian in Paiche. I feel like he has a correct idea of Who God is, but in practice, he is very backslidden. God gave me a Word to share with him and he took it all in. Pray that Lapiz would return to Christ in spite of his lack of Christian community and be an example to his lost neighbors. If not, i told him, he needs to stop telling people he's a Christain because he gives Christ a bad name.
Mario Rios is a brother based out of Iquitos that makes missionary trips fairly often with his 20+ -year-old sons. They have a heart for their lost indigenous countrymen have helped plant a number of churches on the upper Tigre River and others places. Pray for Mario to use wisdom in order to plant biblical churches. At least one of his sons, Israel, wants to enroll in an Xtreme Team training ASAP, but our communication is often hindered.
Alipse Valera has worked for some years now on the Tigre and has pastored the church in the Tigre Quichua community of Marsella. He shared with us that he'd be leaving his flock soon, because it's time to see if they can stand on their own. I tip my hat to this sweet brother as i feel that allowing a baby to walk on her own is an opportunity that every church deserves but so few ever have. Pray for Alipse to continue to seek God's guidance in where to go next. Pray for the Quichua church of Marsella to remain faithful and not only learn to walk on her own, but to run for Jesus!
Ronaldo Calderón, a new believer in Christ, thanks to an evangelical visit by Alipse a couple months ago, found us when the river launch we were riding stopped in his home of Lamas Tapishka. He shared his testimony with Levi and so Levi shared the story of Philip and the Ethiopian. Recognizing that he was lacking in the baptism department, Ronaldo asked Levi to baptize him, and so Levi did just that in the Tigre River as his family and neighbors looked on. Pray for Ronaldo to grow spiritually and his faithfulness in Lamas Tapishka, where he has no church yet, would multiply and flourish.
Filipe Carejano is the pastor of the church in the indigenous community of 12 de Octubre on the Tigre. We'd heard rumors that he had a drinking problem, but we refused to listen to gossip. However, when we arrived in 12 de Octubre we found out first-hand as he was passed out on the floor in his house and too drunk to carry on an intelligent conversation. Some of the faithful few from his congregation have decided to leave that spiritual empty building and start another church in town. Please pray that Filipe would be convicted, repent, and reunite with the Christ's faithful church in 12 de Octubre. Thank God for sound-minded sheep that can pick up their cross and press on, even when their human shepherd falls behind.

PrayeRequests:
Besides the above listed requests, please pray for Levi. At the moment we don't know where exactly he will go, how he will be funded, or who his partner will be.
Pray for Robert, Lorne, and Efraín as they are finishing Robert's last trip to the Yaminahuas.

At rest,
†il the whole world hears,
corey reid pendergrass