The Call for Muslim Evangelism

Tonight, I was invited to speak at a small group meeting (conexión) led by Daniel Muñoz and hosted by Lili Salazar. We had around 20 people show up, and we all had a great time together.

A good friend of mine led the small group which meets in my house every Friday night. When I got back home around 9:30, about ten people were still sitting around in my livingroom waiting to talk to me. I really appreciated the fellowship.

Evidently, 15 people showed up for the Bible study, and the lesson must have been interesting because they were all still talking about it when I get back. Praise the Lord for what He is doing through these small groups!

Some things haven’t changed since the days of Job.

I am in no way trying to compare my petty problems with the ones he had, but we all know these kinds of people. They are so filled with pride that they can’t even sympathize with their closest friends when they are going through a difficult experience. You can always spot these miserable comforters by the key phrases they use, “I knew that you shouldn’t have…” “I always thought that would be a bad idea…” and the infamous “I told you so.”

Flying on buddy passes with Delta can be the greatest thing in the world or one of the most stressful events a traveler can experience. It saves us thousands of dollars, but there’s some emotional pressure of wondering everyday whether or not you’ll actually make it on the next flight. However, we can actually stay in a hotel for two weeks straight using these passes and it will still be cheaper than buying a normal ticket. I think it’s been worth it.

Thank you, Ben Pierce, for going through the trouble to get us the passes! You are a life saver.

Because of the incredibly cheap price for international buddy passes, we almost never get sympathy from some of our friends when we don’t get on a flight. My wife and six month old baby get stuck in the Lima airport, and all anyone has to say is, “Oh boy, your in trouble,” and the heartfelt sagacious retro-counsel, “Hmmmm maybe the buddy pass wasn’t such a good idea after all.”

You’ve gotta love those friends who hate you when God blesses you and love it when things go wrong.

For all of our good friends and even you miserable comforters out there, I just wanted to let you know that Gretchen finally made it back to the States with Norah and they will be spending about a week and a half with our families before I meet up with them and head to Morocco.

We love you guys. Thanks for thinking of us

Growing up I hated the idea of missing school unless it was a snow day.

Not so much because I was a big geek who just loved to sit in classes all day and take notes (my grades were pitiful proof of that). It was actually because I despised making up work. A day off is cool, until you go back and find out that you have twice as much work to do than usual. Yes, I was actually too lazy to skip school!

For that reason, I proudly received the “perfect attendance” award the night of my high school graduation (which ended up being the ONLY award I got after 12 years of faithful work). Talk about bragging rights!!!

I shared that useless story to simply preface that due to a number of urgent responsibilities which have fallen into my lap recently, I’ve fallen behind on my blogging, and I will be working hard the next few days to get you all caught up with what’s been going on.

Thanks for your patience.

My friend who I had mentioned before would be having surgery for the tumor they found in his lung, called me yesterday and gave me an update on everything.

He said that they will not be able to preform laser surgery as they had originally thought, but rather hw will undergo major surgery requiring him to remain in the hospital for several days under medical supervision.

It’s a complicated procedure where they will have to shut down one lung completely and remove a portion.

Through this process they will be able to remove the tumor causing all of the problems.

That’s the quickest and most basic way to describe what’s going on, so please be praying for him and his family as they plan to operate a week from this Thursday.

Here’s a must see movie!

Today is the anniversary of my good friend and pastor Alonso Montenegro and his wife Laura.

They are the perfect example of how a godly couple should love and treat one another.

Few people have had the kind of impact on my life like they have, and I am thankful for the privilege of working together with them here in Arequipa.

Thank you for your example and friendship. We love you guys and we’re praying for you both.

My good friend who is working in North Africa has had some problems breathing lately.

After coughing up blood he went to a doctor who told him that he needed to return to the States and have tests run on his lungs. He and his family returned a couple of days ago and are now waiting for the results.

The doctors believe that he may have a tumor in one of his bronchial tubes, but they won’t know anything for sure until Tuesday.

Please be praying for him and his family during this time.

God has used him in an incredible way this past year in North Africa. Many Muslims have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior through his ministry already, and I know he is anxious to get back and continue training them as soon as possible.

You can check out his blog and keep up with what’s going on by clicking here.

Be praying for our mission conference this week.

We are doing something new this year by setting it up like a mission training camp at the Bible college throughout the day and then a regular conference at Faith Baptist church each night.

Everything starts tomorrow, so I will probabaly have to give you the rundown at the end of the week.

Pray for more laborers to be sent to the field this week.

I don’t normally talk about my recreational preferences, but this was kind of funny.

About a week ago, I was invited by my friend Alonso Montenegro to participate in a soccer tournament he was hosting. We didn’t play on any soccer field that you might be imagining, but rather in the only arena where I could ever be good at the sport… our pastor’s Play Station 2.

We all had a great time together, but the funniest part about the whole tournament was that I had only played a PS2 maybe three times in my entire life, and I definitely had never played the selected game.

In spite of all the odds, I acutally ended up winning the whole tournament with 0 losses. I’m not sure if that’s bragging or foolishly displaying how pathetic I really can be when it comes to down time. No wonder I have to stop and catch my breath when I get to the top of my stairs!

Usually the only time I have with these guys is either spent working on projects or talking about projects we’ll be working on in the near future. It was nice to take a few hours to relax and have fun with my friends.