Top Ten Highlights of 2013

I laid in bed this morning listening to the rain on the metal roof of our home, thinking about the past year and one thought kept resonating in my mind.

We are crazy.

Or at least this year almost made us that way. 

But by the grace of God, we are different people today that we were twelve short months ago—a little wiser, a little stronger, with a little more faith… and a little thinner.

Here are the top ten highlights of 2013, in no particular order:

1) Go West Young Man

Back in the spring we made the move from the east coast of Brazil (Recife) to the western border, where Colombia, Peru, and Brazil collide. We had every intention of moving into an Indian village, but literally two weeks before we moved, God slammed that door closed via the village chief changing his mind, leaving us with $3,500 worth of wood we had already purchased to build our home and 46 people with plane tickets ready to come help with the construction. You can read more about that and the details here.

Looking back, we see clearly how God orchestrated every detail to bring us right to the home we are in now. Thank you, Jesus.

2) Jungle Hosts

This year we had a total of 64 visitors from the US of A, from work teams to young couples exploring missions to friends wanting a good dose of Jungle life and lending a helping hand. Forty six of those were in a four week stretch! These teams were able to accomplish many work projects that we could not have finished on our own. They also provided spiritual encouragement… and a chance to speak English!!

Thank you to all who came and served. We hope that you left with more than just sunburns and worm meds ;)

3) A Teensy Tiny Dose of Aviation

We don’t yet have a helicopter down here (stay tuned for future plans!!), but Richard had the privilege to fly our partnering missionary’s airplane on two separate occasions. He very first jungle flight was to deliver water filters to a village in Peru. It “just so happened” that we had 17 filters to deliver and there were 17 families. (Pretty sure God had that planned out.)

The second was a medical flight for a woman who had had a c-section because her husband had kicked her in her belly, killing one of the twin babies inside. She was bleeding at the incision site. Richard was able to bring her to a hospital where she could receive treatment.

While it’s been challenging for Richard to be absent from aviation for this long, we know that God is cooking something up for the future. Doors are opening and we are praying for wisdom as we raise the necessary funds in 2014.

4) Putting That Medical Training to Good Use

We were blessed to be able to go through Equip International’s Missionary Medical Intensives course before we came here to the Jungle. The knowledge we gained from those twelve days has been invaluable during our time here. We have treated deep cuts, rashes, tropical ulcers, parasites, tropical diseases, whooping cough, monkey and spider bites, aided in the treatment of Tuberculosis and the list goes on. We have used countless band-aids and yards of coban wrap. We’ve had the opportunity to teach natural alternatives to medicine and health and hygiene for community health.

It’s been a humbling experience to be the hands and feet of the Great Physician, the only one who can truly heal. Amazing.

5) Disciples Making Disciples

Back in January, Richard met a young couple who welcomedtheir first child at the Indigenous Seminary. We had no idea at the time how God would weave this family into our own. 

In June, we received word that Alberto, the father, was nearly dead with TB. Prompted to action by the Holy Spirit, we paid to have him brought here to Benjamin to get treatment. We are friends with the owner of the hotel here in town and she allowed him to stay for three weeks where we used natural treatments to get his body in a state to undergo the antibiotic regime he needed.

Fast-forward to August and we felt God leading us to hostthem in our own home, to do life with them, teaching them, learning from them.

Five months later, we praise God as we see how we have all grown spiritually through this time together. We see how they have overcome cultural hurdles to show physical affection to their daughter. We have seen them open up to us as friends and fellow believers. They have watched us stumble and we have watched them fight against what the Holy Spirit is leading and we have seen how those experiences have been used to mold us more into the image of Christ.

It’s been hard. I won’t lie. You take two COMPLETELY different cultures and put them in the same house, you’re going to have struggles. But how amazing to watch as God conforms us more into His image through these trials and experiences. Only a God as big as ours could pull that one off.

6) House or Hotel?

There have been times throughout this year that we have asked ourselves, “Is this a house we live in or a hotel?” Between the teams, our discipleship family, and our Indian friends, we have had visitors all but about 4 weeks out of the entire almost ten months we have lived here.

Whoa. 

But we praise God that we have the capacity to host, especially to our Indian friends who need a safe place when they are passing through. What an INCREDIBLE opportunity we have had to sit on the floor and listen to the stories of our brothers and sisters in Christ from cultures so different from our own. From what we can count, we have had Indians from three countries and seven different tribes sit and share a meal and a story with us. Unbelievable.

It’s been a stretching experience, no doubt. There have been times I have thought I might lose my mind. God is constantly teaching us selflessness, to have a servant’s heart, and patience. Worth it, for sure.

7) Our Brown Eyed Daughter

We’ve always wanted to adopt. We’ve talked about it since we were teenagers.

But we sure didn’t expect to do it during our first year on the mission field!!

That’s how God works sometimes, though, and we are so thankful. When this little girl first showed up at our front door, I fell in love. Richard knew it and he too was soon smitten. Don’t ask me how a dirty, disobedient, smelly, nearly toothless little girl off the street with life experiences no one should have could capture our heart, but she did.

Through a series of events, this little girl took up residence in our home on August 23 and we began the process to give her our last name. It’s been, without a doubt, the most difficult months of our lives. There have been days that we have asked ourselves, “What have we done???”

But what a transformation we have seen!! That dirty little girl from the street is now a beautiful, loving child whose heart has beentransformed by the Holy Spirit. 

A beautiful picture of God’s redemption story in each of our lives.

Amazing.

8) In Our Spare Time, Let’s Start a Children’s Home

While we have had the privilege of making Mariclene our own, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of other kids on the streets of this small town in need of a safe place. Not long after we moved here, we met our neighbor Rosa. She has been a GOD-SEND in our lives and we, quite frankly, probably wouldn’t have survived this long without her and her servant’s heart. True story. Anyway, she has a heart for children, so our wheels started turning.

For months we planned, prayed, schemed. Fast-forward and earlier this month God miraculously provided the funds to purchase a small home to start the first ever children’s home in Benjamin Constant. WOOHOO!!

We have a ways to go before it will be an operating home, taking in abused and abandoned children, but the work is underway. God is so good!!

9) A Trip to the States

In July we were able to go to the States for a 10 day visit. We are so thankful that God gave us this time with family and friends since our furlough that was planned form October was delayed due to the adoption.

God’s good to give us those little blessings.

10) We Survived

That’s sort of how we feel at this point.

They say your first year on the mission field is hard. They are just being nice. It’s harder.

But looking back at all that we have gone through, learned, experienced, we can truly say that we are thankful for the trials because without them there is no victory.

We’ve cried. We’ve been overwhelmed. We’ve been lonely. We’ve wanted to give up .

We’ve had people we thought were friends turn their backs on us. We’ve had things said about us that weren’t true. We’ve poured ourselves into others just to watch them go down the wrong path...

And it taught us to forgive. It taught us to love better. It taught us that we are sinners, too.

It taught us that it is God that sustains us.

Through the tears and laughter, trials and victories, ups and downs, God is good.

Thanks for walking this journey with us. 

Here's to another great year in 2014.

Glimpse at the Good

In the midst of the hard, like little beams of light breaking through the clouds, God gives us little glimpses of what He’s doing here to keep us going.

Here’s a list of some of the great things God has and is doing in our part of the world.

--We are facilitating the start of the very first children’s home in Benjamin Constant. It will be called “Bendita Esperança” (Blessed Hope) and is an extension of the Blessed Hope ministry of The Common Thread Community, our mission board.

Pray for this project. We must act to break the cycle of alcoholism, teen pregnancy, drug addiction, abortion, and prostitution in this small town, and it starts with reaching the next generation for Christ.

--We are discipling a young Jagua Indian couple that is living in our home.

Their tribe consists of 6-8,000 people. They’re passionate about reaching their own for Christ. We’re pouring into them so they can pour into others. We are working to get the Jagua Bible (partially translated) onto audio devices so that every single Jagua family can have access to the Word, regardless of their reading abilities. Pray.

--Richard is coordinating the Indigenous Seminary--started by Indians, attended by Indians. They have asked Richard to organize and structure the ins and outs as that is not a strong point in Indigenous cultures.

Lord willing, more than 160 Indians from 5 different tribes will gather together for the entire month of January to study God’s Word, many for the first time. Professors from four different countries will teach courses in two different languages, all with the goal of equipping these young men and women to go back to their own people to disciple new believers.

--We are adopting a little girl who, without the hope of Christ, was on the track to become a drug-addicted prostitute like her birth mother. God has brought her into our family, a beautiful depiction of the Gospel.

We meet with the Judge during the first week of October. Pray for a smooth process.

--Richard will be in the States for two weeks in November to raise $300K for the helicopter.

With this tool, we will be able to reach more tribes deep in the Javari Valley who are dying from preventable disease and treatable injuries in an effort to demonstrate the Love that motivates us. It’s a lot of money, no doubt. But we serve the God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills… and the hills the cattle are on… so He’ll provide it all in His timing.

--Marcos Mayoruna continues to disciple young men (currently there are 15) from the Javari Valley who have come to study in a small town not far from us. Through Marcos, they receive biblical training and discipleship as well as lodging, food, and other basic needs.

The Javari Project continues to help provide many of these needs, freeing Marcos to do more ministry in the Javari. Thank you to those of you who sponsor these young men through this project.

Thank you for your prayers.

Thank you for your encouragement.

Thank you for your giving.

God is at work.

If you would like to donate to our ministry or any of these projects, please visit

https://onrealm.org/commonthread/register

Jungle Trip (part 3 of 3)

As we were doing the interviews for the students, a Brazilian man came up and asked if we wanted some Jacare (amazon crocodile). I have to say that I prefer Jacaré over any other meat – it is the cleanest, leanest and best tasting meat I have ever had. Don’t even think of comparing it to gator! It is like white steak…so I was listening to an Indian speak some broken Portuguese, writing his summary in English and listening to the “Jacaré conversation”. I knew they didn’t have the funds to buy it but when I head the price of 30 Reales (15US) I asked if they wanted it (I already knew the answer). I bought us lunch. I continued the interviews and took pictures of each young man to finish the project packet to send out to donors. While I was doing that, a couple of the young men went and prepared our feast.

As we wrapped up, we all headed to the eating area. Lunch – Jacaré and rice, with farinha of course. They also fixed me some juice. I didn’t realize it until that point but I was in desperate need of some fluids. We thanked the Lord for His provision – in Matis. I want to quickly say here, it never ceases to amaze me to hear people with different languages pray to our Father. Amazing to think that in a instant He created all these languages and now, some that have never mentioned His name are now beginning to thank Him for His provision.

They graciously served me first and gave me the best 2 pieces of meat. I was honored and humbled. Thankful that God has given me favor among these people and humbled by the fact that He would use me to serve them and help them learn and grow to share Christ with their families.

After lunch, it was time for me to go. I thanked them all and told them I looked forward to returning in January. Shapu, who has an incredible testimony of how Jesus used a Jaguar to cruch his skull as a 12 year old, to get him to the Gospel, helped me get to the taxi place. It was a great time together as we shared what the Lord was doing in our hearts. He shared with me that he REALLY wants to return to his village, his heart is broken for his people. He is ready to graduate next year and is already planning his return to his people. He is going with the other Matis and Marcos during December to give the Gospel to his people. I was so encouraged to hear his heart and see what the Lord is giving him vision to do. He helped me pick a safe taxi and I was off.

That afternoon, I had the opportunity to meet with Pastor Lolo in Benjamin. He left his village and made the hour trip up to the town to meet with me. I was excited to talk to him. We spent some time talking about what the Lord has been doing in the village and I shared the desire I had to help sponsor him and the churches first missionary (imagine that people, these “primitive” Indians have started a church and within 4 months have sent out their first missionary to another village.). I explained the program that I would be launching to get financial support in for these guys so they can reach more of their own. We talked about how good the Lord was and all the ways he was blessing us.


I told him I wanted to treat him to lunch on Saturday and also wanted to invite his wife, Fernando (the missionary) and Otasio (the village medical leader). He said they would be free, we prayed together and both headed out.

I tried to find a free place to stay with several of our contacts in Leticia and Tabatinga but no one was home. I ended up having to get a hotel but I was very glad to have accomplished so much.

Saturday, I checked out, found peanut butter in the local store for my pregnant wife and son and then headed to the restaurant. As soon as I got close, they were already there. I want to explain the depth of that. Brazilian culture (much like most of Central and South America) is NOT punctual for anything. The Indians are even worse –they come from a culture where time is counted by moon phases – not hours and minutes. So when I arrived 15 mins earlier than our agreed upon time, I expected to wait at least an hour. To my surprise they had already arrived. Otasio, whom the Lord saved on one of my trips back in April, was the first to greet me with a big hug and a “Nuxmaxē  Pa Chauenee”, Ticuna for “Hello my dear brother”. Otasio is a man of great influence in his village, it is amazing what the Lord has done with his heart. This is a man that would have run me out of his village less than 2 years ago because of his hate and distrust of the Branco. Now, with the Lord changing his heart, not only has he invited me into his village, he has also told the chief, who is against us, that we are welcome not matter what he thinks and has even gone as far as to give a large portion of his land to ME to build a house for my family. When God changes a heart, it truly is something amazing.

Otasios brother who is also Lolos father-in-law, Alcydes, was also invited to the lunch. This was the last big miracle of the trip. Alcydes, from all I can gather, is not a believer. His daughter is a VERY strong Christian and her husband, Lolo, is the Pastor that I will be discipling when we make it to the village full time. We installed a water purification system in the village in April. Most of Alcydes’ family lives there now and he has great influence there. After hearing from his family the work that I had done for their benefit, he wanted to meet me. We had a great time talking and he thanked me for all that we had done. He talked about future projects and he told me I was welcome any time. Now, here is the BIG part of the story. He is a member of the elite Indian affairs agency that is run by the Government here. They have been the single biggest hurdle to evangelization of the Indians. They rate missionaries on the same scale as loggers and drug traffickers. Now, because the Lord has given us favor, he is writing an official document from the agency granting us unlimited access to live and work in this village and not only that but to also bring teams to work as well! It is always amazing how the Lord works. He has moved even the heart of an unbeliever, who has a great amount of power and influence to help us do what He has called us to do.

I left the lunch VERY excited and humbled once again. God is certainly up to something in this place. One thing I have always believed and was confirmed even more for me on this trip is this; God created these cultures to glorify Him. They don’t need me to bring in a denomination, a certain type of dress of a certain type of music. As a matter of fact, they don’t need me, a branco, for anything! Yet the Lord, in His infinite Grace and Wisdom, decided when he created their race, that he would not only allow but USE me to serve these people. He has been knitting this story for a long time. Their souls were on His mind as He hung on the cross and He is letting me be a part of it. I have NOTHING to boast in but the cross, everything I “have” or “can do” was given to me by Him to be used for His glory and it can be taken away just as quickly.

I am committed to serving these people and guiding in any way I can to help them see the cross. I want them to know what it is like to live a life devoted to Yahweh. I want them to see that He created them for a purpose and the He has plans to glorify HIMSELF through their lives. Some have caught that and they are teaching others to the extent they are able. My goal in life is to enable these people in any way I can to reach their own. After all, God has given them the call to missions as well – they don’t need a white man to “show them how it is done”. They need a bit of guidance, discipleship and love so they can grow in Him and lead others to do the same. I have always planned and am more than willing to live my entire life with these people, with my people, my brothers and sisters, but I am praying that the Lord will allow me to “work myself out of a job” to the point where they have a strong leadership that is fully independent.

Thank you for your prayers and support in our lives. We are SO ready to be in the jungle full time. We love these people and miss them dearly. If you would like to learn more about the 2 projects God has laid on my heart to begin, please contact me at B.r.whittemore@gmail.com.

Jungle Trip (part 2 of 3)

We arrived there at the small place where Marcos does his discipleship program. I was apart from the group from Manaus so I headed down as they asked Eli a few questions. I was humbled by what happened next. Indians are very quiet, non-emotional (outwardly) people. As I approached the thatch roof hut where they meet for church, Shapu and Tumi Matis ( 2 young men I had spent time with over the past several trips) came out with a BIG smile on their face and gave me a big hug as I walked up to them. They had previously taught me some of their language so we had a brief exchange in Matis. As I walked in to the “Maloca”, I realized there was something bigger going on. There were about 35 Matis men and women and children sitting in there with Marcos. In this crowd included 3 top witch doctors within their culture. One, Tumi’s father, is mentioned is a previous post here. The pastor and his family came in and took their seat, I always seek to blend with the Indians (although not much “blending” actually happens, they appreciate the attempt) so I stood in corner with my new found posse.

I knew the following conversation would be interesting as the Pastor was there to see what he could do for these people. I have had the opportunity to spend a lot of time around Indians and I have learned and been taught that you always ask how to handle things and how certain questions may be perceived. The problem with us as outsiders is we may have the best of intentions but without the correct knowledge of how to handle certain topics and situations we can ruin opportunities to build relationships with these people. Unfortunately, that is what happened next. The Pastor began a monologue with about 35 people that are VERY primitive and are just now beginning to think about knowing more about Christ (by the way, the reason they want to know more about Christ is because of Marcos and his ministry but that is for later).

The Pastor explained who he was (through Tumi as the translator) and what he did. He explained that he was there to help and wanted to know what he could do to help them. He then moved into telling them that the most important thing they could ever do is accept Christ into their heart as their Savior and only trust in Him. That life is only available in Him and that He is the most important decision in their life. He said all this was clearly written in the Bible and they could see it for themselves. I want to take a minute and say that everything he said was 100% true. It is the message that gives me hope and a reason for life. It is why I was in this place. My heart burns for these people to have their eyes opened to who He is. BUT, and this is a big one, these people literally have NO idea who Jesus is. All they know is, once again, a “Branco” (literally means “White person” but is the favored term by Indians for any non-indian) was telling them how to live their life and what they needed to do. What happened next took the color out of the Brazilian Pastors face and literally made him a “Branco”. He asked if there were any questions, the lead Pajé (witchdoctor) spoke up. He looked squarely at the Pastor and said, “Have you ever seen your God?”. The answer was in the negative. That was all the Pajé needed to hear. He said, “How are you going to come to me and tell me about this God of yours when you have not even seen Him?” “All you “broncos” have is a book to read about Him but you never see Him”. His next words left us all thinking a bit, “I have seen your God, I spoke with Him, I see many gods and talk to them frequently – and all you have is a book. Don’t tell me what I need to do when you can’t even see Him.”

I was expecting some sort of response from the Pastor – something….but he was truly speechless. He had just offended a Pajé by insinuating (not intentionally) that he had all the answers and could fix everything for them. When the Pajé returned with a difficult answer, there was nowhere else to go. That is when Marcos stepped in and asked them to let the Pastor know what they needed physically. They began to speak about wanting to have a fence built around Marcos’ property to keep their young men protected. They loved Marcos and what he was doing for their children but they felt like the boys were unsafe without any type of fence. The Pastor said, “Ok, we will see what we can do”. Now, I was homeschooled and I was once told that you can tell if someone was homeschooled by the way they run from awkward confrontation. I don’t know if that is true in a general sense but it is for me. I don’t really know what happened after that because Pastor Eli and I both left the Maloca. I used it as a chance to speak with Eli more about what he needed and the needs of the seminary. We talked about that for a little while. We then brought up the elephant in the room. He said they were great people and had helped financially in the past. He said he understood their heart but that they didn’t understand they were doing more harm than good with attempts to make a convert. You have to remember, we grew up in a world surrounded by Christianity (and still so few actually “get it”) and here we are trying to give the Gospel with ZERO background, explanation and absolutely no life examples for them to see (as far as Brancos are concerned).

They soon finished up the meeting and they were on their way. I went back into the Maloca once the awkwardness had cleared and began talking with some friends. Very quickly, about 15 of the Matis came and surrounded me. They wanted to know about me, how I knew their boys, etc. I used it as a time to talk about how much I love their culture (no smoke here, I have always had a special place in my heart for the Matis over all the other tribes). I talked about how I had met one of the Pajés (who was there) in 2010 and what a privilege it was for me to be there with them. We had some fun as they taught me some Matis words. Essentially, I didn’t come in and try to convert them. I did speak the Gospel in words they didn’t understand. I did everything I could to live it out and love them. I wanted them to see that there was something different about this Branco. I want them to see that their young men respect me and that I respect them and that even though I am an outsider, I don’t want anything for myself – I want to love them, unconditionally and let them know that they are of utmost important in my life. After all, that is what Christ did. You may argue that He also said to PREACH the Gospel. That is very true, but He also had certain people go to the Jews and other to the Gentiles because He knew how to best reach them. It is my firm conviction that these people will be reached by their own! They will not need the Gospel from a foreigner because God is raising up young men RIGHT NOW to be able to adequately convey the Gospel message in their own language and in a way that incorporates their culture, a culture God created to Glorify Himself.

Soon they all left, I swear that these people have to be ninjas because literally one minute there were 35 of them and the next there were 4….I have no idea where they went and how they did it so fast!

I began to talk with Marcos about the project that I wanted to develop to bring funds into his ministry. He is training 11 young men in their language. He is one of them, they trust him, he cares for them. And they are getting the Gospel through him. He is feeding them, giving them a place to live and teaching them the Gospel. He is also supporting a wife and a 2 year old on $250US a month! You read that right…..it is disgusting to me the amount of money that we waste as the Church when there are SO many that are scraping by with nothing. We think we do well because we give the magical 10%....most of them don’t even have that 10% to eat with….once again, that is for another blog. He was very excited to hear that there were already 17 people who had committed to giving and other than me, none of them had ever met him......

Jungle Trip (part 1 of 3)

The following is an update from my (Richard) most recent trip to the deepest part of the jungle I, as a foreigner, can go. This trip, for those who don't know, was to finalize plans to launch our first project here. It is amazing what the Lord is doing in this place and I am humbled and honored to be a part of working along side the indigenous leadership to get the G0spel to people that no foreigner will EVER be able to reach.

Wednesday, 10.15.2012, at 4:45am here in Recife, my trip began to the jungle. It was an hour earlier in the Jungle and I had about 14 hours and 4 stops before I would finally be in Tabatinga. After that, I still had to get a moto-taxi to the main port and get on a fast boat and go to Benjamin Constant and try and find a place to sleep. The next morning, I would be up early and on another taxi to get to my final destination of Atalaia do Norte, Amazonas, Brazil. I was dropped off by my good friend that I met in Argentina, Guilherme Franco, at the airport here in Recife  and started the long flights. The whole time I was up and down in the air and walking through the airports, I was focused on the task ahead and thinking through everything. After all, I had 2.5 days to finalize 2 large projects that I was starting and I didn’t want to miss any opportunities. For those that know me really well, you can testify that I am a person that likes organization and for things to be planned out well in advance. So, me, Lecrae, the iPhone and my notebook were busy most of the trip getting everything down on paper to make sure I didn’t miss anything. No amount of planning could have prepared me for the following few days and what God had already predestined before the creation of the earth.

 All my flights were uneventful and I was glad to be travelling light with just a backpack – my last 10-15 international trips have been with teams and the latest was our international move so those have inlcuded thousands of pounds of equipment, 10-12 people each trip and immigration paperwork to be responsible for.

My trip began to get interesting as the man across the plane came and sat next to the free seat to my left and began talking. He broke all the first conversation rules, our talk ranged from how horrible the US is, why we are to blame for the drugs and Guerilla war in South America and how it was unfair that we killed Saddam just for his oil. He also proceeded to tell me I was wasting my time working with Indians, he explained all their problems and why I would never be successful with them. I am generally very easy going and love to talk to others but this encouraging fellow began to become a frustration as it was the last thing I wanted to hear at the end of 14 hours of flying with another 2 to go on motorcycles and boats. It was there that the Lord began to work in my heart and say, “Don’t you see that this man sees no hope for these people because he has no hope for himself?” My frustration quickly left and I was searching for ways to share Christ with this man. He finally gave me the chance and I had the opportunity to explain that he may very-well be right and the Indians may not accept anything that I try to do. But I quickly followed that up with the fact that I wasn’t doing this for the Indians (even thought they are the “beneficiaries”). No, in fact I am doing this because Jesus has called me to do it. I was able to explain how I turned down a 100K plus dream job to come here and didn’t regret it one bit because my life was all for Him. He changed his tone and began to talk about knowing more about what we do and wanting to visit – he even asked for my contact info to stay in touch…..that was quite a difference from, “You gringos are so greedy that you are ruining the rest of the world”.

I made it to the hotel that night and searched for a place to eat. Nothing was open so it was a good thing Ashley had packed me one of Elliott’s cereal bars. The next morning I ran into Pastor Eli (the indigenous leader that is responsible that most of the leaders in our area have received the Gospel) and we headed to Atalaia. We were also joined by a Pastor from a more fundamental denomination in Manaus. He and his family were going to see about Marcos’ ministry. We had also run into an American lady that was with the same denomination in Benjamin. Eli later confided in me that they have had many issues in the past because these missionaries have taken credit and ownership of the ministry in the area. He said they had donated to help in the past and then claim credit for the work that is being done 100% by indigenous effort. He also said they have tried in the past to make these Indians that are barely out of the Jungle, starting a discipleship ministry with Marcos, to start wearing ties, cut their hair and not be around people that didn’t look like them. I have to admit that I was angry with these people at that point. Who are they? A song I listen to says, “They talk about the Law, but they are twisting the Law, the Law is the tool that leads us to Christ, by GRACE we are JUSTIFIED and HE gives us life”. It is amazing how we are saved by grace yet resort back to the chains of the Law. Galations 5:1 says, “ He freed us INTO freedom”, not chains, preferences or ancient Jewish Law that was put out not to be fulfilled by us but to show us we could NOT fulfill it! Anyway, I shared with Eli that many do horrible things in the name of the Gospel with the best of intentions but poor foundations. I told him I had NO intention of pushing any denomination, I was there to be Christ and serve in any way I could be used. He then said something many would say he (as an Indian) was uncapable of even understanding. He said,” Ricardo, I’m not interested in denomination. They have hurt my people so much in the past. I’m not talking about Doctine, Doctrine is extremely important and we will guard that but my allegiance is to Christ – not a human-founded denomination.” Wow! Sounds like the Holy Spirit just spoke through someone.......

The New Normal

It never occurred to me that this may in fact be his last day on earth.

As I stepped into the home of the local witchdoctor where we had been called to aid a sick man, I saw him laid out in a hammock. On his face he wore a grimmace that spoke of the pain he was feeling and on his chest and arms he wore a rash of unknown origin. His legs were stiffened by the pain.

Janet, our nurse friend who had traveled down with us, had already hooked up the IV bag in an attempt to rehydrate his severely dehydrated body. We were down to our last IV needle because his veins were so hard to chase under his parched skin. Two bags of fluid wasn't nearly enough, but it was all we had so it would have to work.

The language barrier made our task even more challenging as I translated from English to Spanish and the village missionary translated from Spanish to Ticuna and then back again. But some pain medication and a muscle relaxant soon brought him some temporary relief and before long we were exchanging names and Junio was smiling a very toothless smile and seemed to be doing well. Rest and relaxation was his prescription for the day as he planned to make a several hour trek back to his village the next.

That evening we were called again to his side. Richard joined Janet while I was busy getting Elliott ready for bed back at the missionary home where we were staying. Junio's pain had returned with a vengeance. His symptoms made us think it was perhaps a case of Lyme's disease and the missionary said that this wasn't an isolated case. These symptoms seemed to occur often in the area, reaffirming our thoughts that ticks could be the cause. More pain meds and rest were prescribed and Richard would check back in the morning. When he left, Junio had improved slightly, but Richard advised he be taken to the hospital two hours upriver first thing in the morning.

Fast forward to morning.

I came in for breakfast after a restless sleep, hindered by roosters crowing all night and a bug net that keeps all hope of a breeze from making its way through for relief from the heat.

After a greeting to those who were already up, I was told the news.

Junio had died during the night. I was shocked to say the least. Sure he was in pain the night before, but it never crossed my mind that he might die.

"How did this happen?" I asked, trying to make sense of it.

Long story short, after we treated him with what we had, they brought in the witchdoctor to see what she could pull off. It was a typical ending to the story. It seems once the witchdoctor gets her hands on a local, that's the end of the road. They believed the man had been cursed and that his soul was dead anyway. When this is the "diagnosis" they see no reason to try to live with a dead soul so often they will stop eating or drinking and just let their physical body die, too. We don't know exactly what the man had or what the witchdoctor gave him, but one thing is for sure--he didn't have to die.

As I processed what I was told, the thought occured to me:

This is our new normal.

Suddenly the heat and bugs didn't seem so omnious in light of the fact that we were in the middle of a culture that is run by witchcraft and myth. The missionaries who have been in this village for nearly half a decade share with us that this is a common occurance. Death--unecessary death--is part of this work and Satan is happy for it.

Even thought the news is hard and I try not to let my mind wander down the path of how heavy this load is, I remember this one thing:

"...the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." 1 John 4.4

God has us here for a reason and He has already conquered sin. Our job is to glorify Him. He will bring the fruit in His time and in His way.

It was a hard awakening in our first week on the field. But we know the God is sovereign. His ways are good. And we can trust He is working to bring glory to Himself in this dark region.

Dear God, That Was Unexpected

Dear God,

Remember the other day when I asked You to send someone our way that we could be a blessing to? And remember how not long ago I asked You to take me out of my comfort zone? And remember how a little while back I had asked You to teach me a little bit about what it meant to serve You and it actually cost me something?

Ok, well, I guess I didn't expect You to answer all three of those, like, at the same time.

For real, though. I wasn't expecting that.

But, since You have, and since You are sovereign and all knowing and never make mistakes, I'm now asking you for a little bit a lot of wisdom. And by a lot I mean A LOT. Like, the biggest dose You can give me without my brain exploding.

And, also, since You were so quick to answer those three requests I mentioned above, could You also answer this one really quickly?

You're awesome. Seriously. I am literally in awe of You and who You are.

I looked up the definition of "awe" and it means: "an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like"

That's basically a perfect description of how I feel right now.

But also, I feel overwhelmed by my inadequacy. I'm overwhelmed by my lack of faith, my selfishness, my helplessness, and my overall inability to go more than five minutes without once again relying on myself rather than You.

So thanks for being all that You are and never giving up on me and for loving me enough to stretch me and grow me. You're so good like that.

Love Your Modern Day Doubting Thomas,
Ashley

Unity in Christ

I (Richard) had an awesome opportunity to lead a group doing some disaster relief in Tuscaloosa, Al. I had been with this particular church before and had been impressed with their servant’s attitude and heart. As a matter of fact, the first time we worked together, I was in charge of leading their team of 42 jr. high students – anyone who has ever spent a week with that many jr. high students can understand what I was thinking I was getting myself into- I was amazed at the maturity that each student showed. We spent one whole day picking up trash in a housing community……oh yeah, and the heat index was 111 degrees with NO shade. I didn’t want to be there, but I never heard one complaint from these kids.

Fast forward and one year later we are going back to the heat of Alabama but this time with an adult team. The trip was great and God used them in many ways. Everybody was included on this trip, BRAND new Christians that were still really trying to figure out the whole God thing to lifetime churchgoers.

There was one person in particular that really encouraged me. She had been saved for just a few months and took it upon herself to find a church to start attending. She was an adult with no real religious background but she said she got to the point where she knew there had to be something more in life (that’s Jesus drawing her to him but that is an entirely different blog post). She accepted Christ and has since started her own ministry working with the homeless (all in the past 5 months). Wait, what?? She can’t do that! She barely knows about Christ herself! She has never been to seminary! She isn’t equipped to run a ministry sharing the gospel and Christ’s love with others! – Really? She’s not? I’ll just be honest with you; she taught me more in her attitude and love for the Bible that week than I have ever learned from a sermon. How is it that someone who has known Christ for less than 6 months has a grasp on the deep relationship that she does? –It is all about Christ. She’ll tell you right now that it is nothing she has done, she has a past but God is now using that for His glory! She doesn’t need to regret or be ashamed of the things that she has been involved in in the past, you want to know why? “Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus, because the Spirit’s law of life has set you free from the law of sin and death!” Rom. 8:1-2

We are now slaves to Christ and in HIM we find life, no longer are we subject to the law of sin and death!

Here is my favorite part, that church that I worked with. It’s not the same denomination I was taught and grew up in (let me put in a quick bit here, their fundamental core beliefs are the same, I do not think it is right to work or encourage the work of those that don’t teach Christ as the Gospel (2 John 9,10) but that is certainly not the issue here) yep, we actually had true unity and spirit as we worked and served Christ. They allowed me the privilege to lead their devotions. I, a Baptist, worked with them, Methodists, to serve Jesus and be his hands and feet. Yeah, we may come to different conclusions on certain (non-Gospel) topics of the scripture, but here is a tidbit of information. Christ was neither!

I was encouraged as we were brought to unity under Christ and served him. New believers, youth pastors, people struggling with addiction and difficulties, and missionaries all came together and presented the body of Christ to those who needed it most.

I am convinced that if we could quit bickering and work together with those who truly bring Christ Gospel, we can reach the world! Jesus teaches us in Luke 9:49/50 a very important lesson. “John responded, Master, we saw someone driving demons out in your name, and we tried to stop him because he does not follow us. DON’T stop him, Jesus told him, because whoever is not against you is for you!”

Let’s get over ourselves and our self-righteousness and work with those who are “not against us” to share Christ with the world!

(Sorry, for those of  you expecting another awesome post by my wife, you were undoubtedly let down by this one but thank you for reading what was on my heart! : )

Dream On

When someone says they've had a spiritual dream or a vision here in the States, what's your typical first reaction? More than likely you either A) write them off as a lunatic, or B) listen so you can make fun of them later and talk about what a lunatic they are.

In our culture, we like to think that God doesn't work that way anymore. After all, we do have the completed Bible and we've found a pretty little box that God fits perfectly inside of and dreams and visions do NOT fit in, thank you very much.

I beg to differ.

Now, let me just say before you write me off as a lunatic or continue reading so you can make fun of me later, I have never had a said dream or vision. My dreams are usually just those ones where you are a frog trying to escape from the zoo and suddenly find yourself on a boat in the middle of the ocean and you've transformed into a beautiful butterfly. I don't know the significance of that, but I don't think it's spiritual. Probably just the results of eating pizza and ice cream for dinner.

I do, however, know people who have had visions and dreams and I've heard enough stories of Christians and missionaries in other countries who have and I have no doubt in my mind that God still can and does work that way.

On our most recent trip to the Jungle, we worked with an Indian Pastor in one of the tribes who is leading the way in trying to reached the surrounding tribes. He's passionate and driven. One day, Richard was discussing with him the passion God has given us to use aviation as a means to get into these unreached places and happened to have his iPad with him. He pulled it out and pulled up a picture of the helicopter he had found that fits perfectly into what we want to do in our ministry and all of the specs we need to do it.

When he showed the Pastor the image of the helicopter, the Pastor just stared at it for a moment. He looked at Richard and looked back at the picture and began to seem nervous, sort of pacing back and forth. Richard figured he thought the iPad was cool. That was sort of our reaction to it, too. But as Richard continue to explain why he had decided on this particular aircraft, the Pastor interrupted him and said [in Portuguese], "Um. I don't know if you'll believe me when I tell you this."

Richard didn't know what he was talking about so he told him to give it a try. The Pastor went on to explain that he had had a dream of that exact helicopter. In his dream, he was the passenger and they were flying over the jungle to a church plant in the middle of nowhere to help equip the Indian believers. He went on to describe the interior of the helicopter as he had seen it in his dream.

The picture only showed the exterior and he described the inside in detail exactly as it is.

Oh and this dream, he had it twenty years ago.

Coincidence? I don't know. I'm just telling the story as it happened. What I do know is it's high time we stop deciding for ourselves just how our God works and then dismissing anything that doesn't fit nicely into how we imagine it.

We serve a big God who can do whatever He wants, however He wants. Maybe if we'd believe in a big God for a change, we'd start seeing some big things happen.