The end of the year brings reflection

and perspective and I am beginning this new year very grateful for

what God has done in the last year in Nauta and the way that He

continues to speak love into my own heart while at the same time

revealing potentially dangerous blind spots in my life and

mis-direction of said heart.

I arrived back in Nauta at the end of

November, and have spent the last month re-adjusting to the reality

of living in Peru (heat, mosquitos, pit toilet, "running"

rainwater, some people gone, some new people here, etc...) and to the

call that God has on me here. I have been reminded that I am NOT

here to serve my own interests (you'd think that would be obvious,

wouldn't you?) but the interests of our Savior. We were indeed

bought with a very precious price.

Since I have a faulty memory, let me

recount in reverse some events that have stood out to me from my

arrival. Tonight in my house there was a Bible study of five young

men and the parents of one of them. I did not call the meeting -

in all actuality I had planned on having an English Bible study with

five different youth interested in bettering their English as well as

their walk with God. They didn't show up, but these other five did,

four of whom have passed through the 3-month training period of an

IMB offshoot, the Extreme Team. They meet together regularly (as

well as attend their respective churches) with the purpose of seeking

God and His will for their lives. We sang, shared scripture, shared

struggles and prayed together. Needless to say, I was blessed.

A few days ago I had a conversation

with a pastor here in town with whom I've been working on the

training school. To summarize, the first bimester of the school,

there were four students here. The second bimester there were two.

And now none are returning. He has decided to take the training to

the river villages in the form of a three day seminar and see what

fruit comes of that, and I support his decision and would happily

invest there as well, but it would seem that the Lord is leading in a

different direction at this point - which direction that is

precisely, I don't know, but God made it clear that at the moment we

are going in different directions ministerially.

In the two days prior to that

conversation, I was invited to two events - one being a women's

conference at the end of this month in Iquitos called "Women of

Destiny" with the purpose of awakening latino women to the purpose

and call of God on their lives. I am eager to see what God does there

and would covet your prayers for the women attending. I was invited

as a participant, not as a speaker, lest I mislead any of you :) ...

which is just fine by me. The other event is a week-long conference

at the beginning of March at a camp two hours upriver from Nauta. It

is a conference specifically for indigenous people from the Urarina

tribe who have recently received Christ and want to know more, men,

women and children. I am VERY excited to be able to serve in this as

I see God's hand in the story of how it has come to be, and hope to

give you more information on what God is doing after seeing firsthand

His work.

In smaller news, since coming back I

have shoveled grass off my back yard, attended a missionary Christmas

White Elephant party, had three girls spend the night at my house and

make liberal use of my nail polish, played baseball with students

from Spring Arbor with children in Indiana (on the Amazon river), saw

Santa and a clown celebrate Christmas with children from different

congregations here in Nauta, made hot chocolate and provided sweet

bread for the kids on my street, had my motorcycle stolen AND

rmiraculously ecovered, and saw a dear friend return from the states

(Chris!!) and am so very grateful that my "mom in Peru" is back.

On a more somber note, I also found out that the father of a friend

(some of you might remember Maicol from previous letters) died in an

electric accident, leaving 5 young children and 2 grown sons behind.

Another friend lost a two-month old baby to dysentery. And I hear

from many pastors that their congregations are waning and that they

are discouraged, and am so very tired of seeing the enemy steal, kill

and destroy the good that God wants to pour into the lives of His

children.

Please pray for God's Kingdom to COME

here to Nauta, Peru. Pray for unity among the believers here, and I

also pray that His Kingdom would come to your towns, to the states,

to India, to Mexico, to the Dominican Republic... and to every corner

of this earth. Please pray for Cesar, the young man here in Nauta

who would like to go to the Dominican as a missionary-in-training

with Miguel and Kristen Shaul. Funds are slow in coming in, and we

know that God has a plan and a purpose in all these things, but I

believe that this is from God and would ask your prayers for Cesar to

be sent in the Father's timing and for any interference of the enemy

to be thoroughly thwarted. Thank you and may God's grace and peace

reign in your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our most

beautiful Savior and friend!!!