Waking up at 1pm! How did that happen?
Discouragement
Hello friends and family. Thank you for taking time to read what has been happening for the last 2 months here in Moyobamba!
The last 10 days or so of December have been very challenging. A depression out of nowhere came and would not leave me for some time.
Thankfully, the Word of God has sustained me and I am finally out of that rut!
Reading through Matthew has reminded me to keep my eyes on Jesus, not the circumstances.
Reading through the Psalms has reminded me of King David’s difficulties and him crying out to God. Here are 2 verses that have ministered to me.
Psalm 25:5
Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.
Psalm 25:17
The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
bring me out of my distresses.
The Calvary Moyobamba family
While the enemy has attacked, the Lord has been at work!
The blessings have been like the Amazon rain! Numerous and overwhelming. One of the many blessings I am thankful for is the church family.
A group picture on New Year’s Eve! We played games, ate food, prayed, and watched fireworks together.
Christmas dinner! Potluck style.
Gina with Mateo receiving a Christmas present from our sending church Calvary Trujillo.
Christmas surprise!
The plan was to have people arrive at church at 7pm on Christmas Eve and eat at 8pm. “We will probably wrap things up at 11pm”, I thought to myself. “Four hours is a good chuck of time”. This was far off! Most people came around 9:30pm. When asked if they were hungry, the majority responded that they were full and just ate. Come to find out, the Christmas tradition here is to eat starting at midnight! My team and I didn’t know what to do because we were very hungry, yet wanted to eat together with everyone else. We decided to wait and allow the stomach noises to continue.
After approximately 7 hours together our friends realized it was late and time to return home. I arrived home around 4:30am and slept until 1pm! Please DO NOT tell my parents.
As a church family, we love spending time together and the all those hours were worth it.
“El hueco”
There is a huge abandoned building close to the church where homeless people sleep and other things occur. It is known as “el hueco”, or “the hole” in English. Some of the men from there came to our Christmas dinner, as they had nowhere else to go for the holidays. As we served them food and conversed with them, we built a good relationship and gained some trust. This allowed me to enter there days later to read the Bible and pray with them. There were no lights, so they had a candle lit to where I could see the pages. As several men gathered to hear, almost all said that they wanted out of that lifestyle and to be right with God. Long story short, 2 of them have now left. One has had close to a month without alcohol and drugs, found a job, reconciled with his family, now attends church regularly, reads his bible that we gave, and has helped with some construction projects. Praise God for His power of radically transforming our new brother in Christ’s life. The other guy has asked to be discipled, so him and I will meet up on Saturdays and go over the bible together.
Mateo’s curiosity
Most of the children in Sunday school have been coming on and off to church, but one boy who has been fairly consistent is Mateo. He has been asking a lot of questions about God and has the earnest desire to be part of His family. Gina the Sunday school teacher shared the full gospel with him. He understood and said he wanted to receive Jesus into his life. A few days later he runs up to me shouting with joy that he is now a child of God with a big smile on his face. I almost cried.
Three months of verse by verse teaching
Since the middle of October, we have had 13 teachings in the gospel of Luke on Sundays and 13 teachings in Genesis on Wednesdays.
One of my favorite messages was the call of Abram in Genesis 12. The first verse reads, “Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” I can identify with Abram, because although I miss my family in Colorado dearly, there is no better place to be than where God calls you.
Prayer right before service. May God bless us with understanding and wisdom in His Word.
Gina, Jesus, Paula(Jesus’ mom), Mili and I cleaned classrooms at the oldest school east of Peru. This picture was taken in November. Our hope was that our service would eventually open a door to share the gospel in the classrooms. “At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word” Colossians 4:3a.
Prayer answered and the door opened! We taught Christian songs, shared the gospel, and gave cross ornaments to around 150 kids. They were overall receptive and had lots of energy.
Taking a picture before saying goodbye. May they know Christ and follow Him.
Axl (from church) and Jesus preparing pineapple juice to serve to 50 students from a school close by. For 4 Wednesdays they came to our church to eat breakfast, converse, and hear a short bible message. Many of them normally go through the day without eating breakfast or lunch.
Axely and Eros (from church) ready to serve the students.
Here is a motocar that I bought. It is the main vehicle people use in jungle cities. It has been a blessing for saving money on transport, picking up construction supplies, giving people rides, and various other reasons.
Praise God for:
My team, our unity, and their hard work.
God’s Word sustaining me.
The open doors to share the gospel
People’s testimonies in the church of repenting, loving greater, joy, peace, and many other works of God.
Prayer requests
That Calvary Moyobamba can be a culture of arriving on time
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500 Hot Dogs Making Noise
Got you! I knew the title of this newsletter would peak your curiosity and cause you to click. The title actually does have relevance to it, and will make more sense at the end.
The Invasion
Eighty-five people among Calvary Trujillo, Calvary Bible Institute Kauai, and the Moyobamba team spent a week together mainly focusing on 3 events here in the Peruvian jungle city, Moyobamba. The events were a free kids festival, free hot dogs to the community, and a free Christian concert. The purpose of the events was to serve the local people, connect with them, and let them know about the church plant. After all, we have a building and it is ready for church service! It’s only missing people.
The turn out
We invited a ton of people to come to our events! From handing out flyers to the cars waiting at red lights, to passing out invitations to people at the main square, many in the city knew about us and our mission. What I didn’t know is how many people would show up. As the day approached and I went to the grocery store with my chamo Johann (chamo means bro in Venezuela), I was sure that 500 hot dogs would be more than enough food! Better to have too much left over rather than not enough, right? Well…
When I arrived at the Coliseum 30 minutes before the events started, there were already about 20 people that came in and were waiting. About a hour later there were about 100 people. And then hundreds. I don’t know how many in total, and quite frankly, it doesn’t matter. But I do know that we ran out of hot dogs and Mario (one of the leader from Calvary Kauai) went and bought much more. Even though the Coliseum (where we hosted) is a huge place, one side was fairly full of Moyobambinos.
Most that came heard the gospel, and were received with love and prayer. It was a sweet night of fellowship and worship. And all of it was used to introduce the Calvary Moyobamba team and me, the Pastor, as well as invite them to our first service.
First Sunday service, the big day
After 2 full busy work days of construction and painting at the church with the Calvary Trujillo team, the building was ready for service!
Our first church service on Sunday, October 15 was spectacular. The worship was passionately pointed to God, I had such concentration on the sermon Luke 1:1-4, and we had quality conversations with people afterwards. Also, we were able to give several people bibles that came to service, with the condition that they have to read them every day.
Mili, Jesus, Gina and I in our first staff meeting (2nd floor in the Sunday school room) conversing about discipleship, the first Sunday service, and other logistical details.
Other notes
-Today (Wednesday) I will be teaching Genesis, starting with 1:1. It has been raining, but may not that stop people from coming to receive the Word of God!
-I am grateful for the support and guidance of my Pastor Cory. He has discipled me, answered a lot of my questions, and loves me.
-We were sent out by Calvary Trujillo October 1st and have received many verses and messages of encouragement from them. They pray for us and are part of this work in Moyobamba.
-Thank you so much for your prayers and support! All of this preparation and investing became a reality. And it is only the beginning.
Praise reports
Hundreds of people were able to hear about Jesus in Moyobamba
There was unity and servant-hearted people from Kauai and Trujillo that God used to be part of this church plant
Our friendships with the local people here
Financial support
Praise requests
May God and only God always be glorified in Calvary Moyobamba
That the Lord will highlight people we can disciple one on one
May more and more people come to repentance and be reconciled with God
Financial support for a mototaxi and a future discipleship house for young Moyobambino Christians
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Have you heard of a Moyobambino?
Wherever people come from, they are often called by their city/state/country. For example, a person from the city of Boulder is a boulderite. A person from Colorado is a coloradoan (or a fairly new name is a coloradical). People from Peru are peruvians or in Spanish “peruanos”.
Have you heard of a Moyobambino before? It is not a vegetable nor a species of plant. It is not a hamburger that you order at the restaurant Good Times either. The team of Calvary Moyobamba will be Moyobambinos, because we will be living there!
The church building
On the quest to rent a church building month by month, after many appointments, conversations, prayers, and navigating through Moyobamba, one place stood out to us. This place has the space, the feel of church, it’s an ideal location, and has a quiet street next to it. We met up with the renter the second to last day of our week trip and signed the contract! Calvary Moyobamba is going to be a place that teaches sound doctrine and loves the people with God’s love. We are excited and see God orchestrating it all.
I have decided to teach the book of Mark the Sunday services that will start in October. The idea is to get a concrete understanding of who Jesus is. He has radically transformed my life. By His Word being preached, He can transform the lives of others by His power. Jesus came to serve. Jesus stood against religious bullies. Jesus had compassion on the multitudes of people. Jesus was and is a brilliant teacher to His disciples and others. And He gave His life so that others may have eternal life. There is no one like Jesus in the history of the world! Please pray that the people of Moyobamba can desire to know Him and be conformed to Him.
We also found an appartment for Mili and Gina (the two girls pictured above), who are committed to helping for 6 months! They are happy and will be a huge blessing.
The church building! Soon we will have chairs, tables a pulpit, and a sign to make it more church-like.
The second floor. There is work to do! Clean it up, decorate it, and make it suitable for Sunday School.
The invasion
We are thankful to have Pastor Cory, Calvary Trujillo, and a Calvary team from Kauai come alongside us the second week of October to help us start the church plant. There will be over 100 people on this trip. Ahsu! (means “oh my!” in Peruvian slang). Our objectives are to let people know their is a church plant and invite them to church. There will be a concert, a barbeque in a park, kids events, evangelism, and much more! I will be coordinating much of this. Please pray!
Connecting with the locals
Our second to last day was my favorite day. We were able to take a little break and spend time with some local people. We drank coffee, played games, got to know each other, and prayed. Wesley, Pamela, and Karen are excited for the church plant and want to meet up again when we come back. Karen specifically expressed interest in being discipled in the bible. She is now part of our Friday Zoom prayer group and is very receptive of God’s Word. Pamela is coming to Trujillo in September for the church planting conference, and wants to learn more of God’s ways. She is looking for the next step in her life. Wesley is looking for community and told us he will intentionally not go to his high school graduation because he is turned off by the party scene. Pray that God can use Yenry, Mili, Gina and I to point them to the bible and that they can be part of Calvary Moyobamba.
One way to be part of this work
One way to support us is by giving financially month by month. We are about 60% funded. The funds will be invested in discipling the locals, serving the community, being able to pay rent throughout the years, make trips to other jungle communities from time to time, materials for the church, and much more. At the bottom of this newsletter is where you can give.
Praise reports
Praise God that we have a church building!
Praise God for Yenry, Mili, and Gina. They are so helpful and have many talents that I lack.
Praise God for our friendships with some of the people in Moyobamba and the quality time we spent.
Praise God that He is with us and in a masterful way putting everything together
Prayer requests
Pray that we God can continue to convict people in Moyobamba of sin and receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Pray that the team and I can stay humble and sensitive to God.
Pray that we can go the next step with our friends in Moyobamba and disciple them.
Pray for financial support
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Farewell Colorado until…
“The bible cannot be trusted because it has many different translations throughout the years.”
This claim has been used by many people who are not that interested in the message of the bible because they say it has errors and is unreliable. Yet if you open up a modern bible, go to the book of Isaiah, and compare it with the translation of this 2000 plus year old replica scroll that I saw in the Bible Museum, the translations are almost the exact same! Below is a link that can be copied and pasted into a search engine. It shows the version the Jews used before Christ compared with the version we use in churches today. Enjoy!
http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/chapters_pg
My cousin Daniella was my tour guide in the nations capital. I stayed in a house with an 18th century bathtub. The Bible Museum was one of my many stops in the U.S. for my 2.5 week trip. If you are ever in the Washington D.C. area, I highly recommend checking it out! I wanted to bring a sleeping bag and stay the night there, because there was so much biblical archaeology and history that wooed my eyes and aligns with God’s Word. When I go to the jungle and teach the bible to those in Moyobamba and those in the tribes further out, I can trust 2 Timothy 3:16 which says “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness”. The teachings in the scriptures are inspired by God, not invented by religious men.
The other east coast stop was in Harrisonburg, Virginia. When I was sharing at Horizon Christian Fellowship church, I pretended that I thought I was in Lynchburg, a city nearby. I said, “it’s good to be here in Lynchburg with you all.” Not many people laughed. An awkward start to my presentation.
Pastor Ronny Breen invited me to share about the church plant in Moyobamba. Us at Calvary Bible Institute Peru have a special relationship with him, because he taught us the book of Jonah and James, and gifted us ice cream at our graduation ceremony.
After I shared about my calling and the mission, several people hugged me, prayed for me, and encouraged me. It was awesome fellowship. I also received enough financial donations to be able to buy 100 Spanish bibles! Pray that the people of Moyobamba read them and know God more. Interestingly enough, I later read Philippians 1 in my devotions, and could understand the apostle Paul better when he said in verses 3-5 “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.”
Most of my time, however, was spent in my home state Colorado. It was nice to be there in the summertime because I could do more in the mountains and not defend myself against the cold. I was able to spend quality time with most of my family. This was precious because I don’t know when is the next time that I will see them.
A couple reflections from my time in the mountains…
Colorado is so pretty. There are so many adventures to endeavor and beauty to explore. I have had some wonderful memories and lots of happiness there. But I am convinced that God has called me to Pastor a church plant in Moyobamba. There isn’t anything more excellent in one’s life then being in the Father’s will.
God teaches through His Word and can teach through nature. When fishing, I had to be tactful, patient, and determined. As Jesus called the disciples to be fishers of men, these are some of the same qualities to be applied when we disciple others. When I go to Moyobamba in October, I want to be prayerful and intentional when looking for young men to teach the bible to and invest in. Don’t worry, I won’t throw a net over people.
It is okay to pray for little things. One of my favorite animals is a bear. I have only seen one once in my life. I simply asked God if I could see a bear in the mountains. The next day, a little black bear darted across the road. It climbed a tree, then went down and skipped down the green mountain hills. A cool site to see! Thank you God for answering that little prayer! I ask you Lord that I see pink river dolphin when I go to the jungle.
Praises to God
Quality time with my family
The generosity of Horizon Christian Fellowship Church
The Bible Museum and all the evidence in favor of the Bible
My nephew Rafael’s salvation
His teachings in the Word and in nature
Prayer requests
Growing in discernment.
Confirmation to some for being part of the Moyobamba team
Financial support
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Teaching those of the Peruvian Amazon Jungle
Hello friends and family. Here is a quick update this month.
My friend Pastor Alfredo of San Rafael, Peru is the chief leader of his people, the Aents (or Awajun). San Rafael is one of many jungle communities in mid north Peru. Alfredo, being the first Pastor of his people, has the heart to share the gospel with all of them and equip male leaders. He invited certain Aents men to come to San Rafael for a conference for a few weeks to study the bible, with the hope that they will eventually be Pastors and teach their people back in their communities. Nine of these men made sacrifices by leaving their families and banana farms to come to San Rafael and learn more about what the Word of God says.
The problem is that Pastor Alfredo hasn’t been able to find any bible teachers to come to his conference. He has been praying that God would send teachers for 7 or so years (I can’t remember the exact number). Then he crossed paths with Pastor Cory, my Pastor from Calvary Trujillo.
Rewinding a month back, I was in Moyobamba with a team for a missions trip there and then to San Rafael. Pastor Alfredo happened to be in Moyobamba with his son. I read Nehemiah chapter 8 one morning, right before meeting with Pastor Alfredo. Verse 8 talks about the Priests explaining God’s Word to the people of Israel, and says, “They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and gave them sense, so that the people understood the reading.” Shortly after reading this, I met with Pastor Alfredo and he told me how he planned a conference, but couldn’t find anyone to come and teach some bible classes. Later I mentioned all of this with Pastor Cory and connected Nehemiah chapter 8 with Alfredo’s dilemma. These jungle men needed someone to explain to them and help them understand God’s Word. Next thing you know, Pastor Angel (of Calvary Buenos Aires Trujillo) and I were jungle bound 3 weeks later!
When we arrived in San Rafael after crossing the river on a boat and then a bumpy taxi ride, 10 students eagerly awaited us. I taught a class called the Inductive Bible Study right away. It’s a class that uses tools like observation, interpretation, and application to better understand each verse of the bible. Angel taught 1 Timothy in the late afternoon session, which was appropriate seeing that many of the Aents aspire to be Pastors and teach their people one day.
The classes went a lot slower than we expected, one reason being that we used Pastor Alfredo as a translator from Spanish to Aents. It was kind of funny because I would say a sentence in Spanish and everyone gave me a blank stare. Then when Alfredo translated, I could see the light bulbs click based on the expression of their faces, and many “aha!” moments.
It was cool to see almost every student arrive on time to their classes, with their bible and notebook open, ready to learn. They were very humble and teachable.
The students were very thankful that we came, and some have been praying for years that someone would come and teach them the bible. One man named Elias, who lives about 3 days away from San Rafael, said he was so desperate to learn, that he tried to invite some Jehovas witnesses to disciple him at one point. Praise the Lord that never fell through! The students have such a burden to teach their communities the Word of God. When I plant Calvary Moyobamba in October, I want to be intentional about making a few trips a year to teach and invest further in these men, possibly with Pastor Cory and Pastor Angel.
Henry (to my right) asked for prayer that he would serve God faithfully. He asked great questions and was one of the best students.
Pastor Cory has invited Pastor Alfredo and 5 other Aents men to come to our Inductive Bible Seminar in Trujillo in August, as well as the church planting conference in September. Alfredo happily accepted the gracious offer. These are great steps to further disciple the Aents men.
Thank you for the financial support to allow me to go on this trip. And thank you for taking time to read this letter! I am thankful for you all! I will send another update in June.
Praise report
Praise God we made wonderful friendships with the Aents men.
Praise God for Pastor Cory and Calvary Trujillo’s prayers and my relationship with them.
Praise God that Angel wants to involve his church in missions more.
Praise God for the hunger of God’s Word the Aents students had. They want more!
Praise God that Alfredo is in the process of building a bigger building to host more bible teaching sessions.
Prayer requests
Pray that the Aents men can be patient and diligent with their time in the bible. It’s more difficult because they have it in Spanish, and it’s not their first language.
Pray for God to call more people to help with the church plant in Moyobamba in October.
Prayer for financial support.
Prayer for me growing in leadership, organization, and communication.
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Guidance, Provision, and Another Teammate
Hello friends and family! As the last letter mentioned, I led a mission trip with 16 others to Moyobamba which was supposed to be April 3-9. The rainy jungle weather did not show favor to us, as there were damaged roads and landslides on the route back to Trujillo. So we ended up staying 2 extra days! But God’s good hand was on us, and we have wonderful testimonies of what He did.
One of the several jungle roads that had no road access from the rains
God’s Provision
We had raised enough money for the 7 days to cover all our costs, however we did not have much left to cover the extra days. So I met together with some of the team and prayed. The following day, a man who owned a business downtown bought us lunch. We hadn’t met him before that day, but he had heard about us and the mission to plant a church in the city and wanted to bless us. He didn’t even knew that 17 hungry young adults were without much food that day! He also invited us to come visit his shop, and meet his family. We shared with him and his family about how the forgiveness and new life that Jesus offers. They were thankful and seemed very receptive. He asked us to pray for him as well.
Another provision!
When we arrived to the bus station April 10th to finally head back to Trujillo, the lady at the counter gave us 340 soles (a little under 100 dollars). She told us that the bus tickets went down in price (which is not normal), so the group was well fed for dinner that night and lunch the following day. There are other really cool provision stories too, those were just a few!
Other reports
One of our main objectives was to connect with locals that live in Moyobamba. It was a success! We had some worship nights with them, I shared a message about the characteristics of God according to the bible, and we ate some meals together. Several of them opened up about how they had been hurt by their previous churches and are interested in a church with good doctrine and a Pastor that genuinely loves the people. They are excited for the church plant of Calvary Moyobamba in September. We are starting a weekly zoom meeting soon to continue to pray for the church plant alongside them!
Pamela is the person second farthest to the right. Her desire is to be part of a church again. She will be one of several that will pray with some of us in weekly zoom meetings for the church plant in Moyobamba.
The first confirmed member of the team!
Yenry is a student from Calvary Bible Institute of Peru who will be graduating next semester, and is interested in helping me in Moyobamba. Pastor Cory and I considered him to be part of the team as well. We wanted him to make a decision based on God’s guidance, not on emotions, which he understood very well. The Lord spoke to him through several passages, such as Hosea 4:6, where to Lord says that His people are destroyed from a lack of knowledge. This passage refers to Israel. Yenry and I see very clearly that despite Moyobamba having 60 some churches, there is a lack of understanding of who truly God is and what the gospel is. A church that teaches the bible chapter by chapter, verse by verse, to give people the whole counsel of God like the Apostle Paul did can change that.
There are 2 students from CBI Peru that might come to the church plant as well. Please pray that the Lord can guide them into His plans and timing. It would be awesome to have their help!
San Rafael
Lastly, we went to a community about 2 hours from Moyobamba for two days. The goal was to help our Pastor friend Alfredo continue building a church. This church build is a big deal, one reason being that he wants to teach and train men from other communities that have the desire to share the God of the bible to their people. We bought a lot of concrete bags, but we were not able to labor because it rained for most of the time. But Alfredo and his team at least have some supplies and can continue to construct. Pastor Angel and I will be there May 1-3 (Lord willing) to teach the Inductive Bible Study and pastoral epistles to about 12 men. The Inductive Bible Study is a class that gives tools of how to study the bible better, such as the observation, interpretation, and application methods.
Juan (left) who lives in San Rafael invited his neighbors and some family members over so that they could hear Claudio (right) share the gospel. There was another man Elias (I didn’t get a picture of him) who was present and heard. He was cut to the heart and is hungry for more of the Word of God. He is now registered to the classes that we will teach the beginning of May.
A picture with Pastor Cory right after he encouraged and prayed for us.
Praise reports
- Praise God that our team was so unified the whole trip. I didn’t hear one complaint or grumble. And there were some teenagers in the group too! This might be the biggest miracle of all haha.
- Praise God that we connected with the locals and they are eager for being part of the church plant
- Praise God that the construction is underway for a church in San Rafael
- Praise God for His provision when we had very little.
Praise requests
- Prayer to finish well with the 5 months I have left in Trujillo
- Prayer for financial support with the upcoming church plant.
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Stretched with Joy
Hey everyone! Welcome to the March newsletter sent from Trujillo, Peru!
The semester has started and the institute is full of students taking notes and learning from the Word of God here at Calvary Bible Institute Peru
Some of the students have sacrificed a lot such as sleep and 45 minute bus rides in order to study all 50 chapters of Genesis. I am tremendously blessed to be able to serve them, and one of the ways is by preparing food with other interns in the kitchen. It has been a season of joy. This has been one of my main takeaways through my devotion time in the book of John. As we receive God’s Word, the work of joy naturally comes out. John 15:11 Jesus tells his disciples “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” I have noticed in myself calmness and even smiling despite the busyness and the amount of workload. Despite being challenged and stretched more than ever, God has faithfully guided me in His grace. It’s part of being prepared to be a Pastor.
Something that has become more and more certain is that I cannot see myself doing anything else in life that is apart from preaching and teaching the Word of God. It brings out a passion in me, and I know it is one of the best things I can give to others. The Word of God has completely transformed my life, and I have seen it have that same effect here in Trujillo. I am very thankful to be able to teach throughout 2nd Samuel in the mid-week services at Calvary Trujillo.
From April 3-9 we are Moyobamba bound! This semester I’m leading a group of 15 back to the jungle city. One of our objectives in this trip is to serve and connect with the people that we already know in the city. Some of these people we are going to meet up with in Moyobamba may eventually be some of the first attendees of Calvary Moyobamba.
Currently, we are fundraising by selling lunch to the church on Sunday, as well as making marcianos (like popsicles) to sell to people in public places.
Here we are cutting the strawberries and washing the dishes in preparation to make marcianos.
Praise reports
- With the help of Pastor Cory, I have been able to grow in teaching the Word of God.
- The team that is going to Moyobamba in April for a week has been diligent with fundraising and prayer. They have wonderful attitudes and are working hard.
- God has given me lots of joy and grace in the midst of busyness.
Prayer requests
- That I would be continually trusting and resting in God.
- For growth in leadership
- Partnership from others to want to join in this work of God: both prayerfully and financially.
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18 Hours Closer to the Next Destination
Greetings friends and family!
It’s a blessing to be able to connect with you all again and share a report from these last few months! Since my last update, I have joined Saving Grace World Missions as a missionary. My updates will be sent out on a monthly basis. I am thankful that you take the time to read these updates and your prayers for the requests at the end of this letter are very much appreciated. This is an aspect of missions that I am learning the importance of. Missionaries need people involved in their lives that are outside of their mission field. Your encouragement, prayers and friendship minister to me and remind me that I am not alone and spur me to continue forth.
To quickly catch up with those of you who are new, I have been in Trujillo, Peru, for 3.5 years. In my time here, there have been a lot of transitions. What started as a desire to start an English club, turned into serving at Calvary Chapel Trujillo with Pastor Cory Kilgus, leading me to become a student at Calvary Chapel Bible Institute Peru, where I received a calling to be a Pastor and was sent on mission trips to the jungle. Now I am leading a team to plant a church in that same jungle in Moyobamba, Peru.
Moyobamba is a city about 18 hours by bus from Trujiilo. There are approximately 60,000 people that live there, with coffee plants, chocolate plants, and banana trees right outside the city. I will lead a team out there at the end of September to plant a Bible teaching church (which are either few or none). Our heart is to share the true gospel with all. We will be sent out by Pastor Cory, other Calvary Chapel pastors, and Calvary Chapel Trujillo.
This December I was able to return to Colorado and spend the holidays with my family. I met my 2-month- old nephew for the first time. I got him to half-smile at me, which brought lots of joy to my heart. My time in the U.S. was also used to meet up with other Pastors and churches to build friendships and share about the Moyobamba church plant. It was an edifying time, and several young adults said they were stirred up and were considering missions in their life. Pastor Chris from Calvay Chapel Tooele in Utah encouraged me with his testimony about how the gospel has reached hundreds of people in a predominantly Mormon area where he has lived for ten years. May the Lord do that same work in the Peruvian jungle, where there are lots of legalism, rules, and religion and little knowledge on who Jesus actually is.
One thing that has helped to solidify my calling was when a Christian man whom I respect in many ways challenged me and advised me not to do a church plant any time soon. I appreciated his good intentions and bluntness, and I left our meeting re-examining what I thought God made very clear. After scripture reading and lots of specific prayer, I am convinced that even though I am young (29 years old) don’t yet have a super team of elders, and even though I don’t know much Hebrew and Greek, God did indeed call me to plant here and has given me lots of evidence pointing to that. Primarily through Joshua 3, where Joshua and the Israelites crossed the Jordan river and entered the Promise Land. When I was praying in Moyobamba, the Lord brought me to that verse and it felt like He said this verse is for the city of Moyobamba and what He’s calling me to do.
I am excited to be back as an intern at the Calvary Bible Institute campus in Trujillo. In the next few months I will be teaching the book of Proverbs at the Institute, as well as teaching in some of the mid week church services, leading a Bible study, gardening, and other ministry duties. I am continuing to grow in my calling by taking that Church Planting class through Calvary Trujillo.
Praise reports
- That I had quality time with many people in Colorado
- I am now with my brothers and sisters in Christ again in Peru
- There are many people in Trujillo and Moyobamba that desire to know more about Jesus and His Word
Prayer requests
- Wisdom and provisions in building a team to be sent out with me in September to Moyobamba
- Diligence in preparation for the Proverbs class I will be teaching in March at the Bible Institute in Trujillo, Peru
- Financial partnership
If you feel led to partner with me in this mission, you can do so by clicking the “Become a Financial Partner” link below. Also, if you would like to read more of my previous newsletters the button below “Missionary Blog” will take you to my ongoing blog.
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Soaking it all in
Hey everyone! This last week was church planting week. Various pastors shared how the most effective form to evangelize and make disciples is through planting churches that teach faithfully chapter by chapter and verse by verse. Planting churches is through out the whole New Testament of the Bible, especially looking at the book of Acts. I am fired up to return back to Peru and eventually be sent out with a church planting team to the jungle. God has made this calling clear. I was blessed to hear from several Mexican pastors whom shared their struggles as well as the blessings from planting churches to further prepare me. There have been over 45 church plants sent out from Calvary Chapel Rosarito in the last 20 years. We want the Holy Spirit to do likewise in Peru, and it is close to time!
My Pastor from Greeley Colorado, Jeff Figgs, was one of the main speakers at the conference. He shared about 5 keys that have helped him as a pastor, which are “watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love” from 1 Corinthians 16:13-14. Many pastors have said that planting a church can be intimidating, opposed, and difficult. Even though there are many unexpecting circumstances and people who are out of our control and against the work, that is when we be brave and persevere. His message really ministered to my heart and encouraged me.
Workshop: The biggest take away has been a reoccurring theme this last week: discipleship. Planting a church is not just about the pastor’s impactful sermons, or the worship team leading everyone to a sweet praise to God. It’s also about investing in the people among you and getting them involved in the ministry. This requires hours upon hours, which is bigger than the idea of a couple hours a month that I had. In fact, our prime example Jesus spent over 3 years with His disciples, whom were going to be used by God in the book of Acts to bring spiritual revivals and turn the world upside down. Through discipleship, God can grow and call more people to be church planters and reach more people with Christ.
I then travelled south with the school of missions to Mazatlan and Culiacan. There are several church plants in these two mexican cities that we fellowshipped with. Our team has been helping in whatever way we can, including kids ministry, worship, and cleaning. It was neat to see their church planting schools, which were very similar to the church planting school I am a part of in Peru.
With 2 more weeks left in Mexico, I am STOKED to come back to Peru! I will continue to help at the bible institute and live on campus with over 30 staff and students. There will be a church planting conference in November that Pastor Cory started and that we are hosting. It’s time to reach all of South America with the gospel through church plants, and I want to be part of one.
Thank you everyone for taking out the time to read my letter and for your prayers. I love you all. In December I will be in Colorado, and would love to connect!
Prayer requests
1. Prayer for a church planting team for the jungle.
2. Prayer for growing in leadership
3. Prayer for confirmation on planting a church in Moyobamba.
4. Prayer for financial support
Andrew Weakland
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Missions in Moyobamba
We finally arrived to the jungle of Peru after a 16 hour bus ride and another 2 hours in taxi going even deeper! This is something we had planned as a church for a long time. Our teams desire was to bless and serve the community, connect and fellowship with the local church, and share about the hope there is in Jesus.
There was a man that I met who was on a motorcycle right outside the church. As he opened up, he shared how he was hurt by a church that burdened him with a bunch of rules that he was failing to follow. They weren’t even biblical. We turned to the bible, and found the verses about how God can forgive our pasts, and how we don’t have to wear certain clothes to please God. He was somewhat relieved, but still carried a heavy spirit. Our time concluded with prayer and I invited him to church service the following day. He entered hesitantly, and I waved him over to sit next to me. After the worship, Pastor Cory gave a message on how it’s important to forgive and move forward in the freedom that God gives. The perfect Word God had for him without any of us even planning it! He was very impacted, and was reminded of the importance of hearing and living God’s Word in our daily lives. My prayer is that He can allow God’s Word influence the way he lives instead of religious men.
I also had the privilege to get to know more about the personal lives of some of the many energy-filled kids. One boy shared how his Dad died when he was a baby, and he grew up with his Mom and step-dad. They would verbally-abuse him, which resulted in him living with his grandpa who was mellower. As he shared, it was obvious that he has been hurt a lot in his childhood. His story is one of many from the children who dwell among the villages around the Amazon.
I am at a point of life where I believe the Lord is leading me to start a new chapter and complete my time as an intern at the Bible Institute in Trujillo. My life’s aim is that more people can know who Jesus is, and all of the riches that He offers to those who receive Him. In this, I have been considering and seriously praying about being a part of a new church plant in the Jungle
Currently, I am with the Calvary School of Missions in Rosarito, Mexico. It is a 6 week program to stir people to be part of the great commission (which is a command, not a suggestion). We take classes that study missions as we see throughout the Bible. Also, we interact with many missionaries that share their testimonies and teach us, whom have come from far away countries. Us students are seeking God’s direction as to what role He has for each of us in the great commission.
- Prayer for absolute surrender to God for what He wants to do with my life.
- Prayer for the step of faith and God’s leading to be sent out and pastor a church.
- Prayer for a longterm team and financial support.
- Pray that I would grow in love as I learn how to die to myself and embrace other cultures.
“We aren’t called to fill the pews with members, we are called to fill the world with disciples.” – Author unknown.
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