I have to start out by saying, the Lord is good. I've been going through a lot of changes lately, and it's been hard for me. But through this God has shown me how much I really need to depend on Him. It's comforting to know that I can depend on Him. He is always here for me, ready with a listening ear, open arms, and a shoulder to cry on. The hard part is learning to actually turn everything over to God and let Him deal with it, and letting Him guide me.

It has been my desire, since observing a certain Bible college roommate, to become a woman of prayer. I would have the strong desire to pray with others. When we finally started a prayer meeting at church, and it was time to go, the desire would go away. I became so frustrated with my attitude. All I could do was cry out to the Lord begging Him to put in me the desire to spend more time in prayer with Him. So, though this past month or so has been difficult, I have learned not to lean on my own understanding, but to let Him guide my footsteps.

It always amazing me how much like a sheep I am. I have read Proverbs 3:5 since I was a little girl, but it really didn't click till now. I am like the young sheep that wanders off and the Shepherd has to bring me back, break my legs, and heal me, teaching me how and where to walk. And then I have the gall to ask why God had to teach the Israelites over and over again. HA! Silly sheep. =)

PLEASE PRAY WITH US

It is with a heavy heart that I write this post. Our pastor, Marcos, received a call not too long ago from a member of our church family. He has decided that he no longer wants to come to church or have a relationship with Christ. The pull of other things was heavy on him, and he has chosen the wider road. Please join us in prayer for this lost brother. May God show him that the world holds nothing for him and that the only thing that matters is living for our Lord.

After a VERY long time of not posting

So I'm going to start posting again. I would really love if someone would leave some comments. In the following posts I'll finally let you all know about what has happened in February, bit by bit.A quick summary: We went to Cajamarca again with a team from Rocky Mountain Calvary, were able to finally meet our Compassion child, the 3rd semester of Chorrillos' Bible College Extension Campus, cats, stomach issues, and translations! Whew!

So be on the look out for new posts and pics! Lord willing I can get one or two posts written a day.

Also, if you prefer to read this in Spanish there is a link above to do so.

Have fun, and thanks for your patience!!!!

Fight FOCA

"For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21

Paul Gilberts Vargas Yacolca: Fiancé, good father, son, brother, dear friend.

Paul, drummer for the band Galatas 2:20, passed onto glory Saturday, July 12, at 11 pm. His bus fell into the river. We all found out Sunday evening.

Our prayers are with his family, especially those who are not saved yet. May God use this to bring them to Him.

He was much loved and will be much missed.

Lucho and Elizabeth

Our diabetic neighbour and his wife came in. Their names are Lucho and Elizabeth. Lucho has had untreated diabetes for so long now that he has little to no feeling left in either of his legs from the knee down. Due to this he frequently falls. It has happened quite often that when his sugar drops Elizabeth will administer insulin, but since they don't have the machine to check exactly how low the sugar is they don't know how much insulin to give him so she puts too much and his sugar drops altogether. OJ and Cynthia, the nurses that are doing the clinic, said that he would be in a hospital in critical care if he was in the states. OJ and Cynthia worked with him over the course of two days to bring his blood sugar down. When he first came in his sugar was so high that the machine couldn't even read it! After giving him small, continuous insulin shots it finally came down to in the 700's. After a few more it got down to the 500's. Everybody cheered! The next day it was back up into the 700's. After another series of shots he came down to the 200's. It was so exciting! Normal blood sugar levels are from 80 to 120. 140 is pushing it and diet is needed to avoid or prolong the coming of diabetes. 150 shows that the person already has diabetes.
We had wanted to find a sugar checking machine to give to them, but in the end it would do them no good because of how expensive the strips are. Please pray that God's will would be done in this situation, whether it be provision, testing, or healing, but that He would be glorified through this couple.

Mondern Day Paul

Last night was Reval's last Acts class. Next week the students will take their final exam. At the end of the class Reval mentioned that people have a tendency to say, "Oh the great apostle Paul," and say, "God worked through him so much, why don't we see that today?" But there are people, all over the world. The reason why we don't see much of this in the Americas is that, frankly, people lack faith in God.
We later discussed that it's not just the lack of faith, but the lack of interest. Upon hearing of the misplaced faith some say, "That's so true in my own life," but unfortunately soon forget. Most say, "That's probably true," but they also fail to do anything about it. Few say "That is so true," and actually move. This lack of interest is spurred by a love of comfort. Even those who are involved actively in "ministry" can get too comfortable where they are. The Lord placed in me a conviction last night. No longer can we part of the comfortable couch potatoes that say, "Why yes, it is a pity that there are so few with enough faith to let God work through them." We must get off the "couch" and actively pursue the will of God. People like Paul and Billy Graham weren't born with the kind of faith they died with. God grew their faith as they took steps foward in their relatioship with God. Like a baby that leaps into the arms of its father, never doubting that he will catch him, we must take those steps of faith getting out of our comfort zones and being bold for Christ! In those moments that we feel the Spirit leading us into potentially uncomfortable situation we need to, instead of saying that we can't do it, allow the Holy Spirit to fill us and give us the words to speak to that person at work, or that neighbour.
In those moments when I often chicken-out God reminds me of the amazing liberty that we have in the Americas to share our faith with anyone that God puts in our path. We do not yet have to worry about being killed, imprisioned, or fired for sharing the good new of Jesus Christ. In places where the consequences are very serious the gospel is being widely spread.
I know that this message has been preached over and over again, so that's why this time something has to be done about it. We must take advantage of the freedom we have in the Americas while we still have it.

Well that turned out longer than I thought. We just wanted to share a little of what God has been doing personally in our lives.