The Excellent Ones

My partner Efrain and his partner at present, Javier, came back from their two week trip to Quchumi. They picked up the work where Efrain had I left off in December. Today we met and talked about all that happened in the community that past time.

Our man of peace, Don,remembered all that Efrain and I told the time before and still had an incredible desire to learn the stories. One night he even went to the little house where they stay and wanted to hear a story. They were blessed to tell stories up to the point of the Passover. To hear some of the comments of Don, our man of peace, was the greatest blessing. In asking him if man was good or bad, Don thought hard and long. Finally, he just said, ¨somos pecadores, pues¨ or ¨we are sinners.¨ Don coming to this conclusion is a magnificent work of the Holy Spirit. In a follow up question (this was the story of Sodomo and Gomorrah) they asked how he could be Lot who was saved by God by the destruction. He once again thought long and hard as he does then finally said, ¨no sé, enseñame, pues¨ or ¨I don´t know, so teach me.¨

They were not without their difficulties. During this time the people of Quchumi decided to make a sacrifice to appease the gods from sending hail, which destroys crops. While these few days of activity took place Don and the rest of the people were very cold and Efrain and Javier didn´t have a chance to tell stories for the people lacked interest. They stuck it out and kept on. After the event of the sacrifice passed Don´s interest was renewed and they made it all the way to Moses.

Efrain and Javier witnessed this event and though it was very pagan in the practice and they could feel the oppression of evil all they could think of was Jesus Christ. The people sacrificed a lamb, which by their description, did not make a sound to the point of death. These people make sacrifices to appease a god that doesn´t exist all for the hope of a good crop on which their physical life depends. Our hope is that when Don hears how Christ, the Lamb of God, sacrificed His life to propitiate the sins of man, his eyes will be opened to the marvelous light of the Glory of God. The concept of sacrifice is there, but it only serves as a shadow to the beautiful truth of Christ.

I have already been on my last trip to Quchumi and it is now the work of Efrain and Javier. I am actually leaving in a week to go back to the states. My greatest hope is that those who have read this blog and read about the Quechua in Quchumi will not forget about the work that is still going. They are still on the front lines and there is a lot left to fight.

I love Psalm 16. One of my favorites. In verse three it says, ¨As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones in whom is my delight.¨ I think of the missionaries that are working in the land, who are on the front lines, my brothers and sisters of the faith and I immediately think of this verse. They are the excellent ones. My delight is in Efrain and Javier, the excellent ones, for they are in the land continuing the work. I delight to hear how God is still doing miracles there.

Words cannot adequately describe the oppressive feeling when it appears that the community does not want you there. It is horrible, especially being in such a difficult situation in a difficult area that the dark powers have had reign since the fall. It feels like there is a blanket of evil covering the whole place. Efrain and Javier experienced this during the time of the sacrifice, but Efrain told me that He could feel your prayers and my prayers. Please pray for them for God listens. I am sure that the evil who has reigned there for so long will not go down quietly without a fight. They need your prayers so please remember them and delight in these excellent ones who are in the land.

Remember Egypt

I just got back from Ecuador and I am here in Cochabamba, Bolivia with my team. It was such a blessing to be with the best of friends, and the best of brothers, Matt Baker. I took my vacation for about three weeks which was wonderful. The best part was the fellowship. Not just the endless hours of Bolivian Basketball (plastic hoop inside the house) but also getting deep in the Word, talking, reflecting, and meditating on the Glory of God. During one such conversation the idea for this blog came up.

Whenever I read the Old Testament it always strikes me how absurd the Israelites are forgetting the great deeds of God. There they were in Egypt and saw miracle after miracle. God separated the Red Sea, drowned the Egyptians, rained bread down from heaven, made water flow from a rock. But with each time the Israelites grumbled and doubted. There was even a time that Aaron set up a golden calf and declared that this was the very god that brought the Israelites out of Egypt.

I thought many a time that these people were so foolish for not remembering the God of their Fathers who saved them from slavery. After closer inspection of my life I found I have been just as guilty. I come upon a trial and I start to worry thinking I am sure to die.

In the present, when difficulties arise, it is easy to be caged in by our immediate circumstances. As human beings we are emotional creatures and in our weakness we give in to our fears and doubts. It is amazing when I look back at God´s victories in my life and reflect upon His Power and Majesty. Is the work of God any less incredible today than what He did with Moses and the Israelites? Certainly not! Let us remember that God became man, lived a perfect life, and at the culmination of that life died taking on all the sins of the world. Our sins. We have inherited this promise of eternal life. We, depraved, vile creatures, can approach the throne of God with confidence. Not only that but God has been my refuge through many a storm. He has given me strength in weakness. He brought me safely through the jungles and the mountains; through sickness and danger; through fears and doubts. I am still standing today because He has fought battle after battle bringing me closer and closer to His throne. Will the next battle be any different?

The story in the Bible I most vividly remember concerning this is Asa the King of Judah. At the beginning of his reign he sought the LORD with all his heart. Soon after he took the throne an army of one million from Ethiopia came to destroy Israel but Asa humbled himself and prayed for God to save the day. ¨So, the LORD defeated the Ehtiopians before Asa and before Judah.¨

Asa was king for forty-two years. A long time. In the thirty-sixth year of his reign, Baasha, king of Israel came against him. A much less formidable force than the army of a million from Ethiopia. Instead of humbling himself before the Lord and pleading for His salvation, Asa goes to the king of Syria and basically bought his help with the gold and silver from the treasures of the house of the LORD. Israel ends up being saved but by a foreign ruler.

What happened? Here was a man who saw the LORD route an army of a million. He forgot the power of the LORD and He forgot His need of the LORD. Hannani came to Asa after the battle and said, ¨Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the LORD, he gave them into your hand.¨

The more we forget our need of God Almighty and how many times He has saved us time and again we grow more and more independent of God thinking that we can do this. Asa did not learn in a sad ending to a story that began so well. ¨In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but sought help from physicians.¨

It will do us well to remember.

Many times God has declared, ¨I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt.¨ Basically He is saying, ¨Remember me, I am He who saved you!¨ Yet like Asa we look to other means to bring us out of our troubles.

We need to remember who God is, and what He has done. It helps us face the day knowing God has brought us thus far already. I know when I reflect on the works of God I remember He has never forsaken me. When trials and troubles, hardships and difficulties arrive I can trust the LORD my God, who has been faithful every time before. I just have to remember Egypt.

2 Chronicles 14:12
2 Chronicles 16:7,8
Exodus 20:2

A Sense of Desperation

One of the greatest lessons I have learned is that it is absolutely necessary to be desperate for God. I could not learn this lesson so well in a state of comfort. I could not reach full desperation because I had escapes that manifested in a security in parents, sense of accomplishments in my peers, feelings of belonging in my friends. It was not until all of that was taken away placing my back against the wall with no escape that I began to feel desperate. It is incredible the feats that we can accomplish in desperation. We are left with no other options, no escapes. It is fight or die. So we fight as mad men desperate to reach what seems hopeless. Desperation empowers us.

In the communities fighting fear, my insecurities, constant failure, and facing the unknown I knew my only survival was in God, my Everlasting Savior. I sought Him as my life depended on it. Ironically we never feel this desperation until God takes away all that we are leaning on so that we finally fall into His Grace. Sadly I do not always acknowledge that my life and every breath depend on Him. How much to do I truly seek God in comfort? Not much, I imagine. I am not desperate. Circumstances should not dictate my desperation for His continual presence, but love. I want to be desperate for God out of my love for Him because without Him I am empty, void of life. I live and breathe because of Him. Whether we can feel it or not, we are totally dependent on His Grace in all things.

How many times have I taken the path of least resistance, taking the long way about so I wouldn’t have to face battle, when I should have chosen the hill on which I would die with my back to the sea, with no retreat, no surrender, desperately seeking He who is my Joy, my Savior? In comfort this gets lost in the fog of our own sense of security that is as sure as the wind. Many generals in the wars of men have deliberately put their men in positions of no retreat because they knew in desperation they would fight with such ferocity to live. There was no other option.

I want God as my only option and leave myself with no escape. In all circumstances I want to be desperate for Him. I want to be in the constant state of mind that says, “if I don’t seek Him, I will die.” I will not be satisfied. I will live in desperation for Him. Not only when I am left with nothing, but even when all is available, I desire to choose Him for I know that in the end He is the only real option.

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
- John 15:4,5

Strength in Weakness

I am vacationing in Ecuador with my good friend, Matt Baker, who I met at our orientation. It has been such a blessing to enjoy such great fellowship. While I am here I wanted to write more blogs, which have been delayed by eating and watching movies. I had this blog in mind during my time in the community this last trip.

I struggle. I am not good at being a Christian. I fight fear, guilt, and pride not to mention many other struggles with the flesh. In the communities with no place to hide this comes out clearly. I would have never admitted it but I had this attitude that by being a missionary I would be better and stronger able to stand firm against anything. All that really happened was that I realized I really never had any strength to begin with and my weaknesses were what ruled the day. There was no hiding from this. During this last trip in the first few days I found myself literally crying out to God in my despair as the circumstances seemed to have a choke hold leaving me with no confidence, desperate, drowning in the slough of despond. I was left weak with the knowledge that I could not do it and I was hoping to just survive the day.

“But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God;”

As emotions overwhelmed I was left with only the Word as a voice of reason. His Word became my refuge. Paul says in the twelfth chapter of the second letter to the Corinthians “but he said to me, ‘my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” Here lied my answer, the light revealing my hope in the darkness. Instead of denying my weaknesses and instead of running away from my inabilities I began to embrace them. I am human. I am depraved and selfish. I struggle with pride. At the end of the day left to myself I cannot, absolutely cannot do this. In this revelation I was without an option to shed my pride and beg for God to take over. I was at the end of my rope and for us proud creatures it is many times the best place to be. We can only turn to the Savior above.

When I finally admitted my weaknesses the strength of God was manifested and I slowly picked myself up and fought with courage in His strength knowing the whole time it was He who moved in me.

As light shines, it stands out the most in darkness. Christ says to Paul, “My Grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” The glory of God reveals itself most powerfully and most beautifully in our weaknesses for man can see it was the hand of God the whole time. God’s power is made perfect in weakness because the truth of His Glory is revealed as our glory fades into the shadows.

How many times did God save Israel against an enemy that had more soldiers, more horses, more chariots? Israel was greatest when she was weak because God took joy in making His power perfect showing that He was the LORD and there was no other by His saving grace.

Paul learned the strength of weakness as he says, “For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak I am strong.” This is not a call to be lazy or to accept mediocrity, but the admission that besides the Holy Spirit we cannot by any means be good or do the LORD’s work by our strength. I have to throw my hands up and allow Christ to show His great power because at the end of the day I want to smile as I look back knowing for certain that it was His Hand all along.

I take the pleasure today seeing how God did the work with the Quechua. He stirred the heart of our man of peace all by Himself. I endured the work, the food, the uncomfortable conditions because I knew I could not do it on my own and I relied on His grace to carry me to the end. We hate being vulnerable. But it is in our vulnerability, our weaknesses, our inabilities that God can vividly show His Perfected Power. When I see His power perfected I have no claim on the glory that is rightfully His. In weakness I seek His strength making me stronger than anything I can do on my own. When I am weak, I am strong.