On the move!

Greetings from the MOVE[i] mission campus near Orange Walk, Belize! This is a good place to be for Christmas! Lyli and I came to attend “In the Power of His Might,” a three-day mission congress to motivate the local churches to get more involved in both local and foreign mission work.[ii] A few days before the congress, Keila Valenzuela, co-director of MOVE, called and urged us to come as soon as possible to help with the preparations. We arrived on Tuesday the 17^th. It has rained nearly every day, and the roads to the planned conference location became impassible. Keila was obliged to change the venue to the MOVE campus. The logistical pressure that ensued revolved around housing the nearly one hundred attendees who were registered for the full weekend. Camping in the rain would be miserable. Some guests would stay in the homes of the MOVE volunteers, but what about the rest? Providentially, there are several buildings under construction and one was ready for the roof. Some quick calculations insured that it would be just enough space to shelter the remaining visitors. So I joined the roofing crew. Two of them I knew from Bolivia: Samuel, a former student and graduate of UETIRG, and Edwin, previously a volunteer at the TV station in Santa Cruz and the Familia Feliz boarding school! Both are now volunteers at MOVE and loving it! I also really enjoyed getting to know Joel, a law student specializing in religious liberty at Duke University and former mission volunteer in Ethiopia and South Sudan. Turns out we more than likely played together at pastors’ retreats when we were kids, as our dads were pastors in the same district.

From the roof I could see workers pitch the big tent for the main meetings while others dug holes and put up tarp covered scaffolding for some improvised outhouses nearby. Other tarpaulins accommodated the seminar sessions. Perry Karges, a heavy equipment operator who hales from North Dakota installed two additional tanks on the water tower. But there was even more happening than met the eye: in the cafeteria, Ray, a young volunteer from Mexico Missions and Beyond[iii] installed an entire wall complete with a tiled serving deck. Inside sister Betty and others took turns cooking meals while Lyli helped Keila, Phoebe, and Katie prepare materials for the congress: name tags, schedules, signs, and more. In the evenings we practiced music.

Thursday afternoon, we fastened the last piece of sheet metal on the roof, just moments before the arrival of another downpour, and about three hours before the arrival of the guests for registration! How rapidly the work is done when we work together with a will, each one in their assigned place! During the congress they continued to keep us busy! Lyli led song service, I played the piano, did some impromptu translating to English or Spanish as the case required, and shared about the school in Bolivia. I also had one general session about the role of music in the last days.

The conference was phenomenal, and the Holy Spirit worked mightily despite our deficiencies. There was a rugged joy in slogging through the mud to sing “onward, forward”[iv] and listen to inspiring stories of faith, courage, and answered prayer from brothers and sisters from around the world. God is using diverse people in different places in fabulous ways!

After one stirring talk in the cafeteria I noticed a young man sitting alone at the adjacent table. I introduce myself and asked him how he was enjoying the congress.

“I just don’t know what to do” he replied. “I know God is calling me to do something but I don’t know where to go or how to start!” His answer took by surprise. His name is Damian, he is 21 years old, and he just started going to church again about a month ago! There are major problems in his family right now, and he is tired of it. He wants a different kind of life, something real, something meaningful. Thank God, who always has just what we need, and privileged me with words to encourage Damian. I reminded him of Abraham who responded to God’s call without knowing where he was going or what he would do when he got there. God doesn’t often show us the final destination, but he promises to guide us and teach us all along the way and invites us to trust him with everything.  I encouraged Damian to make that decision. I don’t know where God will lead Damian, but I suggested that he prayerfully consider the missionary training course at MOVE that begins this February as a good option to start with.

Another exciting thing about the mission congress was the opportunity to recruit prospective volunteers for this next school year. Ricci and George, for example, are getting married next month and afterward they want to come work with us in Bolivia. She is a science teacher and he has experience in carpentry and farming! What a valuable addition to the team! We are praying that God will open and close doors according to His will.

Give for the love of God    

“We can see only a little way before us; ‘but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.’ He never becomes confused. He sits above the confusion and distractions of the earth, and all things are opened to His divine survey; and from His great and calm eternity He can order that which His providence sees is best. If we were left to ourselves to plan, we should make mistakes. Our prejudices, our weaknesses, our self-deceptions, and our ignorances would be manifest in many ways. But the work is the Lord's, the cause is His; He never leaves His workmen without divine directions” My Life Today p. 14

On Sabbath afternoon it was time to practice what we preached. All of us divided into groups according to our home church[v] or mission project and organized a service activity to do within the next three weeks. Lyli and I joined the MOVE staff and planned a Christmas Eve concert to hold in the Orange Walk town plaza.  In one rare moment when not on the piano, I walked around the perimeter of the plaza handing out literature. “Yeah, and God bless right?” a young man with his wife and kids said as he received a tract.  “God’s not blessing me tonight nor tomorrow.” He answered his own question. At first it was hard to tell if he was just messing with me or if he was serious. He certainly looked and sounded serious enough.

“I don’t got nothin’ to give to my kids for Christmas. I’ve got to find someone to rob or somethin’ ‘cause God, ya know, sometimes He’s there for you and sometimes he’s not.” That was an extremely awkward moment for me as I tried to process how I should respond. Finally I just handed Him the only cash I had with me, while wondering if that was really the best response I could give. Maybe he was lying, and even if he wasn’t, why should I help someone who spoke openly of robbing people, and in front of his children at that? Then the Holy Spirit seemed to smack me over the head. Why should I always filter my giving based on whether I think they deserve it, or what they might to do with the gift? What if God based his giving on such criteria? He bestows a myriad gifts, good and perfect on an ungrateful and undeserving race: the pleasant perfume of the flowers, every breath of life-giving air, the joy of a genuine smile, the delightful flavor of a favorite fruit—oh, how he loves this old world, despite its rottenness! What perfect magnificence, what benevolent mercy, what unfathomable love! He took the biggest risk, gave the greatest gift of all in the life, death, and service of his only son, Jesus Christ. He gives it to everyone, knowing that even those of us who claim to love Him will kill His son all over again. And again. And again. For all practical purposes He is squandering His resources on millions who will never reciprocate His love: no acknowledgements, no surrendered heart or dedicated life, not even simple thanks? Instead, many return their gifted breath in blasphemies. Why does He keep giving? How does He do it? And more importantly, what even remotely valid excuse is left to me for NOT giving? Well, maybe I have one excuse: my proud, ugly, sinful, human heart that needs to be transformed by divine grace. My first work is to learn to give Him that.

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[i] MOVE  (Mission Outreach and Volunteer Evangelism) is a bilingual missionary training school. Classes open this February. For more information, go to http://www.movetraining.org/ and http://www.gospelministry.org/belize-volunteer-center/  

[ii] Guest speakers included Lowell Jenks (South Sudan, Africa), Jonathan Lovitt (Darjeeling, India), Jeff Sutton, (Belize), Ruan Swanepoel (Colombia) among others. You can listen to recorded sessions below.  

[iii] Mexico Missions and Beyond builds churches all over Mexico during Christmas vacation. When Ray first started working with them he says he knew almost nothing about construction. You would never know by watching him now. Ray is a great example of how God multiplies the talents of those who willingly employ themselves in His service. For more information go to http://www.mexico-missions.org/

[iv] From the hymn “Sound the Battle Cry.”

[v] At least 7 different churches were represented, including my in-laws’ church from across the border in Mexico.

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Part of the MOVE campus

The house I helped roof. It will serve as a girls' dorm.

Video about church plant project for April 2014

The following video gives a brief explanation about our school's purpose and mission and a current project to build a church in the nearest community. Sara Ross, a missionary volunteer who lives in Canada, is organizing a group to come in April and help us finish the church construction project there. We are super excited! Sara asked us for a short video, and I was able to get some help putting this together while here at the TV station in Santa Cruz.
Nine minute video about church plant project in Yata.

Bolivia Industrial School promotional brochure!

Feel free to download, print, and share. I'm not sure why some of the pictures turned out a little strange on this uploaded version, but you can get the main idea. If the embed doesn't work, try the following link: 
Bolivia Industrial School brochure

The BEST bread!

“Thy words were found and I did eat them, and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart, for I am called by thy name, oh Lord God of hosts” Jeremiah 15:16

I ate a crusty piece of plain bread the other day: without butter, jam, or any accouterments. It wasn’t even raisin or garlic or seven-grain bread. Yet as I gave it an uncharacteristically perseverant and methodical chew, I was slowly satisfied with the unpretentious pleasure of carbohydrates transformed into simple sugars. As the mouthful of mainstay fare took on a delightful flavor, I suddenly realized how much I’ve been affected by today’s pandering society of instant gratification: I’m usually too hurried to catch this flavor! My swallow reflex has been trained to fire early due to long habits of bolting down my meals, and hence the humbler food gets taken out of tasting range and is subsequently branded as unpalatable, or bland at best. We prefer flavors to burst forth immediately: we have no patience for thorough mastication, and one result of that is poor digestion.

 There is a spiritual application in this. Could it be that we are so accustomed to highly processed, fluffy, pre-packaged spiritual meals that we don’t have the patience to chew the simple Bread of Life, or to personally meditate, and mull over the scriptures until the sweetness emerges, and thus we have no stomach for simple and wholesome soul-nourishment? Has the desire for quick results dwarfed our capacity to follow a prolonged train of thought, and follow the links in a well-made chain of reasoning? Many of us don’t have the perseverance to stick to a job, whether intellectual or physical, when the work is slow and arduous. We are seldom content to do painstaking work with no sign of proximate reward. To read books is a laborious chore unless they have the consistency of whipped cream, or at least enough sugar or spice to keep me swallowing. But there is a very good reason that Jesus called himself the bread of life: not the whip cream, not the bread and butter, not the bread and jam, not even the toasted raisin-bread! Isn’t it time to that we learned to “Taste and see that the Lord is good” on his terms?  (Psalms 34:8).

And the angels are still singing... :)

Luis applied to attend our school after classes had already been in session for a couple of months. When we asked him why he wanted to study at UETIRG, he told us he wanted a different life, different than his father who got caught up in the drug-world. He told us "I want to learn to be able to tell the difference between right and wrong." We had to remind Luis of that answer multiple times throughout the year as we endeavored to instruct and guide him. Because of his personality and habits, he was quite a handful to say the least. But praise God, for his patience with us, and the patience he gives us, and above all, for his mercy and forgiveness and the new life in Christ Jesus!

Ruth Noemi shakes hands with Pastor Freddy

This young man was accepted because of an oversight. Usually we don't take primary students in the dorm. But Bismar is 16 years old, and no one realized until after he was accepted that he was only a seventh grader. As we began to see the way God was working in his life, we quickly realized that our "mistake" was really providential! God is so merciful and so amazing!

Eight of the ten students who were baptized this month holding their baptismal gift, a copy of "The Great Controversy."The two other candidates were baptized the previous Sabbath. 

THREE SABBATH PRAISES

Sabbath peace and greetings to all of you in Christ! We welcomed the Sabbath this evening singing the hymn “How Great thou Art” accompanied by rolling thunder and lightening-gilded clouds. What a spectacular God we serve! For the vespers meditation, I invited three people to share something about how great God has been for them this week. The first to speak was Javier Esteves, a brother from Puerto Rico who left his family business and came to spend this entire school year as a volunteer along with his wife and two daughters.  They have been such a blessing. Well, we have been praying for Javier’s brother-in-law, Daniel Ramon, who was recently diagnosed with an aggressive, mutating form of leukemia. After one dose of chemotherapy, instead of a lower cancer-cell count, the cancer had increased dramatically. The doctors told him to go home and enjoy what was left of his life the best that he could. Daniel decided to go to the U.S. and see if he could get an alternative treatment.  Meanwhile, we kept praying that God would be glorified through this difficult situation for the salvation of souls, and for Daniel’s healing. This morning they called Javier with the word that the cancer is in remission! We serve a powerful and merciful God!

Next to speak was Paulina, one of our seniors. She was thankful that we were able to burn our 3.2 acres of chaco and get it brushed and cleared in one week’s time. This was a miracle because the rainy season arrived emphatically with a deluge and the rain continued for over a week, saturating the brush that we needed to burn in order to plant the rice. Usually rainy season is a bit more gradual in its arrival. Finally we had a full day of sun. We were all praying fervently. We needed at least two more rainless days to be able to burn. The next day was Thursday, and after a morning of hot sunshine, there were systems developing to the west and to the southeast. Soon the sky was black and as the breeze picked up, we could see the rain falling not far away. Many of us stopped what we were doing and prayed for God to hold back the rain. Well, the storm passed by and left us dry, and Friday morning dawned hot and clear. In the afternoon we lit the chaco and by four in the afternoon it was all burned! Every day for the next week we worked from five to eleven o-clock a.m. to get out the firewood and pile and burn the brush and limbs that didn’t burn the first time.    

            The third praise this blessed Sabbath sat a few feet away from me with a huge smile on his face. His mere presence was a testimony to the healing power of our merciful Creator. Some of you may remember Mr. Antonio? While, last Sunday he was run over by a motorcycle. He was helping Mirta set up her vending table at the roadside cafeteria in Yata, when a young girl just learning to drive careened out of control and slammed into him. Praise God that one of our service-day teams was in the area at the time and was able to administer first aid. He seemed to have a dislocated hip and possible fractures in his leg, wrist, and finger as well as internal injuries. The x-rays revealed no fractures however, and when we brought him to the school to convalesce he made a rapid recovery. By Friday he was able to walk on his own and felt good enough to come praise the Lord with us to welcome His holy day!

            All this is just a drop in the bucket of blessings that God is pouring out and will continue to pour on his children that love him and seek Him with a whole heart.

International Missions Festival reminds us of our true citizenship...

Mexicans, Colombians, Bolivians, Puerto Ricans, Americans, but above all Christians and citizens of the heavenly kingdom!

My lovely wife at the booth representing the Heavenly Country. Knowing that any food we might serve would never do justice to the celestial cuisine, we only offered books, DVDs, and bible studies. We pray that each one will find the way to the Celestial City and be able to taste and see for themselves!

The United States serve to visiting guests. Each person was awarded a small "passport" as their meal ticket and were "stamped in" upon arrival at each country! (With exception of the heavenly country)

Wilfredo, myself, Diego, and Reinalda pose for a quick shot with the bowl of peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches. :)

The Puerto Rican crew!

The president recieves The Great Controversy!

"We need to be more aggressive in the mission that Christ has given us to take the gospel to the world. He is just waiting to do great things for us!" Warren's message (watch video below) was still fresh in my mind Sunday morning as I walked the two-kilometers out to the main road with my colportuers. Here at UETIRG Sundays are dedicated to service projects and outreach, and my group had an appointment to give a Bible study on Revelation with a Brazilian lady in Guayaramerin. When we reached the main road, all the traffic seemed to be going the other direction toward Yata and Riberalta. Finally an empty taxi going counter-current stopped and picked us up. The driver informed us that the president, Evo Morales, was on his way and would be arriving at Yata at 11:00 a.m. He would then continue on to Guayaramerin for lunch and to give the dedication speech for the new and only paved highway in northern Bolivia.

So it was true! We had received word just the night before that the president was coming, but such reports have circulated in the past and the promised visit never materialized. Today, however, the road was lined with welcome banners. We had been told that the schools in Yata would be lined up to greet the president, and that we should be there too! Suddenly I was struck with an audacious thought. Why not send the students with some copies of the Great Controversy! Just maybe God would give them an opportunity to give a copy to the president or at least to someone in his entourage! Yeah right. That's crazy. my built-in thought-auditor nearly succeeded in stifling the idea. But Warren's story came storming back to mind. Why not? The president is a real person! He needs to know about this final conflict just as much as anyone! As soon as we arrived in town I sent a text to the teachers still at the school and asked if one of them at least could take a group of students to wait for the president and to take along a half-dozen copies of the Great Controversy. Then I called my students into a huddle and we prayed. We prayed for our Bible study and for the people we would meet that day, but we also prayed for the president, and that if it was God's will that the students who went to see him would have a chance to testify and glorify God.

That afternoon Jerry sent me a text. "I shook the presidents hand!" Impressive! But it was the next message that really got me excited! "One of the girls gave him a Great Controversy and he accepted it! I got pictures!"

Wouldn't you know it! I have to smack myself. Why don't I pray bold prayers more often? Why don't I seize the sword of the Lord and press the attack, "turn the battle to the gates"? (Isaiah 28:6) Why don't I wake up and realize that the best defense is the urgent offensive ordered by our Captain Jesus Christ. "GO!"

How God used an unskilled pathfinder club to convert 25 soldiers...

Mr. Warren McDaniels, director of Familia Feliz boarding school visited us about a week ago and shared this exciting story. God is working in powerful ways to take the last message of warning to a world facing it's last moments. He can use anyone, even a newly-formed pathfinder club that doesn't know how to march! As soldiers of the cross, too many of us find ourselves as ignorant of the appropriate maneuvers for these last days as the children in Mr. Warren's story. But God in His mercy will still use us, if we are willing to get out there and work and depend on Him. May God give us wisdom to plan and boldness to do! Maranatha!

Pathfinders with soldiers

Independence day parade

Marching between the soldiers

Warren with the colonel

Recruits respond to a call during evangelistic meetings in the army base

A Short Illustration

On the bus today, I observe a flamboyant moneybag, spun with the bright woolen yarns of the highlands, hanging from the rear-view mirror. From the mouth of the bag cascades a collage of colorful bills from the strongest international currencies interspersed with the best of the local cash. Five hundred Euros, $1000, 200 bolivianos: such a wistful display of would-be wealth. I am struck by the fact that the greatest argument against the veracity of those monies is their blatant exhibition. Even from afar, before the boldfaced print “This note is not legal tender” becomes visible, everyone knows it’s fake. What fool would believe that that moneybag was for real? I laugh as I picture a thief greedily swiping the bag on his way out. Yet suddenly it strikes me that someone actually exchanged real money for that beautiful sham!

We all know intuitively that real treasures are hidden. So what can we say for the dazzling displays of entertainment, wealth, riches, and power and position that we find sprawled all around us? Why do we fall for it? Does not common sense alone dictate that this tantalizing smorgasbord of pleasure, fame, and fortune that the world proffers us is nothing but a cheap, hollow, rip-off? Yet we give our time, energy and health for it. We exchange our souls for it. Don’t you think its time we started pursuing the true riches?

When it all seems worth it

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Cor 15:58

“And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Gal 6:9

Often there are moments in this work when I wonder if I am not really just wasting my efforts. In vain the classes, in vain the personal counseling, in vain the sweat, the prayers, the long hours. There is nothing romantic about being a volunteer missionary teacher at a boarding school like this one. It is hard, often thankless work, and at times there seems to be little progress to speak of. In such moments God’s promises like 1 Corinthians 15:58, and Galations 6:9 comfort and reanimate my spirit.

And then every so often God lets me see or hear a little something that gives me motive to keep pressing on. Like what Henri told Cornelio. Henri is a freshman this year, a clear-eyed country lad from a village about 12 kilometers distant.

“Teacher, this place is different!” He enthused after seeing God provide food for us yet again. “God actually answers prayer here, you can see it!”

“Why don’t you kids just listen to the voice of experience!”

“But he forsook the counsel which the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men that were brought up with him, that stood before him.” 2 Chronicles 10:8

 

Riiiing! My wife and I both woke up to the sound of her cellphone. I wasn’t sure how long I had been sleeping, or what time it was.

“You answer” Lyli handed me the phone. I didn’t recognize the number.

“Hola?” Nothing but silence. “Hola?” I tried again. “I can’t hear anything.” Finally I hung up. The wrong number? A bad connection? Or just a prank call perhaps? The hour read 12:32 a.m.: way too early for these kind of shenanigans. I handed the phone back to my wife and rolled over to go back to sleep. It seemed a matter of mere minutes when the phone rang again but when I looked at the time it was five minutes after one. Again I was the designated answering service.

“Is teacher Ruan there?” a young female voice asked.

“Teacher Ruan?” who on earth could be calling I wondered. “Teacher Ruan hasn’t been here for almost two years now.” I found myself thinking out loud. “He is working at another mission project now. Is there something I can help you with? Who is this?”

“That doesn’t matter. Sorry to bother you.” Was all she said, followed by a click and the buzz of the dial tone.

Puzzled, I asked my wife who it could be, but neither of us recognized the voice. I was too tired to spend much time thinking about it, and I gave the phone back to my wife, quite sure that whoever it was wouldn’t call back again. Wrong. A few minutes later the phone rang again.

“Teacher Kody, don’t be angry.” I must have been still waking up, because I missed her next words: “I’m about to do something bad." Fortunately Lyli was listening too. Nothing escapes her and she clued me in afterward. 
"I wanted to talk to teacher Ruan, but since he’s not there I can talk to you?” I was almost wide-awake by now and her plea melted my heart.

“Of course, I am happy to listen” I assured her.

“I remember everything about the internado from the four years I spent there, I remember everyone, all my friends and classmates, Damaris, Joel, Alcides, the teachers, teacher Helen, Clint, Mindy, Ruan, Monica, teacher Keila. So many things I learned there, I should have paid attention, oh how I wish I could be there again, some day I will come visit!” By this time I had narrowed down to a couple of possibilities who this was, but the voice was still elusive. I sensed I shouldn’t try to press her too much for information, so I simply assured her of the love and mercy of Jesus, that he still has plans for her and to not give up to discouragement and temptation for we have a mighty redeemer, and I could hear her crying softly. When I offered to have prayer with her, she accepted, and I know God gave me the words.

“Thank you teacher Kody,” she said.

“It’s nothing. If there’s anything else we can do, please don’t hesitate to call.”

Based on everything she told us, my wife and I decided it must have been Albricia, a student who spent her four years here but never graduated because of problems she got into during her senior year. She left the school and continued down the same road until reality slapped her in the face. Like so many girls here, she is now a single mom, facing the daunting task of raising a child alone. We continue to pray for her.

A few weeks after vacation, two former students, Max and Juan Carlos, came to pay us a visit. Neither of them could stop smiling and they ended up staying for almost two weeks, helping out in the chaco, and even teaching a few classes. They both took me up on the opportunity to share with the kids for worship, and Max accepted the invitation to preach on Sabbath. Their message in a nutshell was, “take advantage of your time here, learn all you can from your teachers, don’t think that life is better out there in the world. We’ve tried it, and we wish we would have listened.”

            What Max and Juan Carlos said sounds similar to a few speeches I’ve made in class this year.  The message resonates with me especially as I reflect on how God must look at me. I honestly don't know how He is so patient. When will I learn to take advantage of God’s daily instruction? When will I learn to render a complete obedience and to take His Word for everything it offers? "Oh Kody, Kody, Kody! Hear the WORD of the Lord"* Jeremiah 22:29. That verse packs an especially powerful punch for me as I meditate on the almost exasperated urgency in that three-fold appeal. It reminds me of those powerful messages in Revelation chapter 14, messages that we can't afford to spurn. Oh that God will cure us, that we be not among the willful deaf! That we may claim his promise to give us the ear of the learned! (Isaiah 50:4)

 *I have personalized the original verse which says "Oh earth, earth, earth." So you can put your name in there too! That's God's plea to all of us right now. That's what the flying, shouting angels with their solemn warnings  in Revelation 14 are all about.

Attempted Robbery

Tuesday morning even smelled like Independence Day. I stashed several watermelons to cool in the creek, and split some firewood for the kitchen, while the kids went to march in Yata to fulfill our legal obligation as an accredited school to participate in a minimum of one civic event annually. This was the first time that I didn’t go with them. While colportuering on Sunday, I had met a family that very much wanted a Bible and I promised to return on Tuesday, forgetting all about the Independence day march. When I did remember, I decided that keeping my word was more important than the parade.

Campus was empty and the silence was uncanny. It was about ten minutes to ten when I finished the chores and headed down the driveway on the Honda scooter.  The highway was empty of truckers and there were few taxis, but there were plenty of private vehicles and a lot more motorcycle traffic than usual. I stayed close to the shoulder and kept a suspicious eye on all approaching vehicles. On holidays, ten o’clock is not too early for drunk drivers: rather ironic how Independence Day unveils so many dependents. 

            I had finished my house call and was about to return to the school when Lyli called. As soon as I heard her voice I knew something was wrong.

“We found Susie unconscious on the kitchen floor in the cafeteria and we are bringing her in to the hospital. Can you check if SEMDA is open today?” The private clinic offers much higher quality health care than the general public hospital. Before I could learn more details, the phone signal failed. SEMDA was closed, and I finally got ahold of Lyli again to let them know and she filled me in on a few more of the details.

Turns out that a matter of minutes after I left the school premises that morning, as if they were watching and waiting for me to leave, a man and a lady showed up at the school and approached Susie. They claimed to be neighbors looking for their lost horses. Susie remembered that one of our neighbors who, incidentally died in a head-on collision about two months ago while driving drunk, has some brothers she has never met.

“Oh, are you brother to the man who was killed on the highway?” she asked.

“Yes. We are brother and sister to him” Susie understood the man to say. They continued to chat and the visitors seemed to have no intention of continuing the search for their horses any time soon. Susie remembers that they asked her if she were alone and if the students had gone to march in Guayara. She told them they were just nearby in Yata. The lady asked to borrow some cups to drink some Tampico juice that she had with her, and when she offered some to Susie, Susie thought nothing of it. She did notice some powder on the edge of the cup, but she thought it was just powdered Yupi (Bolivian Kool-Aid).  A few minutes later she began to feel strange. Thankfully she had the presence of mind to call Cornelio, and she told the visitors that they were on their way back so she needed to go up to the kitchen to finish getting lunch ready. After that she doesn’t remember much, except that the couple got on their motorcycle and left while she went up to the kitchen to check the tofu.   

Thank God Susie was not injured and nothing was stolen, not even some cash that was on her kitchen table! We don’t plan to leave anyone here alone again, however, and Susie promises not to accept any more food or drink from strangers! (We were told drugging stunts like this are common practice for thieves in these parts.) Besides that we just praise and thank the Lord for his mercy and for the powerful angels stationed around this mission outpost!

RIVER TRIP

I couldn't stop my thoughts the night before last, and a host of family and friends passed through my mind and I lifted them (you) up to God. I felt very sad as I realized how many opportunities I have squandered throughout my life, opportunities to take more of an interest in the welfare of those around me. I thought of Psalms 139 where David says "how precious also are your thoughts toward me, O God, how great is the sum of them, if I could count them they would be more in number than the sand...". Suddenly the Holy Spirit electrified me with a connection to John 13:34 "A new commandment I give onto you, that you love one another AS I HAVE LOVED YOU." And I realized how FAR I have to go to love others as Christ loves me! How many of my measly thoughts of others consist merely in what I need from them, or worse yet, of judgments and criticisms? Where are the precious thoughts of unselfish love? Should not I discipline my mind to dwell on others and their needs, and to scheme up ways to bless them? Sadly, my thoughts are too often too narrow, too little, too wrapped up in my own agenda, my own needs, my own problems. There is no light in that. "What gets the mind gets us, and what gets us will be manifested in word and action." God rewire my mind. Take out all the short circuits and tighten all the false contacts and make my life to shine for you! (Matthew 5:16).

            We are working hard to get ready for our mission trips during the mid-year vacation (July 2-17). This year we have two groups going to different locations. One group is going with Cornelio and Susie to Semaipata near Santa Cruz to help at an orphanage and also distribute bibles and do some service projects in the surrounding community. My group is going north to the rivers of the interior. Our destination is the village of Santa Rosa on the Manurimi River, a tributary of the Madre de Dios. The primary goal is to help a small company of believers there erect a church building. We will also distribute bibles and literature and hold evening meetings. In those remote regions the locals are always excited to meet new people and they love anything on the screen: pictures, videos, even sermons. We are going to try to make the most of that.

We found out about the project through Enrique Zabala who worked with us here at the school for a number of years, and just recently moved into the interior to work in the Brazil nut industry. His family lives in Pekin, a small town downriver from Santa Rosa. The lumber for the church construction is being cut in the jungle as we speak. Emilio Canamari, one of the believers at Santa Rosa decided to dedicate all his time to hand milling the timber for the church with his chain saw after studying the recent Sabbath School lesson on the book of Zacharias, where the prophet rebuked the people for spending all their time and work on themselves while leaving the temple desolate. Not only that, but this same brother made a promise to the Lord some time ago that he would not repair his house until he has built a church for the new group of believers. The first time that Enrique met Emilio, Emilio told him:

“Hermano, I don’t want you to think that I’m lazy, and that’s why my house is in this condition.” Enrique was astonished to see that half of Emilio’s house was squashed underneath a large Brazil-nut tree! Turns out Emilio had been trying to feel the tree because it was rotting and posed a threat to his house. Unfortunately it didn’t fall exactly where he was planning! So Enrique encouraged the group there to help Emilio fulfill his promise quickly so he can fix his house! When Enrique found out our primary plans for a return trip to Las Amalias (the indigenous village on  the river Horton where we built a church in 2010) had fallen through, he got really excited and shared this story with us, suggesting it as a worthy project to undertake.

            About two weeks ago Enrique shared another exciting piece of news with us. The last time he went to worship with the group in Santa Rosa, there was a new face in the group. When Enrique asked the elderly gentleman how he had come to join the group he grinned and told how he had become very sick, and how Emilio and the group of believers had helped him get to Riberalta where he could get medical attention and had promised to pray for his recovery. He saw his subsequent restoration as a direct answer to prayer and had joined the group of believers to find out more about the God of these people who had taken the time to care. The Lord is clearly at work in a mighty way!

This month has flown by and we only have five more days to get ready for the trip. We will travel half a day by truck to El Sena, and from there the road is all water all the way to Santa Rosa. It should take us about 20 hours. The word is that Enrique has equipped his boats with lights and keeps chugging along all night. The good news is that this river doesn’t have so much flotsam as the river Orton, so Lord willing we won’t be colliding with any logs or other major debris.

Due to the remote location, we need to take cement, nails, and tin for the church roof, as such materials are rarely available out there, and if you can find them they are sold at exorbitant prices.

Please pray for us! And if you want to do more, some of the students who want to go are not sure if they will be able to go because of lack of funds. We have done a motorcycle wash in Guayaramerin, made and sold bread, and also visited the local churches to talk about our trip, but the funds we’ve raised so far have been just enough to buy the food for the trip. The transportation cost is about $26 per person, and there are about 10 students in the group. The roofing materials for the church will probably cost around $400. Bibles have already been donated and will be arriving soon on the mission plane along with some of our provisions that I ordered from Santa Cruz where they are available at much more economical prices. (Just in case you’re wondering how it could possibly be cheaper to fly the food in, the flight is already scheduled because we have a short-term missionary volunteer coming from Trinidad and Tobago to join our group, and she will pay for the flight as it is also almost the same price she would pay to fly here commercial.)

Oh, and I can’t stop writing before I share with you the story of Antonio Mamani. Antonio is in his upper sixties, and he has made up half of our faithful membership from the nearby village of Yata ever since he was baptized three years ago. Nearly every Sabbath he arrives for church on his bicycle. He first began to come to the school here when one of the founders employed him to help clear the land. He told me how every day before work, the missionaries would gather the workers for a small worship service and prayer. The bible-based teaching, impressed him deeply, and he began to share what he was learning with others.

Recently Antonio came to me asking for missionary training, and he told me a couple of stories of how he had been able to share his faith.

“Almost like I were a real missionary !” he grinned.

“What do you mean, almost? You ARE a missionary!” I told him. I told him that of course I am happy to study with him, but sometimes I think Antonio is more of a missionary than I am, and I could learn a thing or two from him. He cares for the sick and takes the stranger into his house. I have seen him give away his own hymnal to someone because they liked to hear him sing one of the songs in it. About a month ago when we went to visit him he enthusiastically led us to visit the house of a new neighbor.

“This man is kind of gruff” he laughed, “But when I started sharing about God with him he started to soften up. I want you to sing and study with him!”

It turned out the neighbor is Don Fermin, an elderly grandpa and backslidden Adventist. We had a very profitable and Spirit-led conversation getting to know each other and the afternoon passed quickly.

Every time Antonio makes a trip to the interior he takes literature and wherever they give him the welcome he speaks from the word of God. Antonio is not a preacher type, but he remembers what he has learned, and he is not afraid to share it. On many Sabbath afternoons he rides his bicycle to another village about 8 kilometers away to sing songs and tell bible stories to the young people. He told me that one time the Catholic priest in Yata was trying to convince him that Sunday is the seventh day of the week.

“That can’t be” said Antonio, “or the Lord Jesus would have risen on Monday!” He proceeded to show the priest the gospel account of how Christ rested in the tomb on the seventh-day Sabbath, (and his disciples rested in accordance with the commandment, Luke 23:56). He followed up by showing the priest the dictionary definition of Sabbath and Sunday, and that was the end of the argument.

One time a man stopped Antonio on the road and wanted to sell him a pistol. “You go everywhere on that bicycle, you need to carry a weapon to protect you.”

“I have a good weapon already” replied Antonio. “The very best.”

“You do?”

“Yes, I’ll show it to you” and Antonio pulled out his bible. “This is the only weapon I need!” The gun-dealer remained speechless for a moment, than packed up his wares and went on his way!

We invited Antonio to join us on the mission trip this year and he is really excited! Pray for him as well as the rest of us, and that we will all be faithful witnesses for Jesus.

motorcycle wash to raise funds for mission trip

Door to door, dogs, a dream, and supernatural sunblock…

 

PART 2

The chain-link gate to the naval base was slightly open, and Gadiel and I entered and approached the first house, apparently unobserved. I thought I saw someone out back, but decided to try the front door first. When no one responded to our knocking, I cautiously began to walk around the side of the house, keeping an eye out for the dogs we had been warned about. Upon rounding the corner, I saw a lady sweeping a walkway that connected to the house next door. 

“Buenos dias” I called as we approached, and she looked up from her sweeping with an expression that was less than encouraging. I continued rather awkwardly, asking if she would give us but a moment of her time, and quickly explained who we are, where we are from, and what we were doing, and placed a number of materials in her hands. I wasn’t sure what her reaction would be as she seemed to still be processing everything I had said, so I simply asked her which of the materials interested her most.

“Well, it would have to be this one” she surprised me by indicating the book Time of Hope (Original title, When God said Remember, by Mark Finley). “Why don’t you come inside?” She said abruptly, turned, and led us down the walk to her house. Once inside, she directed us to some chairs in the living room, and while Gadiel filled out a receipt, we made conversation. I can’t remember all the exact turns and transitions in our dialogue, but I know that God was guiding, and His Spirit was present, as you will see

Her name is Sandra Nagada, and she and her husband were recently stationed here in Guayaramerin after living for some time in the altiplano. She has family in Riberalta, and passes by the school driveway every time she goes to see them. I invited her to stop by some time.  As we continued to talk, she began to share quite a bit. She is an evangelical, and her husband is Catholic.

“It used to be very difficult for me” she confided. “I was praying all the time for my husband. He loved to go out to parties and he would always come home drunk. I felt so helpless, all I could do was pray. And well, God has answered me and my husband is much better now! He doesn’t go to church with me, but we don’t go out drinking, we just stay at home. The neighbors invite us out to parties and stuff and I never want to go because I know what it is going to be like. So now they think we’re weird and don’t invite us to anything and I feel like I don’t have many friends. But it is worth it to have peace in the home.”

“Wow. That resonates with me, what you just said about feeling alone because of your decision not to participate in your neighbors’ parties! But I agree, it’s definitely worth it to make the right decision and be at peace. It’s like it says in 1 Peter 2:9, ‘But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people…’ When we don’t go along with what the world does they look at us as weird, but God has called us to be different and separate from the world! Jesus said, no one can serve two masters. If we aren’t on His side, we are against Him!”

“So what church do you guys belong to?” Sandra asked.

“We’re Seventh-day Adventists.”

“Oh! The lady who lives on the other side of the base is Adventist! I remember because we invited her one time to a birthday celebration for the kids and she said they couldn’t come because it was on a Saturday!* Your day of rest is Saturday isn’t it?”

 “Yes, it is! But we didn’t come up with the idea to keep Saturday! God himself is the one who blessed and made the Sabbath holy as a monument to His creative power since the very beginning of time. Do you mind if I share a couple of scripture passages?”

“No, not at all!” She assented. I read Genesis 2:1-3 and Exodus 20:8-11.

It seemed as though Sandra were hearing all this for the first time.

“One of the most beautiful things about the Sabbath to me is that God says it is a sign of what he wants to do in our lives.” I continued. “Just as he sanctified the Sabbath, filled it with his presence, and set it apart for a special purpose, so too He wants to sanctify each one of us, fill us with his presence, and set us apart for a special purpose! (Exodus 31:13, Ezekiel 20:12). So to keep the Sabbath is really an act of faith that recognizes what God wants to do in us, and recognizes that He has the power to do it too!”  

Sandra was listening intently. When she spoke again, her words took me completely by surprise!

“You know, it’s not by accident that you came here today,” she said. I felt a little thrill shiver down my spine. “I mean, what are the chances? First of all you caught me at home today!” She continued. “Not only that, but I was outside sweeping, just at the moment when you came! Usually if I am in the house I don’t answer the door. Last night I wasn’t feeling very well, I had a headache and I told my daughter I was just going to lie down for a little bit. ‘Okay mom’ she said, and no sooner had I lain down on the bed than I fell asleep and had a dream. It was the strangest thing, you won’t believe it, but in my dream somebody came to me and wanted to sell me a yellow book!” She looked down at the front cover of her new book, which pictures a large autumn tree, bathed in the golden glow of sunlight. “Well, it’s not completely yellow,” she admitted, “but it is quite yellowish!”

“And this book speak exactly on the topic we have been discussing about the Sabbath! You are going to love it! And I am so glad you shared that with us just now, because I am also convinced that our meeting today has nothing to do with chance!” And I went on to tell her of my prayer, and how we missed the bus by a question of seconds, and how the dump-truck dropped us off right next to the naval base, and of the impression I had that we should try to canvass there, and how we met someone who gave us permission right at the moment when we arrived.

As we were leaving the house, a mongrel began to approach us, and Sandra shouted and chased it away. “Usually I keep him chained up because he likes to bite people!” she explained. “You didn’t have any trouble when you came in the front gate?”

“No, no trouble at all!” I remembered the initial warning we had received and thanked God for allowing us to pass unharmed.

Gadiel and I continued to canvass the base, finishing at the Adventist lady’s house where we shared the story about her neighbor Sandra and encouraged her to try to make friends.

The rest of the day passed quickly, and we were soon taking the 3:00 bus back to the school. The bus was quite full, but we found seats near the back. As I took my seat the man sitting behind me caught my attention because he had a foldable aluminum ladder like one I saw recently in the hardware store and wanted to buy for the school. The ladder served as a good conversation starter. Soon I found out the gentleman’s name is David Sanchez. He is a merchant from Brazil where he has a wife and two kids. After telling me a few more things about himself, he started to ask me questions.

“So what do you do and where are you from?” he asked. When I told him I am a volunteer missionary teacher at the boarding school at kilometer 30, he grinned.

“Hey, I know that place! So what do you teach?” He asked. “English?”

“No, believe it or not, I teach history, geography, literature, philosophy, and civics!”

“You don’t say! What do you teach about in those classes?” his question surprised me. Did he really just ask me that? Nobody has ever asked me that question before! Lord, did you put that question in his head? Or is he just wondering what version of history and civics a foreigner might be teaching to the young people of nationalistic Bolivia! Or maybe it was all of the above. In any case, I had to take advantage of the opportunity.

“Well, I believe that all true knowledge comes from God, so I try to approach each subject from a biblical perspective,” I began. “For example, civics has to do with the study of the obligations, rights and privileges of the citizen. According to Philippians 3:20, as Christians our citizenship is in heaven.** So in my class I start with that foundation. What are our obligations, rights and privileges as Christians? That leads us into a discussion on sovereignty, authority, and law. Sovereignty refers to a supreme or ultimate authority. The view we take regarding who has sovereignty, or ultimate authority, leads us down a road toward one of three outcomes in government. If we believe that each individual is invested with sovereignty, that leads toward anarchy because everyone is their own ultimate standard and can do as they wish. If, on the other hand, we believe that one man, or a group of men within a government have absolute and supreme authority, then they don’t have to answer to anyone but themselves, and that takes us toward tyranny. The best option, I believe, is to accept that God is sovereign, and as such both the individual and the state are responsible to Him, and receive their authority from Him. If we accept that approach, we are on the road to liberty!”

 David seemed quite surprised with all of that. “So what church do you belong to?” was his next question.

“And what do Seventh-day Adventists believe?” he asked. “Do you believe that salvation is only through Jesus Christ?”  

“Absolutely! ‘There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved!”

He asked me a couple of other questions on basic Christian belief, and seemed to be satisfied by my responses. Before we finished our conversation I was able to show him the books and magazines we were selling and he bought the same book about the Sabbath that Sandra had bought and promised to come by the school some time to visit.

It wasn’t until after I got off the bus and was walking down the driveway that I realized that God had answered yet another part of my morning prayer. He had sent someone for me to talk to on the bus after all! I thought I had missed out when we had to ride the dump truck instead of the bus, but God had everything worked out for the return trip!

That evening when my wife asked me how the day went I enthusiastically recounted my experiences.

 “Hey, and you didn’t get sunburned today!” she exclaimed. More than once she has told me that I look like a tomato when I come home after a day of canvassing! Just then I remembered the last part of my morning prayer (I am slow at these things) and my heart overflowed with gratitude yet again to my mighty Creator God who saw fit to answer every one of my requests that day, even honoring my trifling petition for supernatural sunblock! I had spent so much of the morning inside the homes of hungry souls, that the sun hadn’t had a chance to scorch me! Now while you may scoff at me for intimating anything miraculous about the “sunblock” proffered by Jovannah and Sandra’s respective roofs, I know for certain that it is only the Spirit of God that can put such a longing for truth in the human heart, and to me, that two strangers would invite me into their homes and question me with such eagerness concerning the Word of God, is a greater miracle than if I had walked under the tropical sun all day without getting burnt! May His name be praised!

*In Spanish, as in many languages, the word for Saturday is actually sabado the equivalent of  "Sabbath."

** The word “conversation” in this text in Spanish is translated as “citizenship.”