Peru Here We Come!!!

On August 5th, Ethan and I are flying to Peru for two weeks!  We are going with a small group from Hope Community Church.  Hope is a supporting church of World Impact and we have attended there off and on this year.  We have gotten to know the worship leader, Eric Hauck, and his family.  Angie has enjoyed playing with his worship team as well.  Their oldest son and Ethan have became good friends.  In spring, Eric invited Ethan and I to go on this trip with him and his son.

The first few days of the trip we will be visiting Machu Picchu.  I didn't actually know what Machu Picchu was initially, but Ethan had studied about it in school and immediately was pumped to be able to see these ruins. Just to get there will be an intense amount of traveling.  We literally will experience "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" to get there!

After those initial days, we will take a 7 hour bus ride overnight to Huaraz, where we will meet up with the missionaries we are partnering with for this trek.  This trip is a ministry of Wycliffe Bible Translators.

The plan is to trek 5 days in the mountains with our guides.  We will have about a 4-6 hour hike each day to a different village.  All of this at about 12,000 feet and potentially up to 15,000!  We will carry backpacks, but thankfully we will have mules to carry a lot of our heavy gear.  We will then set up camp to sleep in tents each night.

At each village we will visit with many kids and adults in the village.  The idea is that us Americans are the draw to the Quechua people!  We will play soccer with the kids and at night the missionaries will show the Jesus film.  We then will pass out a Bible to each person.

It will be an amazing experience for Ethan and I together.  He will be turning 10 on the trip, and I am praying that this will be a big moment in his life.  It will be a grueling trip for us emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  We have been training all summer, but there is nothing we can do to prepare for the altitude.

Please pray for us as we finalize packing this week.  We've been able to borrow most of our equipment from others.  The challenge is fitting all of our gear and gifts for the villages in our duffel bags and backpacks.

Men's conference in California

On Friday, I am heading out to California for the weekend to attend World Impact's urban men's conference where Dr. Don Davis is speaking. I will be traveling with him to help with different logistics, shoot video, and get different testimonies from men attending the conference.

I am very honored for the opportunity to attend and serve.  Below, you can see the logo for the conference and an email that Bob Engel sent out for prayer. Bob, a long-time WI missionary and now serves in L.A. is running the conference at The Oaks Camp which is a World Impact camp near Lake Hughes, CA.  Please join us in prayer for this weekend.

There are two kingdoms in conflict.  One of these rulers is God Sovereign Almighty, the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, who’s Kingdom will rule overall.  The other is the Prince of the power of this world, the god of this age.  His purpose is to rule and to reign and his priority is to keep in bondage the souls of men by keeping their minds blinded to the Gospel Good News of redemption in Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  Though Jesus has defeated this prince the battle continues to rage around the world including our urban centers where Satan seems to have a lock down on men.  But God is ever on the move in this War of the Worlds.  His Kingdom continues to expand and advance in the hearts of men and releasing these men, who were once bound by this prince of evil, to take their cities back for God. 

Please join us in praying for a mighty move of His Spirit during our upcoming weekend, June 8^th -10^th, at THE OAKS:

1. Last year we had 243 men attend.  This year we are bursting at the seams with 416 men representing 26 different urban churches and ministries.  Pray that every soul who hasn’t submitted to the Lordship of Jesus will submit and that every man who is a believer but needing a word of encouragement would hear that word and run with it.  We are believing that there are men the Spirit is calling to pastor new churches that they will establish for His glory. 
2. Pray for Dr. Don Davis who will be preaching the Word.  May it go forth in His power and might.
3. THE OAKS staff and leadership always take great care of us.  Pray for blessing and strength upon them…especially the kitchen crew.  There will be some massive eaters there this weekend.  We may need to pray that the food be multiplied like the fish and loaves.
4. The enemy always flee’s when the Church of the Living God worships.  Pray for our worship team, CONVERGE.  Pray that Don Lee will hear from the Spirit of the Lord clearly as he leads the men in triumph through praise. 
5. We have 108 men who speak only Spanish.  We will be together and the Lord has blessed us with a dear brother to translate the quick words of Dr. Davis.  That is quite the task, but Oscar Martinez is our servant.  Pray for his voice and strength. 
6. Pray for safety in travel and in all the activities at THE OAKS.  I can just imagine what paintball is going to be like with all that testosterone moving throughout the camp. 

The Kingdom of God continues to expand and advance.  The Spirit of the Lord is moving and His Banquet table will be filled with 100’s of thousands from our inner city’s.  Thanks for joining us in His work through your prayers.