From Hollywood to the end of the world Ushuaia

      This trip, for me, started in Hollywood California but for the team, it started in the state of Washington. I knew only a few of the people on this missionary journey. They had attented my school in Mozambique, Africa.  The rest of the team, which is what we were when we started but later became a family, is from different harvest school´s in Mozambique. I remember first going to the house where they were staying at and thinking this dream is coming true. For years, I remember talking to God, actually complaining, that I didn´t sew what I was reaping. I felt like I was like King David at the Adullum cave. I was in my cave, my apartment , and not liking it. I would tell Him that I wanted to do ministry or be married and and have a family or both but not want to be where I am now. I guess we all go to Adullum´s cave once in our life. I don´t want to go again, Jesus. So, here I was, walking into something I had been wanting for years. It was a Spiritual high I will not forget.
     It´s funny when you dream about something, which is what I did, when I had confirmation from God about this trip. I had nine months to dream about this trip and what God was going to do with me, the team, and the people He put in our path. He has really exceeded what I had dreamed. His way, His path for your life is always better than what you can dream.
     This family has had some growing pains but has always come back in unity with God and each other. For me, most of Central America and definitely Mexico, was about growing, unity, family, oneness,¨ what does love look like´´, and ´´going lower still´´ with each other and others. This trip and God was challenging us to die to self: physically, emotionally, and spiritually. When you are constantly in community, it can bring those ugly things out of you that you easily can hide when alone or when you are not around the same people all the time. I kept on being challenged by God, when those fleshly things came out. I would try to reason with Him that they are defense mechanisms and that they are ok but knew that it was really selfishness or self-preservation. I would here, ¨die to self.¨ Daddy God would challenge me and say to me, ¨that the world believes that´s ok to do and the Christian world unfortunalely too¨ He would say, ´´you are not to be in either but be in the Kingdom of Heaven¨ I would here that and still do, that Kingdom people are suppose to be different and have a Kingdom mindset, and not a worldly or Christian world mindset. When you start walking in that you can love those that hate you or persecute you or mock you or talk bad about you. The sayings I learned at harvest school, ¨what does love look like¨ and ´lower still´´ so reflect what He wants us to do. We are to lay our life down totally and then Jesus can shine out of us brillantly.
     So, that was what was happening to me in Central America alongside ministering and seeing many miracles.One of our family members who jumped on in Columbia told us a prophesy that his mom had for the team. She said that Central America was like the birth pangs in a pregnancy while the baby is coming out. That the Panama Canal was like the birthing canal and that God had something new and big for us in South America. That prophesy really ministered to me and felt that it was God.
     We have been going south for eight months now, ´´lower still´´, ministering in churches, the streets, the jungle and living a lifestyle of 24\7 loving others. We are always on a treasure hunt to love and pray for people God puts in our path whether its at the gas station, supermarket, or just strolling down a sidewalk.
     When we got off the bus in Ushuaia, Argentina we had no place to stay and didnt know where to eat. We had a contact of a contact but could not confirm it because of no phone or internet access. We knew a guy that knew a guy at a Baptist Church. We just showed up because God told us to. Twenty-six or so of us just saying to each other that same familiar phrase and then laughing, ´´what are we doing right now.´´ God knows, but a lot of the time when you are being led by the Spirit you just take those steps of faith and believe that ´´God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.´´ We got off the bus at night, 8 pmish, and had decided to get some food somewhere when, the guy ,showed up at the bus dropoff. He said that his church was waiting for us and had HOUSING and FOOD ready for us!!!!! We received so much from this town and this church and their congregation. As much as we ministered to them they ministered more to us in hospitality. Everything was provided for us FREE!! As a family that is getting challenged finacially, free is good. Sometimes we don´t have gas money to leave an area and a lot of us have to really watch what we spend on food or go without. We were so humbled by God and our lovely brothers and sisters-in-Christ in Ushuaia, Argentina. Love them!!
     So now were are finally heading north. We are going to the Higher Places. The trip suddenly seemed short eventhough we have maybe 6 to 8 months more.

Easter Day

Jesse "soaking" during our Easter service in the house on the beach that God blessed us with.

Easter dinner

Ben and Kurt

Liney and myself on Easter day. Liney met up with us in Cartagena, Columbia  and joined the group officially when we were leaving for Ecuador. She is going to Harvest school 16 in June. Shes's an amazing girl.

House on the beach in Chile that we were at for Easter

My place of sleep, "New Wine", for most of the Latin America trip

View from inside the house

Eleven days in the city of Pachacutec

     Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui ( or Pachacutec). He was the ninth Sapa of the Kingdom of Cusco, which he transformed into the empire Tawantinsuyu, or the Inca Empire. Most archaeologists now believe that the famous Inca site of Machu Picchu was built as an estate for Pachacuti.

Statue of Pachacuti,

     In Quechua, Pachacutiq means "He who shakes the earth". During his reign, Cuzco grew from a hamlet into an empire that could compete with, and eventually overtake, the Chimú. He began an era of conquest that, within three generations, expanded the Inca dominion from the valley of Cuzco to nearly the whole of western South America.
     Pachacuti is considered as something of a national hero in modern Peru.
    The city I stayed in for eleven days bears his name. The family that I stayed with, the Cruz's, told me that the city and land was given to the poor, mostly the Quechua speaking peoople, about 10 years ago by one of the past presidents. It has few paved roads and most of the buildings are not vey well built but the people are really kind.
     God really placed me in a good home with people who have the love of Jesus in them. I needed someone, anyone to "stop for the one" which was me this time. Sometimes you need people to be able to discern that you are not only physically hurting but that you are emotionally drained because of the pain and really can't think well or make quick decisions. The Cruz family, especially Pator Marin, Pastor Cruz, and his daughter Luz had and have this discernment and took care of me .It wasn't easy at first because of the language problem but because of the love of Jesus in them I'm doing much better physically.
     Two years ago I prayed to God to humble me. He has continuosly been doing that and I'm grateful for it. The process is not always easy, rarely, but if you obey and incline your ear to Him it always the best. Blessing, thanks for your support.

Pastor Carlos and his wife.They took care of  me when my back and leg was really hurting me.

Luz, Pastor Carlos's daughter.

Samuel, Luz's boyfriend, was a great help to me in Pachacutec because he spoke english. He is called to Israel. He is a really interesting guy. I'm glad I got to hang out with him. He is a messianic Jew. He is going to take me to a Jewish restaraunt in Lima this next week.

Streets of Pachacutec

"Festival of dance". I would later find out that it was a dance to each one of their gods. They had very colorful outfits. This was right in front of Pastor Carlos's house. It was on my second to last day in Pachacutec

Quachua indigenous girls practicing before the festival

Inside Pastor Carlos's house.

The jungle in Ecuador

We split our team up into two teams to go to different areas in the jungle of Ecuador. We originally were going to the Waodani tribe but the Holy Spirit had other plans for our team. When we arrived in Puyo we found out that we weren't even close to the tribe and it wasn't going to happen in the time we alloted ourself for the trip. We prayed as a group and let our expectations for this trip go. We just let the Holy Spirit guide us in divine appointments to get us where He wanted us to go. In one day we found a missionary contact who was a jungle pilot who had many contacts in the jungle. When we met Rick for breakfast the next day as a group, he really interviewed us hard. He was skepitical of us and rightly so I might add. There has been a lot of bad agendas that missionaries have had in the past in the area. He set us up with a Cuban couple who had been ministering to the Shuar people for the last two years in a remote area. We flew to the area, Campo Ayudi. Our pilot Rick's house is right next to the same airstrip that Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Ed MCcully, Roger Youderian, and Peter Fleming flew out of when they were attempting to evangeliz the Waodani tribe. They were martyed in the 50's. We spent 5 days loving, fellowshiping, and praying with the Shuar people in Campo Ayudi, San Franciso, San Juan, and the Three Maria's.

Getting ready to fly deeper into the jungle in Ecuador.

Fellowshipping with Pastor Ramon and his wife in Campo Ayudi

Guys practicing with a blow dart before going hunting.

Trying to get out of Campo Ayudi by plane but got delayed by rain.

Nate Saint house in Shell, Ecuador. He was one of the missionaried that was martyrd in the 50's in Ecuador.

Columbia

We drove three hours from Cali, Columbia to Silvia where the Guambiano indigenous people live. We received an invitation to meet them from the chuch that is hosting us. You just can't drive there and go on your own to meet them, you need an invitation. There are Columbian guerrilas who are in Silvia so it's not the best place for foreigners with Washington license plates to go by themselves.



They heard the Gospel 70 years ago and through many trials of martydom and sufferings have continued in their faith with God. They are a very generous and friendly people who love Jesus passionately. We prayed and prophesied over them and they did the same over us. It was nice to be poured into by a body of believers that love Jesus passionately. During the prayer time I felt a heat around me as I was sitting down. Whenever one of them would come over to pray over me this heat would rise. It was a cloudy day so it wasn't the sun and there wasn't a light over me. I felt it was an angel of fire and then asked it to go in areas of my body. It was incredible. Taylor Lindsey was seating right next to me and was experiencing the same thing. I told him to direct the heat to go over areas of his body and he experienced the same sensation. It was really cool. I would have loved to seen the angel but enjoyed the experience.

Community Life Part 1

Up until 16 months ago, i haven't lived in a community for over 30 years. My early childhood I would say I had a little taste of community life but I was very young and don't remember much of it. My adolescent years did not have much community in it other than going to school but I didn't live with my friends or teachers. I would describe my home life not as a community but as four individuals living under the same roof. I moved out of the house right around my 18th birthday. I did have a group of friends after I moved out of the house and really enjoyed hanging out but I wouldn't describe it as a community. I lived by myself the rest of the time up until 16 months ago.

I prided myself on my indepence from the time I left home till probably a couple of years after I gave my life to Jesus, when I was almost 32 years old. I didn't depend on anyone for money. I didn't depend on another person for my future (wisdom in a career, wisdom in what a man is suppose to be, wisdom in doing drugs/alcohol or not, wisdom in how I treated myself and others, wisdom in relationships, wisdom in basically life). I became this way because this is what I had to do. I left the house in survival mode and didn't know any different. I can honestly say not one "Christian" witnessed to me about Jesus. I only new independence and that's what the world, and its system, preached. Don't get me wrong, I would reach out to people, even family, but I was reaching out to people who understood independence and definitely didn't know Jesus. My first pastor always said, "I'm not mad at anybody." I'm not and hope this doesn't offend anyone. I'm just explaining what I experienced.

I moved to the San Francisco bay area when I was 31 and lived there for 9 years. I left this last September to go on this amazing missionary journey. I remember a pastor from my first church tell the congregation during a service that he read an article that said the most independent country in the world is the good ol' U.S.A. and the most independent area is "Silicone Valley." Yikes! To say the least, I was not living in an area that celebrated community life. Church offered some community life but it was fit into a very fast paced life where it wasn't a priority. The cares of the world were more important to people in "Silicone Valley" than relationship. As I continued my walk with Jesus, I knew it wasn't suppose to fit into a busy schedule but have more of a priority. My decision to go to Iris put this into reality.

I went to Iris because what I read in the bible was so differnt then my experience as a Christian. The bible and many amazing books testified of God's power but I wasn't seeing it. I went because I wanted to see His power in signs, miracles, and wonders. I heard and read that it was happening there. What God gave me there was so much more then what I was seeking andfamily thought I needed. He spoke to me about relationships. A relationship with him and others. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,with all yoursoul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." 

I really was not prepared for community life like this. I was so use to having my own space and time that it was a challenge for me but one that I was ready to lay down for. I needed to be humbeled in this area to have a closer relationship with Jesus and others. It wasn't going to happen in the enviroment I was living in with my background. To my suprise, I loved it. I'm not saying I was good at it but I did love it.

So here I am, on the Iris Latin America trip. Our has fluctuated from between 20 to about 30 people sofar. I have brothers and sisters from the U.S.A., Texas, England, Canada. Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, Columbia, Russia, Germany, and little Zoe who is from Africa. There are so many different cultures represented in this community and some are very vocal about there culture. We have fluctuated between 7 to 10 guys on this trip and girls have been between 13 to 20. Yes, it is a very diverse group of on fire Jesus lovers. It's an Acts 2 home church on an Acts 13 missionary journey. I love it! Come on Jesus, more fire, more salvations, more healings, more community. I was feeling Him while I was writing,"I love it!" I had to express it in written form. Fuego!! Isn't Jesus good! You could be writing a blog that you don't want to write and He just blast you with His love. I love you Jesus! You are the only way!!

Yeah, so, let's get to the "nitty-gritty." That is a saying from our training video for the Iris Latin America trip. Everyone has to watch it to be in unity with each other. Another saying that speaks to the group is "they don't think I know a butt-load of crap about the Gospel, but I do." You know how the devil tries to discourage us so just repeat this saying until you have understanding and it's in your heart. If you want feel like you are with us more, in unity, you must watch our training video. It's called, Nacho Libre. It's very inspiring. My strange sense of humor is coming out. Uh-oh!

Community life has it's pro's and con's. The pro's far out weigh the con's. Biggest con I can think of is when the group has only one shower and the 20 girls take forever because they have to shave there legs. Why? Hello, you are a missionary where most want to go to the unreached people in the middle of know where and your worried about hair on your legs. You don't want the indigenous people to think, hey, look the women don't shave their legs. You already know us guys on the team don't care how you look.

Anyways..Life in a community is far better than an independent life. It's challenges you to be a better brother-in-Christ, a better witness of Jesus's love, a better friend, a better person, and definitely more humble. Things seem to come out of you in a community that depends on a relationship with Pappa God and each other. Things that you don't even know you are dealing with inside. A couple of weeks ago, in Bogota, Columbia, my family was around me praying for healing of my right hip pain and prophesying over me. During it, I heard the Holy Spirit say, confess that you have been dealing with anger/bitterness and to apologize to 4 people who you have hurt. Boy, I did not want to do this. It felt embarrassing but that feeling was a lie from the devil. He never want repentance. Repentance leads to reconcilliation and then to revival. Well, I did confess and felt a big burden come off me. I felt lighter. It's amazing when you can feel in the Spirit.

I love this community that God has put me in. I just wanted to share a little about me and how God is transforming me into something new. For me, this is the only way to live.

To be continued....

Video of time in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama

Driving over the Panama canal on a sketchy one land bridge

Camping on the beach of Playa Negra in Costa Rica

Kayaking in Nicaragua

In Panama City getting our vehicles inspected for there trip to Columbia via Panama Canal

More kayaking in Nicaragua