Dear Friends, The winter season is flying by. It's hard to believe Christmas (and our last update) was over two months ago! Time does indeed fly, but
Dear Friends,
The winter season is flying by. It's hard to believe Christmas (and our last update) was over two months ago! Time does indeed fly, but that only means that our Lord's return is nearer every day...
We want to thank all of you who pray for us and our ministry. These updates are for you!
However, we also want to specifically thank those of you who sacrificially support our ministry. We do not take you for granted! We rejoice with you, just as Paul rejoiced because of the Philippians' generosity, not so much for the actual gifts, but for what it shows of your love for Christ and the Gospel and the credit that abounds to YOUR heavenly account! (Phil. 4:17)
Now here are some praise reports from the past couple months, followed by some prayer requests for what's just ahead, and finally some pics to help illustrate it all!
Trading Chinese Winter for Peruvian Summer
Just after Christmas, which we were able to spend with family in Oklahoma on our way from China to Peru, we took off for South America where we've spent almost all of January and February. Our purpose for being here these two months is to spend quality time with Deysi's family AND to come alongside and support the Peruvian church here in many ways.
Praise God for a very busy two months and sweet times of fellowship with folks we haven't seen in a long time!
Preaching at Aymara (Lake Titicaca) Youth Camp
One of the highlights of my time here is just now coming to an end. I'm writing this as I wait in line to check-in for my return flight from the Puno region (think: Lake Titicaca) of Peru back to the capital, Lima. My good friend David, who has been in Peru (from the UK) for nearly as long as I've been in China, invited me to join him as one of the speakers at a youth church camp in a very remote, MINORITY region of Peru. You might've heard of the Quechua people before, but probably not the Aymara. They also inhabit a significant portion of Peru's southern Andes and have a unique language and culture. Although there are many churches in their region, they are almost all very small and lack trained pastors and teachers. The young people, however, are very excited to go deeper into the Gospel and it was a joy to preach to them and teach them these last few days. The schedule was not for the faint at heart, though. We were always "on call" to share something, and I ended up speaking 6 times (about 1 hr each) in a span of just 30 hours!
Praise God for the hunger he has placed in these young people to know more of Christ, and for helping us point them to Him throughout the week!
Multi-Generational Mission Trip
Another great highlight of our time here was helping with a Peruvian mission to the high jungle and the dry, desert slums of Lima during the last week of January. One of the reasons it was special is because more than half of the team was made up of my family, including my mom and dad (Laban and Susie West), who joined us in Peru for a couple of weeks. Much medicine was distributed in poor communities, pastors were encouraged, and many people heard the Gospel. One of the lasting fruits of the trip will be our continued friendship and fellowship with one of the (high jungle) pastors and his family, who became very good friends (see pic below).
Praise God for graciously calling our family to take part in the spread of His Name among the nations. He deserves the glory!
Chinese Mission Team Mini-Retreat... in Lima, Peru!
One very unique (and very helpful!) thing that came about as result of our Jan-Feb mission to Peru, was that all the Latinos (including myself, haha!) on our China mission team were "home" in the Americas at the same time. And for the FIRST TIME EVER OUTSIDE OF CHINA, we were able to get together for a few days of fellowship, prayer, and teaching. Our time was short, but sweet, and some in our team (Jose and his boys) are already back in China. Although we had lived and ministered in the same region of China together for many years, God did some amazing work of bringing more unity and deeper fellowship to our team during those few short days earlier this month.
And I mustn't forget to mention Karen Herrera, an amazing young lady from Caracas, Venezuela, who joined us during our retreat. She has felt called to China for most of her life (literally, since she was 7 or 8 years old) and the time spent with our team only confirmed what she had been feeling from the Lord for so many years. The political and economic situation in Venezuela is terrible right now, but we are praying that the doors would open so that Karen can join our team in China some day soon!
Praise God for orchestrating our "team time" in such an amazing way, both for our growth as believers, and possible growth in missionary numbers!
How you can pray...
1) First, please pray that during this final week in Peru, we would "finish well" and maximize our last few days here with family, friends, and churches. I'll be speaking in two different churches on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and we'll be seeing many different friends and extended family each day this week!
Pray for sweet fellowship and divine appointments, especially with unsaved family members!
2) Second, please pray for all of our China team, who are either just arriving back to our target region (Raeha Butler, Jose & his two oldest boys), or will be joining them there in March (my family + Jose's wife Eloisa and baby boy Haziel). And also for Jimmy and Gladys and there two children (Milagros & Aaron), who will be rejoining us in China in May after more than year on furlough/home assignment.
Pray that all needs would be provided for, and that open doors would abound in a region where so little is known of our Savior, Jesus Christ!
3) Third, please pray for some strategic evangelistic ventures that we will be undertaking in our target region starting just next week. We are hosting three teams, one each month, from March til May (albeit the March team is mostly on their own :-). We need lots of wisdom and divine protection for everything to go smoothly.
Pray that the Word would go forth unhindered into the homes and hearts of tens of thousands of unreached Chinese Muslims, Buddhists, and Materialists!
Hopefully in about a month, I'll have an update on how the March team fared, as well as how we are going in our travels back homeward to China...
---Just FYI, we are probably more active on Facebook than e-mail, so if you would like to see lots more pics, more regular (shorter) updates, or chat with us easily even while we're in China, please find and "Friend" us @: www.facebook.com/china.myadventures
---Here are the descriptions of the pictures you will find below...
1) My family enjoying dinner with our new friends in the "high jungle" of Huanuco.
2) Peru has 3 major zones: Coast, Andes, and Jungle. This is the jungle, near where my wife's mother lives in Tingo Maria.
3) Our China mission team (except for the couple in the middle, who are missionaries from teh UK to Peru): Karen (Venezuela), Jose & Eloisa (Mexico), David & Naomi (UK), Deysi & myself, Jimmy & Gladys (Peru) & their new baby Aaron.
4) The Andes (nearly 20,000 ft peak) on our drive back from the Jungle to the Coast.
5) David (UK) and myself with Luzmarie, a young lady from the Aymara youth camp. She is torn between staying and serving in her needy local church, or possibly serving overseas as a missionary some day!
6) Sunset near Lima, on the coast. We get to see a similar sunset (albeit partially blocked by buildings and power lines) from the roof of the mission house here almost every night.
7) Lunch w Deysi's mom's extended family in the jungle town of Tingo Maria. Deysi's mom, Guillerma, is in the back with the kids.
