final update folks.

“experiences come and experiences go, it is what follows the experience that counts.” – oswald smith.

most of you that know me well, know that i love a good story. i love hearing good stories. i attempt to tell good stories. emphasize attempt, heavily. they usually end with some extravagant tale of how i eventually found $5 or saved a family from a burning building, in hopes to lie my way in to appease the person on the receiving end of my long-windedness. i enjoy hearing about other peoples life stories and i try to live an exciting and exhilarating story as well. our stories reflect our passions and our passions reflect our treasures.

on april 13th i had an opportunity to go on an adventure to iquitos peru for 2 months. not really knowing exactly what i would be getting into. everything was a little vague. i just knew with confidence that God is good and that he had called me to trust him that he would meet me exactly where i am. now, 2 months later, as i look back on my journals, flooded with a plethora of emotions, i can say with full certainty that God did in fact do just that. he met me exactly where i was. every step of the way. praise God for not only calling us to trust him by faith, but for equipping us to live by faith. i am not going to get into huge detail about all of what i learned, simply because i would love to share with you in person, phone, skype, etc. also, i am not sure exactly all of what i learned simply because i am sure those effects will begin to manifest themselves in the coming days, weeks, and months.

one thing i do know for sure is that God really did not need me to go to peru. he called me there. he wanted me there. to depend on him every step of the way and trust him that he is receiving all glory through the situations he is placing me in. whether it was conversations with the leadership, conversations and relational building with many different families (who are literally my family now!), goofing around with the young adults, preaching multiple times, leading bible studies, etc…God got the glory and he gave me the joy. as i conversed with a good friend last night about my experience, he really helped me feel the weight of the adventure God had given me to enjoy Him in. the fact that now the relationship between my church and the church in iquitos is now incredibly solid. the fact that i had the opportunity to learn and observe from some incredible Godly leaders (mario, the president of the christian missionary alliance in peru, and angel, the pastor of the church in comas). the fact that i have learned invaluable applicable wisdom that will help me out so much in my future in ministry. i am incredibly humbled by the journey God has given me through this experience.

and now, the adventure continues…i find myself back in nashville, attempting to wrap my head around my trip, knowing that this will take time to process. i am excited to see the fruit gradually reveal itself in my life. i am excited to continue to learn of my insufficiency and strive to find myself engrossed in the sufficiency of Christ. i am excited to continue to learn of my inadequacies and to understand more and more everyday how irrelevant they are in the hands of a God whose resources are unlimited. i am excited to continue to be where i am. i rejoice in the experiences God has blessed me with in my past, knowing they serve a purpose to prepare me for the the future. i am thankful for the many different things God taught me through my journey. i love looking back on each one of them and am moved to worship a faithful God and sovereign creator.

i pray that each one of you would do the same in your own lives. that you would be where you are. that you would enjoy the process of life and not just seek experience for experiences sake. that you would view your life in the lens of eternity. that you would learn from your daily experience knowing that what is produced through them is far more value than the experience itself. thank you very much for your support, prayer, and presence through this journey. i could not say thank you enough and how grateful i am for each of you. if you would like to chat more extensively, please do not hesitate to call me. if we live close, lets set up a time in person. or possibly even skype would be cool. love you all and i will send you one more email in the next week giving you a link to a bunch of pictures.

 

in christ,

bubba

Peru 8?

hey guys,
 
writing to you from Iquitos, peru right now. i am here for one more week! It doesnt seem real to say that. i do not think the implications of my impeding return have began to surface in my heart. God is teaching me and i am continually attempting to allow myself to be where i am. I am looking forward to being able to look back on these past 2 months and knowing with full confidence that i invested every ounce of myself I could have in these people. yes, there have been difficult moments. nothing has compared to the rich reward i have found in Christ through it all. above all, God has been ultimately glorified through my weakness. his power has been made perfect through my inability. and i boast solely in that, my friends. drastic change from update number 3 huh? it is truly amazing how God answers us in our desperation and truly provides us with exactly what we need.
 
quickly, i wanted to give you an update upon what is happening this weekend, and tell you a little about this past week.
 
1. this weekend, on sunday, peru is having its national election. during my time here, i have learned quite a bit about the 2 canidates and that basically the country of peru is stuck between a rock and a hard place. one canidate is the daughter of the former president, fujimore. her father is now in jail for money laundering and corruption. the other canidate is known for having pretty good relations with chavez and shows a lot of similar signs that chavez did in his canidacy. one is known for living in a family full of corruption and one is known for desiring to implement a dictatorship. as you can see, not exactly the best future could possibly be ahead for this country. when i ask people in different communities their thoughts on the subject matter, i rarely receive any sort of joyous response. they usually tell me they are just trying to figure out which canidate is less worse. all of this to say, i ask that you pray for the people of peru. pray that their confidence would not be in any elected leader, but in a God that is entirely sovereign. pray that through this situation, the hearts of the peruvians would turn to Christ as their only hope and source of sustainment.
 
also, this weekend, esteban has asked me to preach. immediately, my heart took me to a topic that i know very little about theologically, but realizing it was the Holy Spirit laying these desires upon my heart, i submitted. i am preaching on the sovereignty of God. after rich study today and time of preparation, i can say that i am beyond excited about the message the Holy Spirit is teaching me about the providence of God and will hopefully communicate clearly to the people of iquitos sunday morning. yea, so i definitely have my hands full. haha. pray that solely above all else God would communicate clearly that regardless the circumstances in our world that seem to be spiraling downward, God has total dominion over all things and that “in Christ all things hold together” (colossians 1:17). and that “God works all things together for the good of those who love him” romans 8:28. the good spoken of here is not earthly comfort, but conformity to Christ. your prayers are greatly appreciated.

Also, I found out yesterday about preaching on Saturday night. So prayers for wisdom and strength would be much appreciated right now. 

2. Today, we took a trip to a city about 2 hours away to spend time with another church and do some evangelism in the community. I spent most of the day acting like a goon playing with kids and then the rest of the time getting to know the pastor, alfonso. I could tell he was tired and just bummed about a lot of things so i spent most of the time attempting to encourage him in the work he is doing. Also, Awesome freaking news!!! 8 people came to know Christ today. More family members. Always something to rejoice over.
 
3. some events from this last week that moved me to worship…

Conversing with Williams about how he spent his entire life denying the existence of God until 5 years ago and everything is different. “I have joy now.” those were the simple words he used to sum up the transformation Christ is continually doing in his heart. Amazing. Conversing with Mickey, who used to worship Satan, he told me, but his life has completely been turned upside down when he encountered the Gospel. Praise God that he has total dominion over the enemy. Getting to counsel Richmond with my friend Marco about his recent divorce that his wife filed on. Learning that it is often better to just listen.  Sharing my testimony (in Spanish) in different community groups in comas, peru. Sitting in a meeting for 5 hours with the pastors of the church in comas and observing them as they all strive together in unity for the sake of the gospel. There are SO many different things I could share with you about this past week and a half, but I really need to get back to studying and preparing. I look forward to updating you all in person in the near future. Please pray that I would finish this race strong. Please pray that every moment would be used to magnify the glory of God. And pray that my friends will recognize me when I return, simply because of all the weight I’ve put on. Haha. Love you guys and I am thankful for each one of you. Thank you again for everything. 

In Christ and for his glory,
Bubba