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

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