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

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

like i mentioned in my last update, i had no idea what to expect once i arrived in lima. all i knew was that i would be spending time with a man named mario. all i knew about mario was that he was the president of the christian missionary alliance in peru (a family of churches in peru and throughout the rest of the world. i also knew that mario was wise, discerning, and that a good friend mine told me that if he could, he would wash dishes in marios house for a few months just to observe and learn from him. that is about all i knew.

i arrived at marios office wednesday afternoon and will admit that the first few hours were a bit awkward and hard to read. simply because mario cannot speak english and the spanish i have learned over the past month and a half can only get me so far in a conversation. after a little bit of down time, later in the evening we had the chance to sit down and talk for a few more hours. mario began tell me how excited he is to have me here. he began to tell me his story. how he came to know Christ when he was 16 and how he realized with full assurance his calling into full-time ministry. how through his time in ministry he was able to lead his mother, father, and a few siblings to Christ and even baptize them. he told me how his relationship had sparked with my faith family back in nashville when he was pastoring the church in comas. he also told me how after that he began to oversee all of the 58 churches in lima. and now how he oversees 372 churches in all of peru. he told me that he never expected any of this to happen to him, but everyday all he desired to do was draw near to the Lord in desperation for Gods glory to be revealed through his life. he told me that above all, if there was only one thing he wanted me to learn from my time with him, it is the importance of a daily relationship with God and of necessity continual seeking and striving to know him more.

he then began to tell me about his family. his smile and joy struck me like a contagious disease as he described each member in intimate detail. he then told me about how his wife, rosa, was diagnosed with cancer a few years back. he described how the first day he began his new role as president, it was also the first day rosa entered into chemotherapy. he vividly recalled the agonizing moments of difficulty he experienced as he attempted to support and encourage his wife through the immense pain she was facing on a moment by moment basis. he told me how every morning he would take care of every need his children needed (breakfast, clean clothes, having a devotional with them, etc) then he would have a devotional with his wife, work all day, come home, take care of his wife as she suffered the effects of her most recent chemo treatment, and somehow find time to sleep a few hours. still smiling, he tells me how thankful he is for the fact that his wife had gotten cancer. thankful? for cancer? i am not even thankful for the cold i received 2 weeks ago and this man is thankful for the cancer that was destroying his wifes body from the inside out. he then described to me with almost shouts of praise how much God has used this what was then devistating circumstance, for His ultimate glory. that God has used this situation to make each of his family members stronger and ultimately more dependent upon the Lord. and now, rosa, is free from cancer (praise God!!”$TG%EG$ $#W%Y# EG!) and continously is sharing her testimony of the miracle she has received through cancer and healing. that regardless if she had never received cancer, God is still God. he is unchanging. matchless. holy. sovereign. and uses every situation in our lives to glorify Himself and further his kingdom.

oh, that God would move us all to such complete dependence and ruthless trust. i was then reminded of a quote from david platt, “we are not saved by God to live in self-sufficiency. but we are saved by God to live in God-dependency.” mario is a man that loves his family and i am so thrilled to observe the way he affectionately loves his wife and kids through continous consistent investment in the person each one of them are becoming. all i can say is that after those 3 hours, i left the conversation a different man. praise God for the wisdom he filled my heart and head with that evening. it was then that i really began to understand why God had brought me to lima to work with Mario for 2 weeks. simply to observe. ask questions. lots of questions. seek wisdom from a man that loves the name of Jesus with everything that is in him. and just to be relationally invested in and guided by a man who is passionate about seeing the glory of God exalted in the church. oh praise God for giving me understanding in this conversation! even though i did not understand every word, i did understand the meaning and subject matter of every sentence. i cannot believe God has blessed me with learning spanish so quickly.

thursday through sunday we spent time traveling through central peru visiting different churches that mario oversees. it was an incredible trip filled with conversation, observation, worship, and many opportunities to just build the friendship between mario and myself. every car ride and moment of down time we were able to continue the conversation we had put on pause from the few hours before. it was awesome to again, just ask questions and learn. i loved the oppportunity to observe him as he preached and interacted with the pastors of each church he oversees. he is one of the most relationally wired human beings i have ever met. he pours himself into each pastor and supports them through investing in them relationally and supplying much biblical encouragement and counsel. it was cool to watch the way each pastor was uplifted by the words mario delivered to them and the respect they gave mario as well. i was moved to worship as i got to experience the mountainous region peru has to offer. i know i exclaimed before that the jungle experience i had in iquitos hurt my eyes through not wanting to blink because of the beauty i found myself immersed in, but that has absolutely nothing on what God blessed me to witness this past weekend. around every corner i expected the sights to somehow diminish in beauty, yet fortunately they did not. tons of massive green mountains. tons. it is almost as if when i blinked and reopened my eyes, more appeared. it reminded me of romans 2 where paul writes, “for his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly percived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” every blade of grass beckons the worship of our God as sovereign creator and sustainer. i had the privelage of traveling to oxapampa, pichinaki, villa rica and chanchamayo. side note: villa rica and chanchamayo are 2 of the main cities where coffee is produced in peru. so that was freaking awesome to walk through fields of coffee plants and see coffee co-ops where i think the coffee shop i work at in nashville receives its peruvian coffee from. yup, i am a nerd, but it was awesome.

also, mario asked me to share my testimony at each of the 3 churches we visited. at first i thought it was a cruel joke. then, realizing he was serious, i laughed, nervously, and immediately began praying for help. time began to share at the first church friday night…i started talking, somehow 7 or 8 minutes later, i finished. some people had blank faces and some were smiling and nodding there heads as if they understood. i asked mario if he could perceive at all what the heck i was saying, and to my surprise he told me “so so.” i was in shock! i know not every word was correct, and not every verb was conjugated perfectly, but God was able to communicate the message of how he reconciled me to himself through his son Jesus Christ. and some people were able to understand that. praise God for the fact that after a month and a half he has given enough knowledge to share my testimony in another language.

sunday night we arrived back in lima and i had the entire day monday to just rest. read. and rest some more. it was the first day in this entire trip where i could just have the time to myself. after much mental and physical exaustion, it was the perfect medicine for me. yesterday mario and i traveled 2 hours south to visit a pastor who is pastoring 2 churches right now. he is a man that is incredibly passionate about seeing the gospel come alive in peoples lives. he wants to see God transform every heart of every person in this world, he told me. it was a great time of conversation and i left feeling really encouraged by this man. also, in one of the cities he pastors in they are in the beginning stages of building a church. there was a group of people from england working who were all my age and more importantly it was a group of people who spoke english! haha in all seriousness, the first few minutes of conversation i found myself stumbling over words to say as if i had forgotten how to talk in my native tounge. it was great to hear some of their stories and how God had impacted their lives over the few months they had been in peru. overall it was a great day of conversation and provided more opportunities to learn from mario and other pastors.

so now it is wednesday, and i am not so sure what the rest of my time will look like in lima. other than the fact that i know much of my time will be spent with mario continuing to converse about God, our stories, families, and our desires to see God move in our lives. i am thankful for the opportunity to learn from a man that has been filled with much wisdom from God simply because he desperately seeks to find God. i am praying that God would use this time to continue to shape my heart and future as a man in life and ministry. i am praying that my time would somehow encourage mario in his walk with the Lord as well. and i am also praying for all of you, that you would as well, find people around you to be invested in by. God has created us for relationship. with himself and with one another. i pray you would invest in the people around you and ask questions realizing the need we have for more Godly wisdom in our lives, no matter the stage of life we find ourselves in. love you all and thank you again for your continous support. let me know how i can be praying for you.

OH! im glad to see jesus held off on the rapture for at least a little bit longer and allowed 2 huge events to happen this past weekend! congrats to 2 of my friends who got married! kenny and hilary davis. so excited for their future together. i wish i could have been there to celebrate with them. also, one of my bestfriends, mark mattingly, got engaged on saturday to an amazing woman, lindsay pritchet. again,cant wait to celebrate with them when i return. please pray for Gods blessing on all 4 of these people as they all move forward into new exciting and challenging seasons of life.

in christ ans for his glory bubba

saturday. i had the opportunity to preach again at the young adults service. the whole night was on prayer and intamacy with God. it was an incredible time to share with them what God has revealed to me over the past month as to what prayer is and some aspects as to why it exists. i shared with them that prayer must center around Gods glory and exists to proclaim the glory due his name. secondly when pray, we are asking for Gods will to be revealed in our life, not a christmas list of earthly comforts. we ask that our hearts would continually align with His. thirdly i told them the goal of prayer is communion with God. we need continous conversation that is not constricted by a ¨dear god¨ or ¨amen.¨ this produces trust and trust; relationship and relationship; intamacy. we were not made to be aquaintances with God, but to experience true and continuous fellowship. afterwards, the response God produced was incredible! God was moving in a way words could not do justice. for a solid 30 minutes some these young adults were on their face crying out to God. some in very deep thought and reflection. and some asleep. praise God for the maturation he did in all of our lives that night.

sunday. i had the opportunity to preach 4 times. again, i stress the fact that before coming here, i had no idea that they would ask me to preach so much. it has been unsettling, exciting, nerve racking, but above all, it has moved me to become dependent upon God in ways i had not experienced before. just another way, of the many, God has taken me out of my comfort zone and spured me to depend solely upon him. i taught out of romans 3:21-26. i would encourage you to read that scripture as it thoroughly walks a person through the heart of Christian faith. it is the presentation of the biblical gospel. on sunday, i attempted to walk through the biblical gospel and what a biblical response to the gospel looks like. i say with full assurance that i was in no way confident in myself after those messages. yet, i know with everything that is within me God moved in all of the services. i was reminded that his word never returns void and that the gospel is incredibly good news to a hopelessly sinful humanity. i am so stoked to tell you that 8 people (that i know of) came to faith in Christ on sunday. we have some new family members brothers and sisters. wishing we could all kill the fattened calf together right now and start partying together. however, i´m sure God was having a good time for all of us. praise God for the fact that every person he saves is another story of blessed defeat.

anyways, back to the story about comas and what the heck i am doing here. i arrived here on monday, with honestly no idea what to expect. i showed up greeted by my friend marco (he is the pastor to the young adults at another church that Fellowship is partnered with) and also by Angel (who is the pastor of the church in comas, peru). immediately, like most peruvians do, they made me feel right at home with their contagious joy and continous encouragement. i found out when i arrived that i would be staying here till wednesday. i preached for a short time tonight and got to spend most of the day with the pastors of the churches in comas during a meeting they had. it was a wonderful to just be apart of meeting where i witnessed a bunch of men strive together to pursue unity as they move forward in Godly and biblical leadership of the church. thankful for the fact that God was able to put some faces to all the names i had heard about for so long here in comas. my time in comas has been incredibly blessed (included getting to have papa johns and starbucks, which, when all i have had is nescafe for a month, was actually pretty good…sorry jamie) and i wish i could stay longer, however, tomorrow, i am leaving for south peru with the president of the christian missionary alliance here in peru. i am so excited for the new experiences God will provide and yet another day of not having any idea of what i am doing, but being moved to ruthless trust in a sovereign God and constant dependence on a faithful savior. the same exact place i pray all of us would be in in every moment of our lives.

 in Christ and for his glory, bubba

Life long memories which occurred this week…

1. On Saturday I traveled with about 30 young adults to a camp where we ended up swimming (I almost drowned a kid, full story needs to be told in person. Needless to say, it was not my finest moment haha), playing futbol, (which quickly turned into mud futbol as it rained for a solid hour and a half. This was definitely one of the funnest experiences I’ve had since arriving here. Oh and I scored 3 goals!! NBD), and just had a ton of time to hang out and play together with the young adults. I had the chance to spend a lot of time with a 20 year old named erwin. Erwin grew up in the church, “accepted” christ when he was young, and continued in casual christianity up until 4 weeks ago. He said for the first time he actually had a passion for God and a desire to know more of this God he had heard so much about for the past 20 years. He told he that Christ has transformed his entire life in the past 4 weeks as he has truly began to realize what it really means to follow christ. Once again, I am beyond thankful for the relationships God has formulated between myself and the young adult group. One aspect about the young adults i have noticed is they definitely have a lack of leadership, which I am searching out as many opportunities as God provides to help guide the potential leaders of the group with biblical wisdom. I often find myself frustrated in these moments because of the inconsistencies they exude and then I realize that they, like myself, are a work in process. I am praying for grace to lead in my every conversation with each leader.

2. Yesterday I had the opportunity to travel about 30 minutes into the jungle to spend the day and night with the yagua tribe. The group I came to Iquitos with last year got to spend a few days with the Yaguas. One day for a church service the other was for a wedding. It was the first time anyone in their tribe had ever gotten married. It was such a cool experience watching a people desire to honor God more with their lives in obedience of His word. As they desired to meet God on His terms and not on their own. All that to say, it was incredible to see some old friends. The time with the Yaguas was filled with a lot of playing and goofing around with kids, long conversations with Ricardo, (the tribe leader/pastor who got married last year), getting attacked by a bat while in the bano, preaching last night on the cost of discipleship and the great reward we have in God, and a 5 am devotional. I am excited about the contiuation of the relationship with this tribe. I was blessed to be apart of what God is doing in and through the believers amidst this group of people.

3. I have the opportunity to preach this next sunday during all 3 services at church. I am so excited about this opportunity but i am also incredibly scared of this opportunity. I trust God will show up and that His spirit will move. I am praying for His word to be stewarded well and that his word would be the foundation upon which every word that flows from my mouth. As I observe and ask people in the church I can’t help but get the feeling that some of the people have come to God on their own terms and are committed to a somewhat shallow gospel. Not most of the people, but some. And in this past week, i continue to find myself immeresed in romans 3. What God has exposed to me through romans 3 is not a shallow gospel at all. It is not just a gospel that reveals  that God loves us and has a wonderful plan for our life. It reveals that and so much more. It presents a God centered gospel that revolves around the glory of God displaying His righteousness through doing what no person ever could. The glorious impossible. In Romans 3 we see Gods grace towards humanity and justice towards sin collide on the cross and in his righteousness he justifies all who place their faith in Christ for the glory of His name. I pray we would progress in our faith as we begin again with the gospel. That we would be satisfied and sustained by the Gospel. That this community would fall more in love with the Gospel on a daily basis. Please pray along with me as God prepares me for this hefty task.

There are a number of other events that took place this week that have left me in awe of Gods goodness but at this moment in time, they are escaping me. Much love brothers and sisters. Know that I am thankful for each and every single one of you. For your prayers, letters of encouragement, and your desire to know how everything is going here. I look forward to sharing with you news about the rest of the week. Also, please pray for the second part of this journey as I head to Lima next monday to begin my travel time with Mario. Pray that God would multiply my rest and my Spanish vocabulary and more excuses as to why i don’t want a Peruvian esposa to combat all the flack I’m getting from the pastor here.

In Christ,
Bubba

so this being my third week into this adventure, i definitely feel like i have grown more accustomed to the culture here in iquitos. things such as… riding on the back of a motocyle while going 80 kmh during pouring down rain, peoples attempts at ripping me off simply because i am a gringo, the fact that everyone here in iquitos laughs when i introduce myself (i just found out that bubba in spanish means spit…real cool.), and continuous conversations with some of the most compassionate and loving people on the face of the planet. it is going to be very hard to tell you just a few of the amazing experiences i had this past week. but, here it goes…

last thursday, i found myself at pretty much the lowest and highest points of my trip. i did not have much to do in the morning and so i spent most of it reading and doing some prep work for preaching on saturday. up until this point in my trip, i had spent a lot of my days wondering if i was doing enough or even if the Lord had been doing anything through me. i was entertaining lies. the enemy had continued to create thoughts and lies of insecurity in my mind. everyday i had been directing my mind and heart to scripture to ground my self in truth and had desperately been seeking the Holy Spirit for comfort. thursday morning, these thoughts continued to surface and i had had enough. i sat down and journaled out all of the lies that the enemy had been propelling my thoughts to and i affirmed the actual truth with scripture and the experiences God had given me thus far. can i just say it was the most free i had felt since i arrived in peru. i was reminded of a quote that a pastor at my church said one sunday, he said, (i wish during my engagement experience with my wife, i would have spent more time just enjoying the process, rather than just worrying the whole time if i was doing everything right.) no, do not worry, i am not engaged. but in a sense, this quote directly spoke to me simply because i had been worrying so much if i was actually doing enough, rather than just simply enjoying the process of transformation God was doing in my heart and in those around me. after asking the Lord to reveal how that truth could be applicably be lived out it was one of the most humbling yet, comforting truths i have learned since being here. it was then that i really began to understand that this trip is not about me. it was then that i began to really come to grips with the concpet that life truly is not about me, but the glory of God. and i was then reminded of romans 12 where paul writes, (let love be geniune. abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good. love one another with brotherly affection. outdo one another in showing honor. do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer). it was one of those aha moments. where something you know in your head, becomes a reality in your heart. my role in coming here was simply to serve this community for the sake of the Gospel. and i have been doing that day in and day out. and i realized it was also okay for me to look at my experience and rejoice in what God was doing in my heart! i know that sounds silly, but it was such a freeing realization. i realized with my heart that it is true, like what john piper has said, (God truly is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him.)

i want to encourage you in this moment, to sit back and do the same in your own life. i pray that you would not let your life be defined by what you are doing and the hustle and bustle you fill your days with, but by the relationship you have with the Lord. that is our purpose and everything else around us that we engage with flows from that. and i pray that you would enjoy the status of a son or daughter of God, and not come to him like a hired servant.

after experiencing this realization, i wish i could say that everyday has been perfect since, but that would be a lie. i am glad they have not been perfect actually, because i am finding out truly what it means that Gods strength is made perfect in my weakness just as paul says in 2 corinthians. i tell you that after having this experience, my heart has been at peace because of the truth God has overwhelmed me with. He continues to provide strength that i do not have in and of myself. i have had some of the most rich and worship filled moments in the word over the past 5 days.

other moments that have moved me to worship.

1. on thursday afternoon i got to sit down with the leadership of the young adult group at the church and begin a study on discipleship. my translator failed in showing up for the study, however, it was amazing to see how God is truly able to speak through language barriers as i sat there and told them where to turn in their bibles and made what ever comments i conjur up in spanish and when they did not understand my words, i began to act it out. (you are all going to want me on your charades team when i get back, because i must say, i have gotten pretty freaking good at it). it was amazing to see this group of young leaders really begin to grasp the concept of biblical discipleship. please pray for them as they continue to grow in maturity and that their hearts would truly recognize the greatest need this world is discipleship.

2. i had the opportunity to preach saturday night to the young people and sunday morning at a sister church close to the one i am working at. the sister church is one that i went to visit last year along with my group and it was a great experience to see some familiar faces. sunday morning i quickly attached myself to raul, a man in his late 60s with a smile that could possibly make anyone in a room fill up with joy. he said he remembered the group from tennesse from last year and that it was good to see me again. i told him i was there by myself this time, and he quickly told me i was not. i was perplexed for a moment and he reminded me, Jesus es siempre con tu (Jesus is always with you). i already knew it was going to be a good morning, but this took it to a new level. i sat back and assured him how comforting it is to know that we have not been left as orphans, but that Christ through his spirit is always with us. raul proceeded in leading worship to myself and about 25 others in this church with about half of a roof covering us. i attempted to try and help raul keep tempo by clapping along with him, but i could do no good as he jumped around with joy, contiunosly changing tempos and singing, or attempting to at least, as maybe 50% or so of the notes were somewhat correct. i must say, it was one of the coolest worship experiences i have ever had. i  then got up to preach, knowing that the Spirit was there, and that it was all in the Lords hands. the Lord had laid the passage of the prodigal son on my heart continuously since i got here. being that this community is heavily influence by catholicism and works bases salvation. a lot of christians in the community still struggle with this having to work for the lords blessing mindset. however, it was incredible to point them to the truth that we have been adopted into Gods family and that we have been justified by grace alone, through faith alone, in christ alone. that we have the status of sons, but the mindsets of hired servants. God did some cool things in that service as i could defintely feel the weight being lifted off some of the peoples shoulders. what a cool opportunity. so stoked about that time. as soon as i finished that service i hopped on the back of my friend joses motobike and we took off for the church i normally work at, where i play guitar on sundays. i was stoked to get to the other church simply because this morning we were having baptisms! 13 young people got baptized. freaking awesome. one of which was my friend gret, who i told you about in my prior email. it has been amazing watching how the Lord has grown our friendship over the past couple of weeks.

3. yesterday, i went to the (beach) here with the pastor, his wife, roberto, his wife, some of their friends and then my friends gret and keyser. it was an incredible chance to just play and have fun with my peruvian family. and let me say, they have literally become family. i have already started calling them mama and papa. as i sat by the water conversing with roberto about his story and how he keeps up with so much work (he pastors a church, works a full time job, and is working at the church i am working at most days of the week). i am learning a lot about biblical manhood as i oberseve Christ likeness displayed in this mans every action. while sitting there, a man selling popsciles hands me one, and says that your friend has paid for it. i look back and see nancy waving at me with a giant smile on her face. the popscicles here are literally one of my favorite things in the world and the pastors wife, nancy, had paid for one and sent the man over to me to give to me. this simple act of kindness and caretaking can somewhat sum up my experience thus far. i was almost drawn to tears and i just sat there and thanked the Lord for the amazing family he had provided me with during this experience. roberto, his wife sonja, the pastor esteban and his wife nancy have taken such good care of me. i have seen Christ exemplified in their lives on a consistent basis and my attempts to describe my interactions would not be sufficiently adequate with words. we have laughed a ton, shared our stories, and i have learned a lot from these people.

these are just a few of the experiences in the past week that have transformed my heart. i am so thankful for this opportunity to be here and am full of confidence that the Lord is at work in and through me. i am thankful for the points of brokeness because they have made me trust in the Lord only that much more. I know that i will not see the fruit of me being here for 2 months in the lives of the people here, but i know God is producing fruit in my own life as he teaches me about patience, dependence, trust, and humilty. praise Him for the relationships he has formulated and been at work at in only way He could do. i am eager and excited about trusting Him and seeing Him move throughout the rest of this journey. also, i had no idea i would be preaching a lot while being here, but starting on saturday the 7th, my schedule looks like this…saturday night preaching to the young adult group at teh church, sunday morning preaching to another sister church in iquitos, monday i leave to go spend 2 days with the yagua tribe which is about an hour boat ride into the jungle where i will be preaching once (the yaguas are the tribe we got to work with last year, so i am real excited about this opportunity), i preach wednesday night at the church i work at, then saturday to the young adults again, and then sunday the 15th i preach at all 3 services at the church i am working at. so it is definitely a lot. i am excited about depending upon the Spirit and stewarding the word of God. please pray for strength, clarity in my messages, and that God would be glorified through the teaching of his word. then on the 16th i leave for lima to meet up with mario to begin my 2 week travel period with him where i will be assisting him and learning from him as we visit multiple churches in south peru. mario is the president of the christian missionary alliance in peru, so it is such a cool opportunity to serve the Lord through serving him and learning a lot about his life and the CMA as a whole.

i am surprised if you are still with me. regardless, thanks for your prayers, encouragement, and your journey with me! i love you all. also, please keep my health in prayer as i have come down with a cold today. thanks again for everything friends and family.

in christ and for his glory,
bubba

the 3 days in the jungle were exausting, amazing, challenging, sweaty, and above all God glorifying. we ended up having a conference at the village we spent the weekend with where about 200 people gathered (some people from the tribe and the rest from the church in iquitos). the weekend was filled with a ton of futbol (which, yes, i am still terrible at. and the peruvians love pointing that out), food, a wedding (yup, my 2nd wedding to attend in the middle of the jungle), baptism of new believers (freaking awesome), worship, and a lot of teaching. one of the coolest aspects of the weekend was the fact that a couple of the stand out leaders in the young adult group came on the trip (alber, gret, caesar, jose, carla, and a few others). it was a great opportunity for our relationship to grow as the trip provided much time for laughter and conversation. i thought i was going to be preaching 4 times, but it it only ended up being twice. i was super stoked about the opportunity to steward Gods word and proclaim it to such a large group of people in such a memorable environment. of course, i was nervous because of the translator barrier, but i was looking forward to experiencing a demonstration of the Spirits power. the pastor asked me to share what it means to be a disciple and what biblical discipleship is. like i said, i was stoked. round one comes up and i stand up in the front of this makeshift pavillion with palm tree leaves as the roof, (may i remind you that i am in the middle of the jungle and i have beautiful scenery ALL around me), and not even 2 minutes into the sermon a woman about 3 rows back, dead center, plops out her uhhuh (sorry for tmi) and starts breastfeeding her infant. i laugh. almost stop mid sentence to make light of the situation, like (you really think he is that hungry, RIGHT NOW?). then i silently told myself, (not i, but christ). i again, silently laughed, at my sarcasm of course, and continued on. on a serious note, i am so thankful for the opportunity to share what God had laid on my heart about discipleship. i reminded the people that being a disciple requires radical abandoment and great cost, yet we are radically dependent upon Gods grace throughout the process, which yields a great reward in our lives. we get God. a real, living, and intimate relationship with God. thankfully, no children were hungry during the 2nd sermon. i shared with the peruvians that through making disciples we must share the word, show the word, and teach the word. i insisted that discipleship is the greatest need in the world and that we are building people, not an institution. let me tell you, i did not feel confident in myself at all after sharing both of these messages. it truly was of those times i had to completely depend upon the spirits work in and through me to proclaim the word. after the 2nd sermon, my friend gret wanted me to pray for him, simply because he desired more fellowship and intimacy with the Lord. i am thankful for a God that desires intimacy with us and is strong when we are weak. i am also thankful for the word, an amazing faith family that is fervently praying for me and supplying me with resources to teach on, and also for other sermons in which helped provide useful tools for the teaching. overall, the weekend truly was a blessing. i am thankful for what the Lord taught me and the relationships he built with the community i find myself immerssed in at this moment.

other moments this past week that will forever be engrained on my heart…conversation with alicia over lunch as she confessed that everyone in her family has decided to pursue the world rather than Christ, conversation with piedro (a 17 year old boy in the youth group) about his parents divorce and the hope we have in Christ as our foundation of life. playing tag with about 30 kids in the jungle (somehow, they always thought i was it). having dinner with daniel and his family last night and they continued to tell me how grateful they were that i was apart of their community. praying over a woman who was having a lot of trouble breathing out of her nose on saturday and then asking her how she felt on sunday and she smiled contagiously and pointed to her nose and then gave me a thumbs up. sharing ephesians 2 8 with a catholic girl today at joses school and seeing her ponder for a bit about what that meant. we serve a great god who graciously meets us right where we are.

so i am 13 days into this journey and i have to be honest…this has been truly 13 of the most blessed, challenging, worshipfilled, and humbling days of my life. i am blessed as i continually am being stretched by the Lord in new ways as i depend more and more with each new day that comes. i am challenged simply because of the lack of verbal communication i am able to have in most of my interactions with those around me. i am learning that God has the ability to move despite language barriers. i am challenged in learning that this is a different culture, in that their value of time and sense of urgency is quite different. praying for patience and grace to lead my every thought and action. i am challenged because of the lack of comfort and not having any of my friends from back home here with me. but i am thankful that God has not called us to comfort but to a cross and that he does not leave us as orphans but provides his spirit to depend upon. i find myself distracted sometimes as i miss aspects of home, but then quickly remind myself to be where i am. in fact, every morning, i write on my hand (be where you are) as a constant reminder to give everything i have to the people in this community. i am humbled simply because i do not know how to even respond in most situations except pull out my dictionary and say gracias para tu paciencia (even you can tell what that means). i am moved to worship because of the way i have experienced Gods strength during my weakeness and desperation. i am moved to worship because of the relationships i see Him at work in in building on a daily basis. i am in awe of Gods work so far and so thankful He has brought me to this place to be stretched and build a stronger relationship with our partner church here in iquitos.

please continue to be in prayer as i am consistently learning how to interact with this community, what my role is, and how to make most of every opportunity to share the Gospel in word and deed. pray for joses wife (i just found out through text message that she broke her leg earlier today), pray that i would continually be in a place of desperation for Gods presence, and also pray that i would get better at futbol just to avoid the mockery next sunday. thank you again for journeying through this trip with me. and also, next tuesday i will be online from about 2 to 6 and if you want to skype or get on facebook chat, that would be pretty awesome. also, i would love to hear about how life is going back in the states so please send me updates! thankful for all of you.

(so we do not lose heart. though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. for this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of lgory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal) 2 corinthians 4 16 to18.

for his glory,

bubba

also, i tried to attach a picture of some friends from this past weekend…hope it worked!

when i arrived in iquitos last thursday i was immediately greeted, well honestly tackled, by my good friend maykol. maykol is 27 and works as a translator for the international mission board. he spends weeks at a time with missionaries in the amazon jungle developing relationships with unreached people groups. maykol also served the group i came to iquitos with last year and translated for us and somehow was able to put up with our extreme sarcasm and lack of seriousness. it was truly amazing to see him again. he has an incredible heart for the gospel and for people of all nations to experience and proclaim the gospel.

initially i planned on sleeping at maykols house, however since he left for the jungle on saturday, they put me at robertos house. roberto was our driver last year and cannot speak a lick of english. however, he has a huge heart, is an incredible leader, and loves attempting to get me to say innapropriate things in spanish to women. as you can imagine, he and i have had a great time together. i have gotten to spend an abundant amount of time with the leadership of the church here in iquitos, which only gets me more and more excited about the partnership Fellowship has with them. it honestly just moves me to worship as i am currently apart of something God has totally pieced together without blemish. it is a comforting promise knowing that nothing will or can thwart Gods plan…in anything. it is evident that the church has such a heart for the lost in the community through the way they have such solid relationships with one another and continue to reach out to others in the community in attempts to form strong and lasting relationships with them. i have had a number of opportunities to get to know numerous amounts of people in the church as i have been invited to multiple homes to share meals with them.

3 things i have learned so far about the church. 1. they will not be satisfied with my stay in iquitos unless i leave iquitos with an esposa (wife). 2. they are positive that i will gain at least 20 pounds. 3. they are one of the tightest knit communities i have ever seen or been apart of before. they have such a desperation to see the gospel lived out in the way they experience community with one another. i am excited and humbled to be apart of that while i am here. i can already say that i will let them down with not being able or wanting to comply with number 1 and i am keeping my fingers crossed i do the same with number 2.

before arriving in iquiots one of the things i continued to pray for is that i would walk humbly with God (micah 6 and gah, God did not waste any time in humbling me. i have experienced my fair share of humbling and almost even unsettling moments as ive sat there with a blank face while the people around me converse crazily, quickly (they talk so fast here!), and LOUDLY and then they look at me almost expecting that i understood everything they said with complete clarity. praise God that after only 6 days, i am beginning to learn a little bit about the language and am able to have a very surface level conversation with any peruvian. i am so thankful for the patience of the people here. they are eager to teach me spanish and also very gracious when i butcher it. it{s amazing to witness a people that are so filled with Christ it pours out in almost every aspect of their lives.

one other aspect about the trip that caused a little bit of inseciurity for a while was my relationship with my translator, jose. i say that because during the first couple of days, he did not seem too stoked to run around with me all the time and translate for me. however, on sunday, i was able to spend all day with him and his family at the swimming hole here in iquitos. it was then that our friendship really sparked as i began to realize how much of a joker he is and then i realized how perfectly our sarcasm meshed with one another. game on. one of the many reasons i am excited about spending countless hours with jose is simply because he is one of the leaders of young adult group at the church. one of the reasons i am positive God has sent me to iquitos is to walk along side the young adult group and form a strong relationship with them as whole. i know God will use my friendship with jose to create a very special relationship between the church here in iquitos and with my church back in nashville as i learn more about how they are wired, what God is doing in their midst, and how we has a community can more faithfully serve them over time.

i had an awesome opportunity yesterday to go to work with jose and help him teach english to his students. he teaches at a tech school about 21 kilometers outside of the city. some of the students have been studying english for 2 or 3 years, yet there has not been a lot of progress it seems in their speaking abilities. as the class started i sat next to a boy named adrian. adrian is from the jungle, and to my surprise, he is from the tribe my group worked with last year during our time in Peru (the yaguas). only God does things like that. simply amazing. we began to converse quite a bit as i continued to speak in my broken spanish and he tried desperately to make some sense in english. it was an incredible opportunity to get to serve him for the 4 hours or so as we sat and worked on his english. however, before i knew it, the entire class, about 15 students, were sitting around me as i attempted to teach adrian. all of these students are studying english for the main purpose of becoming a tour guide in the jungle. i was humbled to be apart of this process to get to assit them as they progress in their english speaking abilities, knowing that if they do not learn the language adequately, they will have to resort to a lesser paying job. the highlight of my day was when i got to spend time with tony, a 23 year old man who spoke english well,  as they were taking me on a tour of the jungle. he attached himself to me and began asking me tons of questions about why i was there and if i could help him more with his english. tony had really impressed me earlier in the day as i noticed his leadership abilities and descent english speaking abilities. i later found out that tony was in school to learn english in hopes of being a translator for missionary groups one day. he spoke with such humility and geniuneness. we began to have great conversations about the Gospel and the transformation process that had occured in our lives because of Christ. amazing. one thing though, he does not know a lot about the bible, so i told him he and i were going to study together every monday after class. his eyes lit up and a contagious smile struck his face. i am so excited about this chance to be used by God to help train another believer in the study of the word of God.

finally, yesterday, i turned 23. this, by far, was the most interesting birthday i have had yet. about 15 of my friends in the young adult group came over to the house i am staying at to celebrate with me by eating A LOT, playing games, and again, helping me with my spanish. i have alreardy been so blessed by the relationships God has sparked up with the young adults. they made it a very special celebration for me. they even slammed my face in the cake after singing happy birthday. they really do know how to have fun. i am confident that God has already began working through me in a way that is hard to describe with words as he strengthens my relationships with the young adults daily.

through this experience thus far, my dependence upon the Lord for strength, wisdom, and guidance increases every day. i am beyond grateful that he somehow has chosen to use me in the place for his specific purposes. i have had so many incredible and rich times in the word and in prayer as well. i am thankful and humbled the Lord has called me to play here. it has only reinforced his promise that he takes the initiative to choose us, he empowers us to use us, and he gets all the glory through us. thank you for your prayers and support thus far. i look forward to updating you next week!

oh and also, please pray for me this thursday as i lead a group from the church out into the jungle for 3 days. i am preaching on discipleship and leadership to a few tribes. as of right now i am preaching 2 times on discipleship and 2 times on leadership. pray that i would depend completely upon the Spirit, that i would steward the word of God well, and that the people in the jungle would receive the word with clarity and understanding.

dios te bendiga (god bless you),
bubba

you are even more distracted by the interaction taking place about ten yards away as a father is having some bro-down time with his two year old son who, for the time being, will be named james. james is playing the role of a typical two year old boy in throwing rocks into the water, at various flying animals and even once at you, simply because you are large object and he thinks it’s funny. after 15 minutes of watching his son play, the bystander who also sometimes attempted at re-living his childhood by joining in the fun, james’ father, does not think this is actually all that enjoyable anymore. the dad patiently asks james to come walk with him so they can leave. his dad somehow expected james to leave the simple enjoyment he was experiencing to walk the rest of the trail around the lake with him. while james’ father now stands about 15 feet from his son waiting, james refuses. obviously, throwing rocks is a lot more appealing to the child than just walking around a large mass of water in the wilderness could ever be.

james’ father then notices a swirl of bees, a few feet away from his son, doing what bees do on some flowers by the waters edge. james’ father then realizes the bees are just another object in which james can use for target practice. he grasps the fact that…this is not good. he then urgently tells his son to leave and follow him. james again, refuses. this time his father yells to him to come along because if he stays he may get stung and that it is really going to hurt. once again…james denies his fathers advice.

the dad then briskly walks towards his son only to arrive about two seconds too late. crying and chaos then ensue. it was almost as if the bees heard everything the father was saying to his stubborn son and they wanted to add some comedic relief. however, the father, nor the son thought the bees were very funny.

the reaction of the dad is perfect. although he had just told his son exactly what was going to take place, he reaches down, picks up james for a bear hug, cradling the back of his head with his palm as they walk along the rest of the trail around the lake. the father continues to empathetically and lovingly encourage his son.

i can’t help but be moved to worship by this cheesy, yet truth bearing story God graciously  had allowed me to observe that one Sunday. is this not the exact picture God reveals to his children through scripture?

Proverbs 3:12 states, “for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.” the father knew what would become of james if he continued to stand next to the bees and therefore he urgently pleaded with his son to leave the dangerous situation. he wanted to see james exert discipline in obediently responding to his commands. james, a perfect picture of my life on a daily basis, decided to worship his control over the situation and apathetically ignore his fathers instructions. james then suffered the consequences of the ill fruit his actions produced. however, most would expect a father who is disappointed and frustrated because of the deliberate disobedience directed toward him by his son. yet, we see a father who comforts his son during anguish. God has given us “eternal comfort and good hope through grace” (2 thess. 2:16). God does not look down upon his children in shameful disgrace during their calamity, yet he looks to our advocate Jesus Christ who has presented us “holy, blameless, and above reproach before God” (colossians 1:22). when we are in a situation where we begin to take control and play the role of james rather than listening to our Heavenly Fathers guidance and discipline, we get hurt. not because God wants to see us in pain. He hurts with us. He gave His life for us so that we can experience one day a life that pain is unknown in (revelation 21: 4). when we are injured physically, emotionally, and/or spiritually because of some action we did that defies Gods desired direction in our lives and we come to him on our face in humble repentance, he’s waiting with open arms. the discipline carried out by the compassionate and loving God we serve is enveloped with grace and must be received with humility and produce dependency upon the Holy Spirit in which is the only place we can find the strength we need to persevere through discipline.

therefore, i want to encourage you with the knowledge that God is in control. He knows what’s best for you. regardless of your circumstance, whether it be times of painful affliction (like james experienced) or abundant reward, the best for you is conformity to Christ, humbly submitting to the authority God has over your lifer. God’s greatest desire in disciplining His children is that we look more like Jesus. david platt says, “we are not placed in situations based upon our ablilities, but in order to move us to more radical dependence upon God.” when we do disobey God when he is disciplining us (like james disobeyed his father), he will graciously forgive as we humbly repent.

usually, i am incredibly persistent at conjuring up next to impossible ambitions such as running a marathon or to consistently lift weights. ha. the only place i want to run is to the nearest whataburger and the only thing i want to spend any energy lifting is the # 1 with cheese that i can barely order due to a near lung collapse because of the previous running endeavor i had just completed.

nope, not this year. this year, 2011, i decided to actually make some goals i genuinely presupposed i could summon up the strength to see come to fruition. without further adeau and to keep you from passing out due to a fatal heart attack because of all the suspense i’ve created…here we go.

1. I want to read at least 1 book every 2 weeks.

if my mom ever reads this blag, i am sure she will end up in the previous mentioned state of being (in case you missed it…dead) due to such a shocking goal. she knows just as well as anybody i have the reading capability of a 2nd grader. and she will be the first to admit it too. however, it’s a new year, new you. am i right? my motivation for this goal lies in a few reasons, but all on the same path to achieving the same reward: wisdom. throughout 2010 i began to realize what my ignorant self had been missing out on in my previous 21 years of existence. i had missed out on a lot of good books. i have grown, matured, learned and attained more wisdom about the Lord and my relationship with him because of this realization. i am looking forward to what growth God will produce in me through the wisdom he imparts to me through Godly men and women authors.

(side note: books i read in 2010 that were amazing!! radical – david platt, forgotten god – francis chan, don’t waste your life – john piper.)

2. i will blog once a week.

i’ll be honest. out of all of my goals, i truly believe this will be my hardest one to accomplish. i am one of the most scatterbrained and forgetful human beings God has ever placed on the earth. i have always enjoyed writing. i am just not consistent with it. to add to the enjoyment aspect, i know writing has also produced other valuable attributes in my life. these traits include growth in the way i communicate and growth in my relationship with the Lord, because it does not cease to connect me to my identity, emotions and soul. then God, through the Holy Spirit begins to truly spotlight areas in my life He wants to dispose of or grow in me. maybe that is why i sometimes do not like to write because i like the way i am just the way i am. it is easy to be apathetic about movement and growth. however, this year, the boy that was in a mans body is dead and elementary concepts of my life and its purpose are bereft of life as well.

3. i will have a good grasp on graduate school in 3 months.

some of you may know, seminary lies ahead for me. if you didn’t know that, i am sorry you had to find out in such an impersonal sort of fashion. i came to nashville with big plans to work in the music industry. ha. God’s agenda has been much different. letting God actually have His way with you is one of the most incredible and uncomfortable actions to follow through with. His will will not be thwarted and there was nowhere i could evacuate from it. and. i. couldn’t. be. more. excited. praying for God’s direction as to where i will seek out wisdom and schooling on this endeavor. and i hope to find out the institution by mid march.

4. i will see the sunrise once a week.

yup. this is the one. best for last, right? as if you could not tell when you skipped over the title of this blag (i know you did not read it, and i am surprised if you have even made it this far), i really really really enjoy sunrises. waking up for the sunrise takes a lot of commitment, just like the rest of these other goals i’ve mentioned. i have to wake up early. again, i’m sure, if my mother isn’t in the ER already after number 1, she’s a goner now. i don’t think i saw the sunrise 1 time in high school. i was the kid walking into 1st period at least 15 minutes late. every. single. day. probably because i had just woken up 15 minutes prior.

as i’ve grown up and matured a little of the years, i’ve realized how foolish i had been by letting so much time go to waste. i am grateful for God’s grace in revealing to me areas of my life i needed lay at the foot of the cross. one of those is sluggardness. over the past 4 months i have strived to become more of a morning person. over the past 4 months, my mornings have produced more valuable moments with the Lord than any sleep could ever amount to.

i am stoked for 2011. i am excited to experience growth. wisdom. maturity. love. provision. all from and rooted up in the Creator himself. i’ll leave you with what He blessed me with this morning. feel free to post your resolutions if you’d like.

In Christ.