Tomorrow begins another great adventure.
Myself, along with seven others from the Kershaw Baptist Association will be traveling to the Amazon river basin in Iquitos, Peru, to share the gospel with the Urarina people group and other tribes that live along the river. We will be visiting villages in which there are no churches as well as villages that have new believers that need basic discipleship.
I have been planning for this trip for several months: praying, getting shots, buying gear, paying for plane tickets and other trip costs. All of it has been building to this week. It seems as though the last few days have been rife with all sorts of distractions. We have had heat issues with that has taken three attempts to fix. We had a leak in the drain line to the washer which has caused damage to the floor in the kitchen and dining-room. Caroline has been sick all week with what the doctor is now calling the flu. While we haven’t had many members in the hospital yet this year, it seems like in the last few days we have had several all right in a row.
I could probably come up with any list of excuses right now that would say that it is not a good time to go to Peru. The only problem is that I know that God has called me to go on this particular trip. It is thousands of miles away and in a more remote location than I have ever gone before. Tomorrow I will leave and I really have no idea what to expect. I trust that God is going to provide for my family while I am gone. We are part of a wonderful church who has already poured out an immense amount of love and support. I trust that God is going to give me the words to share as I have opportunities to preach and minister in a foreign country in another language. I trust that God will multiply the work we do during this week for the eternity.
“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” Romans 10:14
“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me.’” Isaiah 6:8