20 people who have influenced and encouraged us in missions

With everything progressing so fast it is a good time to pause and reflect on how God brought us to this point. We leave in a few months for Costa Rica. God has used so much to confirm our calling to Peru including His Scriptures, His planting the inward burden and desire to go, His providence of events, His raising up senders to hold the rope, His answering of prayers and His people to encourage us. Although God is the One who has influenced and encouraged us the most and we are utterly dependent on Him alone; the means that He uses to accomplish His purposes are many times His people. Here are 20 people that God has put in our life to confirm our calling and encourage us so much. There are many more people who have helped and encouraged us so please don’t feel bad if I did not mention you, forgive me, have grace and mercy. Here are a few in alphabetical order.

Cobeaga, Kristin
Kristin is Kim's sister and was one of the first people we told about our decision to move to Peru and God used her to confirm our calling. She said she always knew this would happen; she was just waiting to see when. Kristin was our first financial supporter and has done nothing but support us in every way with everything she has. When we found out that she set aside one day a week to fast and pray for us in the mission field we were very humbled and grateful. When we have people like Kristin back home praying for us continually we feel we have a great intercessor pleading for us.

Crusch, Marvin
Marvin is a man of prayer and faith. He has encouraged us so much in our call to missions. He continues to be a mentor to me in his prayer life and we know we can always count on Marvin in the mist of deep trials to be interceding on behalf of our family.

Davis, Matt
Matt and his wife Evie are our amazing partners in our move to Peru. They will move and work along side of us and we will bear each others burdens. They have been more of an encouragement to us than words can say. We are so thankful to God that He has raised up such a like-minded couple to spend their lives laboring in Peru with us. Matt and I are so like-minded in theology and everything else that we continue to sharpen and challenge each other. Matt has humbled me many times when I look at his extremely fast spiritual growth and his longing for holiness. God is so good to bring us together.

Doherty, Dennis and Lynn
My dear parents. They have always supported me in everything in my life. All the crazy adventures and plans I made growing up where accompanied by the support of my parents. Even when they don’t understand what I’m thinking (like moving my family 5600 miles away to a poor country for the rest of our lives) they always trust my decisions and give their full support. They have modeled love and support to me their whole lives. Their love and support has made this move much easier.

Doherty, Kimberly
Mi querida esposa. Without my dear wife fully supporting me, we could never go to the mission field. She has encouraged me and took my burdens in tough times and continues to bring me joy in our marriage. Through the good times and bad, trials and tribulations, riches and soon to be poor, easy and hard times of life I can always count on my wife to hold fast and endure. I take much joy in watching God change and conform her.

Doherty, Mark
My brother Mark is always an encouragement as I watch God work in his life. He has been very supportive and encouraging as we prepare to leave. He will also encourage us much in the field as he and his wife Chantel come to visit us. Chantel also has been very encouraging to us as we see God doing amazing things in her life and growing her very fast in Christ.

Dummermuth, Drew
Our friends and neighbors at Holter. Drew and his wife Kelly were one of the first people to encourage us to press on toward the mission field and they did this before we even told anyone that we were going. They have always been supportive of missions and have continually prayed for us.

Gammarra, Walter
Our dear Peruvian brother that we will labor with as we plant churches in Peru has encouraged us so much. Walter and his new wife Evita have grown dear to us since the time we spent together in Peru. Walter’s dedication to Jesus Christ and his love for people is a model to us. His patience in our language failures has encouraged us not to give up. We look forward to returning to Peru to labor with our dear friends for the sake of Jesus Christ and His glory.

Nuestro querido hermano peruano que nos plantaremos las iglesias con él en el Perú, nos ha animado mucho. Walter y su nueva esposa Evita han crecido querido para nosotros desde el tiempo que pasamos juntos en el Perú. El dedicación de Walter a Jesucristo y su amor por la gente es un modelo para nosotros. Su paciencia en nuestros fracasos del idioma nos ha animado a seguir aprendiendo. Esperamos poder volver a Perú a trabajar con nuestros queridos amigos por Jesucristo y de su gloria.

Hall, Jordan
As far as sending missionaries goes, Jordan Hall is the John Piper of Montana. I have never known or even heard of someone like Jordan or his church. He has encouraged and supported us so much that if I told you, you would never believe us. All the glory goes to God though. Jordan is so selfless and has such a burden for the glory of God in the nations that he leads his flock in unheard of biblical stewardship and gladly gives a majority of his church’s budget to missions. He said that he loses sleep at night sometimes because of his burden to provide our needs. Every time I am overwhelmed by Jordan and his church, Fellowship Baptist in Sidney Montana, new ideas on how to support us, they totally blow me out of the water at their newest plan. God is using Jordan and his church in such a mighty way that it would almost be scary to look into the future at what God will do in Sidney.

Hyatt, Mike
Mike Hyatt is the pastor of Calvary Baptist in Helena and has encouraged me by sharing the gospel in the streets of Helena with me but has encouraged us even more as we go to the mission field. He sacrifices what little a pastor makes to send us to Peru. This is true biblical character and stewardship. It is also very humbling and shows me the high bar of stewardship that we must uphold ourselves.

Ibanez, Ruben and Deb
These are our friends who are missionaries in southern Mexico to an unreached tribe of people in the jungle. God providentially brought us together and even though we have never met, we have got to know each other very good by email. They have already gone through much of the trials on the mission field that we will go through and we have learned many things through their experiences. They are so sound in doctrine and so sold out for Christ that we are brought down very low in light of them.

Jackson, Rob
Rob Jackson is my pastor and has mentored me ever since I arrived at Wolf Creek. I came as a new Christian and Rob has mentored, discipled, and encouraged me so much over the years. I would have never preached if Rob never encouraged me to do so and continued to open up the pulpit for me any time I wanted. God has used Rob to give me a passion for missions and I look forward to that day in August when he prays over my family and commissions us to a life of missionary work in Peru.

Killillay, Tim
My dear brother in Christ, Mr. Killillay, has encouraged us so much. God brought us together for the purpose of sending both our families together to Peru. Tim’s faith and zeal for God has spurred me on over the years. Whether sharing the gospel on the street or talking for endless hours about theology, Tim and I have been able to sharpen each other. It was Killillay that God used to first plant the burden for Peru in me.

Kerttula, TJ
TJ is my friend and brother in Christ that God ordained to encourage me in evangelism. I shared the gospel in Helena alone for quite a while but then it pleased God to give me partners, TJ being one of them. TJ’s boldness in sharing the gospel is humbling and encouraging. He gets me fired up to proclaim the gospel whether the people hear or not. TJ is also very like-minded with me in mission’s philosophy and has been encouraging our family to go ever since I told him.

Moyer, Joseph
Joseph Moyer is the preaching elder at Westside Baptist in Great Falls. I first met Joseph at Wolf Creek’s men’s conference. After talking to Joseph at the conference about Peru, he was very interested immediately about the work we would do. He set us up with a great man named Scott Dollar who does mission work in Peru. Joseph and his church continue to support and encourage us continually.

Robinson, Rick
God saved me in Clinton, MT under pastor Rick. I had countless questions and struggles before God saved me and Rick patiently answered them all. Rick’s church, Clinton Community, was one of the first churches to invite us present our ministry and commit to supporting us. Rick has always opened his pulpit up to allow me the privilege of preaching to his flock.

Savidge, Craig
Kim’s parents, Craig and Carol, have encouraged and supported us so much. They were one of the first people we told about our move to Peru and they were so excited for us. Their faith and stewardship is humbling to us and they have set a high standard for us to follow.

Sills, David
David Sills is a professor at Southern seminary and by God’s providence we were brought together. David was a missionary in Ecuador for many years and has been mentoring us through the whole process of preparing for Peru. He also introduced us to Walter Gamarra in Peru, who we will work with. The first time I called David, I didn’t think someone of his stature would give us the time of day but I was wrong. We talked for a while and I think he was more excited that we called him. He has taken so much of his time to help us and encourage us that we know it is from God that we met. We will continue to work with and take guidance from David.

Swider, Nick
Nick Swider is a man of faith and ever since we made a commitment to God to only ask Him in prayer for our needs and not solicit money from people, Nick has spurred us on. When the world told us we couldn’t do it, Nick encouraged us that God could. When Christians said we couldn’t raise support that way, Nick rebuked them and said that God could. Nick was right and he continues to model faith to us.

Wallace, John
Our dear friends from Big Timber, the Wallace’s are a great blessing. John is the pastor of Abundant Grace church in Big Timber. I met him only this year but we sure made a great connection. We are so like-minded in everything and John has been a great mentor to us. John is one of those few people that I feel I can go to with any problem. John actually studied Spanish at the same language institute in Costa Rica that we are going to in August. Whether it is talking about God and theology for hours or bearing each others burdens, the Wallace family are God ordained people that we will continue our friendship on this earth until we die. I am continually trying to get the Wallace’s to join us in Peru but have not convinced him yet. I guess that is God’s job anyway, but you never know what Providence will bring.

We also want to thank everyone that is not on this list that has encouraged us. God has pressed upon so many of you to send us money, to pray for us and encourage us with kind words. Thank you so much for following God’s leading.

Orphanage in Guadalajara, Mexico

Mexico is home to over 1,600,000 abandoned and orphaned children. This means that about 15% of the minor population (ages 0-17) are orphaned. The majority come out of extremely abusive and neglectful backgrounds, and often end up in children's homes with scars, burns, undernourishment, and emotional trauma. While many of these "orphans" still have parents who are living, they are truly fatherless in the sense that they have been neglected or abandoned by their parents and forced into children's homes. Thankfully, there are some Christian people who show the love of Jesus by taking them in and teaching them the Word of God. We have therefore resolved to use our mission, influence, and support to help those orphanages who are worthy of our support.

Joseph Urban is a Christ-Exalting missionary in Gaudalajara, Mexico.  I have been following his updates for a while now and I am so encouraged by his faithfulness to preaching the word for the glory of God in the streets of Mexico.  He has also started a church and is now, by the grace of God, starting an orphanage.  Here is some information from his website.

By the grace of our great God, we are now in the plans of starting a small orphanage in Guadalajara. This has come about by miraculously answered prayers and by God’s miraculous provision for a house.  Read about this here.

Ministry Resolutions

To do all that we do for orphans in the name of Jesus Christ to the glory of God. This is not a humanistic effort to simply ease human suffering, as bad as it may be, but this is a mission to glorify Jesus Christ.
- To promote the truth of God's Word to orphaned children, recognizing that teaching the Word of God and preaching the Gospel is far more important than caring for physical needs.
- To only support Christian orphanages and children's ministries which are actively training their children in the ways of the Lord.
- To give 100% of what is donated for orphans to the intended recipient(s). We will keep nothing for administrative or maintenance costs.

Our current plan is to take in the first children in June if the Lord wills. The children we will be taking, at least initially, are already at the other orphanage, and we have been given the privilege of choosing which ones to take. We are not sure yet as to all of the children we will take, but have so far decided to take in two boys who are brothers as the first ones.

To find out how you can help the orphans in Guadalajara and this God-glorifying missionary, check out his website here.

Below is a video of Joseph and Lina's work with orphans in Tijauna, Mexico.

Dead Pope performs miracle?

The country of Peru is under the bondage of the unbiblical teachings of the Catholic Church, which is one reason we are going to Peru.  The below article speaks for itself.  If this wasn't a major religious system, the person that made these claims would be thrown in a mental hospital.

Peru’s president Alan Garcia: Beatified pope’s first miracle is ridding world of Bin Laden

MAY 3, 2011

The death of Osama Bin Laden may have been carried out by American special forces, but they were helped by a miracle performed by the late Pope John Paul II, according to the president of Peru, Alan Garcia.

The 61-year-old, currently serving his second stint as leader of the South American country, believes it was no coincidence that the al-Qaeda leader was found and killed on the same day that the former pope was beatified in a ceremony at the Vatican. The pope died six years ago, in April 2005, and this past Sunday, May 1, he was beatified, the third of four steps to be declared a saint.

Garcia, who has been president since 2006, told a TV station in Peru: "I have said that his first miracle has been to remove from the earth this demonic incarnation of crime, evil and hatred."

John Paul's successor, Pope Benedict XVI, personally declared him "blessed" - one step below sainthood - on Sunday. His beatification, just six years after his death, is one of the quickest in centuries and came after he was credited with a miracle by the Catholic Church, which decreed that soon after his death he cured a French nun of Parkinson's disease.

Beatification (from Latin beatus, blessed) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name (intercession of saints). Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process. A person who is beatified is given the title "Blessed".

Despite performing that miracle, John Paul cannot be elevated to the sainthood until he performs a second one. However, Garcia says the former pope has wasted no time in doing so and delivered Bin Laden into the hands of the Americans within hours of his beatification. 

From the Peruvian Times