Monday, May 26, 2014

A Great Response

The response to the gospel at the medical campaign in Simataucca was outstanding. We have four pages of people who want house visits to know more about Jesus. The people had little or no understanding of the gospel. Praise God.  However, now the real work begins.  We will start visiting the village soon and see how God is working.
 




 

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Medical Campaign in Simatauca

Last week we spent some time in Simatauca, the Quechua community where we are building our house. We were invited to their 24th anniversary celebration. We took advantage of it so that we could announce the medical campaign that we will have there this week. Our church is working with La Fuente clinic, which is a missionary medical clinic in Cusco. We have been friends with these doctors before we even arrived in Cusco. They offered to help us with the community through this medical clinic. Medical clinics are great for building relationships and trust to introduce the biblical gospel for the first time. A team of doctors from Alabama have arrived and we will hold the clinic on this Wednesday and Thursday.
 
The community has a mixture of Catholicism and Andean beliefs, which is common amongst the Andean people.  Every since the Spaniards forced Catholicism on the Inca, the Quechua Indians adopted some of the Catholic beliefs to avoid being destroyed but they also kept many of their animistic beliefs. What has occurred is a complete syncretism of Catholicism and the Incan mythology. All kinds of Christian symbols and rites are used every year, but they only reflect the hidden Andean religious meanings. For example, praying to the Virgin Mary might satisfy Inti, the god of the Sun. Pachamama, the mountain god and god of earth, provides fields with fertility and allows the farmers to reap the blessings. Yet, on the top of that mountain that is worshiped is a wooden Cross—there to symbolize the blessing of Pachamama. There is very little distinction between the two religious systems and neither are the pure forms of what they were.
 
 
Everyone speaks Quechua and Spanish is their second language. We will have Quechua people there to help translate. Please pray for us and the doctors as we care for their physical needs and their spiritual needs by sharing the gospel with them. We are praying that God will work in at least one family that will be willing to start meeting on a regular basis to study the Bible. To our knowledge, the biblical gospel has never been preached here. 
 
 
 

Monday, May 12, 2014

The Mole

I recently received this short story from a friend of ours.  The story about missions was so amazing that I had to post it.  The young man who wrote it is only 11 years old.
 
 
The Mole
by Andrew Wallace
 
Deep below the areas where most stories take place, a humble burrow is our scene. In this burrow is a mole. He is named Scott.
 
One day Scott was expanding the master bedroom when he heard a noise. It was a funny clunking sound. Suddenly, a shovel broke through his ceiling and nearly hit him. Scott did not lose his wits for a minute. He leaped up and dug as fast as he could. Soon he was far away from the shovel.
 
He found himself in a new area. Scott set to work to make a new burrow. There now was a pantry, living room, dining room, and two bedrooms. Feeling very, very tired, Scott laid down in a moss bed and took a nap. When he woke up he dug a front door. Then he went up to see the neighborhood. He was surprised to see lots of holes all around.
 
So he went back into his hole and made a tunnel that led to one of the other holes. As soon as he did this he looked around the other hole. No one was there. Scott went into one of the bedrooms. There, coiled in a chair, was an adder! Now Scott realized what the holes were. They were the abandoned holes of moles. The adder had come and moved into the abandoned holes.
 
The snake raised its head. Scott ran out of the hole. The snake was on him in a minute. Scott grappled with the adder. Suddenly a part of the tunnel caved in on them. Scott saw the snake was gone. He crawled up into the open air. About three yards distant was a wild cat. It was eating the snake.
 
Scott breathed a sigh of relief. Then he pushed the collapsed roof of the tunnel into place. After this Scott made his new apartment more comfortable. After the place was home he took another nap. Fighting the snake took a lot of energy.
 
The next day Scott began to enlarge the great room. When he was digging an area that would house the larder, there was a clunk. Scott took a step back. He had experience with rock, but this was harder. As Scott dug carefully around it, the form of a box appeared. At last it was free. Scott opened it with his claws. Inside was a copy of Acts. He took it out and read it. Verse eight in chapter one caught his attention. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
 
Scott decided that very moment that this was his calling. He would go to the end of the earth to proclaim the good news that Jesus is Lord! This chance would come sooner than he thought.
 
One warm day in 2014, Scott went up to get a breath of air. Suddenly a piece of crumpled paper flew by. He picked it up and went into his hole. There he read the paper. It advertised a missions conference in the nearby town. Scott had recently dug a tunnel to the nearby church at which the conference was to be held. He went to this now.
 
Once at the church Scott took a spot in the back hall. During the conference the pastor addressed the need for missions in South America. There was a box in the front for items to send to the missionaries. Scott didnʼt hear this. After the conference, it was too late for him to head home. So he began to look around the church for a good place to sleep. Scott finally picked the missions box. He curled up under the items inside.
 
Scott woke up the next morning to the sound of the box being moved. He looked out of a hole and saw that the box was in the back of a car heading away from the church. Scott wondered where he was headed. A few hours later he woke with a jolt. Scott ran to the small hole in the side of the box. It was plugged. Using his claws he cut another hole. Scott was astounded when he saw clouds beside the box. He was in the cargo area of an airplane!
 
As the plane continued on its course, Scott sat in the corner eating some seeds that had somehow gotten into the box. What seemed like weeks later the plane touched down. He felt the box being lifted up. Soon the box was set down. Scott waited. He heard voices. Suddenly light flooded the box. Scott was lifted out and set down on a table. Soon the other items were on the table with him.
 
The people who opened the box began a discussion. The name “Scott” was mentioned several times. Scott wondered if they were speaking of him. When the conversation was over a man picked Scott up and put him outside. Then the man went back inside. But soon he was outside again. Soon he was in the truck nearby. Scott jumped in too.
 
He followed the man. Through brush, over hills, across rivers, into the jungle, he followed the man. Finally they reached the destination: a village in the jungles of Peru. Scott listened to the man whom he was now sure was a missionary. Through listening to the man he came to understand that the man was named Scott Doherty.
 
Mr. Doherty preached with some other men to the villagers. Scott, the mole, listened intently. Soon he picked up the language. Then the mole spoke to the children. At first the children tried to pick him up and squeeze him. But after a while they sat and listened to the mole.
 
Scott (the mole) began in Genesis. As he went through he asked questions to the children. They gave their best answers. When he got to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, the children asked questions of their own. A boy in front asked, “Why did God allow Jesus to die?” The mole answered, “The penalty for sin is eternal death. God sent Jesus to die so we could live forever with Him.” When the children heard this they shouted with joy.
 
“We want that for us!” they cried. Scott said, “Confess your sins to God and believe that He sent His son to die and rise again to pay the price for your sins.” The children did this. Then they praised God for saving them. The children continued to attend Scottʼs Bible lessons.
 
When Mr. Doherty went home, Scott stayed. More and more children came to listen to the mole. They asked again and again to hear the Easter story. So Scott sent for Peruvian Bibles. This made the children overjoyed. Soon Scott began trips deeper into the jungle. Soon many villagers would come to hear him speak.
 
As for the mole himself, this was the chance Scott had waited for. He delighted in telling the gospel stories. And so every day at ten oʼclock, Scott tells the natives about Godʼs Word. They gather around and listen to him. The mole is amazed that from sleeping in a box being sent to Peru, he has the opportunity to reach hundreds of people in the jungles of Peru with the good news of Christ.
 
The end

Monday, May 5, 2014

A Day of Celebration - Baptisims (Video)

We had a great day with the church yesterday. We Baptized the first two people in our church in Cusco, a young man named Hartur, and a lady named Maria. The church seems to grow more each week. We had 48 people this Sunday and almost everyone came to the baptism, which was about 50 minutes by bus from Cusco at Tim's land. We rejoice over God's goodness but we are also aware of the spiritual battle that will increase as God's Kingdom advances. Please pray for us.  Check out the video of our day.