Bill and Lena's fancy slideshow update from October, 2017

The past six months have been some of the most challenging and most fruitful of our lives. We have seen more salvations, baptisms in the Holy Spirit and disasters than I can remember. We want to thank you for being partners with us in it all. The new disciples that are being made and the hungry mouths that are being fed will thank you, with us, when we meet in heaven. Please click the big picture, below, for a quick rundown of all that has taken place or for an impressive array of photos that will amaze you! If the picture doesn't click, try here.

Make Every Day a Norma-l Day

I am NOT super kind.

But I AM afraid of being the rich man in the story of Lazarus the beggar, who died and suffered eternally for being a selfish man.

That is why I didn’t send Norma away on her first visit to my house. Not long into our conversation, I realized that Norma probably had some learning issues. She was about my age, stocky, and badly in need of some dental work, which I later related to her great love of sweets.

It was a sunny, hot afternoon about two months ago when Norma first came to my door. Our conversation went like this:

“Hi. There was an older lady who lives here who told me that I could come and get a piece of cake this afternoon. Can I talk to her?”

Me: “I’m the lady of the house here, and there isn’t one older than me.”

Norma: “Well, she told me I could have a piece of cake.”

Me: “I don’t have a piece of cake.”

Norma: “Do you have something to eat?”

The conversation (or better said, barrage of requests) continued on…..Norma wanted to be certain that she asked for all her favorite things. She asked me for something sweet to drink, for jewelry, for purses (she LOVES purses), desserts, jello, cookies for her son. She has also had two birthdays in the short time I have known her. 😊 Norma began to visit me regularly…every other day, sometimes every afternoon. I put a stop to the daily visits, as I realized that soon I would have to budget Norma into my grocery trips if I didn’t. I told her she could come once a week, which she MOSTLY abides by.

Norma has impacted my life in the strongest of ways, and probably not in the way you might think. All of you mercy people out there are thinking about all the nice things you might do for Norma, and assume that it is kindness that motivates me. Don’t be deceived. I usually know from her persistent ring that she is at my door, and it is not mercy that makes me answer. I just give her what she wants because I am obliged to care for the poor and because if I don’t, she will continue to pester me anyway. The real thing about Norma that speaks to me is that she NEVER STOPS ASKING FOR STUFF!  She is one of the most persistent people I have ever met. If an entrepreneur went after business opportunities the way Norma does with jello, they would be a millionaire.  I HATE asking for things, and Norma reminds me every week that he who does not ask does not get.

I am in a season where I am forging new territory with ministry to university students. I have to ASK---pastors, university officials, prospective student leaders. Over and over again. After the third try, I want to give up. But then there is Norma in my mind, asking for gelatin. And I knock again. Norma is God’s way of telling me that if I would just keep pushing, I would get more of what I want! The woman with the unjust judge cries out until he gives her what she wants, not because he likes her or even cares for her needs, or about justice. He does it because she is driving him nuts. I relate.

One day, I didn’t have any food for her. She was sorely disappointed. She kept running through her list. Nothing. I was ready to send her on her way with a pack of cookies and a drink of water (sometimes I get stubborn about the sweet drinks issue, thinking it is better to give her water). Then like a light going off, she asked for flan. I realized I had the remains of a HUGE flan in the fridge that my flan-loving husband wouldn’t finish because of his travels. I told her that, yes, I actually DID have flan! She literally jumped up and down with excitement. She had hit the jackpot! I was flabbergasted that she had just happened to ask for something that was in my house, that usually wasn’t. It was almost like an angel playing a joke on me had dropped it into her mind.

One day, it’s going to be my flan day. A door will open on a campus that looked impenetrable a day before, or someone will decide to become a disciple of Jesus because I listened to the Holy Spirit. I'll risk crossing the line of making a bother of myself.  I will put on a little bit of Norma-tude, and a huge portion of Holy Spirit-gifted flan will fall in my lap. I may even do a Norma dance. And then I'll do it again!

Customs and Culture Shock

A friend recently asked if we can receive letters and packages in the mail in Peru. The answer is yes. We get cards and letters all the time. Receiving packages is also possible, but requires a bit more work. For a package, we need to know ahead of time what is in it and how much the contents are worth (since we have to pay customs/taxes on many items). Also, it is best if letters and packages are sent to my legal name, William Shrader, which is printed on my government ID; rather than Bill--which, in another culture, looks like a different name. These lessons have been learned the hard way; that is, the "culture shock" way. Culture shock is when one experience is interpreted two different ways and both interpretations make sense -- depending on your cultural context. When you live overseas, you stumble onto culture shock experiences without warning. Your success as a missionary greatly depends on your willingness to see the other's perspective and to keep a good sense of humor about it throughout. Here's just one of my "culture shock" experiences and my attempt to laugh at it now. 

Who is Bill Shrader and why do you want his mail?!!!

Twice I've been summoned to customs and interrogated. They didn't put me in a dank room with a single light over my head, but it was still stressful. It was more like a big post office where they held my package hostage--which I'm sure was a very frightening experience for the package. They questioned why I was receiving packages using an alias, rather than my legal name. They insisted that I come clean and confess, demanding "Who is Bill Shrader?!!!" I resisted the urge to say, "Bill Shrader is a sensitive, yet complicated man, who enjoys a night at the ballet even though he's embarrassed by their outfits." Instead, I explained that “Bill” is such a common nickname in the U.S., that all Americans know that Bill and William are the same name. That didn't fly, since (as everyone can see) Bill and William start with different letters. 

They then demanded that I tell them what was in the package to confirm that I was the real recipient. Their logic was that the real recipient would know that the package was coming and what it contained. I knew neither. The package (I later found out) was sent by a church and I had no idea it was coming or what was in it. Their heads exploded. The customs agents could not believe that someone in another country would send something without telling the recipient what it was and that it was coming. I explained that sometimes, even in Peru, friends send a gift without telling you what’s in it. (The problem with that analogy is that, in Peru, nobody uses the mail. They don't trust it. So, while they may give a gift and not tell you what is in it, they really wouldn't "send" it. I knew my argument was weak, but I stuck to it.) I asked them to tell me who sent it and that I would call and find out what was inside. That was not acceptable, because they believed that once I knew who sent it, they could no longer prove that I was NOT Bill Shrader. So, they asked me what it was worth. I explained that not knowing what was in the package made it very hard to determine its value. I advised them to open the package and that we would all discover its contents and value together. This took a lot of convincing, since they still didn't believe that I was Bill Shrader -- which meant, from their perspective, that a stranger was telling them to open somebody else's mail to see if he wanted what was inside. We were at an impasse. I approached it with American logic and they responded with Peruvian logic--both of which makes sense in their own cultural context. Eventually, I won. It helped that I lived at the same address as Bill Shrader and I had the same phone number, too. 

So, what was inside? A bag of coffee and some garage sale items like used children’s books and T-shirts. It was a very thoughtful gift. Finding english children's books in Peru is nearly impossible. So, some good coffee and five Hardy Boys books from a garage sale is a great missionary gift. The problem, then, was the issue of value. What's the value of garage sale items in a country where they've never heard of a garage sale? I explained that the books were not new and that in the US, people sell used things on Saturdays in their front yard and that all their neighbors come looking for a bargain. It was as though I had told the Customs agents that Americans let random neighbors pick through their drawers looking for clean underwear—then they mail it to strangers.

In their defense, there is a lot of drug trafficking in and out of Peru, so they are wary of sneaky looking packages. And, since the concepts of a garage sale and a generous church were foreign to them, their suspicions were not completely ridiculous. But, the Bill vs William issue and their assumptions about sending a package overseas displays the dangers of culture shock. Even though I explained in clear Spanish that American Christians sometimes send missionaries surprise gifts of used items, those concepts were so foreign to the agents that the words lost their meaning. The lessons I learned are that it is best to coordinate shipments with our friends from the states and to always mention that I like french roast.

April 2016 Newsletter

We're winding down our time in the US and gearing up to return to the mission field. (Yay!) You can read our latest newsletter below--or download a printable copy here. In this edition, Bill shares about worshipping Jesus by serving the poor and about our plans to return to Peru in July. Enjoy! 

Thanks for sharing the blessed adventure with us! Jesus said in Mt. 10:42, “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” May the Lord bless you for blessing us and Peru!

To join our ministry team and help us transform Peru with the power and name of Jesus, please click here. To sponsor a child with Latin AmericaChildCare, please click here.

How our friends live in the Amazon Basin

Here's a video of how some of our Latin America ChildCare kids live. As you can see, they have no plumbing, which makes going to the bathroom, cleaning and drinking a challenge. Also, their house only has one wall. On the video, I say they have three walls. I was nervous and meant to say that they don't have three walls. These two boys are very special and it is the greatest blessing in the world to get the chance to bless them in Jesus' name.

A Clean Toilet

https://voice.adobe.com/a/R43n6/

In March, 2015, I hosted a team of friends made up of students and staff from the University of Valley Forge and the charity Alzamora International. We went to Iquitos to put in clean bathrooms and minister to the children and in churches. We had a wonderful time and saw excellent progress on the bathrooms. Here's a quick video about it all (https://voice.adobe.com/a/R43n6/) and a few photos.

Doors, a sink and seats on the toilets are just a small example of the luxuries of the new bathrooms!

Thanks to my friend Percy Alzamora and all those who have partnered with Alzamora International for providing sweaty labor and much needed funding to make the bathroom project a reality.

Bill and Lena's Peru Update - September 2015

Thanks to the Glorious Savior who called us and to all those who've partnered with us to reach Peru!

Please click on the image below to read our latest newsletter. Or, download a printable copy here. In this edition, Bill shares about what we do in Peru and about our recent return to the states to connect with our friends and support team.

We have a great story to tell of God's faithfulness and of a people hungry to hear the gospel. We have openings for services starting in December, 2015. Please email Bill.Shrader@agmd.org so we can set up a time to get together. Thanks!

Here's a great video starring my friend Jeremias, who attends our school Victoria de Jesus in Iquitos, Peru.

Jeremias goes to School

Going Farther-Peru from Latin America ChildCare on Vimeo.

The Five Stages of Packing Grief

This from Lena:

I have an undergrad in psychology, but that is not how I have learned this lesson.  I am actually not a mover by nature or choice.  I am what I would call a long-term nester--so much so that when I was dating Bill,  I was concerned that he might uproot me periodically (he moved several times a year in his childhood).  As it turns out, he actually did very little of that--only a reasonable amount--but God moved us into an international life that has shaken me loose of many nests.  I am actually really glad that it has taught me that I can be happy in lots of different places, that it can be fun to discover the joys of a new spot, and that I can generally survive.

However, it HAS wreaked havoc on my nerves.  I try to keep these lessons close, and I have been laughing at myself a lot lately (mostly because I am still in the shock phase).  These stages of grief are actually fairly accurate, and some of the images I paint are actual memories.  For anyone of you about to go through this or have experienced it, I hope that at the least it gives you a laugh!

So--here they are.  The five stages of packing grief:

Shock- In this stage, you walk around saying that you can't believe you are really leaving. Somehow you relaxed, painted, added touches--made it your own.  But now it is becoming real that you will have to bundle up your tender roots and put it into storage or haul it somewhere.  Either way, it is going to involve a LOT of packing tape and cardboard, and you have vivid memories of the chaos it has been in the past.  You shake off the nagging fear that it is going to go exactly like the last move, when you woke up every morning three weeks before the move, completely wired and rightfully concerned that you were going to drop a very big ball of packing tape.  You square your shoulders and begin to survey the territory.  You consider color coding the rooms, plan your box log system (complete with list of the contents of every box).  You can feel it.  No nerve-wracking last-minutes this time.  A little here, a little there, and we will take this bad boy out.  During the last week, you will be reminiscing with friends, having rich moments of connection over coffee.

Anger- What in the world!  You have been trying to pack all the un-necessaries in ONE bedroom for TWO WEEKS!  GET OVER IT, WOMAN! IT'S A DUPLO SET, NOT GOLD BRICKS!  GET RID OF IT!  And don't even try that, "It's for the grandchildren" business.  Not working.

Depression-Time is running short.  You wake up with packing tape in your hair, and are weeping openly now, because you can't get the bunk beds apart.  Two weeks out and you are starting to get that glazed-over look.  You consider an emergency phone call to that one friend who you know will clean your refrigerator and it will be done before you had time to worry about it.  You are in the pit, and need a hand up. Bad.

Acceptance- You call out the cavalry, and your band of faithfuls show up.  There are teenagers in your kitchen, duping all your cooking utensils into plastic bins and stacking unwrapped coffee mugs on top, then sitting on it to make it close.  You walk into another room, thankful that at least someone else is doing it.  You hug your friends, and somehow manage to get those special moments in anyway, even though you haven't showered in three days.  You pick your toddlers up from the neighbor's house as you leave (in Peru, with a taxi), who thought your kids looked like they needed a bath and cleaned them.  You cry in the taxi, unsure if it is mostly the because you are sad to leave or just relieved it is over.  You know it isn't perfect, but neither is the rest of life, so--hey, not so  bad.

What we eat

This from Bill:

I was recently asked about our first eating experinece in Peru and thought I'd share the story here. Our first eating experience was very positive. It was at McDonalds. We're blessed to live in Lima, which has a population of over 9 million people and has a lot of "first world" products (like McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Starbucks). We do not have Walmart--so it's still a mission field! Outside of Lima, Peru is poor and undeveloped.

Arroz con Mariscos (seafood with rice)

Even though our first meal was at McDonalds, that doesn't mean we haven't had some great food experiences. Peru has some of the best food in the world. On the Pacific coast, Peruvians eat a lot of seafood. The most famous dish is called Ceviche and is raw fish "cooked" in lemon juice and onions. That was our first real experience with Peruvian food. We tried it after we had been in the country for a couple of days. I was shocked at how strong the flavor was. My first reaction was that it was "OK," but that I didn't want to make a habit of it. Now, I'm ready any time! I usually order it with "Arroz con Mariscos," which is seafood mixed with stir-fried rice. I like that dish with a side order of fried squid. YUM!

The second famous food of Peru is Cuy (otherwise known as guinea pig). You can eat it baked or fried. It tastes like the dark meat of chicken. It's not bad at all. It just takes too much effort (in my opinion), because the pieces are too small. It is also gross when they serve it with the head still on! Here, I've posted a picture of a Guinea Pig claw held by my son and a picture of my friend Ken Lydy (who does Chi Alpha at Wilmington College) with the claws in his mouth (that's me in the background).

Ken Lydy eats Cuy claws

Sabalo from the Amazon River

When I'm in the Amazon jungle town of Iquitos, I often eat Sabalo. It's a meat eating fish (like a piraanha) from the Amazon river and it tastes very good when cooked over a wood fire. I also like the deep fried caimon (alligator).

In the mountains, I eat cuy, trout, goat or llama. My favorite of those is goat. I love it.

On a daily basis, the peruvian people eat rice with rice. Then they have some more rice. They also eat chicken. Rotisserie chicken with french fries is very popular and VERY delicious. Missions teams that visit eat that three or four times in one week. We eat so much of it, we almost get sick of it--but not quite. The problem is that no matter how many times you've had rotisserie chicken and fries, it still smells good!

Bill and Lena's March, 2015 Newsletter

Thanks to everyone who has helped us proclaim the Gospel in Peru and the Andean region. Thank you! Please find, below, our latest newsletter. You can read it here -- or click on the caption to open it as a printable PDF. In this newsletter, Bill writes about ministry in the Amazon and about our upcoming return to the sttaes to connect with our friends and support team. There's also a few prayer requests. Enjoy!

Click here to read Bill and Lena's March 2015 Newsletter

We'll be returning to the U.S. at the end of June to let those on our support team know what they've been supporting! We're looking forward to it but moving back to the states for a year involves a lot of logistics and questions. For example, where are we going to live and what will we drive? How will the kids handle the transition? For all of this, we ask for your prayers. When we get back, we'll need to share the story of what God is doing here. As such, we'd love an invitation to share in your church or home fellowship group!

Bringing hope and the Gospel to Iquitos

I love ministering in Iquitos, Peru -- in the Amazon basin (a. k. a. jungle). We have two LACCC schools there: Victoria de Jesus in Belen and Luz del Saber in Punchana. The district of Belen floods every year, so our students have to walk to school on a network of planks, above the water. It's often scary, dirty and stinky. But it's also a blessed adventure filled with lovely people (like Venice, Italy, but without plumbing). I thank the Lord that we can bring hope, food, education and (most of all) Jesus to these beautiful kids. Thanks for making it possible. Below are some of my favorite photos from my trip last March, when the flood waters were high. You can find more pics from this trip here: 2014-03 Iquitos.

Pastors Fernando and Jose are great friends and I'm honored to work with them bringing the Gospel and hope to Iquitos.

Where did you drop it?

You can see more from this trip here.

University Evangelism

This from Bill:

Lena and I began the past year with a strong emphasis on University ministry. Here, in Peru, we call Chi Alpha, La Red Universitaria de Las Asambleas de Dios -- the University Network of the Assemblies of God. It's been an exciting experience for both of us. Lena is doing multiple evangelistic Bible studies with students from various campuses, and both of us have taught at churches and national youth leaders conferences about how to start a campus ministry. The pictures above and below are of us teaching on Evangelism. These pics were taken at the "Christ - Light of the World" church in Trujillo, which has six small groups on 5 campuses! I'm a big fan of using a white board, instead of PowerPoint slides (because I like the organic nature and the intentional emphasis on content over form). After I teach, I take a picture of the white board and invite the students to do the same. Looking at these boards reminded me of what a great time we had! After taking the college students and leaders through some basics of university evangelism, we hit the streets and had a blast talking with people about Jesus. I was very proud of Will, my younger son, who (with unassuming warmth and friendliness) is an incredibly effective evangelist! 

For this event, we were joined by our friends Shawn and Melissa Pallotta, who (along with their kids) have a very prophetic ministry. Shawn and I taught on making godly decisions.

Some of the evangelism themes we covered included: 

1) The power of your personal testimony (Rev. 12:11). 
2) Basic components of the Gospel (1 Cor. 15). 
3) Apologetics -- explaining why the Christian faith is reasonable (that is, it's requires faith, but not blind faith). Also, Jesus claimed to be God, therefore he is either a Liar, a Lunatic or the Lord (hint: it's the last one!)

4) The best 3 questions to do Evangelism: If you died tonight, do you know where you would go? If you were in front of Jesus and he asked you why he should let you into heaven, what would you say? And, the best question of all: How can I pray for you?

Peruvians love their late night soccer matches, which provides a great way to make friends and share the Gospel with your neighbors. These pics are of Colton (above) and Antonio Pallotta (below) playing.

Colton and Antonio also teamed up for some street evangelism, outside the C&T Restaurant.

The Vultures of Iquitos -- a photo journal

The national bird of Peru is the "Cock-of-the-Rock." It gets its name from the practice of building its nests on rocky cliffs. It is rare and beautiful. 

But, in popular culture, the Cock-of-the-Rock is overshadowed by the massive Condor -- which is worshipped by indigenous peoples throughout South America.








Then there is the ignoble vulture. It is extremely common and not at all impressive—unless you like animals that eat garbage and cool themselves off by pooping on their legs. It is to the Amazon basin what rats are to New York -- ubiquitos, filthy and very large. If Ansel Adams can be famous for his pictures of National Parks and Annie Liebovitz can be famous for her photos of celebrities, then I thought that maybe I (Bill) should try my niche at a lovely collection of “The Vultures of Iquitos, Peru.” These shots were taken on the playground of Luz del Saber (one of our Latin America ChildCare schools) in Iquitos.

Sinless

This from Lena:

I was in the market today and noticed as one of the vendors bowed her head to pray before she ate her lunch.  I was touched at her reverence, and asked her if she was a believer in Jesus.  I wasn’t really looking for a witnessing situation—just a moment to connect with a Jesus lover. 

The conversation continued, and I asked if she was an evangelical believer.  She said no, but that she was a Christian.  I had never met people here before saying that they were Christian, but denying being an evangelical, apart from an occasional Catholic.  I asked her what she perceived the difference to be, and she informed me that she doesn’t sin anymore.

Really.

I told her that First John was a great book in the Bible, and that it says that he who says he is without sin is a liar, and the truth isn’t in him.  She looked shocked, and questioned my version of the Bible (just for the record, she was King James only, but in Spanish).  She was new to this path, but not very shaken by my challenging words, and invited me to come to her church so I could understand better.

I left my new friend, telling her that I wasn’t interested in an argument, and I encouraged her to get into the Book herself, so that she could start to sift things that are taught in regard to the true teachings of Christianity.  I was afraid to push her—I have heard stories of people starting out with the Jehovah’s Witnesses, or the Mormons, and becoming disillusioned when they realized that what they were learning was not true, and throw all of it out together.  I left a bit deflated, and angry that someone had routed a soul’s honest attempt to follow Christ as a repentant sinner.  Now she is “sinless.”  I feel sorry for her family and friends, who now have no way to speak into her life, as she is currently completely free of sin!

Peru is a minimally literate country.  Latin America in general is not a print-rich region of the world, but compared with the rest of Latin America, we fall toward the very bottom.  This creates vulnerability among our believers, because many of our brothers and sisters here have never read an entire book of the Bible---and I am talking about faithful ones!  These are the 20% who do all the work, lead the worship, and facilitate cell groups.  So what happens when a false teaching comes along?  The heresy sensors don’t go off, and the church is often fighting off bad teaching.

Bill and I are passionate about Peruvian believers becoming strong in the Word.  This is one of the reasons Bill is teaching in the seminary this year, even though it comes at a high cost in time and effort.  We need pastors and leaders who handle the Bible well and teach their people to read it and study it for themselves.  This is also a reason why I am doing an English conversation group based on the life of Christ aimed at university students (nonbelievers and believers combined).  We want to get people into the Word by all means possible until it penetrates—separating even the bone from the marrow.  It never fails to do the same for me!

Lena teaching university students about discipling new believers in Argentina

Bill giving our first pitch to Peruvian youth leaders on the importance of university ministry

Will and Abi talk to kids about life in Peru

Sometimes churches call and ask us for videos about our ministry or our life in Peru. This is one that was produced by three of our kids (Colton, Will and Abi) regarding their lives in Peru.

Will explains a Simple Electric Motor

Each year, the Shrader family has one or more entries in the International Christian School of Lima Science Fair. The 2014 entry came from Will, who built a small electric motor, then had to explain how it works. Will produced two videos: the first is entitled, May the Force be with you, is short and sweet (but to see it, you have to go here). The second is below.

Kingdom of Heaven Lessons in a Baby Church

This from Lena:

We have been enjoying a fresh season these last 8 months of seeing a baby church take shape!  We are part of an international team of missionaries who are working together to sort out the difficult task of forming our identity as a church and how we present it.  One of the great joys of this process is seeing people come to Christ and being witnesses to the transformation that is taking place—and also the great responsibility we have to correctly present the Kingdom of God to these baby believers!  As I have specifically focused on the Kingdom of God in my recent studies, here are a few scripture points that have stuck in my heart. I wanted to share them with you, too!

In the Kingdom of Heaven…

Mark 1:15 Repentance is a precursor for citizenship.  We can paint things as pretty as we like, we can try to de-uglify sin and make it sound as though they have just made an oversight until now….but if the recognition of our own sinfulness is not there, followed by sincere repentance, we run the risk of misrepresenting the gospel.  I remember being 18 at an Amy Grant concert, trying to convince myself that I was fine—that my dark little teenaged soul didn’t need rescuing (yeah-back then there was an altar call after an Amy Grant concert!  And tracts on the way in!).  It was a horrible experience.  I was so glad to finally walk that humiliating walk to the altar and lay my burdens down.  We need to not cheat others of the revelation of their own sin and need for a root change of heart.

Luke 11:20 Demons gotta go.  I am not sure why, recently, we have had so many encounters of the demonic kind—but we have had many in the last 8 months.  I think it is interesting that demons can even sit through a sermon politely, but once the individual starts doing serious business with God, demons get pretty angry about the breach of contract.  At first, I wanted to try to make sense of the fact that in 20 years or more of ministry, I have not seen anywhere near the consistent appearances I have seen in the last 8 months.  Now, I sort of wonder what was wrong before, that they were comfortable to hang out around me.  Perspective!

Luke 9:2 Citizens of the Kingdom of God are supposed to be praying for the sick!  I have heard testimonies galore of healings and I have been present for some healings…but I want a lot more.  I think we should be totally going for it.  I have heard that Heidi Baker became determined to just keep praying for healings until she saw them up close.  She prayed for hundreds before seeing anything.  I don’t want to quietly accept sickness.  If we don’t ask, we won’t receive.

Matt 21:31 Audacious sinners of the past who are now obeying Christ passionately are entering the Kingdom quicker than good religious talkers.  I think we all better take note of this one. What a dangerous place it is to be where you know how to play the game all too well; that is, to make people think you are on Jesus’ speed dial, when you are just playing a game.  It doesn’t matter if you are a missionary, pastor, worship leader, or the church’s accountant.  Obedience is where the blessing is—in the secret place, where nobody knows what you are doing.  But someone does. And we are not talking about yesterday.  Today.  Now. 

Matt. 13: 1-23 You’ve got to sow a lot of seed to get some of it to stick. People are hindered from entering the Kingdom by  a variety of things—sometimes they are just blind to the truth because they are so lost in sin and haven’t been made desperate enough yet for an alternative.  These folks are the blank stares and social smiles we get when we try to evangelize.  Then there are those you have a good conversation with, but it goes nowhere. It may not have been because you did a horrible job—which you might have. But even the fact that you were trying calls them to wake up to their real need.  I am convinced that a lot of people don’t let on that they know Jesus is real because they know life is going to change radically the minute after they give their life to him.  Let’s not lie—that is very true.  You might lose your friends, your addictions (those are DEFINITELY gonna have to go), your comforts, or even your job.  All this to say—sowing is hard work, and you don’t have any control over the soil you are preaching to.  The only thing we can control is how much seed we scatter.  Let’s scatter a LOT.

Matt 13:31-2 Some of that seed you scattered is going to surprise you with how big and well it grows. If you scatter enough seed, you are going to get to see some folks really explode.  Maybe they will even pass you!  In our later years of campus ministry, Bill used to tell our university students that they were his last hope for greatness!  He said it jokingly, but he meant it.  “Grow as far as you can grow little seed!  Pass me up!”  That should be our heart for all we nurture in Christ.

Matt 13: 24-30 You don’t really know who’s who until the end.  I suspect that this dynamic is a little like reading our donors list.  We realized long ago, and with great humility, that some of the sweetest little ladies on Social Security are the most faithful and have been the longest, steadiest supporters. I think it will be that way at the final judgment.  I try to warn myself periodically to not become Miss Fancy Pants Missionary—because there may be some rude awakenings at the end, if I see some surprises up ahead of me in line!

I hope this list at least gave you something to think on.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to help form a new church and disciple the new citizens.  Blessings to all of you!

One of our sweet young believers giving her testimony of how the Lord has been changing her life!

Mario and Aaron -- Fatherless boys in Catacaos

This from Bill: Here's a recent video I made in Catacaos (Piura), Peru. It's a brief introduction to two very needy Latin America ChildCare students -- Mario and Aaron. Their father passed away last year, leaving their widowed mother with three kids. She's a faithful member of the church we work with. As you can see, they live in a grass hut, which has a dirt floor.

If you'd like to sponsor these boys, please let me know.

Bill and Lena's Peru Update - March 2014

Lena and I are grateful to serve as missionaries to Peru. We're also grateful to our friends who've partnered with us in this great adventure. Thank you!

Please click on the picture (at right) to see our latest update.

Bill and Lena's Peru Update - click here.