Wednesday, August 31

     I have been reading and praying since before daylight this morning, simply because the Lord awakened me early. I had a really good time in His Word and have paused to reflect what He is doing in our ministry. It will amaze you if you take a few minutes and allow God to bring to memory all that He had done for you.

     Last Sunday, God broke our church wide open. Our "sour" deacon who left and then returned wanting to be restored, asked if he could give an announcement. He stood to say that he did wrong in leaving and that he was the guilty one for giving Pedro the deed. He sat down and then popped up a few seconds later and added in great humility that he was guilty of all before the church and asked that they all forgive him. He then (while the closing of the service took place) knelt at the front and had several minutes of prayer with the Lord. After an awkward few minutes, I silently slipped beside him, put my arm around him and prayed silently with him. When he stood, I quoted 1 John 1:9 and asked if anyone in the church had NEVER done wrong? I explained that as long as he shows sincerity, we are to encourage him and to bring him back into fellowship. We closed in prayer and for the first time since the split, we couldn't get the deaf to leave after the service. There was a warmth and love that has been missing for a long time. They ALL sat around and chatted and planned an up-coming festive day. Time will tell, but it appears that God has completely broken the pride and arrogance of this man.

     My reading this morning was from the Book of Acts and the preaching of Stephen right before his death. I meditated on how God saw the heart of Abraham, his father being an idolater, yet Abraham and his brother faithfully served the Lord in a God-forsaken land of idolatry (the heart of Iraq). I am amazed at the interest of God in one individual, and He knew the heart and desires of one man in the middle of a foreign country. He called Abraham out and Abraham, being the man of faith, the friend of God, took his family to another country which became the foundations of all that we believe. Does God care for one individual? Absolutely!

     God also cares about this country. Several have questioned our remaining, but I might add that there are still a good number of us who remain. The Lord has moved some to other fields, and we certainly understand why. If you want to see troubles, they are easy to find. However, God still has a plan for us here, even thought it hasn't been what we planned before we returned. God continues to protect and as long as He gives peace, we will continue to serve Him here. Does it alarm us to hear that deaths have tripled from last year? Sure. The violence continues, but primarily among those who are involved in the conflict. The interstate buses in the North are still not safe. They continue to play havoc with different ones. The road conditions are such that you might be able to travel back and forth without incident. However, we know from those who do, that you will be stopped sooner or later. Therefore, we continue here doing as God has commanded, but never sure of tomorrow (James 4:14).

     We have experienced a rather typical week this past week in the village here. We live about 20 minutes outside of the city, so life is much different here. Tuesday, two tractor-trailers tangled directly in front of our house (a major highway). They did not touch any poles, but apparently two other vehicles tried to avoid their movements and one took out the telephone, Internet, and power. Fortunately, the only damage was material apart from two cows which were thrown from the cattle truck. Without power we have no water (pumped from a deep well). We ended up on Wednesday carrying 100 gallons of water from tanks that give water to the chickens to the tank on our neighbors' roof, 25 feet high off the ground. It took three of us several hours to accomplish that. It was good exercise! By the way, the pole out front is still hanging by the wires.

      Over the weekend, we have noticed the trucks braking extremely hard using their "jake brakes" only to find that the federal police are having traffic stops directly in front of our driveway, as they prepare for the coming Pan-American Games in October. The idea is to cleanup the city before the games begin. It is a little spooky to walk to the gate to see why all the noise has increased and see what appears to be a large SWAT team stopping whichever cars "appear" to be suspicious. It becomes "all in a day's work" for us after a while.

     Thank you for praying for us and for the work. Just two weeks ago I would have doubted that things could ever have turned out as they have with our men. Pray that the devil stays out and that these men allow God to direct their ways. God bless you.

Gary & Ann