10/11/03: I hear so many missionaries talking about how big a struggle it is to get their prayer partners excited about lifting them and their mission up. How fortunate I feel, for so many of you have written, even in the absence of my updates recently, asking how you can pray and just encouraging me by letting me know that you are daily asking for this mission. As I have become more and more confident that prayer is the weapon that will claim victory among the lost in Peru, I have become more and more thankful for your commitment to be prayer warriors during this time--for these peoples.
For the last week now, I have been sick with phenomena. It was horrible, but my team here took good care of me, and now I feel great. Thank you for your prayers for my sickness. God was faithful to heal. Other than that, training is wonderful. All 6 new members of the Xtreme Team are here right now, and being together everyday has made a big difference. Along with preparing with the rest of the missionaries in areas such as spiritual warfare, world views, chronological Bible storytelling, and spiritual disciplines; our Xtreme Team is able to do alot of extra preparing together. This includes nightly Spanish classes, working out and running, fishing, rock climbing, cutting down trees, hauling logs up some stupid hill, and shooting arrows. We also have our fair share of boring meetings though about things like taxes and insurance and stuff. I don't know too much about all of that. I did hear though that if I die, someone gets $10,000. Who knows, could be you.
Although I'm truly longing to get to the jungles of Peru and begin this mission on the field, it is obvious that God wants to use my time here in Virginia. I already feel a million times more prepared now than I did when I showed up. I feel closer to the Lord in my relationship with Him, my passion about reaching the unreached in Peru is growing, and the Father is strengthening me in areas of faith and prayer daily.
I will write again soon and let you know all the new details I have learned about what we will actually be doing in Peru. But for now, I think this e-mail is long enough. Please pray for continued unity in our team, for God to speak to us clearly about specific people groups in the jungles, our language preparation, and our focus in these important-but-sometimes-long meetings. Check out www.thextremeteam.org and click on the "pray now" links to see a picture of our team here.
Thank you for your prayers and encouragement.
-Jonathan Williams
1 Thess. 5:17
11/3/03: "Apollos began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ." --Acts 19:26-28
Prayer Warriors,
I pray that my training in Virginia will now allow me to be of great help to the other believers while boldly proclaiming the truth of the gospel to all I meet; as did the training that Apollos received.
I leave in a few hours for Peru where I will serve for the next two years in the Amazon Jungles among unreached people groups. For the first five months, our team will be in training that includes much physical workout, hunting, fishing, river training, language, spiritual disciplines, culture and world view of our people groups, chronological Bible storytelling, church planting, and many other things. We each will be challenged with the responsibility of planting a new church within our first five months there. During that time, we will occasionally go into the jungles for a few weeks at a time to tribes they have already been to. National believers from Western South America will join the Xtreme Team sometime in December. Then, after our training is complete, I will move to another town a few days away. I will be placed on a team with a national believer, and we will go into the jungle to our people group for about 4-6 months at a time with a few weeks of breaks between our time in the villages. These people have never heard the gospel, and I am praying that it will pierce their heart so that many might be saved. Please join me in this prayer.
Pray also for our language learning, guidance in determining which people group to go to, strength in confronting and overcoming culture shock, a "man of peace" (Luke 10:6) who can vouch for us in our initial contact with new groups, and passionate unity in our Xtreme Team for the mission the Father has called us on. May we not be distracted.
Thank you for your prayers, your encouraging e-mails, your letters and cards you sent to the MLC, your cookies and brownies, and a special thanks to the GA's at my home church for sending such wonderful letters to me. I will write again soon. May the Lord of the Harvest reap many fields through us all between now and then.
Your brother,
Jonathan Williams
11/6/03: Friends,
We need your prayers.
One of our teammates, our strategy coordinator and my accountability partner, Jeremy, is in the hospital in Lima right now and will soon be flying back to the states with his wife Susan.
At 5:15 last night, our entire team gathered at the base of the rock-climbing wall. Five of us, including myself, had already climbed before Jeremy's turn. He quickly and steadily made his way to the top. Then, about halfway down, about 15-feet up on the rock, Jeremy fell. He hit the ground hard on his back and immediately let out a loud, painful yell. Our team quickly rushed to his side, called an ambulance and began to pray.
After the ambulance left, we spent the night praying, singing songs of worship, and reading God's faithful promises from the Scriptures.
Our latest word on Jeremy is that he crushed a disc in his back and will most likely have to have surgery. The plan is for this to take place in the states. They are now in the process of making all the arrangements to fly Jeremy and Susan out.
Though I have many questions about the future, and I wish so badly that Jeremy was fine and back here with our team, thanksgiving fills my heart that we have God to turn to in a time like this. A God who hears our cries. A God who is able to heal. A God that is perfectly faithful. A God that is powerful. A God that has a plan. A God that is in control. A God that will be glorified through even this.
Claim His promise today-"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."-Romans 8:28
Please don't think, "the only thing we can do is pray." For prayer is powerful. Prayer will bring healing. Believe in the impossible. Believe in miracles. Expect them. Thank you for your prayers in this. I will keep you updated on Jeremy as we hear more.
-Jonathan
"To the Lord I cry aloud, and He answers me from His holy hill."-Psalm 3:4
11/8/03: Your prayers have been powerful and answered.
Jeremy and Susan flew out to Dallas yesterday morning where he will later undergo surgery. We pray for a great operation and a speedy return; though we truly do hope he'll take his time with his recovery. Every few hours Jeremy was in the hospital, his condition greatly improved, and the doctor himself said that the improvement he made was so unusual that it "must be a miracle." Continue to pray for such miraculous healing.
Many of you have written saying that you believe that God is going to use this situation to glorify Himself. Well, Jeremy believes this too. I was visiting with him in his room on Thursday, and he told me, "I believe that God is going to somehow use this to bring salvation to more people somewhere down the road. And if I had to crush a disc and break my wrists in order for them to get saved...what is that to me?"
That night, Jeremy led the man in the bed next to him to a saving faith through Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord! Through Jeremy's injury, one man has already found salvation. If we are never able to see any other part of God's plan in this, we rejoice knowing that one sheep has been found.
Thank you for your prayers and encouragement!
-Jonathan
11/17/03: Fellow Missionaries,
God has blessed us with many opportunities to share His word, and the future seems to promise the same blessing. Within the past three days even, we have been able to share Bible stories, our testimonies, and the good news of Jesus' gift of salvation and eternal life. We pray that His word will continue to spread.
Chris is my roommate here and the one I spend most of my time with outside of our training camp. Each afternoon we go to the town next to ours', called Chosica. We have been praying for a few weeks now for new relationships each day and opportunities to witness so that perhaps the Father would plant house churches there. God has answered our prayers for relationships as we have had a significant meeting with someone new every day in Chosica while continuing to build friendships.
Freddy is the name of a man in Chosica who Chris and I see most afternoons. He loves music, has a great sense of humor, treats us like brothers, and is not a Christian. I beg for the Lord to bring His salvation to this man. Last Friday we shared Bible stories with him, and will continue to do so. Pray that God's word will penetrate his heart and that the Spirit will convict him through the Lord's message.
Tonight at 7p.m., Chris and I have a Bible study with a Chosica taxi driver named Felipe. It'll be our first time to meet with him for Bible study. We will be telling stories to him and his family. None of them are yet believers. We have a good foundation with Felipe too, and also pray earnestly and boldly and faithfully for his salvation.
I have much to say about this past weekend and this coming one as well, but am far too aware of the length of this update already to possibly speak it now. I'll write again in a few days. Till then, please lift up and praise God for:
-Memorizing Bible stories in Spanish (quite difficult)
-Freddy and Felipe and our time with them(Bible study tonight)
-More relationships
-God to begin to use us to plant house churches in the cities we are now serving in
-Further healing for Jeremy in the states who is doing well
-Thank God for answering all our prayers, unifying our team, teaching us so much, being our strength, and entrusting us with ministry
Thank you for your prayers and encouragement!
-Jonathan
11/19/03: Prayer Warriors,
Thank you for lifting up our Bible study with Felipe and his family on Monday night. The Father blessed our time indeed! His sister, Cynthia, and her friend, Karine both came as well. We sat in a park just outside the plaza in Chosica. The three voiced several questions about our faith and the Bible, all of which, we answered by pointing them to scripture. The Spirit brought alive passages and stories for all of us, and reminded me that the word of God has the answer to everything. We told them we would like to meet again and start from the beginning telling them the story of God's word. (This oral method is called Chronological Bible Story Telling). "When would you like to meet again," we asked. "Tomorrow!" they all said with great enthusiasm. Because of Felipe's work schedule, we had to wait till Thursday though. Please pray earnestly for our time tomorrow night, during which, we will tell the story of creation and the fall of man.
Each weekend, we are working in a town a few hours from here in communities called pueblos jovenes (young towns). These communities are made up of tons of shacks stacked right next to and on top of each other on mountain sides. The poverty there is so great. It is most definitely a different life. Chris and I stay each Sat. night with a believer named Jorge and his wife and four kids. Our room is constructed by extremely thin wood, cardboard, a few bricks, and bamboo sticks. It's a good climb up the mountain to our bathroom(hole in the ground), and dinner is usually a few pieces of bread. We love it!
I ask that you pray for this weekend, for on Sat. night Chris and I will be leading a discipleship group of 10-12 new believers in the pueblo joven. Then, on Sunday, we will be sharing Bible stories with a group of 30-40 young men (ages 25-35). We met them last Sunday morning while visiting houses on the mountain, and they invited us to come tell them stories. Praise the Lord for this opportunity and open door.
Bearing the love of Christ for you,
-Jonathan
"I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." ---Ephesians 3:16-19
12/3/03: Family & Friends,
What a difficult balance it is at times to serve where you are while preparing for where you'll be. The Father has clearly called me to those who have yet to hear the gospel and has given our Xtreme Team this same vision as well. Still, we have been blessed with relationships and opportunities in the communities around our training camp. I pray that nothing will distract me from the mission I am called to, and at the same time, I pray that the Father will use me even now to share His word and plant house churches. Pray that the Spirit will guide me during our last 4 months of training, and that my focus will remain on reaching the Amarakaeri in the jungles of Peru without missing opportunities here in Chosica and in los pueblos jovenes where we currently serve each week.
This past Monday, our Xtreme Team grew in number and will do so again tomorrow. Armando Lopez, a national believer from Peru arrived at the first part of this week to serve on the Xtreme Team. He is mine and Chris' new roommate now. Two other national believers from Chile will get here tomorrow night after a 54 hour bus ride. 54 hours! Are you kidding me? I have been looking forward to their arrival since we got here, and am unbelievably excited that this time has finally come. Lift them up as they travel and our entire team as we adjust to so many changes. Everything we do now--every class and conversation--is in Spanish. It sure is challenging at times.
This weekend, Chris and I will go back to Cristo Rey, the pueblo joven community that we serve in. Our next visit will follow a wonderful prayer time that God orchestrated last weekend with three different pastors there as well as an opportunity that I had to share the first story of the Bible with some soccer players. They invited us to come back and share the next story.
Keep lifting up Freddy also as we meet with him nearly everyday to share stories and witness. God is speaking to his heart, and he has been asking several questions. Beg in prayer for his salvation.
Thank you for your prayers and letters and encouragement! The Father strengthens me with such so greatly.
Your brother,
Jonathan
12/11/03: "A sower went out to sow his seed. As he was sowing, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the sky ate it up. Other seed fell on the rock; when it sprang up, it withered, since it lacked moisture. Other seed fell among thorns; the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. Still other seed fell on good ground; when it sprang up, it produced a crop: a hundred times what was sown...This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God."----Luke 8:5-8,11
Praise God that His name has been exalted in this place as He has called us, prepared us, and given us opportunities to sow much seed here in recent days. We now pray for fruit, for a harvest a hundred times over what was planted. May those who hear receive God's word as did the good ground in Jesusī parable.
One of the sweetest planting times Chris and I had this week came on Monday night. We went to Felipe's house and shared stories from Godīs word with he and his wife Gladis. How truly excited they were to learn of both Godīs and manīs character. The Spirit obviously spoke to their hearts, they asked several questions, and invited us to come back this Saturday afternoon for lunch and to share more. After hearing the "Fall of Man" story from Genesis chapter 3, they both are already asking who the "seed" is going to be who will "crush the head of the serpent," (Gen. 3:15). I pray for a chance to arrive to the story that reveals the answer through Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.
Several of you have written, asking more of what our training time here is like. Let me just tell you that as important as the mission, so is this life adventurous. Along with learning Spanish, Chronological Bible Storing, Church Planting, Church History, and the culture of the jungle tribe to whom we will be taking the gospel in April, there's a host of things that fill our time outside of the classroom. Some of this includes: shooting bow and arrows, working-out alot, playing all sorts of sports--especially soccer, climbing mountains, working in the river cutting down trees and bamboo with machetes, rock climbing, repelling, and even cutting the heads of chickens that we later cooked over this fire we built. The chickens could've used some salt perhaps. I love our team and the time we have together. In my prayers, I often thank the Lord for the unity He has blessed us with.
Please lift up: This Sat. with Felipe & Gladis, Storing time this Sunday with Martin & his family, Freddy to have an open heart, David & Marcello & Allen & Armando--our Latin brothers from Peru and Chile that joined our team last week, learning Spanish and memorizing stories, and my friends Kelli & Baxter & Matt who leave from the states this week to live the mission in Bolivia and China.
Thank you for your faithful prayers. Lift up this mission with expectation that God will perform miracles!
Your brother, Jonathan (Juanito)
12/23/03: Let us pray together,
Father, I praise You for Your love You have for all peoples, and for the ends that You have gone to see that they have Your forgiveness and salvation. How undeserving this world is, and yet how unconditional is the grace You freely offer. Thank You for sending me to share this wonderful message. Forgive those who reject it or twist it to fit their desires and beliefs. May their eyes be opened soon to the truth, for it is soon that You are coming Jesus.
My heart longs for the salvation of Felipe, Martin, Freddy, Enrique, Marcos and their families. Thank You God for allowing me so many opportunities to share with these lost men and their households. I see You working in their lives. I see them searching through this life. May the two meet so that they may experience the joy of a life with You Lord. Your word is powerful and carries the good news of eternal life. I trust Your Holy Spirit to speak to them through Your heart-piercing gospel.
I lift up our team's trip to the jungle this weekend. Fill our hearts with joy and thanksgiving as we leave on Saturday. May our 10 days on the river in the Amazon serve as great preparation and training. I pray for even further unity among the members of our team, a deeper passion for the unreached of this region, and a bolder zeal for Your honor God. That Your name be shouted in songs of praises from the highest point of the Andes Mountains and the most hidden corner of the Amazon Jungle. That our hearts be set on finishing the task that You have called us to. That new believers spring-up from every nation; and that out of the harvest, the seed for next year come.
I also want to ask for my family during this week. Comfort us as we spend our first Christmas away from one another. Let us find a great peace in our choice to follow You no matter the cost, and may we not be distracted from worshipping You this week Jesus for all You did when You came to earth to save us. I lift up one of my best friends, Willie, and his fiancé, Emily, as they get married next week. I pray Father that You be the love of their life and the center of their marriage.
I praise You Lord for all the prayers You have answered during these past 7 weeks--in studying Spanish, memorizing stories, uniting our team, providing opportunities to witness, and preparing me in every way for the jungle where I'll go this April.
Thank You God for hearing my cry and for raising up so many faithful prayer warriors to serve along with me during this journey!
Your son and servant, Jonathan
12/27/03: Well prayer warriors, our team is leaving tonight at midnight for Rio Apurucauali. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. Although you wont hear from me for a couple of weeks, I ask that you remain faithful in lifting up this mission. Even as it rests on the horizon, this trip stirs the passion and renews the strength of this team. Miracles from God,(not simply "works" or "movements" or "involvement," but MIRACLES) are inevitable when our belief is invincible. May we pray then boldly--different from the norm--beyond what is expected.
I'll write again soon.
Happy New Year friends!
-Jonathan
1/8/04: (forgive the long e-mail--I promise not to make a habit of it)
"Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria...Then he set sail from Ephesus. When he landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch. After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples." --Acts 18:18-23
This passage quickly came to mind as I reflected on our team's trip into the jungle. We went by boat from village to village, up and down the river, stopping at each church to greet, encourage, and strengthen the disciples there. The Father blessed us with sweet times of worship with Ashenenka believers through sharing the stories of God's word, singing praises in a variety of languages, and praying for and with one another. It was a privileged opportunity--to praise our Creator from the depths of His beautiful jungle--which I had yet to be fortunate enough to experience. After my return, I now simply long to return.
There is much to say about the trip. Time would fail me to share it all. I have decided then to include just a few paragraphs that I wrote in my journal during our trip. Allowing others into such pages is a new thing for me, but I've concluded that it's the best way to truly unify us in this mission. As you share in the journey and my thoughts--praying through it all--I ask that you also lift up one of my best friends in the entire world, Clint Kirby. He will be leaving this Tuesday to make God famous in Burkina Faso, Africa for some four months. Much of my prayers are with him these days.
1/2/04--It's an exhilarating thing; floating down the river through such a beautiful, green jungle. At times, white rapids appear for a moment in the current; parrots of all sizes and colors soar across the waves, disappearing into the trees; young children row down the banks in their wooden canoes; and the splashing water that enters the boat only to sprinkle your hands and feet, is nothing but refreshing. It's enough to make a man want to stay--or at least thankfully praise the Lord for His creation and calling.
12/31/03--I lay in my tent last night sun burnt head to toe from the scorching heat that covered us and beat us all day in the boat. The sun was the kind of hot that takes your skin and turns it to leather. My muscles ached from driving the boat, it was hot in the tent, I was hungry and thirsty, my clothes smelled terribly, and I bore more mosquito bites than I care to count. Crying babies, snoring teammates, pigs, chickens, and roosters challenged all attempts at sleeping; but still I lay there thinking that the only thing that matters is that the world gives glory to God--the worship He deserves. I was thinking how this will never happen if the world never hears. I was thinking that I will suffer any trial and endure any discomfort if only I may have the chance to share Jesus with the Amarakaeri. I was thinking how weak I am, and how none of these hopes will come to be if I do not depend and completely rely on God's grace. How amazing it truly is!
1/5/04--I returned from the jungle today unshaven, unshowered, unrested, but definitely not unchanged. In just one trip, my Lord spoke and revealed to me volumes. He reminded me that people groups that have yet to hear the gospel will often be unbelievably difficult to get to. Then, once there, I will find tribes of bold sinners--drunks, idolaters, adulteresses, liars, thieves, the proud, and the hateful. They will be dirty, poor, outcast, and different. They will be the exact opposite of all that pleases God. And yet, they will be exactly who Christ came for--who His gospel is to be shared with. That's grace! That's the same grace that once saved a sinful, lustful, prideful, self-involved, self-righteous, foolish, lost 18-year-old kid and turned his world upside down--turning him into this still-struggling man who now goes to share this same message of grace and love to those who have yet to hear.
With renewed focus and stirred passion,
Jonathan
1/23/04: As I forsee our training coming to an end the last week of March, leaving us only about 6 weeks left here at our camp (we'll go on another trip to the jungle for 3 weeks next month), I am confronted with a sense of urgency in regards to two regions.
The Father has given us opportunities to proclaim His truth with men here in the Lima area such as Freddy, Martin, Felipe, Antonio, Alfredo, Enrique, and Marcos. Some have been more regular than others, while all have proved to be beatuiful chances to meet the desperate spiritual need of so many lost men in this community. During our preparation to continue sharing chronologically each week in the homes of these families, I am aware, now more than ever, of our need to manage our time well, follow the leading of the Spirit inside, and drench each moment with prayer. Please pray for us as we respond to God's word that came to us this week. He has called us to challenge, even more, these families to share the stories of God's word with others, begin to meet on their own without us, and to obey the truths they hear.
Concerning this last word of calling them to obey. We often recite the great comission of Matthew 28:18-20 and live the same. Yet many fail to "teach them to obey everything Jesus has commanded." Pray that we will go this week and be faithful in this, lest we water-down the gospel or lower in the least the holy standard of God.
With these great petitions laid at the Lord's feet by all the prayer warriors partnening in this task, may we also keep the "promise land" at the forefront of our prayers. I am referring to the lost jungle areas of Eastern Peru where we will soon be serving. With little time left here to research our people group, build the unity of our team, memorize Bible stories, study languages, and prepare spiritually and physically, the urgency to finish our training in a way worthy of our calling is ever-so-present.
Therefore, I encourage you to join with me in praying for two regions. May God bring His salvation to both as we pray, not for decissions, but for disciples!
-Jonathan check out www.fbcfm.org/firstbaptistflowermound/jonathan
Props and thank-you's to Steve Burgess for putting the site together!
1/30/04: Dear Prayer Partners,
Often times I find my prayers to follow this cycle: Going to the Father in prayer. Watching Him answer such prayers; causing me to praise Him for His faithfulness. Then seeing new opportunities for prayer stemming from His response.
In my last letter, I asked you to lift-up the families with whom we meet on Sundays. I challenged us to pray earnestly, with urgency, for their obedience to God's word and their desire to meet with their families as a church without us having to be there. Last Sunday morning, in the most obvious way, God answered these prayers. Thank you for praying!
I sat and watched Martin as the Spirit changed his life. He spoke as a man, for the first time, who longs to see the lives of his family change. As a man who wants to obey God's word, live for Him, and share this desire with his wife and children. Martin even promised--not to us, but rather to the Lord--to meet with his family before this Sunday and talk to them about having times together to share God's word, pray, and praise the Father for all He's done. His cousin also came for the first time last Sunday, and expressed interest in returning this week with his brother. Both Martin and his cousin committed to share one story from God's word with someone else this week.
After such an encouraging time with Martin, we went across town to Alfredo's shop to share God's word with him again. During our time there, God answered your prayers again by speaking to Alfredo's heart concerning his family. He committed to actually have a house church time this week with his whole family. He said that he wanted to share a story from God's word with them, and even practiced sharing it with us so that he would be ready.
Prayer warriors, our Savior is intimately involved in this mission, in the lives of these men, and in listening to our cries. Please keep praying. God's answers to our prayers present us with new responsibility to pray. Pray that Martin and Alfredo will follow-up with their commitments, and that Sunday will find them continually growing into godly leaders of their households.
Please keep praying!
Your brother, Jonathan
www.fbcfm.org/firstbaptistflowermound/jonathan ---Updated Pictures and journal entries!
2/6/04: Thank You Father for these past few days of training. They've been fun, our team is closer to one another, we're better prepared, and my desire to GO is even greater. I so enjoy serving You Jesus. I can't wait to get to the first village in which we'll be able to share Your wonderful saving message. Send me soon Lord.
I pray that Your Spirit go ahead of us and prepare the hearts of the Amarakaeri so that they will believe Your true message and thus follow You Jesus. I pray that You make faithful disciples out of the lost there. Give them a devoted, unwavering passion to tell the world about You. That their entire tribe, every family in every village, hear of Your sacrifice and grace. I beg You Jesus to save them. Bring Your salvation to the Amarakaeri in the most miraculous way ever. Come soon Jesus.
Lord, You declare to me in Your word that You will give me all I ask for according to Your will. I claim this promise this morning Jeus. I ask You to save the Amarakaeri. All of them! I believe in miracles God. I know You're a big, powerful, amazing, loving God. And nothing is impossible for You. With all my faith, I believe that You will send Your Holy Spirit to save, seal, and sactify this people.
Grow my love for them. Help me find them. Allow me to learn their language, adapt to their culture, and be accepted as an outsider. Fill me with Your words God so that they may know that You're real and that You sent me. I will follow You anywhere Jesus. Let's go see that You have the glory due Your name!
Your ragamuffin son, Jonathan
2/9/04: "Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples." --Psalm 96:3
I write this morning to proclaim to you the Lord's marvelous deeds and to rejoice with you and the angles in Heaven over a lost sheep that yesterday was found.
After an amazing morning with Martin and his family and Alfredo, Chris and I went to the main plaza in Lima. It is in this plaza that the President of Peru lives (kind of like where the White House is). After 10 minutes there, I was approached by a 29-year-old man named Franco who saw me as an opportunity to practice a few words in English. Small-talk was short-lived however, for once he learned that I was a missionary, he said, "I need someone to explain to me about God." How parallel was his opening to the story of Philip and the Ethiopian in Acts 8:26-40; as was the rest of the afternoon.
Franco, Chris and I went to a near-by restaurant so that we could talk in the shade. Franco began telling us about all he's heard about God. Mormon missionaries had visited his house several times to share about Joseph Smith and "The Book of Mormon." Thankfully, God protected Franco from being misled. "I knew something wasn't right about what they were teaching," Franco said.
It was obvious that Franco was thirsty for the truth, and such a thirst can only be quenched by the Living Waters. It is this refreshing that the Spirit poured-out over Franco through God's word (Proverbs 25:25).
Beginning with the beginning, we shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with Franco from creation to the cross. He heard of Jesus' resurrection and His Great Commission and an example of one of the disciples that obeyed the Great Commission. After we told the story of Philip and the Ethiopian, Franco accepted Jesus as his Savior, making a bold commitment to live for Him!!!
"I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that I need Him to forgive me of my sins," Franco said. "Only He can change my life. I want to start a new life with Jesus."
We celebrated with Franco, and then, as if it were scripted, he asked, "What's my first step in this new life?"
"What was the Ethiopian's first step after he believed in Jesus?" we asked.
"He was baptized," Franco answered.
Fifteen minutes later, we were at the beach to baptize Franco. We had already spoken much about the grand significance of baptism, answering many of Franco's questions. He said that he was ready to obey in this, identify his life with Jesus, and show others that he was a new creation. Like the Ethiopian, Franco had the attitude of, "Here's water; what's keeping me from being baptized?"
Wadding in our jeans in the midst of some huge waves, Chris and I baptized Franco in the Pacific Ocean! Afterward, Franco prayed a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to his Savior. It was a pure and most beautiful time. We passed another hour together, spending most of the time encouraging Franco in his new walk, and then we agreed to meet together again next Sunday. One of the last things Franco said before leaving yesterday was, "I promise to start today telling other people about God."
In just a few hours, Jesus Christ saved, changed, baptized, and commissioned Franco, one of his newest disciples. I praise the Lord for His mighty miracle and saving grace. Only He has power to save, and He does indeed have such power! May we rejoice together today!
-Jonathan
2/21/04: Xtreme Team Partners,
On his way to meet Chris and I last Sunday, Franco (the man who was saved and baptized the week before), ran into one of his friends, Fernando. As they walked together, Franco shared his testimony about all that God had done in his life. Apparently, he had been witnessing in such a way all week long to his family and friends. By the time they got to the plaza to meet us, Franco was already telling stories from God's word.
We spent the rest of the afternoon walking through the scriptures with Fernando, as Franco helped with just about every story. After hearing of Jesus returning to Heaven following His resurrection, Fernando asked about the end times and the return of Jesus that is yet to come. Through the subsequent conversation, Chris, Franco and I nonchalantly expressed that we are ready for Jesus to come back.
"I'm not," Fernando said. "I'm not a follower of Jesus."
Moments later however, Fernando committed to follow Jesus, repenting of his sin and confessing Him as his Savior. He is to be baptized this Sunday when we four meet again. Franco will baptize him in the ocean.
Prayer Warriors, it was truly powerful and encouraging to see how God used the week-young faith of Franco to lead Fernando to Christ. With the desire these two new believers have to make more disciples, there is no limit to what the Father will do through them. Such a story should challenge us all, as it has me, to be daily devoted to the task of being faithful witnesses. Glory to God for His saving grace that has sealed both Franco and Fernando.
Also offer prayers of praise and thanksgiving for these many answers to our previous prayers that God has now given:
-Unity among our Amarakaeri team (Marcello, Chris and I) who will soon be living among this indigenous tribe---This unity is something that we've prayed for often and have seen grow greatly recently.
-Beneficial research of the Amarakaeri--just tonight, us three sat down in Lima with a native from the region we will be going to, and learned an unbelievable amount about the culture, beliefs and location of the Amarakaeri---the location is one of our biggest requests, as they are very deep in the jungle, and awfully hard to find.
-A lady was baptized at the river behind our camp this past Tuesday! One of the leaders of our Xtreme Team has been witnessing to the woman for years. She accepted Jesus a while back, but has recently found new passion to walk even closer the narrow path and to lead her children in such a manner as well. Her baptism was a beautiful step of obedience.
Thank you for your prayers and encouragement! To explain the great significance of such would require at least 100 more e-mails.
-Jonathan www.fbcfm.org/firstbaptistflowermound/jonathan *New pics!
2/25/04: All the nations You have made will come and worship before You, O Lord; they will bring glory to Your name." --Psalm 86:9
I love the bold promise this verse contains. The inevitability of all peoples bowing down before the Lord. The certainty of it all. I hope that the Amarakaeri will soon give God the glory He deserves!
Friends, we leave tomorrow for the jungle to find the unreached Amarakaeri people group. There are about 3,000-4,000 members of this tribe, and except for a few who have moved out of the jungle into near-by cities, all are spiritually lost; never having heard of the saving gospel of Jesus Christ.
As we engage this people with the Good News, we cry-out volumes of desperate prayers. Pray with us. Ask that we find them and actually arrive in one of their villages. They live very deep in the jungle and will not be easy to get to. Pray for a man of peace. When Jesus sent-out 72 disciples in Luke chapter 10, He told them to search for a man of peace--someone, with whom, they could stay in the village. Ask that God lead us to the very communities He wants us to start in. That we will be accepted as outsiders (from what we've learned of the Amarakaeri, this will be difficult). That the Lord provides a base camp close to the river where we can stay from time to time when we're not in the jungle. That we find a group of men to begin sharing God's word with, that these men will soon give their lives to Jesus and then take the same message to the rest of their village, that the first villages of Christians will get on the river and go to other villages, and pray that God will indeed save every single member of the Amarakaeri people group.
Before I came to Peru, my brother Brian told me that, "It is a great privilege to share the gospel." How right he was! We beg God for the opportunity to bring the gospel to the Amarakaeri. We truly believe that salvation for the Amarakaeri is on the horizon. Soon, there will be an outburst of passionate worship from deep in the Amazon Jungle. Soon, the one, true, living God will receive the glory due His name!
Prayer warriors, I thank you for being so faithful for so long in lifting-up this mission. Our team has daily seen God's answers to your prayers. It's amazing. I'm humbled to be able to serve with people like you. I pray that for the next 15 days, while we are floating down the river in the jungle, our prayers will be bolder and more consistent than ever. Please go ahead and talk to Jesus about this upcoming trip for a few minutes right after you read this letter. I look forward to being able to write you when I get back and tell you about all God has done.
-Jonathan
3/11/04: Prayer Warriors,
A few months ago, Pablo, a 40-year-old Amarakaeri man living in the jungle in the Amarakaeri village of Shintuya, had a dream---different from that of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but perhaps just as significant. In his dream, Pablo stood in the river one night as a great storm came. He prayed to God for help, and suddenly a man appeared. Pablo now says that it was Jesus in the form of a man. Jesus calmed the storm, and Pablo awoke thinking that God would soon send someone to him to explain to him about his dream and Jesus.
Last week, our team arrived in Shintuya. After meeting the chief, we were invited to share our message with many of the Amarakaeri. For three nights, we walked through the gospel from the beginning with many of the men and women of the village. On the morning that we were leaving, Pablo, who had been listening to the gospel the previous nights, gave his life to Jesus and was baptized in the river. May God's name be glorified!
Pablo's salvation, while a miracle in itself, proved to contain and reveal many more answers from God to our prayers. Pablo is a native speaker of the Amarakaeri language, Harakmbut, and fluent in Spanish as well. His family lives on another river in another village called, San Jose. Earlier in our trip, God revealed to us that we will first engage, with the gospel, San Jose along with a few others on the same river. However, these villages are deeper in the jungle, and for many reasons, it is even more important that we enter with a contact. After he was baptized, Pablo said that he would like to go with us to San Jose and help tell others the story of the gospel. Praise the Lord! We now have a contact to enter with us, a family to start with, and an Amarakaeri believer who can proclaim the gospel to others in their heart language, Harakmbut. I can not describe how miraculous God's perfect plan and wonderful providence is. He has orchestrated this entire mission and is in control of it all. How obvious and comforting that is!
Jesus also saved another man while we were in Shintuya named Nehemias. He too was baptized in the river. God showed our team where our base house will be when we finish training next month, what river and village we'll start in, and opportunities to plant house churches in Shintuya as well. We just returned a few hours ago following a 21-hour bus ride. I've yet to gather all my thoughts on the trip, but in short, God did miracles and answered prayers daily! I'll try to add some journal updates and pictures to the web site soon from our trip, but till then, let us worship the Lord for His salvation and faithfulness.
Witnessing the answers to your prayers,
Jonathan
3/31/04:
Prayer Partners,
Since November 3, our team has been here at the training camp in Peru, preparing to take the gospel to the unreached indigenous people groups of Western South America. Tomorrow, we will move from our camp to towns close to the people groups we will be working with. Marcello, Chris and I leave Monday to return to the jungle. We'll spend some days again in Shintuya--disciplining and training Pablo and Nehemias who gave their lives to our Savior last time we were there--and then we will travel deeper into the jungle so to engage new Amarakaeri villages with the Good News. This next trip will most likely last about 4 weeks or so. We should return early May.
Please pray that Pablo and Nehemias will be able to learn the story of God's word well enough to share it with others, even in their heart language, Harakmbut. Ask that the Lord save many more members of this lost people and that the new believers will become passionate and devoted missionaries. And above all, pray that our team will always seek, find and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in what we do, where we go, and what we say.
Our team was recently challenged to pray scripture as we lift-up this mission; and I would like to encourage you with some of the same verses that I believe should be at the heart of our prayers:2 Thessalonians 3:1, Ephesians 6:19, Colossians 4:3-4, and Acts 4:29.
Thank you so much for your prayers over these past five months. May we now pray with even more boldness, faith and consistency.
Your brother, Jonathan
