George's Second Half

10/21/2004

hello everyone.

sorry that it took so long for me to write you back. before i begin thank you for your prayers concerning shannon bradley. she is doing better and is being moved from intensive care. please continue to lift her up in prayer. jonathan and i arrived in our second community called Masenawa the same day of darryl's baptism. God provided us with quick and safe travels which was always nice. Masenawa is my favorite village thus far. it is made up of one family and there are about 25 people that live there. they are very close, as you can imagine, to each other and they were very happy to see us there. Masenawa has no electricity, no running water, and no outside influence from larger communities. about 95% of the people here are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. the church there is unbelievable. jonathan and i did not tell them when to meet for church, they came to us every night wanting to sing, and learn more of the Bible stories. it is very important as God plants these churches that we gringos dont insert any traditions into the churches. we are also now at a point where they know alot of the stories, they know how and why to baptize, and they know how to observe the Lord's Supper. therefore we try to stay in the background and let them lead the church. these people are so hungry for the Word of God. jonathan and i had several opportunities to work and hunt with the men. while we spent time with them they would always ask us to teach them more stories from the Bible. at night when we would meet for house church they would eagerly tell the rest of their family the stories that they learned that day. the chiefs name is daniel. he is the brother of mario (the believer in shintuya). God gave us several opportunities to work with him and hunt with him. God is really growing him into a truly godly man. we hunted about 5 times with the men but jonathan and i never killed anything. we hunted wild pigs, monkeys, porcupines, and several species of birds including: turkeys, parrots, and others that i dont know the names of. i had the opportunity to eat the wild pig, several types of birds and the large jungle porcupine. everything was great especially the porcupine. they even gave jonathan and i names in their heart language (araknbut). i am affectionately called "checupé" which means shrimp. jonathan and i were also given our own set of hunting bow and arrows. the bow is almost 6ft. long and the arrows are 4 1/2ft. long. the first shots that i took barely fell past the shadow my body was casting. it was a hilarious site needless to say. my first shot at wildlife was at a tree full of monkeys. as i tried to shoot the arrows the monkey's screams of caution became like hecklers laughing at my pitiful attempts to get a shot off. they eventually ran off probably out of bordome. nonetheless it was a great expierence. God really blessed me with some amazing pictures of His awesome creation. beautiful birds, bright surises, colorful sunsets, and night-skys full of millions of stars. there were a couple of occasions when the moon and stars were so bright that i had a shadow in the middle of the night. if you ever had a question of God's love for you look at his beautiful creation and know that if He cares that much about plants, trees, rivers, animals, and stars how much more does He love us that He would send His only Son to die for our sins. there were several times during this part of my trip when i desired to be somewhere "comfortable". i was tired of our meal cycle of tuna and crackers, sweet rice for breakfast, and salty rice for dinner. God showed me in a humbling way that i was not here for me. when i accapted Jesus as my Lord and Savior i was no longer mine. i was bought at a price and that price was paid by Jesus through His death on the cross. also in Isaiah 46:10-13 God says, "I make known the end from the beginning, from acient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. From the east i summon a bird of prey, from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do. Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted, you who are far from righteousness. I am bringing my righteousness near, it is not far away; and my salvation will not be delayed." (emphasis added) i actually thought at some point or another that my being here had anything to do with me. based on these verses, God showed me that His will will be accomplished with or with out me. is not everything good in me the sanctifying (process of being made holy) work of God in His creation, His chosen follower, His servant. God is in control at all times and it is my obligation, my purpose to give Him the glory He rightly deserves. another valuable truth i learned while on my first trip is that Satan really hates the work of God. Satan continually wispers things into our ears that makes us think we need something besides the grace and love of our Savior. until i was taught this i would brush mishaps off or not think anything about my desires to be "comfortable". while doing this i missed oportunities to grow and chances to glorify my Father. but now it is always on my mind that Satan is out to ruin the work of God and i am reminded of how much i need my Savior. God is teaching me priceless truths here in Peru and my prayer is that you will make yourself avaliable to recieve the truths He desires to pour on you. thank you for your prayers and support. i truly love you all.

a work in progress,

george _ _ ______________________________________________________ _ _

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