Father, we bless Your name and say that You are the one true God and Your Son Jesus.
You have revealed how great and wonderful You are and that by You and through Your sovereign will
You have become our Deliverer.
So Lord, we just want to
always have the space in life
to let the weight of that sit on us. So Lord, we don’t want to take for granted what it means to know You, to be saved by You.
Lord, I pray for the chuns tonight who are very sick. Lord, I pray speedy recovery for them. They’re down. Lord, also I know Delaina is sick as well and is struggling. Father, we just pray healing on these families.
Lord, we thank You for bringing home Chris and Alicia and myself safely from Peru. And Lord, we’re thankful for all that You did. Lord, we just pray this evening we would spend time learning from Your Word and rejoicing over
more and more of who You are and who You are. Lord, in our lives. And we just pray You bless our tithe and our offering. And Lord, in all things You would receive glory. We pray that in Jesus’ name. Amen. Well, hey, this evening just a little different than normal. We just kind of wanted to share a video from Peru. Just a collage of some things that we we we , uh, saw and did just to kind of show it to you. Um, and then, uh, Elder Chris is just going to share just a testimony of some things that he saw and he learned tonight. Um, just be an encouragement to you. And then, at the same time, I’ll, I’ll share a word with us as well. Um, afterwards. So I know that we’ve got some folks out and, uh, a lot of folks sick. But we still just wanted to kind of regroup together and, uh, just celebrate, uh, some things that the Lord has done and even talk about some opportunities. We could have, um, in the future. So, I’m not a video editor, so don’t, don’t make fun of my video. But it’s at least some, uh, it’s, uh, some things that, uh, happened in, uh, in Peru. Hopefully give you, give you a good idea of it. So.
Well, about a week and a half ago, we were heading out into the unknown. Not really. Not really knowing anything about the people we would be working with there. We were meeting up with three other people. Uh, Max, Rob, and Ife. We didn’t really know anything about the people we were going to minister to. Pastor Chad had the relationship with Max. So he was trusting Max. And I think Alicia and I were trusting Pastor Chad. And I know many thought, and some of you were probably in that category, thought we were crazy to go into a mission, uh, like this with so little information. But I don’t really think we were stressed out about it. I think we were just trusting the Lord to work in us and through us and go before us. And I knew if all else failed, at least I had Pastor Chad and Alicia with me, somebody I knew, and we could figure it out. I think the mission started for me on the Sunday before. Pastor Chad’s message was from Psalm 37. And it was a timely word for me because it was about do not fret. God is sovereign over the big things and the small things. And I would remind myself of that many times on this journey, on this mission trip.
It started out bumpy. There was a problem with my reservation. Like a bonehead, when I signed us up for the airline flight, I put in Chris. What’s my passport say? Christopher. Well, I couldn’t, I couldn’t, uh, you know, I couldn’t do the check-in because of that. So I call on Tuesday night. We were leaving on Wednesday. I worked with the lady for about an hour, hour and a half. She fixes it. It looks like we’re all good. Wednesday morning, I get up and something was just nagging at me. You know, something just didn’t feel right. So I look at our reservation again and we had lost our flight from Lima to Bocopa. So if we had left on that Wednesday, we were only going to get as far as Lima. We weren’t going to actually get to Bocopa, which is the destination for getting there on Thursday. So I call again. And we go through about another and a half, another hour and a half conversation. I think it was on my third person talking to this lady. And she says she was talking to this other guy. And she said, I just don’t think we’re going to be able to fix it. Okay, don’t fret. God is sovereign over the big things and the small things. So I texted Pastor Chad, Alicia, Delaina, I said, pray. She comes back on the phone and says, we got it all worked out. We’re good to go. So God in his sovereignty had worked it out. And I think that was the first, those two things were the first of many hints that would say that the Lord was in this. We were going into the unknown, but the Lord was in this and it was meant to happen and he was working in it. I think if we had a theme for this mission trip, it was luggage. It started with trying to figure out how we would pack up everything. Alicia is family. She’s fantastic at fundraising. If you ever need to fundraise for anything, talk to Alicia. As they call her in Peru, Alicia. Talk to Alicia. She kept having me come in. She kept converting that into shoes and hygiene products and school supplies and gym bags. And I was just thinking as we spread it out in my living room, how in the world are we going to pack all this stuff up? We had one suitcase that was mine and she found two more at the thrift store. So we packed three large suitcases as full as we could, splitting them out so they weren’t over 50 pounds because they would charge us more for 50 pounds.
So we were blessed to take so much stuff with us. We get to Peru and what do we not have? Those three suitcases. And I think you’ve heard the details about that on band. We mistakenly did that. We didn’t transfer them over in Lima so they didn’t get on our flight. So here it is Thursday night. We start VBS in the morning at 1030. We have none of our supplies, none of our VBS supplies, none of the things we’re going to give out.
And it just so happened that one of the ladies at this church we worked with, her husband worked at the airport. So we go, we do everything we can. This lady was behind the desk. She was trying to help but she didn’t really want to.
But she put in a request to have the suitcases transferred. And then sure enough, at around, I would say, 9, 9.30 on, I guess that would have been Friday morning, suitcases were at the airport. So we head out to the airport to get them and bring them just in time for VBS. This was another lesson in do not fret, trust. God is sovereign over the big things and the small things.
Then while we were there, I think nearly every day was centered around a suitcase, at least one. We were repacking suitcases for the day. We were taking shoes. We were taking hygiene products, supplies. So we were repacking suitcases every day.
And there was one particular day toward the end of the trip when we were pulling together all of our backpacks and we were one short. And we were one short for a kid. I think the kid’s name was Tony that Alicia had really grown fond of. And she was getting bummed about it. So I opened up one of our suitcases that we thought was empty. What do I find? One backpack. Exactly what we needed. Presumably it had been there all along. I trust that maybe God in that moment provided for our need.
Trust. God is sovereign over the big things and the small things.
And then our trip ended with luggage. We actually got an earlier flight. Our luggage didn’t. So even after we get home, the Chons go back to pick up our luggage at the airport. So we started with luggage, trying to find luggage. At the end, we’re going back to pick up luggage. That’s why I say it was a theme for this trip.
So in addition to the VBS, we gave out shoes, gym bags, hygiene, and school supplies. Pastor Chad had a chance to preach at two different churches and teach at a youth group. I had a chance to speak what was supposed to be to a men’s group that turned out to be the whole church. We were able to do home visits. We had breakfast with a pastor of a church there in Bocopa that we could discuss future plans with. It was a very busy week. But whenever an opportunity came up to add something in that wasn’t on the original schedule, we tried to jump at the chance to do that. And I think the Lord blessed us in every instance.
So as I think back over the trip, I ask, what did the Lord show me? I think it came with a few things. The first is obvious. I’ve been given so much. I take so much for granted. Clean water’s a premium there. We had no hot water for our showers. Air conditioning. Alicia and one other room had air conditioning. Pastor Chad and I didn’t have any air conditioning. And just cars. We rode around on these motor carts, which are cool, but then you’re swallowing dust and fumes and bugs and whatever else is flying in the air at the moment. So just thinking about a car windshield, how valuable is that?
And I’m blessed to have extra money that I can use for things I want and not just for things I need. Pastor Chad made a mention there. While we were in Pocopo, about daily bread. And that’s part of the Lord’s prayer. Give us this day our daily bread. And we saw what that means for the people of Peru. Because they used their motor carts to taxi people around to make money for their family. There were people at some of the intersections selling water, selling other kinds of things to raise money for their family. Sometimes it took, the kids were there too. It’s all able hands are working just to make ends meet. But for me, if I don’t work for a while, if I can’t work, I still have money for my daily bread. And that’s not true for families there and that’s not even true for families in America. So it’s a reminder that we’ve been given so much. So what do we do with it? How are we using it?
Yes, most of the need we see here in America is not on the level of what we saw in Peru but there is need. And what am I doing to meet those needs? What am I doing to share the greatest need with the people of Peru? What is the greatest need that people have? The hope of Christ. Because physical needs are important but the greatest need is spiritual. People need Christ. And one thing we notice there is people are receptive. They would listen. I think there was only one time we were handing out some of the gospel cards that Pastor Chad’s dad would give us when they’re here in Spanish. And you know, everybody I think would take them and listen. And so we’re hoping that even in those small things that God is using that to build his kingdom.
And I think another thing I saw there was what Christ-centered community looks like. That’s one of our values, Christ-centered community. And we saw a group of ladies who love each other, who worship together.
They’re ministering together, doing all they can to love the kids in that community, loving their families. They’re sacrificing their time and their own resources to minister. And they were truly doing life together and they were doing it with joy.
So a reminder to me is our Christ-centered community is important and it needs to be done with joy because in Christ we are family. At Providence Fellowship we are a family. And I think the greatest encouragement for me was to see that Christ is truly building his church around the world. We really had nothing in common with these people that we were working with, Max, Ife, and Rob, or the people we were ministering to. If we had sat around and shared our life experiences, I’m sure none of them would line up. My experiences are not theirs. Theirs are not mine. The only truly common denominator was Christ. So I see that his spirit is working to build his church in Peru just as he’s working to build his church here in America. So to think that he might use me and my two friends from Huntsville, Alabama in some small way to help build his church in Peru is truly humbling. Mission work is not glamorous. In Peru it was hot and humid and dusty. And I’ve never seen or ever sweated so much in a week in my life. But in the big scheme of things, these were truly minor inconveniences and ones that I would gladly endure again if the Lord grants me the opportunity to go back there someday. My prayer is that the Lord will use our time there to further his kingdom for his glory alone. And I’m sure Chad will share maybe some of this. We do have tentative plans to go back. There’s some things we’re talking about maybe doing on a follow-up trip.
The verse that comes to mind for that is Proverbs 16, the heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. So as we plan, we plan. We’re trusting that the Lord will establish the steps that we need to take
in order to possibly go back there someday. So I want to say thank you to everyone that prayed, everyone that gave to this trip. It’s truly a blessing for us.
And we had a running joke the week that this was all a big scam. You know, Max was getting us there to rob us. Do all kinds of unspeakable things to me. You know, because we didn’t know what we were getting to. We’re stepping into the unknown. And so that was kind of a joke. One of the last days, we’re standing at the airport and I hugged Max. I told him, this is the best scam I’ve ever been a part of. Because it was truly a blessing. So the Lord works in mysterious ways. And don’t fret. God is sovereign over the big things and the small things.
Well, thank you, brother. That was really encouraging. Thank you for sharing that. I don’t think I can really add much to the details of the trip. That was pretty good. One of the first things Alicia said to Max at the airport was, we thought you were going to harvest our organs. I’m thinking. And he said, well, maybe I still will. So,
but, no, Chris just did a great job of just talking about how the Lord provided and did so much and just worked so many wild little details out. It was really just, it was a grace to be there. And of course, I’m thinking all the time, I can’t believe I’m taking two church members across the world for some guy I’ve never met before in person. But, just like it was from the Lord and so we did it, you know, and God, God provided. But I just wanted to share a word with us from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 10, verse 21.
Luke chapter 10, verse 21.
It says, in that same hour, he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you’ve hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. And no one knows who the Son is except the Father or who the Father is except the Son. And anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him will be revealed by the Son. And no one knows turning to the disciples, he said privately, blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see and did not see it and to hear what you hear and did not hear it. I think a lot of times when people come back from mission trips, it’s, you know, the, the next sermon feels more like a guilt trip of how come you didn’t go and you better get on a mission trip and nobody cares as much about missions the way that they should. And I think it’s, it’s well-meaning, right? Because it may be a pastor and some people went and so all of a sudden everybody’s got to have that fervor too. But I think the best way to have fervor for whether it’s international missions or local missions, whatever that looks like, is not to have fervor. It’s not to look at the world and see the need first. I think what we really need to do is look at Jesus and be reminded of what He’s done for each of us individually. I think there’s a certain, there’s a certain dumbfoundedness that each of us should strive to have in our daily lives at these things that Jesus is amazed at. That the Father has willed that, some will perceive spiritual realities. That some will believe the gospel, that you and I would desire God. Jesus said, blessed are those eyes that can see that. Blessed are those eyes. And perhaps we, we stay in the local church so long and we get used to our rhythms and routines and even we get used to our doctrine and we don’t have, I think, this sort of elation that Christ has in saying, blessed are the eyes that can see Jesus. Blessed are the eyes that believe what they’re seeing in Christ. I want you to be amazed at your salvation. I want you to be in a state of bewilderment and wonder that God’s sovereign choice was for you to know His Son, Jesus. That God did not pass over you. God loves you and has loved you with an everlasting love and before time began, you were in His heart. How can we get used to something like that?
And what Jesus says here, it seems contradictory because He says, He rejoices in the Spirit and said, I thank you, Father. Lord of heaven and earth, that you’ve hidden these things from the wise understanding and you’ve revealed them to little children. But when we come down further, He says that no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal. So how can we be told that the Father is willing who will know? And yet, yet Christ can say, it’s up to me. Who knows?
And this isn’t what it seems, is it? It’s not contradictory at all. You see in that little passage, the Godhead, you see the Trinity, Jesus says, in the, it says in the Spirit, He’s rejoicing. Why? Because the Father has willed something and in Christ’s Spirit-filled ministry, He is drawing and calling His Son. The ones that are according to the will of the Father. So Christ isn’t choosing against the Father’s will. Christ is choosing as is the will of God. This is who God is. A God that loves and chooses unworthy sinners.
It’s grace and it causes Jesus to rejoice.
If the Son of God took on flesh and came to earth, what is He excited about? What’s He rejoicing about? What is it that makes Him just alive and would even cause Him to in the middle of the day shout out a prayer? It’s this. God, you’re the kind of God that wills sinners to salvation.
I don’t live with that excitement like I should be daily. That God saved me like that. And He’s still doing that work. So Jesus says this is a blessed thing. This is a blessed thing to see Christ.
Reminds me of what the psalmist says. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. It’s a wonderful verse.
Paul Washer is a popular evangelist. And I watched a video clip of him recently who said, our greatest need is not, and I’m paraphrasing, to serve God. Our greatest need is to know how much God loves us.
Because all the service we could do in the church, all the strength we could use to do for God and do all the right things, friends, it wears out and it’s empty because it’s coming from us. But when we grasp, each of us, how much, how much God loves us, what Jesus did on the cross according to the will of the Father for sinners, friends, that love overflows into an abundance of service. It overflows into an abundance of love for God in the world.
And so it’s not surprising then when we trace what Jesus is saying here in 10 and we go forward just a couple chapters, in Luke, the chapter 12,
verse 48,
we’re told that
the one who, and he’s given the example here of a servant. He says the one who knew the Master was coming but didn’t care, he’ll, he’ll deserve a beating. The one who didn’t know gets a light beating. But he says that at the end of 48, everyone to whom much was given, of him, much will be required. And from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand more. And what is Jesus saying there? He’s not saying you and I are called to earn what we’ve been given in our place. He’s saying with the blessing and privilege of being a servant, of being a part of God’s kingdom and family comes this awesome, heavy, weighty responsibility to steward well everything we’ve been given. So this shouldn’t make us think of God as a harsh master and he’s just ready to get us if we don’t do just right. Jesus is reminding us of what we’ve been given and are we really living in the love of what we’ve been given as servants so that we would deeply desire to serve with all that we have our master.
So again, this is not a guilt trip about you should be more involved in missions. I don’t want that for you. I’ve heard those sermons and they’re discouraging. It’s just a reminder for each of us that what God is calling us to in our lives,
we’re called to steward everything we have. And that may be a mission trip. It certainly means to some degree being involved in world missions if it’s nothing more than prayer and finances. But still yet, God has given each of us a certain amount in our hands as his people. He’s given talents. He’s given us energy. He’s given us money. He’s given us the gospel. He’s given us tongues in our mouth. God is calling each of us to give our all to him. Not so he’ll love us, but because he deeply loves us. And that really makes all the difference. To live in the light of God’s love for sinners. So I just want that passage to be a call to you and to me. A call to prayerfulness. A call to sacrificial giving. A call to complete obedience.
And a call to self-denial for the cause of Christ.
Jesus says it is a blessed thing to see it. It’s a blessed thing to see it.
So it’s a responsibility to steward it. And I want us to deeply latch on to what it means as a church to steward all that we’re called to steward. That we would receive our master’s commendation. Wholehearted devotion to our Lord and Savior, to the Father, and the power of the Spirit. So again, I can’t really, I don’t think recap better, just the heart of that trip more than Chris, but just, I think for me, just what am I thinking about coming back? Just a reminder, I always need to step out in uncomfortable spaces if I want to see God work. Right? And I’m happy to just stay in my house and my space. And be comfortable there, but God calls us to step out in uncomfortable spaces so that we have to depend on Him. That’s where God works, is uncomfortable spaces for us. Read the Bible story about the guy that stayed comfortable his whole life and God did all kinds of things with him. There’s not a story like that, is there? You’ll never see God move if you’re not willing to go to the place where He’s working. So again, that may mean evangelism here, maybe a new fervency for you and what it means. To love and to be around non-believers.
Secondly, for me, seeing the passion of other believers in other contexts is hugely encouraging. The main church that we worked with is a church that had, in the last few years, somewhat fallen apart due to sins of the pastor. So they kind of lost the majority of their church, and so there’s just these three sisters. Who were doing their best to kind of hold it together, and so it is a church but mostly they’re like a ministry still to the children, that community. So they are making breakfast for those children twice a week before they go to school. They’re getting to eat then, and just still trying to minister to that community. So they’re struggling I think to be a church, but it was amazing because one night we were there, and they were going to have just a night of singing, and so we sat there waiting for this. and they’ve got their computer pulled up at the screen. And, of course, it’s just like YouTube, like music playing with the Spanish words up there. And it got dark and, you know, no street lights. So we’re just all sitting in the dark with a few light bulbs under that pavilion. And nobody came that night. Nobody came to their night of worship. Of course, I’m feeling embarrassed for them. Like, oh, man, you know, it’s all right. You’d have thought 10,000 people were there because those ladies, they, like, stood up and just worshipped their hearts out in Spanish. And they just didn’t care. They were just there to be there and to serve the Lord. And it was so encouraging for me to know my passion for the Lord doesn’t depend on seeing what I want to see. My passion depends on what the Lord’s done for me. So I think each of us can be encouraged. Passion is passion for who Jesus is, not for maybe being a part of a work we want to be a part of or seeing the fruit we want to see all the time. And then again, back to what Chris said, God is working outside of my world. And so being there, it enlarges my prayer life. It enlarges the things that I’m asking God to do. It’s given me a heart for kind of what we’ve been studying in Revelation, that these pictures you get, you know, all throughout Revelation, that it’ll end up being all these different people from different tribes and nations and languages. And we’re all there together in the end, worshipping our Savior and King for what He has done. And so I think it’s good for us to stay connected to world missions, to be reminded God is saving many peoples, not just my people, right? God’s doing something everywhere. And it helps me to stay on mission here. So if they’re being faithful there, I should be encouraged to be faithful here. And then last, there are partnering opportunities. You know, we went to Mexico a few years ago, and that was really good. But, you know, we realized when we were there that the missionary there was very well-funded, very well-resourced, and good for him. So we didn’t feel maybe led to go back. We just felt like we found a place where, goodness, everywhere you turn, there is need, and there wasn’t a lot of resources. I preached for this pastor. His church was connected to the soccer ministry we did. And he said, you’re the first, like, North American I’ve ever had here to preach at my church. And we sat down. His family had us to breakfast. And it was just, like, such kind hospitality. And I guess Max told him I like plantains. So they made this giant plate of fried plantains, like, just for me. So I was, like, I was working through it. I had to finish that giant plate of plantains. But so much need. Those sisters, the kind of the area where their church is, is similar. And it’s what you would imagine when you think of a third-world country. It’s families living on their daily bread and living on dirt floors and just trying to make it. And they don’t know the gospel. They certainly don’t know what it means to be a part of a very healthy church. So we suggested to them ideas of things we had done in Mexico about the water filters and going house to house and just taking a clean water filtration system and teaching them how to use it and sharing Christ with them and trying to invite them into church life. So they were really excited about us coming back and all the things we could do and just supporting. Supporting them there. Another opportunity for us as a church to pray about. You know, I’m not a king and say, we’re doing this. But they support those, the children of that community, probably 50 kids, and they give them breakfast twice a month. No, I’m sorry. I think twice a week as they go to school. And that costs about 50 USD, American dollars, which maybe doesn’t sound like a lot to us, but there are times when they don’t have it and they’re pulling out of their own pockets to make these, you know, biscuits. And simple breakfast for these children. And, you know, everybody at Providence just gave five extra dollars a month in your tithe. We could pay for them to be able to bless these children with food as they’re trying to reach their families. And actually, it was really cool because one of the children that they had come to the VBS, intentionally, we went to their house the next day to give that family some groceries and share the gospel with them. And that… And that family, that mom, came to church. So it was really cool to see how there are all these families all over this community and they need Jesus. And there are churches trying to reach all of these people there. And there’s just a lot of need, a lot of opportunity. So, yeah, we want to just pray about that and see how we can make a huge difference there. Money goes a long way. Time and energy goes a long way just to be, you know, hands and feet to go out and help these people. These churches. My dad, you know, my dad loves, you know, gospel tracks. And he sent me a ton of these Spanish ones with QR codes. It’s funny, you know, Max, because we would go in these really poor homes and you would see, like, these people with absolutely nothing would have, like, some kind of smartphone. And I asked Max, like, what’s the deal? And he’s like, they would rather have a smartphone than food sometimes if they had to, just so they can stay connected to the world. So I’m like, okay, so they’re not on food, but they can, they have the, you know, they can watch these little videos and watch these discipleship videos. So we were giving out these discipleship videos in the city, when we went to the neighborhoods, and just some very kind people. And I know in America, we always think people are a little like, hmm, like, you know, don’t walk up to me and give me something. But very receptive people. We’re just grateful when you would want to come talk to them. So very, very, it’s very fertile ground, it felt like, to just share Christ. And then, and then lastly, we talked to the pastor and some other people about training and is that needed, just to do maybe the things you take for granted because you grew up in church. Just knowing basics of the gospel, the basics of maybe what is Bible study, even for some of the pastors, how do I actually prepare a sermon? They said most pastors, if they become a pastor, they just got a Bible and they open it and just say what they think it means, right? And we trust the Holy Spirit works at the same time. There’s such a thing as training and preparedness that there’s a lot of pastors who don’t know what they’re doing at all. They’re just the pastors. And he said, if we had a pastor training at this church, he said pastors would travel for five days up the river to be there. So it’s a lot of need. So it felt like, wow, Lord, maybe this is just a door you’re opening where we can make a huge difference for your name. So we wanted to share these things just to say thank you so much for your prayers, for your finances. They went so far. Like you give to something, like, oh, I gave to that thing. Like it went so far to put shoes on, feet, toothbrushes in children’s mouths, food, everything. It was so amazing to like see it actually happen. So thank you, thank you, thank you for your financial generosity and praying. And I know she’s not here because she’s so sick, but I joked all week with the sisters. Like I said, if Alicia didn’t come, like we’d be playing rock, paper, scissors at every station because that’s what me and Chris would have come up with. Like, I don’t, we did not know how to put on a VBS. Yes. And I guess we didn’t even know what we were signing up for. So the Lord was like, you better take Alicia because she thought out all these games, all these crafts. And like, you would have thought that these children were at Disney World just to have that. I mean, she had some kind of popsicle stick and straw that was a kazoo. Oh my gosh. Like it was the best thing ever. And we had parent day. The parents came on the last day of the VBS and had to do all the stations like their kids did. You would have thought those parents were at Disney World. I mean, seeing like these adults chase a balloon around this land, like they were, they were just so overwhelmed. And even the story time, I mean, they sat at story time while Alicia would share a Bible story and Mike would translate and they were just sucked in. It was just so much for them to receive solid teachings in the churches and just be loved on. So again, we’re all very grateful for that. And we’ll be talking and praying about if and when the Lord wants us maybe to do more in the future. And perhaps we could take more folks and do more ministry. Come for his kingdom. But all of that to say, let’s give our all to the Lord. Let’s remember how much God has given us in his son, Jesus. Blessed are the eyes that see it. So friends, let’s keep seeing it and let’s keep stewarding it for his glory. Amen. Yeah, let me pray and we’ll worship together. Father,
it is a humbling thing that we can never come up with words for as to your grace and why your unmerited grace would Lord call sinners to salvation. That each of us, though born in sin, would have some desire in us, some longing to know you, to turn from this world, to love Christ. Oh God, help us never think that is a small thing, to be called to salvation.
We pray for just a renewed love for your son, Jesus. All that it means to follow him, to serve him even when it’s hard. Even we’re told that our suffering for Christ, we should rejoice in it as it’s bearing eternal fruit for your kingdom, Lord. So each of us here, let our minds, and our hearts be ignited for faithfulness, ignited for obedience, ignited for radical generosity in the ways you call us to give ourselves away. And we do pray for, Lord, our new friends in Peru that, Lord, you would bless them and their work. You would provide all that they need. God, your kingdom would be built in Pocopo, Peru, as much as we pray. We pray for it in Huntsville, Alabama. And we give you all the praise and all the glory. And it’s in Jesus’ name. Amen.