Follow.

"Where God calls, He provides."

Just think about this. 

God wants the absolute best for us. He calls us to follow Him and His word. And He provides the means for us to follow Him. How beautiful is that? We can't do anything on our own and we don't have to because God provides power through His Holy Spirit to just follow Him.

Since being in Perú, I've been reading off-and-on a wonderful book called "Follow Me" by David Platt. It's basically about... You guessed it. Following Jesus. But like, what does that look like? How do you follow Jesus? On page 88, Platt writes, "Following Jesus necessitates believing Jesus, and believing Jesus leads to proclaiming Jesus. Consequently, a privatized faith in a resurrected Christ is practically inconceivable." So following Jesus ONLY involves believing in Jesus? Well, at the root, I believe yes. When you believe in Jesus, put all of your hope and trust in Him, and live by His word through faith, then following Jesus daily is unavoidable. Platt writes, "The clear message of the Bible is that there is nothing we can do to make our hearts clean before a holy God. We can work constantly, pray fervently, give extravagantly, and love sacrificially, but our hearts will still be stained by sin. This is why the Bible teaches that faith alone in Christ alone is the only way to salvation from sin. Faith is the anti-work. It's the realization that there is nothing you can do but trust in what has been done for you in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Faith is the realization that God's pleasure in you will never be based upon your performance for him. Instead, God's pleasure in you will always be based upon Christ's performance for you."

So, upon belief in God, following just... Happens. Now, look back up at the top. "Where God calls, He provides." Following God's call is supported and provided fully by God Himself. 

God not only calls us to faith and to sharing the Gospel, He also calls us to follow Him personally, and literally. To follow Him to different places to spread the Word. To put all of our trust in Him. To deny ourselves for His good.

"You know how in space, the astronauts sometimes use objects already in orbit to slingshot off and gain momentum in a slightly different direction, yet still in orbit?" 

"Yes," I said, nodding, with a terribly confused look on my face. 

"I feel like that's what God does." 

So. Ignore the quick change of direction and think about this quote. 

A few days ago, on the way back from church, I was able to talk with Stuart and Meg Mills for just a short while about the future for me, and what I thought it looked like. Hearing a little bit of his story, Stuart really enjoyed carpentry during his younger years and then after graduating college went on to Seminary. Not really knowing what he wanted to do and even thinking it would be a slightly unmarketable degree, Stuart followed the Lord. 

Stuart (and Meg), I guess you've put it together that they're missionaries here, originally came down so Stuart could help, guide, and disciple those in Las Ponas (the woodworking shop where I help out). 

After a while of talking and listening, one of the major points that I came away with was that following the Lord sometimes just means waiting and remaining flexible to allow the Lord's Will to dominate when it becomes known.

So... In light of the first quote. God has really used this first month to show me a love for missions, an enjoyment in living life (if only a month) in another country and culture, and receiving so much joy, excitement, and encouragement from the people here. And it seems to be that the Lord is drawing me toward missions; and if that is the case, may I have the strength and desire to follow Him.

And in light of the second quote. I am a junior in college, with much ahead of me, uncertain of what the future holds, but wanting to remain flexible to the Lord's Will for the future. So, if the Lord is just using my love of Spanish, desire to do missions, and enjoyment of travel and adventure to 'slingshot' me somewhere else, may I have the strength and desire to follow Him. 

It's hard. Man, is it hard to sacrifice sin, what you think is best, and personal desires to follow the Lord, but that's why it's called following. We are following the Lord and His call to holiness through His provision. An example being 'Follow the Leader.' A classic among classics of childhood games. When you get to be the leader, you do what you want, when you want, and can change what others do. But when you follow the leader, you do what he says and does, and sacrifice what you want to do.

I think that has been the highlight of this past week. Seeing the Lord reveal a love and desire for missions, yet realizing that I need to remain flexible and desirable for the Lord's Will.

To be expectation-less of what the Lord will do, but have great expectations that He will provide literally the best for me.

Daniel

Work.

Well, I'm almost a month into my 2 month 3 week stay in Trujillo, Perú! It's kind of crazy to think that I've already been here almost a month, but at the same time it has been so natural. The transition from American to Peruvian culture, from summer to "winter," from hamburgers, fries, and chicken alfredo to papas rellenas, arroz, y pollo, from English to Spanish, from being the majority to being the minority, from driving in open to roads to riding crowded buses on roads crammed side-walk to side-walk. It's definitely been a different switch, but I have yet to feel that difference as negative.

I think one of the most helpful things in getting situated has been having places to work. Through the hard, patient searching by Josh, doors have been opened for me to work in various capacities. As mentioned in previous blogs, I work at Hogar San José--a boy's home--Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and sometimes Friday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. and Las Ponas--a carpentry/wood-working shop--Monday, Wednesday, and any other open evenings for as long as possible. Though it is currently not on my weekly work schedule, it is very likely that I will be able to teach English at a local church in Manuel Arevalo. And more importantly, through these capacities, I have seen God open doors for me to bring His good news.

The first few weeks of work at Hogar San José were a little challenging. Though there were many times that were awesome and I was able to make connections with the guys, there were just as many times were things didn't go peacefully or where "gringo" didn't just sound like a mild term used to describe a white foreigner. Now, it wasn't terrible by any means, but it was challenging. One older guy, caught in the "I have to be the Alpha male and show my dominance" stage--we've all been there, dudes--was, and still is, particularly patience-testing. He's about 15 or 16 and never seems to be malicious, but is always picking on, pushing around, or yelling at the other guys. Though he didn't pay any attention to me at first, when I told him to stop after having enough of his "playing," he started directing a little more attention to me. Since the beginning of the second week, he has flipped me off, I think cursed me out, and given many snide remarks. Again, it's never been malicious or like he's antagonizing a fight, but he's simply trying to show dominance and desire to be the one in control. But in watching him interact with some of his friends or the younger boys, I've seen that hard, calloused look fade away and a more friendly, caring one take over. Anyways, after a few weeks of figuring out how or when to talk to him, at the end of last week I was able to pull him aside for a little while. Just a few minutes before he walked by me, flipped me off, and smiling continued on his way. So, yeah, it was time. But when I said I wanted to talk with him, a look struck him. It wasn't anger, and I don't think it was nervousness, but it appeared like curiosity.

            "Gixon, what's your problem? I'm not mad or angry, I'm just curious what's up."
            "What do you mean?"
            "Why do you pick on the little guys and push them around and flip me off?"      
            "It's just a game, and this is just a finger?" *innocently grabs his finger*
            "Yeah, but you and I both know it's not. What's up, dude?"
               
The conversation continued like that for a while, but I think I was able to show him that I genuinely: A) don't want him to continue doing those things, B) care for him as a person, and C) am still wanting to respect him and give him a chance to open up. Since then, it appears as if things have been different. I don't expect a life-time of behaviors to be changed by one 3 minute conversation, but I do expect there to be plenty more opportunities to talk with him and show him that I care for him and that there are other ways of gaining respect than being the dominant male. So prayer for those interactions are coveted.

Many other doors have been opened by the Lord through these past few weeks at the Hogar. In telling everyone who asks why I'm here that it's a mission trip, I've been able to talk with one of the teachers who is a Baptist--she is the most caring, motherly, intentional teacher at the Hogar by far. After she was done with a lesson with a few boys, she asked if I could read them a few stories from a Storybook Bible-esque book. After reading the first few chapters about God creating the earth, and the introduction of sin, I skipped to chapters concerning Jesus' death on the cross. After 20 minutes of reading from the text, I talked--through broken-in-a-million-pieces Spanish--to the two guys about what God did in creating the world, sending His Son to the world to die, why believe in Him, and what happens if you do/don't put your faith in Him. Jorge, probably one of my favorite guys there, asked several questions and seemed genuinely interested and somewhat knowledgeable about the Bible. Through talking with him and Luis, another one of my favorites, I asked about whether or not they could go to church and invited them to come with us. (The walls of the boy's home are 30' high with barbed wire, doors are always locked and only opened by the director or vigilancia, and boys only leave for school.) He said that the boys weren't allowed to leave to go to church unless one of their teachers or helpers went with them. So after finishing up talking with Jorge and Luis, I was walking around to another dorm room type building when one of the female teachers came up and told me that Jorge asked if they could go to church with me some time! She said that she would be more than willing to come along to be the 'escort' of sorts. So I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how God will continue to soften hearts and draw others to Himself. Through those two boys, several others, and a down-syndrome boy named Joel, there is much joy and excitement at Hogar San José. I've been asked to help Joel with several things such as doing hand-eye coordination tasks, doing puzzles, and drawing; during those times, his laughs, hugs, and motivation to finish have provided much happiness and contentment. So I would definitely appreciate continued prayer for renewed energy to be refreshed and excited to share the grace that I have received.

Another joy has been working at Las Ponas. Through those two, and sometimes three, days a week visits, I've gotten to know the guys pretty well and have already learned a lot. Most of y'all know this, but I've had minimal experience with carpentry, so I've definitely come in open-minded and ready to learn. The guys have been very welcoming and patient with my lack of knowledge and desirous to get to know me better. It's basically been fantastic.

So, things are continually coming together and working together for the good of the Lord, so that is for sure something to be thankful for. As the summer progresses, please continue covering me in prayer as the Lord's work continues to involve a sinner such as myself.

Also this week--well, yesterday--I did a few more touristy things and saw some amazing ruins of Moche and Chimu civilizations. One of Covenant's Spanish/French professors was in South America for a few weeks and stopped by to stay with us in Trujillo for a few days, so we took him out and about a few times.

View of Huaca del Sol while climbing up to Huaca de la Luna.

View of Huaca del Sol and the Moche city below.

Outside wall of Huaca de la Luna.

Then we went to Chan Chan, another well-preserved ruins site.

Very straight, quadratic lines.

Living quarters of the Chimu people.

So, yes. This week has been a fantastic one. I've been able to witness and partake of the Lord opening opportunities and hearts to Himself. It's been glorious. Please continue praying for me as this summer carries on and the Lord reveals Himself to me and the people I encounter.

You folks are so dear, and I think of you often.

Daniel