Thanksgiving 2016

This time of thanksgiving we have much to be thankful for! We especially thank each one of you for supporting us financially and/or in prayer. The other day our son, Sam, was helping get the table ready for breakfast before school as we were rushing to not get another "tardanza" (tardy). He said, "Daddy when you work as a team you can get more done than if you do it alone" he said this because just the other day, I did it on my own and they were late for school. I was very glad to hear my son learning important life lessons even though they came as a result of my poor example. I am also impacted by this important life lesson that everyone of you are crucially important in the success of the work we are doing as missionaries. When you pray for us and work together with us as a team, we can get more done! God pleases to work in response to our prayers and we give praise and thanks to Him for providing you as our supporters. 

The passage below impacted me the other day and challenged me to not be like the 9 ungrateful lepers. I want to make sure to give thanks and glorify God for all that He has done for us. Most of all we give thanks for Jesus Christ who fulfilled all righteousness as our substitute. We also thank Him for sending the Holy Spirit to enable us to walk worthy of His calling. We are reminded all too often that it would be impossible without Him.

Luke 17:11   While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; 13 and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed. 15 Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, 16 and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine — where are they? 18 “Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?” 19 And He said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well

We have several new things going on and a bit of transition.  We have a new baby. Arabelle Emi was born October 7. My mother came to visit for a little over 2 weeks. Meg's mother just came to visit for 2 weeks. This past year we started an apprenticeship program with four young men in our church. This has been a very good experience for our church as well as for these young men. Starting this programs was one of the steps that help to finally break through to convince me that my calling is not to be a carpenter but to be a pastor and mentor. I assume most of you already recognize that since I was ordained and installed as a pastor and have gradually become less and less involved with the carpenters. I still visit with them once a week and they continue to push forward with their business. I also continue a bible study with a mechanic friend who is growing more and more hungry for the word and has dropped a few comments about coming to church one day. But my real calling and work with Peru Mission is clearly as a pastor and mentor in this apprenticeship. This leads to the new role of our team leader asking me to take on the administration of our seminary work called, Areopago. I have to let go of the work I was doing with the carpenters and focus on the apprenticeship work. I consider a major part of the apprenticeship work is very similar to what my aim was with the carpenters, which was to disciple them to love Jesus and glorify God in their work and all their lives. This is still my main goal and calling in everything I do. But now, it will be more focus on the apprenticeship training and helping facilitate the seminary training for all people in Trujillo, Peru. The four apprentices in Arevalo are doing well and growing. There are several new apprentices that are joining in the seminary courses we are leading through BTS and IIIM. We pray this will be a major contribution to the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry in the church and in all the the community and marketplace.