Pray for "Peregrinos"

People walking down the highway towards the cathedral. Photo: nanduti.com.py

Around this time of the year, pilgrims (peregrinos) start to trek from around the whole country towards the city of Caacupe. Many ask the Virgin for a favor and travel (many by walking) to the quintessential Roman Catholic town of Caacupe, in exchange for the granted request. This event is celebrated on the 8th of December every year reminding me of the need of the gospel and the freedom from idolatry our country needs. This event also reminds me that it is my dad's birthday on the 9th, so all the commotion helps me not forget. What I found interesting is how one of the major newspapers even has a dedicated bar on their homepage which hosts articles about the event during the season. The vain pursuit of superstitious "holy water" seen in this video saddens my soul. Not only does this prompt me to find my ultimate trust in God Almighty, but it allows myself (yes I hinder my own dependence sometimes) to be completely dependent on him and not anything created. Whether this be health, finances relationships or salvation he becomes the source of goodness and grace. Plead with me before the thrown for the multitude of wandering lost souls.

Pray for the need of gospel proclamation in spite of rough religiosity.
Pray for those that are earnestly seeking for God, that He may reveal Himself to them.
Pray for freedom in spite of idolatry.

Camp Action

Some action shots from Maranata Camp
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.206035162779321.46559.100001185174925&l=c5cb32cea7&type=1
Unfortunately I was not able to take any pictures of the Bible study times. 

Outreach and Camp

I am pleased to write you from home. Internship in Mexico is done. It was a true blessing to take that step in faith and see God bless, humble and teach me throughout that time. Along with the exquisite foods I was served and the friendships I made, some of the most enjoyable moments were the discussions with the youth and at the men’s Bible studies. Seeing some eyes opened wide as truth soaked in, or doubts settled, moved me, especially as we studied the book of 1 John. Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed the teaching parts of the internship, confirming once again this desire God has placed in me.

I praise God again for the past week. After a long time, I was refreshed to participate in an outreach campaign with my home church. Again, God allowed multiple churches to come together for a time of evangelism and discipleship. If you get a chance, pray for the follow-ups that must be done with the families that have come in contact with the church through the activities held during the week and also for the next outreach that will be happening during the first week of August. 

Lastly, I ask for your prayers for a special time for me. Tonight I am traveling across the country to be at a camp I have grown up around. I have been invited to share the lessons with the youth during this week long winter camp. Not only keep me in mind, but also the youth, whose life the Lord will be working in. Not only is this something I have dreamed of doing in the distant future, but I am also pleased to give back to a place that has help develop my walk with the Lord. Now that this opportunity is before me, I ask that the Lord move in my heart as I believe he will in the hearts of the campers.

I am glad to be able to share this joy with you.

If you will please write me back and let me know what I can be praying for you for, that would be great. 

Our Savior’s blessings,

Robert

 

Performing the Empty Heart play.

 

The neighborhood crowd on Thursday night.

 

Mates from Bible school (Escuela Biblical Maranata)

during 2006 Maranata summer youth camp. (2006)

Second weekend of July 2011

Carolynna, Barbie and I at a wedding.

At the Jesuit Ruins (Jesus)

Fam pic

Fun Pic

Villa Florida

Transformation among the Harvest

Dear Friends,

I write you nearing my last week here in Ixtapaluca, watching the Lord reap the fruit in his harvest. Over all I have thoroughly enjoyed my internship here and am glad of the opportunities I have been given.

Three highlights of what has happened in the past 2 week are the vision weekend, baptisms, and some new believers coming to faith. 2 weekends ago, the missionaries and interns here were able to host and mobilize a number of individuals both from North and Central America along with leaders from the two churches that have been planted here. The brainstorming and goal-setting led to plans of branching out into a third church plant into a new neighborhood. The first Bible church was planted 5 years ago and the second church one year ago. Along with initiatives for leadership development, entrepreneurship, and community outreach, it was gratifying to see nationals and visitors commit to some of the new goals and ideas set in motion.

As always, it is great to see baptisms take place. On Sunday, 19 believers took a step of faith and proclaimed with the church their new position in Christ. What I though was neat (along with fun) was that the congregation held the service at a small water park in sight of curious families that came to watch the dunking and praising. Seeing new believers bring their neighbor to Christ, and a church without shame being salt and light outside their walls, is a vivid reminder of a disciples continual calling to the harvest.

A very vivid example of God’s transforming power is Hector. Hector is known as “el Guasón” (The Joker) being second in command in the local gang. After having tried varied ways to find satisfaction in life, three weeks ago he decided to try God. After showing up at church, Hector got connected with us and started coming to Bible studies and being disciple by church members. Yesterday was neat to see him not only bring new people to the Bible study but also be eager to read and answer the questions throughout the study. When asked if he had experienced any changes in his life, he shared that the changes have been the strongest evidence that God is real to him. Him seeking reconciliations with his family, no desire for drugs, and encouraging his gang friends to find God, are all fruits which have awed me before God’s power to flip a life 180 degrees, even the ones we think are the least likely.

Intertwined with Hector’s story, is Julito and the mural I mentioned before. Before starting to paint, Alyssa Miller, artist who pioneered the mural painting, had to seek “permission” by word of mouth from Julito, local gang leader, since the graffiti-covered water tower was his territory. Before leaving on Monday for the US, Alyssa encountered Julito near the mural and thanked him for not causing any trouble over the paint. After he mentioned that he thought the mural was “chido” (cool) Alyssa shared the message of the mural and mentioned how his friend Hector has given his life to God. Teary eyed, Julito shared that he was wanting to talk to us (church people). Parting ways, Alyssa said she would pray for him and invited him to speak with a church family they know in common. Praise God for such opportunities. (Alyssa’s own blog post)

Pray for these two individuals, that Hector may keep up the growth and that the Lord may work in Julito’s life to bring him to His feet. Changed lives like these humble me before God’s transforming power.

One thing that has astonished me in the past few weeks is the effectiveness that art has to open up communication with people. I would say that at least 100 people stopped by to talk to whoever has been painting at the time. Almost every time the meaning of the image is asked which leads to discussion of dry and dead life which can have eternal life if one crosses through The Door (John 10:9)

Thank you, to those that prayed for my preaching time the Sunday before. Although it was a hard and daunting task, I felt like it went quite well. Lastly, I wanted to mention one of the more enjoyable times I have had here, which has been being at the men’s Bible study on Saturday nights. We all go to a taco stand and like good men down a few to then gather at a brother’s home to study the Word together. Pray that as I help lead the study this Saturday, that the men will again wrestle with the text and that God’s truth will be clearly embedded in them.

I encourage you to seek ways to reach the lost around you and seek to not only continually ask God to transform you, but help others in their process of transformation.

Greetings in the name of the one that brings the growth in His harvest,

Robert 

June 22

Sports in the afternoons

English classes. 

Photo: Hannah Galloway

 Vision Weekend: different groups brainstorming. 

Concluding the Vision Weekend

Baptism Service

Sharing testimonies: Iris (in red) and Miguel (in black) live in front of where I stay. They have been of great help and are some of the passionate new believers. 

Baptisms and Worship

Church family: baptized are in the water

Alyssa Miller at the completed Mural

Jesus Maria: The match box houses outlined in blue is the neighborhood where the second church plant has been taking place in the past year. 

 Mural on the water tower

Week 2 Pictures

English classes

BBQ

Self-defense classes

Volcano Trip

God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.

      Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

      though its waters roar and foam

and the mountains quake with their surging.

Ps 46:1-3

Long day of car trouble : Story

Spicy Hot

5-31-11

Dear friends,

I write you from Ixtapaluca, Mexico, where the sun is as hot as the spices. I have started my second week here and I have been enjoying every moment. Last week we (the interns) went through an orientation time in Mexico City. Two things that stood out during this time was how central Mexico (as opposed to the northern border touching the US and southern border touching Guatemala) is very much unreached by the gospel (1-2% Evangelical). The other eye opening aspect was the extent of pagan religion mixed with Catholicism (even within cathedrals) and the overt virgin veneration. After visiting museums and churches during the orientation schedule, I was shocked by these facts even after hearing of it before hand and seeing cases of it in Paraguay.

                The missionaries we are working with concentrate their efforts on urban church planting, using community development as a platform for connecting with people in the neighborhood. Activities such as teaching English, musical instruments, baking and self-defense are used to start relationships with others in the neighborhood. This is where the interns come in handy to the church. The neighborhood (Jesus Maria) we are living in is a closed off quarter with about 3,400 homes in approx. one square kilometer area.

                As part of my internship requirements I have started teaching Bible lessons with the youth. Please also pray for the men’s Bible study on Saturdays and the English classes that started yesterday. Also, pray for the other interns as they get over initial upset stomach; thankfully I got over that hump last week. Pray also for the multiple families that have visited the church in the past few weeks, especially for a few couples that gave their life to the Lord on Sunday. Another thing that I have enjoyed in these past few weeks is helping a married couple with a mural being done on the town’s central water tower. The mural intends to give the message of Christ as the door, through which we enter to leave separation from God to an abundant life. I will upload more pictures to the blog as it gets finished up.

Over all, I am thankful for God’s transforming work in my life through this time and also in the group here. An insightful book I have been reading is, “Cross-cultural Servanthood” by Duane Elmer. If you are considering or are in cross-cultural ministry, this book is a must read and I can guarantee it will reveal some blind spots.

I appreciate you reading this. Feel free to check some pictures on the blog or facebook.

May the Son season you with his blessings and continually be the source of flavor in your life,

Yours,

Robert

If you would like to see more: here is a link to Rod Fry's blog who is much better at keeping up with his blog. 

Orientation - DF

Clock/Water Tower with mural

Basilica de Santa Maria de Guadalupe

Peregrinos

Monumento

Techo de la Basilica en el Centro

Teotihuacan

Interns at the Pyramid of the Moon 

Summer is a-brewin'

April 25th, 2011

Letter

Dear loved ones,

I hope you have had a sanctifying Easter season and that Christ’s passion has once again made itself more meaningful to you this year. I have found myself reflecting not only on a resurrected Christ, but also on a God-Man who suffered and was willing to become part of this humanity that hated Him. As a peer of mine pointed out today, His incarnation is highlighted in light of the fact that we sometime are not even willing to walk on the same sidewalk of those we dislike, yet he still came.

I write to share with you again a slice of my life and invite you to pray with me as I take another stride in life.

I am in the process of tying up the details for my internship in Mexico this summer. I will be working alongside some missionaries who are pastoring a church in Ixtapaluca, a town south of Mexico City. For my major I am required to study and prepare Bible lessons and sermons and share them with others. Along with this I will be working with some other ministries in the church such as their sports, youth and ESL programs. One of the best parts of all this will probably be meeting and spending time with the people there. I plan to be leaving the third week of May and stay for six weeks. I am already getting really excited as I start planning my lessons.

After the internship, I plan to go visit my family back home, which I cannot wait to do. If you get a chance to think of these things, please pray that I may be an effective and humble servant to the church I will be serving and that the God may use this experience to confirm in me if teaching is the type of ministry he wants me in. Trusting in his provision and protection, I hope this internship serves its function in molding and shaping me into a better servant of His.

Once again I thank you in advance for your past and ongoing prayer. I thank God for guiding me and giving me peace about these steps in front of me.

I am eager to see what God is brewing in the coming months and am glad to know that I have encouraging brothers and sisters like you with whom I can share this cup of tea.

Yours truly,

Robert

Canvas of Life

January 16th, 2011.

Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

I have wanted to write all of you for a while now, but have in some way continued putting it off.

I heard some wonderful advice from a friend the other day saying that it’s a good idea to get your friends involved in praying for your life. I write you to simply tell you a little bit about my life and ask you to pray with me as I explore consecutive chapters in my life.  

I just finished the first week of my 6^th semester in college, and once again it is great when the weekend arrives. Again this year, it has also been great to be reminded why I am here studying and that the Lord still has plenty to teach me. Some academic highlights of this past semester have been listening to lectures given in my historical theology class and taking a preaching class.

On a side note, the same professor who taught historical theology led me and thirty other students on a study abroad trip in Europe this past summer. I had the amazing opportunity of traveling and taking classes with friend I knew, friends I would make and Moody professors. Some of my favorite experiences were enjoying Bavarian scenery and spending a day in the Alps. Traveling the same roads that Paul would have traveled in Rome and Naples, as well as studying the Reformation in Wittenberg and Geneva categorically blew my mind. There is so much more I wish I could tell you about, but that would make this letter two long.

Some other highlights from the past few months have been continuing to lead Bible studies with the Jr. High boys at church and being involved in their lives. I am very thankful for the church where God has placed me, providing opportunities to minister and be ministered to in one of Chicago’s largest Hispanic neighborhoods.

Looking toward the future, I am excited to see what this summer will be like. Currently I am on the lookout for an internship. Being a Biblical Studies major, I am required to practice the skills and tools that I am learning (i.e. teaching and/or preaching Bible lessons). Currently I am praying about 3 possibilities. During Missions Conference this past October I was able to connect with some missionaries to Mexico who could help me meet the internship requirements through a church plant. I am also looking at a ministry in Bolivia. And, of course, I have the option of going to my beloved Paraguay as well.

One of my main requests is that you pray with me about my internship, and that the Lord direct me to where He wants me. Along with that, please be in prayer for my ministry with the Jr. High boys, specifically that we may see lives changed and that more kids start coming. Lastly, I want to ask you to pray for my upcoming semester: that my studies will be profitable and that they may be useful to bring me closer to the Lord.

With this New Year and its resolutions, I will be trying to update the saints and share with you how God has been painting on the canvas of my life.

I am glad that you are part of this picture and that we can together enjoy our Savior’s blessings.

Yours truly,

Robert