Great Pitch and Good Times

A pìtch is a soccer field, just so you know ;)

We never actually made it to Quitoarma as originally planned. Instead, we went to play close to there in Huaytara. It was a great and really fun game. The first time we had grass and a team to play. God blessed us greatly buy allowing us to play an awesome team. They were nice and good, which is a rare combo here. ha We of course shared the Gospel after, and then left the next day. If you haven´t noticed by now, we as the soccer team don´t get to see much if any fruit from our efforts. Just as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:6-8, ¨I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.¨ We know that our purpose is to plant and the village team is to water and plant in many cases.

After Huaytara, we headed back to Ica to stay with Pastor Wilfredo again. He and his family have been a huge blessing to us. He runs the Baptist seminary in Ica and pastors a nearby church. We´ve stayed with them three times, and this past time they made us pancakes one day and eggs with ham the next. While we were in Ica on this occasion, we finally went sandboarding. It was awesome! The dunes were huge and the dune buggy drivers were crazy. Best of all, we got to do it for 2 hrs and it only cost us like $11.50. I also made a funny, but rather rash decision while in Ica. I wanted a haircut and didn´t really care what it looked like since that´s kinda how I am, for the most part. So anyways, I got a mohawk/mullet and shaved lines in my eyebrows. It was hysterical. Well, I wasn´t sure how culturally appropriate the lines were so now I have no eyebrows and just a small fohawk type thing. I look kinda like a mouse and/or Norwegian. It´s pretty great. I´ll put up pics of that and sandboarding when I can. I don´t regret anything except shaving them this short. They did need a little thinning out anyways though ;)

In conclusion, we´re in Nazca now with our whole REAP South Peru team (all 120) for mid-summer debriefing. It´s nice here, but food and everything is really expensive. I´m currently reading In the Grip of Grace by Max Lucado and hope to start something else soon since I´ll be done with that and already finished Driscoll´s book. We leave here Monday for Laramate... DON´T FORGET TO PRAY FOR THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE HERE AND WATCH THE USA/BRAZIL SOCCER GAME TOMORROW!!! :)

Disabled, Defeated, but Still Sharing

Honestly, the last few days have been kinda rough. We´re in Santiago de Chocorvos, and I have a pulled quad and bruised calf from the game(s) yesterday, I only played in the first one. We lost both games and more than a couple of us got hurt. The reason was we were playing on a field made of gravel that also had some huge rocks in it, also the referees didn´t help ;) It was really difficult to play because of my leg and the ¨field.¨ ha The best part of the day and only thing that mattered was definitely sharing the Gospel after. Today was mainly a day of relaxation, and tomorrow we head back down to Ica for the weekend. It´ll be good to get some food other than rice ;) Please continue praying for the furthering of God´s Kingdom and now for my wounds. I´m pretty sure I´m going to have to sit out the next game and maybe more, but who knows God might completely heal me or I might just take a couple ibuprofen before. ha Thanks and God bless :)

Cordova and Back

We´re back in Ica now for the night. It was decided that it would be best for us to stay at the Baptist seminary here for the night and head to Santiago tomorrow, so we are :) Cordova was great! We played 2 games and shared the Gospel with all who watched and played after the 2nd one. The high school team tied us 3-3, and we beat the town team 1-0. It doesn´t really matter as far as ministry goes, but I figured my dad and cousin Mason might want to know ;) I also pulled my right quad in the second game, but I´ll be ok. Being in Cordova gave me a ton of time to just chill with God. I´m currently reading through all the Epistles (just finished Phillipians) and a book called Vintage Church by Mark Driscoll. The book´s been great so far. You should check it or anything else you can find at the library or from Pastor Tim Mom :) I actually think you´ll like and agree with this guy. He´s got quotes about his book from at least 3 or 4 Southern Baptist staff members from various seminaries on the cover and beginning pages. ha So anyways, I´m learning a lot and believe that God is doing great things here. Please continue in prayer.

Matucana... Lima (Lunch)... Alis... Ica

Well, I spent the next 2 days sick in Matucana and didn´t really do much. The team we were scheduled to play there also didn´t show. We then headed for Alis, which is roughly 10 hrs from Matucana. On our way to Alis we stopped and ate Papa John´s again in Miraflores. It was great ;) Once in Alis, our ministry actually went how it was supposed to. We chilled and played sports with kids for a couple days then had our game. We won the game 2-1, but the important part was when we got to share the story of Nicodemus with the village after. We told them the story and then just hung out and spent time building relationships. It was really fun. O yea, and we also got beat in volleyball by some tiny high school girls. lol They were seriously amazing. We usually have a lot of free time, so I´m getting to read my Bible a ton. This is great because during school I never have enough time to focus just on God´s Word.

Our purpose in a village is basically to use our soccer abilities to play a game and then share the gospel through a story. And also through this to introduce the village missionaries that are already there on a larger scale than they might have previously been. All the missionaries have been really cool thus far. Alis was overall just awesome, except for the part where Matt and I lost a soccer ball down the river and chased it for over an hour. ha

Right now we´re in a place called Ica waiting to board a bus to head to Cordova, Santiago de (something), and then Quitoarma. I´m not sure when I can update this again, but I´ll try :)

God bless and please continue praying.

San Pedro... Miraflores (Lima)... Matucana

Hola! Well, we spent from last Saturday til this Wednesday in San Pedro de Casta. The bus ride there was 3 hrs long. It´s a mountain village with an altitude of about 11,000 ft. We trained up there, and almost everyone got sick except myself and a couple others. The first night was definitely the most difficult because there was some sort of 24 hr Catholic fiesta. It was great though because my friends Matt, Cal, and myself stayed up while talking about God and praying.
Catholicism has a strong hold on many of the people in Peru and Latin America. Our job as Evangelical Christians is to unteach much of the unbiblical and crappy traditions they have learned and to reveal Christ´s truth in places where none have even heard of Jesus Christo. Catholicism is a relgion, Christianity is a relationship.

Wednesday afternoon, we headed for Miraflores, Lima. We needed a little rest and recuperation before beginning out actual soccer tour of Southern Peru. In Miraflores, we stayed at a sweet hostel for backpackers with another IMB team that ministeres through creative ministry. They were great. During our two days, we ate at McDonald´s, Papa John´s, and T.G.I. Friday´s. It was amazing. You´ll never know how hard it is to eat rice at every meal until you´re in a fairly remote village and must do so. I actually missed our fatty greasy food a little. By the time we left though, I was glad to be done with the American stuff.
Lima had a black market that we had to go to because my backpack busted, as anticipated. I spent about $30 and the bag would´ve cost at least $70 back home, so good deal :) I also bought some alpaca sweaters for Shemiah. Honestly, she´s the one I miss the most. I could spend every centimo or penny I have on her. When it comes to her, there´s no limit of what I´d spend or give-up for her. Still tryin to figure out what to get my awesome parents who never gave-up on me when I have been an idiot so many times. I really couldn´t ask for better parents or family. Love and miss you all :)

Today, we arrived in Matucana. It´s about 3 hrs from Lima also. Most of us really like it here. Tomorrow is our first soccer game and first specific ministry opportunity. The game´s at 3, and we get to play in a pretty sweet little stadium. We´re all pumped and ready to be used by God on this pilot soccer evangelism trip with REAP South under the IMB. Please continue to pray for the people´s hearts here and that God will allow us to minister to them. We´re empty gloves waiting for God to fill us and put us to work through soccer ;)