Connections Conference

I just this past weekend attend an amazing conference sponsored by the Caleb Project in Cherry Hills (South Denver). It was neat to have worship with other Christians and also do some workshops. I did a track on Hispanics, where the topics were about starting a Hispanic ministry in an anglo church, planting churches in Hispanic communities, and mobilizing Hispanics for missions. One of the surprising topics was about immigration and how many Hispanics want to come to the US to help it, not to leech off of its resources. I have been on the fence with this issue, but reading this quote really made me feel like we should welcome Hispanics more than we are:

"When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God." - Leviticus 19:33-34

Oh, and this whole track was in Spanish, so I got to brush off my rusty Spanish skills which were still surprisingly good and was able to communicate well with the people there (about 10 of us). There was one guy that I met from Peru who had recently moved to Colorado with his wife, who was from Greeley. He was about my age and we had a great time sharing our stories all day, especially since his wife did some different workshops. I am getting very excited to go back to South America and August cannot come fast enough. I know the Lord will teach me great patience through this though. . .

More waiting . . .

I spoke with the director of SIFAT this evening and we had a long talk about places I could serve. He said that SIFAT would not assign me to the project at Cayambe, just because of what I had mentioned all along with them turning the project over to the Ecuadorians. He said that I had two options:

• Cayambe - This is still an option and still what I'm hoping for. He is planning to initiate a dialog with Mauricio, the director there (My friend Veronica's brother) and tell him of my desire to serve there and ask what the feasibility of me doing that is. He said that we would work something out with support so that either Mauricio would handle it for me or we could work something out between SIFAT and my church. As I have eluded to, it is very under developed and has a long way to go before it is fully developed.
  
  
• Ixiamas, Bolivia - This was the alternative option that was given to me. SIFAT's first project is located in Ixiamas, a small town northwest of Rurrenabaque, not far from the Peruvian border, but still in the Amazon jungle. There he told me they are producing cacao, the main ingredient in chocolate and farming some other things as well. They have an institute there similar to La Palmera and he said my technical skills would be most welcome there.
  

So, anyway, I could really use your prayers on this. I told the director that although I preferred to do Cayambe, I would think about Ixiamas. To be honest, I right now don't feel like my heart is into Ixiamas and that I really don't want to do it. I feel strongly that the Lord has led me in the direction of Cayambe, but I want to give full consideration to both choices and if the Lord wants me to be in Bolivia again, I am willing to do that. I think what draws me more to Cayambe in addition is challenging my administrative and teaching skills in addition to technical to help with the integration and growth of the community there. I will be hearing back from the director in a few weeks more on what the final decision is. Pray for clear guidance and wisdom as I go through this time. Thanks and God bless!

Church funding

I just wanted to share with you all some exciting news. I found out last night after talking with a lady at my church that they have decided to support me with a gift of $2500, which is 25% of my total budget for this year, so this is great news. The gift is still pending approval from the missions board, but from what the lady told me, this is usually just a formality.

One prayer request that I do have though is a bit more serious. I am debating on how to proceed with my relationship with SIFAT, the organization that connected me to this project in Cayambe since they are stepping away later this year to move on and help with other projects. I don't want to speak for the project and get another organization involved with it, but if I could get another organization to support me solely as a missionary and then possibly get them involved later with the project, that could be a good thing. These are things I still need to discuss with SIFAT. If you could pray for God to give me wisdom with this dilemma I would appreciate it.

Back at Big Blue

After several weeks of delay, I finally started my job at IBM this week. I am working in the same department as before and doing the same thing which is a blessing to see and work with familiar faces again. I'm just doing this for a couple of months before I leave for training in Alabama to make a few bucks and also pay the bills, and am thankful for the connections I still have with the company. I have a pretty nice schedule of 9-6 M-F, which is better than my old schedule of working 3 or 4 12 hour shifts each week.

On the missions front, I submitted my proposal this week to my church for funding and so I am now waiting to hear back from them on how much funding they will give me annually. Still no word from SIFAT, I plan to call them next week and get an update on Ecuador and also find out about opening a support account so I can send out letters.

No new prayer requests, just continue to pray for God's wisdom in my life and also for the people I will be serving in Cayambe.