Greetings! Thank you for praying for me and for the work God is doing throughout the world. Prayer is a crucial component of the missionary task. So pray for me as I seek to reach the displaced indigenous of Bogota. Pray that the word of Christ would speed ahead and be glorified, that the gospel would advance unhindered, that many would come to faith in Jesus, and the gospel will demolish any and all barriers raised up against it.
As I mentioned in my previous newsletter, last month I broke my left wrist. The fracture required surgery which went well. In July, I will have three weeks of physical therapy to improve my mobility from the fracture and subsequent surgery. Please pray that I will get the rest I need for a speedy and full recovery from the surgery and the fracture so that I may continue on with the missionary task.
Continue to pray for the thousands of displaced indigenous who have been living in the city parks. They are living in very poor conditions. The indigenous in one park have been moved to a shelter. But they are still in poor conditions and continue to have many material needs. In the other park that's just outside the city, we have been doing an English class as an entry into the community.
We recently organized a relief project, providing food, blanket, and hygiene products for the group living just outside of Bogota. The project went smoothly and we hope it will lead to many continuing relationships with the indigenous peoples in the park.
This weekend, will have another project for the indigenous that we living in the park near downtown. They are now living in a shelter. In the shelter, food has been provided, but they still have many other needs. So our project with this group will focus on hygiene products and blankets. Pray that this project will go smoothly as material needs are met. Pray that local believers will become involved in the project and in the ongoing ministry with the displaced. Pray that relationships will be developed that lead to many coming to faith in Christ.
Continue to pray for the Wounaan work. I have been meeting with one believer and his family with whom We are about to finish up with 1 Peter. Pray for wisdom as to what to study next. There is a small Wounaan church in Bogota, but many of the Wounaan are still unreached. Pray that the Wounaan believers can reach out to their own people with the gospel.
Also, continue to pray for "Mike" and his family. He is beginning to open up to gospel discussions. Pray that God would open up his heart to receive the gospel and trust in Christ.
Daniel and his family from Betania Church have been ministering in their neighborhood Las Cruces. I have been helping them in this for some time now. They have Bible studies for the neighborhood children on the weekends. They have begun to have music and English classes. Pray for them as they seek to reach people in Las Cruces with the gospel. Pray for all the existing churches in Bogota that they might see the need around them and seek to proclaim the gospel to the lost. Again, thank you again for your prayers. Prayer is vital to the work. May God’s grace and peace be with you all.
Last month, we saw Jesus’ calming of the storm, how He cares that we are perishing and in His mercy can help us by doing what only God can do. That same theme continues here.
When Jesus and His disciple get to the other side of the lake, they meet a man with a legion of demons. This is a gentile region. This possessed man is living among the tombs. He’s screaming all the time and hurting himself. No one can bind him–not even with chains.
When he sees Jesus, he bows before Him and says, “What business do you have with me, Son of the Most High God!” begging Him not to torment him. After Jesus asks for his name, the demon reveals that he’s a whole legion of demons and begs Him not to send them from the region, requesting instead to be sent into a herd of pigs. So Jesus does, and the 2000 pigs run of a steep bank and drown in the lake.
The townspeople hear about all that had happened with the pigs. They see the man who had been possessed clothed and in his right mind. And now they are absolutely terrified. So they beg Jesus to leave.
As Jesus and His disciple are getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed wants to go with them. Jesus, however, tells him to go home and proclaim all that God had done for him and how He had mercy on him. And so he does. He goes throughout the region proclaiming what great things Jesus had done form him. And everyone was amazed.
Jesus is so full of mercy. He confronts and conquers evil both here in this passage and ultimately at the cross. He can and does deliver people–people whom we would consider totally beyond hope–and transforms them by His grace. There is no one who is this world who so deep in darkness and evil that they are beyond the reach of our Lord’s mercy. His mercy and grace can transform anyone. He has transformed me. He has transformed you. Now we too ought to proclaim all the Jesus has done for us and how He has shown us mercy.
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