Good reads

One of my most earnest desires is to learn from Scripture and have a true passion for God's Word. So I pray this for myself. I would ask you also to pray that I would be grounded in the Word before all else.

Apart from this I am interested in reading about the lives of others and the experiences people all over the world have had. Books have the ability to do just this. They can take you into a whole different world and allow you to view something from a completely different perspective.

I wanted to share with you guys a goal that I made for myself in late February. The goal is to read at least one book per month for the rest of the year.

Here are a couple of books I have read up to this point and wanted to tell you about:

1. Open - the autobiography of Andre Agassi. As you may know I love the sport of tennis. Not just playing, which I rarely get to do at this juncture of life, but watching as well. The life of this tennis icon is most interesting. A life filled with experiences that someone like me can hardly imagine. A huge part of his life involved pain... not just the physical kind because of injuries but the kind in your heart because of things that you go through. Now this is not just a downer of a book, I laughed and smiled a lot too.

2. A Million Miles in a Thousand - the newest book by Donald Miller. This book is about story. What it looks like to live a better story and to be a person of character. I can't tell you how many chapters I read and my mouth just dropped open. Such an applicable book to us as believers.

Lambrama and Alis

During the early parts of May I spent a week in a village called Lambrama and later in the month a week in the village of Alis. I dealt with some sickness in the middle of these trips which made the time spent in each place a little shorter than I had hoped. But I the Lord was moving.

It was in Lambrama that I saw some of the most amazing things I have yet seen in Peru. Set between and surrounded by enormous mountains this place reminded me of the beauty of His creation and we were in awe of his majesty each and every day just by opening our door to see outside. After only a short time there we recognized God working. A young woman named Celia came to the Lord... Praise God for using us to share the gospel with her and to begin the process of discipleship. We made a solid relationship with a man named Dino and encouraged him in his walk with the Lord, we recognized in him a potential for a leader and strong christian male presence which is key to seeing the Church rise up. Through him we met a lady named Josefa who was over 100 years old. We helped in giving her a bath, cleaning the blankets that she slept on, and tidying the small room she inhabits. It was life-giving for me to have the chance to help Josefa in such a tangible way. She truly needs our prayers because she sometimes goes without food or care for days when Dino is not in town. He is the only person who is committed in aiding her and making meals to take to her home. Josefa is so desperate and in a given day mostly thinks about her desire for death to come quickly. We told her of the gospel and that there is a hope for the hopeless. We shared out of obedience not knowing if she would understand. For we trust that the Word does not return void. For all that happened there I am so very thankful. Please say a pray for these people and this village.

My time in Alis was also a blessing in several ways and I'd like to share a couple of those ways. The first is a blessing that reoccurs in most any place I go but I long to never take it for granted. The Lord's creation is in a word, marvelous. I have never seen a place as beautiful as this place in my entire existence. Yet again I was overwhelmed with the beauty I saw in the mountains, trees, rivers, birds, flowers. Thank you Creator. The second is the beauty that I saw in His people. The believers who lead a group in the town are named Juan and Delia. These people are the most solid believers I have met in Peru. Individuals earnestly seeking the will of the Lord. Looking to scripture to receive wisdom and understanding on what the life a follower should look like. These folks challenge and encourage me in my own walk. And though we are from starkly different backgrounds I found myself talking to them about the same issues that I often deal with in my own life. Again, I can only be thankful for a chance to have spent time in places like this with people like that.

Mad love