Made it!

After 50+ hours in airports and planes, I finally made it to Puerto Maldonado, Peru at 12:30 today. It really should have been much less, but I forgot that in Atlanta, my watch was an hour behind. So, I missed my flight, and there is only one per day. That was the only hitch I had. Customs was a breeze, and I didn´t lose any luggage.

FYI: it is hot and humid, we are on Eastern Standard Time, and everyone rides motorcycles. I have discovered this while on my first assignment here, which is to do various tasks to become more familiar with the town.

Later today, I will meet the family that I will stay with before and during training, which starts in a few weeks and move in. I still don´t have much information about the training.

Please pray:
-For the relationships within the team and with our hosts
-We would be quick learners of the language and methods the team uses
-That our prayer lives and scripture knowledge would deepen so that we can effectively model it for new believers
-God would begin raising up laborers among the harvest so that the work will continue after we have gone

Thank you for your prayers concerning my travel. In spite of the long stays in airports, I was able to maintain a postive attitude and met several people who I hope were positively influenced by the encounter. Please continue to remember us in your prayers even though I will be out of touch for up to four months.

Training

The following is taken from the xtreme team website describing the training I will start in just a few days.






Every new arrival to the Xtreme Team goes through four months of training at our Xtreme training camp. No cushy facilities here, we simply rent some acres of jungle alongside a river and pitch our tents. The first month is dedicated to learning Spanish, because our Latin missionaries arrive the second month and all classes are taught in Spanish from that point on. We teach indigenous missions strategies, church-planting, orality, Chronological Bible Storytelling, how to live in an indigenous community, first-aid, and camp-cooking. However, our focus is on prayer and building up the Body of Christ, for how can we teach these things if we don't first learn and practice them for ourselves? After training, each new Xtremer is assigned a team and people group whom they will engage for remainder of their term while working under the guidance of a strategy coordinator.

The training is difficult and long, but the Xtremers leave ready to begin an even more difficult work and function as part of the Body of Christ.

Truck for Sale

If anyone is interested in buying a '97 Chevy, I've got one for sale. You can read all about it in my ad. Just click here.

Leaving for Peru!

The day is almost here! I leave Wednesday morning for Lima, Peru. When I arrive late that night, one of my supervisors, Jeremy, will pick me up at the airport, and early the next morning we will go to Puerto Maldonado where my training will start. For the next three or four months, he said that I will be “at his disposal,” away from phones, computers, and post offices and therefore out of contact.

Please pray that:
~my trip goes as planned so that we can start training as soon as possible.
~we would find the groups of people who need to hear the message we bring
~God would raise men/women of peace who will welcome us into their communities
~more latins would be willing to train to do the job that we do
~my truck would sell

FPO Summary

I left Texas Oct. 24 for the Field Personnel Orientation (FPO) in Rockville, Virginia. While there, I met hundreds of great people, learned new methods of evangelism and discipleship, and gained a new perspective on the goals and functions of the IMB. Every week, we met in small groups of about 10 (not including children) for worship on Sunday mornings and during the week as well.





You can see pictures of the families in my small group on my pictures page. Most days we had five or six hours of lecture style sessions, including some Saturdays. It took a lot of coffee, but I made it through. Subjects ranged from Church Planting Movements, medical and legal advice, spiritual warfare (Jerry Rankin), and the Persecuted Church (Ken Perkins).

Overall, I had a great time and learned a lot. The orientation wrapped up with a commissioning ceremony Dec. 13.