Urgent Prayer Need!

I found out last week that I am going to have to send my passport (the actual thing) to get Visa's for both Tanzania and Uganda for the fall. I leave for Kosovo in a little over 3 weeks. Please, please, please pray for my passport to come back in time, otherwise I won't be able to go to Kosovo! I am still waiting to get some information to finish filling out the Visa applications, but hopefully I will be able to FedEx it overnight tomorrow. I am trusting God, but I still fear that I might not get it back in time. Please pray!!

Leaving Uruguay

We touched down back in Memphis around 12:30 Sunday afternoon after flying out of Montevideo around 9 the night before (7 Central time). It rained just about all day Thursday and Friday. We were limited as to what we could do because it was so cold and wet outside. We tried to persevere and go and hand out invitations to the coffee house, but we ended up coming back to the hotel early both days.

The coffee houses Thursday and Friday nights were a success, despite the rain, according to the missionaries. They were thrilled! Thursday night we had around 30 people come, and Friday we had 50 to 60 come. We had 2 people come to Christ, that we know of, which is an amazing thing! We were warned that there most likely wouldn't be a large harvest, such as with the Brazil team from last week. Our goal for the week and for the coffee houses was to form relationships, which would lead to eventual presentations of the Gospel. After we got back to the states, Casey heard from someone that some new people came to one of the cell churches Sunday after we left as a result of our ministries last week! Priase God for the work He continues to do in Uruguay!

I've uploaded the pictures from this trip to photobucket. Use the link on the right under "Photos" to see the pictures I took in Uruguay. I didn't take as many this trip because of the rain and just because the camera got in the way of what I was trying to do sometimes.

Half-day Wednesday

Today was nice.  It was pretty cold in the morning. I'm beginning to think that Montevideo might have weather as crazy as Memphis with how much it seems to be changing back and forth.  Tomorrow it is supposed to rain.

We started out the morning by going to our target areas for GAP and we handed out the gospels of John to the apartments and small businesses on the streets we were assigned.  It feels like we didn't really do much because we were mostly ringing buzzers without answer and shoving envelopes under doors.  It was almost a little discouraging, but I know that if we trust God, He will be faithful.  Tonight in group devotion we talked about how we have been called here to do the work that God has placed before us, and in doing that we must do it to the fullest.  Our group devotion was encouraging tonight because it made me realize that I have to take the extra step to be bold and confront people on the street with the Gospel or invitations to the coffee house we are hosting tomorrow and Friday nights.  Please pray for me and everyone else to be bold.

With it being half-day Wednesday (a World Changers tradition, for those who don't know), we only did ministry in the morning.  We had the afternoon to spend with our church groups touring and shopping in the city.  We went to the old part of the city first, which has some cool architecture and street vendors.  I bought and Matè kit and a Russian Bible from 1914.  I'm most excited about the Bible.  I think I am going to start collecting really old Bibles in different languages. I also bought a Uruguay scarf and toboggan, which are definitely helping with the cold weather.  After the old city, we took taxis to a mall, which was pretty modern.  This stunk because all of the prices were really high like other modern malls, so I didn't buy anything there, not when I can buy similar things at home or online for the same price.  It was still a blast spending the afternoon with everyone from Faith and also our new friend, Joel, who we adopted since he is an individual participant (he doesn't have a church group here).  

Please continue to pray for God to work in Montevideo! Pray for the coffee house that we will be having Thursday and Friday night, that He will use it to reach many with the Gospel! Pray for the Father to burden our hearts for the lost souls that are all around us!  Pray for Him to burden your heart for those around you who do not know Him.

Finally!

So, it's almost 1 am here but I'm going to go ahead and write instead of going to sleep.  My loser roommate (Stephen Brannon) steals my computer every night, so by the time I get it I'm too tired and ready to go to sleep.  Look for his blog tomorrow as we discuss the meaning behind Leona Lewis' song Bleeding Love.  haha

The week has gotten off to a great start. The crew that I am on is mainly doing street ministry.  We are walking (a lot) to different plazas and parks and performing the Redeemer drama.  After the drama is over, we then are passing out evangelical tracts and invitations to a coffee house we are hosting Thursday and Friday nights.  The people seem to be receptive to the invitations and are taking the tracts.  In the mornings we are doing the GAP (Gospel Advancement Program) assignments. Thus far we have prayer walked the areas where will will be working each morning.  Starting tomorrow, we will begin passing out gospels of John to the houses and apartments in each district.  This will be exciting because it is what we have been prayer walking for the past two days, and we can't wait to see what God is going to do!

In defense of Stephen Brannon's comment as to how I drink my matè: I don't even like it with sugar!  It tastes like bitter, unsweet tea to me, and I just don't like it.  My bitter taste buds were screaming. It was awful.

The temperature has warmed up quite a bit since I last posted. I think it was probably in the 60's today.  It's funny that 2 days ago I had 3 jackets on and I was still cold! I'm enjoying getting to know the people on my crew from all the other churches and also hanging out with those from Faith (Blair Martin, Kelsey Hendricks, Casey Parks, Bethany Hutchison, and Stephen Brannon).  Thank you for your prayers and continue to pray for God to move in Montevideo!! ¡Ciao!

Updates coming...

I promise I will bring updates later tonight. For now, check out Stephen Brannon's blog and the IWC Uruguay blog.  Please continue to pray for all of us!

The southern hemisphere...

is a little colder than Memphis this time of year, but it's really not that bad.  Being away from the hot humidity is actually feeling pretty good.  It's kind of funny, though, because the people here are all wearing big coats and scarves, and it only in the 50's (Fahrenheit, obviously). 

We made it safely to Montevideo, Uruguay around 9 this morning!  Thankfully, there were absolutely no complications with any of the flights or luggage, so everything went very smoothly!  We are all dead tired because between the 7 hour layover in Miami and the 8-9 hour flight to here, most of us didn't get much good sleep.  Tonight we should all sleep very well!  Today was mostly just getting settled and learning what we will be doing this week.  The crew that I am on is doing street ministry with evangelism and performing the "Redeemer" drama.  Tomorrow we will be going to a local church, and then we will have ministry training in the afternoon.  Everything is amazing so far!  Thanks for the prayers!

Leaving Guatemala

Leaving was hard, but I think we were all pretty exhausted after the week. On Friday, Jon Nason, Ryan Johnston, and Denny Johnston and I went to a village near the orphanage to start building a house. Apparently the plans had changed since they had last discussed them when we went to get the supplies, because instead of using tin like on the other houses we had built, we were going to be using wood. We pulled up in a pickup truck with a very small bed, and had to haul back 8-12 foot pieces of timber that looked like it had been sliced off the sides of trees. Needless to say, this was a tiring adventure. We spent most of the afternoon hauling the wood to the site, since the road was about half a mile away. We only were able to get the posts in the ground, in an effort to at least give the next group who comes in an idea of how to finish building it. We had to leave because it started raining. As we were leaving the site, it was kind of surreal because it was like we were in the middle of a rain forest trekking along a muddy trail.

We left Chimaltenango and spent the last day in Antigua, which is more of a tourist destination. We were able to shop at the markets and get some unique things. We stayed at a really cool hotel with an old-world feel and beautiful court yards. The hotel rooms even locked with skeleton keys.

Overall it was a very good trip. We were able to share the love of God with the people of Guatemala by building houses, holding orphans, and leading over 500 people to Christ! Praise God for the work He is still going to continue to do in Guatemala!

Click the 'Photos' link on the right to see more pictures from Guatemala!