FURLOUGH… The word can be one of the most dreaded or one of the most delightful for a missionary family. Yes I know other terms are used now: “home-assignment”, “stateside ministry”, or some call it “vacation”!

For Homeschoolers, life continues… 

Veteran missionary Don Sisk has this brief article regarding furlough, explaining that missionary furloughs have changed over the years. He also reminds us that reporting back to the sending churches is a Biblical practice, as seen in Acts 14.

But I believe that a missionary family can view furlough in two very different ways. Imagine these two scenarios: A missionary is preparing for furlough and someone from his congregation comments “It must be nice to have such a long vacation!” He wryly replies: “I’m going to spend the next 12 months dragging my family from one end of the country to the other begging for money.”

In the other scenario, A missionary is explaining that he will be reporting to the churches and individuals that support him, but then asides “How cool is it that I get to take my family on a tour of some of the most beautiful areas of our country!”

You can easily see some of their perspective on furlough, and can certainly imagine the difference in the children’s views coming from these families.

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines furlough as: a leave of absence from duty granted especially to a soldier. 

While we as Christians should all view ourselves as soldiers, we recognize that some battlefronts are more difficult than others.

Having said all that, here is our currently confirmed furlough schedule. We are working on other meetings that are only penciled in so far, and will update the schedule as needed.

 

Arrive in USA – Second Week of Aug.

The Wilds, Brevard NC – Aug. 13-18

Grace Baptist, Wilmington NC – Aug. 19

Community Baptist, South Bend Indiana – Aug. 26

First Baptist, Brainerd, and  Deerwood Baptist, Minnesota- Sept. 2

Highlands Baptist, Centennial Colorado – Sept. 9

Vista, Temple Texas – Sept. 16

Philadelphia Baptist, Rutledge Georgia  – Sept. 22-26

Hillsdale Baptist, Tampa Florida – Oct. 7-11

Berean Baptist, Portsmouth Ohio – Oct. 14

Bible Baptist, Matthews North Carolina – Oct. 20-24

Calvary Baptist, Findlay Ohio – Oct. 28-31

Calvary Baptist, Huntsville Alabama – Nov. 1-4

Fellowship Baptist, Eufaula Alabama – Nov. 7

Catawba Springs, Apex North Carolina – Nov. 11-14

Faith Baptist, Davison Michigan- Nov. 18

Highland Baptist, Johnson city Tennessee – Nov. 25

Highlands Baptist  – Lakeland Florida – Dec. 2

Fairview Baptist – Decatur Alabama – Dec. 9

Westgate Baptist, Dothan, AL – Dec. 16

 

Finally, here is a helpful post for missionaries to keep in mind as the plan their furlough: 10 Tips

Below you will see a video of a famous stretch of the “Bajo Urubamba” river. Loren and I first went through here almost 14 years ago just after our honeymoon on our way to the Yine village of Miaría. This time I was privileged to take Segundo Sebastian, our missionary in training; Sattler George, missions intern from our home church, and Dr. Pablo Alegre, from Uruguay with me as we went to the first ever Yine tribal missions conference.

God has placed one of our Bible college graduates, Wilber Huillca, in the area, and he worked hard to make the conference a success. What a privilege to preach many times to these believers, and challenge them to take up the global call for the glory of the Lamb.

Especially exciting to me was the fact that Segundo, who I lead to the Lord and have been discipling, was one of the preachers! To God be the glory!

Oh…and we got to go this this amazing white-water section twice! There is no calling as great and privileged as that of missionary.

 

Peru is a beautiful country with a huge variety of scenery, showing us God´s powerful hand. May we savor God´s love for beauty and for us!

This is Puerto Arturo, a few minutes from our house.

We were able to visit Machu Picchu a couple years ago.

We have a lot of beautiful flowers here, most of which I can’t name.

These ruins (and current houses in the mid-ground) are on the edge of Cusco.

This amazing lodge is on the way to Pilcopata, another part of the jungle.

Just outside of Pilcopata, on the edge of our state, you can see where native peoples roamed quite recently.

We took a church outing to a creek, with a pretty little waterfall.

Nothing like reaping!

Andahuayllas is a needy town where friends have planted a church.

This waterfall can be seen on the way to Pilcopata.

Beautiful flower growing wild and free.

This scene can be appreciated on the way to Huanuco, where some of our church folks are from. We went to a wedding there in February.

If you are in Lima, you can visit a mall called Larcomar, with a great ocean view.

This ancient stone bridge is a few hours from Cusco, in a town called Paucartambo.

As you fly into our jungle, you will see a lot of snow-capped peaks. Peru has 50 peaks at 20,000 feet or higher!

We continue to hold outreach in this poor area outside of town, which is called La Joya. God’s promise will not return void.

Cusco is an ancient city with fantastic architecture.

Looking just across the river from our town, Puerto Maldonado.

Just around the river bend you’ll find the town of Salvation, which is in our state, but takes a minimum of 20 hours of travel to reach it.

This huge flower is called the emperor’s staff.

I spent my first summer in Peru in the sacred valley, a few minutes from this gorgeous waterfall.

We have some massive trees here in the jungle. This one could be a brazil nut tree.

This is the largest suspension bridge in Peru, right here in our town.

These mountains are over 15,000 ft. If you make it to the top, you will be breathless (from experience)!

Snow caps can be seen from many points, although we are quite close to the equator.

As you descend the mountains into the jungle, the flora changes dramatically.

Our plants look quite different from the high Andes vegetation.

I believe this is a small lily.

A storm rolls in, causing the fishing poles to be temporarily abandoned.

We were blessed in lots of ways in November!

November 2nd was Joseph’s birthday: 9 years old, what a blessing!

On November 5th, we rejoiced in two more being baptized!

Including our first deaf believer´s baptism here!

On November 6th I headed to Cusco to teach two, two-week block classes at the Baptist Bible college. What a privilege to have a part in training the next generation of servant-leaders!

While in Cusco, we got to catch up with lots of friends, including some of the Whatley family (We might have found some American style food too)!

The family also got to go horse-back riding in a mighty scenic area!

Shortly after returning to the jungle, my sister Bethany arrived for her first visit to this part of Peru!

We got to celebrate her birthday, and we received lots of gifts too! Thanks sister!

We enjoyed some fun times together!

And definitely made some memories!

On Thanksgiving day we awoke to find this scene in our yard and street (yard is on the right, street is to the left, in case you can’t tell).

It was actually the worst flooding we have experienced here, and the water came right in our first floor. That is a memory we hope not to repeat. But we are thankful that it receded quickly!

And we still got to celebrate a US style thanksgiving with lots of friends!

Although the rainy season is upon us, we are thankful for the work now happening!

Better late than never!

 

Thank you for taking a look at our November blessings, and giving thanks for what God has been doing!

So Loren took the ladies to a conference on the other side of the country. We were just glad to survive the 4 days they were gone! haha

 

Joseph cooked us eggs every morning!

We continued slaving away on the chicken coop.

We went to check on the 100 chicks we ordered, and spread the gospel seed. The chicks still hadn’t arrived…hence the long faces.

We went out and foraged…for chocolate muffins.

Somehow managing to survive by doing something very strange…ordering food!

We went to the market, sampled their wares, and did a decent job at getting the week’s groceries (although some of it wasn’t as fresh as Mom likes).

And we went to the mini fair and rode the kids’ first roller-coaster!

Of course, the kids camped out in Mom and Dad’s room on the floor.

See Mom, we’re ok, we made it, we’re still alive!

You should be so proud!

I. From Romans 15:30-32

a. for physical protection

b. for an acceptable ministry to the saints

c. for journeying mercies

d. for Divine guidance

e. for spiritual and physical refreshing

II. From 2 Corinthians 1:8,11

a. for relief from pressure

b. for help in trouble

III. From Ephesians 6:18-19

a. for God’s message for each occasion

b. for God’s boldness to preach that message

IV. From Colossians 4:3-4

a. for opportunities to preach

b. for ability to take advantage of these opportunities

V. From 1 Thessalonians 5:25

a. for fellow missionaries

b. national pastors

c. national christians

VI. From 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2

a. for liberty in preaching the Word

b. for results from preaching the Word

c. for the protection of the converts

-Author unknown

 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS

^{Deut. 6:6-9}And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

So we had one of the youth come over. First he drew quadrants and sketched out the words.

Then he filled it in, painting it by hand. This is just above our entry door.

 

May God use it to remind us what we are all here for!

What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. 2 Tim. 2:2

This is disciple-making spelled out for us in a practical way. If I have been taught sound doctrine, then my job is to look for faithful men. I will know that these men are faithful in part, because I see them sharing what they know with others.

What a great week we had last week with over 20 students studying missions and church-planting!

Here are two Yine leaders we have been investing in for a long time: Magnita Diaz Etene and Segundo Teodoro Sebastian. What a joy to see them give testimonies during the class!

Not only have we been teaching faithful men, but we are thrilled to see them teaching others also.

What a privilege to host 4 tribal Yine men who traveled a day or more on the river, and then several hours by road to be here for the class. This is especially amazing, because if we were missionaries to Brazil, we would have had to sign a document agreeing not to enter the native people’s territories. However, God brought them to us to take this class, and further burden them for their people.

Segundo, here in the red shirt, came to our house after hours to hold a Bible study with these 4 Yine leaders.

We thank God for Wilber Huillca and his wife Daisy (former students of ours) who invested much time to help record the Bible in Yine. We were able to download the entire New Testament, and send it along with two speakers so that many of their people, who are oral learners could hear and believe.

Romans 10:17 Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Please pray for these folks to be faithful witnesses and make disciples for Jesus.

Operation Renewed Hope is no stranger to remote areas, however one person said while experiencing the treacherous trail to Pilcopata “We’ve been over long roads, and over rough roads, but probably never one so long and rough. However, God kindly protected us the whole way.

I had the privilege of translating quite a bit.

God sent us a smaller number of patients our first day, which was perfect, because many team-members were sick.

Our first two days were spent in the small town of Salvacion, where Bob and Becky Bass are planting a church.

The next two days were spent in the town of Pillcopata, where Alex and Flor Herrera are working.

I had the joy of working in the vision area each day, where we fitted hundreds of people with glasses during the campaign.

We saw large numbers of patients in Pilcopata.

This is a map of the area, which borders on a national reserve.

Perhaps one of the most exciting things God did during the clinic was to bring these Matsiguenga ladies from their village. They hiked a whole day from a very isolated areas and they would still be considered in “stages of initial contact” according to Peru. The woman on the right is wearing gold nose ring panned by hand and hand forged. Her necklace is made of Pig and jaguar teeth. The baby is wearing a traditional outfit called a cushma. The people grow their own cotton, and pick it, card it, spin it, weave it, and sow it by hand. These women do not speak any Spanish, and most of their people have never had a chance to hear the gospel. Please pray with us for them to be saved.

Romans 15:20 thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation

We thank God for the many souls who made a profession of faith during this campaign, and for the follow-up that is already happening.