What? Luke's Updating?!

Yes ladies and gentlemen... an update.

I'm here at the best University in the World, James Madison University, half-way through my first week of school, and already the Lord is piling on the lessons. Praise Him for that!

Something I wanted to share with you is a little lesson the Lord laid on my heart during my discipleship time with one of my small group guys, Benny B. We're going through the history of Israel in preparation for studying Judges and we came across how the Lord is constantly telling the Israelites things in the past tense.

(Before the battle of Jericho) Joshua 6:2- Then the LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and fighting men."

The LORD is constantly doing this throughout the book of Joshua. A very sensible and logical question would be: If the Lord has already given them the battle, why do they need to fight and risk their lives? Why don't we just wait for them to all die, for the LORD said He has given them into our hands.

A question I find myself asking quite often as well is: Why do I still struggle with certain sin in my life?! The LORD has promised victory over sin and I know that I've already been forgiven. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that if I really am in Christ I am a "new creation; the old has GONE". But if the old has gone, why is it still here?

The lesson we can all learn from the Israelites here is that while the Lord promised them victory, just as the Bible talks about us being "dead to sin" (Romans 6:1-15), the Israelites still needed to go through with the battle and thereby glorify God to the maximum amount. God could certainly have destroyed the army before the Israelites (he sent hailstones in Joshua 10 to aid Israel), but He would not have received the same amount of glory as He did when they made the conscious decision to follow Him and His ways. The Lord desires and deserves the GREATEST amount of glory, but how would He be glorified if we were all as robots, following every programmed command in us? The Lord, although He has created us and known us since before we were in the womb (Jeremiah 1:5), desires for us to choose Him over sin, and although He has promised us the victory over and forgiveness of sin, we are still called to go through the motions and fulfill this promise.

Think of it as a hidden gift the Lord is going to give you. He gives you the directions on how to get to the gift's location, you just need to follow them correctly in order to obtain this gift. The Bible is his directions/instructions, and the gift is victory over sin.

I am no pro at what I have just written (ie, I'm a hypocrite), but I praise the Lord for this glorious revelation of teaching and pray that we all may seek Him and serve Him that much more for His greatest glory in our lives. Let's go CLAIM the victory over sin by living our lives the way He commands us.

In His strength alone...

Luke

The Journey Home...

Oh my… a week, it has been, in the immortal grammar structure of Yoda. I’m sorry to have kept you all in suspense, disappearing (more or less) for a week from the blog world, but I promise you will not be let down.

A secret plan two or three weeks in the making went into action last Thursday as I grabbed a bus (after sleeping in later than I would have liked) from Riobamba to Guayaquil, a HUGE city (twice as big as the capital I’ve been told) 5 hours away that has an airport. I caught an overpriced taxi (the taxi from the bus station to the airport cost $3 for a 10 minute ride while the five hour bus ride cost $4.5) to my terminal and flew from Guayaquil to Lima, Peru. What might I be doing in Lima, Peru, you ask?! Keep reading…

That night I had the privilege of meeting two pretty cool dudes, Danny and Roberto. The initial plan was that because I really wanted to watch The Dark Knight (still had yet to see it), I would stay the night in a cheap hotel near the airport. Problem was that there were no cheap hotels (all in the 40-50 dollar range) except for one that Danny had a bad feeling about (security reasons). So I went back to Danny’s place in an insane commute (not because of the distance, but the Peruvian driving). There is no such thing as “defensive driving” in Peru. If you give an inch, they’ll take a foot. Where the road is marked for three lanes, four can usually be found. If you don’t aggressively bully your way through traffic, you will go nowhere fast. Hah.

Anyway, at Danny’s house I watched “Man on Fire”, an alright Denzel Washington movie that disappointed me a bit with the end of the movie. I found myself waiting for the climax forever, and when it came, not being satisfied with the result. Too much revenge. I also watched “Head of State” with Chris Rock and was also disappointed with that. Maybe it’s just not my type of humor, but I found the movie to be pretty dumb.

Anyway, after a work out, sleep, and a quiet time, Danny and I embarked on errands. We went to pick up Bibles for a missions trip (hmmm…!?) and then we were supposed to go see the Dark Knight that afternoon. The story goes that the movie theater took off all the subtitled movies for that one day. That one day. So we went all across town in search of a movie theater with the subtitled Batman, but when we finally found one it began too late. So we headed off to the airport to wait for some people to arrive… those people including HUNTER AND MY DAD! Yes, I surprised Hunter (my Dad knew) by flying down to Lima to join he and my Dad on their missions trip for a few days… they arrived that night, but a combination of my nifty disguise and some miscommunication led to them passing right by me, going out the door, and right to our hotel! I saw them leave, but couldn’t leave the luggage (Danny had gone with the trip leader, Dan Hitzhusen, to grab a bite). When they returned, we all searched the airport for them and finally discovered they’d gone on to the hotel. We waited until another father-son pair, Ben and Sam Clark, arrived, then all journeyed to the hotel (ironically one of the ones we had looked into the night before and decided was too expensive). Once there, well… just watch the clip below (coming soon)…

I had a great reunion with Dad and Hunter, he was super-surprised and thankful, and it was just such a blessing to be with family again. We went to bed, got up early the next morning, had a so-so breakfast and then flew to Cusco, Peru, the site of the missions trip. Dad, Hunter, and the team (a combined effort of E3 and Unveiling Glory) were going to use the Evangicube (a nifty little device) to evangelize Cusco Peru and help plant two daughter churches! Once there, we checked into a too-nice hotel (I felt a little spoiled- my wallet also didn’t like me when I paid the extra money for our room), and then walked around the town. Super-gringo. I was in Lima 4 years ago with Teen Mania (a GREAT trip) and got to see a different side of Peru and was a bit sad that my family wasn’t getting that experience, but this was just the first day. At the Italian Restaurant where we ate lunch, Hunter beat my butt at a Rock-Paper-Scissor tournament. Darn it. Did I mention that he’s getting huge?! Hunter is well above my shoulder-level now and his voice is nearing the deepening stage (it’s in the process… hahaha)… ladies, all I have to say is WATCH OUT. This brother of mine is a stud. More importantly, a stud for Jesus.

We went to church that night (the band played “One Way” in Spanish- pretty sweet) and then I began to think of going to Macchu Pichu. The rest of the team is going today (Friday), but I was only staying until Tuesday. It would be an expensive venture, but, as the Pastor of the church said (in Spanish), if I came to Cusco and didn’t see Macchu Picchu, it would be like “a sin”. So the final verdict was that I would go the next morning. And now begins the journey of Luke Sjogren to Macchu Pichu (with video footage and an exclusive, never-before-seen tour of the World Wonder)…

I awoke at 4 AM, grabbed some breakfast (the staff was still asleep when I first got into the lobby, but one guy woke up, went to the dining room, pulled a napkin off my food, then left), then headed off to the bus station. I, praise the Lord, was fifth in line when the doors opened, but the first four people took an HOUR to get their tickets (5-6… the train to Macchu Pichu, the only way to go, left at 6:05). So when I finally got to the desk (after some good time in Joshua), I purchased the more expensive ticket (no cheaper ones were left) and then was told that the train had left but stopped about two minutes (driving) away, so I could catch a taxi. So I ran from there, caught an over-priced taxi (a theme in this trip- overpriced) to Poroy where I waited in the cold for the train to arrive. Once it did, I found my seat across a table from a nice young couple, Ryan and Shannon, and enjoyed another breakfast nearly identical to the first.

Ryan mentioned to me that he and his wife wished they had brought their “travel scrabble” board on the trip, so my mind got to thinking, I pulled out my notebook, and we created a scrabble board. Oh yes. It was sweet. They play enough that they were able to remember how many of each letter (accurate guessing) square and how to draw the board. We had a great time playing, with me barely edging Ryan (a 1 pt victory) right as we pulled up to the “Aguas Calientes”, the end of the train about a 20 minute bus ride (or hour and a half hike) from the ruins. Of course, yours truly was NOT about to pay for an over-priced bus and I do enjoy hiking, so I began the hike with Ryan and Shannon (they were kind enough to invite me along with them). What a hike it was…

We walked the road to the actual mountain (about a 25 minute walk) and finally made it to the base of the mountain. We began to ascend the hike and, well, it just kept going and going and going… I have lived at 9500 feet for the past 8 weeks and I was hiking with two mid-late 20 year olds that ran 3-5 times a week, yet all three of us were breathing pretty hard and taking a few breaks along the way. Only in the strength of the Lord were we able to make it all the way up (at least that’s the strength that I relied upon)… Once at the top, you still couldn’t see any ruins, which held true to the title of “hidden city” Macchu Pichu was given when it was inhabited. I bought my ticket, but also had a bit of trouble with that, as student price for admission was half of the regular, but with my wallet being stolen, I had no evidence of my student-ness-hood-ish. I couldn’t prove I was a student. And the lady wouldn’t accept my notes, notebook, or college sweatshirt… so that was a bit frustrating.

I entered the cultural reserve (as it is known) and started to explore, many times going against the suggestions (suggested ways of exploration were followed only a part of the time). I had a blast exploring parts that were somewhat-pretty dangerous and just hiking overall. The ruins are pretty cool, but I was simply reminded about how they pale in comparison to the Amazing God we serve. His glory was fully on display with the BEAUTIFUL views from Macchu Pichu, especially from the “IntiPuku”, a 30 minute hike away from the city that gave a spectacular view of the city and of just Peru in general. I found myself, when I was exploring the “dangerous” parts, getting a little cocky and big-headed, but the Lord was gracious and humbled me by just revealing His glory through nature. Praise You, Father…

The hike down was pretty brutal, especially on the knees, but I made it down and in time for my train ride home. I had a wonderful talk with “Ivan Gonzalez”, a Spanish Journalist writing stories about the Incas. We had a lovely talk about soccer, life, and eventually faith. He’s an agnostic but respects what I believe in, which I appreciate. Please keep him in your prayers…

We caught a taxi back to Cusco, I grabbed some food and then met up with my family, skyped with the Sjogren Women at home, checked up on sports stuff (oh, Brett Favre... why?!) and then hit the hay.

Monday was a great day! We slept in (compared to my other mornings), ate breakfast, and then went out to a village (the REAL Peru, in my opinion) to begin evangelizing after a short team meeting. We had some prayer and then started going door-to-door sharing the Gospel with the Evangicube! For more info on this really cool tool, go to www.e3partners.org. Hunter was the first to share with a woman (we had two translators) and she professed faith in the Lord! Next, I shared with my broken Spanish, and she, too, professed faith! One after another people were praying to accept Jesus in their hearts! It was SO exciting! Our two translators, Hernan and Gabriela, were very helpful (they did the important stuff- the prayer, Quechua) and it was just such a blessing to be used by the Lord with my brother by my side! Praise YOU God! Dad was off with Danny and the pastor, Timoteo, sharing… we broke for lunch (potatoes, chicken, rice, and other stuff) and then had a siesta which wasn’t really a whole lot of rest because Hunter and I played around for the first half-hour… then evangelized some more ☺. At the end of the day, 18+ people had professed faith in Jesus Christ! Please pray that those who have prayed would really get serious and not just blow it off… we had a follow-up meeting at 4 and only one family came (although some said they wouldn’t be able to come). Dad, Hunter, and I had a lot of fun playing with the two young boys, Davis and Cristian. We traveled back to the hotel, rested for a bit, then went and Dad spoke to the congregation about Godly Men (he spoke 4 times overall but I only had the privilege of hearing him once). He did a great job, praise God!

After that, we grabbed dinner (Hunter got an ice-cream filled pancake with chocolate syrup for dinner), skyped with the fam, and hit the hay. I was truly humbled that night (still am) that the Lord can use such regular ol’ guys such as us for His greatest glory and the spread of His kingdom! I thought planting two daughter churches was pretty ambitious, but I am sold on E3’s methods for spreading the Gospel. The Lord really has blessed their ministry and I pray that they will continue.

The next morning I awoke around 5 AM to catch my flight… and this was a crazy day, as well. I got there in plenty of time, told the Star Peru check-in guy that I had a connection flight and tried to see if I could forward my baggage on to my next flight, but because it was two different airlines, this was not possible. He gave me a “priority” tag to help me get through faster (it didn’t), and with the flight delay, I ended up missing my connection flight. This led to me being told I had to pay a penalty to change flights (I wanted to get one to Quito later in the afternoon), so I walked right over to the Star Peru desk and calmly told them I expected them to pay for the penalty because their delay made me miss my flight. They considered it, looked at many different things, and long story short said no, because they called the attendant in Cusco and he said I never told him anything about a connection. The lady at the Lima counter told me that she believed me but said that because the Cusco guy was not saying I told him about the connection, there was nothing they could do. 140+ dollars spent for no real reason… thanks, Star Peru. But God knows and it’s all a part of His perfect plan for my life… I believe I was able to be a witness by just keeping my cool and not going ballistic. So thanks, Lord, for that…

The flight back to was fairly uneventful after that, and once I arrived in Quito I went straight to the “Plaza de las Americas” once again and bought a ticket to “The Dark Knight”. Oh yes. I had been waiting for this for a while… and it was worth it. Ladies and gentlemen, if you have yet to see this movie, put your computer in “sleep” mode, go to the theater, and watch it. It lives up to the hype. It’s just so great. I want to watch it again…

I arrived in Riobamba around midnight and then went to bed… just to wake up a few hours later and get ready to go see my World Vision child, Juan Edison Yaguachi Guambo! I was stoked to have the opportunity and just excited overall. I went with the WV employee, Elena, to the community of Cebadas, which some of you may remember was one of the communities JM and I visited! We arrived, toured the school and then waited until a pick-up truck pulled up with a few passengers. The little boy that jumped out of the truck looked a little different than what I remembered from the picture, but I figured that people change and the picture could be pretty old, so I rolled with it. It was a bit different/interesting, though, when I asked the kid what he prefers to be called, either “Jhon Edison” or “Jhon Yaguachi” or what, he responded “Jose David”. What?! We proceeded to play a bit of soccer and then just have a nice time of talking before heading over to his house. In the back of the truck, right before we left, I asked him the same question about his name and got the same response. So I told Elena about this, she showed him the name on the sheet, and he said “That’s my brother”……….. uh oh.

And so, it turns out, I spent the morning with his brother. While I did think he looked a little different, I never really thought it was someone else, and for that I am a bit embarrassed. But honestly, I am more embarrassed for World Vision for sending me the wrong kid. There was some miscommunication between the family and WV, and my real sponsored child was in another part of the country, so I never had the privilege of meeting him. Although I was a bit sad for not getting to meet him, I am thankful for the privilege of meeting his family and seeing where he lived and slept. I found that the money I give to them is being well spent as they were all dressed well and ate well (at least when I was there). Praise God for that… “Rejoice in the Lord always!” (Philippians 4:4), so I’m rejoicing.

I came back to Riobamba, packed a fair amount during the afternoon, and then headed off to Tae-Kwon-Do for my last class there. It turned out to be somewhat of a parents meeting, and since I was a bit late, all I did was stretch for about 45-50 minutes. Afterwards, Henry and I ate “Chifa” and during the prayer he cried a bit (because I prayed about his well being after I left)… after dinner he accepted a few gifts I left with him and then we had a sad goodbye, for he really was my closest Ecuadorian friend this summer and he said again that I was his only and best friend. He left me with a nice note and we parted ways… please keep him in your prayers as he seeks to live for the Lord and not fall into temptation. He’s still a very young believer and I’ve tried to connect him with a few of my believing friends, but he’s not super-motivated… may the Lord bless him.

My evening was spent at the Maust house skyping a bit and hanging out. I went back to my room, finished packing up, and went to bed.

The morning involved driving up to Quito with the Maust family, chillin’ at the Equator (traditional- about 150 meters off the true equator because this equator was found using the stars and other older devices, not GPS). After a meal at the Equator, I said goodbye to the Mausts, was dropped off at the airport, and began the journey home. Please pray for the missionaries still in Ecuador, that the Lord would strengthen them, bless them, and they would glorify Him in all they do…

Two flights later (uneventful flights), I arrived in Dulles Airport to find that one of my bags didn’t make it. I did arrive to a wonderful reception of my family (sans Dad and Hunter) and my two best buds in Virginia: Brett and KJ. We had a blast hanging out in the airport, messing around, and then drove home… where I am typing this last blog entry about Ecuador.

Thank you so much for keeping up with me this summer. I pray that the Lord has taught you a few things through the words He’s given me, for I have learned a TON! I plan on continuing this blog every now and again and posting what the Lord teaches me at my next big missions field: James Madison University…

May the Lord be glorified through everything we think, say, and do. To HIM be all glory, honor, power, and praise, forever and ever… Amen.

In His strength alone…

Luke Sjogren

Hunter's face when he first saw me (freeze-framed from a video)... It was a great surprise!

THE Macchu Pichu. This is post card-worthy...

Taking Macchu Pichu in from a distance (Inti Puku)...

The Sjogren Men taking on Peru for Jesus.

Jose David, myself, the father, and the grandmother.

The Traditional Southern and Northern Hemispheres. I'm literally at "middle earth".

My welcome home party, plus my beautiful Mother (taking the picture)

Long Awaited...

Here's the video blog of the last investigation trip... I apologize for the delay.

To Him be all glory, honor, power, and praise...

Luke

PS One of the lessons I loved learning about from the last few chapters of "Mere Christianity" was how God does not just seek to cure us partly... it's all or nothing with Him. He desires for us to be perfect, just as He is perfect (Matthew 5:48). So when we call upon His strength to help us be cured of one sin, He goes out to cure ALL of our sin. CS Lewis compared it to a toothache... when he had just a little toothache, although he loved the aspirin, he wouldn't tell his mother because he knew that the next day they would have to go to the dentist. He only told her when the pain REALLY hurt... he couldn't have the numbness (from aspirin) without going to the dentist and having the dentist look at every one of his teeth, finding problems with some that didn't hurt before. This is kinda like God and our sin.

It is very disheartening to many when, once they feel they've conquered one sin in their life, the Lord reveals to them another area they need to work on. This we should understand is the Lord perfecting us... when we truly give it our all to try to be perfect, discover that we're nothing with out Him, and call upon His strength to perfect us, He will do just that. He will show us ALL areas of our life where we fail, little by little (for we would most certainly die of humiliation if we knew of all of them at once).

Don't get down when you find a new area to work on, but understand that you are in the process of being perfected by the Perfect One.

Second and Third Lunch?

Despedidos have been the theme of my past few days... and it's been a blessing, but sad at the same time.

Yesterday was SMAC in the morning, buying some food with John Mark and returning home to finish my cereal for lunch. After lunch I went to the Maust house and hung out for a bit and then off to the Coupes to hang out for a bit. They're leaving tomorrow! Please keep them in prayer... TKD was next and it was just practicing some different kicks and forms. Fun, though! Wang and I had a good Chifa dinner afterwards and I had a HUGE plate of fried rice with shrimp, beef, chicken, and pork. For 3 bucks.

The best part of the day came after Chifa, when JM and I went to Paul's house and we hung out with him and his brother. We played basketball first for a good 20-30 minutes and then soccer (pretty much every man for himself) for another 30. It was great fun with great people... Paul's brother is SO cool! Paul's the man, also, so they're just a cool family. I stuffed some pizza down afterwards (even though my stomach was feeling terribly- Chifa + basketball/soccer right after is not a good combination). We just sat and talked (in Spanish) for about 2 hours about everything... it was great fun. Watching some of Return of the King and working out finished my evening...

This morning was another solid QT in Joshua (yesterday was, too), some breakfast, and then SMAC. I was planning on doing a party for the whole two hours but also having some games... but didn't plan ahead (bad Luke). The Lord was gracious, though, and allowed me to use the creative mind He's blessed me with to make a Jeopardy-type game for the first hour that didn't totally bomb. The kids had fun, and one guy even knew what Fish and Chips was, which surprised me. The second hour also was a blank slate, but turned out to be one of the best classes ever. We did improv. In English. Oh yes... from Supermodels to Cinderella to Weight Lifters to Aliens, groups of three (plus me) would act out the scene (a la Whose Line) and try to speak some English. Some people got into it, most were pretty shy, but everyone loved it. Praise the Lord for the idea at the last minute! He is truly the Great Provider, even when I don't deserve it...

Afterwards began the food-fest for me. We had snacks and just hung out and talked for about 30 minutes. I was able to hand out some Bibles, also, and they were SO thankful for them. Praise God! Then Fanny (the head lady) provided lunch for JM, me, and the two other teachers. It was great: Chicken Cordon Bleu (again made me long for my Mom's cooking). Next, I headed over to Andrea's house to celebrate her brother's birthday and say goodbye and they insisted that I eat some lunch with them (fried chicken and french fries). It was sad to leave them all but I'm thankful for how the Lord has brought Andrea along in her journey... she's going to get involved with the youth at church now! Praise Him! I taxied over to the family Wang's staying with (although both he and Diana weren't there) and had a lovely conversation with them and a missionary family that is staying with them. They, too, insisted that I eat dinner with them: llapingachos (meat, smashed and fried potatoes, and rice). It was lovely, as well, but my stomach was nearing bursting.

I went and helped Mr. Billy move the last of their stuff to his car, watched some more of LOTR ROTK, and then went to TKD. There, we stretched and worked on some kicks that I'm really not good at. But it was fun with the guys, joking around and getting more flexible (little by little... baby steps). I left a bit early, gathered my laudry, took a shower, and headed over to the Mausts for a fun night of Apples-to-Apples! Andrew is my kinda guy... we go for the best explanation/most ridiculous story. Which is how I was able to convince him that supermodels are bright. Oh yes. After that I had a absolutely fantastic conversation with my friend Brett back in VA and also good times talking with my bro and Elise.

Please keep Abby in prayer (and my parents) as they drive back to VA tomorrow, keep Hunter and Dad in prayer as they prepare to and leave for Peru on Friday, and Mom and Elise as they hold down the fort (with Abby) while the boys are gone.

I would also ask that you pray that I will use my time wisely in the last week I have in South America... wow, it's gone by fast. Pray also that I will truly apply the lessons I've learned here in my life for the rest of my time here on earth and that I don't lose the passion the Lord's blessed me with...

A few quick Joshua lessons:

-Many times God will give us a command with leeway so that we can use the creativity and intelligence He has given us to glorify Him to the max! This is especially apparent in the story of the (successful) attack on Ai. The Lord commands him to set an ambush (8:2) and Joshua goes and makes this SWEET plan of sending 30,000 men one way to hide and another 5,000 another place, showing a false front of lack of strength to the King of Ai, drawing him and all his men away from the city, and then totally destroying it (8:4-8). Hoorah for God and the creative minds He has created!

-Another thing I found ironic in the story of Ai is that the reason they were unsuccessful the first time is because Achan did not obey the Lord's command to totally destroy Jericho (everything in it... no plunder, livestock, nothing). But after purging Israel of the sin of Achan, the Lord tells Israel that they can take the plunder and livestock from Ai when they defeat it, they just need to destroy the people and city itself (8:2). So the reason they lose the battle at first is because of the sin of taking plunder, and yet after they won the second battle against Ai, they were allowed to take whatever they wanted (plunder wise). So you could say Achan was just one battle too early... but the Lord doesn't count disobedience as early obedience. Ever.

-I also love how Joshua commanded Achan to tell the truth. Joshua 7:19- ' Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and give Him the praise. Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me."' How convicting is that!? Wow... it's no wonder Achan told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. From my understanding, this was just a regular old Israelite who chose to take plunder at the wrong time (if only he'd waited one battle...) and disobeyed the Lord. He and everything he owned was stoned and burned and this cleansed Israel.

-And finally, when Joshua was first spying out Ai, I found quite a few interesting parts to this story. First of all, the Israelites and spies don't always go all that great together (except for Jericho... that was ok, other than them choosing to stay the night at a prostitute's place... how weird is that?). Spying out the promised land?! We all remember how that went... and now with Ai. The spies came back and said "Not all the people will have to go up against Ai..." (7:3) and this shows that the Israelites had begun to rely upon the strength of men, seeing that they would not have to use their WHOLE strength, but just a part of their strength would be sufficient. God was pretty clear that they need to always be giving their best effort for Him (for He has the whole army go during the successful battle). I also find it very interesting that God isn't mentioned saying anything about this battle until AFTER they fail. Does this mean that they didn't seek His council? Or did He purposefully withhold His council in His great foreknowledge and omniscience? Probably both...

Finally, in verse 9 of chapter 7, one of Joshua's main concerns is the name of the Lord. (vs. 9) "The Canaanites and other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you do for your own great name?" Sure, he says "our" name first, but the main question is what will God do for His own great name? I love even more God's response to Joshua (who is face down in reverence): (vs. 10-11a) The Lord said to Joshua, "Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my convenant..." Whereas Joshua's prayer seemed to be crying out to God "Why did you let this happen?!", God comes right back and says "it's not MY fault. You have sinned against Me! This is why you lost the battle..." God reaffirms that the Israelites do not control Him... He is not like a special weapon they can use to win battles. He is the God of the Universe, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, of the Israelites, but also the God of the rest of the people's as well, and if the Israelite's do not follow Him, He is under no obligation to continue giving them victory. We serve an Almighty God...

I probably won't be able to update for awhile, so all you loyal readers, go read more of your Bible instead of this blog the next few days :-).

May the Lord be glorified through all our lives as we seek to grow closer to Him and more and more like Him in all areas of life... may we deny ourselves daily and surrender all we are to Him for His greatest glory...

In His strength alone... (1 Peter 4:11)

Luke

Sabbath

For those of you who have yet to read my first post, I had the privilege of playing in church this morning and we played three Hillsong songs: Came to My Rescue, From the Inside Out, and Take It All! The morning began with a great QT in Joshua (never heard that one, have you?!), fruit-filled breakfast, and a shower.

Church was fantastic! I believe the Lord was blessed by the worship and church service overall... although the vocals and playing wasn't always perfect. As my friend Briana puts it, "It's a good thing the Bible says just to make a joyful noise." Praise the Lord for the blessing of being able to play music and sing for His greatest glory! After church, a few people said some very nice things to me as a good-bye party-type thing. It was such an encouragement and a blessing! May the Lord bless them as they have blessed me...

After church, I hung out at the Maust house and then we all went to Guano. On the way to Guano we saw the volcano spit out a HUGE cloud (see below). It was so sweet... the picture definitely doesn't do it justice. In Guano we went to many different shops, I met many of their friends and we ate "Cholas", or sweet bread. We also got to visit the town museum, which contains a mummy found preserved in one of the church's walls, saw a woman making a rug (so cool) and a bull fight (not a real one, just drunk guys running around a small bull trying to impress people)!

Bible Study (picture to come soon) was wonderful, as well! We sped through chapter 4 and then distributed the Bibles... they were SO thankful for them! Again, we received a "this is the best gift in the world" comment. Please do pray that they would learn a lot more from God's Word in English and Spanish! Skyping with family and friends (here's to you, KJ and Steve) and blogging was my night.

Monday morning at SMAC was fun and then JM, Andrea, and I went shopping through the town! We were able to bargain all the vendors down, the best deal going from $18 to $13. JM and I went back to his place, hung out for a bit, and then I went to the Coupes to help them move furniture out of their house! Other missionaries from their team were also there, as were two of their Ecuadorian friends (including Christian). I left for TKD after that, had a pretty good time just getting some exercise, was able to minister to Henry afterwards (please continue to pray for him... pray that the perfect love of Jesus would cast out ALL fear in his life- 1 John 4:18), and then walked to Orale to have a "despedido" (good-bye party). Many of the youth of the church, including the worship leader Luis, met to eat and just have fun together. It was a mostly Spanish evening where fun stories were shared (including a list of what I've eaten here in Ecuador) and nice things were said of me. Praise the Lord for friends here in Ecuador! May the Lord bless, lead, and guide them as they seek to grow to be more and more like Him...

Tonight I had the privilege of talking with my friend Cat in Australia and now I'm heading to bed... how's that for concise?

Lessons in Joshua (Lord willing) coming soon...

In His strength alone...

Luke

The Super-Cool Church Band.

God's majesty displayed through a mushroom cloud from the volcano Tungurahua.

God's Blessings...

John Mark and I headed out bright and early (after a nice reading of the battle of Jericho) on Friday morning for our final investigation. We hopped on a bus to Bayushig and both fell asleep on the way there. We awoke when the bus stopped and people got out to look/change buses, but neither of us cared too much, so we both kept drifting in and out of sleeping. When we finally woke up for good, we found ourselves in a town we were not planning on going to, Calshi. After encountering a semi-sober guy that was the brother of the president of the town (or something like that), we walked 20 minutes to the next town, Matus. We took a bus that had a fare of (I love it!) 7.5 cents each to the next town, Bayushig, and then walked to Penipe. There we ate our lunch and JM made the first of many good decisions: instead of blindly hopping on a bus about to leave (because the woman in town told us that was when a bus was supposed to arrive), he went over near the bus, checked with some of the locals, and then waited for the correct bus that took us to Puela. This town was hit hard by the volcanic eruption a few years ago. Apparently there were 2000 residents before the eruption, but now there were only 1200, and most of them didn't sleep in the town but would work the land during the day and then go back to a safer town. We got to hang out with some sweet kids (Jaime, Miguel, and Johnny) for a bit, then caught the bus to the beginning of the road to San Jose de Chazo.

Now this day's theme was favor from God in the bus system. A few weeks ago we waited 3+ hours for buses in one day, but today we didn't wait very much at all (Puela being the longest wait: 45 minutes). Within 5 minutes of the bus dropping us off at the beginning of the road to SJ de Ch, and after we turned down a 15 dollar ride to the town from Penipe, we caught a "camioneta" already heading towards Chazo and rode in the back from only ONE DOLLAR for both of us! Praise You, Father! When we arrived, we tasted the local bread and then waited no longer than 30 minutes for the last bus going out of the town to take us to our next town, La Providencia. In this town, we seriously contemplated staying the night until, wouldn't you know, a bus was just leaving the town in the direction we needed it! God blew us away... like usual :-). We got off a Cubijies, took a bus to Quimiag (where the public bathrooms are literally public: urinals on the side of a wall at the edge of a park), and took another bus to San Gerardo. This was the last town of the trip and JM and I both agreed we wanted to build a fire and cook some food before we were done with these investigations. So we bought some bread, eggs, and potatoes to cook and started to look for some firewood. We were threatened by a guy I couldn't really understand very well about picking wood up off the ground, but eventually ran into a place where an intoxicated man helped us find a good place. After being blessed with more firewood (scraps from a pile), some other people came and helped us get the fire started and our food cooking.

Ladies, here's another time where I encourage you to look at JM when looking for that special someone in life. If you want a rugged, outdoorsy, mountain man, I'm not your guy. We carved out the inside of the potatoes and dropped the egg yoke inside of them to cook. JM got his first try no problem, and while I had the bigger potato (more room for the yoke), it took me three eggs (the first two spilled out and the third almost did, too, but we caught it) to finally get mine to kind-of work. His came out beautifully... mine, crispy. I supplemented this wonderful outdoorsy meal with some fruit, a granola bar, and a nutrigrain bar. Nothing like outdoor cooking!

We caught a taxi home, chilled at the Maust house, and then I returned home and ended up watching the first 2 hours of LOTR Two Towers before heading to bed. I would say this was our best investigation trip ever in the sense that we got a ton done in a small amount of time and the Lord really encouraged my heart throughout the trip. I felt like JM and I were more compatible and encouraging than any other trip to each other. All of this is totally in the Lord's strength and by His grace... Hallelujah!

Saturday was much less eventful, but still very fun and exciting! I slept in a bit, had a great QT in Joshua 6 (studying the fall of Jericho), watched more of LOTR TT, and put down some food. I headed over to the Coupes to shoot off a quick e-mail and ended up staying for lunch! Luis, the guy that I help with English most Mondays and Wednesdays, called and invited me to soccer. I happily agreed! We took a van outside of Riobamba (with Luis and four friends) and then began playing on a nice, green field. There were a few difficulties in these games: first of all, there were only six of us, and with goalies, it was 2-on-2 on a decent sized field, and second of all, we were playing around 9,500 feet above sea level. Even for the Ecuadorians, after sprinting down the field once or twice in a row, you had to just stop and focus on breathing. It was that ridiculous... but SO much fun! My team won the first game, 5-3, lost the second, 5-1 (embarrassing), lost the third (tie breaker) 8-6, and then when other guys showed up to play, our group of friends got to play together and we won that game 9-7. I was not a very good goalie... but I was blessed with a good amount of goals throughout the day, which is more than I can say for all three years of rec league soccer in middle school. Yup, that's right... rec league soccer: 0 goals. God was teaching me humility... and still is. Please keep these guys (Brian, Andy, Sebastian, and Sebastian's older brother) in prayer, along with Luis...

Buying good, low-priced fruit for the last time (possibly) for a while went by quickly and then I caught a bus to band practice. I'm excited as tomorrow we get to play three Hillsong United songs: From the Inside Out, Take It All, and Came to My Rescue! And I get to worship the Lord with my vocals as well as playing the guitar on a few of them! So, if you read this before 12 PM EST, please send up a prayer that the Lord really blesses our time of worship as we seek to honor Him through leading the church tomorrow morning. After practice I walked to the Coupes, helped them do away with some left-overs (by storing them in my stomach), and chatted and skyped with family and friends! Praise the Lord for these wonderful past two days!

One main thing I learned from Joshua (and Dad also shared with me he learned) is that faith many times requires action. The priests with the ark of the covenant led the way around the walls, but there was also an armed guard in front and behind them. Although Joshua had faith that the Lord would protect His sacred ark, he was trying to be wise with what the Lord had provided by ordering protection for such a sacred item. Many times in our lives, the Lord will provide opportunities for us to grow our faith, but many times they will also require action. We can't take what the Lord has given us, "bury it in the ground" and have faith that it will grow! We must invest it... (Matthew 25:14-30) Are there things in your life the Lord has provided you with that you may not be using in the most efficient way?

Praise the Lord for the blessing of being able to encourage friends... oh, to be used by You, oh Lord, is overwhelming...

In His strength alone...

Luke

Where to, John Mark? Remember ladies... on facebook it's JohnMark Maust. No space in between his first two names...

One of the things that blows my mind about these mountains is how, even on this steepest of mountains (which this is not), crop is still grown on a great portion of the mountain side. It's not only dangerous for them, but they'll bring their animals up there, too!

The boys (below) insisted I take a picture of this church.

The GQ models... from left: Jaime, Johnny, and Miguel. Pray for them...

"If I'm out of my mind, it's You!"

Craziness has been a theme to the last few days... and super-sweet QTs in Joshua!

I'll try and be more concise... Wednesday was a day I tried to film myself through out the day to give a picture of what a somewhat average day in my life here in Riobamba looks like... but it was anything but average. The day began with a cycling competition on the main road, so I was unable to catch a bus (and I was running late to class. Great...) and had to take a taxi. Once there, I had a great time asking crazy questions to the kids, like "who is your favorite super hero", "if you had three wishes, what would you wish for?" and "if you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?" They really enjoy the questions and have fun answering them, so I enjoy those hours very much! John Mark then did a good job with a song, "What If", for the second hour. We left and I headed over to Wang's house for teaching and lunch. The internet was down for the day, so we tried to go to a "Cabina" (a small place where you can make calls or access internet) but the internet was down there, too. Apparently Riobamba was without internet (confirmed by the Coupes and Mausts), and it has been without internet for up to two weeks before! Crazy!

After reading a bit in Matthew 2 in English with Wang (please keep praying), I learned some new Spanish phrases from Diana and taught her some things in English, as well. The "day after tomorrow" is "pasado mañana" in Spanish, which literally means "past Monday" (and not past like last week, but past as in the future... if that makes any sense at all. It took me quite a few minutes to figure it out, but just think about it). Next was a lovely lunch, "encebollada", with the family. Encebollada is a fish and onion type soup. Not two of my favorite things ever, but I really enjoyed the soup! I also learned a lot about the area the Father serves in... he does a lot of medical work for people who can't afford or can't reach good hospitals (ie in the communities without much technology). Please pray for that ministry as he and his wife both serve in fantastic ways! They also need a lot of financial help, so if you know anyone with money lying around, let me know ;-).

After lunch I shared a taxi (jumped out early) with Wang, walked across town, and caught a bus back to the Coupes house. The internet magically fixed while I was there (thanks, God!), I was able to check some quick e-mails, get some important skype calls done and head off to TKD! This is when the real madness began to unfold... I was wearing my athletic pants (for TKD, like usual) and they were a bit extra full today. I was running late again (because of the important calls- they truly needed to get done, and thanks be to God, they did), so I had to take the first taxi that would pick me up, which happened to be an unregistered, probably un-official taxi. Somewhere between getting out of the car and walking into TKD class, a space of about 30 meters, my wallet fell out of my pocket. It could be with the taxi driver, someone picked it up, or it's lying all by it's lonesome somewhere in Riobamba. Regardless... it's not with me. Time to freak out? Neh... God's in control, and that's what I've known and rested in from the first second I discovered it missing. But it would be nice to have back :-). In the past 36 hours, I've called all the necessary banks and have had a ton of help from both missionary families that I'm close with here in Riobamba, so please pray that the Lord would bless them ten fold for the blessing they've been to me. So that has been a big chunk of the last two days... but by the glorious grace of God, it's all gonna be alright! Please do pray for the person with my wallet, too... may the Lord use this to bring this person to Him.

Also, to add insult to injury, after TKD class I discovered that someone took one of my socks. Just ONE of my socks. I ask, why not take both?! Those who do laundry know it's one of the worst feelings to come out with one extra sock... and that's what I'm faced with for the rest of my life. I actually would have rather them take both socks... haha.

In TKD, I actually discovered something I'm sort-of approaching being good at! They were going through the line doing a jump-kick (I don't know the correct English, Spanish, or Corean name. Forgive me), and they had to actually get on a chair and raise the pad up really high for some of us. I was able to still kick almost every high pad, much to the "ooohs" and "ahhs" of the other students. It was a ton of fun! So those vertical jump programs came somewhat in handy after all... although I'm still a few cms from dunking 10 ft. All in God's timing... so it was nice to finally be kinda good at something in TKD... haha. All the glory to God! Also, flexibility seems to be improving...

After class, Henry and I talked some more (continue praying- he's really growing. You can meet him by watching below!), I took the bus back to my house, grabbed some grub, and spent a bit of time at the Maust house searching for the "Two Towers" (which was found today), and then skyped the night away with my family, Wachovia, and Entrust. Fun fun fun!

This morning I had the blessing of sleeping in! Praise the Lord! Afterwards, I ate some food, had another sick quiet time in Joshua, and edited the video below. I went and met with Milton (you may remember him from my Sunday morning of basketball) for an hour and just talked life with him. I tried to share the Gospel with words a few times, but he wasn't super-receptive. He's very content in his Catholic faith... he's been married twice, and unfortunately, the second wife lives 2 hours away and, because they're both teachers (on different class schedules), they don't ever see each other. He used to be a great basketball player and we talked a lot about that. He invited me over anytime, because he lives alone (kids in the States), and really seems to enjoy company. Please pray that the Lord will show Him that there IS a friend who sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24). The same prayer for Henry, as although he doesn't desire companions, he needs them.

After Milton, I chilled at the Maust house, getting more necessary bank/skype stuff done (also having a lovely conversation with Mi Padre), and then went once more to TKD. I waited around outside to see if the person would come back and try to find me there (for I have no address in my wallet for here in Riobamba. Heck, I don't even KNOW my address here in Riobamba). He didn't, I went up to TKD, did some more flying kicks (oh yeah), and then we put on pads and started kicking each other. I was pretty bad at this and accidentally kicked my partner outside of the pads a few times (he returned the favor). It was great fun, and we got to spar one-on-one at the end of class. I didn't get totally destroyed, but actually held my own, by God's glorious grace! We went back and forth, blocking and kicking, and Wang reminded me that I'm not very flexible. Haha...

After class, more good talking with Henry (and Alex, my sparring partner, joined us tonight). I forgot to mention that we learned how to say "my name is" in Corean last night. I'll write it phonetically: "Nay- Irrum- Oon (name) In-Me-Da". The "Inmida" part is for respect, and the first part is for when you're with friends. Pretty sweet!

Tonight was dinner at mi casa, watching most of Batman Begins (oh man... SUCH a good movie) and working out. Chillin' with the Coupes has occupied the rest of my night, which is where I am now. They have been such a blessing to me, so please pray (as I asked above) that God would truly bless their return to the States for 10 months. Their furlough begins a week from today, and while they're excited, I know packing up is taking a lot of time and energy. Yet they continue to welcome me into their home...

For those of you (most of the United States) who have already seen The Dark Knight, I look forward to joining your club as soon as I can. Mmmm...

Joshua?! Oh yes... GREAT stuff.

Joshua 3:5 reads "Joshua told the people, 'Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.'"

WOW! Can you imagine the excitement that must have gone through that camp that day?! To know that the Lord is going to do something amazing "tomorrow"... wow. But we must understand that the Lord is constantly doing amazing things in our lives, as well! I fear that we too often focus on the parting of the Red Sea and Jordan River parts of our lives, considering them amazing, and forget about the "amazing" manna the Lord provides. The Israelites had this every day until they began to eat of the "produce of Canaan" (5:12). There's a reason that the Lord doesn't give us miracles of the Red Sea magnitude every day: we'd get bored. We would begin to take it for granted, just as we've probably taken the "manna" the Lord provides each and every day for granted. So I encourage you to look at your lives, realize what the Lord is blessing you with on a daily basis (the blessing of breath, of freedom in Him, of His word at your finger tips, etc) and thank Him for that manna. Jesus recognized its importance by putting it in the Lord's prayer in Matthew 6: "Give us this day, our daily bread..." (vs 11). So should we recognize it's importance and not only pray for it, as Jesus instructs, but also be thankful for it, and let God know that we're thankful for it!

Joshua 5:13-15 reads:

"Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, 'Are you for us or for our enemies?'
'Neither,' he replied, 'but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.' Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, 'What message does my Lord have for his servant?'
The commander of the Lord's army replied, 'Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.' And Joshua did so."

Yes, yes, and YES! I LOVE this passage... First of all, the courage of Joshua. When the "man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in hand" appeared before Joshua, he didn't back down, surrender, or show any fear in his words, but coolly replied "Are you for us or for our enemies?" His confidence was truly in the Lord... this is also evident, for while he was super-brave and courageous when it was just a man with a sword in front of him, as soon as the man said "I'm of the Lord", he fell to the ground "facedown... in reverence." He knows where his courage lies and where to show respect.

Secondly, the answer to Joshua's question blows me away. The Lord was very clear that He cannot be claimed with one army or another. Although He did shine favor on the Israelites while they were following Him (and forgave them when they're not), He let Joshua know that He was not permanently for one side or another. He was not "for (the Israelites) or for (their) enemies". I think this applies in our lives, as well... we are not in charge of God, He is in charge of us. We cannot tell Him to "go left, go right, attack", but He decides what's best for us. If the Lord had said "I'm for you guys" to Joshua, the Israelites could have become cocky and figured that the Lord was like another soldier in the army (albeit a very powerful one). They would have lost thankfulness and respect, and God would have lost glory. But God knew this, which is why He responded through the angel as He did. We serve an AWESOME, OMNISCIENT God!

And finally, Joshua was humbled. Put in his place by God. Just in case he was getting any kind of big head being the leader of the Israelites (appointed by God, merely a servant doing his duty), God reminds him who is REALLY in charge of the army. "But as commander of the army of the Lord I now come." I love Joshua's humble response, too: "What message does my Lord have for his servant?" He did not forget his place and come back with 'wait, wait, wait... I'm the commander of the Israelites, God's chosen people, so wouldn't I technically have that title?' Nope! Joshua, coming on the heels of the "most humble man on the earth" (Moses- Numbers 12:3), had learned a lot from watching his predecessor. Oh, Lord... may I embrace this humility in my life, find my courage in You alone, and know that You alone are in charge of my life...

I love You, Jesus.

Please keep in prayer patience, humility, and dying-to-myself.

Thanks for your prayers.

Luke

A day in my life usually takes 24 hours, so I did my best to condense it and got it to 9 1/2 minutes. Please enjoy! Praise the Lord for the breath He gives us to praise His glorious Name (Psalm 150:6) and live for righteousness (1 Peter 2:24)!

I am not flexible.

Good evening...

Today was another blessed day! Praise the Lord... woke up this morning, read some of the Word while I ate cereal, then headed off to SMAC. At SMAC I had the students create a story (about Estuardo, the soccer player). I discovered this guy was from England, had a sister (no brothers), liked apples, used the million dollars a rich relative left him to buy a new car, gifts for his teammates, and a mansion. I had fun interjecting a few details here and there and then, at the end, attempting to translate everything they had written (to the delight of all the students... it's fun when the tables have turned and I'm the one that doesn't know everything that they do). John Mark then taught on idioms for the second hour and did a great job of getting the students involved and enjoying it!

Afterwards, I spent time with Wang (haha I discovered yesterday that's how you spell his name correctly) and we ate "Chifa" (Chinese) while watching tennis. I also presented Diana with an Spanish-English Bible and I've decided that I was very spoiled with Henry's response to his Bible because Diana was thankful, but just a mere "thank you" was all she said. Please pray that the Lord uses the Bible to bring her closer to Him, for she already knows Him and is a sister in the faith :-).

After that I headed back to my house, finished studying Joshua 4, took a short nap then had a great time of prayer. We all need those times every once in a while, where we just put ourselves before the Lord, say "this time is TOTALLY yours", surrender our lives once again (I need to do that daily), and pray for everything/one we can think of... I love it. I edited the Chimborazo video (see below), spent a bit of time at the Maust house and then headed off to TKD!

At Martial Arts I had a good time with Henry, practicing spinning roundhouse kicks (which I am ridiculously bad at) and stretching. We also did more of the test-practicing that I have really enjoyed! Afterwards, Henry and I talked about what he read last night (James and Proverbs) and he really seems to be learning! Praise the Lord! I love his eagerness... oh Lord, may I have the same joy and eager heart to dive into Your Word each and every day. He also shared with me he feels bad because he can't pay me back, but I reminded him that the best way he can pay me back is by reading his Bible every day and living for Jesus! Please do keep him in your continued prayers, and pray that I am able to bless him in other ways, too...

Next was dinner at Orale with the Coupes! We had a great time, they thoroughly enjoyed it (they'd never been there) and it was just a blast! Food, friends, fun conversation, freedom, faith, fallacy, folly, fickle... ok, enough with "f" words. Ha.

Now I'm sitting here having just finished a conversation with Dad and Hunter! Praise the Lord for wonderful family members... please keep them in prayer as they are preparing to head to Peru on August 1st to evangelize for 10 days! I'm STOKED for them...

I also received a sad call from Andrea. She told me that they didn't give her the visa she needs to go to the States. Apparently (the Coupes told me) it is VERY difficult to get a visa for Ecuadorians because the government believes they will leave the country and never come back. I'm just sad for her because I know she was really looking forward to being an au pair... please pray that the God of all comfort is present in her heart these next few days...

We worship You... Hallelujah Hallelujah We worship You... for who You are... You are Good!

In His strength alone...

Luke

This one's a good bit longer than usual, so get comfortable, pop some popcorn, and enjoy the phenomenal impromptu acting talents of Bill Coupe (with me as his very minor co-star).

The Best Gift in Life...

What a day! Praise the Lord...

This morning I awoke a little later than I wanted to, but skimmed Joshua 3 and ate cereal for the first time in a while. I threw some stuff together and jogged to the Coupes... no SMAC this morning, I went to CHIMBORAZO.

Yes, the same mountain you have seen in my pictures... the same mountain (due to a bulge in the earth) that is the highest point from the center of the earth... that Chimborazo. We drove to another missionary family's house, picked up some college and high school students, and then drove to the mountain! 'Twas a lovely drive, otra vez (again), and as we began to ascend the base of the mountain to the "first refuge", I could feel the air getting thinner, even in the car! We got out of the car and then began to ascend the mountain to the second refuge...

My first reaction (and I, unfortunately, said it out loud) was, "is that it?" It looked pretty close from where we began, but it actually was about a km and a half away. Your depth perception is shot when you're that high... actually, it might not be just the altitude, but probably a mix of that, the sun's heat and reflection off the snow, and just the majesty of the mountain. For instance, one of the guys on the team, Steve, and I both wanted to climb higher than the second refuge (after we made it to the first one gasping for air) and spotted a sweet looking rock pretty high up that looked doable. But then we noticed some people that were about 100 meters away from the rock... and they were smaller than ants. From where we were standing. At the second refuge. We both just dropped our jaws at the tiny size of the people from where we were standing. It was basically a reality check, so we chose another big rock formation to climb to. About 7 of us went up there, and it was a VERY beautiful view... it was super sweet, too, because we took turns reading Psalm 96 verse-by-verse on top of the world (literally). The craziest thing, too, was that when we were on top of that cliff, we realized how far we still had to go. Although from the bottom it looked pretty high up, once you reach it, you find yourself still lacking a ton... hmmm... I feel an analogy coming on.

My walk with Jesus is the same way. Every time I think I've done something really sweet for him (made it to that rock formation), He reminds me that I still have a ton to go. I'm SO thankful for His mercy and grace in this... Steve and I agreed that if we were to be generous to ourselves and put our faith in mountain terms, getting to perfection and Jesus is two Chimborazos and a Mount Everest stacked on top of each other, and we're still at the base.

I was invited by Mr. Billy (thanks!) and had a great time making videos with him... stay tuned.

We returned home (on the way, we evaded people that wanted to make us pay for hiking Chimborazo, but they're not real, government people, so we drove right through their pathetic 'blockade' at the bottom of the mountain) and I had a fantastic time in Joshua and just with Jesus in general. More on that later...

I headed over to the Coupes to hang out, skyped with my fam for a bit, contacted World Vision (please be praying... I'm trying to get to see the child I support, Juan Edison, the day before I leave), and then left to get together with Luis. We had a bit of miscommunication, but finally met in "Mercado Santa Rosa" and I presented him with his very own Spanish-English New Testament (plus Psalms and Proverbs). He was very thankful and we had a good time reading through some of it. We stopped at 5 so I could go to TKD. The class was basically going over what we need to do to do to ascend to the next level of belt. Since I'm only going to be here for another few weeks and you need to purchase an entire uniform to level up, I'm not going to do it, but I'm enjoying learning the different defenses, attacks, etc.

After class, I took Henry aside and presented him with his New Testament. He was literally speechless... after a bit, he called it the "best gift in life". He then opened up to me a little about his life: He started out by saying his heart had been hardened because, three years ago, he was in a car accident and spent 11 1/2 months in the hospital. That's right... Eleven and a Half months. And while he was in there, NO ONE came to help him. Not his friends, not his girlfriend, not even his family. God really changed him and he resolved to be a better person than his friends and family had been to him, but he still set himself apart from everyone around him. He still lives by himself and doesn't reach out to people. He told me he doesn't feel like he can trust them because of what happened with all of his "friends". But he also said that he has forgiven them, and that is the "secret to life": forgiveness. I encouraged him that Jesus tells us to love our brothers, so he should reach out more, but also sympathized with him. He told me that I am the first person he has told these feelings to, because I have a "good heart". I replied that the only good I have in my heart is because Jesus lives there... thanks, Jesus. He promised to read the Bible everyday and I helped give him some instruction... it's people like him I'm going to miss here in Ecuador. Oh Lord, may you send other people to help disciple him and grow him into the man of God you want him to be...

The night finished having a wonderful dinner (thanks, Mrs. Coupe!) of pork chops, mashed potatoes, and green beans, and skyping with family and friends.

Joshua thoughts for the day:
-I'm convicted about my time management... I need to be a better steward of that and of my body in general (what I eat, how long I stay up, etc). Please pray this for me...

-The Israelites spent three days camped at the Jordan River (which was at it's "flood stage") before the Lord performed the miracle. I feel like this is God prepping their hearts, for they were just sitting there staring at this very full river, probably thinking "how are we ever going to get across?" and then God just lays the miracle on them. THAT is the God we serve... who does things that are inconceivable to us...

-The way the Israelites are commanded not to come within "1000 yards" of the ark of the covenant. What reverence and fear of God! Why has this been lost after so many years? Why don't we consider it a PHENOMENAL blessing to have the Word of the Lord at our hands to read, memorize, and live out each and every day! How many thousands of people in the past would have given everything they owned for a Bible! May we live with the same reverence and fear of God that the Israelites had... remember, He is our King as well as our Father.

-I'm also just struck at the humility Joshua must have had. The Bible says: "And the Lord said to Joshua, 'Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of Israel, so that they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.'" Joshua has just been told that God will exalt him in the eyes of the Israelites, God's chosen people, and yet He still seeks to give God all the glory in everything. This is where I believe Satan fell... he took the glory for himself instead of giving it to God. But Joshua (and Moses before him) chose the holy road, giving God all the glory... oh Lord, may I discover, without ever realizing it, this humility so that I may glorify You in this area of my life.

The Lord also blessed my heart and reminded me of how great He is. If such a majestic mountain, Chimborazo, does not even come close to scratching the surface of the majesty of our God, I can't WAIT for Heaven...

Thanks for all your prayers. Please pray for Andrea as she goes for her visa tomorrow...

In His strength alone...

Luke

The Hike.

He's cool, he's hip, he's Mr. Bill Coupe.

The view from our highest point of the day (16,000 feet above sea level). We were really not that far up the mountain. That's how big it is.

Enjoying God's creation...

...and thanking and worshiping Him for it.

Hospitality...

That was definitely the theme of this weekend... hospitality.

Thursday consisted of driving to "Salinas", a town famous for their cheese and chocolate, with the Maust family (minus Andrew). The two hour or so drive consisted of some beautiful sights (Chimborazo, especially) and also some very barren wastelands (or so they appeared- above the tree level). Once in Salinas, we walked down a large hill to the chocolate factory! It was quite interesting... a small building at the bottom of a hill in a small town, and they export to Italy and Japan! Their truffles were fantastic and they also had a unique "chocolate with aji" candy bite. Aji is a very hot and spicy powder, so mixing that with chocolate proved to be interesting, to say the least. We had lunch at a small restaurant that served fish. As you can see, although it will probably be a bit difficult because of the stream, I was served (and bit into) the head. Mmmm...

We explored more of the town after lunch and found some HUGE cheese wheels as well as soy cookies. I actually quite enjoyed the soy cookies, to my surprise! We loaded back into the truck and started back home and John Mark and I were dropped off along the way. We were soon picked up by a bus on the way to Ambato and on the bus ride, John Mark fell asleep on my left shoulder while a Quichua woman fell asleep on my right. I actually felt bad for them (especially JM), because the ride was quite bumpy and my shoulder isn't the softest pillow in the world. It didn't seem to bother him, though... we continued (through Ambato) to Pillaro which proved to be a very up-to-date town! It looked pretty sizable on the map, but it had a pharmacy, a grocery store or two, many electronics stores, and much more! JM and I inquired as to where we should stay the night (looking for a field), talked to some kids who whistled at us and yelled "mister", and then were eventually pointed in the direction of the "Bomberos" (Firemen). They sat us down, told us they were going to "trust us" for the night, and gave us a vacant room for the night. Praise God! We ventured into town, got some dinner (not my favorite food, but I survived), then headed back up to the fire station. We chatted with the three firemen on duty, Javier, Pablo, and Veronica, for an hour and a half! Topics included the price of stuff in America, politics, and camelbacks. At the end of our conversation, I had another one of my "What if I did THIS?!" moments, and what follows was captured on film and can be found below. Look for the firemen dressing me up... Needless to say, once I hit the ground I was told to "HIDE" because the boss came around. This is to explain the scene where I'm chilling in the room alone. It was really funny, because I took off the gear and came out and the chief never knew the difference. There was quite a bit of snickering, winking, and nudging (figuratively) the rest of the night and the next morning between the three firemen and us...

The night passed with good talking, reading, and working out. The morning came (after the alarm rang four times), JM and I packed up and headed out the door. We grabbed breakfast at "El Desayuno" (what an original name) that included some "empanadas with queso" (bread with cheese), a donut (not that great), and then some strawberry yogurt with corn flakes. As I ate the yogurt and corn flakes out of a small cup, I felt like the woman from the "Itsy-Bitsy Teeny-Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" Dannon commercial... you know what I'm talking about? If not, just take the title I gave it, imagine a woman eating yogurt and staring at a bikini on the wall, and you've got the whole commercial.

We hiked a lot on Friday. The first was a 4 km hike to San Miguelito, where we were offered some disgusting looking food. Let me put it to you this way: the woman was stirring her meat (which consisted of what most people don't use from a pig) with a wooden plank in a huge bowl and serving it on non-disposable kitchen ware. Think for a second how often they probably wash that stuff, add to it the lack of health value (and surplus disgusting value) the food contained and you get the meal she was serving. And people ate it.

JM and I hiked back to Pillaro, got temporarily disoriented, then hiked to Marco Espinel where we consumed lunch. I found another playground, so of course I had to indulge in a playground workout (though this one wasn't as flashy as the last one... the camera wasn't rolling!). We hiked the 5 km (mas o menos) back to Pillaro and then headed for what appeared to be an ok hike to San Andres. Appearances can be deceiving... especially when you're not looking too closely at a map. The hike was probably around 3 miles and at least 2 of them were uphill. The first hill we climbed honestly went for about 3/4 of a mile and with all of the curves in the road we were constantly hoping for a flat road around the next turn to only find more uphill. My motto was "Don't stop until the top", but JM eventually asked "What if there is no top", and I actually believed him for a bit. It went on FOREVER. Once in the town, I sat down and didn't move for about 25 minutes. We hiked (approximately) 11+ miles for the day, the majority being uphill (because we didn't hike back from San Andres). We caught a bus to Huapante, found nothing there (literally... hardly anything at all), then caught a camioneta (truck taxi) to Salceda.

In Salceda, we were pointed in the direction of a restaurant to eat named "Asadero Emanuel". We headed inside and this proved to be a very good decision. First of all, the prices were sweet! I got a steak and eggs plate (a thin, but good sized steak, two eggs, a bowl of rice, french fries, and a salad) for $3.25. Oh yes... JM noticed some tracts near the register and I saw that the owner was reading his Biblia, so we ended up talking with him about our faith (for we all share the same faith- praise be to God!). His name is Angel, he got into the restaurant business four years ago and already has two restaurants to his name! Or as he would probably say, to the Lord's precious name. He offered us a place to stay for the night and we gratefully took it. We each got our own room! That's how crazy it was! His second house consisted of a few bedrooms and a bathroom on top of his two-story restaurant (the kitchen and sinks were uptop while most of the seating and cooking chicken was downstairs). We had a wonderful conversation about Christianity and I believe we all came away very encouraged.

Saturday morning he further blessed us by serving us a breakfast of eggs (here in Ecuador most people put veggies in their eggs- no me gusta), rice, chicken, and juice. Please keep him, his family, and his business in prayer, for he truly was a blessing to JM and I! We caught a bus to Mulalillo and then waited (after gathering info) for a bus to another town....... but it didn't come for a long time. The Lord blessed us with someone waiting with us who lived in the town, so he gave us the stats and we bounced back to Salceda. From there we went to Latacunga and on to Pujilí where we consumed almuerzo (lunch). We chatted with some kiddos, caught a bus back to Latacunga, then grabbed the first bus we were able back to Riobamba. JM and I slept most of the ride, but while I was awake the last 30 minutes I read most of Nehemiah and am just blown away at how he so humbly asked things of the Lord! I especially love the verses that say:

"...I was very much afraid, but I said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?"

The king said to me, "What is it you want?"
Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king, "If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it." (Nehemiah 2:2b-5)

He admits to being very much afraid, and when the king asks him what he wants he prays "to the God of heaven" before/as he answers. Many of his prayers include humbly asking the Lord to look upon His servant, Nehemiah, with favor... I desire this respect of the Lord and this true desire to serve Him in every way I can!

Once back in Riobamba, I e-mailed it up for a bit and then was thinking about going to get fruit but decided that I didn't have enough time to head out, buy fruit and still get to band practice on time, so I decided against it, continuing to seek to honor God by being on time. A few minutes later I received a call from Andrew saying that there WAS no band practice that night! Many different other little details of the story make it clear to me that I am SO thankful in the Lord's strength I was able to resist the initial temptation to go out, buy fruit, and go to band practice late for I would have missed the call and gone to an empty church. Thanks, God... all glory be to you.

But anyway, I got off the bus near the usual market I buy from (La Merced) only to find it closed. Great. So I walked around Riobamba, asking for this one market (San Alfonzo) and praying that it was still open (because Saturday is market day in Riobamba- the freshest fruit!)... I power-walked/ran across the city, asking numerous people "Donde esta el mercado San Alfonzo?" and finally discovering the place, still alive with many vendors selling fruit. Praise the Lord. And after all that searching I ended up just bought all of my fruit from the same lady/vendor. Boy did I buy fruit... 7 apples, 8 pears, 6 little bananas, 6 kiwi, 6 plums, 8 tangerines, a cantaloupe, 14 strawberries, and .50 worth of grapes. Oh, and the lady gave me four tiny peaches because I bought so much from her. How am I ever going to consume all of this?! I am looking forward to eating this fruit, especially because all of the above only cost $7.50!!! Oh, Ecuadorian fruit prices, how I shall miss thee...

The night including chatting with my parents, posting a few pics, surfing the net, heavily-delayed skyping with my friend Bryan, and then trying to find this video of Manny Ramirez making a ridiculous play against the Orioles. It was pretty sweet, but not worth the time it took to find it...

This morning I continued reading in Joshua before church (oh yes, I forgot to mention... I have begun Joshua because I *sniffle* finished 1 Peter. Praise God for all the lessons learned in 1 Peter! I am reviewing them each day and really trying to apply them to my life) and then headed off to band practice at 10 AM. I was surprised to find everyone there on time (happily) and we commenced not 10 minutes after 10! Praise God! We had a lot of fun practicing, church service went well, and I chatted with some friends after the service finished. I went back to my room and then did something I've been wanting to do for a while but never made the time... REALLY cleaned my room.

Those that know me know that I'm not a slob (thanks be to God), but here in Riobamba I have let too many crumbs just sit there, so today I got to work. I took everything off my counters and used the stuff I bought at Akí to scrub the stuff off the counters and in the bathroom. It is SO nice to have a truly clean room. I am praying that I really work hard at cleaning my heart, attitude, and life overall with the same motivation that I cleaned my room today. Oh, Father, may this be a daily effort for Your greatest glory in my life!

An afternoon with the Coupes was followed with time at Andrea's house! It was lovely, like usual, spending time with her entire family, and I had the privilege of helping her prepare for her interview on Tuesday (prayers appreciated!) for her Visa out of the country. We chatted (with her family), read the Word a bit, and had some good prayer time, as well. I caught the taxi home (well, to the Coupes) intending to go outside and play basketball, but then lost motivation and ended up playing with the baby. Good trade :-). Bible Study happened at 7 PM, and we were blessed with another great turn out! Eight people came and we discussed many deep, theological questions, such as "how does God choose people?" (Paul writes "as God's chosen people" in verse 12 of chapter 3 of Colossians) and "why is it so hard to forgive the people around us?" Praise the Lord for such a wonderful, teachable group we have on Sunday nights... I shall miss them, but am very EXCITED for the Bibles I ordered (Spanish-English New Testaments) arrived with the missionary team today! I have already been thinking about who to give them to and want to thank each and every one of you who supported me in this trip, for the Bibles were bought with the money the Lord blessed me with through you... please be praying for each and every person that is going to receive these Bibles... pray for wisdom on my part to know where to distribute them and then teachable spirits from each recipient.

After the Study I walked the five blocks back to my street talking with Luis with JM and Adriana behind us. I had a wonderful conversation with Luis and he shared with me that he might have the opportunity to go to Africa as a missionary! Please keep this in prayer for him... a night of highlighting in Henry's Bible (that will be presented to him tomorrow night) and chillin' happened tonight.

One of the really cool things I found in Joshua 1 was the overwhelming theme of "be strong and courageous" that was preached to Joshua by God (three times) and the Israelites (once). It's very interesting because the Lord tells Joshua how great He is going to bless Joshua and yet constantly is saying "be strong and courageous... do not be terrified." I believe that, due to what happened with Moses (one small tweak to a miracle made him unable to enter the Promised land) could have made Joshua tremble a bit. That was a HUGE responsibility! To lead the Israelites, God's people, at such a historic time! Right after Moses, one of the most significant characters in the history of the world, performed such fantastic miracles and was so close to God! I wouldn't blame him for being a bit frightened... but God said no. "Be strong and very courageous". Even in times of blessing, God calls us to be strong and courageous, for with great blessing comes an even greater responsibility to glorify God in EVERYTHING you do. So while God is piling on the blessings in life (and if you stop and think about it, He really is), we must be strong in the Lord's strength and courageous with His courage... "for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

Amen and Amen.

In His strength (and courage) alone...

Luke

PS Please pray that I truly honor the Lord with these Bibles and do rely upon His strength and courage to go on each and every day. Also keep Henry, Andrea, Luis, the Bomberos, Angel and his family, and the many other people/things I mentioned in this novel in prayer...



Captain's Log: Part 4. Buen Provecho (this means Enjoy, but it pertains to enjoying your food... so pretend that watching this is like eating some good meal, like from Asadero Emanuel, and then I can be justified in saying 'Buen Provecho')...

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend! My camera died (great battery management, Luke) on the second day, so no kids this weekend... stories and video to come...

This picture was taken inside "Asadero Emanuel", where we were blessed with wonderful Ecuadorian hospitality. The cool part of this picture is the elevator right beside the roasting chicken... the cooking was done upstairs and sent down, then the dirty dishes were sent up to be washed. I just found this so cool...

Got questions? Answers soon to come... Stay tuned...

The beautiful view of Pillaro, Ambato (in the distance), and Chimborazo...

The cheese at Salinas. If you look beside the table, you can catch a glimpse of the real life "Big Cheese".

Chimborazo. This is above the tree level, which is why it looks like a barren desert.

Praise the Lord for a great weekend! May we all "be strong and courageous" in the Lord's strength and courage as the tests, trials and blessings come our way. Be a blessing!