Slug Bug (Punch Buggy)

"This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made!
I will rejoice, I will rejoice and be glad in it, and be glad in it!"

Sunday! Praise the Lord for these days...

Church was great this morning. I was able, in the Lord's strength, to understand a good bit of the sermon. Just don't ask me what it was about now....

After church, I headed over to the Maust house, skyped a bit, discovered that my brother's dog, Jenne Jewel, has 11 PUPPIES!!! Praise the Lord! After making Andrew wait for quite a while, he, John Mark, and I headed over to the house of Tony. After meeting Tony for the first time, the four of us headed to an under-construction apartment-type building to play air soft. Now I'm the kinda cocky guy who looks at the movies and thinks "if I were ever in a situation where I needed to use a gun, I'd be sweet at it." Pride definitely comes before the fall. I was dreadfully awful. Like, if you were ever in a gun fight and needed to choose a partner, you would choose Pee-Wee Herman over me. Heck, I would choose Pee-Wee Herman over me. Ok, maybe I wasn't THAT bad... but it was pretty close. After Andrew and John Mark began to bleed, we ceased playing, went back to Tony's house and hung out for a while.

We then headed back to the house, a little horseplay occurred along the way, and arrived at the Maust house running a little bit late. Because no one arrives before 7:05 to Bible Study on Sunday Nights and we don't usually start until at least 7:20, JM and I assumed it would be alright. Ladies and Gentlemen, we arrived at 7:04 PM at night, and EVERYONE was there waiting for us. Eight people came that night, and they were all there before we arrived. I felt quite embarrassed, and just laughed that the one time we arrive the slightest bit late, everyone is already there. Praise the Lord for His grace when we're not the smartest with our time, though...

Bible Study went well! The Lord taught through John Mark and me and we learned more about Paul's job, to preach the gospel, and how the mystery has been revealed to the Gentiles as well as the Jews. The Bible Students were very attentive and seemed to learn a good amount! Praise God for that...

I came back to the Maust house, skyped with family again, then headed back to the casa.

Monday was good as well... John Mark was finally able to come to SMAC with me, and he did a great job of helping the students learn! We reviewed some of the idioms and phrasal verbs that we studied last week, and because many of the students were not present the week before, it turned out really well! The second hour consisted of more questions, one of them being "Do you have a girlfriend? Why not?" To John Mark, since I shared last week. He did a great job of sharing how he's waiting and doesn't feel ready for a relationship of that magnitude. He wants to fall in love with ONE woman... so ladies, like I said before in the posts previous, this guy is a catch! FACEBOOK.

Afterwards, we walked around Riobamba and I ate my packed lunch while John Mark grabbed a bite at another restaurant. While in the park, I tried to read CS Lewis' book but it kept raining off and on. Whenever I opened the book, it would begin to rain, so I'd put it away. Then it would stop, I would open it again, and the process would repeat. When John Mark returned, we were blessed with a great conversation and I was able to encourage him in different ways. Thanks, God :-). Afterwards, we scoured the town for good fruit (kiwi, pears, apples, cantaloupe, bananas, and tangerines) and then met with Mr. Johnny for a great recap of the trip so far, how we're feeling, etc. Afterwards, we met with Luis at his church and just told him the English words (and I learned the Spanish words) for many things inside the church. We rushed over to Paul's house under the impression that we were going to play sports, only to find that he had to study and was sick. Thanks, Paul. Oh well... we still had a good chat! After that, I had a splendid time at the Coupe's house, playing "guess the coin" and the Penguin computer game.

They were very gracious and allowed me to call my parents and talk to the best brother in the whole wide world, Hunter Sjogren, for a bit and then talk with my friend Cat over in the Down Under. For those who are reading, please keep the Coupe family in prayer because they have had a stomach bug attack their family.

That brings me to today... SMAC (with a record 19 people in the second hour- record for me, at least), a seafood lunch (a good Shrimp Ceveche), and then posting here.

Now I want to share some wonderful things the Lord has been teaching me in 1 Peter...

13-17 deal with submission. I especially like verse 16: "Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God." We have freedom in Christ, and having our sins forgiven means that we know whatever happens in the future is already forgiven! But Peter here says that we're not to let ourselves fall into this temptation. Jesus said, in John 14:15: "If you love me, you will obey what I command." And in Luke 10:27a, Jesus says that the greatest commandment is to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind." So it's kinda like a circle: We're to obey because we love, and we love because we obey. Our God is SO amazing...

18-21 talk about slaves submitting to their masters. I see this in a modern-day view of employees obeying their boss. The Bible says in verses 19-21:

"For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps."

We have been called to endure suffering just as Jesus did! So when your boss is mean to you, when you're just angry at life, especially at work, remember these words. God does not commend the worker who cries out to Him when he has a bad boss or a bad situation at work or just in life if all the worker does is complain and whine. Is that what Jesus did when the sin of the world was placed upon Him?

And finally, in verses 22-25, Peter explains that the reason Jesus "bore our sins in His body on the tree" is so "that we might die to sins and live for righteousness..." (24). Jesus died on the cross for His Father's greatest glory and in accordance with His perfect will, but because of Jesus' obedience to the Father, we are able to DIE to sins and live for righteousness! And we're not just ABLE to do it, but we're called to! Praise YOU Lord, for spelling it out so clearly...

So let us not use our freedom for evil, but obey the Lord because we love Him. Let us be good stewards of wherever the Lord puts us, enduring the suffering "because (we are) conscious of God." And let us die to sin and live for righteousness, because Jesus died for OUR sin to glorify the Father...

I love God's Word.

Please continue to pray for patience, discernment, humility, joy in the Lord alone, and discipline...

To Him be all glory, honor, power, and praise forever and ever. Amen.

Luke

The next person you see, give them a good punch for me.

2 Corinthians 4

We Fly High... No Lie... We Know This... (BALLIN)

As you can probably tell by the title of this post, I had the blessing of playing basketball today, semi-competitively. When I say semi-competitively, I mean I've just been shooting around by myself, dunking, and doing dribbling drills for the past three weeks, so playing against ANYBODY, including people who actually practice/play on a team/once played basketball is a welcome blessing. And the hoops were actually the correct height!

The morning started sweet, with yet another totally great passage from 1 Peter (2:13-17). This passage dealt with submitting to those in authority for the LORD's sake, not for our own benefit or promotion or glory. It also dealt with having freedom in Christ, but not using your freedom "as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God." This says to me that while I'm forgive of my sin, past, present, and future, I cannot use that forgiveness to my benefit and say 'well, since I'm already forgiven, I can go and sin as I like and Jesus will still forgive me'. Jesus also addresses this in John 14:15- "If you love Me, you will obey what I command." So out of love for Jesus, we are to follow what He commands. Because our first commandment is to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind" (Luke 10:27), then we are to follow His commands. Those two verses kind of run together, as we're called to obey His commands if we love Him, and His command is to love Him! I guess it's kinda like a GOOD catch-22, right?! (PS I just got done doing some wiki-research on the term "catch-22". It's quite interesting... from a book of the same title)

Anyway, I proceeded on to the Lopez's house, and after getting off the bus, was a tad bit lost (go figure), but then the Lord sent an angel in the form of the cousin I was to play ball with, Estuardo. He saw me walking aimlessly around Riobamba (within a few blocks of the house) and ran up to me and asked if I was Andrea's friend. Thanks for the help, God!

We (Ricardo the father, Alvaro the brother, Estuardo the cousin, Andrea, and I) set off in a taxi to the high school to play basketball. We began with teams of Estuardo and I vs. Alvaro and Ricardo. Ricardo used to play basketball in high school (he's around 6'4''), Estuardo presently plays for his high school team (or some club team, I didn't quite understand), and Alvaro is an aspiring 13 year-old player who was not too bad for his age. We played every game to fifty, ended up playing six games and switching teams, and Andrea even jumped in for the last four or five games. It was quite fun, as no one ever got too competitive, and everyone had great sportsmanship.

An interesting dynamic to my basketball shot that I discovered here is the difference in the 3 pt line. I knew coming here that the line was 9 inches further than American High Schools and Colleges (though colleges will change soon), but I didn't think it would affect my shot too much. I was wrong. Out of the 25 or so 3 pointers that I missed (I only made about 5), 23 of them hit the front of the rim (the other two missed to the side- no airballs, praise the Lord). It affected my shot in a crazy fashion, as my body is programmed to shoot a certain distance from the three point line, and while the distance has changed, my shot has yet to change. It was a lot of fun, though, and I was almost able to dunk the real 10' hoop. People here in Ecuador don't jump too high, so the fact that I could touch the rim impressed most of them. If you ever need a boost in your confidence concerning your vertical, buy a ticket to Ecuador.

We all walked across town back to their house and had a lovely lunch of chicken, rice, lentils (I think... whatever it was had a lot of vitamins and wasn't beans), pears, orange juice (with "azucar morena", brown sugar), and a lovely dessert of papaya. I was hoping to make it home before the Coupe's returned, but they beat me to their house, so I wasn't able to fully clear out before they arrived. I was also hoping to make a cookie plate for them to welcome them home, so instead, I just made it in front of them. I must say, Abby would be proud of her older brother's cookie decorating expertise. I still have a good ways to go to even approach her level, though...

After having a lovely conversation with them for a bit, I grabbed my things, dropped them off at the house, and went to band practice. Or at least I thought it was band practice, as although I arrived late (tsk tsk Luke), there was still nobody at the church. I called the worship leader, and THEN he let me know that we weren't playing that night. Gracias amigo... :-) I was graciously invited to the Maust house to have dinner, a wonderful chicken spaghetti and broccoli meal, and then we watched "The Pursuit of Happyness". I liked, but didn't love, it. Will Smith does a great job, and his kid's not too shabby as an actor, either.

And that brings me to the end of my day... please continue to pray that I love unconditionally, am patient, and have discernment in what I say and do. Also please pray that I am more disciplined with my time...

In His strength alone...

Luke

PS Enjoy the pictures, and the video below...

Andrea, the very spoiled family dog Angelino, and the wonderful cook and mother, Yolima.

Ricardo, Alvaro, Luke, Estuardo

From the way my shooting was during the game, this was probably a miss.

Rebound

Pre-game festivities

SURPRISE!!! If you listen closely, you can hear the cameraman, who will remain nameless, join into the song. Also, the Frenchman's name is Olivier.

The judges opinions:

Randy: Yo, dog, I really felt you put your heart into this song. I wasn't quite feeling your vocals at certain parts of the pre-chorus and chorus, so I'm going to have to say no.
Paula: Luke, you are too cute. I really like this song choice, and feel that you came through very strong at certain parts of the verses. You need to learn to hold the mike closer to your mouth during the whole song. I like you, but I'm going to have to say no as well.
Simon: (in a British accent) Your vocals seem to convey that you enjoy singing. Just because you enjoy singing does not mean you're good at it, though. But I'm feeling generous today, and because Randy and Paula both already have said no, my vote doesn't even matter. I want at least one person to like me on this show, so I'm going to say yes. Remember that, Luke.

And so, in a weird twist of fate, Simon kinda liked me, but I didn't get to go to Hollywood. My apologies to those of you who have never heard of American Idol.

1 Peter 2:16

Lock... out?!

Well well well... what do we have here?! Another blog, I suppose...

Ok, here's the deal. I'm pretty tired, so I'm going to *try* to make this short, but we'll see how it goes.

Yesterday (Thursday) was a very relaxing day... mostly just hanging around the house, talking with Mom and Dad for a good bit over skype, and then finally doing something with my day at 3:30 in the afternoon. I went over and helped Andrea and her mom with some translation and followed that up with a trip to Bonanza with the missionaries and Maust family for some good grilled meat. Went home after that, talked with my good friend KJ for a while (also with Hunter and Mom for a short period of time), and then fell asleep watching "Get Smart". I HATE falling asleep while watching TV... but by His grace, I was able to get up around 5 and go upstairs to the real bed, set an alarm, and fall asleep.

This morning, I woke up at a better hour than 5, got ready for the day, and headed off to SMAC. I was running a tad bit late, due to some poor decisions in the early morning, so I grabbed a taxi and took the more expensive route right up to the door of SMAC (the bus only takes me within a quarter-mile and I walk the rest of the way, usually). I got there to find that NOBODY had arrived yet. Nadie. Not one person. Apparently this is what happens on Fridays... I was unaware. Thankfully, one person showed up about 5 minutes late, and then 2 more at the 10 minute mark. We ventured up to the room, and by 25 after we had 7 people in the classroom. We just went over phrasal verbs and idioms, and I learned that the word for "homosexual/gay" and "butterfly" are VERY similar. Mixing up the "a" and "o" endings of words is not always just an "ooops", but can also be fatal, as I discovered today.

After SMAC, I went back to my place and got some lunch. I've had a great time reading 1 Peter 2:11-12 today, but more on that soon. I talked with mi Madre for a good bit, Hunter too, once I got to the Coupes house, but when I first arrived, I noticed something different. The back door has a latch, and since the key to the front door is broken, I usually close the back door nearly all the way, so I can get in and out. When I arrived today, the door was fully shut. The dog was fed, too, and I remembered leaving this morning thinking "as soon as I get home, I need to feed him." When I saw the pup eating, I said out loud "Did I feed you this morning, Buddy?", and as soon as I saw the door completely shut, I knew the answer. The house cleaner had apparently come through and, seeing the back door nearly shut, shut and latched it like a good protector of the house. So I was locked OUT 24 hours after being locked IN. All I could do was laugh, though... and thank God for blessing me with such nice people, the Coupes, who will understand and act quickly to rectify the situation (ie send the housekeeper over to unlock the door).

I talked with mis padres at that time for a good bit and had some study time in the Palabra de Dios (Word of God), then headed off to UNACH to do some judging with John Mark for an English speaking contestish thing. They had two games of two teams each that had to answer questions, beat the buzzer, and sing karaoke to English songs such as "As Long as You Love Me" and "Eternal Flame". In between games and in the down time, they had random people sing songs, as well, so yours truly had the privilege of singing "I Just Called To Say I Love You" in front of a few hundred Ecuadorian students. It went pretty well, until the third or fourth time the chorus went higher, and by that time it was stretching my vocals a little too much. But it's all good... and after the thing was over and the place was closing down, I sang "A Whole New World" in front of a few people with a female vocalist partner who really didn't sing very much. So I got to sing a lot of Jasmine's parts, too. It was quite a spectacle... if only there was video of it...

Dinner with our "students" (the English Professors) was fun, as John Mark and I indulged in chicken and ham pizza with pineapple juice. I felt pretty good as I was able, in the strength of the Lord, to understand most of what was happening at the table when Spanish was spoken. Thanks, God! May I continue to learn for Your greatest glory and rely upon You for strength in all situations...

Speaking of learning, yet again I've come across a totally cool passage in 1 Peter 2 (11-12).

"Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us."

I love it whenever we're called "aliens and strangers in the world". John 17:14-16 is where Jesus talks about us being not of the world, just as He is not of the world, and Romans 12:1-2 talk about not being conformed to the patterns of this world but TRANSFORMED. So we need to be different and people need to NOTICE a difference. Just as people can spot me a mile away here in Ecuador (because I'm tall and pale), we need people to see Jesus shining through us. Also, these evil desires that we fight all the time are all out WARRING against us. This is not a little skirmish, ladies and gentlemen, but an all-out daily war that we wage against flesh and blood. The good news? We have the ultimate weapon on our side: Jesus Christ. As long as we are dependent upon Him for strength and continue to trust in Him fully, we are able defeat the evil desires and truly abstain from them. Unfortunately, it isn't a perfect battle record... but that's where the glorious grace of God comes in. Thanks, God!

I also just LOVE the part where it says "live such good lives among the pagans... that they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us." I have quite a few friends that I would love to see glorifying God in their lives (sooner than when He visits us, preferably), and to think that the way I live my life is having an impact on them gives me that much more motivation to live "such a good life" that they will glorify the Father with me on that day! Jesus... strengthen me to be able to do this for Your greatest glory...

Thanks for your prayers. Please lift up my sister, Elise, as she travels to Oxford for two weeks. Pray that she would shine His light over in England and build more relationships with her schoolmates. Thanks, God, for the phenomenal sister you've blessed me with...

In His strength alone...

Luke

PS Pics and Videos should come sooner than later. These posts have been written on a computer where I am unable to hook up my camera. Live good lives, strangers!

Check Out- Lock In

Hola blogger-readers...

The past two days have been great! Praise the Lord... I'm learning a great deal, having a fair amount of down time, and just seeing God in new ways.

Yesterday (being Tuesday, the second or third day of the week, depending on what company supplies your calendar) I had another solid QT in 1 Peter and headed off to SMAC. The second hour was sweet because we all had a blast going over words that sound and/or are spelled alike, such as "like, look, lake, luck, Luke, lack, lick" etc. I was able to learn a bunch of new words for the personal Spanish-English dictionary I am creating, and the students had a blast listening to the pronunciation and trying to figure out what a word meant (through my vivid descriptions). Afterwards, I pretty much went back to mi casa and finished watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Quick history of this movie and my family: we weren't allowed to watch it growing up. The guy pulling the dude's heart out with his bare hand just didn't fly with my padres, and I can't blame them. After watching the whole movie, I have decided that it is by far the worst of the four Indy movies. It doesn't have too much of an Indy feel, the little Asian kid is annoying and unreal, the chick in the movie never has her character developed, and even for an Indiana Jones movie, it was WAY too unrealistic. After the movie, I watched another short, low-budget Christian-based movie called "Last Flight Out". It was enjoyable, very preachy (not a bad thing), and apparently the Ecuadorian people like it a lot!

I also started to "catalog" for myself some of my favorite portions in the books of Corinthians. This involves going through the book, finding a theme that I like (such as "Treasures in Jars of Clay") and copying down a few key verses from the passage. This will help with my being able to be "prepared for action" (1 Peter 1). The night cap was good, too, as I went for a run (after reading a chapter or two of "Mere Christianity") and stopped by the church where another missionary team had begun to serve. This missionary team basically gives free eye-check ups and glasses. The Maust family is doing a lot with them, as well, and it was a blessing to see them all serving there!

On my run home, though, I encountered an interesting set of circumstances. I passed one medium sized dog, and it just looked at me. I passed a second, much bigger dog, and it also just watched me run by. I passed a third rather large dog, and it, too, just let me run by. It's kinda like the anti-Good-Samaritan story... I didn't want any of them to stop me (as opposed to me, the hurt dude, being helped by one of them). But after passing all three, although I didn't see it, they MUST have looked at each other, non-verbally communicated, "Hey, this guy is running. We love to chase people that run." And then they all took off running after me. One dog? Piece of cake, I'm not too worried about that. Three dogs, with two of them being more than half my weight? Yes... I'm running faster now. They actually got within a foot or two of me before finally deciding that I wasn't meaty enough for a good meal and dropping back. Very soon afterwards, I encountered a similar circumstance with much smaller perros. Dejected, I went to the basketball court and started dunking. This lifted my spirits and apparently entertained some young teenagers on the side of the court.

I let them make jokes and pretended I didn't understand them for a while, then revealed that I do speak a good bit of Spanish (while still not understanding all of what they said- they spoke really fast). Kimberly, Laura, Luisa, Eduardo, Marcello, Eddy, and Guillermo were their names. Please pray for them! I then ate some pizza with the hard-working eye doctors and helpers and headed back to the casa. At the casa, I went inside the main house to help Caty with some English pronunciations (she's the Aunt in the house), and ended up being able to bless her through prayer. She's having a tough time with her nephew, Sebastian... please keep the whole family in prayer. The grandmother should be coming back soon!

I snatched up some food and clothing, etc, and headed off to the Coupes house! Have I previously mentioned that I will be house-sitting (and feeding the super-sweet dog and cat) until Saturday? Well... I arrived at the house, all was well. I couldn't get my computer to hook up to the internet, but the family is gracious enough to let me use their computer. So I watched some TV, went on the internet, ate cereal, was spooked out of my mind once due to the cat's footsteps sounding like someone trying to sneak around the house, did a bit of a work out, and went to bed.

This morning, woke up, spent a good bit of time trying to figure out their shower, had a quick QT and went to SMAC. At SMAC, we had a "reading" session where we read and I helped pronounce words and translated a bit for Philippians 2:1-13. This is a very special passage (14 and 15, too) and it was lovely hearing the new English speakers speak the Word of God out loud! After that, we attacked some "phrasal verbs" such as hang out, hang up, check on, and my favorite (to act out), check out (cat-call whistle in the background). After class, I was about to leave, and Andrea was there waiting for something. I sat down across from her and noticed that something wasn't quite right, and as she began talking some tears welled up in her eyes. I decided it best to walk with her a bit, and as we walked through Riobamba (and found a nice park to sit in and talk), she shared that she has stored up a lot of things in her heart for a long time, and it was now manifesting itself. The Lord provided a wonderful opportunity to share with her what I believe are some differences between Catholicism and Christianity, and to share more about my personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I was also able to just be a blessing through being a friend.

After she left, I caught the bus back home and ate lunch while starting "The Fellowship of the Ring". Lunch finished, and I went back to the Coupes to check up on all the things. At 2 I headed for a bus to catch to the grocery store, Akí, so I could meet with Andrea to discuss pronunciation things. I got there a little early, dropped off my bookbag and Bible with the security guard (in Ecuador, at grocery stores, they have a security guard who stores your bag until you leave so you can't steal stuff. Wal-mart, take note). He asked what I was reading, and when I told him, he said "Que bonita" or how beautiful. After grabbing a few quick things in the store, I came out to find the security guard READING my Bible! This opened the floodgates and he talked with me (at me) for about 30 minutes! But it was SO encouraging to find another believer in Riobamba... not from church but in the streets. Andrea arrived about 10 minutes into our conversation and was immediately taken by what he had to say. It was another one of those "WHAT?! God... how could you be any more AWESOME?!" But as soon as I say something like that, He blows me away even more again. Our God is SO great, for this guy had accepted Jesus into His heart three years ago and I believe his testimony provided a lot more clarification for Andrea.

We spent some time working on pronunciation by going through the Word of God, and different verses, such as Luke 10:27, seem to have a positive impact on her. Right before I left, I asked if we could pray, and she began. But not 10 seconds into her prayer, she broke down into tears and, through the tears, began begging God's forgiveness for the sin in her life. It was a truly phenomenal experience... I had previously thought that she had Jesus in her heart, but I really believe that now she is starting to understand what it means to live the life of a believer in Jesus. She wrote to me later in the day: "I'm going to follow in Jesus' footsteps". Wow.

Teaching at UNACH was fun, like usual, and John Mark did most of the teaching. He did a great job, especially going quickly through the phrases. We each would help the other when the professors had trouble understanding things. We then headed off to church and then to Paul's house! We had dinner with the family (a decorated pizza- I had to undress mine a bit before eating it) and then proceeded to watch Liga CRUSH Fluminanse 4-2. I will give it to Fluminanse, though, for one of their players had one of the prettiest free-kick goals I have ever seen: opposite upper-90. It was sick.

Upon finishing watching the domination, to Paul's dismay, and having a blast practicing my "gooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll" whenever Liga scored, we headed back to the house. I grabbed some stuff from mi casa and went to the Coupes! Once at the house, I found that the dog had eaten all of his food, so I went inside, took care of some things, and when I was ready to head back out the door to feed Buddy, I twisted the key in the lock and, well, it broke. This was the barred security door right outside the front door. So I was more or less locked inside the house. By the glorious grace of God, upon calling the Coupe family, I discovered an extra set of keys, so I'm ok now, but for about 12 or so hours it was interesting being locked inside a house. Last night I talked with my family, traveling home from visiting my beautiful sister Abby in Gatlinburg, TN, and then had a delightfully encouraging skype call with Cat Ong. She is SUCH a cool person, has a true heart after the Lord, and is just so passionate about Him and His work. Oh, and she's from Australia, so through the miracle that is video-skyping, we were able to communicate, face-to-face, half-way around the world from each other. I praise the Lord for the blessing of a friend that I am able to have a very encouraging, God-centered conversation from across the world. Pray for her as she serves Him in Sydney for the next few days...

OK. I'm good now. That is all.

God is great and His praise fills the earth, fills the heavens and Your name will be praise through all the world! God is great, sing His praise all the earth, all the heavens 'cause we're living for the glory of Your name!

In His strength alone...

Luke

PS Please continue to pray for patience, unconditional love, and humility. I appreciate it!

PSS Just for clarification purposes, and in case you couldn't see through my ostentatious descriptions, John Mark did NOT go into the woman's bathroom. First of all, many bathrooms here are unisex, and second of all, he went into the bathroom that is open. The first door he chose had urinals (sorry- TMI), and the second door he went into actually was the same size as the first, although I didn't notice it at the time of the shoot (the camera angle threw me off). Also, I have to give Mr. JM credit, for I would most certainly be lost somewhere in Ecuador right now if it weren't for his careful map-reading abilities and Spanish-fluency.

He's a super-smart dude, you can pick his brain on most subjects and he'll give the CORRECT answer, and I think he would make an excellent tour guide, but the humongous size of his brain won't allow for it (ie it should be used elsewhere- no offense to tour guides). I thank you, John Mark, for helping me see some of the weaknesses in my life I need to work on and for bearing with me, even when I'm being a jerk. John Mark Maust is a cool dude. You should add him as a facebook friend. Although on facebook, search for JohnMark Maust (don't separate the first two names). And ladies, the info given in the video blog is true- this guy IS single (hard to believe, eh?!) and IS really that smart. I would give his phone number out, but for fear of the international phone line companies not having enough people to work all of the calls that will be made, I shall refrain. It may or may not be posted on facebook, though...

Thanks, God, for blessing me with John Mark as a friend and companion. May we glorify You through encouraging each other, admitting when we're wrong, and always speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). Also, may we glorify God through loving each other deeply... from the heart (1 Peter 1:22).

Where to start… these things are always so hard to start.

Thursday- got a late start (thanks to me) and was convicted of not being on time. In Ecuador, things seem to run late anyway (people are always coming to things late, even as much as 30-45 minutes, unapologetically), but I felt the Holy Spirit press upon my heart that I need to shine for Christ through being on time. So it was a tough lesson to learn (it involved a lot of humility), but a great one. Part of my pre-investigation morning involved a QT in 1 Peter, and I learned that we’re to live our lives as strangers here on this earth in reverent fear, always being mindful of the price God paid (Jesus’ precious blood).

I have been having trouble getting my travel visa card to work here (a large part of the problem being me: forgetfulness and irresponsibility), but it worked at a bank in Chambo! Praise the Lord! It was quite a relief… San Francisco, Licto, and Pungala are a few of the cities we also hit for the day. I’m learning through these investigations how I desire to glorify God through gathering in formation, that being asking more about the people’s needs and how we can serve them best as opposed to finding out about elevation, population, etc. Most of the information is necessary, though, so John Mark and I make a good team, because we have slightly different approaches to gathering info: he looks more for the technical aspects, and I search more for the needs. This is why God sent people out two-by-two (Luke 10:1-2), so that they could do a complete job for God’s greatest glory.

We also had a fun time taking a “short cut” from Pungala to Licto. The road zig-zagged up a mountain, so I thought it would be quicker to just go straight up. We encountered sheep, “llama” poo (see below), and various other things on that exciting (and tiring) trail.

Friday- this was the day of the “rain delay… caused by rain” (as quoted from the video below). We went to bed early with the plan of getting a great start on the day, but awoke to rain pounding our tents. Oh, and we were sleeping on a soccer field with llamas and other animals eating around us all night. It made for some interesting middle-of-the-night sounds that woke me up. The rain continued (we continued to wake up and check the weather to find it still raining) until around 11ish, so we had quite the delay for the day. Kids were looking through the small hole in the tent and I ended up taking pictures and video of them for about a half hour. John Mark seemed to have a fun time with them as well, and at one point he even had all of them looking at his small camera screen.

After packing up, we talked to the (very intoxicated) president of the community for about a half hour and ended up secretly emptying his bottle of alcohol and, with the help of three young ones, refilling it with water. This caused a fun surprise on his face when he took a swig. We had to take the bus back to Riobamba, and we had to skirt some nice little cliffs on the way back. Once we almost ran head on into another bus coming around a corner, and while everyone else was quite scared, I was laughing out loud. They all probably thought I was drunk. You can see a short clip of the incident below (“most exciting part of our day so far”). We chilled in Riobamba a bit, took a bus to Cebadas, and then had dinner and found a room for the night. I watched the second half of The Italian Job in Spanish on the restaurant/hotel’s small tv.

Saturday- we DID get up early today, although not as early as we had hoped. After a nice breakfast (only $1.25, just like dinner), we began the “2 hour” hike to Guamote. Yeah, right. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Ecuadorians it’s that you cannot trust their judgment of time. If they say it takes 5 minutes to get somewhere, it takes at least 10 minutes. It’s always two + times whatever they tell you. Needless to say, I was a bit worried when he said 2 hours, but pressed on anyway. We came to a dirt path that led up a mountain, but John Mark did not approve, as there were a few loose rocks and it was a steep incline. Mothers everywhere approved of the decision. The hike ended up taking four and a half hours, and during that time I lost John Mark for about 45 minutes and then was reunited. I had a good time talking with Jorge, a local of Mercedes Cadena, about Jesus and his life. From Guamote we went on a tear, hitting and hiking 5 more cities to bring our total to 14 for the weekend, which was great because we more or less had a wasted day on Friday cities-wise. Band practice and skyping made up the rest of the night, and then hitting the hay with some very sore legs and blistered feet. I had a nice surprise when I came home, for when I used the baño for the first time, I discovered a drowned rat in the toilet. It must have crawled up the pipes and then could not get out. Poor fellow… it never had a chance.

But praise the Lord for the work that was done this weekend, the 5+ hours of hiking Saturday, and the growing in friendship (through stretching and straining and then healing) between John Mark and me.

Sunday- church band practice this morning (I was on time!) and then church, where I was privileged to have an interesting discussion with two men and was reminded that the only abilities to speak Spanish I have are from and IN the Lord Jesus Christ. After church was skyping and then I had the privilege of meeting the lovely Coupes family. They are another missionary family that I (Lord willing) will be house sitting for over the next week. I had a wonderful time talking sports with Mr. Bill, eating some of Ashley’s (oldest daughter) delicious cookies, and chatting away with the rest of the family.

Bible Study also went FABULOUS. We had five new people (although some didn’t come from last week): Celiano, Andrea, Evelyn, Lizzeth, and whom I presume to be Andrea’s mother (I forgot her name). The discussion was wonderful and we were able to really focus in on this truth (it is repeated):

Paul was praying that the Lord’s will and purposes would be revealed to the Colossians so that they may live a life worthy of the Lord and “please Him in every way”. Is there any other purpose in life? For real? I mean, it’s every person’s dream to please the one they love most in every way possible, and with Jesus being our One True Love, to please him in our lives is our goal. To bring God GLORY through this earthly body… Continuing, in living this life, they will bear fruit, and also be strengthened by the Lord’s “glorious might” to have patience and self-control. Each of the students at the study seemed to get this and take it to heart as it was repeated throughout the Scripture. John Mark and I had a blast tackling tough questions thrown at us and I especially enjoyed jumping around the Bible to different references and passages, teaching as the Holy Spirit led. They even asked some crazy questions, such as “can you lose your salvation?”. I explained my belief on the topic and told them that churches have split over questions such as these, and it was exciting that they were asking such tough questions.

A quick Monday recap: SMAC classes went well this morning, other than my teaching them what all of the bad words I know of meant so that they could understand them. It was quite awkward with some words, but I think they are better for it now. Also, we did the whole “questions” thing again, and one of the questions today was about a couple’s love, and what I thought about it. So, by the amazingly glorious grace of God, I was able to share my opinions on dating, share why I wasn’t and why I was waiting. They also asked me what I think about superstitions, if I believe in bad luck, and I simply replied “I believe in a God that is greater than superstitions and luck.” Oh yeah.

After SMAC, Andrea and I walked around town towards the market and her house, helping each other with English and Spanish. Once we neared her house, she invited me in and told me that it was her father’s birthday! So I had a blast with her family (her mother, “papi”, brother Alvaro, and dog Angelino) celebrating the cumpleaños. Afterwards, I walked around town some more, and when I attempted to withdraw from the main bank again (unsuccessfully- although it worked at another bank in town), I heard “Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuke” and lo and behold, the Coupes pulled up! They were very kind, waited for me to finish, and then drove me back after a short grocery stop. Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of knowing them, and Maust family for introducing me!

So now, winding down, I challenge you all to seek God’s will and purposes for your life so that you may live this worthy, God-pleasing life and be strengthened according to His “glorious might” to have patience and self-control and beat much fruit.

Also, I have begun reading CS Lewis’ masterpiece Mere Christianity. I have had to read, re-read, and re-re-read passages in order to understand them, but it has been GREAT. I hope to be sharing much more with you as I go along, but for now something from the best book (La Biblia) ever written.

Studying in 1 Peter (1:22-25) has taught me more about loving my brothers and sisters deeply, from the heart. Love in this case (and in general) is not just a feeling, but an ACTION verb. Loving deeply involves serving, sacrificing, and selfless giving. God doesn’t call us to love just on the outside, but as Hillsong puts it, “From the Inside Out” (Go listen to that song. It is REALLY sweet). Please pray that I am able to love everyone I meet in Ecuador deeply, as the Lord would have me, from the heart. Who in your life do you want to resist to loving deeply, yet feel the Lord calling to love from the heart?

Thanks for your prayers… they are appreciated more than you know.

If you have yet to see A Beautiful Mind or Babe, you won't understand one or two of the jokes. I apologize in advance.



Here's my Ecuadorian Parody of all of those "reality" survivor shows. For those who do not watch them, the premise of the shows, such as "Survivor Man" and "Man vs. Wild", is a man who is trying to teach the city-bound viewers how to survive in the Wild. They do ridiculous things, such as eat animals raw and sometimes whole, drink disgusting liquids, jump into freezing lakes, and other insanities. So this is my pedestrian effort to imitate them. Please forgive my accent, as I kept switching between European, Australian, and American. I'm not really sure what I'm doing.

PS Yes, I really did taste all of those things.



For God's greatest glory... In His strength alone... and by His glorious grace...

Luke

I'm Back... From Outer Space...

Hey ho to all! I'm back, but unfortunately don't have time to write a whole lot tonight... I TOTALLY appreciate all of the prayer support, and it was answered in amazing ways by God. Great times growing as friends for John Mark and me (at least on my side of things- dost thou agree, JM?). Many more details to come... but for now, just know that God was incredible this weekend.

1 Peter 1:22 says that we are to "love one another deeply, from the heart." So I encourage you all to take this seriously and really try to love one another deeply. Keep in mind that the Bible just doesn't say "on the outside", like to falsify your love, but really "from the heart". As Hillsong puts it, "From the Inside Out" (sick nasty = fantastic song. Go listen to it right now).

Enjoy some of my favorite pics as a "teaser" for the sweet video to come... and go love one another deeply from the heart!

In His strength alone...

Luke

And so we continue...

Blogging for the sake of blogging... partly because I won't until Saturday night.

Oh, and mostly because God was VERY much a blessing to me. First of all I want to send a huge thank-you to Jennifer from Alabama, one of the people on the prayer walk team. She (out of the blue) came up to me and gave me an NIV Bible in English. She said she had brought it down here and prayed that the Lord would show her who to give it to. I don't know if I wrote this or not, but on Sunday night I lent my Bible to Patrick to borrow, and he accidentally took it home with him. I don't have a number or anything like that, and I didn't bring a second Bible down here, so I have felt naked these past few days. It's very interesting, too, because these past few days have been the days I could have used it most down here. But God is sovereign and knew that Jennifer had the Bible and was directing the whole situation like the Master conductor He is... praise Him.

Also, this morning I had a GREAT quiet time, because last night I copied a few Bible passages in English from the Internet. From 1 Peter 1:13-16:

13Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

We need to always be prepared for action. This comes from memorizing Scripture and "always being ready to give an answer to anyone who asks" (1 Peter 3:15). Memorizing Scripture will also help us when the Devil attacks us... we can combat his attacks with the Word of God. To "be self-controlled" is a very difficult thing, but in the Lord strength it is definitely possible. We're called to fully set our hope on Christ, also... the "grace to be given" by Christ... so we are not called to hope in ANYTHING else but Jesus... that's the only thing we need. That's the only thing that will never let us down for all eternity. Hope in Jesus. "As obedient children"... we're called to serve the Lord in the innocence and purity of a child. You know how little kids just believe everything their parents tell them, think they're the most amazing people in the entire world, and love them unconditionally, not seeing their faults? Well, God calls us to serve Him and love Him in that innocence and purity... to believe everything He says in His Word and to follow Him and seek to be EXACTLY like Him... just like we want to be like our parents.

And finally... not conforming to the evil desires of this world... we're called to be holy, just as God as holy. No ifs ands or buts. Be holy.

Gritar

This is the spanish word for "shout", I believe, and I'm merely saying this to send a "shout out" to my boy, Brett Heim. I just had the best time talking with him, and if you don't know him yet, you should seek him out and GET to know him. He's a man who truly seeks God's will for his life and is desiring God above all else... those are the kinds of friends the Lord has blessed me with, and I'm eternally grateful. Thanks, God...

I don't want to detract from the AMAZING thing God blessed me with yesterday, so this post will be short, with the theme being "please read yesterday's blog and watch the video if you haven't already and praise the Lord with me for how Incredible He is". The second theme is "if you have already read it, read it again and praise the Lord for how Amazing He is". And the third theme... well, you get the picture.

Today SMAC happened again, and we got to go through Philippians 2:1-4 and translate it, helping them learn English and, Lord willing, sharing the light of Christ with them. It is one of my favorite (and most convicting) passages, and it reads:

1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Verses 5-15 are also the bomb, so please go look them up read them! After the Bible translation, we filled-in-the-blanks to "No One Like You" by David Crowder. That song is sweet, and I hope and pray that the people are really listening to the words...

I met with Mirian again today to help her with her tourism thing, and afterwards went to the college to teach the professors English. After discovering that they had postponed it to tomorrow without letting neither John Mark nor me know, we headed off down town in search of an Ecuador soccer jersey. After successfully purchasing one in preparation for tomorrow's HUGE game against Columbia, we went back to the house, went out to dinner with the team from Alabama that's here, came back, and after having a delightful conversation with the aforementioned man of God, I am here now.

Oh- quick story from last night, too... some dogs were going crazy last night as I was walking home, trying to bite me and pursuing me, so I had to walk backwards to make sure they didn't get too close. During the walking-backward, once the dogs had pretty much given up (due to my taunting them), I fell into a man-hole. Yes, they have them here in Ecuador, too. And it was only my right leg, but it was definitely a surprise. No real injuries, praise the Lord, and my initial reaction was actually laughing at myself, thinking "I deserved that", because I had thought myself "the man" for a fleeting moment because animals 1/10 my size were afraid of me when I made a move towards them. I wish I had a camera to share it with you, and I hope you visualize this and laugh. And then read the blog below and glorify God for who He is and what He's done here in Ecuador.

Jesus Loves the Little Children...

God is ridiculously amazing. That should just be my whole blog, but I wouldn't be doing it justice if I just left it at that.

Quick recap of Sunday: Father's Day service was sweet. I played electric guitar with the band, and had the privilege of singing "Open the Eyes of my Heart" in English once through, and helping to translate for the team that is here from Alabama. I learned more about Ecuadorian time, also, because I got to church on time at 10:30 when we were supposed to have a pre-service practice, but besides Andrew Maust, the other American in the band, no one else showed up until 10:55. Haha... good times. It was a lot of fun getting to know the band, though, which consists of Natalie, Jhon, Luis, and Cristian. Please keep them in your prayers...

The Father's Day program had some games and a drama, and I was a "fill-in" son for one of the men on the missions team. He has three sons in the States, and two of them went to Alabama while one of them is still at Auburn. Sports fans out there can already feel the family tension doubling and tripling. After the food and the fun, I played some basketball ("all by myself") and then had another Ecuadorian timing experience: I was supposed to meet Efrain at 6 to help him out, and he didn't show up until 6:45. But I had a blast listening to worship music and attempting to play the drums!

Bible Study was great, too. Patrick, Mirian, Sylvia, Luis, Cristina, and Natalie were the ones who showed up, and they were not too shy about speaking English. Please keep them all in prayer, as well as a mysterious text-messager that needed help. We never got too many details, but this guy was distressed and wanted some help. We tried texting him back, but have yet to get another response... John Mark and I were able to help Mirian with a project she's doing for her tourism degree (quick thanks to Mrs. Shanks for translating into French!)... then back home after skyping with Dad and family and posting the looooooong blog.

I went to bed kinda late last night and was thinking that I would probably have a hard time waking up this morning, so I prayed a special prayer that God would ensure my waking up at the correct time. He kept his end of the bargain, as I woke up at the correct time, but I promptly fell back asleep. When I re-awoke at 8:50 AM (SMAC Club starts at 9), I was not happy with myself and kinda questioning why God would allow me to fall back asleep. Romans 8:28 is pretty clear about things like these (in my opinion), yet I was still not too happy as I rode the bus to SMAC. I arrived 10 minutes late (which is a miracle in itself), and promptly rushed upstairs to my club. Only 8 people were there (including Carlos, Carmen, Gabriel, and Andrea), and so I just asked them all to write down three questions about anything that we could discuss. I had noticed another guy do this last week, and I was trying to figure out a way to make it into a game, but couldn't think of any kind that would be fun for the students.

The first question I was given was "what do you think about love?". Instead of me answering all of the questions, I threw it right back at them, and the first answer I received was from Andrea: "God is love." WOW! This got me quite a bit excited, and while the other answers were more about worldly ideas of love, including "love is the driving force of the world", I was still beginning to grow in excitement for this club. The third question posed to the group, and I think more specifically to me (because I had stated that I am a Christian), was "why do you believe in God?". Please... just let that sit with you for a second... WHAT?! This was like two HUGE double doors swinging wide open to witness. We spent the rest of the hour just talking about God and Jesus and faith. Many of them (if not all) are Catholic, but I'm SO excited now about the next 2 months I have here to be able to grow in faith with them and help them see that Jesus truly is the only way to the Father. The second hour of club (with mostly the same people) was spent, BY REQUEST, listening to a Christian song: From the Inside Out by Hillsong United (The I Heart Revolution version). Yes, ladies and gents... they requested a Christian song! I can't wait to go (on time) to Club tomorrow! I'm planning on sharing "No One Like You" by David Crowder... it will be fun.

Please also keep Andrea Lopez in your prayers, the student who gave the "God is Love" answer. I had the privilege of getting to know her a bit more today, and she is planning on being an au pair to the States beginning in August. She has a very "wherever God wants me, I'll go" attitude, and her family loves God and is very religious as well, but I believe that she still doesn't quite understand that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. She and the other students were giving answers like "God is in my heart and in everything I do" and "God makes me happy all the time" and "God is my Father and my boyfriend and everything in my life", so that would lead me to believe that Jesus really does reside in them and is shining through them. But please pray for each of them and for me, that God would speak through me and give me the words to help them see the light of Christ. Pray that I would glorify God to the max in all my interactions with them... I'll be sure to keep you all posted :-). Hanging out with Paul and Luis and buying fruits and veggies from "la merced" (the mercy) encompassed most of the rest of my day.

Thanks for all your prayers... please enjoy these next few paragraphs that talk of another thing the Lord revealed to me this weekend. Be sure to watch the video!

One of the manifestations of God’s love for children in the Bible can be found in this small passage:

Matthew 19:13-15
¹³Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them.

¹⁴Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." ¹⁵When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

But boy did that passage become real to me this weekend. We all sang the song “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world… Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world…” and this weekend I discovered why He loves them so much…

I had the privilege of encountering many different kids this weekend of all shapes and sizes, and the Lord blessed me with such a joy when I had played with them or took pictures of them. The phenomenal innocence they are all blessed with is breathtaking… the pure joy and elation these kids get at just seeing their own portrait on the little screen of my camera made my day over and over again… Jesus, thank you for keeping the little ones innocent and commanding us to be like them. May we all strive after this child-like faith…



Here, too, are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend (not posted in the previous blog because I was saving them for this one).

Anderson and Linkson

Lonely Kid in Pillate

Four more kids in Pillate

Two kids from Salasaca, in the Evangelical Church where Compassion International is working.

Waves

Oh my... where to start.

The Lord truly blessed our time on this investigation of the surrounding cities. If you have yet to watch the video on the previous post, I would encourage you to take 5 minutes and watch it (unless you're on a dial-up connection... then set aside 5 hours). It will give a better view of the sights and sounds John Mark and I encountered.

I was especially blessed in many different ways as God grew me in areas I did not expect. I believe I promised a "mega blog" earlier, and while this probably will end up being a pretty huge blog, I'm gonna try to stick to the important stuff (like what God taught me) and some highlights of each day... so here we go!

Thursday, we left the Maust house around 9:30 am and set off for San Isidro, the first of many stops for the trip. We were gathering information such as how many churches, schools, and people there are, if any foundations (World Vision, Compassion, etc) are working in the city, what kind of water system they have, and what are the human needs of the city. After San Isidro and San Andres, we traveled to a small spot on the map labeled "Tuntatacto". John Mark was wondering aloud how we were going to know when we arrived in the community, and I jokingly responded, "there will be a big sign that says 'Tuntatacto'". For the result of that discussion, please scroll down. Anyway, we learned a great deal about the needs of many different places, and I discovered that quite a few of the cities have public both-sex bathrooms. And I'm not talking about the single-person bathrooms, but a six or seven-stall bathroom with a few sinks and no direction as to who goes where.

Towards the end of the day, after "investigating" Mocha and getting a bit lost in the mountains (according to John Mark we were never lost), we were blessed with a young guy who gave us a ride to the road leading up to Yanayacu. John Mark and I were sick of paying bus fees, so JM decided to try to hitch-hike. I was a doubting-Thomas at first, but sure enough, the Lord blessed us with a ride! So once we made it to the road, we hiked 2 km to the small community of Yanayacu. We checked out a small "tienda" at first, asking if there were any restaurants to have dinner in the community. The person running the store, Lucrecia, politely told us that there weren't any, and ended up serving us dinner herself! The people of Yanayacu are "very nice", she said, and this was repeated by many others in the town. It was demonstrated to us when they offered us their community center to stay the night in, although we simply asked for a field in which to camp! Lucrecia has two sons, Bolivar and Eric, and after dinner was finished, the three of us (JM stayed to gather information) ventured out to play some basketball. We encountered other guys out on the court, and ended up kicking the soccer ball for a while. A young guy named "Tony" was the hit of the night, though, as he is born of Ecuadorian heritage, but grew up with his grandparents in Illinois, so when I was told he spoke English and I asked him where he learned, the seven year-old replied, "I'm from the U-United States." He hardly knows any Spanish at all, so I acted as a translator between him and the other guys. He has other family there, but they aren't able to communicate very well due to the language barrier. We all ended up playing soccer (there were 8 of us- scroll down) after Tony went to bed and then had a blast talking. While I didn't understand half of what they said, they were all so funny and so I laughed heartily along with them. Please pray for a revival in Yanayacu, as they are some of the nicest people ever yet I didn't get the feeling that they know Jesus.

On Friday, after a lovely breakfast served by Lucrecia, JM and I headed off to more towns and adventures. After stopping on the road that (eventually) led to Cevallos, John Mark's healing leg began to bother him, so he flagged down a bus while I politely declined because I desired to walk the 5.5 km to Cevallos. Along the way, though, I discovered a town we had not pinpointed on the map, Montalvo. I felt led to go in there and check it out, and had a blast talking with two or three of the people working in the "Parroquial" and asking all the questions I could remember (JM had the book). The Lord blessed me with a fantastic opportunity to use my Spanish and learn more about this small town in the middle of nowhere. The hike to Cevallos was nice, as well, for I listened to Hillsong United (The I Heart Revolution CD... highly recommended) and just worshiped as I walked!

JM and I then had a nice lunch in Cevallos and rode a bus to Quero. From Quero we headed to Rumipamba, and then (eventually) to Pelileo. On the bus from Rumipamba, though, I had SUCH a great time just playing with two young kids, Linkson (no idea how to spell it) and Anderson, who were sitting behind me. They posed for pics and videos (soon to come) and really brought joy to my heart. Thanks for those two small blessings... please keep them and their mother in prayer. It was really cool, too, how their Mom made them get up when other women got on the already-full bus. She was bringing them up as gentlemen... (just for the record, John Mark and I were able to serve in this way once or twice as well, especially JM).

From Pelileo we headed off to Huambalo and were AGAIN blessed with a room in which to sleep. This time, there was a huge fiesta (party) going on right outside the building we slept in, and fireworks went off repeatedly right beside our room. I was again blessed with the opportunity to play with a young kid, as Diego, a little boy hanging with his Mom and Dad in the parroquial, continued to attempt in vain to get to the party through the doorway of which I was the gatekeeper (again- photos and video to come soon). After leaving the next morning, JM and I hiked a good ways to the next town, Bolivar, and then took a truck-taxi to what we thought was Cotalo. We ended up going right through Cotalo and to Pillate, but the coolest part was that it was a truck with bananas in its bed that had a full cab (people already being taken to Cotalo), so JM and I were forced to ride in the back. And the BEST part was that it was raining, we were in a cloud most of the time, we had breathtaking views when the clouds were lifted, and we were FLYING around dangerous curves in the road (see the video from the previous post). Wow... it was a BLAST! Thanks for that blessing, God...

After those two cities, we had fried chicken and some really good fries at a place back in Pelileo for lunch, but a word of advice: never order an extra helping of french fries. It doesn't matter if you're in Ecuador or at a McDonald's in Richmond, just don't do it. I listened to my taste buds (they were really good fries) instead of my stomach. Benitez and Salasaca were next on the list, and we were blessed with the privilege of hiking a good deal to get to and from these places. In Salasaca, we met a very nice Evangelical Pastor who works with Compassion International. He told us of the dental needs of the town... so if any aspiring missionary dentists who want to serve the Lord in a BEAUTIFUL area and learn Spanish read this, let me know ;-). We finished the trip with a much-longer-than-should-have-been bus ride to Tisaleo and then back to Riobamba...

That was a very condensed version of the trip, and I encourage you to watch the video for a visual perspective of our weekend. God taught me a lot on this trip about selflessly serving, as I really was looking forward to hiking a lot but discovered that in order to gather information from the maximum amount of towns, taking buses was a much faster way to travel. This was discouraging at first, but God is sovereign through it all! Also, the Lord really put it on my heart to share my faith with some people, and it was quite difficult at times. When I'm getting buddy-buddy with people, like I was in Yanayacu, it's fun to just keep rolling and making jokes, but when we started to discuss different animals, I laid some Cat and Dog Theology on them, Sjogren style (www.ourjourneywithhim.com). God challenged me in many other ways, as well, including the ever-present challenge of humility, and He REALLY blessed me with an end result of joy, endurance, and patience on the last day of travel. So although trials were thrown at me from various, unexpected directions, God is TOTALLY awesome, amazing, and incredible, and never stopped being that this weekend.

Colossians 1:10-12 says: "And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully ¹²giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light."

This is an amazing picture of how we are to live if we are to "please Him in every way". It's something all of us should strive for... to please our Master and Creator in every way. Wow... please keep all of these things in prayer for me: doing good works for Christ's glory that will bear fruit, growing in the knowledge of God, having endurance and patience through being strengthened with "all power according to His glorious might", and always thanking God in every situation. Pray that John Mark and I are able to encourage each other as we serve the Lord in the mountains of Ecuador, and also that we are really able to "preach the Gospel wherever we go" and not get too caught up in gathering information that we lose sight of the REAL purpose of our lives here on earth.

The hoop... and the magnificent view.

My fútbol playing buddies: (L-R) Paul, Luis, Willy, Bolivar, Marco (Front) Ryan, Eric

The result.

"Hallelujah... Hallelujah for the Lord God Almighty reigns..."

"From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea...
Creation's revealing Your majesty..."

"God of wonders beyond our galaxy... You are holy..."

"Savior, He can move the mountains... our God is mighty to save..."

Soon to come...

The weekend blog is still under construction... coming soon.

Until then (hopefully then is tonight), enjoy this video of the weekend.

¡Feliz Día Del Padres!

Día del Padre

Hello blog-readers... I'm back... "from outer space". Praise God for the safe return from a fruitful journey. John Mark and I were very blessed in so many ways, and it's gonna take me a while to process all of them and put them "on paper", or the internet, I guess.

But I wanted to begin the excitement for the MEGA blog and, more importantly, give a HUGE shout out to the best Dad on earth. We all know that God is the greatest Father ever, and may we not forget to celebrate Him today.

But as far as earthly fathers go, Robert Strohl Sjogren is tough to beat (impossible, from my seeking-to-be-humble perspective). He has sacrificed a great deal in an effort to glorify God through being the best father he can be, and while he's not perfect, he learns from his mistakes and helps us, his children, learn how to avoid making the same mistake as we grow into adults.

Another aspect of this fantastic father is that he is a wonderful husband to my Mom. Many people don't think of this as a huge part of "Father's Day", but I think it is SO key. Dad is setting the example of a husband now that Hunter and I will learn from and seek to emulate if the Lord allows us the blessing of marriage.

Yet another fantastic aspect of the way my Dad fathers is how he befriends his children. I consider Dad one of my closest friends, someone with whom I want to call and celebrate, and also someone with whom I want to confide in and mourn. He is willing to share deep, personal things with me and this greatly encourages me. I've had friends who complain about how "stupid" their father is, but I cannot even come close to fathoming describing my Dad as "stupid". I'm one of those kids who will always say and BELIEVE "my Dad is smarter/stronger/better/cooler than your Dad".

The way Dad loves Mom and all of us is priceless, more than any gift, card, gift card, or mastercard commercial can say. So Dad, although I'm in Ecuador and don't have the opportunity to tell you in person, and although there is so much more that I could say, I want you and the rest of the world to know that I appreciate you and the example of Christ you set for my siblings and I. It has been a privilege being your son these past twenty years, and I look forward to many more years of learning what it means to be a man of God in all areas of life through the way you live yours.

Thanks Coach, Daddio, Padre, Father.

Thanks, Dad.

I love you...

Still Waters...

I will say this 1000 more times, but pictures just do not do these justice. It's almost like we're being guarded by great beasts all around.

The active volcano, Tungurahua. That is not a cloud on top of the volcano, but smoke...

This beauty, El Altar, is estimated to have been taller than Mount Everest before it caved in. It has twelve peaks and they are supposedly named after each of the apostles. It's all one mountain, though...

I wish I could come up with some cool Bible-sailor analogy, like: "Sailors always coveted still waters on the ocean, and this is why in the Psalms, King David writes: 'He leads me beside still waters' "... but I can't. Because I'm not a sailor, and never have been. Maybe what I just wrote is true! If so, praise God! And if not, praise God as well :-).

But anyway, still going with the theme of sailing on the "high seas" for that's my God-given purpose (the extreme, whether it be in the States or in the most remote village), the past few days have been "still waters", or peaceful, great times.

The past day, especially, has been wonderful! After writing yesterday, I threw down some lunch and then went on a "scavenger hunt" with John Mark downtown to make sure I could find some "essentials" on my own. I was not the biggest fan of the idea at first, but that's just my selfish side coming out (not wanting to do something that was necessary, thinking I could manage on my own = the ever popular selfish+pride killer combo). John Mark was great at not telling me anything and just being a quiet companion. I had the toughest time finding the store where I could get EVERYTHING on the list, "Akí", but eventually found it. It ended up being alright, although I don't know why I'll ever need "wrapping paper".

After that, we went to hang out with Paul again, and it was a blast! We played basketball, soccer, and a soccer-volleyball mixture (basically a juggling triangle with Paul's friend, Andrés). John Mark wasn't able to participate, due to his leg, but he was able to bless another woman by helping her with English. It was a wonderful time just playing around, joking in Spanish, and getting playfully "angry" at each other when one person messed up. After leaving Paul and Andrés, John Mark and I went to this "special" burger place near the park downtown. We ordered our food, and unfortunately I didn't communicate exactly what I wanted correctly, for instance when I asked for "no más mayonesa", he piled on the mayonnaise. So I finished most of it, but wasn't too happy (as he also put on other things when I asked for it pretty plain). Due to the burgers being only 90 cents, I ordered another one, and while he got this one correct, I dropped it halfway through my meal, and John Mark encouraged me not to use the 5 second rule for an Ecuadorian sidewalk. By the way, this burger had the same amount or less meat than a Wendy's Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger, and for all who have ever consumed one of these, you know how pathetic that is (no offense to John Mark, for he is really excited about these burgers). We then proceeded to go back to mi casa, talked with Catalina, the aunt of Sebastian who lives in the main house where I'm staying (please continue to pray for Diosalina, the grandmother, for she just had a pacemaker put in). The night was finished watching Ben-Hur, which SMOKED all of the other movies I have watched so far. That movie is so good... so many powerful scenes, action sequences, and memorable quotes. One of my favorites: "If those are my choices, then I am against you."

I woke up this morning and went to school. After reading a bit in la Palabra de Dios (the Word of God), I headed off to the bus to go to SMAC and was able to start "Mere Christianity" on the way. I'm really excited to get to see C.S. Lewis' perspective on Christianity and dive into this very book. This morning I had assumed that I was going to be helping out, or at least David would be in the room with me to aid if I needed it, but I was more or less "thrown into the fire", if you will. The first hour was spent helping to learn English idioms, such as "Kill two birds with one stone", "Head over heels", "Put two and two together", and "Monkey see, monkey do". I will admit that I butchered the explanation for "The pen is mightier than the sword." I don't even remember everything I said, but after talking to John Mark later, I decided that I didn't do the best job, so now there are 13 or so Ecuadorians who will never understand what that phrase really means thanks to me.

It was a lot of fun, though, and the most fun part was at the end when they taught me Spanish phrases that don't make sense in English. Also, I tried to copy down each of their names (scroll down for the list) and screwed up in the spelling department pretty good. I never won a Spanish spelling bee as a kid, and this lack of ability to spell in Spanish shone through today. They got a good laugh, though, and that's what counted. I feel like I'm building some relationships there, and I'm really excited to see what God will do with that in the near future. I'm actually kinda sad that I can't go Thursday and Friday to help, but I'm confident God will use John Mark and I through these investigation trips...

After SMAC, I headed back to the Maust house, where I chilled for a bit before going off to meet with Luis. Luis is one of the guys from the Sunday night Bible Study, and while I was a bit unexcited (is that a word? Spell check says it is) at the beginning, because he didn't talk too much on Sunday and didn't seem all that interested, God has a way of blessing me when I don't deserve it. He was the BEST! He is so eager to learn, and as a "teacher", that's what you want from your students. I look forward to hanging out with him much more in the future and watching him learn more and more English. We had a normal "conversation" for a bit, and then I had him read the Lord's prayer to me in English and helped him with pronunciation. He is going to practice at home, I'm sure... a new word I learned today (one of the many) is "predicar". This means to speak the Word of God, and that's one of his occupations right now. It should be all of ours! Predicar means to speak it literally, but we should be radiating Jesus in our actions, as well... let's DO it for God, folks!

John Mark and I then headed off to the University to help the teachers with their English, and while it was a much smaller group than this morning at SMAC, they were very eager to learn as well and asked good questions. We laughed a lot, and I'm looking forward to getting to know them, as well! Man... I am SO blessed by God here with all of these people that are eager to learn! Praise the Lord!!! A new phrase I learned from one of the teachers is "achachai", which means "it is cold". Eating the food from the Mexican restaurant "Órales" was next on our plate (haha... ok bad pun), and it was delicious. This is the best restaurant in Ecuador so far, for it serves burritos, tacos, tostadas, and totapatas (nacho-like chips). Oh, and refried beans. Oh yes. I had a good time with John Mark just hearing about his life growing up. Between Ben-Hur, the scavenger hunt, and this evening, the Lord is blessing us with many opportunities to grow closer! Praise Him...

On the bus en route to the Maust house, I saw a cross-eyed woman get on that I had seen previously. The Lord put it on my heart to pray for her, so John Mark and I did. I would appreciate it if all of you do, as well... I have no idea of her name, but God knows :-).

Please also pray for these kiddos from SMAC: Vanessa, Gessica (pronounced "Jessica"), Andrea, Cristina, Carmen, Carlos, Victor, Mayra, Christopher, Gabriel, Vinicio, Alvaro, Paola, Viviana, Angie, Israel, Alvaro, and Diego. Pray that the Lord is glorified through each and every one of their lives and that He uses me as He chooses. Also that I would be listening and truly follow through with what He puts on my heart to do... all for His greatest glory...

My schedule looks like this now: Mon-Wed mornings I'll be working at SMAC from 9-11 and then on Tuesday afternoons John Mark and I will be teaching the teachers from 3:30-5:30. Hanging with Paul and Luis will be strewn throughout those days. Thursday-Saturday will be investigations, with band practice on Saturday nights from 6-8. Church on Sunday, and the inevitable ballin' with Beckett and Jerman. I cannot WAIT! Also, Bible Studies on Sunday and Monday nights at 7, if we can find a place for Monday night (please keep that in prayer, as well).

As you may have deducted from the previous paragraph (you know, putting two and two together), I will not be able to update my blog until at least Saturday night, so I apologize in advance to both of my faithful readers. But I shall return (si Dios quiere) with pics and videos galore...

God has been very generous in encouraging me through people while here in Ecuador, and I want to just put it out there that He has especially used Briana Jain and Catherine Ong to bless my heart, so thanks for letting God use you, friends.

Never cease to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Luke 10:27), listening for His voice not only in the storms, earthquakes, and violent winds, but also in the gentle whispers... (1 Kings 19:11-12)