Sick Again

I'm sorry I haven't blogged in a little while. We all have been struggling with a stomach virus that started late Monday with me and has proceeded to pass to each of us as the week has progressed. So far only Kayleigh has avoided it. Please pray for her protection from it and for our healing.

We expected when we came to Ecuador we would have some illness the first 6 months much as we did in Costa Rica. We did not know it would be almost every month still 7 months later. We covet each of your prayers concerning this matter knowing that the Great Physician is able. Blessings to you all.

Love Letter From God

I found this video and wanted to share it with all of you. Hope you all enjoy it.

Medical Mission Trip March 2010

This last week I had the privilege of being part of a medical team from North Carolina.   We ministered to the people of Carcelén and San Jacinto.  Both of these areas are very poor, especially the latter.  Over 720 people were seen in the clinic with 1370 people hearing the gospel.  Many prayed to receive Christ.  It was an exhausting but thoroughly blessed week for the team and the members of the church in Carcelén that worked alongside us.  Please pray for the people of these areas and especially the discipling being done by the believers in Carcelén in both of these communities.  How exciting to see God use this young church to draw more unto Himself.
I am posting a few photos now and plan to add more as they come from the team members.  Shout out to Sara Broom and the team members for letting me use the photos.  Enjoy.

Everybody Needs Jesus

This week while I am helping out with a medical mission team I thought I would share a short music video with all of you that explains just why we have these teams.

For His Name's Sake

Recently my Mother sent me an email about the early apostles and the persecution they faced in the early church.  It really helped me put things in perspective concerning my daily struggles and trials. 

Matthew , suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, killed by a sword wound.

Mark , died in Alexandria, Egypt, after being dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead.

Luke was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost.

John , faced martyrdom when he was boiled in huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome.  However, he was miraculously delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison island of Patmos .  He wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation on Patmos.  The apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey. He died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully.

Peter was crucified upside down on an x-shaped cross. According to church tradition it was because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die in the same way that Jesus Christ had died.

James, the leader of the church in Jerusalem, and half brother of Jesus was thrown over a hundred feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club.

* This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the Temptation.

James , the son of Zebedee, was a fisherman by trade when Jesus called him to a lifetime of ministry. As a strong leader of the church, James was ultimately beheaded at Jerusalem. The Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial.  Later, the officer walked beside James to the place of execution.  Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and knelt

beside James to accept beheading as a Christian.

Bartholomew also known as Nathaniel was a missionary to Asia. He witnessed for our Lord in present day Turkey. Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia where he was flayed to death by a whip.

Andrew was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras, Greece.  After being whipped severely by seven soldiers they tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony. His followers reported that, when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words: "I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it." He continued to preach to his tormentors for two days until he expired.

Thomas was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the sub-continent.

Jude, the half brother of Jesus was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.

Barnabas, one of the group of seventy disciples, wrote the Epistle of Barnabas. He preached throughout Italy and Cyprus. Barnabas was stoned to death at Salonica.

Matthias, the apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded.

Paul was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67. Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment which allowed him to write his many epistles to the churches he had formed throughout the Roman Empire. These letters, which taught many of the foundational doctrines of Christianity, form a large portion of the New Testament.

Perhaps this is a reminder to us that our sufferings here are indeed minor compared to the intense persecution and cold cruelty faced by the apostles and disciples during their time for the sake of the Faith.

 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake:  But he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Matthew 10:22.