Streams in the Desert

One of my greatest fears as we move to Peru is not the difficulty of transporting my entire family and worldly goods to another country. It is arriving in the desert of Peru a spiritual desert myself.

I have found a friend from the 18th century who has offered much spiritual encouragement during this transition. His name is Andrew Bonar. Exactly 155 years ago today, A. Bonar wrote these words in his diary as he reflected on his past year of ministry:

"Solemn view of last year. I get slowly, slowly on in grace. I am creeping by the shore only, not thrusting out into the deep. My chief desire should be on this day to be a man of prayer, for there is no want of speaking and writing and preaching and teaching and warning; but there is need of the Holy Spirit to make all this effectual" (Diary and Life, p. 140).

The next year he records as he again reviewed his year of ministry:

"Fully convinced by Scripture, and past experience especially, and by the experience of all the saints, that the best thing I can do, in my study and mode of conducting work, will be to give more time to prayer, and always to give it the earliest place in my employments" (Ibid., p. 146).

God has used your prayers to carry us along. As I review all the prayer requests I have posted on this blog, God has answered almost every single one! Thank you for your interceeding for us. And as you interceed on our behalf, would you ask our heavenly Father that I would be a man of prayer. Prayer is God's ordained means of transporting the river of life, which flows from the throne of the Lamb, into the wilderness of this world. Surely if I am a man of prayer, we will not arrive in the deserts of Peru a spiritual wasteland!

Merry Christmas 2005

We've Got Our Tickets!

Kind of scary, but today we reserved our one-way tickets to Peru! Our departure date is January 16, 2006. We have now officially shifted into high gear. Already we feel like were behind on packing since we'll be on the road most of December.

We are overwhelmed with all that needs to be done. Please pray for us! It's easy to slip into automatic and not depend on the Lord. God is bringing many things together, such as visas and Passports, and we give Him the praise. But there are a thousand other details. Please pray for the following...

(1) That our visas' would be ready to pick up in Miami by the first week of January.

(2) That Allen can find time to study and write his last two sermons for Ellisville PCA.

(3) That God would continue to supply His grace, energy, and safety as we travel, pack, and say our goodbyes. He already protected us from our deer collision. O that we would not arrive in Peru a spiritual wreck! I'm constantly convicted of my prayerlessness in the midst of my busyness.

(4) That God would bring in our remaining support of $250/month.

As we get closer to Peru, the more we sense your prayers. As I said in one of our e-mailouts, we would not have made it this far without your intercession. Please let us know how we can interceed for you!