Greetings from Spanish Wells! For the last couple of weeks we have been “suffering for Jesus” in the Bahamas… :)  

I LOVE MY WIFE!

This trip has coincided with our 28th wedding anniversary! It’s been an extra blessing to be here in this “paradise” at this time and to reflect a little bit more than usual on how good God has been to us in our marriage and in our family. 28 years and Amy still loves me! Now that’s a miracle! We met in Junior High and we had no idea what tremendous blessings God would pour out on us in the coming years. I love Amy more now than I did when we were married back in 1996. I thank God for the amazing wife that He’s entrusted me with and I pray that He would continue to help me to try to love her as Christ loves the church. 

MINISTRY

I was asked to preach a few messages to the assembly here on the island…. so I’ve been preaching nearly every day for the past twenty days…. It seems that the Lord has really used the sermons. The other night, after bringing a gospel message, there was a work of conviction in many hearts and since that moment I’ve had several searching conversations with broken individuals…. There were even some tourists that we met on the beach who ended up coming to listen to some of the messages and now seem to be genuinely seeking the Lord! Please pray that Jesus would continue to work in their lives. 

ISLAND LIFE

The Bahamas is an amazing place! Coconut palm trees line the beautiful white sand beaches. The water is a stunning blueish turquoise color. The ocean is teaming with dolphins, tarpon, sea turtles, lobsters, sharks and a myriad of colorful fish…. On this particular island the majority of Bahamians are white….. but they speak kinda like black Jamaicans…. I can’t quite figure out how to explain it. I want to say it’s kinda like ebonics with a British accent…. But that’s not quite right… All I know is that I LOVE the way they talk :) Amazing people! It’s been a tremendous blessing to have this experience and to be able to do evangelism and preach Gods word in a place like this. We are so thankful to our great and gracious God!

The culture here is fascinating… the people are very friendly. It’s almost like going back eighty years in time to a small town in the American Bible Belt. It’s a very Christianese culture where almost everyone goes to church (this by no means, signifies that everyone is a true Christian). The assembly has a full blown choir that sings a few specials every Sunday morning and every Sunday night. They all dress very formally and there are church services nearly every night of the week. There’s zero crime. Most people don’t lock their doors. The population is only about 1500 people, so everyone knows each other and waves to one another as they drive by. The main vehicle here is a golf cart, and they drive on the wrong side of the road, which takes some getting used to :) Some people don’t even have a house address… just a reference like “next to such and such a land marker” 

The people are very laid back and yet they’re hard workers. There’s a-lot of money to be made by those that are willing to apply themselves. Most of the island families own a sea-worthy boat and use it in one of the two main industries which are lobster fishing and tourism…. Because of the tourism and the remoteness of the islands it’s an expensive place to live! Everything cost about twice as much as it does in the Midwest!

NEXT UP

Tomorrow we head back to Dubuque.  We will be going from a balmy 80F to a bone chilling 2F :)…. I love the extremes! Gonna be fun to go for a jog outside! …. Once we’re back in Iowa I’ll be preaching a few times over the Holidays and then on January 5th we’ll fly to Peru! We can’t wait to be back doing evangelism and discipleship in our jungle villages for the next several months. This year we have the privilege of taking three young men from the Midwest with us (Chase Gartin, Jacob Blomquist and Peter Costello). It will be fun to see how the Lord works in their lives as they experience missionary life in Peru. Please pray for us as we invest in them and in the lives of the Peruvians that we love so dearly. We hope to attempt great things for our great God and His great Son and His great cause! 

Missions quote for the day: “One of these days some simple soul will pick up the Book of God, read it, and believe it. Then the rest of us will be embarrassed…. We have adopted the convenient theory that the Bible is a Book to be explained, whereas first and foremost it is a Book to be believed (and after that to be obeyed).” 

- Leonard Ravenhill

Micah for the Tutttles

Jesus is the only hope for our nation! He’s the only one that can change hearts. He’s the only one that can transform lives….. He is the King of Kings and Lord of lords and President of presidents… whether we recognize it or not Jesus is the greatest of all … but do we ever go out of our way to tell somebody? …Let’s make evangelism great again!

Evangelism in Madison Wisconsin

Last week I was able to round up about 30 Emmaus students and take them to Madison Wisconsin for an epic open air gospel meeting. As we sang on a busy street corner people began to gather around and listen with curiosity. After a few songs I got up and preached my heart out until my vocal cords were raw. Many onlookers listened intently and afterward there were many fantastic gospel conversations. The 30 evangelists that traveled with me all spent the next few hours passing out tracts and sharing the love of Christ with everyone they could. It was awesome to see many souls that were contemplating their spiritual state before the Lord.  

Evangelism in Dubuque Iowa

Halloween….. One of the greatest tract distribution days of the year! Amy wrote a tract that emphasizes the contrast between darkness and light and how Jesus is our only hope. Josiah and Bria rounded up a bunch of friends and then everyone got to work packing ziplock bags that contained candy, a tract, a bracelet and a card with a QR code that takes you to a website that explains the gospel.

We had more than a thousand people come by our house! This is the only day of the year that people actually come to you while celebrating a very spiritual holiday and they are actually asking for a treat….. Well, we as Christians have quite the treat to give!

Evangelism in New York City

While in NYC for a conference I went to grab a meal at a restaurant and when I went to pay I felt like the Lord was saying to me: “give the cashier James 4:5”… I thought to myself… “No, I’ve been preaching all weekend and I’m exhausted… I can take a break now.”

As I looked at the line of people behind me and the Muslim cashier girl in a full jihab I almost didn’t do it but I thought: “I’m gonna regret it if I don’t talk to this girl”. 

As I gave her the money for my food I said: “Ma’am, I feel like Jesus wants me to give you a Bible verse…. It’s in the book of James… it says: ‘Or do you think that the scripture speaks to no purpose? He (God) jealously desires the Spirit that He has made to dwell in you’ …. This verse is saying that the Bible has a tremendous purpose… and it’s this: Jesus wants you to know that he loves you and He jealousy desires a relationship with you.”

Right there in front of the crowded line she burst into tears and said: “you don’t even realize how much I needed that… where’s the verse found?” She pulled out a piece of paper and pen and asked me to write the reference down. 

The small crowd listened in as I wrote down the reference and explained a little bit more. It was a golden moment! Please pray for Aisha!

Evangelism in Philadelphia

After visiting many great historical sights and reading about some of Americas founding Fathers I was intrigued to see Ben Franklins “Cross it Out Bible” and then read about Thomas Jefferson’s “Cut and Paste Bible”… Shortly after looking into these things a brother and I went out and did a little evangelism on the streets of downtown Phily. 

I ended up having a fantastic dialogue with an atheist who said: “the Bible is good for its moral teachings but I don’t believe those radical stories about miracles such as the resurrection of Jesus…. I just cut those out”

in the course of our conversation I asked him: “If I could prove that Christianity were true would you become a Christian?” ….. He said: “No”….. 

Shocking! ….. I said: “So, even if someone could prove that Christianity is true …. beyond a shadow of doubt ….. You would still refuse to bow the knee to Jesus?”

He said: “Even if it’s true I still would never become a Christian.” 

WOW! Blinded by the god if this age!

Evangelism in Indianapolis

While preaching at an assembly in Indianapolis Amy and I and a couple of young guys from the church went into a Thrift shop to do a little evangelism. I went around asking individuals if they would like to participate in a questionnaire about the upcoming election and the spiritual condition of our nation….. Here’s my questionnaire: 

1-What’s one word that you would use to describe the state of our nation today?

2-What do you think can be done to solve our nations problems? 

3-Would you say that religion played an important role in the formation of our nation?

4-Do you have a religious background? 

5-If Jesus was up for election do you think he would get the popular vote? 

The first person I talked to was the lady that ran the place and was working the cash register ….. After about 10 minutes of conversation she was in tears and said “America needs to return to Jesus!” then she said that I could come and talk with the customers there at any time. I ended up having amazing conversations!

Missions quote of the day by John Wesley: One way: Jesus! …. One job: Evangelism!

Micah for the Tuttles

We have been back in the USA since May and our schedule has become quite a whirlwind of evangelism and preaching and ministry travel.  While in Peru the Lord helped us greatly as we attempted great things for our great God and now He continues to help us as we do the same kinds of things here North America.  

A few days ago we arrived back “home” (Dubuque Iowa) from preaching at a series of camps. One was near Philadelphia, another was near Jefferson City and the third was near Spokane Washington.  Each camp experience has a unique story where the Lord did great things as He blessed the preaching of His word.  It is such a joy to preach to young people and challenge them to live lives fully given to Jesus. There is massive need, in these last days, for a younger generation to step up and begin to wave the flag of Zion across the land! 

FAMILY

Our kids are growing up! Amy and Mya and Ellia and I are the only ones in our family that still do everything together. Its kinda sad but I guess its a good thing when kids become adults..... we still have epic get-togethers every couple of months :)   Back in May Bria finished her sophomore year at Emmaus and she is presently serving the Lord while working as a waitress at a restaurant in Dubuque.  Josiah has finished his first year in college and is also serving the Lord in Dubuque while working construction.  Javen and his wife Autumn have adjusted back to missions in america after their time in Peru... they also live and work in Dubuque while serving the Lord at their local assembly. Cullen and his wife Emma live and work in Chicago and are serving the Lord there as they prepare for future missions in Colombia. We thank God that all of our kids love Jesus and are walking faithfully with Him as they use their gifts and abilities for His glory.  We are so blessed to have such an amazing family!   

EVANGELISM

One of the best days of the year for public evangelism is July 4th.  Tens of thousands of people gather to watch fireworks shows across the nation and as they sit and wait for the show to begin they have nothing to do but have stirring conversations about Jesus, the bible and the judgement to come :)

Amy and I had many fantastic gospel conversations with numerous people in the hours that led up to the fireworks show in Jefferson City MO on the fourth.  As I conducted one of my questionnaires, one guy asked me: "If a good God really exists, why does He allow bad things to happen to good people?  I replied: "If you think about it, bad things don't happen to good people... according to the bible there are no good people... a better question is reverse of yours: "Why do good things happen do bad people?..... and the only answer to that question is that God is loving and merciful to us in spite of our many sins."

He and his friends were really caught off guard and they admitted that they'd never thought of that before. We ended up having a great conversation about the veracity of scripture, the reality of suffering and the person of Jesus.        

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Please pray for us as we continue to have a busy schedule.  The Lord has opened many doors to encourage his people in the areas of evangelism, discipleship, church planting and missions.  Here are a few of the dates and places that the Lord is taking us in the next few months:

   

July 14-23 Yosemite (CA)

July 24 - Aug 19 Watsonville (CA)

August 9-11 Maplewood (NJ)

Aug 16-18 Koinania Camp (CA)

Aug 20-Sept 9 Portland (OR)

Sept 6-8 Eagle Fern Camp (OR)

Sept 13-15 Cedar Falls (IA)

Sept 23-27 Dubuque (IA)

Oct 5-6 Indianapolis (IN)

Oct 10-13 Philadelphia (PA) 

Oct 15-17 Dubuque (IA)

 

MISSIONS QUOTE FOR THE DAY: "It is the whole business of the whole church to preach the whole gospel to the whole world." -C.H Spurgeon

Micah for the Tuttle's            

Tupac Amaru

When we arrived in Tupac Amaru we found that people had come from all the surrounding villages to hear us preach. As I talked with the crowds it was evident that they think I’m a prophet.  The last time I was in this village it was just before Covid hit and I happened to preach on Revelation 6 where it speaks of coming pandemics…. Covid arrived in their village about a week later…I told them that Covid was little kid stuff compared to what happens during the great tribulation and that I’m not a prophet… just an electrician that preaches the Bible..... 

That night I preached in the open air to a riveted crowd. The Lord really seemed to work on the hearts of many. The sense of urgency was palpable and the hunger was real. The next day we spent several hours in teaching and in prayer. There were many tears as we worked through some tough issues in the church but Jesus did great things. Praise the Lord!  

Ricardo Palma

The next day we arrived in Ricardo Palma to a torrential downpour. The dark storm clouds were indicative of the spiritual reality here. Wolves in sheep’s clothing had recently tried to creep into the church. These false teachers had promised miraculous gifts to those who would follow them and they were attempting to divide the brethren, steal some of the sheep and appropriate our church building (newly built by a missionary team just a few months ago). 

As soon as I found out about the problem I spent most of my time teaching from the scriptures and counseling the believers on how to stand firm in the truth and stay unified in the gospel. I was very encouraged by the two leaders, Etson and Bernabe, who had many questions but were not swayed by the false teachers.

That night I went through the town calling out an invitation for anyone and everyone to come to the open air gospel meeting….. Most of the villagers came out to listen. I was too exhausted to preach after having taught all day on the dangers of heresy so Josh and Javen gave the messages on this night. That did an excellent job! 

The next day, after praying together and saying our goodbyes, we headed up the river, just after we left I realized the offering that I set aside for the church was still in my pocket. I’d completely forgotten. Instead of turning around, I resisted the urging of the Holy Spirit.... only when I realized I’d forgotten my Bible too did I really feel the pang of disobedience. Even though it added two hours to the trip I turned the boat around. God would have me get that gift to them one way or another! 

Achinamisa

When we walked into Achinamisa we were met with the excited squeals of little kids who started running at us from all directions. As we walked by house after house, people greeted us and then  anxiously asked if I was gonna preach….. After lots of handshakes and hugs and cordial greetings I went straight to the village loudspeaker and preached for about a half an hour. The whole village listened intently. 

When I had finished preaching I went to the school and I was able to convince the director of education to let us into the grade school for an “Horita Feliz”. Soon we got the kids meeting going and Elizabet, Grety, Mya and Autumn were working hard with a big group of energetic kids. 

That night the main square was full of people as we got our open air meeting going. Pool and Josue gave the first two sermons and then I wrapped things up with a longer message from Luke 16….  The Lord seemed to use it. There was a kind of stunned silence afterward…. No repentance or professions of faith though (God knows).  

Hot and humid night.  By 2 am my sheet and pillow were drenched with sweat. Did not sleep well at all. Morning devotional at 6….. Jave gave a great message on Job 28. He’s been a big help on all these river trips! 

After breakfast we had a very productive and LONG (3 hrs) “question and answer” time with the brethren  …..  The brothers had about 20 theological questions that they were eager to find answers for. These are always very helpful times of good discussion and reflection around open bibles. These were probably the most important hours of the whole trip. Praise the Lord for faithful, available, teachable brothers in this village! 

Yarina

Our next stop was Yarina. This is a village I haven't visited for a while. It just hasn’t been at the top of my list because the church here is a bigger and healthier church that doesn’t need a lot of visits like the others do …. BUT they were begging me to preach there so I finally gave in. 

The brothers and sisters really treated us first class. They gave us a $50 ofrenda to help with travel costs! (No one does that).  Lots of food. Lots of hot coa coa. They even put us up in a “hotel”… no electricity and no water, but they brought in buckets of semi-clean water to flush and shower with.

That afternoon a supposedly demon possessed lady was brought to me. They said a witch-doctor had put a curse on her 12 years ago and ever since then she’s been mute….. Well, I don’t seem to have the gift of exorcism and the girl is still mute but her family was extremely encouraged by the time we spent with them and for the prayers on her behalf.

There were a lot of people at the evening open air. Preached from Genesis 19. Good conversations afterward. The whole church gathered in the church building at 11pm wanting a second meeting (about 70 people in this church…. One of our biggest)….. Finally got to sleep at 1 am and then woke up at 5 am for the devotional at 6 am with the whole church. 

While Rut Raquel held a women’s meeting I (like the day before) went and convinced the director of education to let us into the grade school for an “Horita feliz”.  Thank the Lord for permission! The sisters on our team preached to 200 kids for about 2 hours! 

I was able to escape for those two hours and go downriver in a canoe with brother Isaias (the main elder in Yarina).  We checked his trip-wire shot guns along the shore…. But found nothing. Then we went to his chacra and brought back all kinds of fruit. Good time catching up with him about the state of the work…. He is doing a great job with the church in Yarina and with missions to the surrounding villages! He’s a really key guy in these parts! 

After a scrumptious lunch of wild boar meat and hot chocolate we prayed with the brethren and had a time of emotional parting words. Then it was hugs and handshakes and goodbyes. Finally we loaded up in the boat and headed for the next village. Thankful for what the Lord did in this village! 

Pelejo

From the moment that we arrived in Pelejo it seemed that the whole village was ripe for harvest. There was "mucha expectativa" everywhere I went as I did house to house evangelism. At one point I was walking down the street and an entire family was gathered and hoping I would come by.  There were about 20 people present and they quickly persuaded me to come into the front room and share from Gods word.  They were all ears as I shared about righteousness, the judgment to come and forgiveness in Jesus. A woman named Georgina made a profession of faith right then and there while the rest of the family was visibly moved.... Talk about a divine appointment! 

For many years the church in this town had been divided and feuding.  As a result their testimony was completely lost and the gospel was held in ridicule by the rest of the villagers. Then about a year ago I was able to have several meetings with the men involved in the division and the Lord ended up bringing a tremendous amount of repentance and humility to both sides. It was SO ENCOURAGING to walk into this village and immediately see the results of a unified church.  The believers are doing awesome and the new-found unity has made the whole village sensitive to the gospel.  Recently the church has seen seventeen new converts!  Where there is unity there is salvation!     

Missions quote for the day by John Wesley: "Untold millions are still untold." 

Micah for the Tuttle's

Last week Amy and I headed down river with five of our kids, four american girls and seven Peruvians. As we navigated the muddy waters of the Huallaga river we cruised through a torrential downpour and then into a furnace of thick humidity. Our river cuts through one of the eastern ranges of the Andes mountains and then flows into the lower Amazon basin. The scenery is breathtaking!  Along the way it was as if God was unfolding a stunning canvas of His art-work with rainbow’s, waterfalls and vibrantly green foliage covering mountains that were shrouded in fog. All of creation screams of our God’s greatness! 

That afternoon we finally arrived in the port of one of my favorite villages: “Callanayacu”. Immediately we were greeted by a small crowd of excited brothers and sisters. They had not received the message that we were coming and yet there was plenty of joyful backslapping, vigorous handshakes and bone crushing hugs.  Before we knew it, one of the brothers was leading us down a beautiful jungle path so we could see an epic waterfall and enjoy a nice swim in one of the many hidden lakes in that area.  It all looked like a stunning scene from the garden of Eden.  

After an unforgettable afternoon in paradise we hiked back to the village square where there was a town meeting in process.  The whole village was assembled and after they were done making some decisions about buying paint for the communal house I stood up and congratulated everyone on their village unity and work ethic….. from there I opened up the scriptures and I pointed to Christ as the only One that can give true and lasting unity.  It was a really unique open door that the Lord provided.  Many people were there that would never have come to our planned open air preaching (which we did a few hours later) nevertheless, everyone was “all-ears” for about 30 minutes and it resulted in several good one on one conversations.    

After we had eaten dinner (coconuts and chicken and rice) everyone gathered, once again, in the main square and I preached on Malachi 3:16. Just as I began the electricity went out and it was immediately really dark, and really quiet…. No microphone, no lights, no moon, just a billion stars that were looking down on us from the heavens.  As I preached into the darkness it seemed that my voice echoed out of the village and off into the jungle.  You could see the faint silhouettes of men, women and children listening. Some were near, some were far, some were in the doorways of their houses and some stood on the edge of town.  But all seemed to be listening intently and looking into the heavens as they considered the spiritual state of their soul. 

We had a rather uncomfortable night of sleep in our tents which we set up on the boarded floor of the church building.  Nevertheless, we were up early and began our new day with personal prayer and bible.  Stephany, Gretty and Cesia are awesome with the village kids. Our young men, Javen, Eber and Fernando, are leading music and helping me preach. Jorge and Yuri are tending to the boat and do all the heavy lifting while Amy and Bria are translating for the american girls who are eager to help with evangelism and really anything they can do.   

On this trip I preached three to five times a day and as a result I shredded my vocal chords. I need to always be careful to not lose my voice but it’s hard to hold back when you see lost and desperate souls sitting all around the main square hanging on every word of the message being preached. Most of the open air meetings on this trip left the listeners kinda stunned and contemplating their spiritual state.  Praise the Lord for His work of conviction!    

On the way the way to the next village we stopped at our favorite thermal hot springs for a scalding hot shower! Boiling water comes right out of the ground and then splits into two waterfalls. It’s a great place to rest, and refocus.... and get burned if you're not careful :/  Everyone loved the experience and the recharge it brought.