Jungle Conference
The last several days were the most important days of the year as far as Bible teaching and spiritual encouragement go for the believers in our thirty river churches. It was intense… every hour was filled up with preaching and prayer and singing and feasting…. It was so good to be with the brothers who came from all the surrounding villages. Crowds of people listened to Bible teaching each day. Many children came to the kids meetings. The sick lined up at the medical clinic. There was lots of food, lots of rain, lots of mud, lots of singing and lots of joy.
Spiritual Battle
On the second day of the conference we had to work with two demon possessed youth. It was really tough and very strange…. Its a long story but These guys had been going in and out of consciousness for several months and it all started when someone paid a witch doctor who used blood and urine and smoke and skulls to put a spell on them. Please pray for “Esmiller and Enis” and for protection in the ongoing spiritual battle which seems to manifest itself a bit more in the jungle regions.
Helpful Brothers
On a more positive note, one of the brothers donated two cows to help feed the conference, so we really feasted. The physical food was tasty but the spiritual food was even better! Three Peruvian brothers taught from the scriptures for a combined 8 hours each day and it was extremely helpful and encouraging to everyone that attended.
The “gringos” that went with me were a tremendous help and blessing to everyone. Steve Price, Wes Brubaker and Peter Costello helped la enfermera Nancy set up a small medical clinic and attended to over 70 sick people. Jacob Blomquist and Kendal Underwood helped Sister Elizabet with the childrens meetings, music and grunt work. I’m so thankful for brothers like these that come with a servant heart.
Evangelism
Each evening I preached at the gospel meetings and on last night God did something special…. right from the beginning the Lord seemed to grip the heart of each person present…. As I babbled along with my less-than-perfect Spanish God was working on the conscience of numerous souls.
After pouring out my heart and explaining the gospel for about an hour several people came forward to publicly confess faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior….
Miracles happened….
The greatest miracle of them all! Several people were born again!
Well, God knows the hearts of men… but as far as i could tell… the small crowd that gathered around me was broken and repentant over sin while also amazed and shaken by grace. Many were trembling and in tears as they cried out to Jesus. The next day we baptized 10 new believers!
Prayer requests
*Please pray for these new believers to be steadfast and ever growing in their newfound faith.
*Pray for these thirty river churches to grow in the Lord and that they would have a positive impact for the gospel in their respective villages!
*Pray for good health. It’s easy to get intestinal parasites or Dengue fever in these regions.
*Pray for lasting fruit. There was plenty of good teaching heard and many souls are in the balance.
*Pray that the brothers and sisters would continue in their spiritual enthusiasm.
*Pray for perseverance as I’ve got another heavily loaded week of jungle ministry ahead of me.
Missions quote for the day by George Whitefield: “My heart is full of love for you, i would speak till i could speak no more so i could but bring you to Christ!”
Micah for the Tuttle’s
Construction Project
This week we’ve been working hard on remodeling our Bible chapel here in Tarapoto. A team lead by brother Steven Harrel from North Carolina has come to help us with the project and they’ve been a HUGE blessing! We are putting in 6 big columns and beams so that we can build a second story for extra classroom space. It’s been a hot sweaty and back-breaking job…. but everyone is surviving!
Three river trips and fifteen villages so far….
We’ve had kids meetings, open air meetings, church meetings, school meetings….. Maggots falling from the roof on Thom’s head as he taught. Fire ants in Cullens boots as he lead open air worship. Drunks mocking from afar as I preached….. Epic hikes, pouring rain, flooded rivers, steamy hot-springs, majestic waterfalls, towering mountains, lush rainforests….. Lots of mud, lots of mosquitoes, lots of heat, lots of sweat, lots of rice, lots of fish. Lots of help from the Lord!
An evangelistic encounter to remember
Every time I get into a taxi I try to share the gospel with the driver…. He’s a captive audience…. And you’re paying him… So he has to listen 🙂
Today when we jumped into a taxi I started with some normal small talk about the weather and then I asked the driver one of my favorite lead-in questions: “What church do you go to?”
As soon as I mentioned ‘church’ he shut down… didn’t really want to talk…. He tried really hard to avoid the subject…. But I gently kept pressing him.
Finally he replied: “I have no desire to go to church”
I said: “Oh, You don’t go to church? Why not?”
He said: “I used to go but I saw way too many hypocrites so I quit going… now I’m an agnostic.”
I cringed and said: “Man, I’m sorry about all the hypocrisy you’ve seen… You know, I’m actually here to encourage you to not go to church… in fact, I’d say that hypocritical Christians basically prove that God doesn’t exist…. forget agnosticism, you should be a full blown atheist.”
At this point our taxi driver totally changed and really started to open up… but in a way I hadn’t anticipated… He said: “Well, I wouldn’t go that far… I mean not all Christians are hypocrites. I’ve met some really amazing ones too.”
I replied: “Well, a few bad apples are enough to make the whole batch rotten… I still don’t think you should go to church and please don’t read the Bible… that book is absolutely full of stories about hypocrites!”
Now our driver was really skeptical of my advice and said: “I haven’t had too much interest in the Bible but now you’re actually making me want to read it, I don’t think it can be all that bad.” ….
He then proceeded to try to convince me that church IS a good place and we all should attend somewhere…
Then he launched into a story about how he had been deathly ill as a kid and how Jesus had healed him….. but over the years he had drifted away and has now arrived at this point of agnosticism.
I responded: “Wow, you were actually healed by Jesus and now, because of a few hypocrites at church you don’t even recognize Gods existence?”
At this point he kinda looked embarrassed….
I said: “Have you ever been to a gym and seen a few people there that looked fat and outa shape?”
He said: “Yes”
I replied: “What do those fatsos think they’re doing in that gym… what a bunch of hypocrites!”
He said: “Well, they’re trying to….” He paused and then as if a lightbulb went on…. He said: “Oh, I get it”…
I quickly showed him Romans 5:8 and then we finished up the ride with a great conversation about how Jesus died and rose again for hypocrites like all of us.
Please pray for Julio!
Missions quote of the day by Leonard Ravenhill: “There are two kinds of people in the world—only two kinds. Not black or white, rich or poor, but those either dead in sin or dead to sin.”
Micah for the Tuttles
YURIMAGUAS
For the last few days we’ve been in the town of Yurimaguas where I’m presently teaching Evangelism and Eschatology at a training program for young people. The students have been “all in” and it’s been really fun to invest in them. Aside from the six hours of classroom time each day we’ve been doing some evangelism in the afternoons, soccer in the evenings and group prayer in the early mornings. Please pray for as we continue our rigorous schedule through the rest of this week.
TARAPOTO
The present training program comes just a few days after having a fantastic mini-capacitation course for the river church leaders at our house in Tarapoto. Whily Cacho came in from Cajamarca and did the heavy lifting with most of the teaching load as he really challenged the students to carry out their leadership roles in a biblical and Christ centered way. There is a massive need for men that can serve and preach and teach and shepherd the flock in their local assemblies. Both last week and this week you could see the interest on the faces of the students. There’s nothing better than teaching men who really have a hunger for the Word!
TRUJILLO
A few weeks ago we did an exciting mini-missions trip to the coast where we began our ministry in Peru 25 years ago. Amy and I and the girls and our three Iowan disciples boarded a bus and traveled a total of 22 hours from the steamy hot jungles, over the Andes mountains and across the desert to the city of Trujillo. We had an awesome time attending a workers and elders conference there and it was fun to see precious brothers and sisters that we hadn’t seen for many years.
EVANGELISTIC ENCOUNTER
Near the end of our time in Trujillo we made a visit to the main square. Upon arrival a man came up to me and said: “Hey gringo, I haven’t seen you for about ten years…. You gonna preach?” I immediately recognized him… he was my main heckler and mocker when I used to preach here every Saturday.
I replied: “Hey! It’s my favorite mocker! I’ve thought about you and prayed for you many times over the years….. You a Christian yet?”
He said: “No, no, you Christians are all a bunch of hypocrites”
I said: “Man, I was really hoping that you were a free man by now…. As to hypocrites… Yes, at times we’re all pretty hypocritical…. It’s a good thing we look to Jesus as the author and perfecter of our faith and not to the church or a pastor or any other person.”
He said: “You gonna preach?”
I said: “No, not today I’m just gonna go share the love of Jesus with that homeless guy over there.”
As I walked toward the homeless guy my heckler friend mumbled: “Free? what’s that supposed to mean anyway?”
QUOTE FOR THE DAY: “I desire no other service but the service of God, laboring for souls on earth and doing His will in heaven. I wish for no other heaven on earth than preaching the precious gospel of Christ to immortal souls. There is nothing else in this world for which I would wish to live except that God might appoint me some work.” -Henry Martyn
Micah for the Tuttle’s
Upon arrival in Tarapoto Mya and I headed straight to the convención of river churches where I had the responsibility of preaching for 5 hrs a day for 5 days…. I preached my heart out and ended up exhausted but joyful, Tired but thrilled, Drained but full. This event is really the most important event of the year as far as pouring into the river churches goes. There were 500 brothers and sisters that showed up and the Lord did great things.
After the convention Amy and Ellia arrived in Tarapoto and they brought three young men with them… Jacob Bloomquist, Chase Gartin and Peter Costello. We are very excited to have these three guys with us in discipleship until May. We have a lot ahead us as we attempt great things for our great God. We’ve planned four river trips, one coastal trip and one mountain trip… in all that will be 30 mini missions trips to 30 different villages here in Peru. Without doubt there will be much adventure along the way!
We hope to spend a lot of time in prayer, bible study and physical exercise during these next few months…. Our book list will include Spiritual Disciplines by Donald Whitney, The Holy War by John Bunyan, Shadow of the Almighty by Elizabeth Elliot and the entire New Testament by God. Please pray for us!
Missions quote of the day by Leonard Ravenhill: “Oh that believers would become eternity-conscious! If we could live every moment of every day under the eye of God, if we did every act in the light of the judgment seat, if we sold every article in the light of the judgment seat, if we prayed every prayer in the light of the judgment seat, if we tithed all our possessions in the light of the judgment seat, if we preachers prepared every sermon with one eye on damned humanity and the other on the judgment seat—then we would have a Holy Ghost revival that would shake this earth and that, in no time at all, would liberate millions of precious souls.”
Micah for the Tuttle’s
Missions quote for the day by Leonard Ravenhill: “The gospel is not an old, old story freshly told. It is a fire in the Spirit, fed by the flame of Immortal Love and woe to us, if, through our negligence to stir up the gift of God which is within us, that fire burns low.”
Micah for the Tuttle’s
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
