Thursday December 17
Twenty-five believers and I piled into the boat and we sped down the turbulent waters of the Huallaga river toward the village of Yarina. When we arrived at about nightfall we were greeted by the excited shouts of brothers and sisters that lined the shore. After lots of back-slapping and hugs and kisses we made our way to the humble homes of the Yarina brethren that would give us a place to "set up camp" for the next few nights. Precious Christians had arrived from the surrounding villages to worship the Lord, study, evangelize and encourage one another. After the evening meeting one could hear singing, prayer and out-loud bible reading late into the night from many different houses around Yarina.

Friday December 18
The highlight for me on this day was that I was awakened at 4:30 a.m to the open-air, loudspeaker preaching of a young man that I was able to bring to the Lord several years ago. I struggled between being annoyed at this unexpected alarm clock and at the same time being overjoyed at hearing the gospel preached by this fervent disciple that has matured greatly in the Lord. About three years ago I saw that this brother (Jin Hedo) was really growing and that he was serious about preaching the gospel, but was having a hard time supporting his family, so I bought him some shoe making tools and a machine to help him in his trade as a shoe cobbler. Now he is a self supporting preacher doing very well in the shoe manufacturing business and more importantly he has been very faithful to the Lord and to his family while courageously preaching the gospel all over the region. Please pray for this brother who was a tremendous help and encouragement at the convention. Praise the Lord for His transforming power!


Saturday December 19
The basic schedule for each day went like this:
6:30 Morning devotional with all 350 brethren.
7:30 Breakfast (fish and boiled plantains)
8:30 Teaching session #1 "The priesthood of every believer"
10:30 Teaching session #2 "What the bible teaches about music"
12:30 Lunch (smoked jungle rat and rice)
1:30 Play soccer
2:30 Jump in the river
3:30 Teaching session #3 "The priesthood of every believer"
5:00 Teaching session #4 "What the Bible teaches about music"
6:30 Dinner (Chicken and fermented corn juice)
7:30 Open air gospel meeting
10:30 Meeting with the assembly leaders to coordinate this coming years plans and to deal with a few church problems.
12:30 Bed time!


Sunday December 20
After the morning devotional we had a precious time celebrating the Lord's supper with all the brethren. There's nothing better than coming together with Gods people to remember the Lord in His death burial and resurrection! From there we went out into the street where I preached in the rain for about an hour before going down to the river to baptize 6 new believers. As the convention came to an end there were lots of handshakes and good-byes and kind words of encouragement. Some headed off on foot, others went their way rowing their canoes and still others left maneuvering their peke peke motors up river. All were full of joy and rejoicing in the Lord. We thank the Lord for such a time of great blessing with the river churches in this area of the jungles of Peru!


Missions quote for the day by Martin Luther: "I'll preach Christ as if He had been crucified yesterday, risen today and coming again tomorrow."

Micah for the Tuttle's