26 Below Youth Conference
After preaching last Saturday night I was totally exhausted, so I tried to escape back to our cabin to get some sleep. As I left the lodge and began to go through the dark and frozen woods I came upon a young man who was kneeling in the snow and fervently crying out to God in prayer..... I stopped dead in my tracks and thought: "How can you sleep at a time like this?".... I turned around, left the young man alone with God, and joined one of the many small prayer groups that had started in different places around the lodge. The Lord seemed to really work in the lives of many young people last weekend as I preached on the theme: "Don't waste your life". The leaders and organizers and music team were all useful instruments in our great God's hands. He is doing something special in many places and it is exciting to be a part of it. Last week I was able to preach nine times in six days. The bulk of that was done in the aforementioned youth conference at "Hidden Acres" Bible camp in Dayton Iowa. Despite difficult driving conditions more than 200 campers showed up for the CMML sponsored event. Believers came from all over the place such as: Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Kansas and even Texas! We thank God for this powerful time and that He was glorified. Please pray that the Lord would continue to work in the lives of those who went to this event.

Blizzard
Driving up to the camp we had an exciting and adventurous blizzard experience! We left Dubuque Iowa at 9:30 pm right after speaking at Student Missionary Fellowship and we headed toward Dayton. What should have been a three hour drive turned into nearly six. In the middle of our journey the storm hit us with nickel sized hail that made me wonder if it was going to break through the windshield! After about 2" of hail built up on the highway, the rocks finally turned into flakes. Intense lightening lit our way through several white-out moments..... it was awesome!!! Nothing at all like jungle travel :) We were driving in a tiny rear wheel drive rental car. It was probably the worst car possible for snow travel and we had no chains! We were spinning and sliding quite a bit with very little visibility as I had to hold the pedal to the metal in many places just to just keep from getting stuck. We arrived near 3 a.m. and it was a real miracle that we somehow didn't get stranded out there. We thank the Lord for helping us to get through the storm safely.

30 days of evangelism
I have had an amazing start to my "30 days of evangelism" commitment. My favorite story so far happened on day two and goes like this..... Brother Diego and I went to the bus station where we went bonkers giving out tracts and speaking to everything that moved with reckless abandon. We were constantly teaming up and handing off and then spreading out. At one point I gave a tract to a young man named Jose, who said he was waiting for a bus to go and visit his two children who live with his ex. I talked with him about God's law, our sinfulness, God’s righteousness and the judgment to come. He listened intently..... After about 10 minutes he burst into tears and began to sob uncontrollably. I asked him what he was going through and if I could help in some way. Through sobs and many tears he said: “No, it’s that I just decided yesterday that I’m turning my back on God…. I decided that I’m going to be an atheist….. and now you’ve come to tell me about God’s love for me and warn me of the coming judgment…. I don’t think that this conversation was by chance." ..... I shared from Isaiah 55 “Seek the Lord while he may be found…” His bus came and as he got on I was able to take him by the shoulders and say: “I’ll never see you again.... God made this conversation happen. It was a divine appointment…. Don’t take it lightly…. Run to Christ, He's your only hope… Read the bible… Read that tract I gave you…. look for a church that teaches the Bible…. Look for some solid Christians.” .... He got on the bus, clutching his tract and literally sobbing as we parted ways. Please Pray for Jose.

Bible Institute
This Monday (March 6th) a new school year of IBEM SELVA institute classes will begin in our house in Tarapoto. The Bible institute that we started last year is continuing under the leadership and guidance of Jesse and Janel Mattix. The team working alongside them will involve Dahly Alday (Peruvian), Sarah Leavitt (American) and Aaron Campbell (American). Please pray for them and the new group of students that will be engaging in intense study and ministry for the next seven months. They will kick things off with a two week course on Old Testament Survey..... Oh, how I wish I was there!!! The following is a picture from last year at about this time on the first day of IBEM SELVA.


Missions quote for the day by C.H Spurgeon: "Jesus DIED for sinners, cannot we LIVE for them?"

Micah for the Tuttle's