I preface everything that I'm about to write with these words: "We are called to a person and not to a place." That person is our Lord Jesus Christ. The place may change but our God doesn't!

Several months ago I was preaching in an assembly and after the message a brother I didn't know came to me and said: "I feel like the Lord wants me to say to you that you should consider staying in North America for a few years to encourage the assemblies and try to stir up the younger generation to serve the Lord.".... When I heard this I thought to myself: "that's ridiculous, I'm going back to Peru." The next Sunday I preached again in another assembly and when I finished the message another brother came up and said the exact same thing. I thought: "Wow, that's what the guy said last week.... How strange"... The third Sunday it happened again! This brother repeated verbatim what the other two had said! On the fourth Sunday, when I finished up preaching, I was on the look-out for whoever it might be with this same message and sure enough an un-known brother approached me and said: "I feel like the Lord wants me to say to you that you should consider staying in North America for a few years to encourage the assemblies and try to stir up the younger generation to serve the Lord." ..... I just sat down and wanted to cry.... "All I want do is to go back to Peru, Lord!"

As we have traveled around North America we have seen a major need to reach a younger generation that is quickly disappearing from churches everywhere. There is also a major need to motivate and inspire churches in the areas of evangelism and missions. In the last few months the Lord has really opened up doors for us to do those things. God's leading has become even more evident as Emmaus Correspondence School has asked us if we would partner with them in trying to equip the next generation for evangelism and missions! We have a lot of brainstorming to do and we aren't sure what all the details will look like, but we are excited about the many possibilities. The primary vision is to train and equip young people for service by offering in-depth Bible study and training with application to daily life. There would also be practical opportunities to do evangelism and participate in extended missions trips. We have talked with our elders about all this and we feel the confirmation from them and from the Lord to go ahead with these ideas for the future. In the last two months things have really become more concrete and we feel like its time to start talking about this."

It has been exciting to see what the Lord has done over the last seventeen years in Peru. We have been able to share the gospel with thousands of people and help start a few churches and Bible institutes. The assembly in Tarapoto is growing and doing well with Peruvian leadership. The Bible institute in town (IBEM Selva) is doing well and under the leadership of Jesse and Janel Mattix. The village churches along the Huallaga river are thriving under their own leadership. The goal of missions is to make Christ's name great as you do evangelism, discipleship and church planting .... and then you hand the work off to the nationals and start all over somewhere else. We have arrived at that "start all over somewhere else" part.

"I love Peru, I miss Peru... It hurts to type this... I feel like my heart is being torn out... but, we have decided to transition into a different focus of ministry. We will continue to be missionaries supported through CMML but based in the USA while making frequent trips to Peru. Once all the details have been worked out my role will include itinerant preaching, teaching, evangelism and leading young people on extended missions trips to Peru that would enable students to see the work there in Tarapoto and along the river where the Lord has done great things. On these trips the students would be studying the bible and reading missionary biography's as they rub shoulders with missionaries and believers in a jungle context. Hopefully this would be an eye-opening and life-changing experience as they come away with something to inspire them with a vision of how God could use them in the future. Please be praying about all this! My heart aches to be in Peru but it's burning to be at the center of Gods will. It is a huge transition and very difficult for me but the Lord is doing it, so we go forward with much anticipation and excitement!