The adrenaline was flowing and my heart was pounding as I crept closer and closer to a herd of elk that was led by a huge 6x6 bull. I had never been this close to a bull that big!! I had been bugling back and forth with him for about an hour. It got to the point where he was absolutely screaming at me. They were coming down one side of the canyon as I came down the other. Every time I moved I made sure that there was sufficient cover and that none of the elk could possibly see me. I worked hard to get close. When I got within 50 yards (bow-shot range) I could see that they were going to file up a game trail just ahead of me. I thought I would maneuver one last time to get into a better position for the shot.... I decided to go for it.... but as soon as I moved, the lead cow spotted me. Huge eyes! Ears turned back! She snorted and let out a loud warning call and then the whole herd crashed out the other way. The bull threw his antlers back and charged after the herd. When they got about 500 yards away he looked back toward me and let out several long and mocking bugles. Then they were gone..... It felt symbolic. Peru is gone. The dreams and aspirations are gone. I got so close! I worked so hard.... I'm kicking myself... I know, I know, I just have to let it go.

While on that four day elk hunting trip in the wilderness of eastern Oregon I was able to get alone with God, throw rocks at heaven and cry out to Him.... This change hurts! The loss is gut-wrenching! .... I finally gave in.... I didn't get an elk but I got something much better... a renewed vision. It's been a difficult yet exciting month. There have been a lot of mixed feelings. On one hand I've felt like we've lost huge parts of our life (our older sons to college and Peru to the USA). On the other hand we've gained so much (a great team in Dubuque Iowa and amazing ministry opportunities). My heart has been torn with the idea of breaking away from the work in the jungles of Peru..... But, it's exciting to look to the future and see what God has for us in North America.

If you were supporting us because you wanted to support the work that was done in Peru you should stop now. Please support Jesse and Janel Mattix who are doing a great job in Tarapoto. We will still be full time missionaries and if you feel so led you can still support us through CMML, but we will now be based in the USA. Our mission field will primarily be North America but will also include visits to Peru and other countries as the Lord opens doors. We are trusting the Lord for His provision as we continue to preach the gospel in a full time capacity. Our home base will be Dubuque Iowa so that we can work alongside (not for) Emmaus International in hopes of starting a discipleship program there. Our prayer is that we can have a part in setting hearts on fire for God and that young people would be inspired to go forward with evangelism, discipleship, church planting and missions. We have been doing a lot of planning toward this end and our calendar is starting to come together. Basically, I will be doing a lot of itinerant preaching as we work together with our team toward developing a discipleship summer-school. Hopefully we can be a part of starting a contagious movement that spreads like wildfire as it invests in a younger generation.

So far our schedule looks like this:

October: Preaching in Des moines, Ankeny and Guttenburg Iowa.
November: Teaching at two conferences in the San Fransisco bay area.
December: Peru trip, preaching at the convention of river churches!!!!
January: Peru trip continued, teaching at a capacitation course in Trujillo
February: Peru trip continued, teaching at a capacitation course in Yurimaguas
March: Teaching at a "Spark" conference in NJ and then another conference in KC.
April: Preaching at a conference in Dubuque Iowa
May: Teaching in Bogota Colombia
June: 12 week discipleship summer-course begins!
July: Course continues as I escape for a week of ministry at a south Florida camp
August: The last six weeks of the course will involve an intense missions trip to Peru
September: Preaching at Camp Hope in Dahlonega Georgia
October: Teaching at a CMML conference in Augusta Georgia.

That's the basic idea for the next 13 months. Some things could change and there are a lot of other details that will fill out the calendar but that's the rough idea. Please pray! If God isn't at the center of all this our efforts will be in vain. We are really praying that God would spark revival as He works in the hearts of His people across the country. In Luke 24, Jesus shared with the disciples on the road to Emmaus the things concerning Himself. The disciples eyes were opened and their hearts burned with passion for their Savior. This is our hope for all who study with us! We want to see eyes opened and hearts on fire in churches everywhere. With that in view we have planned a few events that we are calling "Spark Conferences". The first one will be on November 17-19 in the San Fransisco Bay area where we hope to have inspiring times of prayer, worship and bible teaching. Please watch the following video and pray for this event.




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

Micah for the Tuttle's