While in Peru for the month of January I was able to preach and teach all over the place. I taught at the annual "Capacitation Biblica" in Trujillo and then after that there were several meetings in Cajamarca, Tarapoto and Yurimaguas. We visited many villages along the way doing lots of evangelism and encouraging the saints. Toward the end of the trip I had several meetings in Lima and then even preached in Miami Fl where I spent a weekend with the saints at Boulevard Bible Chapel. In all I preached 43 times in 12 different cities in 31 days. The Lord was gracious and gave me endurance all the way to the end of the marathon!

In our last blog post I wrote about how I traveled from the the coast of Peru to the mountains to the jungle and as I went I was able to pick up several men that accompanied me along the way. I've always taken groups of guys along on my trips but this time I was more intentional about focusing on these individuals more than on the masses. Prayer, Bible reading and worship were central to everything we did. It was amazing to see the contagious enthusiasm for discipleship as we went from place to place. One guy even quit his job to come with us! After all twelve seats in our van were taken I didn't have room for any more passengers but I did develop a long list of names of guys that were practically begging to be included in the discipleship group next time I do this! It was probably one of the most effective things I've ever done in ministry as I gave them all varying responsibilities and multiple opportunities to preach and lead and serve in the different communities that we visited. We traveled about 3000 miles in all and everywhere we went the saints would give their chickens, ginny-pigs, wild-boar meat and whatever else they had to feed us with a royal feast. News would somehow spread (without cellphones and internet) that we had arrived and people came from all over the place to listen as we held gospel meetings. Kids came out of the woodwork for children's meetings and the brothers and sisters quit everything to soak in all the bible teaching that they could get in our short visits.


About halfway through my adventures Amy left the kids with her mom in Dubuque, hopped on a plane and came to join me in Tarapoto. There are many stories we could share about Amy's visit but the following story was the biggest highlight: While flying from Lima, Amy struck up a friendly conversation with the young woman sitting next to her. The woman said that she was from a village in the area but that she now lives in Lima and was coming to see if she could get custody of her four year old son whom she hadn’t seen in about a year. Immediately Amy saw the pain, the darkness, and disconnection. Amy gently dealt with the sorrow and confusion that this woman was feeling and guided the conversation to the only One that gives peace in the midst of the storm. They ended up having a great talk about Christ and the restoration that He can bring. Near the end of the flight the woman said that she was from a village along the Huallaga river called “Achinamisa” and that she had a sister who belonged to the church there. Amy said “Wow, my husband Miqueas visits that church all the time!” The young woman was incredulous! She said: “Miqueas?!” “My sister named her son Miqueas after their missionary friend who preaches in all the villages! Amy looked at her new friend and said: “Thats my husband! and it’s not by random chance that we are sitting together on this airplane. This is a divine appointment, preordained by God so that we might talk about your greatest need at this difficult time in your life.” Please pray for AnaMaria who is now meeting with some of the sisters in the Tarapoto assembly!


I write all this as I sit stranded, because of a snow storm, in the Moline Illinois airport. I'm reflecting on an incredible month of ministry and at the same time I'm anxious to see my family, hopefully within just a few hours. I've never been away from my kids for this long. My heart aches for them. My real disciples! I've always known that but.... it just hit me like a ton of bricks.... Amy and the kids are my, real, life-long, most precious disciples! All the things in ministry that I might be able to accomplish don't matter if I fail with my family. You can get thousands of converts and plant dozens of churches, start multiple bible institutes and preach your heart out everywhere you go... but if you haven't made disciples at home you've missed the whole point. It's time to go home and do my real job!


Quote of the day by D.L Moody "I believe that the family was established long before the church and my duty is to my family first. I am not to neglect my family!"

Micah for the Tuttle's