Missions quote for the day by Jim Elliot: "Father, make of me a crisis man. Bring those that I come into contact with to decision. Let me not be a milepost on a single road, rather, make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another as they face Christ in me."

Friday, January 25
This morning Nate Bramsen and I headed into the jungle accompanied by a team of eight Peruvians. As we navigated the muddy waters of the Huallaga river we cruised through a torrential downpour and then into a furnace of thick humidity. This river cuts through the eastern-most finger of the Andes mountains in the north of Peru and then flows into the lower Amazon basin. Breathtaking scenery! Brings back so many memories of the numerous river trips I've done here in the past 10 years. This never gets old! Along the way it was as if God unfolded a stunning canvas of His art-work with rainbow’s, waterfalls and vibrantly green foliage covering mountains that were shrouded in fog. All of creation screams of our God’s greatness! At about 3 pm we finally arrived in the port of one of my favorite villages, “Achinamisa”. Immediately we were greeted by a crowd of excited brothers and sisters. Wow! I’ve really missed these precious souls! There was plenty of joyful backslapping, vigorous handshakes and bone crushing hugs. It’s so good to be back! Before we knew it we were having a children’s meeting in the church building and then shortly after that an open air meeting in the main square. First day translating for Nate! Its fun to preach with someone that shares the same passion and urgency! This week is going to be a real blast!


Saturday, January 26
Last night I was awakened by a rat that ran right across my chest…. Didn't sleep very well after that! From here on out I’m setting up my tent! We began the day in prayer, bible and singing with our team that I’m calling: “the tremendous ten”. Elizabeth and Nancy are awesome with the kids. Our twenty-year-old youths, Dino, Eber, Roger and Jhon are eager to help with anything and everything! Lucho and Yuri are tending to the boat and do all the heavy lifting while Nate and I are preaching our hearts out three times a day. We need to be careful to not lose our voices at the beginning of this trip. It’s hard to hold back when you see lost and desperate souls sitting all around the main square hanging on every word of the message being preached. Both last night’s and tonight’s open air’s have been powerful! Listeners left stunned. Today was the first of seven full days doing the following schedule: Team prayer, Breakfast, Children’s meeting, Lunch, Children’s meeting, Dinner, Open air meeting, Personal prayer, Sleep.


Sunday, January 27
Great to have the Lords supper with the brethren here! The fruit of the vine is hard to come by in these parts, no grape-juice or wine to be found in this village so we used coconut water. God sees the heart! ….. After the church meeting we continued with our program and gathered the, more or less, 60 kids that we've been working with each day and we did one last VBS meeting for Achinamisa. Nate has been tremendous with these precious little children! It seems like he’s always got about 4 or 5 kids hanging all over him….. As we slowly motored the boat out of the port I yelled out to everyone on the riverbank a quick reminder from Revelation 22 that Jesus is coming quickly. I kept preaching it from the prow until we were out of earshot and then i flung myself into the river…. just don't want to leave this village! When the boat turned around to pick me up we went on to the thermal hot springs down river. Boiling hot water comes right out of the ground and then splits into two waterfalls. Great place to rest, recharge and refocus! When we arrived in the next village of Yarina, we immediately rounded up about 70 kids for an unforgettable “horita feliz”. So many special little souls! Tonight people crowded around to hear as Nate and I preached our hearts out. Now my head is throbbing and my vocal cords are raw but my heart is bursting with joy. It doesn't get any better than this!


Monday, January 28
At our team devotional this morning a demon possessed woman came into the room, fixed her eyes directly on me and took from her bag what looked like an animal fetus and waved it all around my face while murmuring unintelligible things and then she finally left. Very spooky! God is my rock and my fortress, my shield and my strong tower! We prayed! Torrential downpour all morning! When the rain let up we said our goodbyes, jumped into the boat and headed to the next village “Leche”. After installing our camp on the boarded up second story of a brother’s house we went around inviting all the kids to come out to the VBS. Its amazing how kids eagerly come out of the woodwork in all these villages! We had a great meeting! After a scrumptious meal of Yucca root and Cacao we went on to do the evening open air. The adults here aren't as eager as the kids are…. Not too many people showed up to sit on the benches that we put out, they preferred to hide themselves and listen from the shadows. All the same, we preached with every bit of urgency that we could muster.


Tuesday, January 29
Last night the river rose about 10 feet! Lucho and Yuri had to wade in chest high water for about a kilometer to get out to where we had tied up the boat yesterday! This is actually great news. The more water the better! The tributary we had to take is usually only about knee deep but with all this extra water we cruised all the way to Santa Rosillo with no problems. What’s usually a difficult ten hour hike turned into an easy two hour boat ride! Thanking the Lord!…… Upon arrival our team scattered throughout the village and invited all the kids for our usual meetings. When the kids descended upon the church building, the whole team sprang into action. Nancy and Elizabeth gave the lesson, Lucho taught the memory verse, Dino, Eber, Jhon and Roger lead the small groups and when they all came together again I translated for Nate who gave his, as usual, very dynamic message. The kids loved every minute of it!


Wednesday, January 30
Today we ate Powfil (jungle turkey) for breakfast, we had anyuje (a large jungle rat) for lunch, and we enjoyed Sajino (wild bore) for dinner. In addition to our usual schedule of children’s meetings and open air preaching we also did some hut to hut evangelism today. After everyone had some good conversations I wrapped things up by preaching on the towns loudspeaker. At the afternoon VBS Brother Roger organized an epic tug of war battle for the kids. It was loads of fun for everyone! After a great time with the kids I was able to escape for a prayer walk down my favorite jungle trail with the Lord. Golden moments alone with my Savior! The open air meeting tonight was especially powerful as Nate preached about trusting God in the midst of difficult circumstances. Wrapped up the day with a midnight swim in the river and gazing at a billion stars overhead while flashes of lighting lit up the sky on the distant horizon. Spectacular!


Thursday, January 31
We’ve picked up another team member, brother Milton from Santa Rosillo is coming with us to preach in the last two villages. As our boat pulled away from the crowd on the riverbank, Milton’s dog decided to followed us! He swam behind us dodging logs and rocks. When he came to exposed sand bars he would run along them and then dive into the water again. Nothing could stop that dog from following his master. What a spiritual lesson! Everyone was yelling at him to turn back but he would not be deterred! …. The river is way down. Couldn't use the motor so we had to float most of it, pushing our way through with a long stick (tangana). Along the way we got stuck a few times on sandbars. Each time several of the guys had to jump out and push. This is the life! When we arrived in San Jose they were smoking wild boar guts over a smoldering fire…. I might fast tonight :) ….. After exchanging hugs and greetings our team sprang into action and we held our usual children’s meeting followed by preaching the gospel to everyone who would come to the open air. It’s amazing how people can be so hardhearted so as to not respond to Nate’s convicting messages. Just a reminder to me; “You respond Micah, you respond!”


Friday, February 1
Didn't sleep much because of the all-night drunken party and pounding music across the street. It was a good opportunity to pray and learn patience. After stumbling out of our tents and having a good devotional time we enjoyed a breakfast of champions: Mashed plantains that had been cooked in pig lard accompanied by one inch thick bacon slices and corn chicha. Delicious! …… It’s Bria’s Birthday today! I called her from the satellite phone in town. She is becoming such precious and virtuous woman of God! She said it was -30F in Dubuque IA! It’s +90F here. After the VBS we jumped in the boat and motored our way down the Chipurana river and then up a portion of the Huallaga and finally after about four hours we arrive in the village of Huimbayoc where we went for it again. This doesn't get old! Precious kids. Precious souls. Tonight we preached our last open air message and we tried to leave it all out there, didn't hold anything back! Finished with head pounding, throat aching, chest heaving. “Lord, please use these messages to spark revival in the land!”


Saturday, February 2
Woke up with strained vocal cords, small price to pay if Christ can be preached! We said our goodbye’s and then we began our long boat ride up river toward civilization. As we cruised along we ate smoked pork, plantains and rice which had been wrapped in banana leaves and sent with us for easy transportation. Sitting here in the boat I reflect on some of the things that God has used Nate to teach/re-teach me this week:

1. Don’t waste the difficult circumstances that God puts into your life. Turn them into opportunities, and find joy in the midst of the storm.
2. You’ve got to leave the work in God’s hands. He saves souls you don’t. He brings them to maturity in Christ you don’t.
3. Make disciples! Invest in faithful, available, teachable young guys that can carry on with the work. Life on life, live with them, give them an example but also give them an opportunity.
4. Focus on kids! Children are sponges. They are the future. They want your attention. They want your touch. You have a chance to impact a life that hasn’t rejected God yet.
5. Love people. Christianity is not only taught it’s caught. People see your love or lack of it.


Micah for the Tuttle's