Update #4

Hola amigos!

Thanks for your continued prayers and thoughts of us. Today, we are sending an update on some of the things that have been going on the past couples of days.

Tomorrow morning we leave for Apawas, a small, rural community where a church plant from P.Gomez’s church resides. P.Gomez refers to this trip as Mission Extreme! We will be leaving at 2:45 AM, traveling to Managua with six other companions from Mount Olives Church. We will then catch at 4:00 AM bus to another bus station couple cities down. We will then take a bus that leaves at 9:00 AM headed towards San Pedro. After purchasing a few much needed supplies, all sixteen of us will hop into a boat for a 3-4 hour ride to Apawas. We are hoping to arrive at our destination by 6:00 PM, but as we have realized in our other travels here, ETAs (estimated times of arrival) are very, VERY flexible.

Amidst our preparations for Apawas, God has taught our team a very valuable lesson. We’ve actually been running into a lot of difficulties getting everything worked out for our trip—problems securing transportation to San Pedro, inability to get in contact with P.Robin (the pastor of the church in Apawas), possible inclement weather conditions, etc. P.Gomez last night sat us down to give us an update on the plans. He was sharing that he would feel terrible if he had done something late or incorrectly that was the cause of many of these conflicts, but he expressed that he had done everything on time for this trip, and yet they are experiencing these issues. With sincerity and humility, P.Gomez was wondering if perhaps this trip wasn’t God’s will. He was wondering if God had other plans for us. Therefore, instead of trying to run ourselves ragged trying to find other ways to get to Apawas, he called the church pastors, elders, deacons, as well as the Mission Extreme team to a time of prayer and fasting. So we did.

Last night, reminded by Isaiah 62:6, our team placed watchmen on towers all night, seeking the Lord. Taking one hour shifts, the team lifted up prayers, not necessarily asking the Lord to send us to Apawas, but rather asking the Lord to reveal His will to us so that we can be obedient. Praying all night, we gathered together with the others this morning to pray. One of the brothers who will be leading the team, Brother Sergio, shared some great news. He was able to get a hold of P.Robin this morning at 7 AM—the very same hour we ended our all night prayer—and that all the plans have been set for us to go. I think all of us we were ready to accept whatever God had planned for us. And by His grace, we are able to go and visit our brothers and sisters in Apawas. Gloria a Dios!

It is times like this that we are reminded of Proverbs 16:9 – The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. We have learned that no matter how good our plans may be, that unless they are the plans of God, nothing can happen. We pray that all of you can learn and apply this lesson in your personally lives.

We will update you again with many stories and testimonies from Apawas. In the meantime, please keep in prayer the following topics:

1. Pray for traveling mercies (as you can tell from the details above)
2. Pray for health and protection. The conditions in Apawas are a bit rougher than it is here in El Crucero. Especially with water, we must be very careful with what we are exposed to.
3. Pray for Pastor Gomez. Last night, before prayer meeting, P.Gomez had spent about two hours in the hospital. He had eaten a soup for lunch that had shrimp in it. He is severely allergic to shrimp. By midday, his face started to swell up. His wife called an ambulance and had him taken to the hospital. The doctor said had he been 30 minutes late, the results could have been fatal. With much gratitude and praise for His grace and mercy, P.Gomez led us in a passionate time of prayer. We ask that our brothers and sisters raise up watchtowers of prayer of P.Gomez and his ministry here.