River Trip Prayer Requests!

I wanted to share with anybody interested about this awesome opportunity I have to go out to a River village next week to serve alongside some YWAM Iquitos women! I was originally just going to send this as an email to my group of prayer partners that I update weekly-ish, but I feel that this specific week will need a lot of spiritual covering and blessing. Please join me in prayer for this trip, and let me know if you'd like to receive weekly updates like this to pray for my ministry daily!

Hey everyone,

More details about my upcoming river trip: We leave on Monday! I can’t even say bright and early, because we’re probably leaving before the bright and early even starts… The lancha (public transport on the river, usually a two level boat) leaves at 7AM, we will want to get there at about 6:30 to get situated with all our supplies and things, and it’s a 1.5 hour trip to Nauta, the port city, from the base in Iquitos, without counting the loading up supplies and other transportation, etc. So like I said, we will be leaving before the bright and early J. From Nauta, it’s about a 10 hour trip up the Rio (river) Marañon, a channel off of the Amazon, and that’s not including any stops we’ll be making along the way to drop off other passengers and such. It will be a very long day of travel, and the same on the way home.

Once there, the plan is to do some kids’ programs, church services, possibly a program for youth/teens if there are more than a couple teenagers, door-to-door evangelism (which may be more like spending a few hours per family just getting to know them by doing daily activities with them like cooking or farming – this is a much easier way to share the gospel with Latino culture because they are all about relationship rather than information), and I’ve asked Lety, the leader of our trip, if I could possibly do a human trafficking presentation, and she said that would be great! I was already excited about the trip since Becky told us that she’d like to go as well, because it seems like such a great opportunity to serve together as a team and bond through a ministry that is not directly our own. With the 3 of us, (Becky, Raegan, and myself) I think we can use all the help we can get to form a solid friendship before our actual ministry takes off, to see how we each function in ministry without the pressure of it being our own women’s ministry. I hope that makes sense in words formed outside of my head… But I’m even more excited because I’m not just going to support Lety and her desire to serve in the river communities, but making it a little more personal by sharing about human trafficking for the first time in one of the jungle villages! I’m also praying that this will be the first of many opportunities like this since raising awareness about the issue is one of the best ways to prevent it from happening.

I’d like to really ask for more serious prayer for this upcoming week on the river. I’ve been sick the last few days with a pretty intense cold, and it’s wiped out all of my energy. I am praying and declaring that I’ll be healed and refreshed by the time we head out on Monday, because the river is physically straining regardless of the ministry we’re doing. It’s hotter, there’s no electricity or running water, and the Spanish will be constant instead of just sometimes like it is here in the city, which gets to be very tiring. I’d also like to remind you guys that I’m not on any medication to prevent malaria, which is not as much of an issue here in the city, but definitely a possibility out in the jungle villages. But we have a God who is more powerful than sickness, and I am trusting that you will all be joining me in daily prayer for our team’s health and physical safety!

I also ask that you be praying for the spiritual atmosphere of the village as often as you remember; that the people we are there to serve would see something different in our hearts and be drawn towards Jesus. That if it gets difficult or frustrating, that we would still have the patience and love for each other to work through issues or get over our own pride and be able to work effectively together. That the people would have open eyes, ears, and hearts to receive everything God is wanting to share with them through us. That this would be a trip that leads to a village full of God’s continual love, that they don’t have to depend on foreigners to come in to feel a sense of the Lord’s presence – this is common with villages around here, that they fall away from their walk with God until another evangelist group comes in to “fill” them again. And that overall we would have fun and enjoy the untouched beauty of this far away Amazon community!

I hope you’re all excited along with me, and I thank you so much for being a part of my team of prayer warriors! This is such an important part of supporting me and supporting God’s work here in Iquitos, and your prayers make such a difference. From Monday till Sunday, I won’t have any phone or internet access, so I will let everyone know when I’ve arrived safely home! 

Ciao!