Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”
Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.”
Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.”
Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by.
Zechariah 3:1-5
The other day at staff worship we spent some time reading and meditating on these verses. One of the staff members shared with us a picture that came to his mind as he was praying. The Lord gave him a vision of all of us scattered along the street where we go to hand out milk and sandwiches on Tuesdays & Fridays. We were all in conversation with different youth that we know and, unbeknownst to us, right there on the streets, their clothes were being lifted off of them and exchanged for new, clean garments. No one moved, no one noticed, but it was happening. Christ was there in that dark place moving, changing, rebuking, claiming, and renewing. But we didn’t realize it.
My heart was touched and challenged in two ways specifically:
1. Our Lord & Savior is moving among the youth of Lima. The filthy & old are being exchanged for the clean and new. The one who accuses must be rebuked because these youth, just like all of us, are burning sticks being snatched from the fire.
2. We, as a staff, and myself in particular, need to continue to open ourselves up to allow Jesus deeply in to the center of my life, self & ministry—to open my eyes and my heart to become acutely aware of His constant presence among us.
Please pray for our staff community as we seek the Lord’s heart in the ministry here and for the youth we have all come to love so deeply:
Anna, Luisa, Jose Luis, Sebastian, Samuel, Esther, David, Craig, Rachel, Brian, Sarah and myself.
so much love to you…
Friday, April 21, 2006
Elections: Round 2
A quick and probably incomplete review of the elections situation (when there are 24 presidential candidates its even confusing for the Peruvians):
Background Note: Everyone over 18 in Peru HAS to vote or else they pay a pretty hefty fine.
Top Three Candidates
Lourdes: A strong female candidate. Known to run in wealthy & political circles. Focus on improving education and healthcare as a means for curbing some of the economic and social difficulties that the country is facing. Very popular in Lima but not as much in the provinces. Some of the poorer communities are afraid she will have a presidency like so many others spent pleasing the few wealthy and ignoring the pleas of the poor majority. Others just aren’t ready to elect a female.
Garcia: Ex-President of Peru. 2 presidents ago, Garcia started out strong. Economy was doing well, things were relatively peaceful, people were happy—or at least they thought—and then they discovered it was a false prosperity & happiness as it turns out that his presidency was marked with corruption and printing money. Moral of the story: printing money never solves your problems. Garcia learned this the hard way as his term ushered in an incredibly scary era of terrorism & guerilla warfare. So why is this man running for president again (and in the top three)? He says he has changed, he says he knows better now, and he is an incredible speaker. His target generation is the youth (who HAVE to vote whether they are informed or not) and he is doing a good job of getting their votes. He also is getting a lot of the “No way do I want Peru to go way left with Ollanta but I don’t want a woman president either” votes.
Ollanta: The most leftist of our candidates, while not as extreme as Hugo Chavez of Venezuela or Evo Morales of Bolivia, he does fall in that camp. He talks of rewriting the constitution and changing trade agreements with the States, both potentially wonderful and potentially dangerous moves. He is known as the advocate of the indigenous and more impoverished people of Peru. He is also quite militaristic with a bit of a violent history. Very popular in the provinces, not as much in Lima as many are afraid of a violent militaristic regime that may come as a result of his inexperience in political circles.
Most of the people I know, even though not wealthy by any means, voted for Lourdes and now that it looks like she is out are talking about voting for Garcia in the second round just because they don’t want Ollanta, not because they want Garcia. Some people I know voted for Garcia, again not because they like him, but because they think he has a better chance of beating Ollanta in the second round. But the word from the provinces (excluding Arequipa—I don’t remember exactly what happened but something about Ollanta making a nasty comment about Arequipeños so he’s not the fave out there either) is that Ollanta is the popular vote. Its very interesting how different the city and the rural mentality is in all of this.
Alright so that is not exactly well researched information but it is what I have picked up from being here during all this so yah, there you have it. We will be going into second round voting in the middle of May so please continue to pray for Peru and South America during this critical time.
love to the people!
Background Note: Everyone over 18 in Peru HAS to vote or else they pay a pretty hefty fine.
Top Three Candidates
Lourdes: A strong female candidate. Known to run in wealthy & political circles. Focus on improving education and healthcare as a means for curbing some of the economic and social difficulties that the country is facing. Very popular in Lima but not as much in the provinces. Some of the poorer communities are afraid she will have a presidency like so many others spent pleasing the few wealthy and ignoring the pleas of the poor majority. Others just aren’t ready to elect a female.
Garcia: Ex-President of Peru. 2 presidents ago, Garcia started out strong. Economy was doing well, things were relatively peaceful, people were happy—or at least they thought—and then they discovered it was a false prosperity & happiness as it turns out that his presidency was marked with corruption and printing money. Moral of the story: printing money never solves your problems. Garcia learned this the hard way as his term ushered in an incredibly scary era of terrorism & guerilla warfare. So why is this man running for president again (and in the top three)? He says he has changed, he says he knows better now, and he is an incredible speaker. His target generation is the youth (who HAVE to vote whether they are informed or not) and he is doing a good job of getting their votes. He also is getting a lot of the “No way do I want Peru to go way left with Ollanta but I don’t want a woman president either” votes.
Ollanta: The most leftist of our candidates, while not as extreme as Hugo Chavez of Venezuela or Evo Morales of Bolivia, he does fall in that camp. He talks of rewriting the constitution and changing trade agreements with the States, both potentially wonderful and potentially dangerous moves. He is known as the advocate of the indigenous and more impoverished people of Peru. He is also quite militaristic with a bit of a violent history. Very popular in the provinces, not as much in Lima as many are afraid of a violent militaristic regime that may come as a result of his inexperience in political circles.
Most of the people I know, even though not wealthy by any means, voted for Lourdes and now that it looks like she is out are talking about voting for Garcia in the second round just because they don’t want Ollanta, not because they want Garcia. Some people I know voted for Garcia, again not because they like him, but because they think he has a better chance of beating Ollanta in the second round. But the word from the provinces (excluding Arequipa—I don’t remember exactly what happened but something about Ollanta making a nasty comment about Arequipeños so he’s not the fave out there either) is that Ollanta is the popular vote. Its very interesting how different the city and the rural mentality is in all of this.
Alright so that is not exactly well researched information but it is what I have picked up from being here during all this so yah, there you have it. We will be going into second round voting in the middle of May so please continue to pray for Peru and South America during this critical time.
love to the people!
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Forza Ganoto and My Servant Team
Forza Ganoto: Portuguese for Strong Chubster and the name of the beautiful new bike I bought today down on Grau. The boys knew I was very concerned about having a cool name for my bike but they wanted me to make a quick decision so they refused to translate the name until after I decided whether or not I would buy it. They think they are really funny but I don't care. I love my bike. My strong, chubby, bike.
AND
I officially know who the members of my first servant team will be! Yay! I am really excited about the group that will be coming. Thanks for your prayers during this process!
AND
I officially know who the members of my first servant team will be! Yay! I am really excited about the group that will be coming. Thanks for your prayers during this process!
Sunday, April 09, 2006
And the Winner is...?
Please pray for Peru today and throughout this week as they hit the polls to vote for our next president and infulence the future of this country.
For more info, BBC style, check out this link:
The Elections!
For more info, BBC style, check out this link:
The Elections!
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