"Divine Inconveniences" (Peru - April 10, 2005)

buenas dias from the city of lima where kevin queen and i got to add a day onto our trip. more on that later.

first, friday night was a HUGE blessing as we held the community wide rally where we had been working all week. when we arrived in the late afternoon there were already about 300 waiting before we set up. by the end of the night there were over 1000 people standing in a dirt parking lot, some hearing the gospel for the first time. the youth from crossroads did an outstanding job . . . they put together a rock band and played worship songs, they did drama, they did a childrens program. it was amazing to see each member of the team using their gifts to honor God. Kevin preached in an environment that was much like what Jesus must have experienced with the crowds of people in his day. we are not sure how many people came to faith in Christ that night but we do know that over 350 professions of faith were made in personal encounters throughout the week. nearly half of those received at least one follow up discipleship visit. many of those people were at the rally on friday.

saturday was a great time of sharing and shopping. we got to the airport in plenty of time and all seemed to be going smoothly. our team boarded the plane and as kevin and i sat talking on the plane the stewardess approached us and asked kevin if he had an infectious disease called shingles. he had been feeling rough the last few days and had a rash, as well as plenty of bug bites. when he told her he was not sure, she called the captain and he ordered kevin off of the plane. i have heard of becoming a contagious christian, but this is not what we bargained for! we were in shock as there was no opportunity for discussion or explanation at all. i jumped up and handed the mantle to diane, my coleader and kevin and i made our way off of the plane. the youth were upset to see their leader being taken off, but those guys know how to pray so they took it to God. as we stood at the gate trying to find out what our options were, God sent us an answer to the kids prayers in a man named Carlos. he was the customer service guy and he immediately acknowledged that the way things were handled on the plane was not good. so he started to go to work for us, finding options, a hotel, and all the info we need to get on the next flight. because the captain red flagged kev he had to get a medical authorization to fly so after getting to the hotel and having a couple of hours of sleep, we got up this a.m. and went to breakfast. there we met an aussie named todd that we got to share our testimonies with and pray with. God has reasons for everything that are sometimes beyond our sight. after eating we went to a clinic where the doctor immediately told us this was no infectious disease, but instead was salmonella. the doc was super helpful too and gave kev the meds he needed to clear it up and a certificate to fly.

so we are getting ready now to head back to the airport and make our way home. hopefully you wont get another e-mail from lima tomorrow . . . pray that we get home to our families and that we have more opportunities to share, like with our person of peace at the airport, carlos, who is meeting us there tonight and walking us through everything.

often times divine opportunities are cloaked in the disguise of an inconvenience. and if we lose sight of who is in control of ALL THINGS we will miss blessings untold. so today has been a great day . . . not what we expected, but great none the less. kev and i have had some wonderful talks and walks and we are looking for the next step in this journey that our loving Rabbi will take us on. may we be covered in His dust with a smile on our faces.