To our dearest Prayer Warriors,
A Vision is Given:
When I first went to Peru, as the plane flew over Lima, it struck me to see how little vegetation there was in the area. The fact is that it never rains in the coasts of Peru, hence, the landscape around Lima is brown—the fields are brown, the mountains are brown, there are hardly any trees around. I remember saying to myself, ‘I wouldn’t want to live here; this place is barren…’
As my trip progressed I noticed that the food in Lima is extraordinarily tasty. Their fruits and vegetables are extremely rich in flavor and their agriculture in general is very prolific. I couldn’t understand. How could a land so dry deliver such palatable produces?! It wasn’t until I flew out of Lima when I noticed that although the general landscape around the city is brown, if you look carefully, you could see narrow strings of lush vegetation coming down from the Andes Mountains, over the east, running into the Pacific Ocean, over the west. I came to realize that, as the snow melts in the mountains, creeks and streams are formed into small rivers that cross through the brown soil of the coastal Peruvian landscape with lush vegetation developing in the banks of these small rivers. Then I understood how the seemingly dead, dry, and parched soil of Lima becomes a thriving fertile ground: by simply bringing water to it… You see, although the soil around Lima looks dry and dead, when you bring life-giving, life-sustaining water, you realize it is very fertile indeed!
A couple of years later after coming home from my most recent trip to Peru, I was communing with the Lord, seeking His will for my family’s missionary calling, asking Him… ‘Lord, I sense You are calling us to serve You as missionaries in Peru but what exactly do You want us to do there in Lima..?’ It was then that He whispered gently in the depths of my heart:
‘Andres, I have given you grace to prepare your heart to seek My Law, to do it, and to teach it (Ezra 7:10). Now I’m going to use you and your family, among a few others, to bring the life-giving, life-sustaining water of My Word (Eph 5:17) to the dry and parched soil of the hearts of My people that are bound by deceit in the urban culture of Lima and all across Peru. I am preparing the soil of their hearts to receive My Word to yield a crop that is thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold… (Mat 13:8) To exalt the name of My Son, Jesus, (Phi 2:9) and to send Him (Acts 3:20) and form Him (Gal 4:19) in the life of those I have appointed to eternal life (Acts 13:48) in the land of the Incas. That they would “give glory to the LORD, and declare His praise in the coastlands” […of Peru] (Isa 42:12).’
And this is how I knew that my mission in Peru is to, as Pastor Chuck Smith puts it, ‘simply teach the Word of God simply…’ To bring the life-giving, life-sustaining water of God’s Word to a people whose heart condition is being prepared by the hand of God to bear much fruit, fruit that remains; all to the glory of God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Developments:
* We have a meeting on Wednesday August 5th with Lysa McMillan to work out the details to become official missionaries of Calvary Ft. Lauderdale. Lysa is Pastor Chet’s assistant with all the Missions Ministry activity at Calvary Ft. Lauderdale.
* As of last weekend we have all the items needed to set up a booth and present our missions ministry to the body of Christ—we are officially ready to start raising support!
* 60+ letters presenting our ministry went out last week to mostly Calvary Chapel churches in the South Florida area and beyond.
* We are already schedule to be at Calvary Chapel Plantation on August 22nd, 23rd, and 26th, and at Calvary Chapel Inverness on August 30th.
Prayer Needs:
* Simply lift up our names before the throne of God that His will be done in our lives.
* Wisdom and protection against the works of the evil one on our family, especially on our marriage. He’s been working overtime on us lately.
* Pray for all items mentioned above in the Developments area.
* To raise one-time funds for our moving expenses.
* To raise monthly financial support for our ministry.
Special Note:
There have been questions raised regarding Shepherd Staff about what they are and what they do. They are a ministry established to facilitate missions by helping local churches and their missionaries with, among other things, the administration of the funds that come in for the missionaries. They do not provide funds for missionaries; they simply remove the burden from the local church and their missionaries of the administration of funds and the financial legal aspects of doing missions. For more information visit them in the web at www.shepsstaff.org.
Thank you for your faithful prayers and support.
May the Lord richly bless you exceedingly abundantly above all you ask or think..!
In His love,
Andres and Karla, Sebastian, Daniel, and Samuel—the Garcia’s.
