Coach stuck in the locker room

"I am the leader of this group...did anyone see which way the team went?" Scary portrait of leadership (picture, left), huh? Point man...team leader...the one in charge...organizer...chief in charge...and the one who forgot his passport! These are the hats that I have worn on our last four trips to Peru. This time I still have the "coach" hat on, but I will be stuck in the locker room!

Did this in Maine once, organized a 22 person team to Mississippi, but since my second daughter Kaitlann was gonna be born while they were gone, I had to stay behind. Hate it. My heart went with that team then, and it will go with this team now. It's my Christ they are proclaiming, and it's my flock that is going, and I would love to be there with them.

This time it is my son, Knox, who is holding up Dad from my third priority in life-God's fame among the nations (following my passion for Christ, and my love and service to my family). And it is my joy to stay with them for this awesome event in my family's life.

But enough about me, wanted to ask you to pray for our team. They leave a week from Saturday (6/19) to do a medical mission trip to our area in Peru. And we need your prayers!

The team needs your prayer because 1) I am not going. It is not because I am all that necessary (God doesn't need me). But it is more because this is the first trip that I have not been on. And the leadership of our team is not looking forward to doing it all on their own. They will do fine. I have the utmost confidence in them! Pray that their confidence in Christ will be bolstered as well as their confidence in their own abilities. Do pray for the logistical part of the trip, travel and medicine, as there are always loose ends to tie up even before they start. Especially pray for all the medicines to clear customs without incident.

Pray diligently because 2) these trips into the darkness always invite spiritual warfare and attack. Pray for these seven team members (Don, Les, Margaret, Charlotte, Lynne, Doug, and Pam) that God will strengthen them and defend them. Pray that their eyes will be fixed upon Christ. They are from Maine and Georgia, and do not know each other at all, so pray for the team development and cohesiveness.

Pray for 3) the advance of the kingdom and the church in Julcan and Molinos! Pray for the two small groups of believers in these villages. Pray for our work among them. Pray for our Peruvian partners and their labor and preparation for our visit. Pray for ten men to be saved, baptized publicly, and lead their families to Christ. Pray for all the other Peruvians (drivers, merchants, children, etc.) that our team will encounter there, that God will provide an opportunity to share the gospel.

Thank you for your unceasing labor of love in prayer for us and the gospel!