Crossroads Peru Partnership Mission

Tonight we leave for Panao again on an 8 hour bus ride. This time we are taking a translator back with us. His name is Anibal, and he was one of the translators for Geoff, Kim, and David. So we are excited. We will do bible studies and maybe a vacation bible school. We have all kinds of supplies now thanks to the Crossroads team that was here last week. We will only be in Panao for a total of 8 days or so because the jungle trip was moved up, and also a guy here is flying out the night we arive back to Lima after the jungle excursion. It’s going to be crazy, so I will need all of your prayers. We will be doing a lot of traveling over the next week or so. I thank you for your prayers … and just to update you we have yet to see the pickpocket again, so we think hes still locked up!!! I love and miss everyone, and miss the sermons and music in English…bye

I talked to Kegan yesterday afternoon.  He called me to tell me a crazy story about what happened to him yesterday afternoon.  Here are the details …

After returning to the city, Kegan and his fellow team members, Tia and Sarah, went to McDonalds for a burger.  Apparently, the place was quite crowded, and a Peruvian man sat down with them at their table.  He read a newspaper while sitting there.  He got up and left a few minutes later, and Kegan thought he was acting very suspiciously.  He told the girls to check their purses to make sure nothing had been taken.  Sarah’s purse, which was hanging on the back of her seat (BIG mistake) was open and her wallet was gone.  The man was just leaving the building, and Kegan shouted at him.  He took off running.

Well … Kegan took off after him.  And he caught him in front of a theater next to the McDonalds.  He knocked the paper from the man’s hand and Sarah’s wallet fell out.  Kegan then grabbed the man around the neck and yelled, “Policia!”  He dragged the man to a private security guard nearby (Kegan was a bit larger than the fellow, and he was, apparently, the crazy Gringo who ran him down and caught him).  The guard pointed him to a policeman nearby.  Pretty soon, the place was crawling with police, including some who could actually speak English.  Kegan told the story … and the police all got a big laugh out of it.  A Gringo crime fighter!  They told Kegan and the girls that it was extremely rare for Lima’s crime victims to ever get their property back.  After three hours in the police station, pressing charges and filling out reports, they were finally over their ordeal.  And the pickpocket was in jail.

So … there you have it.  Kegan Davis is not only a chicken-eating, soul-winning, “Trading My Sorrows”-singing missionary.  He is also “Super-Gringo,” fighter of crimes and catcher of pickpockets.

Trigg County criminals beware!  He is coming home soon!

Well its 7:10 AM.   We arrived back to the hotel not too long ago … after an eight-hour overnight bus ride.  It was the nicest bus ever. (So my advice is that, in the future, the church should use the buses instead of flying because it’s so much cheaper (40 solis … about $13) and you are half-owner of the bus. But, seriously, you ride in the first class section.  It’s a great option for future teams.

But, back to the beginning … we began our day yesterday with a two hour taxi down the mountain from Panao to Huanuco, along with Bro. Geoff and his team.  As we were on the way down the tail pipe fell off of the car that David King and I were riding in. It happened right after I prayed to God that he would show me if this is what I am supposed to do with my life … be a missionary.  And I had also just prayed for patience.   The “God thing” about this was that I had a peace and I wasn’t frustratedor anything.  But the really neat thing about this story is, because the tail pipe fell off (and the other two cars had to wait for us), it gave enough time for Geoff’s car to witness to their taxi driver.  Hecommited his life right before we caught up with them on the side of the highway.   Cool!

Anyhow … we are in Lima, safe and sound, for a much-needed break!!!  Just ask Geoff, Kim, or Dave … I’m tired of chicken.   I want PORK!!! RIBS!!!   :)  So today im going to TGI Friday’s.  Well, gotta go for now.  I love and miss everyone.  Continue to pray for me and my team.

Kim, David, and I  are safe in Panao.  It is very different from the last time I was here.  Everything is dry and dusty … and it is incredibly cold in the evenings.

Missions update … I have discovered that making plans in advance and sending emails does absolutely no good.  Two of the pastors are out of town.  We did, however, make a good contact witthe evangelical pastor in Panao.  He is excited, and we are planning on a full day of training on Wednesday next week.  We just have to arrange for Monday and Tuesday.

Please continue praying for the team.  Pray for my health, as I am not feeling well … my sinuses are ¨scorched¨and I am having some annoying headaches.

I will update as soon as possible.

Well, I preached and it turn out to be an amazing night.  I got the honor to be used by God to lead a man to Christ.  It was the first time for me, but certainly not the last. God is amazing!  He just keeps making me do things I never thought I could … and the sad thing is I wont be able to update until I get back to Lima (because of internet access issues). Like I said on my last update, we are pedal to the medal 9am-9pm most days, but some nights we are done around 6 or 7.  The internet in the town where we are isn´t so good. Its like Satan is attacking me  every time I go in there…  the computers never work!!! We have to drive 20 mins to send emails, so  we wont be doing it much.

I hope all is well back home. I can´t say thanks enough to everyone who helped make this trip possible.  Again, keep praying because until Geoff and David get here … its just me and 2 WOMEN!!! God help me …

I need to apologize to everyone for a site malfunction that I just discovered.  I found that Kegan was listed in the blog admin section as a “Contributor.”  That meant his posts have been kept in the system until I reviewed them.  He’s actually been posting and I did not know it.  i just discovered two posts from the past week.

I have edited and published both of those posts, posted an e-mail that I just received from him, and shanged his status so that he can post without review.

So … keep checking back.  Kegan will keep us updated every few days.

We endured that long ride Saturday up here to Panao, and we are here and safe. On Sunday we met with the new pastor of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church here in Panao and the pastor of the CMA church in Molino. The pastor of the Molino church is Wellner Flores. Actually, he helped us all day on Sunday. We talked to all kinds of people in the church.

We will be working each day in Molino in the mornings and Panao in the evenings. Our ministry day starts at 9:00 AM and ends at 9:00 PM, except on the week that the Crossroads team will be here. We told them we needed that week our mission team on that week. Our ministry includes house to house evangelism, and also working with kids. Theres one more assignment on our paper, but its in Spanish and I can’t read it.

I’m sorry it’s been a while since I’ve had time to sit down and blog. The reason I haven’t been able to write is because we are in the mountains doing training. Like Geoff said, we cooked chicken. It was fun! Yesterday we cooked trout. That was really fun. (For those who know me really well, you will understand that this is crazy … that I actually cleaned the fish then ate it.)  But I enjoyed it. 

Our schedule is a grueling one. We eat breakfast, then have 2-3 hours training … stuff like bible studies and evengilism tips … and then we cook.  After that we have been prayer walking or going to service.  Sarah (the team coming down here will meet her … she’s on my team) and I sang, “Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord.” In Spanish!!! it was amazing! Tonight I’m going to a church down the hill … to preach!!! ME!!! It’s my first time in front of a church. I’m excited.

Well … gotta go. We have to be back to the hotel for more bible training.  I love and miss everyone. Kegan

I haven’t heard much from Kegan over the past few days.  I talked to his mom today.  She told me that she had just talked to him on the phone this afternoon.  He has been sending me some e-mails which have not made it through.  I’ll try to work all of that out so that we can get regular updates.

Meanwhile … I learned today from missionary Katie Holder that Kegan is with his entire team of summer missionaries at a location about three hours outside Lima.  He will be returning to Lima this weekend to get his team assignment and travel to Panao.  But I have learned that one of his interesting tasks yesterday was to learn how to cut up and cook a whole chicken.

I have included pictures for your viewing enjoyment.

¡hola! ¿como estas? Estoy bien. Hello! how are you? IM well here in lima. Tommorrow we leave for canta. It’s about cuarto horas (4 hours) away. we will be doing hands-on training for about a week, so I wont be able to update until we’re finished. But I do know that while we are in canta we will all have to lead a Bible study, so this will be very interesting (especially if I have to do it in Spanish. ) I´m going to do mine on David and Goliath. I cant thank my church enough for the support and prayers. Love and miss everyone. Kegan