Ministering WHEREVER to WHOMEVER!

Sometimes one's mind may think that he or she can see the road plainly laid out before them.  They feel that they see the plan God has purposed and they delight to do HIS will.  Yet there are times confusion may arise when all those well "understood" plans take a God-ordained detour.  The Flings have learned that in whatever state God places us in, there to NOT only be content but to minister.

Last January, I (Michele) took a fall in a park in Lima.  Thus began months of painful walking, hiking, climbing 17 floors to our apartment, and ministering without realizing that I had fractured my leg and injured my knee.  In late May, I (Michele) flew into Florida to lead a TLC team back to Peru, where Bryon and Samuel were anxiously waiting to join us.  We flew into Cajamarca (a beautiful mountain village) and ministered faithfully for 2 very full weeks.  The young people that comprised the TLC team were exceptional!!!  They had a true heart for loving and ministering to the precious Peruvian people. 

I can honestly say that we had never worked with young people that were not interested so much in shopping, touristic sights, and fun, but had an unquenchable thirst to minister to others.  Before we could fly our of the airport in Florida, one of my young people had already cornered TSA agents to give them tracts and tell them the change Jesus had made in their life.  Consistently throughout our two weeks, they ministered.  God opened two universities in Peru.  We were invited by a professor to minister during their class time.  At another university we were invited to hold open air services right on campus!

Public schools opened their doors to us, enabling us to speak at a parents' day to around 200 families.  In one village the mayor invited us to hold open air services there.  He himself went around inviting precious Peruvians to come and be ministered to through God's Word.

Bryon and I are finding that no matter WHERE God sends us, there is always someone that needs ministered unto.  When I (Michele) flew the TLC team back to Florida, I had the opportunity to visit some doctors in the States.  I was informed that I needed to return to America for a knee surgery, because I had damaged my knee from the fall many months before.  With sad hearts we prepared to fly home to follow through with the doctor's demands (for he did indeed demand!).  However, right before flying home we traveled 14 hours north to visit and minister in a coastal church.

 Ministering in a coastal church that pleads for us to come any time we are able.  We have special services scheduled again soon at this church.

 Our Peruvian family that graciously opens their home to us each time we pass through the area.

 On this trip North, we were able to meet Pastor Dionisio who had come down from the mountains specifically to meet us.  We had been sent with a gift of funds from another short-term missionary, Craig McGlouflin, to help pay for Dionisio's very much needed surgery.  We have services scheduled soon in the mountains to visit Pastor Diosnisio's church.

Enjoyng a Sunday dinner with Jose Chilcon and some of the brethren.  We are appreciative of the kindness and open doors of ministry that God is leading us through.

Upon arriving in the States, we wondered where we would live during the recovery time after my knee surgery (for our house is rented.)  However, God had already gone before and we were asked by the Brookside Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Church to fill in for any amount of time that we would be in the States. 

After surgery, I began a regiment of physical therapy.  Though the knee does not seem to be as well as it used to be, I am thankful to God that I have healed as well as I have.  Now both of my knees have been operated on and one knee carries some fine hardware. The doctor informed us that hills, steps, and uneven ground need to be removed from my life.  I chuckled to think of Peru without uneven ground!

In late October we began the packing process to return to Peru, however, God had other plans.  That very week my (Michele) father was admitted into the hospital for heart failure.  Thus our plans were set upon a shelf as we began to minister more to my father and to the church here.  God in His mercy brought my father through by-pass and valve replacement surgery last Wednesday.

Praying with Daddy before surgery!

We covet your prayers as we begin to make plans to return to Peru in late January.  Our mission director, Mark Becker, and fellow missionary, Phillip Dickinson, are scheduled to fly to Peru in mid February.  We are planning weeks of traveling to at least 4 churches that are spread many, many hours apart.  Our desire is also to return to a little mountain village to hold a prison service again there (look for story in soon arriving Fling Flier)!  We continue to pray that God will use us to minister to WHOEVER WHEREVER HE chooses.  We are trying to remain faithful to reach out for lost souls whether in Peru or the States.  God has blessed our ministry for the short time we have been in the States.

The basement was filled with church goers and our hearts were filled with rejoicing at being chosen to minister for HIM!

We were so thrilled when a Guatemalan family came to church because of Bryon's invitations.  He had met and helped them in a parking lot when their car was broken down.  What a privilege to minister WHEREVER HE plants us and to WHOMEVER HE brings into our path!!  We are His servants and are so blessed to be so!!

TRAVELS FOR JESUS

Late February found the three of us going around, around, and around the mountain in a bus.  Vomiting, sweating from the heat, and extreme sickness began to accompany us during our 19 hours  trapped in a small seat trying to keep Samuel entertained.  Why put oneself through that type of trip you might ask?  One reason only!!  On the other side of that mountain lies a beautiful city called Cajamarca and situated on a hill is a church desiring to know more about holy living.  We had heard and had been invited to this church months before, but we were waiting on God to open the doors in His timing.  From the first night we arrived until we left we were ministering nightly in services. The pastor and his wife asked us several times to please move to this area to help them in their growing ministry.  They also desire that Bryon would return and teach holiness classes in their Bible Institute.  We plan on returning as often as God desires and funds permit.  This coming June we have plans to return to this church with a TLC team.  Plans are being made for services in their area and traveling to two prisons to hold services.  Please be praying that God will help us to be a light of holiness to their church which is called The Center of Biblical Studies of John Wesley.

 Pastora Mirian with her husband, Pastor Rafaely, work day and night to reach out to the hurting in Cajamarca.  Upon arriving we found their home and church with several needy young people who had found a bed when there was no where else to go.

 Cajamarca was a lovely "old world" city mingling with some up-to-date stores.  This is where the church is perched, looking over the city below.

Because of their desire to help the needy, the church has an area of walls partitioning small rooms for people to sleep in.  We stayed in one of these rooms and slept quite well!

Upon leaving Cajamarca, we made our way to the familiar city of Chiclayo.  This was another 7 hour bus trip and Samuel became ill during travel.  We thank the Lord the bus attendants provided everyone with sick bags!  Having lived before in the Chiclayo area for 5 years, we knew it quite well.  However, we were there to visit two churches that we had never been in before.  Since last August we have been repeatedly invited to Pastor Jose Chilcon's church.  He is interested in having a seminar (special services) on holiness.  We visited his church on a Sunday morning and the Pilgrims of Peru's church Sunday night(this church and the one in Cajamarca, Rev. Raymond Shreve had encouraged us to visit).

We entered another bus to make the 14+hour trip back home to Lima.  Just a few days later Michele's mother flew into Peru.  What a delight for all of us!  Because of Michele's brothers' generosity, we were able to take Mom to see Machu Picchu.  This was an area she had ALWAYS wanted to see.  It was gorgeous, however, because we were traveling the least expensive way we could, the trip was exhausting and very difficult.  We all stated that if we could have seen the hardships coming, we would have all stayed in Lima and just looked at pics of Machu Picchu online.

Cusco and the surrounding area were so beautiful!  We thoroughly enjoyed the culture, sights, and sounds of that part of Peru.

Isn't Peru such a beautiful country?!  Though we were there specifically to show Mother this area, we were also trying to be a witness for Jesus.  We made good friends rather quickly of a man from Chile who was traveling with us.  We continue to be in contact with him and hope to reconnect with him next year.

On this street in Cusco, Bryon would buy bread from a lady running a bodega.  He was able to witness to her and she began to tell him how unhappy she was with the liberal ways of the church she attended.  She asked us twice if there was any way we could come back to Cusco and open a church there?  There are hungry souls everywhere we turn, whether in Peru or the States.  When traveling we must ask ourselves, "Are we traveling for Jesus?"  Pray for the Flings as we travel through Peru, that we may truly be traveling for HIM!

"DRIVEN"

"Driven to Do" can be stated in a way that carries a negative meaning, however the Oxford Dictionary states, "Operated, moved, or controlled by a specified person or source of power."  A sanctified person is "driven" by THE SOURCE OF POWER from above.  The Holy Spirit places within our breast an internal "drive" to do His Will.  "So send I you," was spoken from the Master's lips and all that hear and obey that command willfully place themselves under the controlling power of God's hand.  We cannot run ahead of His leading nor lag behind.  We cannot sit silently by while a world rushes toward eternity, yet avenues of ministry must be borne out from God's vision alone.  Will you pray that we will do all He asks of us?

"Driven to Dream" is easily done when sitting upon our little 5' X 7' balcony, 17 stories up, overlooking a massive city of 13 million souls.  However, we fully understand that our dreams must coincide with God's plan for Lima.  We find ourselves crying out in prayer, "O Lord, accomplish YOUR plan!  God, what are your dreams, plans, and methods you desire to use in this vast city?"  Will you pray with us that we will dream and accomplish God's plan alone?

We dream of a day when these babes in Christ will be led into the light of holiness.

 



"Driven to Disciple" is a MUST in a day where head knowledge and degrees are overflowing, but heart knowledge is sorely lacking.  Recently in a Bible study a babe in Christ related a joke that was off color.  We expressed our shock to her, but decided to pray over the matter more.  The following week in a Bible study once again, God's Word clearly opened the door for Bryon to address her joke.  She realized her error and apologized.  In the same Bible study her husband exclaimed with sincerity, "Wife, Bryon says we should read our Bible every day and he has showed me where to start reading!"  Simple truths being planted for the first time in new soil.  Babes need fed carefully and consistently, they do not need the milk pail dumped upon their head.  Will you pray that we will disciple in the manner Christ desires?

 

 

"Driven to Serve" can keep one hopping from need to need.  Allowing God to open and close areas of service is vital to a missionary's health and well being.  We have asked God to give the avenues of service that pleases Him.  We have seen doors slam shut while others have opened unexpectedly.  Bryon recently was visiting a church when they told him he was going to preach the sermon.  It was a surprise to say the least, but God used the message to touch hearts. 

 

We have continued to pray for our friend Juan Rios, who was a Bible Institute graduate of ours many years ago.  He was far from God and though Bryon would call consistently, we had only been able to meet with him twice.  Last Sunday he invited us back to have a service with him.  He told Bryon that God has saved him and that he wants to get his home back in order.  Please pray for he and his wife to be reconciled.  He is going to try and bring his wife, son, and brothers to our home this Sunday for a service.  Praise God!

 

 

I have been asked to give piano lessons and currently am teaching a pastor, his wife, and granddaughter.  We also were asked to assist in a church's first ever Christmas program.   A good group of street children attend the church, therefore you can imagine the "excitement" we had to work with.  God blessed the program and the little church was bursting with 50+ people who turned out to see the first Christmas program.

"Driven to Love" in spite of cultural differences, language barriers, our chicken being accidently dropped to the dirty floor, quickly rescued (hoping we didn't notice), then fed to us, and heat, heat, and then some more heat.  God's love has seen us through sleeping on dirt floors with the tin roof bent inward and a torrential rain flooding in on us, sicknesses without proper restroom facilities, showering in the winter with ice cold water (Samuel screamed with every dump of the bucket :),  and a Peruvian man screaming at me to get out of his country! (gotta love warm welcomes;)  Would you pray that our hearts would love the precious Peruvians as Jesus loves them?

 



People that are not driven to do great thing, have not come across a great cause.  Yes, we are DRIVEN!  Driven to be all for Christ and to lift Him up, so that He may draw all men to Himself.

 

BRYON'S CHRISTMAS THOUGHTS

Once again it’s that time of year we all love to celebrate.  Family, friends, and the natural beauty of the season makes wonderful memories each year for all of us.  This year I have been dwelling on a question that was asked me.  Years ago as a young Christian I was in the public school library telling another student, who was an agnostic, about the Lord, when I happened to say that God can do anything but fail.  At that moment the older student looked at me and said, “Oh, Yah, can God make a rock so big he can’t lift it or a chicken that runs so fast he can’t catch it?”  What a conundrum for a new Christian teenager’s mind!  My wife often teases me about taking too long to answer a question, because I ponder every aspect till I am satisfied with the answer.  Well it’s been more than twenty years now since that question was given to me.  I believe that wait is one for the record books.  When I would ask others about the answer they might give, I might get an answer like, “Well, God is infinite and these things are finite, so they don’t go together.”  However, I never liked these answers so I pondered on for an answer whenever it came to my mind.

One day not that long ago it finally occurred to me that the answer is right there in God’s Word.

John 1:1-3,14… “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made …..And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the father,) full of grace and truth.”

Matthew 1:23 “Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

How marvelous a thought that God made rocks and chickens, then he made Himself so small He couldn’t walk, crawl, or even feed himself, much less catch chickens or lift rocks!!  The reason for Christmas answers the agnostic’s question; God chose to wrap HIMSELF in humble, human flesh to become the Crucified Lamb.  The same God that spoke the worlds into existence, measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, meted out heaven with a span, and weighed the mountains and hills, this God stepped down from His throne, laid aside His crown, and became a helpless baby.  This helpless baby then did for us what no other human could do.  God did just what they thought was impossible.  Are you facing an impossibility in your life?  Remember this Christmas, God truly can do ANYTHING but fail!!

COFFEE, BREAD, AND DICIPLESHIP GO HAND IN HAND???

Food, fellowship, and fun....we hear those three words placed together many times when an invitation is given to one's house in the States.  I've even taking some good natured ribbing from folks in the States about all my foodie pics placed on Facebook since arriving in Peru.  I've heard their teasing remarks, "Hey, Shel, I think you can cut down on some of the food pics now.  We get the picture, that you all eat well over there!"  I laugh and then continue to post more pics of a group of Peruvians and us sitting around a table sometimes laden with food, sometimes with only coffee and bread.  However, there is something very important to realize about the Peruvian culture and it is said best through a Peruvian's own lips.  "Throughout the world certain foods are instinctively about one's culture, but in Peru FOOD IS our culture."  If you were to visit Peru and decide you wanted to go to a "flea market", you would not go looking for old antiques, instead you would go to see all the different plates of food representing the different regions throughout Peru.  There you could buy and enjoy all the wonderful, unique flavors represented by the Peruvian culture.  Food, flavors, colors, matching this meat with this bean, etc. is all very important to the Peruvian people.  In truth, at times it has been overwhelming to me, but one thing we have learned is that friendship around a table and the sharing of food breaks down cultural barriers.  As those barriers begin to crumble the door to presenting the Gospel opens.

We had a wonderful time in Argentina reconnecting with Peruvians we once worked with when we lived in northern Peru.  The Dickinsons treated us all out to wonderful Italian pizza and we all enjoyed the fellowship greatly! Bryon was able to talk with Samuel, a former pastor, about his need to return to the Lord.  After the meal we walked to a park, where Heather served coffee and Paneton (a special Christmas bread).  We ladies visited at a separate park table, while the men talked about the things of God.  Samuel stated 3 times that he needed prayer.  The men had a time of prayer with him.  Please pray for Samuel and his precious family.

We have found from making a special Peruvian dish to share or sending Samuel to deliver homemade muffins around our apartment complex, each gesture of love continues to open doors for discipleship.
Recently a lady who had been very unkind to Samuel responded, "FOR ME??!!" when handed banana bread from Samuel's hand.  He came flying back to the apartment to exclaim, "Mommy, the mean lady hugged me!"

This special time with Percy and Sarah meant a lot to us.  We had graduated Percy years ago in the Bible Institute we were directing.  The evening ended with many tears, counseling, and prayer around this same table that we had fed them a special Peruvian dish.

 

 

We were asked repeatedly to travel each Sunday morning to assist the little holiness church shown above.  After prayer, we decided as God helped us we would travel to assist in any way possible for the Glory of God.  To go and come takes us about 3 hrs. of hard traveling.  The pastor and his wife have very little, but they insist upon feeding us Sunday dinner.  We are very appreciative to have a belly full of hot rice as we head off to hold another house service Sunday afternoon, and then another house service Sunday night at our apartment.

 

 

We were thrilled to finally get to meet Fernando and Mariela.  The Dickinsons have faithfully visited and held services in their home.  God has truly done a work in their hearts and Fernando has a desire to study God's Word.  He has recently been in a terrible accident and by God's mercy was spared.  We were able to bring him a large stack of holiness literature to begin studying.  This precious couple does not have a lot of means, so wonderful Heather hauled hot soup, crackers, coffee, and Paneton on a bus, walking blocks, then a long train ride, then walking more blocks. We were thankful to have the men carry the heavy items of food and drinks.  Everyone enjoyed her good food after our service with them!

The Bible instructs us to show hospitality.  I cannot say that I have jumped through every hoop of hospitality with grace.  God has worked on me in this area.  God's Word also states, "Use hospitality one to another without grudging."  I have found that as I am washing the dishes and putting away the food while Bryon is instructing in some Biblical point, I prayerfully offer my little service to Jesus.  Cooking, cleaning, showing hospitality with Jesus' love is my "perfume" to pour at my Master's feet. Yes, we have found that coffee, bread, and discipleship DO go hand in hand!!