When God Said No
Thirteen years ago I asked God but it seemed like He was saying no.Fifteen years ago Nelson asked God and He seemed to say yes, but then it became no.
I (Vikki) left Peru thirteen years ago and at that time began asking God to allow me to return. He took me to Chile, Costa Rica and Colombia but His answer to Peru continued to be no.
Nelson sensed a call to serve as a missionary outside of his own culture. He did so in Costa Rica, receiving his theological studies and helping plant a church. But then God took him back to his homeland, Colombia.
We accepted His no, responded to His call to serve in Colombia and held on to those two desires in an open hand.
Then, God did something that was unexpected to us! He quickly provided a Colombian pastoral couple to take over the church plant, Journey of Hope in Patio Bonito, Armenia, Colombia. We began working with them in November of 2013. Everyone responded well and by March of 2014 we were able to transition out of the minstry.
We looked at that desire in our hands. We began praying, waiting and listening; to God to our mission leaders, to missionaries in many other fields in Latin America. I saw the desire to go to Perú in my open hand. Nelson saw his desire to serve in another culture in his open hand. Where would God lead us?
One evening Nelson shared with me that he sensed God was providing clear direction; that He was leading us to go to Peru!
The No Was Really Wait
The no we accepted was really a wait for awhile.Our hearts are grateful. Our heads are spinning. Our bags will soon be packed for a vision trip to Peru.
Pray with us as we travel to Peru on June 10th. We will be in Arequipa from June 11-22 and in Lima from June 23-30 to visit former ministry partners, talk with new ministries and missionaries.
God knows just where He wants us to serve, with whom and in what specific ministry. At this point we are simply keeping our hands open to receive from Him the rest of His answer to our prayers!
We will be sharing more with you in the coming weeks and months but are so excited about God's work we could no longer keep quiet!
We will be in California from September through December and hope to be traveling to Peru in February, 2015.
Thanks for joining us on this new journey!
Vikki and Nelson- your missionaries in Latin America
