ECUADOR & BACK TO LIMA PLUS SOME CHICKENS>>>

Our great adventure to Ecuador was one of those things where you have a basic idea of the plan and a few ideas of how it will come together. But in the end it's really not much like you thought it would be at all. 

We started out our trip by going to Piura. Jose has family there and we have connected with a Missionary there too. Our main purpose was to really just visit and see what it's like there. Piura is a region but there is also a city called Piura. That is where we went. After living in a big city it's easy to forget that Peru is a developing country. In Lima we have many modern conveniences that are similar to America. Fast food, better roads, etc.. There are still dirt roads and shacks for houses in many parts of Piura. 


We still aren't sure if the city of Piura is where we will end up or if we will be going to another area. Jose's family was telling us about an area close by that is full of witch doctors, its called Huancabamba- Piura, Peru. There are several parts of the region that don't have even one church. The word of God is so needed there. It's hard to know where to start. 

Slums as far as the eye can see

Another shot of condense poverty

This is a Pastor's church we talked too

That's the Pastor in green and the other guy is Jose.

He is doing AMAZING things in the slums. NO JOKE. 

House made out of straw/i think bamboo sticks

Sunday night we took a bus back to Piura. The bus left at 8pm and I was feeling under the weather.  We were going to cross the border around 2 am . After we were on the bus for awhile something woke me up. It sounded like...a chicken? no, several chickens. And it was. A lady with a cage full of chickens got on the bus at the second stop and stayed on all the way to Piura. Those chickens would screech and all the rest would start to chatter at each other. Then the lady who brought them would "sh-sh-sh-sh" as if they were a fussing child. It was ridiculous. 

Once we go to the border we found out that the system was shut down and we had to wait for 1 hour for them to turn it on, so we waited till about 3 something in the morning. It wasn't fun trying to switch buses and 6 people luggage's (jose+kat+the 2 boys+mine+jose's dad stuff) from one bus to another at that hour either once we went from Ecuador into Peru. 

From Piura we took another bus which was much nicer and more comfortable to get home. The trip was Monday night-Tuesday morning. It was a 16 hour bus trip.

Now we have 90ish days to get our visas or leave the country again (Feb. 20 is the date all this needs to happen by). Please pray that God would provide the finances for the visas for 5 people which is $2,000. The trip we took was an adventure, just not something I want to be doing every 3 months.  Thank you all for keeping us in prayer while we were traveling. We saw the hand of God in many ways.

Here are some pictures of Ecuador. It was an amazing place, NOTHING I expected.

Overlooking the place we stayed. 

Jose on the balcony taking video

That is where we stayed

Over looking the city

Great view

I was running out of breath & light headed because of the altitude

Another view of Cuenca, Ecuador

Cuenca, Ecuador

DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE COMMENTS ON THE BOTTOM.... I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

The Fire is Burning Away All Impurities.

I honestly don't even know where to start. My world last week was turned upside down. But through it all God some how ALWAYS gets the GLORY. So let me talk about what happened and then BRAG on my awesome Lord, Jesus! And even now in the beginning of this process God is teaching me so much.

Well it actually started 5 or 6 years ago, I've been having knee problems and never really went to the doctor for it. Within those years my knee would swell up and  I would not be able to walk. Sometimes I would have to ICE it, because of the swelling. Sometimes the pain was so great I would just sit there and cry, it was too overwhelming. I'm the kind of guy that prefers not to go to the doctor and just pray about it. So I never went because I honestly would of felt like I had no faith. 

                                         1) HE WILL ALWAYS PUT KEY PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE

Here in Peru I have 2 disciples (guy's who I mentor) and they are brothers, their names are Diego and Cesar. Diego one day noticed I was complaining about my knee and said, "Victor, my mom is an X-Ray technician  and the manager of that department at a hospital, if you want I could talk to her about giving you FREE X-Rays"... (Long Story short I went)

Once I got the X-Ray, I was given a FREE doctor's visit. The doctor IMMEDIATELY noticed 2 things wrong. 

1) I USED to have a disease called Osgood-Schlatter. It's basically something that eats your bones (my knees). I had it when I was small, but my body fought back and DON'T HAVE IT ANYMORE, but have the effects of it.

2) I HAVE Osteoarthritis, which means it affects your cartilage, ligaments, tendons, and muscles. Which only affects mostly males in their 40+ years. Right now I don't have cartilage between BOTH my knees, and the tendons in BOTH my hands are giving out. So they said I need to do rehab on my knees, and arms. So I don't lose strength and build muscle around my knee to support the weight I put on it.

3) He said because I have #2 I must have either Gout or Diabetes, so the next day I went and got blood work done for FREE and turns out I have Gout. Which means my blood basically has high levels of a certain acid. And that acid caused the tendons and cartilage to mess-up. (So the doctor says) 

When the doctor found out I had Gout, awkwardly, he was excited because it turns out he is actually an EXPERT in that sickness. (KEY PEOPLE)

So the doctor then :

1) Gave me prescriptions for meds 

2) Told me I needed to lose weight

3) Get on a diet

4) And was excited about the "further study" he was going to do on me. Because this only happens in older males and it happen to me in my teenage years.

                                     

                                          2) HE IS THE ULTIMATE SOURCE OF PROVISION

I' m not going to lie I went home devastated, upset, mad, confused and hurt. I was in prayer and was asking God "Why?"... "I'm serving you Jesus and my body is always in pain"... Then God spoke to me and said, "Because you have put my Kingdom FIRST, I' m going to heal you..... through medicine'' ..Matthew 6:33, "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." I didn't want to receive that word, I did not want to except the fact that God would use something natural to heal me. Why couldn't I have a "Benny Hinn Experience" and just be healed instantly/supernaturally. So after fighting with my self and my faith, I accepted this is what HE IS DOING. I don't understand why. But through it all God has provided everything and just requires my faithfulness.

Here is TESTIMONY to what God IS doing:

1) X-Ray's... FREE

- Diego/Cesar's Mom is the manager

2) Blood work.... FREE

- Diego/Cesar's Mom has friends/connections

3) Continuous Doctor's visits.... FREE

-Diego/Cesar's Mom has friends/connections

4) Physical therapy visits..... FREE

-Cesar's friend is the manager in the same hospital in the Physical Therapy Dept.

5) Equipment for physical therapy.... FREE

-Cesar's friend is the manager in the same hospital in the Physical Therapy Dept.

6) Medicine..... FREE

-The Pastors here PAID for ALL my Med's.

7) Personal Trainer to lose weight.... FREE

-Cesar trains in fighting, and is gonan train me in working out

8) Dietician..... FREE

-Cesar knows and does all that since he trains and diets himself.

So no matter how hard it has been, God has been there for me, to lift me up when I feel that I can't stand up no more. Not many will understand that statement, but for those of you who do. You're not alone, I understand. The other day I went to get laser/electricity shot into my knee, so my muscles around my knee would "wake-up" and remember they are alive, because I don't use my knee much because of the pain. But here is a picture of me at the Physical Therapist office.

Here he is shooting laser/shock in my knee. (Did not hurt)

He made me wear glasses "just in case".... (Uhmm just in case what?)

Then he put this "special" lamp on my knee to loosen the muscles, then he gave my whole right leg a massage.

3) STAND ON THE WORD, IT'S ALL YOU GOT!

Don't loose hope, don't forget Jesus IS WITH you through it all, and you're not alone.

Psalms 97:1, "Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you."

This is the scripture I stand on.

Moving Forward!

Ok, so I know it's been about 2 weeks since I have blogged. I've been super super super busy. 

But here it goes......

So every Monday we have been going into this school and have been having the privilege of sharing Jesus with the kids. Since this is the first time that the church here has really gone into school we are doing this as a "pilot" to see how things go by the end of the year. Right now we are averaging about 50-65 students, all teenagers from 15-18 yrs. old. Here are some pictures of the school/students/and set-up.

Settin Up chairs

Kids being attentive

School Yard

Prayer Works!!!!

Before everything started

CHANGING SUBJECT---->>>>

So last week a local church here in Lima, Peru called "Camino de Vida" (Pastored by Robert Barriger) hosted a conference about creativity. The conference was called "La Sal" (The Salt) and it focused on 3 areas 1) Worship, 2) Media, 3) Coordinator ...

This conference was a real eye opener, they really focused on how your creativity, witty ideas, and inventions can help your ministry move forward and thus advancing the Kingdom of God. It was great to know that as a creative person I DO have a part and a role to play in the ministry. The body of Christ does vary.

Made out of card-board and newspaper... Awesome!

Some of the people that went

Aaaaaaannnnnddddd a Mexican Mariachi band playing outside the church, lol random!

This was a wall they made, but you could go and paint on it and change colors on it.

The sign says, "We are the salt of this world".

CHANGING SUBJECT---->>>>>

Couple of days ago we had an event here at church with the youth called "Noche de Infierno" (Hell Night) alot of you are familiar with that. 

Here are some pics!

                                          

People flooding in.... PACKED HOUSE!

Mariela doing 1st skit

Some girls at the end of the night did a few few dance routines.

Extended worship

 

Fe Aguayo. She did great.

Over all it went great at the end of the night 33 people gave their life to Jesus. Funny thing was that a couple (parents) got UPSET because their 2 kids were in tears and gave their life to Jesus. Crazy! They should of been happy for the change in their hearts. 

Making this event happen was very stressful and tiring. The reason was because I proposed the idea of doing this, they have never done anything like this before, it was hard to get people to do things that they have never done. Getting people to support your vision is not easy, but the event was such a success that the head pastors here said, "We are gonna do it every year now, and make it a "La Casa Del Padre" classic"... That's the church's name. Amen! For fruit that remains!

Changing Subject---->>>

So About me:

I've been running full speed non-stop, I'm not going to lie. It's tiring and trust me, I FEEL THE STRETCHING, and it doesn't feel good at all! Im going to be real open with you guys and I'm gonna ask that you guys keep me in prayer because even though its great that I'm doing God's work, it's not easy, there's a lot of sacrifice that takes place that not many will understand unless you have gone throu it as well. I know that Jesus is faithful and enough for me and he DOES re-new my strength, but your prayers, support (spiritually /financially) are very much needed... I know that I CANT do it on my own strength (and i not going to try) and I know it HAS to be the Holy Spirit (which it has been only him) or else I burn out (which I haven't because I have been in His presence)....

Changing Subject---->

This next week we are having a youth conference called "Sobredosis" (Overdose).... The week after that we (Jose/Kat/the boys/and I) travel north to Piura,Peru AND Cuenca, Ecuador, I'm excited for the opportunities and privileges Jesus has given me. I say this all the time and I will continue saying it, "I have done nothing to deserve this."  But no matter what happens or how weak I feel I know I need to move forward, I can't slow down, or quit, that's not an option. FORWARD!!!!

Keep us in prayer, we NEED your prayers, we need you to hold our arms up like Moses' arms were held up.

Your comments are appreciated

-Victor Cetina.