He has greater expectations for Southbound...and we are living in them!

As we write this, we are safely in Chiclayo Peru.

We want to say thank you for all the prayer and financial support as Southbound made this journey to Peru. Because of your support, God blessed us with the following testimonies: thank you Lord!

    John 14:12-14 "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. he will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Son will bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."

    On Tuesday the 18th of April, Southbound embarked on a journey. A journey with some certainty, but a whole lot of faith needed. We began the trip from Bogota, Colombia, to Chiclayo, Peru, by first flying to Leticia on the Colombian border. From there, we had planned to catch a boat on the Peruvian side of the city, but we were uncertain what time the border closed and where we needed to recieve our Colombian exiting immigration stamp. entering stamp from Peru. We discovered we needed our stamp from the airport, so we rushed back to get it then we went back to the dock. We then caught a small ferry to the Peruvian side of the border (Santa Rosa), only to find the immigration office was closed. We were met by a friend of a friend who helped us find and bargain for lodging on a "luxurious" floating dock on the Amazon.  At this point, a couple of team members went out into the small town to find out what we should do regarding getting our passports  stamped for our entrance to Peru. When they returned, we were overwhelmed by the news that the immigration officer was willing to come to us and stamp our passports even though the office was closed. Within the next 10 minutes, we had the officer sitting at one of the tiny tables on our dock signing our papers and stamping our passports. This was a miracle, but there were many more ahead!

       The next morning, we woke up at 3am to start loading the boat that would take us down the Amazon to Iquitos, Peru. No questions were asked about the weight of our bags (15 kg limit-miracle!) and so Southbound was on their way down the beautiful Amazon livin' it up Amazonian style. It was a ride full of good sleep, good food, and hardely any bugs until the last two hours (we hit a snag). We weren't exactly sure what had happened to the boat, but we took the opportunity to sit on the roof of  the boat and sing worship songs. During this time, the captain went and came back via long boat and somehow managed to get the boat started again (miracle!). As we continued down the Amazon to Iquitos, we were blessed with the beauty of God's creation and a breathtaking sunset.  Although we had had a challenging two days, in that moment, we could not deny that God was with us.

     At 6:30pm we disembarked our boat in Iquitos only to be in time for the rain. Piling our bags beneath the shelter of an abandoned building, we discovered Amazon cochroaches the size of a snickers bar.  Here, the real adventure began. After investigating different modes of transport to the airport, we split up into our color groups and we were on our way. At the airport, the yellow and silver teams discovered the blue team was nowhere to be found. Stuck outside the gates of the airport (as it was closed) they made plans to set up camp for the night. 30mins later, a security guard opened the front  gate and said that there were six other people inside: the blue team had arrived earlier and after talking to the airport security, had arranged for the group to stay at the airport overnight despite it being closed. So that night southbound spent the night in a closed airport, with two security guards and the entire place to themselves (MIRACLE!)

Day 3 of travel had even more challenges as we had yet to get a ticket to Lima. After starting the morning with prayer, we received words of wisdom to give people at the airport. By the end of the morning, people were asking us to pray with them after sharing these words with them (MIRACLE!)

 After much investigation, hope, and prayer, Louis and Tian arrived back at the airport with tickets for a flight to Lima for a very discounted price. On the flight, we were once again blessed by a beautiful sunset over the Amazon. Once in Lima, we were greeted by a fellow Christian and lady of peace, who escorted us to taxis and the bus station, and sent us on our way to Chiclayo that evening (MIRACLE!)

     Some 12 hours later on day 4 of our journey, we arrived in Chiclayo Peru, and were greeted by a familiar acent of a South African couple (MIRACLE!)

As the journey of Southbound continues, so do all the great expectations we have for what God is going to do in and through us during this time. Our ministry in Peru will include: preaching, medical clinics, schools ministry, sharing the gospel through dance, drama and songs, distribution of Bibles, village outreach in the mountains, showing of the Jesus film, church visits, open air meetings, environmental health classes, more preaching and (most importantly) praying and seeking God's heart for Peru!

We wait in expectancy for God to work in more miraculous ways amongst the southbound team here in Peru!

Matt 21:21-22 -"I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but you also can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."