October Newsletter

Hello!
 

Here is a link to my October newsletter. Hope you enjoy, and thank you for your prayers!

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B76ndXiIqQBwN2MyNzllNDgtMGE1OC00MDI2LWE2NTgtNTZlZWQ1MWE5NTE5&hl=en

Heading in a different direction

Dear friends and family,

Apologies for the tardiness of this update! For those of you who have check this in the past couple months, you will realize this blog has become neglected. Due to the fact that internet is often scarce in the villages, I decided to place the majority of my efforts into creating a monthly newsletter that updates on what has happened the past month. I have found them an effective and unobtrusive way of keeping people in touch with what has been going on. Please email me at Rockchalkryan@gmail.com if you would like to receive these updates!

I had a bit of time off to recover during August from this past summer and was in Lima for the majority of my time (save a few days hiking the Inca Trail at Machu Picchu). That time of rest will be coming to an end this Sunday. I will be traveling out for a month to do research, heading out with Mandy Bush (L) and Jess Sorrell (R) to map out villages in the Apurimac region in southeastern Peru. Our goal will to find out as much as we can about the area, including services offered, population data, who the officials are in the area, and what the religious climate is to name a few things. The goal will to be able to sort through this research and determine which of these areas could benefit from having a church adopt the villages.

Mandy, Jess, and I will be traveling in one of the poorest regions of Peru. We will be going every day, taking buses, vans, livestock trucks, and when none of these can be found, setting out on foot. I would like you to ask for your prayers during these coming weeks. Please pray especially for safety in travel and that the Lord would guide us with His timing. Pray for our bodies to be refreshed each morning, as traveling for many hours each day can quickly wear one
down. Please pray for good team unity.

Your prayerful support is the essence of successful ministry and your efforts are the foundations of the Lord beginning a movement here. Thank you for your love, supportive emails, and updates during my time here in Peru.

Awaiting His Return,
Ryan Northup

P.S. Here is a link to the album from our time along the Inca Trail!
Enjoy http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2362281&id=16805052&l=47d6b8220a

New Assignments!

Hello all!
Here is the latest! I will be heading out to the town of Vilcas Huaman to train leadership there in a couple of the surrounding villages! My new team is composed of Cristen Nelson, a semester missionary, and Claudia Puente, a Peruvian national who has worked with REAP South a LONG time!

We will training three different men in different villages. Please be praying for Miguel, Lino, and Hector as we train them one on one in how to story the Bible. In addition, please pray for my team as we travel out tomorrow night for a loooong ride!

Here are the photo links for the past two months! Hope you enjoy them!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2320942&id=16805052&l=d7c91a8098
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2321108&id=16805052&l=c663ce9e90

Awaiting His Return,
Ryan

Heading Out

Hello friends and fam!

Tomorrow at noon, I will be leaving for the Andean mountain villages of southern Peru for two months to live and breathe the Quechua way. My partner Steve Reams (or "Remus") and I will be traveling about 23 hours to the Ayacucho region to work in villages around the town of Pausa.

Steve and I have been given the task of focusing our efforts for the next two months in the tiny "pueblo" of Aulla (population 125). The mayor of that town, Victor, is the leader of the group, so we will be evaluating the health of the church, teaching Victor and other leadership there, and encouraging them like Paul did with many of the New Testament churches. Our goal will be to have the church in Aulla start another indigenous church in the village of Pararca. Please pray for discernment for both Remus and I over the next two months as we evaluate our plan of action based on the circumstances that we find there.

Village life is going to be challenging, but it is one that I am looking forward to meeting. One motivation for taking this task over others was the opportunity it provided to be stretched in new directions, to be tested in new ways, to be put out of my comfort zone, to become consistently conscious of the people that we share this world with, and to grow in dependence upon the Lord. From the inevitable stomach issues to altitude sickness (we will be working anywhere from 8,000 to 12,000 feet), this is a new type of adventure that will continue throughout the next year and a half I will be in South America.

I will have internet access maybe once every two weeks, so check the blog every so often as I will send out prayer requests for the work the Lord is doing here!

I thank you for your prayers during this time as they are needed now more than ever.

Ryan

Transitions

This past week, the Lord has been teaching me about how He is in control of all things.

As many of you have been following, the Lord has blessed me with the incredible friendship of Nicolas Mølmen, a fellow student here in Antigua. Though we have known each other for a short time, our friendship has grown into a relationship I have with few others in terms of understanding and respecting one another. To put it another way, he "gets" me and I "get" him.

From my intellectual outlet to my social network, Nicolas has been a friend I was not expecting to find. While he does not believe in Jesus, Nicolas and I have had more conversations about faith, belief, my relationship with Christ, and his beliefs than I have ever had with any other friend. He has been an abundant blessing for me. Nicolas has a heart for service that is rarely seen in others as he is constantly seeking to serve those who have had less opportunities than himself. He saved the life of a member of the family he lived with here by paying for the surgery to remove her cancer, but he did not say a word about it until I asked him directly. His life is dedicated to self-betterment and service to others, and his perspective and passion for loving others is one I find sometimes lacking in the Christian community, including my own life. I have been able to learn much from my relationship with him, but also have been reminded of how much Christ is still the beginning and the completion of all good things. Please pray for Nicolas, as my heart literally hurts in the knowledge that he does not know the peace and assurance that I have in my life and that I know to be true.

Nicolas went back home to Norway this past Wednesday and it has been a difficult transition for me as so many of the places and experiences that have made Antigua so spectacular have been shared with him. I received an email from a very good friend the day Nicolas left and I share part of it with you:
"I believe that God brings wonderful people into my life for different reasons. And during really specific times that I needed that person. And even if it might not be the same again, I can really take comfort in knowing that they were with me to love me, to accept me, to laugh and cry with me, to model wisdom and understanding for me, to teach me, to discover with me things about myself, about life, about God. And that doesn't make the goodbye any easier, but in many ways, He shows me the relationships that matter and that are worth persevering in."

But the Lord continues to provide, even through a difficult transition. I have been blessed with the opportunity to volunteer in the ASSADE medical clinic about 30 minutes away from Antigua. The woman who started the clinic is named Maria Elena, a tiny little woman with short hair with a heart of gold. About five years ago, the mayor-ship in the province of Iztapa changed over, and the new leadership decided to cut off funding for medical services in the villages (there exists a lot of racism against the indigenous people here, particularly in the government). Maria Elena was working as a Physicians Assistant for the government, but she saw the need, quit her job, and with her own money and help from her sister Carmen and friends, she started ASSADE.

The clinic receives around 40 patients every day, and each visit costs 3 Quetzales, or the equivalent of about forty cents. Even this fee is usually waived. ASSADE also has a pharmacy that sells all of its products at cost to the locals. The clinic runs off of the donations of the citizens and off of Maria Elena and her sister Carmen's generosity. It is one of the most spectacular places I have ever worked in, as the intentions are so pure. The trust that most of the locals have in Maria Elena (she works as the doctor, as they currently have no physicians volunteering) is incredible to see, as they have a deep-rooted distrust of the healthcare system. The way she pours her time and efforts into loving this village are really encouraging to see, as it is another reminder that there are good, self-less people in the world. We have our Christmas party for the kids in the village this Tuesday, so we spent my past visit stuffing huge piñatas, putting candy into old medicine bottles and painting them Christmas colors, and putting up decorations. It is really great practice for my Spanish and a fantastic ministry opportunity that the Lord has blessed me with. If you would like to see more photos of ASSADE, or to read a better description of what they do, please visit their website (it is in English as well) http://assade.org/introduccion-en.html Even just an email for them letting them know you are praying for their ministry in San Andres would go a long way.

The Lord gives and He takes away, and I rejoice in the knowledge that it is all according to His plan. God took away Nicolas for now, but He brought me a new opportunity in ASSADE. Today, I rejoice in what I have. Today, I praise the Lord.

A Bit of My Life...

Hello All!

I'll be sending a newsletter out in a week or so, but I would like for you to share in a couple of the most important places to me in Antigua so you can continue to share in this journey!

On the right is my table at the school where all of the Spanish learning goes down with my teacher Mirian

The next is the local market where we buy everything for much cheaper than we would be able to find in the "foreigners" market.


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The photo below is a shot of the front of the gym many of us have a membership to. It is a great way to sweat off all of the Spanish we learned that morning.



These last two are of my favorite cafe. It is called "Y Tu Pina Tambien" (translation: "And Your Pineapple Too". It always has fresh flowers, great food, neat atmosphere, and they have the best coffee in Antigua!

I'll post again this weekend! The Lord is truly moving here!

Changing My Perspective

As a fairly stubborn person, I often have to check myself when I contemplate my relationship with Christ. My mindset is one that views the spiritually poor times as something I can fix or that I can personally improve on. The highs and lows of spiritual depth can be exhausting in their cadence, but the whole time, the Lord is whispering "Stop trying so hard to do something you were never intended to do."

In Andrew Murray's Abide in Christ, he admits that while we do give some moments to the Lord regardless of our circumstances, "... how little is needed to mar this peace, to bring a cloud over the soul. How my faith is shaken! Could I but understand that it is my very efforts that are the cause of my failures- because it is God alone who can establish me in Jesus Christ- I would see that just as in justification I had to cease from my own working and to accept by faith the promise that God will give me eternal life in Christ, so now in the manner of my sanctification, my first need is to cease striving myself to establish the connection with Christ more firmly and allow God to do it. The God of all grace, who hath called us in Jesus Christ, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you."

To be able with spiritual eyes to see people as Christ sees them and to love them the way that Christ loved them and loves them. Not to make that abiding relationship a routine or habit, but to live in the most joyful knowledge that it is the Gardener who keeps my relationship with Him and that I only need the faith to clam that promise daily for those fruits to become a reality.