Encounter with Darkness

I am writing today to tell of my close encounter with darkness this past week. The sins and the darkness that exists in this world are unbelievable. When you hear of the sins that people commit and their evil actions it makes your stomach turn. There are many people of this world that are so good at painting over this sin and pain and making everything seem "ok". But the truth is we are in a fallen and dying world. Everyday we walk past people that are separated from our Father and without Him they continue to stumble around in the darkness searching for meaning and significance in this world. They must come to the light of Christ or they will wander into even deeper darkness. This is a subject that I don't like to think about for it makes me so sad to think about those that are completely lost. To know that the majority of the people in this world will never go home to our Father. So a lot of the times I don't focus on the fate of a person that is without Christ. I would rather rejoice in my salvation and the comfort of knowing I will soon be gone from this world and be with the ones I love FOREVER! It is good to focus on these blessings that we have in Christ but we also must stop and think of others that are not one with God so we might be inclined to reach out and tell them the good news that we have received.
Last week I encountered someone that was very lost in sin and darkness. I left my house on Friday morning to go pray for a little while. When I got outside a lot of my neighbors were in the street and something was up. I walked over to my next door neighbor and asked her what was going on. She pointed across the street from us to the corner where there was someone laying on the ground groaning. She said that the person was drunk. All I could see was the person legs because he was behind a car. It sounded like a man's voice and since I could only see the legs I assumed it was a man. A minute or two later the person stood up and physically it looked like a woman. She was dirty from head to toe from the dirt on the street. I thought she was sick since she had such a deep voice. The person started trying to walk and kept running into walls. I asked my neighbor if we could do anything and she said: "I don't know". So I asked if we could pray for her. And so we prayed together for the drunk person. We then followed her because she was walking towards a busy intersection and we didn't want her to get hit. I said something to my neighbor about the drunk person being a woman and she stopped and said to me "you know that is not a woman but a man". It was a transsexual man that had been changed to look exactly like a woman.
And after hearing that in the past I would have casually walked away from that situation but God gave me strength to stick around. I told my neighbor that I was going to try and ask if I could give him anything. I crossed the street and got about half-way to the man when the desire to flee hit me. I thought to myself "I need to turn back this is not safe". But then God instantly reminded me of Heb 10:39 "we are not the ones who draw back". God did not promise me comfortable life but he did promised me comfort and that is what he gave me. What do I have to fear with my Father at my side? Absolutely nothing! I stopped about three feet from the man that was a good 6'2" (without the heels). I asked him if I could get him some water or coffee. As he turned around his eyes danced back and forth and I don't think I have ever seen a soul so visibly lost. He replied with "did I call you?". He then began to walk towards me. I repeated my question again and then he said: "did someone send you to me?". I said: "I don't understand". Then with heel in hand he raised his arm to me as if to hit me and then I turned and walked away.
The poor man's life was so sin infested. In his pursuit to fill the void of God he had become this thing that was neither man nor woman. His pursuit of his desires had carried him into the darkness of sin. I have never had so much pity for a transsexual. I thought about how years ago as a child he was pure in the sight of God. What happened to the boy that caused him to become this? Sin.... that's what happened. I had never looked into the eyes of someone and seen so much confusion. I was able to see in his eyes how lost you can get when you stray of the path. That day reminded me so much of my purpose of being here. I am here to serve and love but also to fight. Not to fight the sinful people but the darkness that is pulling them down. The enemy is pure evil and darkness is his home. But we have been saved by the light and been put on lampstands to shine into the darkness. Pray for my light and that it will not dim in this battle.
The team and I will be going to Ecuador for two weeks to renew our visas and for some time to get refreshed. I love you guys and sorry if this blog wasn't so encouraging. I just wanted to share this story that really impacted me. Have a good two weeks and I miss you mucho.

New Teammate

Big news for team Peru! As of last Tuesday we have a new team member. David Keith Dowell was born at 4:00 p.m. and weighs healthy six pounds (for all the moms reading this I know you want to know the stats). In the picture to the left is my missionary Paul looking at his first baby boy. Paul and Amy have two girls Helena(6) and Katelyn (3). We prayed with Paul the day before David was born and Paul said some very touching things. To hear a father pray "may you save his soul" pierced my heart. He also prayed "may you raise him to be a strong warrior in your army and fight the darkness". Those things really shows how Paul has an amazing perspective on life and what really matters. Please pray for baby David and the family's safety.

I also ask for prayers for another David here in Peru. Two weeks ago I started studying once a week with a member of the church that hadn't been coming very regularly. David is 27 and is the only member of his family in the church. It is a bible study but is focused on discipleship. I have never done any focused discipleship before this so it is a learning process for me. One thing about disciplining others is that you can easily get into the wrong mindset about who is the one that is teaching. God has shown me that I am not the teacher but only a brother who is directing the focus on the source of our power which is God and his word. It has been such a humbling experience studying with David. Something we have been studying these past weeks is worry and anxiety. So David tells me he struggles with worries and we begin to look up verses on peace and not worrying. And after going through all these verses David asks "what do you do"? And then it hit me that I have not been living out the same verses that I was showing him. God is doing just as much work in me as he is in him and I love it! I love that two brothers one American and one Peruvian can come together and read their Father's words and grow and be strengthened. I see so much potential for David to be a leader in the Church here. Please pray for him often because he is such a threat against the evil one that I am sure Satan will be attacking him in any way he can.

We have been planning for about a month to take the whole church in Lima to visit the church in Chincha. Chincha is one of the towns that was damaged by the earthquake over a month ago. We loaded up two charter buses on Sunday morning with all of the members from Lima for the three hour trip. Then met the members of Chincha in a park and a beautiful service together. There were 160 people worshipping together and it was awesome to see God bring us together as family in that moment. Even though it meant so much to me I know that it was more encouraging for those families that had been through so much. After worship we shared an amazing Peruvian meal and played soccer and volleyball. Before we left we distributed 12 care packages to 12 families. These packages will provide enough food for each family for a month. Being used by God to encourage and help others is such an amazing blessing. I feel like God is really using me here and that gives me so much strength. Pray that my heart will be completely devoted to him. Also please pray that I can learn this language. After trying to learn another language you realize why God used speaking in tongues in the first century to spread his word. Pray for me to have patience. I love you brothers and sisters and am strengthened by your love and support.

With love,

Brandon