Amazonian Wednesdays 🌴
Another share from our earlier years, this one from June 2002:
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This month I am excited to share with you about a new movement of unity in the Body of Christ that the Holy Spirit is starting in the city of Iquitos.
About two months ago, one of the bigger churches in Iquitos expressed a desire to hold a joint outreach event with the youth ministries of their church and our church working together. My brother-in-law thought to himself, “Why don’t we get more churches involved?” So he organized a meeting, to which youth pastors and leaders of seven churches came. Spontaneously, the group began to talk about a desire to build unity among the different churches represented. (Historically there has been a lot of relational tension between many different congregations and denominations in the city). In no time, that first meeting turned into a weekly meeting.
Rather than plan an outreach, the youth pastors and leaders meeting together decided that they needed to hold an event to build unity. They planned an all-night prayer/fellowship/worship meeting. In no more than three weeks after that very first meeting, the event was held. Eight hundred youth from twelve different churches came. In the air was an excitement about the new unity that was brewing.
A little over a month later, we held another joint meeting, this time in a Baptist church. At the first weekly meetings, a few Baptists came, as if to test the waters, since all the other churches represented were Pentecostal. Though the Baptists came cautiously at first, their hearts are wide open to the Pentecostals now. One of the Baptist youth ministries planned an outreach where they wanted to distribute notebooks in a very poor neighborhood, since it was the beginning of the school year.
Their own senior pastor did not have any funds to help them with, but our church came up with a hundred notebooks to help them in their effort. In a poor city, that was quite a big amount! Ever since then, the Baptists, sensing our love, have been exceedingly eager to keep working with us. There are twenty-two churches sending representatives to the weekly meetings now, and four of them are Baptist. We love and embrace our Baptist brothers and sisters, and are so glad that the Father is bringing us together.
Please undergird this new movement (now called “The Interdenominational Fraternity of Youth Reaching from Iquitos to the World,” a nice long Latino name) with your prayers. A few weeks ago, the group voted for my husband Israel to be their president. Israel was quite reluctant to assume that position, because he had strongly desired to work behind the scenes within the Fraternity in a servant position only. But the Lord confirmed to him that it was His will, and so he now is in a key leadership position within the Body of Christ in Iquitos. We need your prayers for wisdom and strength as we look to Him for guidance in carrying such a great responsibility. Also pray for intercession to be birthed in a strong way among the group. Thank you!!!
Feeding On Jesus 