Greetings
to all of you in the beautiful Name of Jesus. I hope that as you get this email
(letter?) you are enjoying the peace of Christ’s presence in the flurry of
finishing up the school year and getting ready for two months an a faraway
land. My name is Crystal and I am
currently living in Nauta, Peru – not far from where you’ll be living and
ministering in the time you’re here. I’ve been here for more than a year and know God has big plans for this
area of the world, just as He does for every tribe, nation and people with no
exception. I am excited for you to come
and share a bit of that vision with the people here – of God’s unbelievable
love for us and provision for reconciliation with Him.
As you get ready to come to the
Amazon, I want to share some of my heart with you and my heart for you. First
of all, I know that it is so easy to get caught up in what needs to be done
– there is so much it is overwhelming at times. But I want to remind you of what Jesus said to Martha about Mary –
“you are anxious and troubled about many things, but only one thing
is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away
from her.” (Luke 10:41-42). Don’t
forget to chose that one thing that IS Necessary in your day. The enemy has many tactics to steal, kill and
destroy what good gifts the Father of Lights would like to give us – and
busyness is one of them. Don’t give in! May you make time to seek God’s presence daily, to rejoice and be fed in
His word and to just sit at his feet and listen to Him. May Christ’s peace rest on you in this
preparation season.
That said, as you get ready to come
here to minister to the people and to one another, I would like to encourage
and exhort you to prepare your hearts as well as your backpacks in some
specific ways. It is my hope and prayer
that while we’re together, that you’ll be able to submit to one another in
love, and particularly to Jesse and to me as the leaders of the trip, trusting
that our hearts toward you are good and that we are seeking to serve you as we
follow God together, looking out for your best interests in the physical and
emotional, as well as in the spiritual realm. I as a leader, am excited about the great privilege and honor to get to
know you and to see where God is moving in your lives as well as in our
ministry here in Peru. May Christ be
glorified in how we as leaders serve you, and how you for your part can
trustingly submit to us in love.
I also encourage you to start
praying now for a sincere love for one another and for unity as a team. This is a miracle that comes from the same
Spirit in each of us, as we seek the mind of Christ for one another in love for
our Savior (read Ephesians 4:1-4, Philippians 2:1-9) May these passages be our prayer
for a not-at-all cheap grace with one another as we seek to receive one another
even as Christ has received us… different talents, personality traits,
differing backgrounds and quirks aside. The goal is not to tolerate, but to love one another even as Christ has
loved us. There are always those one or
two people that we have a hard time understanding and connecting with – may our
love not be measured by how well we love those easy to “click” with,
but by our determination to love those that we find most difficult to
understand. Psalm 133 carries with it a
promise that as we seek unity in Christ that God will send blessing and eternal
life. I don’t know about you, but those
alone are worth the struggle against my flesh for me in seeking a sincere unity
with my brothers and sisters :).
Lastly, I encourage you now to start
to pray for those people down here who need to know of the amazing Grace that
God has for them in Christ. Remember
that we have no reason to be ashamed of the gospel, as it is the power of God
for salvation for all who believe, and that God did not give us a Spirit of
fear, but one of power, love and a sound mind. Remember also that He promises that if you ask, you will receive, and if
you seek you will find. Let’s start asking
to see God glorified among the sick, the blind, the deaf, and most of all, the
ones still enslaved to sin here in this part of the Amazon region. Glory to His name!
I am looking forward to meeting each
of you, and am praying for you by name here in the jungle of Peru.
with
love and
Grace
and Peace to you in Christ,
Crystal
Reitsma
