You and I Both Need This

I came across a promo of Paul Tripp's new book, "Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy." It is a study of David's psalm of repentance, Psalm 51, spread out into 52 devotions.

Here is a video promo:

[HT]

Working on a New Blog

The benefit of being down with the flu and having a laptop that you can play with in bed is that you still get to have the illusion of being productive. Last Friday night at the end of my first 24 hours in bed, I had a bit of a creative bug. So, if you might be interested, I've started a new blog that doesn't have to do with ministry issues, more along the lines of my random thoughts about life and grace. You can find it here...

http://kicking-the-darkness.blogspot.com/



Enjoy.

Our Two Year Stint with the Coolest Mission in the World (IMHO)

The month of July marks the end of a two-year stint with Peru Mission. We have arrived at the difficult decision to shift gears in our life of ministry leaving behind a mission that we love dearly, and embracing a new challenge that we would never have dreamed of. We have accepted a new assignment on a new mission field- we’ll be moving from way down south in Peru, to way up north in Canada(!).

A brief summary: As we've thought about where we should invest ourselves in this next stage of life, we came up with 4 criteria: We wanted to be (1) in an important urban center; (2) near a major university; (3) in a post-modern / post-Christian context; (4) where the PCA (our church) is thin or non-existent. As we thought about the ways in which God has been shaping us and forming our thoughts along these criteria, I have accepted a call to be a part of a multi-site / multi-congregational church planting movement in Calgary, Alberta (we received a recommendation from Mission to North America’s Church Planting Assessment Center in June).

We looked at a handful of other options—including in our beloved home country of Texas—but none matched up with our desires like Calgary did. Calgary is (1) a beautiful city of over a million people with ~20,000 moving there every year; (2) home of the Univ. of Calgary—36,000 students; (3) post-modern and as several Canadian pastors have told me—very post-post-post Christian; (4) has only two PCA churches with about 200 people attending. In some major cities of Canada, over 40% of the people are atheist. Further, the fastest growing religious categories by rate of increase between 1991 and 2001 are Paganism (+281%), Native Spirituality (+175%) and Islam (+129%). Calgary needs the Gospel: only around 10-12% of the city attends a Christian church of any kind, and that number is shrinking rapidly.


We are excited and scared at the same time, feeling that this will be the biggest thing we've attempted to do for Christ's Kingdom to date. We have grown a lot, learned a ton, and we really feel like we are more prepared to do this now in ways that we wouldn't have been able to do several years ago. So we ask for your continued prayers.

So it's with a mixture of sadness (to be leaving such a fine mission and to be saying goodbye to our beloved Peruvian friends) and anticipation for continued use in the mission field. We are proud of what we have been able to accomplish here as well as the ways we've been able to serve Peru Mission. We couldn't have done it without the prayers and support of our friends around the world. Thank you.

The immediate future: We'll be moving back to our hometown of Bryan/College Station around mid-August to begin development for this new project.

Some of our supporters have asked us about continued support & partnership. The short answer: Yes! August will be our last month employed with Peru Mission, and then we will be in full-time fundraising mode for Calgary. There will be a few months gap until our mission board / paperwork, etc., are all in place to process gifts & receipts. We will keep you posted.

Thanks for being a part of our lives and the work of Christ’s kingdom. It is a privilege to be in this together with you.

Grace & Peace,
John & Heather Ferguson

Banff National Park, an hour outside of Calgary

New Students at UCV

Last night, we had a dozen students over from UCV, or Cesar Vallejo University. Our Peruvian campus minister, Gerardo, is working on an additional degree there and has to teach some courses as well. Through his influence there, we are gaining access to new students.


Please pray for these new students as we seek to enfold them into the campus ministry and as we seek ways to meaningfully speak the Gospel to them and through them to other students.

Conferences

Thank you all for praying for the conferences that we had with university students here in Trujillo and in Cajamarca.

Dr. David Doughty & Dr. Gary Whiting of Christopher Newport University came here to help us with our relationships with local universities by providing lectures in their areas of expertise (Doughty--Physics & Whiting--Ecology) as well as lectures on the relationship of science and faith.






We kept the men busy with lectures at the National University of Trujillo and Cesar Vallejo University in Trujillo, and then we bused 7 hours into the Andes mountains to connect with Dr. Alonzo Ramirez in our Cajamarca branch of Peru Mission. There, the professors gave lectures at the National University of Cajamarca as well as the local church. Throughout the week, these men spoke to crowds of upwards to 150 students and faculty. They were an amazing help to our ministry here in both enabling us to serve the universities and show that we take the universities seriously, as well as demonstrating that Christians can be scientists and leaders in their fields. As one student to Dr. Ramirez, the thinking among many Peruvians is that you cannot be a scientist and a Christian at the same time.

We had a little fun as well. In Cajamarca, we went hiking at Cumbe Mayo (a rare treat that we don't have the ability to do in Trujillo). Beautiful countryside. Here are some pics, but of course they don't do it any justice.









At the end of the week, Gerardo and I felt a little worse for wear, but we had a great time.



Thank you, Drs. Doughty & Whiting, for your service to our work here and for they way you demonstrated Christian integrity in your fields. Thanks to all the students who worked hard to make this possible, and thanks to all of you back in the states who prayed for the week. re

Guest Lectures at Local Universities

Wow, has it really been that long since I’ve blogged? I’m terribly sorry. Let me try to fill you in a bit.

After the whirlwind of the spring break trips, the month of April was a fairly normal, back to the nuts and bolts of ministry month. I was officially received into the Presbytery here (a long time in coming!), I taught our RUF large group meeting several times, preached in our church in Larco the week before our new pastor was installed, and participated in a number of our small groups while working on philosophy of ministry stuff with Gerardo, our campus ministry.

May was an interesting month. He had an unexpected trip back to Houston for the funeral of Heather’s brother. We also took our family on a vacation to Machu Picchu, now one of the official Seven Wonders of the World. It was amazing and you can see more about our trip on my wife’s blog. Now where preparing for a number of short term teams that will be coming in the next weeks.

Last year, Dr. Doughty taught to a standing-room-only @ UNT
Last year, Dr. David Doughty of Christopher Newport University came and assisted our ministry by giving several physics lectures at La Universidad Nacional de Trujillo, including an additional talk on “How a Physicist Sees God” at our university ministry. He is back again for another series of lectures, and this time he brought a colleague, Dr. Gary Whiting who will be giving some biology lectures as well. Both men will be speaking both at UNT and at La Universidad Cesar Vallejo under the auspices of our university ministry. Please be in prayer for us this week as we’ll head up to Cajamarca on Wednesday to do the same thing there with the Cajamarca branch of Peru Mission. I’ll post pictures and updates in the coming week.

Thanks SMU, OU, & Bama

Over the past two weeks, we had 50 folks from the RUF chapters of OU, SMU, & Alabama. You might be asking, what did the students think? I think this pic of some of the students from SMU perfectly captures the sentiments....



These RUF teams helped with demolition at the Larco church, conversation clubs at the National University, with SALI, and with our own university ministry. It was a great two weeks of fun, hard work, and great memories. Thank you for your time & your partnership with us.








Special thanks to Gerardo, Pablo, Anna, Elizabeth, Jose, Alberto, & Cesar who helped out with various facets of the conversation clubs.

Easter People in a World of Fridays

"Without Easter, Calvary was just another political execution of a failed Messiah. Without Easter, the world is trapped between the shoulder shrug of the cynic, the fantasy of the escapist, and the tanks of the the tyrant. Without Easter, there is no reason to suppose that good will triumph over evil, that love will win over hatred, that life will win over death. But with Easter we have hope; because hope depends on love; and love has become human and has died, and is alive for evermore, and holds the keys of Death and Hades. It is because of him that we know--we don't just hope, we know--that God will wipe away all tears from all eyes. And in that knowledge we find ourselves to be Sunday people, called to live in a world of Fridays. In that knowledge we know ourselves to be Easter people, called to minister to a world full of Calvary's. In that knowledge we find that the hand that dries our tears passes the cloth on to us, and bids us to follow him, to go to dry one another's tears. The Lamb calls us to follow him wherever he goes; into the dark places of the world, the dark places of our hearts, the places where tears blot out the sunlight....and he bids us shine his morning light into the darkness, and share his ministry of wiping away the tears. And as we worship, and adore, and follow the lamb, we join, already, in the song of Revelation 5.11-14, the song that one day the trees and the mountains and the whales and the waterfalls--the whold world, reborn on Easter morning--will sing with us:

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain...
to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength
and honour and glory and blessing!

To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honour and glory and power
forever and ever, Amen."

~ N. T. Wright, Following Jesus.

Here's to the Lamb & His continuing mission in & through us. Amen!

The Missional Grandma

Here's a great story about an elderly lady being all 'missional' while being robbed!

This just goes to show you that you don't need to go overseas to be a missionary!

HT: Common Grounds Online

SMU RUF visits RUF Peru & the Mission

This week we are honored to have the RUF group from SMU led by their campus minister, Chad Scruggs. Eighteen SMU Mustangs have made their way here to work alongside us in the work of the mission. Particularly, they are helping us in the construction project in our Larco church, our university ministry, and in our language school.

Here's a pic of Chad with some of our kids.
Today, we headed out to the National University to have our first of two conversation clubs. This is part of our continuing effort to serve the university and build good relationships there. In the past, we have sponsored lectures from university professors from the states in the Physics Department and in the Economics Department. This week we are working with the Language Department.


The idea is to provide English conversation clubs so that Peruvian students can practice their English (a much desired skill), but also so that they can get to know American university students and what it is like be university students in the states, and vice versa. We are also using this as an opportunity to invite students out to a special RUF meeting on Wednesday night where Chad Scruggs will preach and we'll hear testimonies from both Peruvian and American students.

Here are some photos of the events of the day.











This last picture is a pic of Dr. Temoche and me. He is the head of the department and was very excited to work with us and to receive us. He took pictures and even video with his cell phone! We were warmly received in more ways than one. The university students were very excited to get to practice their English and make friends, but our room was also 90+ degrees as well. Day Two tomorrow.

Please pray for the relationships that we are building both with the university students and the National University, that doors for the Gospel would be opened and remain open into the future. Pray especially for our meeting Wednesday night.

Pics from RUF

Here are some pics from a recent RUF meeting. We usually start of the meetings discussion some topic in small groups, generating thoughts and questions about the topic that will be addressed that night in the Bible study.

These are some of the faces of our people here. Enjoy!

Discipleship Group

Here's a pic of our small discipleship group that meets on Monday nights at 7pm. From left to right: Jennifer, John, Alicia, Donald, Juan, Martin, Rebecca, & Alan. We're working our way through a study of basic Bible doctrine. Last week, we looked at Genesis 1 and God's good creation. This week, we looked at man's condition and the salvation that is provided by God by grace through faith.

This study is led by a couple of our students, Donald & Juan. Please pray for them, the students, and me as we journey through this study seeking to root and ground these university students and others in the Gospel of Christ.

It's Hot!!!

There's no getting around it: It is HOT here! I came home a few weeks ago from RUF and entered my room. You can see from the photo that at 11:53pm, it was 84.6 degrees in our room. I know I'm a wimpy modern person and my grandparents did just fine without it, but I love my air conditioning and we don't have it here!

February / March is our August / September in the states. Even though Trujillo is the city of the eternal Spring, it does get quite toasty here, especially if you are in the sun. Our kids are enjoying visits to the local pool as they try to keep cool. I've never appreciated ice like I do now!

Anyway, just a thought for my friends who are enjoying cool / cold weather back home. I just talked with Chad Scruggs, the RUF Campus Minister from SMU who will be bringing a group of 18 students here on Saturday. He told me that Dallas had a layer of snow on the ground this morning.

I just can't believe it!

Bono's Challenge

Michael Patton over at Parchment & Pen has an interesting article on U2's frontman, Bono, and his charge against American Evangelicalism. The article analyze's the lyrics of "Crumbs from Your Table" off their album, "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb."

Here's the concluding thoughts: "Whether you agree or not with Bono’s assessment of America and the Evangelical church is a matter that is worthy of much discussion. At the very least, it should give us pause. This song provides a vivid understanding of how many in the emerging church and the postmodern world are frustrated with what they believe to be hypocrisy and neglect of important matters such as mercy, in favor of their “signs and wonders.” Bono’s enduring questions present themselves with much clarity: Is America a nation that can stand before God and say that they have done their part in coming to the aid of those in need? Is the church going to talk about “signs and wonders” or are they going to create a “wonder” from resources they already have, even if it is just the “crumbs from the table.”

McDonald's Comes to Trujillo

Our kids are excited about this.

"After ten years in the Peruvian market and with a $750 thousand investment, the US fast food chain McDonald’s inaugurated today its first restaurant outside of Lima (Peru's capital) located at Mall Aventura Plaza in the city of Trujillo (La Libertad)."

I guess what is interesting about this (other than our kids being excited about it) is what it says about Trujillo turning an economic corner. With two malls opening in the last six months, the arrival of Papa John's, KFC, & Pizza Hut, Trujillo is starting to have a bit of an economic boom. As many of you know, Trujillo is a city of around a million people--the third largest in Peru.

Says the general manager, “We have chosen Trujillo to open our fist restaurant outside of Lima because it is a city that has registered an impressive economic development thanks to the efforts made by its people and authorities”.

This restaurant "would create 80 new jobs and would offer the most complete McDonald’s restaurant with a playground (a children area with the familiar crawl-tube design with ball pits and slides), two dessert centers, a McCafé and two special rooms for birthday parties."

At any rate, FYI. I guess I'm a little excited too. I never thought I would be at a place in my life where I thought McD's hamburger's were real hamburger's--and would actually crave one, but in comparison to what passes for hamburgers around here, we're all lovin' it.