My address in Lima, Peru

Nick Jones
Calle San Carlos del Pinar 228 Dpto 401
UR Villa Jardin. San Luis. Lima. 30 Peru

Beard blog: Week 1

As you follow me along during my time in Peru, my new beard would also like to keep you posted of his time here as well. He will be posting a photo blog each week while he is in Peru to let all of you follow along on his progress. He hopes that it touches your heart in a very special way each time. Here is what he's got so far:

I made it!

Well, I made it safe and sound to Lima, Peru. I did have my first spanish test on the flight to Lima. With about two hours left in the flight, the older man (who only spoke Spanish) looked at me and said, "Ahora?" I got excited because I knew that he was asking me what time is was, but then I was sad because I didn't know how to tell him what time is was in Spanish...so I just showed him my watch and that was that. Haha. Jason and I got to his apartment here about two in the morning due to delayed flights, but all was well and I got a great nights sleep.

It is strange to be here in Peru and it be summertime. On the way to fly out of Atlanta, I saw snow flurries (not sure how to spell flurries haha), and a little over three weeks ago, I had no plans really to leave the country...and yet here I am. God has blown me away over the past three weeks at revealing to me His power and glory through providing for this trip and through the encouragement from friends. I'm a little nervous right now but I'm also very excited to see what the next three months have in store.
Not too much has happened so far, but don't worry there will be much to update about over the next many weeks. I am currently at the home of a missionary couple here in Lima. Jason and I spent the morning hanging out with them and talking a little about the current situation in Chincha, where we'll be heading to in a few days. There is much to be done there and we will do what we can through God's grace and power. Today, Jason is just going to show me around Lima, and we will head for Chincha sometime this weekend most likely.

Prayer concerns:
-that we go to God in prayer for everything
-that God alone leads for us
-that I would be able to pick up some Spanish quickly

Just to give you a little idea of what I'm going into...

The link below is from a man on The World Race (a one-year around-the-world trip through an organization called Adventures in Missions) who was recently in Chincha, Peru. It should give you an idea of the situation down there and some of the possible ministry that I'll be doing.

http://rustyjackson.theworldrace.org/index.asp?filename=video-tour-of-earthquake-damage

God is GOOD!

"...See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept My Word and have not denied My name."
Revelation 3:8

"...I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
Matthew 17:20

I want to thank all of you for the prayers you have lifted up for me during this journey of faith of going to Peru. I wanted to share with all of you how God has shown up mightily in all this lately. Throughout the entire process, my friend, Chuck McBryde, has told me on many occasions that he prayed that God would provide for the trip in a way that no one besides Him can take credit for. Well, this past weekend that prayer was answered in such a way that I still haven't been able to wrap my mind completely around it.

My flight leaves tomorrow, but as of Friday morning, all I had was literally a plane ticket and $25 from my Maw Maw for the entire three months in Peru. The strange thing about it was that I wasn't freaking out about it as I thought I should've been. There have been times during this whole thing that I wasn't sure when, where, or if the money would come. I prayed and believed that God would provide if it was in His will for me to go. There were those around me that question me about this trip because it was sudden and I needed a lot of money. I'm glad they did ask (whether they believed in me or not on this) because it caused me to seek God even harder. The more I seeked Him, the stronger I felt more than ever that this was His will for me. God has shown me through stories in the Bible and about old missionaries that in times like these is when God's glory is shown the greatest. This weekend, God showed His glory in a mighty way and provided in a way that I believe no one can take credit for. I would like to list it out to show you how God provided and to hopefully bless and encourage you as well:
1. Friday evening, I got $50 that a friend of my grandmother's dropped off at her house earlier that day.
2. Later that night, my dad gave me $85 that he had saved up.
3. Saturday afternoon, I got $50 from Raynor and another $100 from a good friend of hers and that friends family.
4. Around that same time, I received $100 from a friend from college/his church in Crystal Springs, MS.
5. Sunday after church, my sister sent me a text message telling me that the youth group from my church in McComb, MS, had taken up $400 in a love offering for me.

Just to recap, I went from a plane ticket and $25 to a plane ticket and $810 in less than 48 hours! I don't share this with all of you to say "Hey, look at what God did for ME!" but I tell you to say "Hey look at what GOD did!" There have been moments in my life where I have been blown away at how truly powerful and faithful God is. It is so strange how we so quickly forget how faithful God is to us and yet He still provides for us time and time again. How amazing would things be if we always remembered what God has done for us and continually sought after Him to see more and more of His glory? I have had to remind myself to not just sit back and relax since God has provided because I haven't even gone to Peru yet. Trusting for God to provide for this trip has been a big test of my faith, but there are going to be many many more tests of faith over the next three months. I can't slack up on the race that God has put me on but I need each one of you to do one thing for me...PRAY! Prayer and the faithfulness of God is what allowed me to go to Peru, and it's the only thing that is going to help me be the face of Christ while I'm there. I don't know what is going to happen when I'm there, but I know that I am going to need God's power and strength while I'm there. I will be sending updates periodically from time to time so that you will be able to share in God's faithfulness as result of your prayers and to be blessed and encouraged as God reveals Himself to me and the people of Chincha, Peru. Thank you so much again!

Running through open doors,
Nick

P.S.
I would like to give a special thanks to my parents, Amie, Nannie, Raynor, Sara Beth Pritchard, Lane Beasley, Ian McAnally, and the youth group of FBC McComb, MS.