May 18, 2022

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Dear Praying Friends, 

We thank God that you consistently pray for God's glory to be seen in, through, and around us. Thank you so much for your consistent encouragement. Thank you for praying with us about all the exciting details in this update!

Matthew 28:18–20 (NIV)
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always,
to the very end of the age.”

Disciple Making 2022: We thank God for working in our family! We are seeing more signs of spiritual growth and fruit in our girls. Alexia recently expressed a desire to be baptized. If God wills, she will be baptized on Sunday, May 29. There are also eight other people that have expressed a desire to be baptized. Please pray that they would take this important step of obedience and give public testimony that they are followers of Jesus. 

Psalm 127 (NIV)
Unless the Lord builds the house, 
the builders labor in vain. 
Unless the Lord watches over the city, 
the guards stand watch in vain. 
In vain you rise early 
and stay up late, 
toiling for food to eat— 
for he grants sleep to those he loves. 
Children are a heritage from the Lord, 
offspring a reward from him. 
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior 
are children born in one’s youth. 
Blessed is the man 
whose quiver is full of them. 
They will not be put to shame 
when they contend with their opponents in court.

 "And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring." Malachi 2.15b 
We thank the Lord for giving us a strong desire to teach our girls more about him every day. God has also given us a recent desire to glorify him by bringing more children up “in the training and instruction of the Lord.” God used that desire to cause us to pray specifically. We thank him that Kelly is now seven weeks pregnant. We thank him for the blessing and joy that he has brought to our family! The girls have had a ton of fun telling family and friends the good news.😊

​Kelly is now dealing with fatigue and constant nausea. We thank God for the grace and strength he provides through the trials of life. May we always look to him and depend on him. The girls and I are working together to take care of Mommy. We thank God for this opportunity to specifically teach our girls more about loving God and others and how God wants us to care for one another in the family.

Psalm 128 (NIV)
Blessed are all who fear the Lord, 
who walk in obedience to him. 
You will eat the fruit of your labor; 
blessings and prosperity will be yours. 
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine 
within your house; 
your children will be like olive shoots 
around your table. 
Yes, this will be the blessing 
for the man who fears the Lord. 
May the Lord bless you from Zion; 
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem 
all the days of your life. 
May you live to see your children’s children— 
peace be on Israel.

Disciple Making 2022: God allowed the class on Christology to finish well. What a privilege it is to teach people what the Bible says about Jesus Christ our wonderful Savior! An unsaved young man that lives near our church property attended the last few classes. That led to good conversations about the truth of the gospel and his need to repent and believe in Jesus Christ alone. Pray that he will soon come to repentant faith in Jesus.
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Pastor Daniel and I recently had a meeting with another missionary here in Puerto Maldonado to discuss and pray about the needs in the towns and tribal communities throughout this part of the country. We pray that God would give us clear direction as to how our church can be a help in making disciples in these places. We pray that God would give more people in the church the desire to participate in these gospel outreaches. We pray that God would provide consistent means of transportation to these places. Some of the villages are only accessible by river. Traveling by boat is expensive. We pray that God would lead us to specific people who will be greatly used by God to teach the Bible and make disciples in their communities.

Cultivating an appreciation for God's creation: ​May we never take for granted the opportunities that God gives us to go outside and enjoy the beauty of his creation. Just take a look around where you live. I'm sure you'll find many things to marvel at and many reasons to praise our all-powerful Creator.  

Genesis 1:24–25 (NIV)
And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Stateside ministry 2022-2023: We pray that God would give us clear direction about a trip to the USA in the coming months. We look forward to times of Christian fellowship with our partnering churches. We look forward to sharing specific details about how God is expanding his Kingdom here in Peru. We pray that God would use that time to strengthen those churches and raise up more faithful Christians and international disciple makers. We look forward to seeing how God will provide for our travel schedule, housing, transportation, Kelly’s pregnancy checkups, etc.

May we always be faithfully making disciples of Jesus. Thank you for praying for us. Please let us know how we can be praying for you. 

Jay 

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Jay & Kelly Cross
          Alexia, Isabel, Esther, Lilian, and Baby