Almost 10 years ago, a guy tried to kill me on a lonely highway somewhere in the Yukon Territory as I was riding a bicycle and preaching the Gospel to the top of Alaska. I was discouraged and ready to quit, parked at a gas station in the cold rain, and then went inside to buy a coffee from a girl with blue hair . . .

Why does the Church complicate the Great Commission? Why do missions and evangelism strategies have to be so complex, so “contextual,” and so accommodating to the world?

The Apostle Paul warned the Corinthian believers: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (II Corinthians 11:3).

Our last few days in Huaraz, Peru, the family and I explored up the Quebrada Honda, a high-altitude valley with some active and lot of abandoned silver and zinc mines that the tourists can't normally access. We were stopped at a gate, and the guards forbade us entry . . .

Recently Eric and I were “Whatsapp’ing” back and forth, he up in the Himalayas and I down in the Andes. Having just arrived in Leh, a very different culture on the world’s other major Hummus Trail for Isrseli backpackers, and after a busy summer with us down here in Huaraz, he mentioned: “When we first got here, it was hard. I was depressed and overwhelmed with what we had to do here alone.” Then, he followed up with something simple but profound . . .

We had just returned from a grueling 7-day, 70+ mile trekking circumnavigation of the Cordillera Huayhuash range in Central Peru, a route that involved 7 passes over 15,000 ft. in elevation, all higher than any mountain in the contiguous United States . . .

A short while back, Eric & Mindy met a young couple in a local coffee shop that had just arrived in Huaraz. The Source sandals were a clear sign that these were travelers from Israel. It wasn't much of a conversation, as these were folks of few words, but they did receive Gospel tracts and expressed gratitude for a casual dinner invitation . . .

My family and I just spent a little over 2 months in Bariloche, Argentina working with Eric & Mindy Trent to reach Israeli backpackers who typically frequent the area from January to April. Things did not go as we had anticipated, and there were some unforeseen trials. At one point, we simply couldn't wait to move north to Peru.

Thank you for your fervent prayers! The Lord graciously extended traveling mercies to me and my wife as we flew down to Lima, Peru and back to the field.

Thank you for your continued prayers for Mindy and me as we continue to labor here in South America. The past four weeks have been busy and very fruitful. Multiple Hebrew-English New Testaments have gone out to various guests, Gospel tracts have been distributed to hikers along various trekking routes around San Carlos de Bariloche, and we have had opportunity to open-air preach to the public.

Thank you all keeping Mindy and me in your prayers. We arrived in San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina on the last day of 2017. Immediately, we went to work . . .