Furlough in Full Swing

July 5, 2012

Pastors, family and friends,

   Hello from Georgia!  Whew!  We have been on actual furlough for two months and we have already traveled through ten states and driven thousands of miles.  Starting this weekend we will add a few more states to that and many more miles as we leave our home base for a few weeks this time.  God has blessed and our calendar is almost full until our planned departure date in March of next year.

   We were blessed to find the ministry of BMTM, based in Missouri, who rent vehicles to missionaries.  We flew to MO to pick up the van which has been running fine and is very comfortable.  PTL for ministries such as this who help missionaries with auto needs.

   I recently had a wonderful opportunity to preach at the church where I was saved 39 years ago in Woodland, AL.  What a blessing it was to see several families still attending and working in the ministry there.  It was there that my Christian walk began.  What an amazing journey God had planned even back then for a country boy like me.  He used my teen years at this church as a springboard to the ministry He was leading me to. Who would have known?

   God is blessing our furlough in other ways also.  We have seen many at the altars of the churches we are visiting.  Last week a teenage boy prayed to receive Christ as his Savior!  It is great to see the fruit of our labors.

   We are staying in contact with our national pastor in Peru who has assured us that the church continues to grow, even amidst the problems of the strikes against the gold mine in our area.  Attendance has been high and we have heard that several have been saved.

   The Bible distribution continues even though we are not physically in Peru.  We receive and handle all correspondence by email here in the US and we have a missionary friend who is handling the shipments for us.  It is a blessing to know that the Word of God is still being placed in the hands of those who need them.  We continue to get requests from missionaries and nationals in many countries throughout S. America.  Recently a shipment was sent to Columbia.

   Please be in prayer for the situation that continues in our area of Peru.  Just yesterday, the 4^th, another State of Emergency was declared after three individuals were killed, police officers injured from gun shots, and many others injured in confrontations over the strike against the new gold mine.  A new study showed that the mine will not cause environmental problems yet the locals, headed up by a former terrorist who wants to oust the president and take over, have stated that they will not stop until the mining company has been removed.  It is a sad and very volatile situation.

Furlough -  We have very few dates available.  I have contacted all supporting churches and have not heard back from some.  If you would like us to come by please contact us at don@rich2peru.com or 678-921-5116 to see if we have anything open in your area.

PLEASE HELP US BE GOOD STEWARDS: If you receive our printed letter, does your church have a good email address to receive it?  With churches reducing their support or having to stop support because of the economy, we want to do our part to make sure that every cent given for the work here is used wisely.  If you do ‘not’ have a constant and reliable email address that will work even through pastoral changes, we would rather send the prayer letter by US Mail so that you will always know what God is doing here in Peru.  Please write or call us at the above number if you can help.

May God bless you all for your faithful support of our ministry. 

Serving Him for You in Peru,

                                  Don & Carla Rich