Introducing – Iglesia Bautista Calvario (Calvary Baptist) of Guadalupe!
Introducing – Iglesia Bautista Calvario (Calvary Baptist) of Guadalupe!
November 3, 2016
Greetings from the Andes Mountains of Peru! The end of the year is in sight, but slowing down is not an option. Once again, God has filled our calendar with His work to be accomplished.
In the first part of September, our church in Cajamarca held a married couples’ conference with thirteen couples attending. It was a great night of fellowship and learning from God’s Word of our responsibility to our spouse.
Also in September, pastor José baptized three between the ages of fourteen and thirty-five. The baptistry has been busy so far this year with a total of ten baptisms.
God continues to bless our church in Cajamarca with spiritual and numerical growth. We have seen seven more saved there in the month of October!
On Oct. 9, our Cajamarca church celebrated Pastor Appreciation Day. The church did a wonderful job honoring God by honoring His man in the pulpit. I (Don) had the privilege to preach for the occasion. There was special music, poems, gifts, a cake, and a wonderful skit performed by the youth entitled “The Pastor’s Shoes”. The pastor was humbled at the love shown by the church.
There is a reason that I continue to refer to “our church in Cajamarca” and “our Cajamarca church”. It is because we now have two churches, both named Calvario! On the weekend of October 16, we had the inauguration of our new church on the coast of Peru in a town called Guadalupe! We had a group of six from our Cajamarca church come to help in passing out tracts and cleaning the building on Thursday. The next morning, we took them out to the ocean about twenty minutes away to enjoy the sights and a nice breeze. On the way back, we had to dodge a three to four foot iguana that ran across the road! On Friday night, we presented a movie with our Mobile Unit in a nearby park to announce the opening of the church. Then on Saturday, we had an open house and had over fifty neighbors come in to visit with us in the church facility. Our first service was on Sunday morning. Pastor Juan Carlos did a great job preaching the Gospel. We had eleven visitors and five decisions were made for Christ that day! It was a great start and brought back memories of starting our church in Cajamarca over eleven years ago. We have now had three services and continue to see new faces each week. Pastor Juan Carlos and his wife Karen stay busy visiting, following up, and knocking on doors to help the church grow.
On November 1, Perú celebrated the pagan holiday called the “Day of the Dead”. Many go to the cemeteries on this day each year and sit next to gravesites of deceased loved ones. They bring food and drink for the deceased and pray to them for blessings, and also for curses on their enemies. On this day in both Cajamarca and Guadalupe, our pastors and several others from our churches passed out hundreds of Gospel tracts to those visiting the cemeteries.
Jungle Ministry – On our last furlough and in earlier prayer letters, we told of the translation work we are involved in in the jungle. The first three pastoral instructional books are now translated into the Awajun dialect and we are planning a pastoral training conference for 2017! Felino, our translator, is still working on other training books to be printed later. What a great open door to train jungle pastors!
Bible Ministry – As the requests for Bibles continue to arrive in my email and by phone, Victory Baptist Press is busy raising the funds to complete the new container of Bibles for shipment. They have over 77% of the funds needed. If you, your SS class, or church would like to help us in getting the Word out, please send all Bible printing support to:
BFSA P.O. Box 766 Milton, FL 32572. PLEASE make sure that all support for this project is sent with a note that it is for BIBLES FOR PERU. Their website is victorybaptistpress.com. Giving can be done online there also.
May God bless each of you for your prayers and support! * Don’t forget to take a look at the photos on our website! www.rich2peru.com
Serving Him for you in Peru,
Don & Carla Rich
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