January 1, 2007

2006 - WHAT A YEAR!!!

Dear Pastors, Praying Friends, and Family,

WOW!  Is it already 2007?  Looking back on this year is a blessing to behold.  God has accomplished so much and we are glad to be a part of it here in the Andes Mountains of Peru.

Carla and I have had the privilege of seeing several people saved this past year and several baptized.  We have seen spiritual growth in our church members.  A few have stepped forward to start training to be SS teachers and we have one 12 yr old boy who has an open heart and many questions about full-time ministry.

We celebrated our 1^st year anniversary of our first work and passed another milestone with our 100^th service.

We began construction in April on the first building on the property that God provided for us.  We had our first services in this building on Dec. 10!  Only eight months, start to finish!  We are now rent free and it is all to God’s glory!  

The first service in the new building was a great success with many visitors and a 74 year old man receiving Christ.  Salvador, which means “savior”, now has his own personal Savior. We had been praying for him for quite a while.  He is the father and grandfather of a family in our church.  They all wanted to see him saved and we were all concerned that he had hardened his heart.  I had spoken to him a couple of times and had told him that when he was ready to let me know.  With tears in his eyes, he was finally ready! 

For over a year we were the only Baptist missionaries living and working in our area of Peru.  In July, Shane Rice, a good friend and fellow missionary moved his family here.  We are helping him to start an in-home Bible study which he plans to use to start his first work in the capital city of Cajamarca.  Please pray for this new work.

Carla has stayed busy teaching the ladies and training Sunday School teachers.  She is a blessing and I am so happy to have such a wonderful wife and helper in the ministry that God has given us.  I have recently started a Bible study on “The Family” in our evening services.  It has been well attended and we have heard some good comments.  

Our New Years’ service 2007 was a good time of preaching, prayer, and fellowship.  We started the new year with a man getting saved twenty minutes after midnight.  He said he was on his way to party with some friends and dropped his cell phone in water.  The phone wouldn’t work so he couldn’t call his friends to meet up with them.  He decided to visit the church when he saw the lights on.   He left with Christ in his heart and a wonderful beginning of a new year.

What next?  God has given Carla and me a vision for this area in the Andes Mountains.  We would love to come to your church and share that vision.  We are planning on returning to the states in August, 2007 to begin our first furlough.  We will be available for meetings between Aug. 26, 2007 and June 25, 2008.   If you would like for us to come to your church during this time, please contact us so we can make plans to be with you.  We have a GA telephone number (Vonage) that rings here in Peru.  It is 678-921-5116.  Our email address is donrich@calvaryministries.org .  We look forward to sharing what God is doing through us in Peru along with our vision for the future.

There are at least six new photo albums on our web site.  Take a look!  See what your prayers and financial support are doing.  May God continue to bless each of you for your faithfulness in prayer and support of our mission here in Cajamarca, Peru.

STATESIDE:  Christa is now a senior in college.  Wow, that was fast!  She is cramming 4 yrs of college into 3 ½.  We are so proud of her.   Happy Birthday to our son Shawn who turned 24 on New Years Day!  We love and miss you son!

Serving Him for You in Peru,

                                  Don & Carla Rich