Do Grown Men Really Cry?

 

Dear Pastors, Praying Friends, and Family,

It’s that time again…  I feel like I am writing short stories for Reader’s Digest because there is so much to write and so little space.  I guess you just need to plan to come see us to understand all that God is doing here in Cajamarca, Peru!

We started the year with a Jubilee service where we sounded the shofar to proclaim a year where the slaves of sin will be set free and they will be able to claim their rightful inheritance in heaven!  (Leviticus 25)

One month after our 1^st baptismal service, several people were asking me when they could be baptized.   We planned another baptism for the next week and baptized 6.  Others saved in our services have asked when we will be baptizing again!

Since the new year has begun, I have preached on how God uses the bad times of our lives to help others and how God places us in different situations and locations to reach those around us.  On Jan. 22, before I preached, I gave our congregation of mostly new Christians an opportunity to give a testimony of how God had blessed them in the past year.  Around half of the congregation gave heartfelt testimonies as to how God had worked in their lives.  It was a sweet service.  For almost all, it was the first time they had ever given a testimony.  What an encouragement it was for them and for us.  At the end of the service, I encouraged them to practice using their testimony to reach others.  Then on Feb. 5, a visitor showed up early and said that he had met one of our members the day before and was talking to him about the family problems he had.  He just happened to talk to Alvaro, the man whose marriage was turned around by the grace of God!  He wanted the same victory in his family as Alvaro had.  After the service, I counseled with him about his problems and was privileged to lead him to the Lord.  He had tears in his eyes as he prayed to accept Christ and said that he wanted his family to come hear the truth of God’s Word.  Alvaro, the biggest guy in our church, came to me afterwards with tears also because God had used him in such a way to reach this man.  God always comes through!

We had a special Valentine’s (friends’ day) service on Feb. 12.  We presented those who had been baptized with nice certificates, had a special speaker, began using our newly printed hymnals, and began Bible drills for these new Christians who don’t know their way around the Bible.  Then the following week, we took a group of 14 from our church to a local open air cattle market to give them an opportunity to share the Gospel.  We passed out 568 John/Romans in less than 30 minutes.  We would love to return with a church group from the states.  Interested?  There were several thousand people there and we only touched the tip of the ice berg (or cow’s tail in this case).

Last week, we had our first VBS (or EBDV in Spanish).  It was a great success.  On Friday evening, it was standing room only when parents arrived for the last hour.  Our VBS coincided with the pagan week-long holiday of “Carnival”.  This gave the kids a good alternative to the drunken fiestas and heathen themes of the week.

With all that has been going on, we have placed 4 new photo albums on our website so you can see it for yourself.

Carla and I would like to thank everyone for your continued prayer for her mother, Deloris.  She was diagnosed the week of Christmas with stage four lung cancer.  She is undergoing treatments at this time.

Thanks to each of you for your continued prayers and support.  We pray that God will richly bless you for your help in reaching the lost souls of Peru.