November 7,  2007

If Road Miles were like Sky Miles…
 

Dear Pastors, Praying Friends, and Family,

Well, we have been home on furlough for just less than three months and already we have put several thousand miles on the van. The Lord has truly blessed our calendar with meetings. We have seen several of our supporting churches already and look forward to seeing many more in the coming months. We are also planning on being with some new churches to share the vision that the Lord has given us for our area of Peru.

Our schedule keeps us running and we are enjoying it. We are also trying to schedule in some down time just to rest and see family and friends. I am fitting in as much hunting as possible this fall. I truly enjoy the fellowship with my friends as we hit the woods in search of fresh venison. The Lord has been blessing our efforts. Next spring, I will be trying out the old rod and reel once again to see if the fish will bite.

The Lord has been so good and we have seen at least two souls saved in our meetings since we arrived. Several have made other decisions and/or renewed commitments to serve God. We look forward to what God is going to do in the remaining months before we leave in June to return to Peru.

Speaking of our home in Peru, we have been in contact with our national pastor and continue to hear good things about our church there. Among those, we hear that there are new visitors attending, a young couple getting married, and they just had a church picnic which was well attended. They are also getting ready for a Christmas cantata. We miss our home and church family in Peru. We have called a few of the members to encourage them while we are gone. It is exciting for them to receive a phone call from the states and we certainly enjoy talking to them.

Our daughter Christa is getting excited about finishing college next month. She is finishing four years of college in just three and a half years! We are very proud of her. She will return to graduate next May with her class. We are also enjoying being able to see our son Shawn who now is in management at a well-known furniture store chain. He is engaged and we are waiting for the date to be set.

Carla and I have been thinking about a ministry that we would like to expand when we return to Peru. We have five puppets now in our ministry. The kids and adults really enjoy them. We would like to acquire several more puppets and train teams in our church to do the puppetry for kids clubs, street presentations, etc. We have heard that some churches here in the states have had puppet programs in the past but don't use them much now. If there is any church who would consider donating puppets in good condition, we would be glad to give them a new life and ministry in Peru. Just let us know if this is a possibility.

Please keep us in your prayers as we travel in the next few months. We have many miles to go before June and several states to cover. I have also been invited to preach in Mexico next March. It will be our first time in that country. If we are not scheduled to be in your church as of yet, please contact us in GA at 678-921-5116. We would love to come by to show our presentation, preach, and/or sing.

Our next prayer letter will be in January so Carla and I would like to take this time to wish everyone a wonderfully blessed Thanksgiving, a Merry Christmas, and a very Happy and Prosperous New Year. May God continue to bless each of you for your hearts for souls. We will be seeing many of you soon!                                                                                          

Serving Him for You in Peru,

                                  Don & Carla Rich