Bad News, Good News
Bad News, Good News, or Don’t Stand Near Me in a Storm
Please hang on and read ’til the end. I promise it gets better. As I began to prepare this letter I was sitting in the Lima airport waiting for our flight to the US to begin our furlough. It began with perfect weather in Cajamarca and a smooth loading into the airplane. But then things started to change. We get a notice from the pilot that they had to delay for “unscheduled maintenance”. That hour and a half delay caused us to miss our mid-day flight to Atlanta. Then, the airport in Lima couldn’t find our checked luggage for over two hours. The airline rescheduled us for an overnight flight. Next, the “system” went down in the airport, and they had to do everything by hand (chaos). Our overnight flight was also delayed an hour and a half. It was a long day with no sleep, but PTL we safely arrived in GA.
Speaking of furlough, a couple of years ago we spent a couple of months, trips to Lima for government paperwork, and hundreds of dollars to finally get our Permanent Resident Visas. These would allow us to “not” have our time out of the country restricted, permitting us to have a furlough to visit our supporting churches. Well, the Friday night before we left for furlough, we were told that the laws had changed “again” in Peru. We are still waiting to see how that will affect us, since no one knows for sure what changes were made. Please pray for good news.
A simple auto accident in Peru can turn into a whole-day ordeal. One day, on our way to buy groceries, Carla and I were driving on a main road. A truck pulled out of a side road, failing to stop (normal occurrence), and hit the back rear panel of our van causing minimal damage. Most of the time in this country the one at fault agrees to pay out-of-pocket for the damages. But since the truck belonged to a government office, the police had to be called for a report. Following standard Peruvian procedure, they impounded both vehicles, took us to the police department where an officer hand wrote a report, then single-finger typed it into a computer. When he finished, a supervisor completed some other forms. From there, both of us (drivers) were taken to a clinic for blood and breath tests for drugs and alcohol. If anyone is wondering, I passed both. From there, we returned to the police precinct where we signed more papers and were told that we could pick up our autos that evening from impound. The accident happened at 10:15am. We arrived home around 7pm that night. It was a long day that I have to say accomplished little since the at-fault driver never paid a dime to repair our van. But PTL, several people did receive Gospel tracts.
Another day in our mission life. Carla and I arrived for a conference about 17 hours down the coast where I had been asked to teach a large group pastors and church leaders. I took Carla to lunch at a traditional restaurant in the area. As I ate my plate of lamb, I broke a tooth completely in half on a shard of bone. The pastor in charge of the conference referred me to a “good” dentist who said the tooth needed to be extracted. I found out later he didn’t know the dentist but was a second-hand referral (probably a cousin). Good news, only $29 bill. Bad news, he broke the tooth next to it while extracting the broken one. And he “forgot” to tell me. I found it when I removed the gauze a few hours later. Good news? After returning to Cajamarca, I saw a “good dentist” (for real) and I am no longer “toofless”. I now have a bridge to fill the large gap left by the experience.
This year began with me preaching not TO but FOR the sick and afflicted. I preached for both of our churches for two weeks when one pastor had the flu, then kidney stones. Then the other pastor had to have knee injections and needed to restrict his standing/walking time. BUT, after preaching the first service of 2026, 15 yr old Leo, 16 yr old Valentina and 34 yr old Lia all asked Christ to be their Savior!
The last Sunday of 2025 our Calvario church voted to call “Assistant” Pastor Fredy as “Pastor”. I presented him to the church as “Pastor” on January 18. He is doing a great job.
We had VBS at the end of January with over 100 children in attendance. We are proud of our church people stepping up and doing a great job. Carla coordinated the event, but we had to be out of town for all but one day.
I don’t know if the crazy politics of Peru has been on the news in the US. Recently, the 8th president in 10 years or less was ousted. Corruption is rampant. I praise the Lord that WE have a KING that will never be ousted!
Several months ago, I mentioned two couples in our church who were living together but not married. I counseled with both. Soon after, I performed the wedding of one couple. We are so pleased to announce that the second couple, Ricardo and Fanny married on Feb. 11. Praise the Lord for those who submit to God’s will when sin is confronted.
Thank you all for your prayers and support. May God bless each of you!
* NEW PHOTO ALBUMS ON our WEBSITE!!! rich2peru.com
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
Salvation, Baptisms, Holidays and More
Salvation, Baptisms, Holidays and More
January 1, 2026
Carla and I would like to wish everyone a happy, healthy, and most importantly a God-filled New Year!
The last two months of 2025 were full of ministry and fellowship, and the Lord has been blessing. In November, we celebrated Thanksgiving in our home here in Peru. Each year we invite different families from our church to celebrate with us. This year we invited the first three families who were saved in our church over 20 years ago, our two national pastors, and one other family. There was a total of twenty-one around the table. We all gave reasons why we are thankful, then we prayed and enjoyed a great meal that Carla prepared. It was a great time of sweet fellowship.
Since our last prayer letter a young lady in our church, Pilar Sánchez received Christ as her Savior. She was baptized November 23. The two brothers, Jefferson and Denys, who received Christ in October were also baptized one week before on November 16. We are very happy to have them as new members of our Calvario church.
Our church in Mollepampa, Iglesia Bautista Ancla (Anchor Baptist) has seen some growth in numbers attending. One young lady named Margarita had received Christ a while back and was baptized on November 16. Missionary Darren Townsend and I preached a few times at “Ancla” in November to give Pastor Juan Carlos a break, something that all pastors need from time to time.
In the second week of October, Darren, Carla and I traveled to Iquitos, the jungle capital of Peru to present a Pastor’s Bible Conference. Each of the twenty pastors in attendance received Bibles and John/Romans booklets for their ministries. Before leaving, we took a small river boat up the Amazon River to Monkey Island, a place where rescued illegally captured monkeys are rehabilitated for release back into the wild. We also ate gator tail and venison at a restaurant near the river one night. Serving God is always a privilege and presents interesting opportunities to enjoy His creation. The week after we returned from the jungle, Darren and Rachel flew back to the US, awaiting the birth of their second child.
The Christmas season is always busy. This year we hosted a multi-church Christmas Kids program in our Calvario church. Four churches were represented as we had games, refreshments, teaching from the Word, and gifts were given to each child. On Sunday of Christmas week, we had a special service at our Ancla church and a cantata and drama at our Calvario church. The ladies Bible Study group also had a Christmas gathering. On Christmas Eve, Carla and I, along with a mother and son from our church took around 100 gifts and over 100 New Testaments and tracts to a pueblo in the mountains nearby. We began to pass them out to kids we saw on the side of the road. The road quickly filled with children and parents waiting to receive a gift. In just around 30 minutes, all the gifts were distributed and many happy faces thanked us for the blessing.
Bible Distribution Update: On November 1st we received our third container of Bibles for this year. This was the second container this year sent by Victory Baptist Press and makes a total of four containers of Bibles and other materials. Around two and a half containers have already been distributed, and we are busy shipping out cases each week. There has been a big demand for Bibles in the country of Bolivia. We have sent shipments there in the past and plan to be sending around 2000 more Bibles in the next two months.
FURLOUGH: We have been busy filling the calendar for our upcoming furlough. We have already heard back from many of our supporting churches and some new ones that asked us to come by. As I wrote before, this will be our first “full” furlough in 18 years because of past government restrictions. This time, we plan to be in the US for nine months instead of just two or four. We only have a few dates left. If your church would like for us to give an update, please call or email us so we can put you on the calendar.
ph: (GA) 678-921-5116 email: donrichperu@gmail.com
There are several NEW PHOTO ALBUMS on our WEBSITE!!!
Thank you all for your prayers and support. May God bless each of you as we enter 2026!
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
From Babies to Bibles, the Work Continues
November 1, 2025
Our Iglesia Bautista Ancla (Anchor Bapt) celebrated its 2nd anniversary services on the weekend of September 7th. The present church facility was too small for the event, so we rented a larger building around the corner. We had a great time with four other churches attending. Our assistant pastor Fredy of Calvario and I preached the services.
In mid-September, Carla and I traveled to Guanajuato, Mexico for a Bible Conference where I had the privilege to preach. We enjoyed meeting and hearing some great men of God preach the Word and speak on the privilege and importance of having the pure Word of God in Spanish. It was also a great encouragement to meet others who are involved in Bible distribution in other countries.
Pastor Juan Carlos of our Ancla (Anchor Bapt) church is a father once again. His wife Karen gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on September 19. The new addition was named Dania. The family is doing great and Karen is recovering well. Several ladies from our Calvario church have been teaching the kids’ classes for Karen until she feels ready to return to teaching. It is a blessing to see these ladies step up and be involved in the ministry in this way.
We were blessed with the visit of a mission group led by missionary Steve Harper for two weeks in October. While here, we traveled with them for over three hours back into the mountains to help a church without a pastor. Our group provided special teaching in a men’s meeting, a women’s meeting, and in a children’s class. We provided materials for evangelization and helped distribute them in the streets and businesses. We also participated in their Thursday night and Sunday services. It was an uplifting time for this struggling church, and we were blessed to be able to help. It was great to hear that after we left, they were already planning another evangelistic outreach with the materials we provided. Once back in Cajamarca, we also had a women’s meeting and children’s meeting at our Ancla church.
Our Calvario church recently had two brothers (18 and 23 yrs old) receive Christ as their Savior just one week apart. Denys and Jefferson are examples of how God is working and we praise His name for these souls.
Our Calvario church also continues to have monthly men’s meetings with good attendance by both younger and older men. At each meeting we enjoy good food and fellowship around the Word. What a great sound when the men are singing and praising the Lord together.
Bible Distribution Update: On October 18th we received our second container of Bibles for this year. This is in addition to the container of evangelistic materials we received in August. In this load, Bible & Literature Missionary Foundation (BLMF) sent us 29,000 Spanish Bibles. We have been busy delivering them in Peru and to other S. American countries. We will be receiving another 24,000 Bibles from Victory Baptist press in the coming weeks. There is such a need for pure Spanish Bibles, and we praise the Lord for these two ministries who are helping meet that need. Because of their efforts, hundreds of thousands of souls can have their own Bible and read God’s Word.
FURLOUGH – Our upcoming furlough was announced in our last letter. Since then, we have been filling the calendar. This will be our first full furlough in around 18 years. We will be in the US for 9 months. Missionary Darren Townsend will oversee the work here in Peru while we are in the US. If your church would like for us to give an update, please call or email us so we can put you on the calendar.
ph: (GA) 678-921-5116 email: donrichperu@gmail.com
Please take a look at several NEW PHOTO ALBUMS ON our WEBSITE!!!
May God bless each of you as we head into the holiday season,
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
Staying Busy & Furlough Announcement
Staying Busy & Furlough Announcement
September 1, 2025
Greetings from Cajamarca,
The 4th of July is more than a US holiday to us. It is also Carla’s birthday. We invited some of our church families and grilled out with all the “fixins”. We played games and had a great time of fellowship. During one of the games, Darren drew a picture to announce that they are expecting baby #2. It was comical as it took a while for several to realize what he drew and put the pieces together. We all had a good laugh and are happy for them.
Speaking of Independence Day, on the 28th of July, Peru celebrated 204 years of independence from Spanish rule. On Sunday the 27th we had a special church service with a time of the Word, snacks and games.
As we mentioned in our last letter, on July 15 Carla and I celebrated 22 years on the field in Peru. God has blessed me with the perfect helpmeet to do the work that He called us to. It is great to have her by my side and watch her use her spiritual gifts. We praise God for the honor to serve Him.
After all these years, God has allowed us to fulfill a long-awaited desire. That desire is to help other missionaries settle into the country and begin their ministry. In August, a team of nineteen from Mt Carmel, a church that supports missionaries Darren and Rachel Townsend, came for a week to visit and minister with us. We helped them prepare and serve since it was their first group, and they did a great job. The visiting team were such a blessing as we gave out thousands of Gospel tracts in the streets, at the animal market, and in the downtown farmer’s market. Pastor Kuykendall and another young man on the team preached while Darren translated at both of our churches.
Pastor Juan Carlos’ wife Karen is expecting their second child in the next few weeks. In mid-August Carla put together a beautiful baby shower for her and had a house full of friends attending. Karen was blessed with many gifts for the upcoming arrival.
On August 15-17, we celebrated the 20th Anniversary of our first church! We started on Friday with new missionary Darren preaching the first message. On Saturday assistant pastor Fredy preached. Then on Sunday I had the privilege to bring the final message 20 years after preaching the first messages in this church. We praise the Lord that the first three families that we started the church with are still active members. God has truly blessed. We also had visiting missionaries from Panama with us for the anniversary weekend.
Bible & material distribution Update: The container from WMBPS arrived on Aug. 17 and we unloaded it in our distribution center. In it were around a half-million Romans and Jn/Rom booklets and other materials. At one point during the unloading, it began to hail, but we were able to get it all stored. Victory Baptist Press is preparing to send us another container of around 25,000 Bibles in the next few weeks. AND another ministry (BLMF) is sending us a container of over 29,000 Bibles around the same time. That is the most we have ever received in one year!
Immediately after the anniversary celebration, Carla and I made a trip to Ecuador to deliver Bibles and tracts to missionaries there and to teach a three-hour class on the Spanish Bible. It was the first time crossing the border since customs officials tried to charge me a huge fine in 2023 for an eight-year-old error in their computer system. PTL, the work done by an Ecuadorian lawyer took care of the “corrupt government’s attempt to get money” (lawyer’s quote). It was a quick but blessed trip.
On August 23, twenty-eight-year-old Miguel Villarreal received Christ as Pastor Juan Carlos was out on visitation!
FURLOUGH – We are ready to announce our next stateside furlough. We will be visiting our supporting churches and others who would like for us to share what God is doing in Peru. We will be available beginning March 15th, 2026. We have not determined a return date to Peru yet, but we believe it will be around November or December. If your church would like us to give an update, please call or email us so we can put it on the calendar.
ph: (GA) 678-921-5116 email: donrichperu@gmail.com
Please take a look at several NEW PHOTO ALBUMS ON our WEBSITE!!!
May God bless each of you for your heart for missions,
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
Memories
Memories
July 1, 2025
Once again it has been a busy couple of months with no chance of slowing down any time soon. But it has also been a time of reflection on times past with special people and of God’s blessings through the years.
The month of May began with a trip to the US for physicals, family time, and to attend a wedding of someone very dear to Carla and me. We hope to plan a furlough for next year, Lord willing. We have had shortened furloughs in the past several years because of Covid, government restrictions, etc. But we are now able to plan a longer period to visit our supporting churches. We will be announcing more when we can find a window of opportunity.
Our churches enjoyed great Mother’s Day and Father’s Day services. Both days were days of great preaching from the Word, fellowship, music, and gifts for the parents.
We recently had a special “celebration of life” service to remember Pastor José. He was the pastor of our Calvario church who passed away a year ago in May. In Peru, as in other Latin American countries, it is a custom for family and friends to gather after a year to remember and celebrate the life of a lost loved one. It was a sweet time of special music, testimonies, a slide presentation, preaching, and a meal afterwards. José Zamora had pastored the church for almost sixteen years when he suddenly passed at the age of 67. He left behind a great testimony for his wife, three grown children, and the church he pastored. He was a soul winner and loved the Word of God and the sheep that he shepherded. The last time I was with Pastor José was when we went together to a local public school. He spoke at a morning gathering of all the students. Then we gave each student and teacher a John/Romans booklet which clearly explained God’s plan of salvation. What a great memory to have.
We have been able to have two men’s meetings in our home recently with good attendance. In each one a meal is served, then a message is brought. It is a great time of fellowship. Assistant Pastor Fredy is doing a great job in both the church services and special meetings such as these. The ladies have also had gatherings and special teaching.
On the 15th of this month, Carla and I will be celebrating 22 years on the field in Peru. It is hard to believe that it has been that long. As we look back at all that God has allowed us to accomplish, we are reminded of our fleeting time here on earth, and that there are still so many who are not ready for Christ’s return. Carla and I praise God for the privilege to serve Him.
We are also preparing for the 20-year anniversary of our first church! This will be celebrated in mid-August. As I prepare a PowerPoint presentation for the event, I am going through many thousands of pictures that we have taken over the years. Each one is a special memory of how God has blessed. We’ve seen so many saved and baptized. We’ve visited and preached in so many parts of Peru and other S. American countries. We’ve been able to get the Word of God into many thousands of hands and hearts. We are constantly amazed at how God allows us to be a part of what HE is doing here in Peru and across this continent.
Three more souls were saved recently. One was a young man in our youth group. Another was the rebellious teenage son of a family who are members of our church. Both received Christ as new missionary Darren and pastor Fredy witnessed to them. José, a man who visited our church last Sunday night received Christ as his Savior.
Bible Distribution Update: Victory Baptist Press is awaiting the cover stock so they can complete the next container of Bibles to be sent to us this year. Another printing ministry (WMBPS) just shipped us a container on June 27th with around a half-million Romans and Jn/Romans booklets for our distribution ministry. It should arrive here in August. AND another ministry is considering sending even more Bibles! More on that when we have more information. The WORD is going out and is much needed in these last days!
Please take a look at several NEW PHOTO ALBUMS on our WEBSITE!!!
May God bless each of you for your heart for missions,
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
It is all about God and his Word
It is all about God and his Word
Blessings to each of you who take the time to read our letters. We pray that they are a blessing and an encouragement. What you read about here would not be possible without your prayers and support.
In our last letter we shared that our latest shipment of Bibles and tracts had arrived at the port in Lima and that we were waiting for them to be released from customs. Praise the Lord, they arrived in Cajamarca on March 17. We quickly notified pastors and missionaries of the availability. In just 3 weeks all of the Bibles and most of the tracts had been promised to pastors for distribution in five different countries!
Just a week later, missionary Darren Townsend, brother Worth Johnson and I began a 13-day, 3000-mile trip. We traveled to the city of Tacna on the southern border with Chile. There we delivered 120 cases of Bibles to missionary James Pittman. He took them back into Chile to distribute to pastors and missionaries who need them there and in Argentina. I preached at a church in Tacna on Sunday, then on Monday, Darren and I taught a small group of pastors. From there we drove to the eastern border of Peru with Bolivia. This trip took us over the Andes Mountains to altitudes over 15,000 feet. At this location we delivered 80 cases of Bibles to around 45 pastors. There was a group of around 90 in attendance as we taught for around three and a half hours on the purity of God’s Word and the importance of having a pure translation.
God truly blessed. On our journey, we were able to drive by the ancient and mysterious Nazca Lines in the desert. We saw many alpacas, llamas, and vicuñas (cousin to the llama) in the mountains. For our first time ever, we saw Andean flamingos in a high mountain lake. We even enjoyed a meal of fried alpaca, dried black potatoes, and a white soup made of another type of potato. We went from the heat of the desert to, at one point, driving through snow in the Andes. We also experienced Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world. On our way back to Cajamarca we could see the “El Misti” volcano in the distance. God even blessed when many truckers staged a strike on the Pan-American highway, blocking traffic in either direction. We were able to find a desert road around the area and get back on our journey quickly.
On the Monday after Easter, it took around four hours for us to load, transport, and unload 8512 Bibles (608 cases) at the trucking company that we use. They delivered them to the Bolivian border for us. Two different groups of pastors will be picking them up. They will be busy distributing them to many pastors and missionaries in Bolivia. One group is on the west side of the country, the other on the east. We want to cover the country with the pure Word of God. His Word continues to go out!
Victory Baptist Press has already received another 43,624 lbs of paper and started printing our next load of Bibles just before the last load arrived in Peru. Those will be shipped to us later this year. Please pray for their ministry of printing God’s Word in many different languages. They constantly endure material shortages, price hikes, and delays.
We have received invitations and are making plans to visit Ecuador, Bolivia, and Iquitos (jungle capital of Peru) to teach national pastors and deliver Bibles in the coming months.
As the title to this letter states, “It is all about God and his Word.” Without it, all our efforts would be in vain. But He is faithful, and his Word is true and powerful. As we preach and teach, we continue to see God work in our churches. On March 9, I baptized Chelsie who recently received Christ in our Calvario church. On March 16, I was privileged to lead twelve-year-old Moisés Orrillo to the Lord. His parents joined our church the following Sunday. His fourteen-year-old sister Bereishit also asked to be baptized. We are planning their baptisms for June when their family and friends can be present. I preached at our Ancla (Anchor Baptist) church the Wednesday after Easter. At the invitation, fifty-year-old Fernando Dominguez received Christ as his Savior. God is blessing.
Please take a look at the NEW PHOTO ALBUMS on our WEBSITE!!!
May God bless each of you for your heart for missions,
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.