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.
What a great beginning to 2025!
What a great beginning to 2025!
March 1, 2025
We want to begin this letter by giving God all the praise for what He has done in the first two months of this year.
As we wrote in our last letter, Missionaries Darren & Rachel Townsend arrived on New Years Eve with baby Julianne. They have been busy helping us in several aspects of our ministry as they get accustomed to living in Peru. Bro. Darren preached our first Wednesday night service for the year. They have already begun their carnet (green card) process, including a trip we made to the coast with them for an Interpol (International Police) visit.
On New Years Day our new assistant pastor Fredy Nuñez and his wife Merry arrived. They are settling in well and are a great help. Pastor Fredy has begun preaching a couple of services a week, including the youth meetings on Saturday. I continue to preach and teach the other services and will be gradually turning those over to him as we progress in his training.
On Jan. 11th I was privileged to perform the wedding of couple who had been living together for around 12 years and had 2 children! Yaqueline and Walter had come to me and said they wanted to make things right and have a good testimony for their kids. God continues to work and convict hearts!
Near miss! One Wednesday night, after the second hymn, one of our sound absorption panels at the front of the church fell from the ceiling. The couple that usually sit on the front row were strangely not at church. Pastor Fredy called them afterwards. They were absent because they thought it was Tuesday! Although it probably would not have struck them, it would have given them a good scare. We have since removed the other panels and are looking for better alternatives to the system.
In February we had a Creation Conference in our Calvario church. We passed out hundreds of invitations and Gospel tracts at a local university. We had three days of classes in the mornings and evenings. Our church was blessed and encouraged with the information they learned. One man and his disabled son came to each of the sessions. At the end, he stated that he had rededicated his life to Christ and wants to be a part of our church!
Back-to-back with the conference, we had 2 VBS’s. We don’t have VBS materials here, so the ladies of our church spent many hours creating their crafts, teaching materials, etc. They did a wonderful job, as you can see from the photos on our website. The first three-day VBS was at our Calvario church. It was well attended with around 70-80 kids. On the Sunday after, Sonia, a lady who brought kids to the VBS, attended our morning service. After the service Sonia RECIEVED CHRIST as her Savior! We also had other visitors who came as a result of this event. The second VBS was at our new work, Iglesia Bautista Ancla (Anchor Baptist). Several from Calvario came to help. It also was well attended with around 40 children each day. Several children came to church the following Sunday because of the VBS. Pastor Juan Carlos will be following up and visiting the families. Please pray for these efforts.
On February 24, a young lady in our church came with her dad to talk to me. She had some doubts and wanted to understand salvation and Biblical baptism. After some counseling, she RECEIVED CHRIST as her Savior in my office! We are scheduling her baptism in March. God continues to work!
BIBLE SHIPMENT UPDATE: In the past we wrote that we hoped to have the next container of Bibles and tracts by mid-January, but because of end-of-year scheduling problems for a container, that goal became unreachable. They finally arrived at the port in Lima this past Monday. We are hoping to have them here in Cajamarca within the next week or so. We have so many requests for Bibles and materials and will be starting distribution immediately.
As you see, our much-needed help arrived just in time. The rest of the year will also be very busy. Your prayers and support are much appreciated.
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.
A Busy Year Completed, What’s Next?
A Busy Year Completed, What’s Next?
January 1, 2025
Another year has passed, and an eventful one it was. We finished the last two months of 2024 with a flurry of activity. It was a blessing to see many souls saved this year and a total of 12 baptisms. One of those was just last Sunday. On top of that, we had many special activities.
For Thanksgiving we invited round 20 people from our churches come to celebrate with us. Carla prepared a great meal, and it was all gone at the end of the day. Peruvians of course do not celebrate our American holiday, but they enjoyed learning about it. Before the meal, each took turns giving thanks for how God had blessed them. It was a great time of fellowship.
It is always great to see our church members be used by the Lord. Around the middle of November, I taught again on soul winning. A couple of weeks after, one of our members visited her brother in Lima. She said she took the notes from the class and shared the Gospel with him. After four hours of sharing and answering questions, her brother Enrique prayed to receive Christ as his Savior!
In December, we had a “Singing on the Square”. We obtained permission from the city and a big group from our Calvario church gathered to sing Christmas music for a couple of hours. We passed out over 700 John/Romans booklets to people in the park as they passed by to listen. The next day, Sunday morning, a lady and her son visited and have begun attending our church!
The next weekend we set up our canopy and sound system in front of our other church, Iglesia Bautista Ancla (Anchor Baptist). As we sang, a group passed out tracts and invitations in the street. Again, God blessed our efforts. A neighbor family came to church that week and has begun attending. The next Wednesday night they had an attendance of 71 at their Christmas service!
On Thursday, December 12th, we drove for an hour and a half back into the mountains to a small village named Cumbico where we had obtained permission to have a Christmas Kids program. We did a drama, sang, had a chocolatada (sharing hot chocolate and fruit bread), and gave each of the 171 children in the school a Christmas gift. The school parents blessed us with a delicious meal afterwards that they cooked over an open fire. While eating, one of the teachers told us that they had been praying that God would provide a way for the kids to have gifts this Christmas. We praise the Lord for our supporters who took part in this answer to prayer by giving a special offering. It was a big blessing to this small community.
The following weekend we had a Christmas service for the youth in our Calvario church. We had teaching out of God’s Word, then we had some games for fellowship. To top it off, Carla grilled hamburgers that all enjoyed.
The next week, on December 19th, we visited a kindergarten in a small pueblo called Llacanora. One of our church members is the director and a teacher. She invited us to be part of their Christmas program. We provided a presentation for the kids, then Don preached the Word of God to the parents and teachers. Afterwards, the children sang for us and their parents. We were able to provide gifts for each of the children and gave John/Romans booklets and tracts to the adults.
On December 22, our Calvario church celebrated Christmas in both services, with the focus on the kids’ classes in the morning. That night we combined our two churches and had a service of musical praise and shared a meal. It was a blessing to have around 120 in attendance.
We are glad to announce that help has arrived! Missionaries Darren & Rachel Townsend, along with baby Julianne arrived yesterday to begin serving full-time here in Peru. They plan to work with us for at least their first year here as they settle in. Also, our new assistant pastor, Fredy, and his wife Merry are scheduled to arrive this evening and will begin training. 2025 will be another busy year!
* Please take a look at several NEW PHOTO ALBUMS on our WEBSITE, www.rich2peru.com.
Thank you for your faithful prayers and support,
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
Conferences, Souls, Baptisms, and the Search is Over
November 1, 2024
Time is flying! It is a joy to once again to share what God is doing in Peru. Carla and I believe you will see that we have been very busy.
In the first week of September, our newest work, Iglesia Bautista Ancla (Anchor Baptist), celebrated its 1st Anniversary! We had a special speaker and dinner on the grounds as we enjoyed some great fellowship around the Word of God. Since our last letter, there have been six souls saved in that work!
In mid-September we hosted a five-day International Bible Conference with seven countries represented: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, USA, Mexico, Chile, and Bolivia. There were around 40 pastors and missionaries in attendance. It was also the 20-year celebration of the Reina Valera Gómez Bible revision that we use and distribute in our ministry. God truly blessed the meetings with great teaching each morning and preaching in the evenings. We made a total of 15 trips to the airport to pick up and drop off those who arrived by airline, and we had others who came by bus. Two attendees missed their flight from Lima but were able to lead a soul to the Lord while waiting for their next flight. Three souls accepted Christ during the conference, including one while playing soccer during a break. A moto-taxi driver received Christ as his Savior after transporting some of our guests. And two more souls were saved as two of our guests visited a local village. A total of seven souls were saved as a result of the conference! God is at work. I’d like to also write that we are so proud of our church here who came together and helped this large undertaking run seamlessly. The setup, decorations, food prep, cooking and cleaning were all accomplished by Carla, our church members, and two of our guests (Kathy & Christina) who worked tirelessly to make this conference a success.
In a past prayer letter, I shared that I preached at a memorial service for one of our members. While there I was able to answer several questions for his grandson about salvation. The young man lives 14 hours away and I hadn’t heard from him since that service. Update: After three months I received a text from him stating that he had accepted Christ as his Savior!
In October we had a group from Harvest International Missions (H.I.M.) visit us for two weeks. Director Steve Harper brought his wife and two ladies from Panama and Venezuela. The first week, the ladies did a three-day children’s teachers training conference. The second weekend they did a one-day multi-church ladies meeting. During their stay we were also busy with other ministry activities. Bro. Steve preached a good message one Sunday with me translating.
We are getting good use of our baptistry. In the past two months we have baptized four more and we should be baptizing again soon. God is certainly moving in the hearts of souls.
ASSISTANT PASTOR SEARCH: After both of our candidates came and preached and answered questions, we took a few weeks to pray about each of them. I answered questions and listened intently to the opinions of our church members to see how the Lord was leading. Then, on Oct. 6th the church voted to call Fredy Nuñez as the assistant pastor. I called him and his wife Merry that afternoon. They were pleased to hear the news. We are now in the process of helping them plan their move from Arequipa, in southern Peru, to Cajamarca. Lord willing, they will be moving here the first week of January. Your prayers are appreciated during this transition.
BIBLE SHIPMENT UPDATE: We were hoping to have received a container of Bibles by this time. We were told that the order for the paper was misplaced and had to be re-submitted. This pushed the schedule back. We know that this was no surprise to our omniscient God. It will arrive in His timing. We are now expecting the container to be shipped in mid-December. We hope to have it here in January.
While the missions group was with us, we took a trip back into the mountains to visit a small village where I visited a few years ago and won some souls to Christ. I spoke with the school directors and discussed the possibility of delivering Christmas gifts to the school kids (300+/-) and presenting a program to teach about Christ this year. They were excited to hear that we would be willing to come. You, our supporters have been so generous in the past years’ Christmas programs. If you would like to help with the program this year, please send the support to our support agency, Central Missionary Clearinghouse.
* Please take a look at several NEW PHOTO ALBUMS on our WEBSITE, www.rich2peru.com.
Thank you for your prayers and support,
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
Bus Station Used to Transport a Soul! So Many Reasons to Celebrate!
September 1, 2024
When I had to return to our Calvario church to pastor, I told Carla that we wouldn’t have as much to write about in our prayer letters. Wrong! We didn’t have enough space last time to share all that God is doing!
In June we had a great youth Sunday. We invited Fredy Nuñez to preach for us. He had worked as a pastor with former missionary Shane Rice in our area years ago. God blessed the services with good messages and fellowship.
We started off great in July as 57-year-old Charo received Christ in her little store. This is the same small building where we started our church 19 yrs ago. I had the privilege of leading the landlord’s family to our Savior back then. Nora called me to say that she had been witnessing to her renter and wanted to know if I would come talk to her. Would I ?!?! We saw so many lives eternally changed in that little room when we started our church, and it continues to be a place where souls are saved! And what a blessing to know that our members are sharing Christ with others!
On July 15th, Carla and I celebrated 21 years as missionaries on the field in Peru. God has truly blessed our ministry, and we give him all the glory. As we get older, we are focused on Ps. 71:18, wanting to show God’s strength to this generation, and his power to everyone that is to come.
Pastor Juan Carlos of our Ancla church has been teaching a discipleship class at a bus station. The manager and a worker there attend our church. In July, 34-year-old Luis sat in on one of the classes and received Christ as his Savior! This is the bus station we use for shipping out many Bibles. God can use any place to get His Word out!
In August I received a call from a former member of our church whose family had moved away years ago. She said that her father now lived in our area and was going to visit our church. I greeted Carlos at the door when he arrived on Sunday morning. After the invitation, he told me how he wanted to get things right in his life. In the church office, 75-year-old Carlos received Christ in tears as he understood his need for a Savior.
The ladies of our Calvario church have been having prayer meetings and study groups over the past months. I joke with them that it seems they always have something going on. But I am so proud of this group who are growing in the knowledge of God’s Word and constantly praying for each other and our church family.
We had our Calvario church building re-painted recently. It was a big job but praise the Lord we have two painters in our church who were able to get it done, and it looks great. Afterwards, we had a church clean-up day to get ready for our church’s anniversary services.
In mid-August our first church, Calvario, celebrated its 19th anniversary with great attendance in the services. We presented a plaque on the entrance foyer wall in memory of Pastor José Zamora who passed away in May.
We have begun our pastor search for our Calvario church. We have two candidates so far. One of them is local. The other is from Arequipa, the first city I visited on a mission trip back in 2000. God used that trip to call Carla and I as missionaries to Peru. In mid-August Carla and I flew down to interview the candidate and speak to his pastor. It was great to stand again on the city square where I preached and won my first Peruvian soul to the Lord.
After the trip we set up the candidates to come two weeks apart to preach and allow the church to know them better. We planned two men’s meetings to give them both the opportunity to teach. They also taught Saturday youth meetings and preached both services on their respective Sunday. Please pray as we earnestly seek God’s will.
We are very busy preparing for our International Bible Conference in mid-September. We have missionaries and pastors coming from several countries. Please pray for this big event, that God will be glorified.
On August 18th, 15-year-old Jerico received Christ as his Savior and another man, Oscar, asked to join our church. God continues to work in these last days to draw souls to Himself.
* We have placed more photo albums on our website: rich2peru.com
Thank you for your prayers and support,
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.