Celebrations and New Opportunities
 Celebrations and New Opportunities!
September 1, 2026
  July began with a double celebration. Carla’s birthday just happens to be on the 4th of July (Yes, I have a firecracker of a wife). This year we were able to celebrate the 250th year of our great country and celebrate my sweetheart at the same time. We were blessed to be at our daughter’s home that week. We enjoyed parades, fireworks, family and friends. The following week we were able to help out in their church’s VBS.
  As we announced in our last letter, on July15th Carla and I celebrated our 23rd year on the field in Peru. It has been amazing to be a part of what God has accomplished in that time. I had just turned 44 years old when we arrived on the field as missionaries. I always joke that God has blessed us so much because he knew how old I was and wanted to get something accomplished while there was still time. For whatever reason, we are beyond blessed to have been able to serve our Savior in this capacity for these many years. And I am so blessed to have Carla by my side as we serve, and I praise God for her. She is such a blessing to everyone she meets. Without her, her love for ministry, and her spiritual gift of hospitality, our ministry would not be the same. Â
  Furlough life continues with many blessings and some surprises, both good and bad. The leased van that we had the flywheel replaced on had another problem (running rough). The ministry we are leasing from saw that it wasn’t going to be a quick fix, so they delivered another van for us to drive. As we were arriving for a meeting in Virginia in the new van, a front wheel bearing began to cause vibrations and noise. We were blessed that some friends had already planned to meet us. They picked us up at the repair shop and dropped us off at the prophet’s chambers after supper. Then they took us back to the shop the next morning to pick it up. God is always in the details.Â
  Our Calvario church in Cajamarca celebrated its 21st anniversary in August. The pastor chose to make it a month-long celebration with meetings in homes each Friday, cleaning days at the church, and a central Sunday service for sharing testimonies, singing, preaching, and a special cake. Since our last prayer letter, there have been two more saved and two baptized! God continues to work! Â
Bible Ministry update: While on furlough, Bible distribution continues. I receive emailed requests from pastors and missionaries and am able to get shipping costs and schedule deliveries through internet messaging. Bro. Darren Townsend and a young man in our Cajamarca church are great at getting the shipments out quickly.
  I’d like to share a story with all of you that I couldn’t speak of until now. For the past several years, I have been blessed to be the point-of-contact for a man who found our ministry on the internet.  He asked me to keep him anonymous but to help him direct funds to ministries that would faithfully print the Spanish Bible for South America. For this letter, we’ll call him “D.P.”. Without mentioning amounts, let me just say that he has been very generous in helping fund the purchase of printing paper for a couple of different Bible printing ministries.  Our ministry has received many of the Bibles that he has helped fund. Our relationship also allowed me to help direct shipments to other missionaries in countries other than Peru.  Sadly, “D.P.” passed away last month. He included in his will for his trust fund to continue funding Bible printing. He now resides with the Author of the of Book he helped to print. Â
  We are excited to announce a new ministry opportunity that the Lord has laid on our hearts. We have been so blessed with the church building and facilities that God provided for our church in Peru. Through the years we have helped several national pastors who struggle to build or complete their church buildings because of finances.  That help has been minimal to cover things like doors, cement, or other items. We are now determined to be a bigger blessing to a few churches we know to help them complete their projects.  In our past letters, we mentioned missionary Cesar Quiroz. Our Cajamarca church has supported his deaf ministry on the coast for several years. His ministry includes a church and Christian school. We are now helping him to construct a second floor on his building for Sunday School and classrooms. This is the first project in this endeavor. Even before mentioning this to anyone, a pastor of a church we visited asked if we had any special projects that they could help with. God knows our hearts. We are moving ahead and are confident that He will provide as we follow his leading.Â
There are photos of the new ministry project and the anniversary meetings on our website, rich2peru.com.Â
May God bless each of you!
Don & Carla Rich
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