A Cause for Celebration!
A Cause for Celebration!
July 1, 2017
First, let me highlight this letter with a great milestone in our lives and ministry. On April 23rd, Carla and I celebrated thirty-five years of marriage! What a blessing it has been to love and serve alongside each other for these many years, and we look forward to many more. Not enough has ever been said about the impact a godly wife has on a ministry. It is a joy to be married to someone who loves the Lord and serves Him with all her heart.
Speaking of Carla, in just three more days, on the 4th of July, she will be celebrating her ??th (I don’t have a death wish) birthday! She loves the holiday that is celebrated each year on her special day. We don’t get to celebrate it in our native country often, but she always has some red, white, and blue around to remind her of our homeland.
On the 15th of this month, Carla and I will be celebrating 14 years on the field as missionaries! We have seen God’s hand busily at work in our ministry in that time. What a privilege it is to serve such a wonderful God, who has provided our every need, watched over and protected us, and has enlarged our coast many times. We came to Peru with a desire to serve Him in whatever capacity that He would reveal to us. He has allowed us to train national pastors, plant two churches, help other missionaries start their own works, and encourage national pastors in existing works. We have seen many people saved and baptized, with several of those now serving God in the local church. We have been able to serve in the Andes mountains, the desert coastal region, and in the jungles of northern Peru. We’ve been blessed to serve as the distributors of the Spanish Bible throughout South America and have now delivered almost 75,000 Bibles into seven countries. We are always in amazement as to how God has provided, and what He has been able to accomplish through us in the time that we have been here.
Our coastal church in Guadalupe has started to see faithfulness in two families and several individuals. They are growing in the Word. One man stated that he has been a Christian for some time but has not been baptized. We will be taking care of that soon.
Our Cajamarca church will be celebrating their twelve-year anniversary in August. We will be sharing more on that in our next letter.
The Bible ministry has been going strong. We are very close to emptying the container of the almost 25,000 Bibles that we received in March. Each week, we receive more requests for ministries throughout S. America. I have contacted some missions agencies and a few missionaries in Venezuela and Uruguay and are waiting for their reply concerning getting Bibles into these countries. These are the only two S. American countries where, as yet, we have not sent Bibles. If you know of a Baptist pastor or missionary in either of these two countries who could benefit from our ministry, please let us know or have them contact us.
We have now completed the translation and formatting of seven doctrinal books from Spanish into the Awajun jungle dialect. We sent two of those books to the printer this week and will be setting up our first conference soon to teach the first book. Many jungle pastors are in dire need of solid, Biblical, doctrinal training. Since we have created these books in digital format, we will be able to provide them to any pastor or missionary working with the Aguaruna tribes, so that they can print as many as they need. Please pray that this work will help many advance their ministries.
As you can tell, we are staying very busy. For some time now, we have been praying for the Lord to send us a like-minded couple or family to come alongside of us in the ministry. There is still plenty to do and ministry doors continue to open. Please join with us in praying for God’s will in this prayer request. Who knows, it just may be you!
As a final note for celebration, we have had at least two more people saved in our church plants recently! Glory be to God!
Thank you for your continued prayers and support,
Don & Carla Rich
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