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
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