Baffled Doctors, Saved Souls, & Lawyers
Baffled Doctors, Saved Souls, & Lawyers
March 1, 2024
Hello from Peru!
Yes, I said Peru. It seemed like the medical tests would never end, but we are finally back in Cajamarca. To bring everyone up to date, after the battery of medical tests that I mentioned in our last prayer letter, I had appointments and tests with an ENT doctor, then was sent to a neurologist. The neurologist sent me for a spinal tap and more blood work. In the end, all results were in normal ranges. That is a blessing to know, and we are praising God. That said, the symptoms continue. With all the doctors baffled and nothing pinpointed, it was time to return and get back to work. We are glad to be back and have hit the ground running.
There is always ministry to be done wherever we find ourselves. While in the US, between doctor visits and tests we were busy in our home church. We enjoyed being involved in visitation, singing in the choir, teaching Sunday School, and preaching. Carla and I were also asked to sing at an elderly care facility where one of our church members lives. We put together a small group from our church and presented a program of music and gifts on Valentine’s Day. What a great time we had sharing scripture and singing hymns with the majority of the residents and workers there. The residents blessed us by their smiles and participation in singing and praising the Lord.
Upon returning to Peru, we settled in and began preparations for some visitors coming soon. We will share more about them in our next letter. We also will be hosting new missionaries Darren and Rachel Townsend for a few weeks. They plan to move to Peru later this year after the birth of their baby girl. Please be in prayer for them as they prepare for this blessing and for the transition to Peru.
In February our church, ‘Calvario’, had a five-day VBS with great attendance and 28 decisions for Christ that are being followed up on. Those making decisions ranged from 10-16 years of age. During a youth service recently, another young lady also accepted Christ as her Savior.
Our newest church, ‘Ancla’, is doing well. We have had one more saved in this church since our last letter. Now that we are back in Peru, we look forward to knocking on doors and doing all we can to help build up this new church. Please pray that we will see much fruit for our labor.
Back in November we wrote of a problem we experienced in entering Ecuador to deliver Bibles in October. Since then, we have been working to resolve it. As mentioned before, it stemmed from a simple piece of paper that was not entered into their system back in 2015, although I had completed all paperwork. The saga continues. In December of ’23, we received an official letter from customs officials stating that the fine, including eight years of penalties would be over $22,000. Yep, you read that right. Ridiculous, huh? In those eight years I was never notified that there was a supposed “infraction”. We contacted a group of lawyers in Ecuador who stated that this was just a “corrupt and abusive” government that is trying to get money from foreigners. They stated that the way it was handled was a violation of my rights as a foreigner in the country. The lawyers and I have been submitting documentation and should hear back in the first part of March with a decision. Please continue to pray that this will be resolved to our favor. We do not want the actions of a corrupt government to keep us from personally ministering in the future where several doors are open.
There is a photo album of the VBS on our website, rich2peru.com. Take a look and see how God is blessing!
As always, we would like to thank you for your faithful prayers and support of our ministry here in Peru. May God bless each of you!
Serving Him for you in Peru,
Don & Carla Rich
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