Newsletters
Vacation? Not quite!
Vacation? Not quite!
May 1, 2018
Hello from the highways and byways of the good ole USA! In case you haven’t heard, furlough is “not” a vacation. We have been busy while visiting many of our supporting churches. Carla has taught or spoken at ladies’ meetings, children’s Sunday School classes, children’s church, and even cooked up some great gravy for breakfast at a recent mission conference we were attending. She also helps keep me alert while driving the many furlough miles. I have been privileged to preach and give an update on our ministry, teach Sunday School, go on visitation, etc. We have covered many miles and have already been in at least ten states. As I write this, we are preparing to leave tomorrow for two weeks, traveling from GA to VA, TN, TX, NM and plan to be back in GA for Mother’s Day.
We enjoy the times that we have in our home town, visiting with family and friends, and spoiling our grandchildren. It is not often, so we take advantage of every moment.
While out on the road, we enjoy the fellowship of our supporting churches. We have had the opportunity to see old friends and make new ones. We have stayed in hotels, prophets’ chambers, and in the homes of several sweet families. We also enjoy meeting other missionaries at mission conferences. One night after a service, we found ourselves in the church parking lot until eleven o’clock, talking with another missionary family. It is fun to swap stories and encourage others.
One of the friends we have been able to visit is one who has been to Peru several times. We met Bro. Charles many years ago while we were still in Lima taking language classes. After arriving in the US for this furlough, we learned that he had lost a leg and suffered many other injuries in a bad car accident earlier this year. We were blessed to visit with him and find him with an amazingly encouraging spirit. He still has a long road ahead in recovery but is very positive about it all. He is a blessing to all he meets.
There have also been changes while we’ve been on furlough. On Easter Sunday, our pastor of twenty-four years retired from the pastorate so that he could dedicate more time to his position as the director of the Calvary Children’s Home, which was started by his father back in 1966. Pastor Snyder Turner has been a blessing and encouragement to so many, including myself and my family. He has been a mentor and friend who has helped me tremendously in my ministry. Please join us in praying for him as he and Sis. Marsha start this next step in their ministry journey. Pastor Snyder will now also be available to preach at other churches. If you would like for a true man of God to come preach at your church, contact me and I will be glad to get you in touch with him.
With the retirement of our former pastor, our associate pastor, Rev. Justin Hayles, is now serving as interim of our home church. He has been doing a great job and we are looking forward to seeing how God will work through him in the coming months.
We are in contact with our Peruvian church pastors and are hearing good things as they are evangelizing their respective areas and continuing to see souls saved. There have been at least four souls who have been saved in our churches since our last prayer letter.
I was recently contacted by Victory Baptist Press and told that the next shipment of Bibles to us in Peru will probably be toward the end of this year. When we receive and distribute that container of Bibles, it will bring us to a total of 100,000 Bibles distributed in S. America. Please consider helping Victory Baptist Press/Bibles for South America. I continue to receive requests for Bibles weekly. The need is still great, and judging from the signs around us, our time is short. Help us get the “Word” out.
* We would appreciate your prayers for Carla. She is scheduled for an out-patient surgical procedure on June 4.
May God bless each of you for your prayers for us as we continue to travel.
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
It’s a Small World After All
“It’s a small world after all”
March 1, 2018
Hello from stateside USA! We are now in the US on a five-month furlough. We are enjoying visiting many of our supporting churches that we were unable to get to on our last furlough. We just arrived on Feb 2nd, and have already been to a few churches in GA, VA, and WV, including a great missions conference in TN. We are also enjoying being with family, friends, and our home church, when we are not on the road.
Before leaving Peru to begin our furlough, we were busy up to the last minute. We had two visitors from the US. A dear brother, Ken from North Carolina, came back to visit for his sixth time. It is always a pleasure to have him in our home. We also hosted Darren, a young man from Tennessee, who feels called to serve as a missionary to Peru. He is seeking God’s heart as to where in the country He would have him serve. We are praying for God’s will in this man’s life and ministry.
While our visitors were with us, they helped re-upholster the sound absorption boards in our Cajamarca church, and hang a new baptistry curtain. They also helped us with the VBS at our Guadalupe church on the coast, decorating, door knocking, serving, and cleaning. It was a three-day event, and we were blessed with over forty in attendance. Many of the children made decisions for Christ. God knows the hearts of each one. On Sunday, after the morning service, we drove down to the river and baptized Juliana, a young married lady in our church. Upon arriving back in Cajamarca, we also traveled with our guests back into the mountains about an hour from our home, where we saw more ministry opportunity and God’s beautiful creation.
The last week before we left for furlough, we held VBS at our Cajamarca church. It was a great time of teaching, singing, and fellowship, with over one hundred children in attendance. There were at least two decisions for Christ by two 12-year-old young ladies. I haven’t received the report from the other teachers as of this writing.
We have seen at least 5 others saved in our churches since our last prayer letter. God continues to bless and add to His church.
Jungle Ministry – We were able to complete two more doctrinal training books, having them translated into the native Awajun dialect, printed, and delivered just before we flew to the US. These bring us to a total of ten books that will help train pastors in the jungles of Peru, those who for so long have had little to nothing to study in their native dialect.
Bible Ministry – We were able to get more cases of Bibles to a missionary who is going to Uruguay. As we shared in our last prayer letter, we have now been able to get Bibles into all nine Spanish-speaking countries in S. America!
Being a missionary has helped us to understand just how small our world really is. When we started our newest church around three and a half hours away in Guadalupe, one of the first families that was won to the Lord was attending faithfully. We quickly learned that they had plans to move to Cajamarca, where we live. They have now moved and are attending our Cajamarca church. If we had not started the Guadalupe church, only God knows if we would have ever had the opportunity to minister to them.
As we are on furlough, we continue to ask for prayer that God would send us a like-minded family or couple to work with in Peru. We would appreciate your prayers and ask yourself if that might be you!
Thank you for your continued prayers and support,
Don & Carla Rich
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Only What is Done for Christ Will Last
“Only What is Done for Christ will Last”
January 1, 2018
Wow, I just typed the date for the first time in 2018! It is hard to believe that we are entering a new year. Time is going by so fast and there is still so much to do for our Lord. I am reminded of the quote by C.T. Studd, British missionary to China in the 19th century…“Only one life twill soon be past. Only what is done for Christ will last.”
Carla and I invited some Peruvian families from our church to help us celebrate Thanksgiving in our home. We had twenty persons in total. Carla cooked the turkey and all the fixin’s. She also baked some special deserts that were enjoyed by all. Everyone had a great time, and no one left hungry.
In December, we hosted a Youth Christmas Party in our home for the young folks of our Cajamarca church. We had teaching from God’s Word, food, and games. Twenty-eight youth, including several visitors attended. We were blessed to have six saved that evening. This makes a total of at least ten saved since our last prayer letter.
Jacky, a member of our Cajamarca church was married on December 21. The beautiful wedding ceremony was performed in our sanctuary. Carla volunteered to bake and decorate the wedding cake. She has always enjoyed baking, but this was her first attempt at a wedding cake. It turned out great! She always amazes me.
The next day, a long-time member of our church lost her son. Fernando David, ten years old, had suffered from severe cerebral palsy since birth. He recently was injured in a fall. Complications caused him to get pneumonia, after which he went to be with our Savior. Please be in prayer for Martina and her family. Her husband and oldest son are not believers. She has another son and daughter who are members of our church.
Carla and I spent Christmas at our Guadalupe church on the coast. We had great attendance in the Sunday morning service, then celebrated afterwards with hot chocolate, fruit bread, and gifts for the kids. It was a little odd to celebrate Christmas in 80+ degree weather, but we ‘suffered through it’. That evening, we enjoyed a Christmas meal with national pastor Juan Carlos and his family. They had been given a hen turkey from a church member. It was very fresh. I had to gut it and remove the feet and head. Being a hunter, I felt right at home, just like field dressing a deer… until I found an un-laid egg inside. That will be a fun Christmas memory to share.
Bible Ministry – In November, we were able to ship several cases of Bibles into Venezuela! God blessed, and we were informed that the Bibles arrived on schedule and in great condition! We are so glad to report that in December, we sent a handful of Bibles to a new missionary who was making a survey trip to Uruguay. He plans to be on the field after June of this year. We will be sending more when he has “boots on the ground”. With these deliveries, we have now been blessed to get Bibles into all nine Spanish-speaking countries in S. America! We continually receive requests for more from national pastors and missionaries. We are praying to receive another container of Bibles later this year to continue distribution. If you’d like to help, please send support to the printing ministry of “Bibles for South America” at PO Box 766, Milton, FL 32572. You can contact them at 850-384-4402 or email the director at jfellure@biblesforsouthamerica.com .
As we enter this new year, we are excited to have two guests coming this month. Then, in February, Carla and I will be headed to the US for a five-month furlough to visit many of our supporting churches. Carla and I are praying that this will be the year that God supplies a couple or family to work with us here in Peru.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support,
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
Committing to the Faithful
Committing to the Faithful! 2 Timothy 2:2
It has been another couple of busy months here in northern Peru, both in the mountains and in our work on the coast.
On October 15th, we celebrated the one-year anniversary of our work on the coast in Guadalupe. We took the opportunity on that weekend to help a small church in a neighboring city called San José de Moro. We were able to provide reading glasses to those who needed them. We then projected the movie “War Room” with our Mobile Unit in the street in front of the church. We had around fifty-five in attendance. The plan of salvation was presented, then I introduced the pastor of the local church. The pastor was encouraged as it helped attract attention to their church and ministry. The movie also taught a great biblical lesson to those in attendance.
Our Guadalupe church is beginning to see some growth in faithfulness, with several new visitors also. This past weekend, we celebrated Pastor Appreciation Day with a good group attending and some great fellowship. At the same time, our Cajamarca church was celebrating with the pastor there. Carla had baked some cupcakes that were decorated to look like little sheep to celebrate this event. Not baaaaahhhhhhd! They were enjoyed by all.
Both of our churches had soul winning/visitation days recently. There was a total of four saved during those efforts; three in Cajamarca and one in Guadalupe. In total, we have seen at least eleven saved recently between the two churches with ages ranging from 11 to 71 years old!
Bible Institute – Carla and I are so pleased to share with you that our first module of the Bible Institute has now been completed. We had great attendance in each of the seven two-hour classes as we delved into the Doctrine of Salvation. Each of the classes was filled with plenty of note taking, several good questions, and a great interest in God’s Word. We will be giving certificates of completion to twenty students who successfully completed the class, scoring well on each of their tests, were punctual, and were faithful in attendance. The certificate ceremony will be held next Sunday during our morning services. (We’ll post pictures on the website as soon as they are available.) The students are already asking for more classes! What a blessing to have people wanting to learn more about our God and His Word.
Bible Ministry– As we told you in our last letter, we now have a request to get Bibles into VENEZUELA. After having to work out some details, we will be shipping them next week. Please pray that these Bibles will arrive quickly and will reach the hands of those who need them. There is so much corruption and violence in that country. They, like so many others, urgently need the Gospel.
Jungle Ministry – We have told you about the six doctrinal training books that we had translated into the native Awajun dialect and printed for pastors in the jungles of Peru. We are still working on the last two books and hope to have them printed before the end of the year. Having done all this work on computer, we now have a digital file of the information should anyone else want to print it for training purposes. We made it available by email and have now distributed it to several national pastors and missionaries. The only prerequisite for receiving it is that it never be sold, only shared. Its purpose is to train those who for so long have had little to nothing in their dialect to study.
Furlough – Our plans are coming together well, with very few meetings open on our calendar. We have tried several times to reach each of the supporting churches that we weren’t able to see on our last short furlough. We are still waiting to hear back from a few of them. We look forward to seeing family and friends, and sharing what God has been doing here in Peru over the past several years. If your church would like for us to come, please contact us through email (donrichperu@gmail.com) or call us at 678-921-5116.
* “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few” Is God calling you?
Thank you for your continued prayers and support,
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
BUSY?!
Busy?! I may have to send this letter in a tiny font just to fit everything in!
As we mentioned in our last letter, on July 15th Carla and I celebrated 14 years on the field in Peru. Wow, how time flies when you enjoy what you are doing! I think a song we sing at church says it best. It is called “Anhelo Trabajar por el Señor”, which means “I deeply desire to work for the Lord”.
Near the end of July, I made one of our two recent trips to the jungle. On this trip, I took our national pastor in Guadalupe and two young men from our Cajamarca church. One of them has mentioned a desire to serve the Lord full time and is just praying for God to direct him. We delivered a total of 2800 Bibles to be shipped on a barge upstream to jungle pastors waiting their arrival.
On the weekend of August 11-13, our Cajamarca Church celebrated its 12-year anniversary! We were blessed with guests from at least 8 churches to help us celebrate! Our guest speaker, Pastor Dario Balcázar, and his family, taught a class on creation and dinosaurs. The ladies’ enjoyed a special meeting just for them. We received some solid preaching from the Word. We also enjoyed a church picnic with friendly (I think) competition in volleyball and soccer. Praise the Lord, we saw three souls saved and other decisions made!!! We have seen a total of five saved in our churches recently! God is still working!
On our second jungle trip, just last week Carla and I delivered the first six of the doctrinal books we had translated into the Awajun Indian dialect. The first two were used as we presented a pastor’s training conference. We also provided reading glasses for several pastors who needed them, and Bibles for all pastors and their congregations. The leader of the conference called afterwards to tell me how the pastors felt so blessed through this. * Remember, anyone who supports our ministry and/or prays for us has a big part in this and we truly appreciate you.
Bible Ministry- As I write this letter, we have just driven back from the Ecuador border, where we delivered over 500 Bibles to another missionary. He will be delivering them to several pastors in that country. Previously, we told you that Venezuela and Uruguay were the only two Spanish speaking countries in S. America where we have not provided Bibles. PTL! We now have a contact and request from VENEZUELA!!! We will be shipping them soon! AND, we now have either delivered or promised ALL the Bibles from this shipment!!! The container is empty once again! This time, it took only six months to get them all out.
Speaking of the Bibles, it is not often we get to see or hear from those who receive them. Recently we were blessed to hear from a few, first-hand. While in the pastoral training conference in the jungle, it was a blessing to see their faces full of gratitude and hear them praise the Lord for the blessings they received. Also, in another town and church, we were introduced to a young man who received his first Bible 4 yrs ago (from our 1st container). It was one of several that we had sent to a church to help with their ministry. That young man has now been called to preach! He is active in open-air evangelism and other ministries of his church. We visited another church this week that has received Bibles. The pastor and congregation were very grateful for the difference it has made in their ministries.
PTL! On August 27, we had our first two baptisms at our new church on the coast! Bro. Hector and his son Mateo entered the baptismal waters as our first official church “members”. I thought it was great that we performed the baptisms below the “Puente Libertad (Liberty Bridge)”. I told the church about an English song that tells how Jesus built a bridge with only 3 nails and 2 pieces of wood “With one rugged cross, Jesus built a bridge”. That bridge gave us liberty! (Pics of this and other activities listed here are on our website)
We are now actively planning our next furlough for February thru July 2018. I have already been contacting the supporting churches that we weren’t able to visit on our last furlough. As we’ve explained, the laws have changed in Peru, only allowing us short furloughs. Therefore, we must visit some on one furlough and the rest on the next. If your church would like for us to come, please contact us through email (donrichperu@gmail.com) or call us at 678-921-5116. The calendar is filling quickly!
* Some short but heart-felt parting words… Help wanted! Is God calling you?
Thank you for your continued prayers and support,
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
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
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
His Word Will Not Return Void!
His Word Will Not Return Void!
May 1, 2017
Greetings from Cajamarca, Guadalupe, and a few other places,
Carla and I are excited to share with you how God has blessed these past two months. The first week of March, our Cajamarca church presented VBS to a large group of kids, along with a class for parents. We were blessed with 23, including both kids and adults, who made public decisions for Christ! There have also been three others saved in our church recently and three baptized! God continues to grow His church!
Much of the country, especially the coastal region suffered great loss in property and lives during unprecedented flooding. The desert coastal area normally receives about one to two inches of rain per year, so they were unprepared for the deluge. There were mud and rock slides, homes, businesses, roads, and bridges destroyed, and several lives lost. Our Guadalupe church, on the coast, had water seep in but was not damaged, and the pastor and his family fared well also. Our Cajamarca church pitched in to help some in the affected areas who had lost so much.
Carla and I were privileged to make a three-country trip to distribute Bibles. Our friend Worth Johnson came to travel with us from North Carolina. We felt God’s protection as we drove approximately 7000 miles and delivered 2800 Bibles. We were able to meet and personally deliver Bibles to five missionaries. One of those, missionary James Pittman’s ministry, will now serve as our new distribution point for Chile. We crossed mountains, drove for days through the Atacama Desert (the most arid desert in the world) and saw the amazing beauty of God’s creation. We encountered llama, alpaca, vicuña, horses, goats, a fox, and some interesting large birds. We also saw ancient hieroglyphics in the deserts of Chile and Peru.
After delivering Bibles to pastors in Bolivia, one of them contacted me. He told me how, on their bus ride back to their church, they won three ladies to the Lord and gave them Bibles to grow in their faith.
We entered Argentina and smuggled several Bibles across to two missionaries there. The border officials give them a hard time when they try to bring Bibles into the country, even though they have applied for paperwork to allow it.
At the Chilean border crossing, I had the opportunity to witness to a truck driver and others who were listening. The driver and the owner of their company volunteered to help us as we encountered problems entering the country with a truck load of Bibles. The owner, a Christian, even drove me to the next town when I realized that our bank cards and credit cards had been blocked for use out of country, although I had notified my credit card company ahead of time. It is too long of a story to tell here, but suffice it to say, God supplied these two men at just the right time to help us get the Bibles in. He is always on time!
We delivered some of the Bibles to missionary Nate Saint in Chile. In a recent prayer letter, he said that during a Bible study with a lady named Cecilia and her family… “She was absolutely thrilled” to receive her first Bible. It is great to hear how God is already using His Word as it is made available to many who have never had a Bible.
While in Chile, a Peruvian national, working as a missionary in southern Chile, left a message on our truck. He had seen the Peru truck tag and our church logo and wanted to contact us. Long story short, he will now be receiving Bibles for his ministry! Coincidence? Nope.
We have so many more stories that we could tell, but no space to tell it. Please take a look at our website photo album of the trip to get a small idea of what we saw and how God blessed.
As of this writing, we have already delivered over one-third of the Bibles that we recently received. It appears that they will be distributed quickly, as we continue to receive requests in Peru and other S. American countries.
MINISTRY OPPORTUNITY! Calvary Children’s Home in Powder Springs, GA is needing a good Christian couple to serve as house parents. The home was started by our pastor’s father 50 years ago. Our pastor, Rev. Snyder Turner, is the current administrator. If you or someone you know are interested, please contact him: s.turner@calvarykids.org
Thank you for your continued prayers and support,
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
God’s Protecting Hand and the Bibles Have Arrived!
Hello from the beautiful Andes Mountains,
We’ve been off and running in the first two months of the new year, with no signs of slowing down. I think that you will see that God has been blessing.
On January 11-16th, we took twelve of the youth from our Cajamarca church on a mission trip. We traveled to Guadalupe to help our new church on the coast with its first VBS. Our youth passed out tracts and invitations in the city, decorated, cleaned, sang, performed skits, and taught classes. They did a great job and we had 7 decisions for Christ as a result! Two of our young men gave devotionals in the evenings. These youths are our future leaders-in-training and it appears that the church will be in good hands.
On Sunday night after VBS we used the Mobile Unit in the street next to the church to show a Christian movie. We had around forty-five in attendance. Two adults made decisions for Christ that night!
We also had nine souls saved at our Cajamarca church in the past two months for a total of 17 between the two churches!
Our Guadalupe church is seeing growth. We have one young family and several adults who have become faithful. We are also seeing more kids excited about church and even coming early to each service! What a joy it is to hear them outside playing before the services and singing songs they learned in church. On February 5th, we inaugurated our first evening service. There were nineteen in attendance. That morning, we had 37 in the pews!
BIBLE Ministry update – The Bibles arrived here in Cajamarca on March 1! As of this writing, we have already delivered 120 cases (1680 Bibles) to pastors and missionaries who have been waiting. We continue to receive requests daily. Carla and I leave tomorrow, March 4th, on a trip to deliver 2800 Bibles to pastors and missionaries in Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. Please pray for us as we travel thousands of miles delivering the Word.
This ministry has grown so much. Within a week of announcing that the Bibles were on their way, we received requests from Peru, Columbia, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Mexico. Some of these are not even in S. America and we had to refer them to other ministries for their needs. God is getting His Word out!
JUNGLE Ministry update – We now have 6 books translated into the Awajun dialect and formatted for printing and we are planning a training conference in the month of July for many jungle pastors.
God’s hand of protection is ever with us. Every weekend, Carla and I drive to the coast to our new church and return on Monday morning to Cajamarca. There are only 2 ways to enter Cajamarca. One bypasses the city (our normal route) and the other takes you directly into the city. This past Monday, we returned as normal, but we had the national pastor with us who needed to see a dentist here in the city. Because of that, we chose the other route. We learned later that at the very moment that we “would have been” on the other road, there was a tragic accident involving around 8 vehicles resulting in 4 deaths. Carla and I would like to say ‘THANK YOU’, first to God, then to all of you who pray for us. You will never know how much your prayers for us are appreciated as we constantly travel for our ministry. We covet your prayers for safety and wisdom. May God bless each of you who remember us in your prayers.
As you can tell from our letters, we are very busy, and there is still much to do. We are still praying that God would send a like-minded family to work alongside of us here in Peru. Please help us pray for God’s provision.
Serving Him for you in Peru,
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
Finishing Strong in 2016
Finishing Strong in 2016
January 3, 2017
Greetings and blessings to each of you,
As we finish out 2016 and begin the adventure that will be 2017, Carla and I have been traveling back and forth between our two churches. Each week we are experiencing a difference of around 9000 feet in altitude, and the stark difference between a dry hot desert and the seasonal cool rain of the Andes Mountains. As we make the drive, we enjoy seeing God’s creation from the rice, corn, and cane fields of the coast, to hillside farming, interesting rock formations, mango plantations, eucalyptus tree farming, plenty of farm animals, and even an occasional tarantula in the road. Life is anything but dull as we close last year’s chapter of our ministry and look forward to what God has in store for us in the new year.
Our men’s meetings have been going well with a good attendance at each in the months of November and December. It is encouraging to have several of the young single men of our church faithfully attending these meetings also. These future leaders of our church and of their own families will have a solid foundation.
We praise the Lord for three more souls which were saved in our ministry. Two were saved at our Cajamarca church. Also, I had the privilege of leading a 68-year-old man to the Lord during visitation in Guadalupe.
In November, our Cajamarca church took on its first missionary, a young family working in Pachacutec near the capital city of Lima. It is great to see the growth of our church with a heart for missions.
On December 5th, we watched the celebration of the Virgen of Guadalupe, for which the city is named. It was sad as we witnessed different ones singing and reciting a poem to “the image”. People were kneeling, praying for blessings from it, crying as they touched and kissed the idol. They paraded for hours through town. Then they made their way to an entrance to a larger image on the mountain. They walked up hundreds of steps, with up to sixteen persons at a time carrying the heavy image on a wooden platform. We couldn’t help but remember Psalm 115, where the scriptures warn of worshipping idols with eyes that do not see, ears that do not hear, hands that cannot touch or help, and must be carried. We passed out many Gospel tracts to the large crowd that day.
Thanksgiving in Peru – Carla and I invited five families from our Cajamarca church and two other visitors to experience the joy of our American tradition in our home. We all thanked God for the privilege to serve Him.
We had a great first Christmas service in our new church. We had 33 in attendance in Guadalupe! Lidia, a lady that told me in September, “I want to go to your church” finally did! She showed up for Christmas and brought someone with her! We celebrated with the traditional “chocolatada” (fruit bread and hot chocolate) and gifts to the kids. It was a great time of fellowship.
We have mentioned this before, so bear with us as we share again this prayer request. Since the other missionaries in our area left a couple of years ago, we have been praying for God to provide a like-minded family to work alongside of us here in Peru. There is so much work to do. As it says in Luke 10:2… “pray ye therefore…that he would send forth laborers into his harvest”.
Carla and I pray that you will all enjoy a blessed new year. Thank you so much for praying for us and supporting our ministry. Together, we will make an eternal impact on the lives of many in S. America.
Serving Him for you in Peru,
Don & Carla Rich
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Introducing – Iglesia Bautista Calvario (Calvary Baptist) of Guadalupe!
Introducing – Iglesia Bautista Calvario (Calvary Baptist) of Guadalupe!
November 3, 2016
Greetings from the Andes Mountains of Peru! The end of the year is in sight, but slowing down is not an option. Once again, God has filled our calendar with His work to be accomplished.
In the first part of September, our church in Cajamarca held a married couples’ conference with thirteen couples attending. It was a great night of fellowship and learning from God’s Word of our responsibility to our spouse.
Also in September, pastor José baptized three between the ages of fourteen and thirty-five. The baptistry has been busy so far this year with a total of ten baptisms.
God continues to bless our church in Cajamarca with spiritual and numerical growth. We have seen seven more saved there in the month of October!
On Oct. 9, our Cajamarca church celebrated Pastor Appreciation Day. The church did a wonderful job honoring God by honoring His man in the pulpit. I (Don) had the privilege to preach for the occasion. There was special music, poems, gifts, a cake, and a wonderful skit performed by the youth entitled “The Pastor’s Shoes”. The pastor was humbled at the love shown by the church.
There is a reason that I continue to refer to “our church in Cajamarca” and “our Cajamarca church”. It is because we now have two churches, both named Calvario! On the weekend of October 16, we had the inauguration of our new church on the coast of Peru in a town called Guadalupe! We had a group of six from our Cajamarca church come to help in passing out tracts and cleaning the building on Thursday. The next morning, we took them out to the ocean about twenty minutes away to enjoy the sights and a nice breeze. On the way back, we had to dodge a three to four foot iguana that ran across the road! On Friday night, we presented a movie with our Mobile Unit in a nearby park to announce the opening of the church. Then on Saturday, we had an open house and had over fifty neighbors come in to visit with us in the church facility. Our first service was on Sunday morning. Pastor Juan Carlos did a great job preaching the Gospel. We had eleven visitors and five decisions were made for Christ that day! It was a great start and brought back memories of starting our church in Cajamarca over eleven years ago. We have now had three services and continue to see new faces each week. Pastor Juan Carlos and his wife Karen stay busy visiting, following up, and knocking on doors to help the church grow.
On November 1, Perú celebrated the pagan holiday called the “Day of the Dead”. Many go to the cemeteries on this day each year and sit next to gravesites of deceased loved ones. They bring food and drink for the deceased and pray to them for blessings, and also for curses on their enemies. On this day in both Cajamarca and Guadalupe, our pastors and several others from our churches passed out hundreds of Gospel tracts to those visiting the cemeteries.
Jungle Ministry – On our last furlough and in earlier prayer letters, we told of the translation work we are involved in in the jungle. The first three pastoral instructional books are now translated into the Awajun dialect and we are planning a pastoral training conference for 2017! Felino, our translator, is still working on other training books to be printed later. What a great open door to train jungle pastors!
Bible Ministry – As the requests for Bibles continue to arrive in my email and by phone, Victory Baptist Press is busy raising the funds to complete the new container of Bibles for shipment. They have over 77% of the funds needed. If you, your SS class, or church would like to help us in getting the Word out, please send all Bible printing support to:
BFSA P.O. Box 766 Milton, FL 32572. PLEASE make sure that all support for this project is sent with a note that it is for BIBLES FOR PERU. Their website is victorybaptistpress.com. Giving can be done online there also.
May God bless each of you for your prayers and support! * Don’t forget to take a look at the photos on our website! www.rich2peru.com
Serving Him for you in Peru,
Don & Carla Rich
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