From Months to Just Weeks!
From Months to Just Weeks!
September 1, 2019
For those of you who may be having a hard time reading this letter, it is probably because I have to use a smaller font to fit all that God has been doing into such a small space. For example:
In mid-July, Carla helped our Cajamarca church host a two-day women’s conference with good attendance from four local churches. Also, on July 15th Carla and I celebrated sixteen years in Peru. God has been so good to us, allowing us to serve Him here and in other parts of S. America. To Him be “all” the glory for what has been accomplished in those years.
Another blessing in July was when brother Mike Johnson from N. Carolina came to visit. In the short time he was here, we were able to follow up with some people that we had given solar Bibles and other materials to on his last visit. We also met and provided more materials to other mountain pastors and witnessed to several individuals in our journeys. We were so pleased to see 2 saved as a result of our efforts!
More changes in the annual resident visa renewal process in Peru caused us to have to make an unexpected trip to Lima to sign some legal paperwork. It is frustrating when this happens but through the years, we have learned to just accept the changes and move on.
We started off the month of August with the 14th anniversary services of our Cajamarca church. Missionary Stacy Dassow came from Lima and preached three great messages that weekend. Not long afterwards, Carla and I traveled to our Guadalupe church to lead the services while our pastor and his family took a needed vacation.
On August 4th, the container from Victory Baptist Press arrived from the US with over 25,000 Bibles and 2000 John & Romans booklets. Many from our church and another local church helped unload over 1800 cases into the newly constructed distribution center. What a blessing it is to have this new facility right here in our own back yard! We have been busy personally delivering many, shipping a large quantity out on bus lines, and coordinating shipments to other S. American countries. Just recently we sent Bibles into Bolivia. Fourteen hundred Bibles were sent to Chile to be distributed there and into Argentina. Within days of sending this letter, I will be heading out with visitors Ken Benge and Worth Johnson to deliver 151 cases of Bibles to Iquitos, the jungle capital of Peru. After placing them on a river barge, we will be flying to Iquitos to meet with several pastors who are awaiting the arrival of the Bibles for their ministries. More on that in our next letter.
Last week we loaded a total of 401 cases (5614 Bibles) in one day! These were going to locations all across Peru to many different churches. Within the next week we will have distributed over half of the 25,000 Bibles in record time. The fastest that all the Bibles have gone out in the past was four and a half ‘months’. This time they are moving so quickly that we will reach and pass the halfway point in just four and a half WEEKS! Knowing that we are planning the Bible conference for next May, Victory Baptist Press is already planning on sending us more Bibles, along with 2 other ministries who plan to send us other evangelistic materials next year. Have I ever mentioned that we are praying for help?
In mid-August, I taught a 2-hour class on the purity of the Word of God, the reasons for the differences in the Bible versions, and why we use the revision of the Bible that we have chosen. I also met with a missionary and a pastor personally and went over the material with them. The pastor called me a couple of days later and asked for Bibles for his entire congregation to replace the version they had been using. God is moving in the Bible ministry!
* We have placed four new photos albums on our website (rich2peru.com). These provide a peek at just some of what God is doing here in Peru. Take a look!
May God bless each of you who pray for us,
Don & Carla Rich
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