Giving God ALL the Praise!
Giving God ALL the Praise!
September 5, 2014
On July 15, Carla and I celebrated eleven years on the field as missionaries! God has been so good to us and our ministry. We have seen many souls saved, baptized, and following our Lord. We have watched as broken families have been brought together with the love of God. We have seen alcoholics receive a new, sober life in Christ. We have watched God’s hand as He built our church building without any debt. And these are just a few of the miracles that we have seen! OUR GOD IS REAL! It would take an enormous book just to begin telling of His blessings, but I am going to try to squeeze in a few more recent ones in this letter.
On July 17, the container of 9,250,000 tracts arrived from Fellowship Tract League. We have already started distributing them and those who have heard about them are excited. I had one pastor call me recently and say “I heard you have more blessings to share!” I was glad to provide him up with a few cases of tracts. While talking to a pastor friend, he made a comment that I hadn’t considered. The amount of tracts that we have received is enough to get one into the hand of each person in just under one-third of the country’s 30 plus million souls! Wow! What an opportunity!
August 15-17, our church celebrated the nine year anniversary of our congregation. We had a visiting Peruvian pastor who did a good job preaching on missions. We had over 200 in attendance in our services and two men were saved! One of them was a family member of someone in our church who was visiting… from Italy! Reaching the “world” from the mountains of Peru! That is the spirit of missions!
Just after our anniversary week, we had visitors from one of our supporting churches. We enjoyed having Rodney and Alisha as our guests. While they were here, we visited a location where they “call the cows by name” and they come to their own stalls with their names on them. As we were leaving, a man called out my name and asked if I remembered him. It was Pablo, the first person I won to the Lord after arriving in Cajamarca nine years ago! He is a tour guide and works every weekend. He remembered my name and said he wants very badly to visit our church. Just another great reminder of how God has worked in our time here.
Our guests were a great help when we took the Mobile Unit to a farming community called Polloc (po yolk) where a new work has been started by a national pastor. We had around eighty in attendance and had at least seven decisions for Christ that night! Afterwards, we passed out John and Romans booklets to all in attendance.
Carla and I want to thank all of you for your prayers for Carla while she underwent shoulder and elbow surgery in July. She came through it fine and has about two more weeks of physical therapy.
We are going through a time of mixed emotions after watching our friends, the Rice family, leave Peru on September 2 on their way back to the states for furlough before moving to minister in Italy. We have known them since our first year in Peru and they have become like family as we have lived and worked alongside each other for the past eight years. But, even in our sadness to see them leave, we praise the Lord that they are following His will for their lives. Before they left, we celebrated their fifteen year-old twins’ birthday by hosting a Quinceanera (Latin 15 yr birthday party for girls) in our church. It was a beautiful event. This family could never be replaced in our hearts but we are praying that God would send another family to work with us in our area. There is so much work to do, including the Bible Institute, Christian School, Mobile Unit, and Bible and tract distribution. Are you the ones that God is calling?
Bible Distribution: God continues to amaze us! Over $48,000 has now been raised for the Bible campaign. We are confident that the remaining $10,000 will come in soon, as God’s people help spread God’s Word. Printing starts tomorrow, Sept. 6! You can still see the video that introduced this campaign at: http://rich2peru.com/content/south-american-bible-project-video/
Please send all Bible Project support to:
Victory Baptist Press
c/o Peru Project
PO Box 766
Milton, FL 32572
Since our last prayer letter, we have seen at least ten souls won to the Lord through our ministry and three baptized! The three were a father, mother, and daughter. It was great to watch this family be obedient to our Lord.
We want to say thanks again to all of you who stand behind us in prayer and support so that we can continue to fulfill the calling that God has placed on our lives. Please go to our website (www.rich2peru.com) and see the new pictures that show what your investment in this ministry is doing for God’s kingdom. May God bless each of you.
Serving Him for You in Peru,
Don & Carla Rich
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