Great Loss, A Loving Church, and Has Anyone Seen Noah?
A Great Loss, a Loving Church, and Has Anyone Seen Noah?
July 1, 2024
I hate to start with sad news, but both life and death happen on the mission field. Pastor José Zamora of our Calvario church passed away suddenly on Friday, May 3. He had just celebrated his 67th birthday a week earlier. He faithfully served our Lord as pastor here for sixteen years. He was a soul-winner, a good preacher, and had a great heart for the church. In our last letter I mentioned how he and I went together to distribute almost 1000 John/Roman booklets at a public school nearby. It was the last time we were together. I am so blessed to have this final memory of ministering with a great friend and brother-in-Christ. Please pray for his wife, his three grown children, and for the church.
The church has stepped up and continued faithful. Two weeks after his passing, twenty-three from our church formed a choir and ministered in song at the anniversary services of a church across the valley.
I am now pastoring the church as we pray about the next steps the Lord would have us take. My 65th birthday weekend was spent leading the choir at the anniversary services I mentioned and preaching three times. The Lord blessed, and I was able to win 2 souls to the Lord that Sunday night in our church! Since then, we have baptized 5 and had one more soul saved!
Sunday, May 26th was a blessed day. Four adults were saved in our newest church, Iglesia Bautista Ancla. At our Calvario church, two couples who had been living together for years felt Holy Spirit conviction and are now planning their weddings as soon as possible. That same day, between services, I spoke at a memorial service at the home of one of our former members. It was a blessing to have a large group from our church attend to encourage the family. The grandson of the deceased asked many questions about salvation. Please pray that the Holy Spirit touches Nicholas’ heart and that he will be saved soon. He lives 14 hours away. God is at work in Peru!
On the last Friday in May we had a game night at our Ancla church. We had around 35 in attendance and a great time of fellowship. On June 1st we had a ladies’ bake sale to help with funds for projects they want to accomplish.
Update on the Ecuador case – On Friday, April 26th, I received notice that we won the case, and it has now been annulled! I can now return to preach and teach in Ecuador and deliver Bibles to those who need them. Thank you for your prayers. God listened and He is much more powerful than any corrupt government.
In June we had a visitor from the US. Bro. Mike, our national pastor Juan Carlos, and I traveled several hours through the mountains to the towns of Cajabamba and Huamachuco. I had been invited to preach for a church in Cajabamba that has no pastor. It was a great time of encouraging them in the Word and worshipping together. We also visited a national missionary who had received Bibles from our ministry in the city of Huamachuco.
Bro. Mike was also able to be a part of our men’s meeting. We had eighteen in attendance. I taught on God’s prerequisites for a pastor, as we begin the search for a new pastor for Calvario. The men had some great questions about several topics. Carla and two of our ladies cooked a nice meal and all left full, both physically and spiritually.
The morning of the men’s meeting, around 9:30am I heard the water pump continually running in the church. I walked in to find about 3/4 of an inch of water covering the church floor. A water line had broken in one of the bathrooms and it was filling the church. I didn’t know whether to call Moses to part the water or for Noah to bring the ark. It took four of us about three hours to remove the water and to repair the broken line. Then we found that the church’s water pump needed a new pressure switch. A man in our church was able to do the work of replacing it for us. We were just blessed that this didn’t happen overnight or on a Sunday morning.
The youth meetings on Saturday have been going well. On June 22nd, we took a group of 14 to our newest church plant to help pass out tracts and invitations. We then had a time in the Word. Afterwards, Carla and I took them all out to eat pizza and chicken. It was a blessing to see these young people sharing God’s Word.
There are several more photo albums on our website: rich2peru.com Take a look! Thank you for your prayers and support of our ministry. May God bless each of you! * We have more to share, but no space!
Serving Him for you in Peru,
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.