New Work is Open!
New Work is Open!
November 1, 2023
Greetings to you all,
On September 3rd we had our first Sunday morning service at our new church, Iglesia Bautista Ancla (Anchor Baptist). The Saturday before, a group from our first church (Calvario) and others came to evangelize and invite those in the neighborhood. We had a great first day and have seen visitors in almost every service! On October 1st we added Sunday evening services and Wednesdays and they have been well attended. Please help us pray that this work will continue to grow and reach many with the Gospel.
In mid-September Carla and I had some special guests. Moriah is the daughter of a former missionary whose family is very dear to us. They left Peru to serve in another ministry in 2014. We have known Moriah since she was two years old. Fast forward many years, I was privileged to be a part of her wedding ceremony a little over a year ago. To celebrate their first anniversary, Moriah wanted to come to Peru to show her husband Abe where she grew up. We had a great time that brought back many precious memories.
In October we sent a note to those on our email list about our special Christmas Kids ministry. Once again, we plan to show the love of Christ by sharing Christmas gifts and snacks with the poorer children in our area. Last year we were able to distribute around five hundred fifty gifts to three different areas plus immigrant street children because of the help of our supporters. I grew my white beard out to a jolly length and used the opportunity to share a tract I created that says, “I am NOT Santa”. The inside of the tract continues… “But I know Someone who gave the best Gift!” The beard may not be as long now, but I still get stared at by children. It is just a perk to being a white-haired bearded gringo in a black hair and dark-skinned society. Mrs. “Not Santa” (my sweet wife Carla) and I get a lot of attention from children, especially around Christmas. This year we will be adding the kids around our new church to the groups we will reach. It is a big area with many poor families. If you would like to be a blessing to the children this year, please send the support to Central Missionary Clearinghouse with a note that it is for “Kids’ Gifts”.
In our last letter we shared about delivering Bibles into Ecuador. We were able to get the Bibles to the missionaries at the border, but we were not able to travel further into the country ourselves. The system at customs showed that a required vehicle document was not received back in 2015 when we were there, and we would have to rectify that before entering. The error was found as they were “reviewing” their system. I wrote a letter that day explaining that the document had been presented and was apparently not entered into the system or the system was down that day. Interesting enough, the system was down for over an hour and a half when we were there in August. One month later I received an email that they needed more information and that it would have to be presented “in person” at the border. So, Carla and I made a four-day round trip drive to drop off the paperwork (total of 1 minute). Now we wait for a response again. How do you “prove” that a document was presented eight years ago if the document is missing and not in their system? Please pray that we will receive a positive response to rectify the situation. I have several opportunities to preach and teach in Ecuador and would also like to introduce our new missionary family to our Bible ministry outreach there.
PTL, we’ve had four more saved recently in our Cajamarca “Calvario” church! God continues to bless!
Bible Distribution Ministry Update – In less than three months the 23,338 Bibles and 120,000 tracts have all been distributed or promised. We were able to get them into at least four countries this year. And we continue to receive more requests. We give thanks first to God, then Victory Baptist Press and the Conversion Center for these blessings. We pray and trust that many souls will be reached and taught through the distribution of His Word. Isaiah 55:11
Take a look at the new photos on our website (rich2peru.com)! May God continue to bless each of you for your faithfulness in prayers and support to our ministry.
Don & Carla Rich
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