Latest Event Updates
Never A Dull Moment!
NEVER A DULL MOMENT!
September 1, 2023
Hello from Cajamarca,
In July, Carla and I celebrated 20 years as missionaries in Peru! We couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate this milestone than to have a mission conference in the first church we established. Just like life as a missionary the conference planning was not without its challenges. We invited two missionaries that our church supports to give updates and preach. We also planned on Darren Townsend, the new missionary coming to help us, to preach one service. Well, one missionary got dengue fever. The other’s wife had medical problems so he couldn’t leave her. And Darren’s wife still didn’t have her passport so they couldn’t make it. We quickly realized that God had a different plan. I preached on Friday and Sunday. Missionary friends Stacy Dassow and his wife Jennifer were coming to celebrate with us, and I had asked him to be prepared just in case. It was a blessing to have him preach on Saturday and again on Sunday. We also had our dear friends Jesús and Tracy and their son George come to celebrate with us. You may remember them as the family we asked prayer for when they were going through a long and tedious adoption process here in Peru. Another special person in attendance was a man I led to the Lord when he was 74 years old. Salvador is now 92! What a great week of celebration and remembering what God has done in these past 20 years!
Speaking of celebrations, our first church (Calvario) celebrated its eighteenth anniversary on August 14. We had a great attendance in each service, including Sunday when there were around 240 in attendance! A man I have been inviting to our church for almost the entire 18 years finally visited with his family. God has truly blessed this work. It is very humbling to think back on how He guided us to this area of Peru and then helped us plant this church right after we finished language studies. It is all to His glory.
Back in May we wrote about joining with a small group to help them establish a church. On July 9 we formalized the work as Iglesia Bautista Verbo de Dios (Word of God Baptist) and celebrated its first anniversary since they started meeting together. A few weeks later a group from our first church came to help evangelize and invite those in the area to visit the church. We have already begun seeing some growth and have seen six professions of faith in that work. Please pray that we will continue to see fruit for our labor.
In our July letter we wrote that we were praying and looking for a location to begin our fourth church plant. On July 18 we signed a rental contract on a building in the area we had chosen for the new work. The first services for Iglesia Bautista Ancla (Anchor Baptist) are scheduled for this Sunday, September 3. This building was formerly used as a bakery. It will now be used to serve the Bread of Life! Please continue to pray for this newest work to be established and that we will reach many with the Gospel through it.
Bible Distribution Ministry Update – The container of Bibles and tracts arrived in Cajamarca the exact day that we were celebrating 20 yrs in Peru and many of our church family helped unload them into our facility. Distribution began immediately and in just six weeks all the tracts and most of the Bibles have been distributed or promised and set aside for delivery.
We were blessed to have Worth and Ken, dear friends of our ministry, come to travel with me (Don) to make Bible deliveries into Ecuador and to the jungle river port of Yurimaguas. New missionary Darren Townsend was able to fly in also to help with these trips. At the river port we placed many cases of Bibles on a barge to send to pastors in the Amazon region of Peru. We traveled for a total of eleven days and delivered over 3800 Bibles.
Update: New missionaries Darren and Rachel Townsend finally received Rachel’s passport. She recently had some medical issues arise and are waiting for a doctor’s clearance to be able to move to Peru. Please keep them in your prayers. They want to be here a.s.a.p., and we are looking forward to having them here.
Take a look at the seven new photo albums on our website (rich2peru.com)! May God continue to bless each of you for your faithfulness in prayers and support.
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
Sad Ending Leads to a New Beginning!
Sad Ending Leads to a New Beginning!
July 1, 2023
Greetings to everyone from Cajamarca, Peru,
Many of you have been praying with us about our church on the coast of Peru in the city of Guadalupe. It has been suffering for over two years. The Covid pandemic sadly revealed the true faithfulness of the people there just as it did in many other churches both here and in the US. The Guadalupe work continued to decline after much effort to help it revive. After ministering there for six and a half years, with much prayer and searching for God’s will, we felt it was time to close the work. But this sad ending has opened the opportunity for a new beginning. The first week of June we moved Pastor Juan Carlos and his family back to our area in the mountains and will be starting another work a couple of miles from our first church. Its name will be Iglesia Bautista Ancla (Anchor Baptist Church). If you remember from our last letter, we have also recently begun working with another national pastor to build up a church on the other side of our city. Having all three of our works spread strategically across our valley will allow us to work together for the common goal of reaching Cajamarca for Christ. We have a rented building for the second work and are seeking the third location now. Please pray that God would grant us wisdom, provide the funds needed, and open the necessary doors.
We have some other news to share. Our permanent/immigration visas were finally approved, and we picked them up from the immigration office in Lima on May 22! Thank you for your prayers as we were going through that process. This now frees us up to be able to cross borders more frequently to deliver Bibles, preach and teach, and to have the needed time for furloughs instead of the limitations we had before.
In May, the youth of our church, Calvario (Calvary) did a great job setting up a day of celebration for Mother’s Day. It included special music by the different age groups, scripture reading, a drama, preaching, and gifts for the mothers. We posted a photo album on our website of the event. We are proud that the youth of this church have begun to grow and become more involved. In one of the recent youth meetings a young man 18 years old was saved.
Another milestone… Recently the new pastor we are working with asked the small group how many years each one of them had been saved. It dawned on me that I was completing 50 years as a born-again believer! On June 3, 1973, at the age of 14, at Rocky Branch Baptist Church in Woodland, AL I accepted Christ as my Savior. I was baptized two weeks later. I still remember the spider that was floating in the baptistry! Although I haven’t always been faithful, I praise the Lord that He has. As the years have passed, Psalm 71:18 has become one of my favorite life verses. There is still much work to do, and I want to be found faithful.
Please be in prayer for the new missionary couple who are coming to work with us as they begin their missionary journey. Darren and Rachel Townsend are planning on being here by July 10th, Lord willing. This will depend on Rachel receiving her passport updated with her married name. We are praying that they will make it in time for a special event. Carla and I will be celebrating 20 years on the mission field on July 15th! We’ll share the details of the celebration in our next prayer letter. Stay tuned!
Bible Distribution Ministry Update – As I am writing, the container of 23,338 Bibles and 100,000 gospel tracts has made its way through the Panama Canal and is on its way to Lima, Peru! It is scheduled to arrive on July 4. There it will pass through customs. Then it will be trucked to us here in the mountains. Please pray that all goes smoothly.
Thank you so much for reading our updates and praying for us. May God continue to bless each of you for your faithfulness in prayers and support.
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
The Calm After the Storm and a New Work!
The Calm After the Storm and a New Work!
May 1, 2023
Hola desde el Perú (hello from Peru),
In the past two months we have experienced flooding in the northern areas of Peru caused by a cyclone in the ocean off the coast. The desert coast of Peru normally receives an inch or less of rain per year, so it was not prepared for the heavy rains that it received. This caused many homes to be destroyed, bridges collapsed, roads washed away, and many mud/rockslides in the mountains. There were reported to have been at least 59 killed and several missing because of the flooding. If that wasn’t bad enough, the El Niño phenomenon came in behind the hurricane because of warm waters off the coast, causing more heavy rains and flooding and increasing the damage. We had to postpone trips to our coastal work several times because of road closures and dangerous conditions. PTL we were able to visit once the weather calmed down.
The political rioting has all but ceased in the country with no real change having occurred after much destruction and many dying in the violent uprisings. Back in March, a small troop of Peruvian military was attacked by a group of between 800-900 protesters in the southern part of the country. They forced the soldiers to retreat while throwing rocks and physically attacking them. At least five soldiers drowned as they tried to cross a river to avoid the mob. The soldiers were there to try to maintain peace and order in this hot spot of the protests. Please pray that the calm that we are experiencing now will continue.
On a different political front: Peru’s former president Alejandro Toledo was recently extradited from the US where he had fled and had been avoiding prosecution for corruption since 2019. This brings to a total of three the former presidents in one Peruvian prison and another former president under house arrest because of his health and age. I recently read that one woman who has run for the office of president a couple of times has decided not to run again. Who can blame her with the odds of ending up in prison? BTW, her father is one of the incarcerated former presidents.
Now for some exciting news! We have been approached by a small group who have tried for a while to start a church but have been unsuccessful. After much prayer and discussion, we have partnered with Pastor Erik Alvarado to raise up another work in our area. Our valley has grown to a population of around 250,000 allowing the opportunity to reach more souls through solid Bible preaching churches. The name of this new work will be Iglesia Bautista El Verbo de Dios (The Word of God Baptist Church). Your prayers are much appreciated as we begin this new endeavor.
Our Cajamarca church, Iglesia Bautista Calvario, continues to see new visitors, souls saved, and a growing youth program. Since our last letter we have seen 2 more souls saved and 3 baptized! It is great to be able to focus our efforts on our other works knowing that this church is doing well. Pastor José Zamora has developed into one of the best Peruvian preachers we know and does a great job as pastor.
Bible Distribution Ministry Update – Victory Baptist Press had another delay caused by printing plates being on backorder for months. PTL they were finally received, and the printing process is almost complete! We hope to have the next shipment within 2 months.
We have heard from the young couple who are moving here as new missionaries. Darren and Rachel Townsend are expecting to be here within a couple of months. We are looking forward to receiving them and enjoying working and fellowshipping with them in the years to come.
Until our next letter, may God continue to bless each of you as you faithfully pray and support the ministry here in Peru.
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
Updates, Changes, Blessings, and Souls!
Updates, Changes, Blessings, and Souls!
March 1, 2023
Hello from our summer rainy season in Cajamarca, Peru,
For those of you who receive our prayer letter by email, you’ll notice we’ve made a change so that you can easily print the much nicer version by clicking the link you receive. It has a colorful background and prints great! We have just learned how to use this option in our mailing system. We hope it will be a blessing to you. If anyone receiving the regular snail mail letter would like to change to email, please let us know by emailing us at “donrichperu@gmail.com”.
Political unrest update: If you read our last letter, you know that the former president was arrested, and that the vice-president replaced him. Since then, the country has been in turmoil with riotous protests. They calmed down a bit for the holidays. But as soon as the New Year holiday was over, tens of thousands of protesters in the south of Peru went back to the streets. They took over cities, caused several airports to close, and blocked major highways. The death toll climbed to around 50 or more. A police car was found completely burnt with the officer’s body lying burnt beside it and his three weapons had been taken. A congress woman’s house, a grocery store, and other buildings were burnt to the ground. Firemen were afraid to put the fires out for fear of reprisal. By the first week in February the protests had become mostly peaceful again. Congress has repeatedly denied granting the demands of the protesters. Only time will tell how it will all play out. The majority and worst part of this uprising has been in the southern part of Peru.
On the other side of the coin, here in northern Peru the scene has been quite different. There are smaller protests, little to no violence reported, and roads that are blocked are only closed for a few hours at a time. Cajamarca is known as the Peruvian capital of Carnaval (Mardi Gras). Because of Covid they have not celebrated for the past two years. They are making up for it this year and trying to recuperate many lost tourism dollars. Normally Carnaval is celebrated for about a week. This year they started celebrating around the first of February and continued throughout the month with the central days being the 18th through the 22nd. This included large gatherings for concerts, street fairs, parades, etc. As you can imagine, a lot of alcohol was consumed as they partied in the streets. There was estimated to be over 70,000 tourists in our valley during that time.
Only in Peru: In January I was asked by a national pastor to borrow some of our tables for a wedding. On the evening before the wedding, he and another man came to pick them up. As they began to leave, the pastor invited Carla and I to the wedding. When I told him that I didn’t know the couple he said it was the guy with him picking up the tables and introduced me. Can you say awkward? Then he said he actually wanted to ask me to ‘preach’ at a wedding! Remember, this is the evening before the event. On the night of the 7pm wedding, we arrived on time. As is normal here, most everyone arrives late. No one was there and the church was locked. Long story short, the wedding started a little before 8:30pm. Just another day in Peru. Congrats to Wilmer and Alicia on their marriage.
Speaking of common occurrences in this country, Carla and I continue to wait for a decision by immigrations on our request to change from resident visas to immigrant visa status. We were told it would take weeks. We are now in our fifth month of waiting. Please continue to pray that it will be approved.
In February, a van load of our youth took a day trip to a mountain zoo about one hour away. We are praising God that six souls made decisions for Christ that day!
At the end of February our Cajamarca church held a very successful Vacation Bible School. We had between 90-100 children in attendance along with a good group of mothers who received the Word. Two mothers made professions of faith in Christ! You can see pictures of the VBS and more on our website, www.rich2peru.com.
Bible Ministry Update: We are patiently waiting to hear of the shipping date for the next container of Bibles. The target date is tentative for around April or May. We continue to receive requests weekly from pastors and missionaries in Peru and other countries. Please pray for Victory Baptist Press (VBP) as they work hard to get the precious Word printed and delivered. Also, a big thank you to those who help support VBP in their printing efforts.
May God bless each of you for your faithfulness to pray and support the ministry God has given us here in Peru.
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
I’m Not Santa! No Soy Papá Noel!
I’m Not Santa! No Soy Papá Noel!
January 1, 2023
In the US I am just another old man with blue eyes, grey hair, and a beard to match. But in a country of dark-skinned people where very few have grey hair, I tend to be more of a novelty. Children take a second and third look and many tug at their parents and whisper (or not) “Papá Noel” (Santa). As anyone can tell you, I am not a fan of this character and the distraction it is to the true meaning of Christmas. BUT this year I decided to take advantage of a ministry opportunity. I allowed my beard to grow out to attention-getting length. I created a gospel tract with a picture of the jolly, red-suited guy that says on the cover (in Spanish), “I AM NOT SANTA”. Bro. Bill Goins of Calvary Stand ministries helped with the graphic design. I give this tract out to anyone whose child gives me a second look or even adults who seem to notice. It has been a good way to get a smile as I share the Gospel. One child literally squealed when I gave him one and his mother was very happy to receive it. I have seen many stop and read it. I have also had many other great responses to this tract. Once they open the tract it continues inside, “But I know who gave the best Gift!”. It goes on to explain Who that is, why they need that Gift, and how they can receive Him. Knowing that we were going to go to the poorer neighborhoods again this year with Christmas gifts, I had plenty of tracts printed and placed one in each of the gift bags so that they would go into the homes of the children. I also preached in one gathering using the tract as my outline. Sharing God’s gift can be a lot of fun and is always very rewarding.
Speaking of the Christmas gift program, we want to thank each of you who sent extra to help provide something special to many kids from poor families. The packages included a special toy, along with the “I’m Not Santa” gospel tract, a coloring book, another booklet, and a special fruit bread treat. We were blessed to be able to deliver 350 gifts this year. What a joy to see each child’s face as they received them. Pictures of one program where we distributed them is on our website, along with other new photo albums. www.rich2peru.com
Back at the end of November, we hosted several graduates and a professor from a seminary on the coast of Peru. They were taking a trip to celebrate completing their classes. It was great to see these future church leaders and encourage them in their calling.
December 7th was a fast-moving day in politics in Peru. Congress was planning on voting once again to see if they had enough votes to remove the sitting president. President Castillo tried to avoid it by announcing that he was dissolving the Congress, which would make him a dictator. Moments later it was announced that Congress had quickly voted to remove him. Next on the news we heard that he had left the capitol building and was attempting to get to the Mexican embassy to seek asylum there. But his driver drove just a short distance where Police were waiting with a roadblock. Castillo was detained and he is now being investigated on charges of conspiracy and rebellion against the constitution and the country. The vice-president was sworn in that afternoon. There have now been six presidents in the past five years. And many are not happy with the new one.
The next few weeks were filled with violent protests throughout Peru demanding Congress be shut down and that the new President leave office. The protests include blocking of the Pan-American Highway and other roads throughout the country with burning tires and piled rocks, forcefully taking over an airport and some police precincts, burning buildings, and other riotous acts. The protesters wanted immediate elections to replace the former president instead of the vice-president finishing the ex-president’s term. There have been at least thirty deaths caused by the riots with well over seven hundred reported injured. The protests calmed down somewhat for the Christmas holiday. But, just two days after Christmas a large group of an indigenous jungle tribe (the Ashaninka) loaded up in big trucks to travel to Lima to be part of the protests to shut down Congress. They were stopped along the way by police. Many bows and arrows were confiscated from the group. Large groups are already planning more roadblocks and protests into the New Year. Only time will tell how it will all play out. Please continue to pray for the country of Peru and your missionaries in this uncertain time.
Carla and I are still waiting to hear from immigrations about our request to change from resident visas to immigrant visa status. Please continue to pray that it will be approved. This will help us as missionaries in several ways.
The New Year will be a busy one for us with new ministry opportunities, visitors, another container of Bibles to distribute, ministry trips, and another milestone in our ministry. These will be shared in future letters. Thank you for your faithful continued prayer and financial support of the ministry God called us to. Each of you are a blessing and an encouragement.
May you have a Blessed and Happy New Year!
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
Believe It or Not!
Believe It or Not! Peruvian Elections and more!
November 1, 2022
I apologize in advance for starting our letter with politics, but with all that is going on in the US politically I thought you might enjoy a laugh while reading about how it is elsewhere.
Regional and local elections in Peru took place on October 2. In one city a 20-year-old was elected mayor. In the US he wouldn’t be old enough to do many things but here he is old enough to run a city. Then there is the man who lost the mayoral election in his town, and he was the only one on the ballot! All Peruvians must vote or pay a fine. There were so many who voted blank ballots that there were more of them than the candidate received. In still another election, two men received the same number of votes. They will now gather the national election authorities and toss a coin to see who becomes mayor. You can’t make this stuff up! Speaking of politics, our Peruvian President Pedro Castillo is being accused of running a corruption ring and paying for votes. This is the third attempt in sixteen months that they have tried to impeach him. If you will remember I wrote in 2020 that Peru had three presidents in five days! The excitement never ends! Welcome to Peru!
Covid restrictions are lessening finally. The government recently announced that masks are only required in public buses and in medical facilities. It is great to see people’s faces again. There is still a three-vaccination mandate for living in the country.
Please be in prayer as Carla and I have applied for “permanent resident/migrant” status. It is a process that takes a couple of months to complete, and we’ve heard it is hard to get approved. We only know of one missionary who has received it. If approved, it would be a blessing both financially and timewise. We have always had to renew our residency every year, paying fees, filing papers, etc. The new status would allow us to just get a new ID card every four years. It would also be less restrictive, allowing more time while on furloughs and for out-of-country trips for distributing Bibles, etc.
Back in September we had a visit from missionary Darren Townsend, his girlfriend Rachel, and her parents Van and April Coker. While here Darren proposed to Rachel! They are now engaged with a wedding date set for mid-January. What this means for us is that help is on the way! Darren and Rachel are praying to finish deputation so they can arrive in Peru next Spring. They will be working with us while they pray as to where God would have them work permanently. Our prayer is that they will be staying in our area. Would your church like to support a new missionary? Please consider this great couple who love the Lord and would be a great asset here in Peru!
On October 16th we celebrated the 6th Anniversary of our Guadalupe church with an attendance of around 20. It was also the last service in the church building as we enter a period of transition. As we mentioned before, this work has suffered in the past couple of years with an average attendance of about six to eight. After much prayer we have moved to “house-church” services. We are praying that this will promote more involvement of the members and allow for more growth.
Printing of the next shipment of Bibles from Victory Baptist Press has been delayed because of difficulty in getting employees in the print shop. They now hope to begin printing sometime this week. Please be in prayer for them as they continue to provide the Word of God for many all over the world, including us in S. America.
Ministry opportunity – We plan to distribute Christmas gifts to poor neighborhoods again this year. If you would like to help with this, please send the support to Central Missionary Clearinghouse with a note that it is for “Kids’ Gifts”.
Carla and I want to praise the Lord for six more souls saved in our ministry since our last letter! Six more who won’t have to face God’s wrath but will live in his love for eternity.
There are three more photo albums on our website, www.richperu.com. Take a look!
May God richly bless you all as we head into the holiday season, celebrating our great God and his blessings.
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
Blessings Abound
Blessings Abound
September 1, 2022
Hello from the beautiful Andes Mountains,
Carla and I have just returned to Peru this week after our short furlough where we visited some supporting churches, and we also were invited to a couple of new ones. God blessed our time with them, our home church, our group travel missions and our families and friends. It was a refreshing but busy time. In August we participated in another beautiful wedding. This one was for Moriah Rice (Black), another daughter of our dear friends. We went fishing with our son and my brother and had a fish fry for friends and family. We also were able to see our granddaughter Wyndee begin to ride her bicycle without training wheels. It is events like this that we miss while on the mission field so we feel blessed when we can be there for them.
We returned to Cajamarca to what would be called our Spring here in Peru. We still have cool weather at night but sunny and around 65 degrees so far during the day. Our seasons are reverse of what we have in the US. Summer is on its way which is also our rainy season. It can get downright soggy at times, but it is much needed for the farms in the mountains and valleys around us.
In our last letter we wrote about celebrating 19 years on the field in Peru. On August 14 we had another celebration. That was the 17th anniversary of our first church here in Cajamarca. They celebrated with a guest speaker for the three services, dinner on the grounds, and a baptismal service where two were baptized and one more was saved!
Our Guadalupe church is still struggling but has seen a new couple visiting faithfully in the past few weeks. Please continue to pray for Pastor Juan Carlos and us as we work together to make wise decisions for this ministry. We rest in the fact that God’s Word does not return void but accomplishes His purpose.
Bible Ministry Update: We have heard great news that Victory Baptist Press has received the paper for the next printing of around 25,000 Bibles. They have had some setbacks including a forklift needing repair that is used to lift the large rolls of paper to the printing press. We continue to pray that all will go well in order for us to have Bibles by the end of this year or the first part of 2023. I continue to get requests from all over S. America from those who are in need of Bibles for their congregations.
We are looking forward to the coming months as we have plenty to do and are expecting some special visitors. More on that in our future letters.
We have had a total of four more saved and 3 more baptized in our ministry since our last prayer letter. God continues to bless the work, and we are honored to be messengers of our King here in Peru.
May God bless each of you for your prayers and support!
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
Celebrations!
July 1, 2022
To our always faithful supporters,
Carla and I pray this letter finds you all doing well and receiving God’s blessings. You are all such a blessing to us, and we are so thankful for your prayer and financial support. Without you, we know that our ministry would not be as effective.
That said, let me begin this letter with one of our reasons for celebrating. On the 15th of this month Carla and I will celebrate 19 years on the field in Peru! We are amazed at what God has accomplished in that time and look forward to what he will do in the coming years. Our prayer letters since the second year of our ministry are all on our website at rich2peru.com. I find it a blessing to go back and pick an old one at random from time to time just for the memories and to see how far God has brought us on this adventure. It is humbling to think that He would use us in His eternal plan to reach lost souls.
As of this letter, we are on a short furlough for Carla’s yearly doctor appointments and visiting supporting churches that we couldn’t get to on our last furlough. Preaching and giving updates at our supporting churches is always a great time of reconnecting with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We have also been able to be in New York to attend the wedding of Rebekah Rice (Diehl), one of our dearest friend’s daughters. We plan to be a part of her sister Moriah’s wedding in Ohio the first week of August.
After the wedding in New York, Carla and I took a trip through the northeastern states for a late celebration of our 40th wedding anniversary which was back in April. We were then able to visit our daughter’s family in Ohio where I had the privilege of preaching at the church where our son-in-law is now serving as pastor. The church is located across the state line from them in Indiana.
We also have been able to take a short family vacation with my sister and mother and go fishing with my brother and our son Shawn. It is always great to be with family.
In the short time that we have been staying at my mother’s home, three in the house have been diagnosed with Covid but came through it fine. Carla and I were not affected. God continues to bless and watch over us.
Another great celebration that we are looking forward to this weekend is Carla’s milestone birthday. I won’t tell her age but let’s just say I recently turned sixty-three and she is three years younger. It will be a nationwide celebration as her birthday is on July 4th. Go ahead and light up some fireworks and help us celebrate her birthday!
Bible Ministry Update: We have heard great news that Victory Baptist Press has received the cover stock needed for the next printing of Spanish Bibles that they will send to us to distribute in South America. After being told that the paper they normally use for printing the Bible itself will no longer be available, they were able to order a paper that will work well. Please be in prayer that the paper will arrive soon so that they can begin printing. We are praying that all will go well in order for us to have Bibles by the end of this year or the first part of 2023. As always, I am contacted often by pastors and missionaries all over S. America who are in need of the precious Word of God for their congregations.
We have had two more saved in our ministry since our last prayer letter! God continues to bless. We are so glad to be a part of what He is doing in Peru.
May God bless each of you!
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
“No Seed Left in the Barn”
May 1, 2022
Hello from Peru!
Through the years we have received tracts, John/Romans, and other materials from missionaries who left Peru and gave us what they had left over. We have shared many of these with pastors and missionaries and used them to give out when we were on road trips in Peru, but still had random boxes of different materials sitting under the stairs or in other storage areas. We have been so blessed to receive the Bibles, John/Romans, gospel tracts, and Romans booklets as part of our distribution ministry that those older materials were put on a back burner. This really burdened me recently as I thought of all that gospel seed that was just sitting in the barn, not being sown. It became our goal to get everything out. An often-heard phrase around our house is now, “No seed left in the barn”. PTL, we are accomplishing that goal! Now I want to encourage you to do the same. Does your church tract rack look the same every time you go by? Take a few and give them out. The seed doesn’t do any good if it is not planted! In these last days we shouldn’t be hoarding seed, but planting and cultivating souls for Christ.
In our last letter I mentioned a trip to the Ecuador border to deliver Bibles and Romans booklets to two missionaries. We had a good trip and were able to get the materials delivered after a couple of hiccups at customs. But God worked it out in a way we didn’t expect. Long story short, we entered Ecuador, made the delivery, and returned to Peru without having to have our passports stamped. That is one day saved on our limit of time we can be out of the country.
NO MORE BIBLES or ROMANS BOOKLETS!!! In just 10 weeks (2 ½ mo) all of the Bibles were either delivered or promised to many different ministries. We were able to get them distributed into five different countries this time. We also completed distribution of the Romans booklets. We are now awaiting another shipment of Bibles that we are praying will arrive at the end of the year or beginning of 2023. Pastors are already asking when we will have more.
In March we led a four-day mission trip to help our struggling Guadalupe church on the coast. Carla and I took eleven others from our Cajamarca church. We covered the majority of the city with tracts and church invitations. The rest was completed the next week after we left. We have seen very little fruit so far from this effort. We do not like to write about the negatives, but they are part of the ministry. Please continue to pray for this work.
We found out that there was going to be a transportation strike the day we were going to return from the mission trip, so we had to leave before daylight to avoid being stuck there. We found out as we arrived home that the road we used was indeed blocked off behind us because of the strike. It was a good thing we left when we did. Also, as we left there was unusual rain in Guadalupe, an area where they only get around an inch per year. The rain continued into the mountains causing rockslides and road closings on roads all around, but the Lord blessed our return. Our route had some rockslides but nothing to impede travel.
In April, I was invited to preach a 5-day missions conference for missionary Peter Putney in Colombia. I was also privileged to be a part of the ordination council and service for the new assistant pastor Uber Atehortua. Carla and I visited the new property and building that they are purchasing for their church. It was great to see how God is blessing their ministry. As a result of the conference the church was able to take on two more missionaries and raise the monthly amount for the two they were already supporting.
Political news: The Peruvian Congress once again tried to vote out the sitting president of Peru but was unable to get enough votes. He is now proposing a new constitution which has caused much controversy. They continue to look for ways to get him out of office, including proposing a new law to limit a president to only two-year terms (now 5).
We have had at least two more saved since our last prayer letter. God continues to bless, and we are so glad to be a part of what He is doing in Peru.
We have new photo albums on our website (www.rich2peru.com) Please take a look! May God bless each of you for your heart for missions!
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
His Word Will Not Return Void!
His Word Will Not Return Void!
March 1, 2022
Hello from the beautiful and wet Andes Mountains of Peru! Our rainy season arrived a little later than usual but is making up for lost time. This last week has been w-e-t with temps in the 60’s here in Cajamarca. We have heard of several mountain roads that are closed due to mud and rockslides. The coast of Peru is enjoying a hot summer. And the jungle? Well, the jungle is the jungle. It is always hot and can rain at any time. But so much for the weather update. Let’s share what God is doing in Peru!
In January we took seventeen youth including several visitors over two hours back into the mountains for a day trip. It was a great day of fellowship, games, and of course, eating. God blessed the day and we had three saved!
Carla has begun a ladies healthy eating class in our Cajamarca church. They are having fun learning better ways to eat and trying new recipes. Peruvians eat rice and potatoes at many meals and there is a high rate of diabetes because of it. Carla hopes to help at least some turn that poor pattern around and have a healthier lifestyle for their families.
I was invited to teach a class in February to at least 54 pastors in a town about an 18-hour drive from where we live. The class was on the purity of God’s Word and the early manuscripts. This is a great way to share our Bible ministry with more pastors. We also provided Romans booklets for each pastor in attendance. After the class, we immediately began receiving requests for Bibles and Romans booklets in that area. We have now sent over 300 cases of Bibles to many pastors there to be used in their churches and other works where the Word of God is so desperately needed.
Carla and I were blessed to have two visitors recently. Ken and Worth have visited our ministry in Peru many times and love to be involved in the distribution of Bibles. They both accompanied me on the week-long trip to teach the pastors. Upon our return they also helped us deliver and ship out many cases of Bibles and Romans booklets to various pastors and missionaries.
Speaking of Bible & Romans booklet distribution, you’ll remember we announced the arrival of the container of Bibles in our last prayer letter. On Jan. 3, I sent an email to pastors and missionaries here in Peru of the availability of the Bibles. In just under 2 months, we have delivered or promised over 20,000 Bibles. That is over 85% of what we received! They have already been delivered to many churches in the mountains, coastal desert, and jungle areas of Perú. Carla and I recently traveled to the coast to coordinate a shipment of 2800 Bibles into the jungle capital. We have also sent a large shipment into Chile to three missionaries who will be distributing them there. As soon as we can get clearance, we will be delivering many Bibles to pastors in Bolivia who will receive them at the border of Peru and take them into the country. Covid and customs restrictions are causing some delays, but God is in control. Carla and I are leaving today on a trip into Ecuador to deliver Bibles and Romans booklets to three missionaries there. More on that in our next letter. Please pray for safety and no problems in the border crossing process.
National pastor Juan Carlos continues to work hard to build our coastal church back up. Church attendance began to return to normal as Covid restrictions lessened, then dropped again as we began to see a lack of commitment in the members and attendees. Pastor Juan Carlos is doing a good job of visiting and encouraging, but they are just not responding as they should. We know this is happening in many places, but it is sad to experience. That said, praise the Lord a baptism is planned for the coming weekend for two of the members. Please be in prayer for this work as we trust God for guidance and continue to reach that area. We continue to see a good number of visitors at our Cajamarca church and attendance has been good.
Praise be to God, including the youth outing we have seen a total of 9 receive Christ since our last letter!
We have posted new photo albums on our website (www.rich2peru.com) Please take a look! May God bless each of you for your heart for missions!
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
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