Latest Event Updates
Celebrating our 18th Year!
Celebrating our 18th Year!
July 1, 2021
It is hard to believe that as of the 15th of this month Carla and I will be celebrating 18 years on the mission field! Time seems to go so quickly (kinda like my hair). We began our deputation in 2001 and just 21 months later God had us on the field. We have seen several missionaries come and go and have made some lifelong friends along the way. We have seen God bless our ministry over and over in ways we would have never imagined. We are looking forward to seeing how God will continue to work in the strange times that we are living in.
As I write this, we are about two-thirds of the way through our short furlough. We have been in 18 churches so far. We have a full calendar with 10 more meetings scheduled. Our plan is to be back in Peru on August 5. We have been enjoying seeing our friends in our supporting churches, visiting with friends and family, spoiling the grand kids, and getting in some fishing time. Carla’s birthday is on the 4th of July, so we will be enjoying family time as we celebrate her “nunya” birthday (nunya business how old she is ?).
There was not enough space in the May prayer letter so let me say here… PTL and thank you for the prayers. We were able to begin shipping the Romans booklets once again at the end of March. We still had many cases left when we came in on our furlough and look forward to getting those sent out upon our return.
We are also looking forward to receiving more Bibles and materials when we return from our furlough. After a few setbacks Victory Baptist Press is in the process of completing Spanish Bibles and John/Romans booklets that will be shipped to us in the coming months. I continue to receive requests for Bibles and materials weekly.
UPDATES: Your prayers for Peru are welcomed and appreciated.
* The third wave of Covid has begun in Peru. The India strain has entered and has shut down the 2nd largest city in the country. Restrictions are still in place for the entire country with masks still being mandatory along with other strict measures. At least most are able to get back to work for the time being.
* The presidential election continues to be in limbo with a difference of only one quarter of one percent difference between the two. There are many claims of fraud which are being investigated. No one is sure when the outcome will be announced or how the country will respond. At least 75% of the country do not believe the election was clean and a lot of people are upset. One candidate has requested international intervention. Two of the members of the organization that handles the elections have resigned because they said they didn’t want to be a part of the corruption. We’ve heard rumors that some of the remnants of the Shining Path terrorist group have been stealing dynamite from the gold mines. This has happened before, and it is unsure if it is has to do with the election results.
But there is good news! Praise the Lord, we have had at least three more saved in our churches! God continues to work even though church attendance is down, as we have seen in many churches also here in the states.
Let us close by saying that we are still praying for God to send a couple or family to work with us. We do have one intern who is now on deputation to come to Peru. We are praying for the Lord to quickly provide his support and also a wife to work alongside of him. But there is still room for more workers. Could God be calling you?
May God continue to bless each of you who faithfully pray for and support the ministry that God has called us to.
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
Quarantine Yo-Yo and Furlough
Quarantine Yo-Yo and Furlough
May 1, 2021
As of our last letter, Cajamarca was placed on level 2 (high) of the four tier Covid chart. It was short lived. After two weeks it was re-evaluated and placed at level 4 (extreme). Numbers of infected had begun to climb. Our church had to shut its doors once again and return to online services. After two more weeks our area was downgraded to level 3 (very high) which would allow us to have services at 20% capacity. BUT these two weeks coincided with Easter and the vote for a new president. The government declared that the entire country would be on the strictest quarantine for “Holy Week” to keep large groups from gathering and spreading the virus. Voting in Peru is always on Sunday and no public gatherings are allowed. So those two weeks were also without church services. We could meet, but we couldn’t. A conundrum to say the least. The following two weeks we were able to return to services at 20% capacity. Then new rules went into effect requiring masks AND facial shields to enter stores, markets, and public buildings. Despite all precautions, we have had several families infected with Covid in both our Cajamarca and Guadalupe churches. PTL that none of them became very sick and have since recovered.
Hospitals in our area are considered “collapsed” because of all being full and no ICU beds available. Oxygen is only being supplied in hospitals. Those who are suffering with Covid in their homes are being overcharged for oxygen when they can find it. Just this week, we were able to purchase a portable oxygen machine. It cost several times more than what it would be in the states, but we felt it would be worth having it available. The cost was right at $2200. If anyone would like to help with this please send any support to our mission agency, Central Missionary Clearinghouse. Please include a note that it is for the oxygen machine for our ministry.
In March, the country suffered a transportation strike. Travel was blocked on main highways and streets in towns, shutting down movement and commerce. After five days, the national police were instructed by the federal government to clear the roads of protesters. Warnings were given and the trucks unblocked the roads, allowing traffic to return to normal.
Please be in prayer for the country of Peru. The recent presidential elections brought the field of candidates down from eighteen to two. The run-off will be in June. The choices are sad. One candidate is along the socialist line of governing, the same as the failed government of Venezuela and Cuba. The other candidate has been jailed in the past and is still under investigations for corruption. Either one will be a poor choice, but one will be President.
On April 23, Carla and I celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary. Like many of you have experienced, celebrating was different this year. We managed to get away into the mountains for a picnic. We are looking forward to next year and hoping that we will be back to a type of “normal” so we can plan something special to celebrate our 40th. Then again, each year is special living and serving with the love of my life.
After our mailing address failed several times, we have now gone back to using a post office box. We received Christmas cards in March (mailed in Nov) after the post office saying that we had no mail for three months. They just “found” them. We still do not recommend mailing anything to us because of an unreliable system. But for those who do want to send cards, our address in Peru will once again be: Donald Rich Casilla 90 Cajamarca, Peru
PRAISE: I recently received a short video from a Christian radio station in the jungle city of Iquitos. It was of a 24-year-old lady giving her testimony on the air. She cried as they presented her with one of the Bibles we provided for that ministry. What a blessing to know how God is working through the Bible distribution.
Lord willing, by the time you are reading this, we will have just arrived in the US for our short furlough. Carla will be visiting a specialist to finally determine if she has Lupus or not. Our calendar is full, and we look forward to visiting several of our supporting churches. We will be giving ministry updates in five states. We appreciate your faithful prayers for Carla’s appointments and for our travel.
May God bless and keep each of you.
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
The Ins and Outs of Quarantine!
The INs and OUTs of Quarantine!
March 1, 2021
In our last prayer letter, we were glad to announce that as of November our churches were able to have in-person services. This was after eight months of just virtual services because of the strict quarantine measures here in Peru. We enjoyed a great time of careful fellowship as we followed the protocols that had been put in place. This included limited capacity, spaced seating, masks, hand sanitizer, temperatures taken at the door, and a pan of bleach water to step in, then wipe our feet before entering the sanctuary.
Sadly, on Sunday January 31, the country went back into quarantine. This time each area of Peru was individually evaluated and placed in different levels of concern. Our area here in Cajamarca was placed in the “Very High” category which is the third highest of four levels. Churches and all public gatherings were shut down once again. We were not allowed to drive our personal vehicle on Saturday or Sunday. A mandatory curfew of 8pm was in place.
But praise the Lord, after one month the government once again reviewed the situation and our area has been downgraded one level to “High”. We will once again be allowed to have church services March 1-14th with 30% capacity. Time will tell what will happen after that. They are now re-evaluating every two weeks.
Our Guadalupe church was in the “High” category and still able to have services during the first two-week period. Then the government extended the quarantine for two more weeks and our Guadalupe church area was moved to “Very High”, causing the church doors to close once again and services to go back to virtual. We remain in constant contact with our national pastor there and they are doing well. PTL, they have also been downgraded for the coming two-week period and can start in-person services again.
We know that the entire world is experiencing similar problems and don’t want this to read like complaining. As frustrating as it is, we know that God is in control. We just want to keep everyone up to date with what is going on here so you will know how to pray. That is why we call it a “prayer letter”. 🙂
After waiting and watching, we are planning a short furlough beginning in May. To limit exposure to the virus we are only contacting those supporting churches we were unable to visit on our last furlough in 2018. The three-month window we were able to carve out will be our shortest furlough to date, but we need this time for Carla to visit a specialist. As we explained in our last letter, we have had conflicting diagnosis’s as to whether she has lupus. We want to get a definitive answer while we are in and start treatment if necessary. Your prayers are appreciated. We are required to have a negative Covid test before flying and will be self-quarantining when we arrive.
Our Food Distribution Ministry continues but on a much smaller scale. Praise the Lord, many people are now back at work in our area since the quarantine has been adjusted to allow businesses to open with restrictions.
The Bible & Tract Distribution ministry has once again been stalled. With the new restrictions bus stations closed again, and distribution has stopped except for the local pastors who can come to our location and pick up what they need. However, we have received the blessing of pictures from pastors who received Bibles and materials before the recent quarantine measures. They have been busy distributing them. The Word is still going out.
We are so blessed to be able to end this letter on a high note. Since our last prayer letter SIX MORE SOULS have been SAVED in our churches! Some are studying discipleship classes with our pastors. Two young ladies in our Cajamarca church are anxiously waiting for the church to re-open so they can be baptized! Through it all, God is good, faithful, and merciful!
Thank you for your faithful prayers and support of what God is doing here in Peru and around S. America.
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
Rich Family Prayer Letter Jan 2021
“I was GLAD when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord”
January 1, 2021
Praise the Lord! Psalm 122 has never been more true! On Nov. 15, after 8 months of online services, our churches were allowed to open up with certain protocols to follow. Both of our churches are now having Sunday morning services and our Cajamarca church has also added Wednesday prayer meeting. We are seeing good attendance at both churches.
With the opening up of bus lines and other businesses we were able to begin deliveries of the Bibles and Romans booklets that we received at our facility back in July. In just 3 weeks, we delivered all 8000 Bibles and once again ran out. We continue to deliver the orders for Romans booklets to pastors and missionaries throughout the country.
This past year was a sad one politically, not only in the US but also in Peru. Peru’s sitting President was impeached in November. The president of Congress was then named interim president. There was such an uproar over the choice that protests broke out for five days throughout the country resulting in two young men being killed. The interim president subsequently resigned. Congress took two days to find another that they could place in the office of President until the April 2021 elections. The president that was impeached was actually the former vice president who took the office when the former President of Peru resigned under allegations of corruption. To say that the politics in this country is challenging is putting it lightly.
Last month I had the privilege of conducting the wedding ceremony of a young man I won to the Lord fifteen years ago when he was only 12. It was a beautiful outdoor ceremony as Gerson married a precious young lady, Yesebell. They both love the Lord, and we pray God’s best for them.
Both of our churches were able to enjoy Christmas services with a time afterwards of giving gifts to the kids. Our church in Cajamarca enjoyed the traditional “chocolatada” in an untraditional way. Because of social distancing, everyone received their fruit bread (panetón) and hot chocolate as they left the service instead of sitting and eating together in the church.
Our 15-passenger van became the ‘big green sleigh’ as we were blessed to deliver food, the Word of God, and gifts to several families and around 160 poorer kids in our area. At one point we went to a small city square and gave a child a gift. That one kid told another, they passed the word, and soon we were looking at a line of children and mothers with babies. The gifts and Romans booklets were gone in about 20 minutes. All of this was made possible by some special donations from some of our supporters. What a blessing to see the kids’ faces as they received a small token of God’s love through His people.
We want to give God praise and ask for prayer for two situations: My (Don’s) mother was diagnosed with Covid around the middle of December. She was retested this week and it was negative! She is still weak but gaining strength. Also, Carla was diagnosed last month with lupus by a doctor here in Peru. We sent the test results to two doctors in the US and were told that she does NOT have lupus. We will be following up when we visit the US later this year, Lord willing. Thank you all for your prayers.
PTL! We have recently seen ELEVEN SOULS SAVED between our two churches. One family of five Venezuelans in Guadalupe came to escape political problems in their country. They told Pastor Juan Carlos that they felt that demons were in their home. He went to counsel them and won them to the Lord! Now the only “spirit” in their hearts and home is the Holy Spirit!
We have recently added more photo albums to our website, www.rich2peru.com. Take a look!
May God bless each of you in this new year for your faithful prayers and support.
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
Rich Family Prayer Ltr Nov 2020
Socks and Monkey Business?
November 1, 2020
Hello from the Andes Mountains of Peru!
Good news! The strict quarantine here in Peru was lifted on Oct. 1. We are still under some restrictions such as masks, social distancing, and public building occupancy limits. Our valley of around 300,000 people went from having well over 2-300 people reported infected per day and many deaths to now averaging daily around 45 reported infected and only one death or less. Although any death is sad, we are praising the Lord that the numbers are finally going down. Also, direct international flights are scheduled to open today to several countries including the US. They will be limited and with restrictions, but it is light at the end of the tunnel.
As for our churches, we are still preaching online. The Peruvian government recently announced that only special church services such as baptisms, funerals, and weddings are allowed and with a maximum of only 30% of the building occupancy. But we have heard that the president is talking with evangelical leaders and will possibly allow regular church services by mid-November! We are sure it will be with restrictions, but it is a start. Our church buildings have been shut for eight months. Please pray that we will be able to open the doors of our church soon.
Cajamarca church – Carla and the ladies of our church came together to start a Saturday on-line kids’ class. Some of the kids came by to pick up books and crafts to take home and use during the classes. We hand-delivered several also. We have seen a great response. The kids record their memory verses and answers to questions asked during the live FB broadcast. They then send them in to the leaders. Next week, we will be delivering prizes to those who have been faithful to attend virtually and complete their “homework tasks”.
Guadalupe church – Pastor Juan Carlos has continued to improve and is around 100% now! We were able to briefly visit with them last week in their home on the coast. It was the first time we had seen them in a year because of my knee surgery, then the pandemic.
On October 18th we celebrated the fourth anniversary services of the Guadalupe church! The services were held online with Pastor Juan Carlos preaching the morning services and me (Don) preaching the evening services. Our Cajamarca church cancelled their online services that day to be able to participate in their sister church’s celebration. We had a great online attendance.
Food Distribution Ministry – We continue to make food deliveries to those we know who are struggling without jobs because of the pandemic. This includes several families from Venezuela who originally moved to Peru to escape the poverty and terrible government that they were under. Sadly, many arrived here not long before the quarantine and job shutdowns. This has caused serious hardships. We recently received more great donations to help with this ministry. It is a continual blessing to those we help, and we love seeing their faces as God blesses them through our ministry.
More good news! Our Bible Distribution ministry will be back in full distribution mode beginning this week! Enough of the bus lines are open for shipping that we will now be able to receive and fill requests. We have almost 1700 cases of Bibles and Roman’s booklets in our distribution building. Please pray that they will go out quickly. The Word of God does no one any good in storage.
Christmas is coming quickly. Carla had a great idea to make sock monkeys for the kids in our church this year. Do you remember sock monkeys? She and the ladies will be working hard to complete at least 50 before the holiday arrives. It only took several hours, around seven stores, and one open market to find all the socks, buttons, cloth, etc. needed to make them all. It will be a lot of work. It is estimated to take around five hours for each monkey. So, I guess you could say that there will be a lot of monkey business around here for a while.
We saved the best for last. We have seen two salvations in our Guadalupe ministry this month! God continues to work and bless our ministry. We want to thank all of you who have a part in praying and/or financially supporting the work that God has placed in our hearts to accomplish.
May God bless each of you for your continual faithful prayers and support of us here in Peru.
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
God is still in the “Good News” business!
God is still in the “Good News” business!
September 1, 2020
It is hard to have a conversation, listen to the news, or even hear a message preached without hearing something about the international pandemic of the Corona Virus. I will touch on that since people ask us how it is in our area, then I want to focus on the good news… Yes, good news in the midst of all that is going on!
As expected, we went back into quarantine about two weeks after it was partially lifted. The numbers in our valley continue to rise between 150-200 per day in a population of around 250,000. Peru’s President Martín Vizcarra recently announced that the National State of Emergency has been extended for another month, thru Sept. 30. Children under the age of 14 will no longer be allowed outside for any duration of time, and adults aged 65 and older are to remain inside except when absolutely necessary. No social gatherings of any kind, including in the home with family, are permitted. Our area of Cajamarca is still under an 8:00 pm to 4:00 am curfew from Monday to Saturday and all-day quarantine on Sunday. Social distancing and the use of facemasks will be required for the foreseeable future. A missionary friend of ours posted a chart showing Peru with the highest death rate per capita and the highest total cases per capita in the world at this time. But God is good, and we remain healthy and safe.
I would like to share a sad news report that we saw recently. In the capital city of Lima over 100 people were found breaking the law by gathering and drinking in a nightclub. When the police arrived, many panicked and tried to get away, causing chaos. The exit was accidentally closed in the confusion, and people were trampled trying to get out. Thirteen were dead when it was all over. We watched part of one of the funerals on the news. The pall bearers danced to rock music while carrying the casket of the deceased. They also poured beer on the casket in “honor” of the departed. What a sad testimony. Like the rich man in hell, I’m sure the deceased would love to reach out to those left behind, those who continue to disregard their eternal life so they can enjoy their sin for a season.
Now for some GOOD NEWS! The first that we’d like to share is that the “Good News”, the gospel, reached another soul in our Guadalupe ministry! After one of our church members passed away in July, Pastor Juan Carlos was able to lead his 32-year-old son to the Lord!
Also in July, Carla and I celebrated 17 years on the mission field here in Peru! It has been great serving with my wonderful wife for all these years and we are excited to see what the future holds in our ministry here. Then in August, our Cajamarca church celebrated its 15-year anniversary with two special services online. I preached the morning service and then Carla and I blew out the candle and cut the ceremonial cake. Pastor José Zamora preached the evening service.
More good news! Many of you know that our Guadalupe pastor Juan Carlos was infected with the Covid virus. He was literally at the point of death at one time, but God intervened. He is now well on his way to recovery and gaining strength every day! His wife Karen is doing well also after a mild case of the virus. It was hard to be three hours away and unable to help them, but thanks to your prayers and the people of the Guadalupe church pitching in, they were taken care of. And of course, God gets all the glory.
On a lighter note, we were asked to help an elderly lady who was out of work. She wanted to sell a hog to make some money. We and another missionary family pitched in and bought the hog. We had an old-fashioned hog-killin’ and helped butcher it also. We kept some of it and were able to share some while it was fresh with some of our church families.
Our Bible and tract ministry is mostly at a standstill since the bus lines have been shut down. I was able to share two cases with a national pastor in our valley who walked to pick them up. We are looking forward to the opportunity to send them all out as soon as we are allowed. Requests come in weekly from all over S. America.
We continue to make food deliveries to those we know who are without jobs. We thank the Lord for those of you who have sent in donations to help with this ministry. It is a continual blessing to those we help.
May God bless each of you for your continual faithful prayers and support of us here in Peru.
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
Good news in the midst of it all!
Good news in the midst of it all!
July 3, 2020
Hello from the Andes Mountains!
As of July 1, the quarantine has been lifted here in Peru except for a few areas that are still suffering high numbers of Covid infected persons. We are a little surprised at the lift because of the continued rise in numbers in our area. One hospital has “collapsed” from the overload. The regional government and health officials for our area have asked the president of the country to continue the quarantine but it appears to have been denied. The country is still under a “state of emergency”, meaning that no one can be out between 10pm and 4am each day unless they have a work permit. There are still rules in place as we are in phase three of opening up. Restaurants can now have up to 40% capacity while malls can have up to 50%. We have been told that domestic air flights and bus travel will return on July 15. There are still no civic, sports, or religious gatherings allowed. We are expecting the numbers to continue to rise because of relaxing the regulations. We know that the US and other areas are going through the same. We are just taking precautions and praying.
Staying busy, the Lord has opened the door for me to be the “on-line guest speaker” for our home church a couple of times and I have also preached for our Peruvian churches through the internet. Carla recently taught a kids’ class online for both of our Peruvian churches. As any pastor will tell you, it is not the same as being in the church building with a congregation in the pews, but it is great to be able to continue to preach and teach the Word.
Now for some great news! God has been using this time to fortify families! We have heard from people in our church who, for the first time ever, have started daily family Bible studies in their homes. This is a direct result of them being confined with extra time on their hands. What a blessing to hear that they are “redeeming the time”. We are having good attendance of our on-line services. PTL, our Cajamarca pastor was able to lead a man to the Lord recently, during the quarantine!
Even though the quarantine has been lifted, there are many who continue to suffer from being unable to work and provide for their families. We continue to deliver food to help with their need. Also, another unique door has opened to us. Before the quarantine, many Venezuelans migrated to Peru because of the terrible political climate and problems in their country. Many worked in the streets here washing car windshields, selling bottled water or candy, and doing any odd jobs they could find. When the quarantine was proclaimed, many were immediately out of work and had nowhere to go for help since they are not citizens. We have found several families sitting along the street with home-made white flags to let people know that they are in need. Carla and I drive the streets and drop off bags of food for them. Along with the food, we are giving them New Testaments, tracts, and little evangelistic booklets for their children to read and color. We have also had some people knock on our door asking for food, which we are happy to provide. God has blessed as some of our faithful supporters have sent funds to help us purchase these essentials. The need continues. If the Lord puts it on your heart to help with our FOOD PANTRY ministry, please send your gift to our support agency at Central Missionary Clearinghouse and let us know so we can plan accordingly.
Even more great news! Just yesterday we were able to receive our shipment that has been in storage for around two months. Victory Baptist Press in Florida and Beacon of Truth Baptist Ministries in S. Carolina joined together to send us almost 8000 Bibles and just under a half million Romans booklets for our distribution ministry. The container arrived in Peru right after the quarantine started and was then trucked to a storage facility here in Cajamarca. The trucking company finally received approval to make the delivery. We had a great group of twenty-five church members, plus two other friends who showed up to help unload. It took a little over two and a half hours before we had it all placed in the distribution storage building here on-site. We are hoping to be able to start distribution soon as they open the bus stations for shipping within Peru. We continue to get requests weekly.
Thank you all for your faithfulness to this ministry. May God richly bless each of you,
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
Quarantine? What a different world and time we live in!
Quarantine? What a different world and time we live in!
May 1, 2020
Sunday evening March 15, one week after arriving back in Peru, we were told that the next day the entire country of Peru would be in a mandatory quarantine for 15 days. The quarantine has now been in effect for 6 weeks and will continue at least until May 10. No one is allowed to leave their home except for essentials between daylight to 6pm each day and nothing on Sunday. Sparse public transportation is provided which seems counterproductive to us since that puts several people together in a small space at one time. Non-essential businesses have been shut down. The streets are like a ghost town. People cannot work. I found out that as missionaries we could be approved for a special permit that allows us to move about in our own vehicle to help others. Since many if not most Peruvians live from week to week, when they can’t work it puts them at risk of not being able to provide food for their families or pay bills. We praise the Lord that we are able to help several families in our church and neighborhood as they need it. We are hoping to expand this needed ministry. If the Lord puts it on your heart to help us get food and essentials to hard hit families, please send your help to our support agency at CMC and let us know so we can plan accordingly.
Just before the quarantine started in Peru in March, Victory Baptist Press shipped us 7546 Bibles and 478,800 Romans booklets for evangelization. The booklets were supplied by Beacon of Truth Baptist Ministries in S. Carolina. The shipment made it fine to and through customs. It was then shipped by truck to Cajamarca, but they can’t be delivered to us because of the quarantine. We are looking forward to receiving them as soon as the lock-down is over.
Since we are in the Andes Mountains, far from the capital of Lima (14 hrs by car), the quarantine for the most part has isolated us away from the spread of the virus. Although it has arrived in our area, it has been very limited so far. Most of the cases here have been brought from smaller villages to our local hospitals for treatment.
As many of you are doing in the US, our national pastors have been presenting church services online. Our intern Darren, Carla, and I have also done live services from our home for the church and special services for the youth.
While homebound, I have taken the time to use the material from the book that I wrote in English (announced in our last prayer letter) and made it available in a Spanish version. This will allow any Spanish-speaking pastor, missionary, or layman to have the same information available to study. It has been emailed to many pastors and is available to download in pdf format on our website also. Sadly, because of the quarantine we had to cancel the Bible conference that we had scheduled in May so we hope this will be a blessing instead.
With the borders shut down, the Peruvian and American governments began to set up emergency repatriation flights to get Americans back to the US. These flights were only approved through Apr. 21 with no promise that there would be any other opportunities. Years ago, I had been asked to be an area Warden for the embassy, which means that in case of emergency I would be a contact point and liaison between the embassy and Americans in our area. When it looked like the Peruvian borders were going to be closed possibly until as late as 2021, we contacted the US Embassy and started looking for ways to get Darren back to the US. We found out that there were at least two other Americans in Cajamarca who wanted to get back. We were finally able to get the three from our area to an airport five hours from here where they flew to Lima, then on to Miami. From there each had to find a flight to their homes.
We understand that this pandemic is a burden on everyone, including our supporting churches and the families in each one. We have already received notice of support being dropped by at least one of our supporting churches due to the effects of this crisis. We know God is in control and are praying for all of you during this time. Our daily prayer is for God to show us what our ministry should look like as we move forward. We don’t want to miss any opportunities to minister in a time like this.
As many continue to suffer for lack of jobs, causing lack of money for food and essentials, the possibilities for robbery and kidnapping become greater and missionaries (gringos) can be high targets. We remain cautious daily, trust God for protection, and appreciate your prayers during these trying times.
Thank you all for your continued faithful prayers for us and our ministry,
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
Back Home in Peru!
Back Home in Peru!
March 12, 2020
This prayer letter is going out a little later than usual. We have just arrived back in Cajamarca this past Saturday morning. We had hoped to be back before then but in February I was told that I needed a procedure to “manipulate” my knee to break loose both old and new scar tissue that had formed. This would allow me to have more flexibility. Then, more physical therapy was needed before they would release me to travel by plane. It will still be a while before I am back to “normal”. Thank you all for your faithful prayers as I continue to heal.
It was great to spend quality time with family and be involved in our home church while we were in the US. It was a sweet time of reconnecting. Carla and I taught in SS, helped with special projects, sang in the choir, and also sang special music. I was blessed with the opportunity to preach at our home church, give updates, and preach at three of our supporting churches. We were blessed during our last week stateside to be able to attend our church’s Jubilee services with great preaching and special music. What a great way to be refreshed as we headed back to our place of service in S. America.
God blessed us with a vehicle that was loaned to us by another missionary for our time in the US. One day Carla and I were traveling on the interstate and she was taking a nap. I noticed a car in front of us run over a piece of a tarp. The tarp flew into the air and then went under our vehicle. It did not come out, so I knew I needed to pull over and remove it. Just then I heard a loud rumble. Our right rear tire had literally blown out. Smoke started coming from the tire as pieces flew into the air. In the heavy traffic we were able to move over and get onto the shoulder quickly. Of course, Carla woke up when the tire blew but knew nothing of the tarp. As I exited the vehicle I said, “at least I will have something to lay on”. She was surprised when I went to the front of the van, reached under, and pulled out the tarp that had hung underneath. It didn’t take long and we were back on the road. PTL, I had healed enough to be able to change the tire. I believe that God allowed this incident so that He could get the glory and so we could experience His protection and provision.
God’s timing is always perfect. The same day we arrived back in Peru our intern Darren also arrived to spend three months working with us. He will be a big help during his time here and we are looking forward to getting a lot accomplished.
While we were away, both of our churches did a great job presenting VBS in February. They had a good attendance at both our Cajamarca and Guadalupe churches. In total there were 36 professions of faith. We have also had five others saved and one baptized! We are proud of the work that is being accomplished through the pastors and workers in our Peruvian churches.
I’d like to announce that after studying the Spanish Bible versions for many years, I felt led to put my findings together in a book. It was written in English in an effort to help English-speaking pastors, missionaries, and lay people, understand the differences and make an educated decision on which version should be used in their Spanish ministries. These books are available in the US at no cost. If you would like one or more to share with missionaries and pastors, please go to our website “Contact Us” page (rich2peru.com) and send us your name, address, and the quantity that you would like. The file is also available as a free pdf download. My prayer is that this information will be a useful tool in understanding the topic and that God would get the glory.
It will be another busy year for us. Please pray that the corona virus problem will not affect our plans for the International Bible Conference in May. We are excited and looking forward to a good conference.
Thank you all for your continued faithful prayers for us and our ministry,
Don & Carla Rich
This entry was posted in Newsletters.
Spanish Bible Versions What you need to know… IN PLAIN ENGLISH
After studying the Spanish Bible versions for many years I felt led to put my findings together in English in an effort to help English-speaking pastors, missionaries, and lay people understand the differences and make an educated decision on which version should be used in their Spanish ministries. These books are available in the US at no cost individually or in quantity. If you would like one or more to share with missionaries and pastors, please send your name, address, and the quantity that you would like to Don Rich. The file is also available as a pdf download. May God bless each of you for your love of God’s pure Word.
This entry was posted in Newsletters.