Happy Fall

Happy fall y’all!

Its so hot, hot, hot!

Here in Lima, it is spring! The rain has come the flowers are blooming and…. Wait a minute! None of that is true! Because Lima is a Desert!. That means it goes from a 65-75 degree desert in the winter to a much, much hotter one! So spring is our ramp up to hotter and hotter weather. Pray with us as we dream of a white Christmas that will not likely be coming😊

Enjoying a Spring activity as a church. Don’t let the grass fool you, it is all hand watered!

Celebrating is fun

In September, we were able to celebrate our son Liam turning 10! Can you believe it! We praise the Lord for our son. He loves life, soccer, bikes, friends, mine craft, pizza, language learning, riding city buses, and any semblance of independence he can get! But he still likes to snuggle mom and dad😊

God at work in our Leaders

Our Church exists to spread the Gospel of Jesus in our neighborhood, in our surrounding community, and around the world. “More people, more like Jesus” is a phrase we often use. But how we accomplish that as a group of leaders many times can cause friction and unnecessary conflict within the Church. We are all human and make mistakes. One of the ways God has wired me is helping people systematically solve problems and work together, even when its difficult. And all of us have an inner 3 year old that just wants their own way:)

We are now growing in some of the less glorious leadership qualities that are necessary for unity and growth. Those include communication, financial accountability, strategic planning, and accountability in our scheduling and calendar. I know, boring! But the results are not! God is using this so that each of our activities are focused at ensuring that we, as a group, are focused on work that accomplishes the mission of our Church. “More People, more like Jesus”. “Gospel Centered Churches planting Gospel Centered Churches.” And we are now moving from the chaotic daily stuff (which we still do and is important!), to doing it in a way that strives towards the same goal in unity. We have only been given so much time on earth to serve, so removing the static and the roadblocks has been a blessing as God grows us. And God is producing fruit in it. It has been incredible seeing us have open, hard conversations on everything from: Church finance, Church discipline, how to serve well, what to add, what to cut, how each thing impacts the church as a whole. We have begun identifying people groups who are underserved and seeking to serve them or delegate, in an intentional way, with accountability. So what are the results? Unity, peace, vision, direction, love, prayer, more people served, more joy in serving, and God gets all the glory. I praise God for each leader in our group of Elders.

God at work in our Men

As Steve and Kelley are stateside, our responsibility here has ramped up and God is at work in all the details. In August, I was asked to take over leading the men’s ministry at our church. My dear Peruvian friend Arturo had served for 8 years faithfully and is in much need of a break. Thank you for serving all of these years faithfully!

We proposed men’s Bible studies moving from large group teaching and preaching to smaller group (optional) studies, geared at men. We still have a larger study but changed the format to be more interactive as we study God’s word on what He expects from a man of God. The smaller studies, we thought, may have enough to form four or five groups of 3 men each in more intimate setting. Man, were we wrong! When I put the sign up out, 47 men signed up with 10 more being added later in the week. Pray for us, as we do not have enough leaders to have 19 studies, and so we are working hard to fill these gaps. I have 3 groups that I am leading at present, and may be adding another in the near future. At present we have 10 groups going but need to start another 9! It has been a joy to see the men of our church take serious steps towards growth in Christ in this season.

Andy Sharing with Men’s Sunday night Study

Visitors from IOWA!

Also in September, we were blessed to have our dear friends, Andy and Julie Bittle visit us from Living Waters Fellowship in Des Moines. What a joy it was, introducing our counseling pastor to our Sunday night men’s group and having Him share with the men. It was so fun just getting to sit and drink coffee with Andy and Julie and be encouraged by them. Thanks so much for coming!

Regional Conference:

We were recently blessed to be able to take part in our South American Regional Conference here in Lima. ABWE hosted a conference right here; serving and pouring into missionaries serving in Peru, Argentina, Chile, Columbia, Uruguay, and Ecuador. A week spent in English with North American missionaries was a blessing and encouragement. Pray for our missionaries in Uruguay. They are alone with no local teammates and we are praying that we might be able to send Peruvian partners to work with them there. Over 40% of Uruguay is Atheist. As a culture, they have the highest suicide rate in all of Latin America.

Praying over the Buds. Retiring after 40 years of missionary service in Peru!

A move is coming

Earlier this year, we were informed that our church would be losing our Sunday school classrooms for Sunday morning in Jan 2024. We knew this would be a major hurdle heading into the new year. Having our rent increased five-fold at the same time was not at all in our thought process! We were informed 2 weeks ago that our landlord intends to increase rent five-fold while removing space from our lease. Bummer! God is already opening doors and we sense that either a strong counter proposal or a complete change of location is in the works. We are actively working with our church leaders, real estate professionals, landowners and the municipality to find a different option. Though it may be easy to feel slighted by our landlord, we fully believe that this is from the Lord. He is pushing us faster than we thought He would and know He will iron out all of the details. Pray and fast with us as we seek where the Lord will have us land soon! There are a million details to sort out, so I won’t bore you with it. I will share the full story once it all plays out. We know that God already knows the plan and we are eagerly doing our part as He directs us.

Pray for us this week:

A new small group Bible Study is FINALLY starting in our home this week! Pray that our group grows as we begin on Wednesday nights.

1. Salvation of the Juan Carlos and Eric

2. Growth in Christ for our Men’s Studies

3. Additional leaders to fill the gap in our men’s studies

4. Language learning and depth for Debbie and the kids

5. Continued personal growth in Christ and in Leadership

6. Our support has fallen yet again with a few individuals and one church unable to continue support. Pray that God raise up the support deficit.

Planes Trains and Automobiles

ONE Year Report