¡Feliz Año! Happy New Year!
Among the many things I struggle with in this life, one of those is knowing just how to express my gratitude to the people who have done so much for me. Right now, that includes you all. Your prayers, your support, your encouragement and your fellowship have all gone such a long way in supporting myself personally and the work that God is doing here in Cieneguilla, Peru. Thank you so very much. Here are some of the things that have been accomplished, or that have happened in the last several months.
New Life Baptist Church Children’s Classes: In the last several months several of the families of New Life Baptist Church have started attending Sunday Evening and/or Wednesday evening services more faithfully. We also have 2 teachers who have started inviting several of their students to come on Wednesday evenings. My class for 2-12 year olds on Sunday evenings has jumped from 10 to about 16 kids and we have spent the last several months talking about the lives of Peter and Paul (as many kids struggle to remember which was which). My Wednesday evening classes have increased from about 7 kids to about 16 as well, the majority being 8 and up, and we have spent the last several months talking about the armor of God and the influences around us.
Thursday Manchay Kid’s Club: Our Thursday club in Manchay is still going strong. In November the kids had a group challenge. We challenged them to memorize 30 verses as a group in 4 weeks. While the 15 of the regular kids didn’t hit the goal in 4 weeks (the first week all of the kids literally forgot and another week there was a school field trip so only 6 kids were in Bible club), they did finish it in 5 weeks, so we rewarded the group with french fries. A few weeks later we had a combined Christmas dinner (Rotisserie Chicken) with the ladies Bible study and then a few days before Christmas I met with the kids to give them gifts and Paneton. Two new families moved to the area recently and have started attending the kid’s club, ladies study and my teen study so we are now running about 23 kids on Thursdays during the school year and 30ish during summer break.
Saturday Manchay Teen Study: In October one of the teens in the girl’s Bible study suddenly asked if she could invite a friend. I readily agreed, somewhat surprised since I am constantly telling them at the end they can invite friends if they want. To make a long story short, she brought her friend, who brought her boyfriend, and those two plus one regular attender accepted Christ as Savior. Then suddenly we were down to 1-2 people attending each week because of school events and the teens had rehearsals for class competitions every Saturday for most of November. But in December the 7 regular girls plus the 2 visitors came back and were attending faithfully. On December 2nd there were 4 teen boys sitting in the meeting space with a huge sound system set up, just hanging out until later that afternoon where they were doing the music for a party. I invited them over to Bible study and 2 ran the opposite direction and 2 got really interested and joined us. And then they joined us the following 2 weeks. And as school break began the 6th graders moving up into secondary were invited to join us. Last week we had 15 teens (girls and guys) participating in our study on the grace of God through the lives of men and women in the Old Testament, and how it relates to God’s grace today. It is so thrilling to watch these teens get excited about coming and bringing friends.
Sunday Afternoon Río Seco Kid’s Club: As we enter summer here, weather has been getting warmer and the sun seems to be getting stronger. Meeting in front of a house in the street, with the kids playing in the dust and sun and then sitting on a concrete curb with no shade has been difficult. We began running into problems with neighborhood dogs coming around as well (many follow their kids) and getting into fights amongst the kids. In November a couple people in Río Seco began to offer us plots of land that we could use to meet on (no shade, not cleared of rocks,) but many were about 10 streets away from where we were currently meeting. We were ready to move to begin to clear one and put up shade when the owner decided not to allow us to use it. And I thank God for that intervention, because a week later we were offered a plot of land to use about 30 feet from where we were currently meeting, on the same street. My sending church, Midland Baptist Church, sent the money we needed and we have cleared the land, put up shade, built benches (items that can’t easily disappear) and are now meeting on the cleared land. Being in the shade and away from the dogs and distractions, the kids listen better and participate more. Several have declared they have accepted Christ in the last several months and it is such a joy to see.
Thank you all so very much for your participation in the work God is doing here through your prayers, support and encouragement. I would not be able to continue here without you all.