Saturday, January 21, 2012

New Radio Transmitter Arrived

We are rejoicing in the Lord! Our new radio transmitter, tuning unit and many other parts that arrived in Lima on December 31 were released from customs and are now sitting at our radio plant.
The equipment arrived in this truck which sits in the middle of the radio plant. Our customs agent and his wife are on the right.
The equipment being unloaded.
This equipment is very delicate and was handled carefully. Jorge, our caretaker is on the left. Our agent is on the right in yellow.
It was a big shipment as you can see.
Our customs agent and his wife did a great job. We thank the Lord for him, his hard work and his integrity. His wife was right there by his side helping all the way.
From left to right are: Edward (our associate), myself, and Oscar (our customs agent).

The new transmitter should be powerful enough to cover every block of Lima with a clear signal. It will take a few months to get things installed and get to the point where we can transmit with a higher power (25,000 watts). Our goal is to cover all of Lima and beyond by the end of May. This is a big step forward.

We want to thank all of you for your prayers, interest, and sacrifice in giving. So many have had a part in this gigantic project. With all of our heart, Ruth and I want to express our deep gratitude.




Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Two More Redeemed by Christ

A little over a week ago we sent out a message asking for our supporters to pray for the salvation of four people and for the spiritual life of one new convert. We are thrilled to report that two of the four people on that prayer list have received Christ as their Savior: Catalina and María Paz. They are grandmother and granddaughter.
Catalina (pictured on your left) and María Paz (right).

You will recall that Alejandro and his step son, Ayrton, were saved not long ago. Elisabet, Alejandro's wife, was saved as a young girl. Alejandro, Ayrton and Elisabet are very active witnesses for Christ. Catalina is Elisabet's mother and María Paz is her niece. Her influence has played a great part in the salvation of Catalina and María Paz.
From left to right: María Paz, Alejandro, Elisabet, Ayrton, Catalina.

The joy in this family has increased as one by one, more have come to Christ. They are still praying for others in their family. Jesus brings joy to hearts and unites families.





Friday, January 13, 2012

On the Sunday before Christmas, we gave out some special gifts to the children who came to church. They received a new New Testament Bible, a nice gospel tract with pictures at a child's level, candy, cookies, Bible story coloring books, and crayons.

Just before Christmas we held a "Chocolate Time" at our new church plant where our radio station is located. We served everyone in the community who came a cup of hot chocolate and a piece of fruit cake (a Peruvian custom). This was a very special treat for the people in this area. This church is way out in the country and in a neighborhood that is economically speaking, very humble.
Many children came. It made their day!
This was a special treat for the kids!
Several mothers also joined us.
My son, Jonathan, gave a short gospel message.
The children listened attentively as the Word of God was sown one more time in their little hearts.
During the message, Jonathan gave a candy bar to a little boy as part of his illustration of God's gift to us.
He made one little guy happy!

The week after Christmas, we gave the children a shirt with our radio station stamped on it. This was a great gift for the kids and it also provides good will in our community toward our ministry.
A lady in the U.S. got together with some friends to raise funds to help these children. Their donation provided for all these special gifts for the children. We want to thank all of them for their generosity and sacrifice.
The children's faces say it so much better.


Pray for These People

We would like to ask special prayer for the salvation of four people and one new convert. They have all heard the gospel and three are very interested in obtaining eternal life and a right relationship with God.

Sulay is the niece of Ramón Alemán, who attends our church.
Left to right: Sulay, Saskia (Ramón's daughter), Ramón, and his granddaughter, Raquel.

Sulay began attending the Bible studies we have in Ramón's house. She has a lot of questions, is searching and wants to know more about how to be right with God.
Sulay is very sincere. Although she has heard the gospel, she is still trying to figure it all out.

Catalina and Maria Paz Ulloa live in the same house with three of our new converts. Catalina is the grandmother and María Paz is the granddauther.
The lady in the middle and farthest from the camera with a Bible in her hands is Elisabet. She is saved and on fire for Christ. To her right (your left) is her mother, Catalina. On her other side in dark blue is her niece, Maria Paz. Maria Paz is 15 years old and is very interested in studying the Bible and being saved. Her father is not in agreement.

Ruth and I sat down with Catalina and Maria Paz and went over the gospel carefully. God is illuminating their understanding that forgiveness comes by grace through faith and not by human effort or good works.

Betty is also very interested.
In this Bible study, Betty is the lady farthest to the left.

Betty is struggling with repentance. She knows she is not living in accordance with God's Word and would have to make some major changes if she follows Christ. We are encouraging her.

A fifth person to remember in your prayers is Fernando, a young man we mentioned in a previous prayer letter.
He just recently made a profession. About a week later, Fernando began to cool in his desire to learn more. We are very concerned for him and would like for you to pray that he will continue on in his new life in Christ.




Thursday, January 12, 2012

Church Plant in Lima

Grace Baptist Church has graciously offered us the use of their building. They have church services only in the morning so this allows us to have our service at night. We give them a small love offering to help with the expenses of electricity, water and maintenance.
The building is small, but is the perfect size for our congregation.
We just about fill up the room by the time the worship service begins. The auditorium can hold a maximum of approximately 80 comfortably.

It is very difficult for me to stay in close contact with those who attend for the following reasons:
1) They live all over the city.
2) More and more people are coming.
3) The radio ministry absorbs a lot of my time. The radio ministry itself is very demanding. Plus it is growing and we are still in the process of upgrading the plant.

We praise the Lord that we have Jorge Huanca who will begin working with us in February. He and his family are already in Lima and attend our church.
We introduced Jorge and his family to the congregation on Sunday, January 8.
Jorge is busy constructing a house for his family. But since they have arrived, our song service is much more dynamic, thanks to Jorge playing the piano.
Edward, our associate pastor, does an excellent job leading the singing.

We still have some room to grow in the building, but it won't be long before we will be needing a larger place. It would be very difficult to go to two services back to back with the small time frame we have. It is thrilling being a part of this ministry.

We are praying for land and a new place to meet. To rent is expensive and is not a permanent solution. Land is extremely expensive and we do not have the funds to consider this option at the moment. So we will see how God leads. He gives us what we need at the time we need it.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Ruth, A True Missionary Wife

From time to time, people ask how Ruth is doing. They ask about her shoulder, her Spanish and how she is adapting to her new life in Peru.

First, her shoulder is fine. She faithfully finished all her therapy, has no more pain from the surgery and has full use of her arm. Thank you so much for praying. We thank the Lord for a good physician and therapist. All Ruth's hard work and faithfulness in exercising paid off.

Each week she has a tutor come to the house to work on her Spanish. Her teacher is Ana Conde.
Ana is a believer and works very well with Ruth.

Ruth has learned a lot more Spanish since arriving in Peru and continues to work hard at it. Learning a second language is a life-long task. I (Stan) still work at it.
Ruth feels at home in Lima and loves working with the children in Lurín.
They are starving for love and Ruth does well loving on them.
She does a fine job leading the singing during the children's hour. She shines when it comes to crafts.
A spider that Ruth taught the children to make in Sunday School.

I think Ruth is the craft queen of all children's ministries. It amazes me how she is so creative!
Ruth loves the fellowship time with our missionary colleagues.
My Sweetheart keeps me laughing. She likes to have a good time and keeps the home atmosphere light.
Ruth does a lot of behind the scenes jobs that no one ever notices (except the Lord).
I just want to express my gratitude to the Lord for giving me such a good wife and help mate. Ruth is wonderful!

The Huanca Family Arrives in Lima

Jorge and Dalila Huanca served the Lord in Trujillo, Peru for 16 years. They were very active in both the Seminary and Faith Baptist (the church we began years ago). They have moved to Lima to come and serve with us in the new church plant and radio ministry.

On their first Sunday (January 8), Jorge brought the message for the worship service. He also played the piano for the song service. Wow, what a difference! It adds so much to the song service.
At the end of the service, we introduced the entire family to our congregation.
Then we had a question and answer time so the congregation could ask questions and get to know them better.
Jorge shared how he meet his wife, Dalila and about his ministry in Trujillo.
Dalila gave her testimony and did a very good job responding to the questions.
She is a very cheerful person and will be a great help in ministering to the ladies. Jorge and Dalila make a great team together.

After this time of sharing, two of the ladies in our church presented a bouquet of flowers to Dalila and a single red rose and new white Bible to their daughter, Damaris.
We also gave a gift to their sons, Jonathan and Josué (Joshua).
Two of the young fellows in our church presented a new Bible to each and gave them a hug.

Their three children are fine examples for our young people. It is refreshing to see a family like theirs.
From left to right: Jonathan (14), Josué (12) and Dámaris (10).
The evening was capped off with a warm greeting as the people went forward to welcome the Huancas.
The addition of Jorge to our ministry staff is an answer to prayer. He begins work in February and his abilities will be help relieve the work load for our associate, Pastor Edward. Please pray that the Lord will supply more workers. We need a good full-time secretary and one more couple to help in the church and radio ministry.