A Changed Life

Marco Antonio is our primary taxi driver.  He heard about our radio station and began attending our church.  For over 20 years he had attended a Baptist church, been baptized and believed he was on his way to heaven.  After hearing many messages explaining that salvation is by grace through faith alone in Christ’s work, he fell under conviction.  After hearing a message I gave on Cornelius and a message my assistant gave on the purpose of living, the conviction grew.

All this time, he is taxing us all over Lima.  For days, then weeks that stretched into months, Marco asked questions.  Just recently, he came to the understanding that he did not have eternal life and was converted.

 Presenting Marco Antonio to the church.

 Marco Antonio professes his faith in Christ.

The joy in his heart radiates from his face.  Marco is a changed man in every way. 

 A changed man.

What a joy it is to see someone come to Christ.

Radio Station Reaches All of Lima

 Our new transmitter is now connected and running smoothly.  

 Our new transmitter is now installed.

The signal is strong, clear and covers all of Lima.  There are only a few, small pockets where mountains interfere with the signal.  

 The transmitter humming along at 20,000 watts.

Consider what God done up to this point through His people in this ministry.  The radio ministry gives the gospel and preaches the Word of God 24 hours a day 7 days a week non-stop to a potential listening audience of approximately 10 million people.  It penetrates effectively the capitol of Lima where one-third of the entire country lives.  Our broadcast also reaches beyond Lima to thousands more.  Others hear it over the internet.  

We have increased our staff to five and the transmitting power has recently quadrupled.  The free-will offerings from radio listeners already cover most of our monthly budget costs. 

 

It has taken years to accomplish and the road was not easy.  We thank the Lord for so many who have had a part.  We want to publically express our gratitude for the work teams from the following churches:

Calvary Baptist Church (Lansdale, PA)

Valley Forge Baptist Temple (Collegeville, PA)

            Marantha Baptist Church (Hayesville, OH)

Mountain Showdows Baptist Church (Pueblo West,CO)

            Chris Collins, Jr. from Suber Road Baptist Church (Greer, SC). 

Several returned to Peru a second time to help us!   Thanks to all of you who have given, prayed, poured cement, sanded boards, and done a hundred other things.  Many dug and dug and dug to put in our radial wires. 

A special word of thanks to Les Crist and John Stanley, who have been our engineering consultants guiding us from a distance through the project.  Wilfredo Carrera came from Trujillo and has worked tirelessly for many weeks.  Jorge Ávila has given his heart and soul into this ministry and is now our caretaker who lives at the plant.  Our associate pastor, Edward Zacarías has worked untold hours and has an uncanny ability in technical matters coupled with spiritual discernment and a heart for Christ.  He and his wife (Margarita), supporting him in the shadows, have been key.  My sweet wife, Ruth, has continually encouraged me and stayed many nights in a shipping container for the cause of Christ and never uttered a word of complaint.

We hope we have not left anyone out in our recognition of those who have labored to see this project become a reality.  There are others who cannot be mentioned who have prayed continually and given sacrificially.

But most of all, we want our wonderful Lord to be glorified and praised in what HE has done.  It is His ministry and it is for His glory.  The project was beyond us and it is obvious that His hand has accomplished what He has determined.

 Our new sign at the radio plant.

We thank and praise Him.  We thank you.  We rejoice and are humbled by His goodness to us.  The work has only begun as we continue to guide, counsel, preach and teach through the tool God has given us.  The opportunities are flooding in as God enlarges His work. 

Visits from Baptist Mid-Missions Office

 We recently enjoyed the visit of Bro. V.W. Peters.  He is our mission administrator. 

He took the time to greet our church in the evening service. Bro. Peters travels a lot and guides those who serve Christ as missionaries under Baptist Mid-Missions on foreign soil. He is a very hard working man and has a difficult job. The Lord has used him many times by giving us helpful counsel in decision making.  

Steve Fulks (my brother-in-law) also accompanied Bro. Peters. 

Steve served Christ for years as a missionary in Peru. He brought the message in our church in Lima.  It was an honor to introduce him to our church family.  We had several decisions on the night he spoke. 

On Sunday, we squeezed in a lunch with all the Mission family meeting together. 

The food and fellowship were great.  Not pictured is Ruth as she was taking the picture.

First Baptismal Service

Just recently we baptized 13 people in our new church plant in Lima.  It was the church’s first baptism and a milestone event for us!  

This is Felipe.  His older brother was also baptized.

Mercedes.  We are praying for her husband to be saved.  

Four in this family were baptized.  They are excited and are praying for other family members.

My associate pastor, Edward Zacarias, baptized two of his children.  

In this picture he is baptizing Mario, a man he discipled.  

Bro. Jorge Huanca also baptized his daughter, Damaris.  

We had brand new baptismal robes made for the baptismal service by Ana Conde, Ruth’s tutor. The church family was so excited and the church atmosphere is one of elation.

Trip to Trujillo

We received an invitation to minister in early April at Victory Baptist Church in Trujillo. I preached on Friday and Saturday night and two times on Sunday.

Ruth ministered in music in one service.

Victory Baptist Church was started by a father-son team and their wives: David and Kandie Stilwell and Steve and Evelyn Stilwell. The church is growing both in number and maturity. It was great to see a church that is thriving.

The church's orchestra.

While we were in Trujillo, I had a crown put on a molar that had broken off. My dentist is Edgar Alcalde, a man I led to Christ some years ago.

Edgar is one of the most evangelistic persons I know who continually presents Christ to others.  We had a great time together as he shared with me about the missions trips he makes into the mountains to start a new church.


We also had time to visit friends at the Seminary and in the city.  One was Pastor Justo Castañeda and his wife, Lili.

On our last day, we attended prayer meeting at Faith Baptist, the church the Lord started through our efforts.  The church is growing and the radio ministry is very effective.

We rejoiced in the faithful servant-leadership of pastors Rene Hurtado and Manuel Rojas with their wives.

Men's Prayer Breakfast

We recently had our first men's prayer breakfast. It was held in our apartment at 7:00 on a Saturday morning. A total of 11 men came and it was a great time that draw us closer together. Over bread and coffee, we enjoyed good fellowship.

Not all are in the pictures and several were not able to come.

After breakfast, I gave a short 7 minute devotional. Then we shared prayer requests and prayed together in groups of two.

Much to my surprise, after the prayer time several of the men shared openly the struggles they were facing. Their transparency revealed a searching for fellowship, help and support as well as a sincere desire to grow in the Lord. It was a great opportunity for me to get to know them better and learn of their needs. We plan to continue this event once each month.

Radio Progress

Two important steps have been completed in the upgrading of our radio plant. One is the completion of our substation with a powerful 100 kilowatt transformer.

This has stabilized our electrical energy. So now our transmitter does not shut off because of a drop in the current. We are greatly relieved that we have this substation.

The tuning box that goes at the base of the tower has also been installed and it works like a charm.

Our signal is stronger and much clearer.

We know radio equipment being installed does not exactly thrill you. But the results excite us all. Our radio listeners are very appreciative of the top quality signal. Now we are working on installing our new transmitter which will increase our power to reach all of Lima.

We wish we could share with you all the exciting stories from our listeners. Here is one. A former terrorist now serving time in prison got saved. She listens every day to our radio broadcast and is growing by leaps and bounds in the Lord. She is also witnessing to other terrorist women in prison. One of them is the wife of the main terrorist leader (I will not mention his name). This is just one of the many stories we have heard.