Dear Supporting Churches and Praying Friends,
Thank you for all of your prayers and fasting for the starting of the church in San Gabriel. This truly has been an example of the power of prayer in spiritual warfare. None of the great victories we have seen in the last five weeks since our previous prayer letter would have been possible without your prayers. Since January 27 through services and soul winning, more than 65 people have prayed, trusting Christ as their personal Saviour in San Gabriel. This is truly the greatest victory of all, the victory that comes when an eternal destiny is changed from Hell to Heaven and another soul is bought by the blood of the Lamb! To God be the glory.
Another victory to report is that God is using the Peruvian people to get the job done in the new church plant. We have a core group of workers who diligently assist by soul winning and visiting on Thursdays and Saturdays. It has been a great joy to watch as these new Christians experience the joy that comes as they lead another to Christ or encourage a Christian brother. Additionally, these workers lead the children’s classes, lead the singing, sing specials, and do personal soul winning during the invitation.
A new Bible study has been started in San Gabriel. At this time it is being led by a young Bible college student who is visiting our church during his summer break, but in two weeks Bro. Paul Yanez will be taking this Bible study over. What a great victory! Bro. Paul has been working with us in San Gabriel since we started with a simple Bible study there some months ago. Now he will be begin teaching the Bible on his own. Please pray for him and for this Bible study to grow.
Between 30 and 40 people are attending the services on Sunday and Thursday in San Gabriel. We are running out of room in the house that we are in now, and we ask that you pray for God’s will to be done regarding renting a suitable space in which to grow.
We have the goal of starting another church from this church in San Gabriel. The people are as excited about this as we are. Please pray about this as well.
Our church in Chorrillos is doing very well. God has been blessing tremendously. We have seen many victories in the lives of the people. Bro. Ezequiel Martinez has taken the adult Sunday school class that I was previously teaching and is doing an excellent
job. We miss being there on Sunday mornings but are very glad to leave the class in such capable hands. We are very thankful for the Martinez family who moved to Peru last month and are already such an integral part of the ministry here.
This month we will begin an institute/seminary, training our church people and men for the Lord’s work. Please pray about this as we begin this new endeavor.
Our family is doing well. Homeschooling is going very well. The boys’ Spanish is coming along nicely, and we have enjoyed some amazingly beautiful sunny weather this summer. (Summer for us is December, January, and February). Our health has been good. Best of all, we received a visit from Karin’s sister, Kristen Green, this month. This was a huge blessing to us, and we had an awesome time.
Please continue to pray for us. We feel the Satanic influences very strongly in San Gabriel. However, we believe that Jesus is more powerful and that God wants a strong church there more than we do. God is doing great things here in Lima, Peru. Thank you
for your prayers and support.
His for souls,
Zach and Karin Foust
Zachary, Caleb and Logan
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Thursday, March 14, 2013
February Prayer Letter from the Hubbard Family
Dear Praying Friends,
I apologize for the tardiness of this letter. Life has been tremendously busy . . . and continues to grow in its busyness! Not
only has the ministry occupied us; but also in the months of January and February, we enjoyed the celebration of four
birthdays in our family, enjoyed a visit from my mother-in-law, and a visit from my dad and his wife! It was such a blessing
to get to share firsthand with the folks who have invested most in our lives the blessings of the Lord here in Peru!
The month of January brought an extra special blessing, as I was able to lead our third child, our only girl, to Christ.
Likewise, she was our 40th baptism here in Peru! We are now officially a one-room schoolhouse, as my wife homeschools three grade levels, occupies a toddler, and will welcome our fifth child in a month or so! We look forward to sharing the birth of our fourth son in just a few weeks.
The work here in Peru is growing and multiplying! Our first church here in Villa Marina has transitioned to its larger facility
and is seeing souls added to the church daily. We never cease to be amazed at the abundant evidence of God’s hand leading in this work. A week or so ago, a lady named Patricia had had a fight with her family and left her house upset. The very moment she walked past our church gate, a faithful four-year-old little girl decided to act up and ran to the front of the auditorium. I asked her to return to her mother; and I made the statement, “She’s my little friend; she just needs to sit down and behave.” Patricia heard the word friend, and the Holy Spirit pricked her heart. She continued on her way but couldn’t get the word friend out of her mind. She returned to the service. One of our team ladies led her to the Lord that night, and she was baptized. She
testified that night that she would never have come had she not had the fight at home and had she not heard the word friend. Truly God is moving in the hearts of the Peruvians in our neighborhood!
Our team member Bro. Zach Foust and a team of our disciples from Villa Marina have begun our second church in a district about 45 minutes away. The church in San Gabriel is growing steadily through services and Bible studies. They are committed to start another church themselves in about six months! Church multiplication! Amen!
We have churches three and four laying the groundwork at this moment. We have a faithful group of believers meeting in Surco every Friday night for a Bible study, and they are anxious to establish a church in their area. This area is a step up in economical status, but it is an area that is in need of a Gospel-preaching church. I will be working alongside other team
members to start this church in the next month. We are praying for God to give us a building in which to meet. That is all we lack to launch this church plant.
Next week we will begin our Bible seminary in order to train more intensely our disciples to be future pastors. We are adopting the modular style for our Bible seminary, much like that which other teams from First Baptist Church of Hammond have used successfully. We will have intense teaching and training one week a month and then use the other three weeks for the students to use what they have learned. This allows laymen and others to keep their jobs and still train for the ministry. Our first class will be on personal evangelism and discipleship. I am excited for this new opportunity.
Of course, we continue to win souls and stir the baptistery weekly now. We covet your continued prayer support of this ministry. Satan is not happy about the Gospel light that is now flickering in our community. He is equally unhappy as that light is
spreading to other districts. We feel the attack regularly, but we are committed to stand as true soldiers.
Thank you for your continued support. You are our lifeline. Thank you for believing in this work. We are seeing fruit to your account daily.
For His glory,
Dan Hubbard
I apologize for the tardiness of this letter. Life has been tremendously busy . . . and continues to grow in its busyness! Not
only has the ministry occupied us; but also in the months of January and February, we enjoyed the celebration of four
birthdays in our family, enjoyed a visit from my mother-in-law, and a visit from my dad and his wife! It was such a blessing
to get to share firsthand with the folks who have invested most in our lives the blessings of the Lord here in Peru!
The month of January brought an extra special blessing, as I was able to lead our third child, our only girl, to Christ.
Likewise, she was our 40th baptism here in Peru! We are now officially a one-room schoolhouse, as my wife homeschools three grade levels, occupies a toddler, and will welcome our fifth child in a month or so! We look forward to sharing the birth of our fourth son in just a few weeks.
The work here in Peru is growing and multiplying! Our first church here in Villa Marina has transitioned to its larger facility
and is seeing souls added to the church daily. We never cease to be amazed at the abundant evidence of God’s hand leading in this work. A week or so ago, a lady named Patricia had had a fight with her family and left her house upset. The very moment she walked past our church gate, a faithful four-year-old little girl decided to act up and ran to the front of the auditorium. I asked her to return to her mother; and I made the statement, “She’s my little friend; she just needs to sit down and behave.” Patricia heard the word friend, and the Holy Spirit pricked her heart. She continued on her way but couldn’t get the word friend out of her mind. She returned to the service. One of our team ladies led her to the Lord that night, and she was baptized. She
testified that night that she would never have come had she not had the fight at home and had she not heard the word friend. Truly God is moving in the hearts of the Peruvians in our neighborhood!
Our team member Bro. Zach Foust and a team of our disciples from Villa Marina have begun our second church in a district about 45 minutes away. The church in San Gabriel is growing steadily through services and Bible studies. They are committed to start another church themselves in about six months! Church multiplication! Amen!
We have churches three and four laying the groundwork at this moment. We have a faithful group of believers meeting in Surco every Friday night for a Bible study, and they are anxious to establish a church in their area. This area is a step up in economical status, but it is an area that is in need of a Gospel-preaching church. I will be working alongside other team
members to start this church in the next month. We are praying for God to give us a building in which to meet. That is all we lack to launch this church plant.
Next week we will begin our Bible seminary in order to train more intensely our disciples to be future pastors. We are adopting the modular style for our Bible seminary, much like that which other teams from First Baptist Church of Hammond have used successfully. We will have intense teaching and training one week a month and then use the other three weeks for the students to use what they have learned. This allows laymen and others to keep their jobs and still train for the ministry. Our first class will be on personal evangelism and discipleship. I am excited for this new opportunity.
Of course, we continue to win souls and stir the baptistery weekly now. We covet your continued prayer support of this ministry. Satan is not happy about the Gospel light that is now flickering in our community. He is equally unhappy as that light is
spreading to other districts. We feel the attack regularly, but we are committed to stand as true soldiers.
Thank you for your continued support. You are our lifeline. Thank you for believing in this work. We are seeing fruit to your account daily.
For His glory,
Dan Hubbard
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
February Prayer Letter from the Martins
Dear Praying Friends,
Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:” There is no greater power given to the Christian than that of prayer. If there is one thing that I learn every day, it is how amazing and how important prayer is. Last month I mentioned many items of prayer, and it has been such a blessing to see those prayers answered. Technically, this is a “prayer” letter, so let’s talk about prayer.
One incredible answer to prayer this past month is the calling of our new pastor back in Hammond. I am thrilled and excited to have Bro. John Wilkerson as our new pastor! Bro. Wilkerson has a heart for missions and a great desire to help us to get the Gospel throughout all of South America. God truly had His hand in bringing Pastor Wilkerson to us. Thank you to all of you who have been praying and who have stood by us through these last several months.
Many of you have joined with me in praying for our work in San Genaro. I am still aggressively looking for a building or a location to use when we start this church. Please continue to pray. I know that He has the right place and/or person coming across my path very soon. God is definitely working in San Genaro. I am in the fourth week of the Bible study I started there with the Rodriguez family. During this time we have seen 11 saved and are averaging 17 in the Bible study. I also have a dedicated group of 8 helpers from our church in Villa Marina. This will be a great foundation to the church once it is started.
Speaking of starting churches, thank you for your prayers for our San Gabriel church plant. This church continues to grow and is averaging 28. With this church running strong, I encourage you to begin praying for Surco. Surco is our closest neighboring district and the largest “out-of-town” group represented in our church. The Bible study there is averaging 29 each Friday! With God’s help, we will be planting a church here by the end of March. Please pray for the Ezequiel Martinez family as they move forward on starting this work.
Of course, all of this is just the fruit of your prayers for our church in Villa Marina. This is our heartbeat and our home. We have had a very busy February with the start of a new youth program, a new Bible study, and a lot of construction to our property. We have had great crowds in all of our services and out soul winning, with people being saved every service and during the week. With our new changing rooms complete and our baptistery up and running, we have people getting baptized immediately for the first time! What a blessing! All in all, God allowed us to see 124 saved in February with 5 baptized.
With over eight months here in Chorrillos, we are ready to begin taking our ministry to a whole new level. With a strong church in Villa Marina, a baby church in San Gabriel, two more churches ready to start, and so many more opportunities coming across our path, we are ready to begin enlisting people to serve with us. On March 18, the Instituto Bautista Internacional will officially launch. This will be a very non-traditional Bible college, meeting in a modular format. The sole purpose of this college will be to train men to start and pastor churches. Please pray that God will use this greatly to further the Gospel. Also, pray that God will work on the hearts of some of our church men, as well as men in churches in all of Peru and South America who have a desire to do something big for God.
I have to tell you one story about prayer. Luz Hurtado began coming to our church shortly after we moved into the new property. She trusted Christ her first service. She doesn’t miss a service, and neither does her eight-year-old daughter Nicol. Every Wednesday night, Nicol turns in a card requesting prayer for her dad to be saved. Last Wednesday night Nicol raised her hand in the invitation that she was not sure she was saved. Jessica was able to lead Nicol to the Lord. After trusting Christ, Nicol said, “Now that I am saved, God wants me to get baptized right now, right?” She did that night. She and her mom were both so excited. Unfortunately, her dad was not. After sharing her story with him, he began to make fun of her and of church. She has been so strong, as has Luz, but please pray for the salvation of Ruben Vásquez. This is just one story of how vitally important prayer is, not only for those who we have reached, but also for those whom we have not.
Very simply, thank you for your prayers. Your prayers mean so much to us and are of a great value. Prayer changes things and makes a difference. We covet your prayers. Pray for our ministries, our people, the lost, our vision, and for God to send laborers. Pray that God will continue to protect us , guide us, and provide for us. I have several prayer lists for our church. If you would like to pray more specifically for our ministry, let me know, and I would be happy to e-mail you a copy of these prayer lists. You are a vital part of our team. Thank you for your love and support. Keep on praying!
Your ambassadors to Perú,
Junior and Jessica Martin
Romans 9:3
Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:” There is no greater power given to the Christian than that of prayer. If there is one thing that I learn every day, it is how amazing and how important prayer is. Last month I mentioned many items of prayer, and it has been such a blessing to see those prayers answered. Technically, this is a “prayer” letter, so let’s talk about prayer.
One incredible answer to prayer this past month is the calling of our new pastor back in Hammond. I am thrilled and excited to have Bro. John Wilkerson as our new pastor! Bro. Wilkerson has a heart for missions and a great desire to help us to get the Gospel throughout all of South America. God truly had His hand in bringing Pastor Wilkerson to us. Thank you to all of you who have been praying and who have stood by us through these last several months.
Many of you have joined with me in praying for our work in San Genaro. I am still aggressively looking for a building or a location to use when we start this church. Please continue to pray. I know that He has the right place and/or person coming across my path very soon. God is definitely working in San Genaro. I am in the fourth week of the Bible study I started there with the Rodriguez family. During this time we have seen 11 saved and are averaging 17 in the Bible study. I also have a dedicated group of 8 helpers from our church in Villa Marina. This will be a great foundation to the church once it is started.
Speaking of starting churches, thank you for your prayers for our San Gabriel church plant. This church continues to grow and is averaging 28. With this church running strong, I encourage you to begin praying for Surco. Surco is our closest neighboring district and the largest “out-of-town” group represented in our church. The Bible study there is averaging 29 each Friday! With God’s help, we will be planting a church here by the end of March. Please pray for the Ezequiel Martinez family as they move forward on starting this work.
Of course, all of this is just the fruit of your prayers for our church in Villa Marina. This is our heartbeat and our home. We have had a very busy February with the start of a new youth program, a new Bible study, and a lot of construction to our property. We have had great crowds in all of our services and out soul winning, with people being saved every service and during the week. With our new changing rooms complete and our baptistery up and running, we have people getting baptized immediately for the first time! What a blessing! All in all, God allowed us to see 124 saved in February with 5 baptized.
With over eight months here in Chorrillos, we are ready to begin taking our ministry to a whole new level. With a strong church in Villa Marina, a baby church in San Gabriel, two more churches ready to start, and so many more opportunities coming across our path, we are ready to begin enlisting people to serve with us. On March 18, the Instituto Bautista Internacional will officially launch. This will be a very non-traditional Bible college, meeting in a modular format. The sole purpose of this college will be to train men to start and pastor churches. Please pray that God will use this greatly to further the Gospel. Also, pray that God will work on the hearts of some of our church men, as well as men in churches in all of Peru and South America who have a desire to do something big for God.
I have to tell you one story about prayer. Luz Hurtado began coming to our church shortly after we moved into the new property. She trusted Christ her first service. She doesn’t miss a service, and neither does her eight-year-old daughter Nicol. Every Wednesday night, Nicol turns in a card requesting prayer for her dad to be saved. Last Wednesday night Nicol raised her hand in the invitation that she was not sure she was saved. Jessica was able to lead Nicol to the Lord. After trusting Christ, Nicol said, “Now that I am saved, God wants me to get baptized right now, right?” She did that night. She and her mom were both so excited. Unfortunately, her dad was not. After sharing her story with him, he began to make fun of her and of church. She has been so strong, as has Luz, but please pray for the salvation of Ruben Vásquez. This is just one story of how vitally important prayer is, not only for those who we have reached, but also for those whom we have not.
Very simply, thank you for your prayers. Your prayers mean so much to us and are of a great value. Prayer changes things and makes a difference. We covet your prayers. Pray for our ministries, our people, the lost, our vision, and for God to send laborers. Pray that God will continue to protect us , guide us, and provide for us. I have several prayer lists for our church. If you would like to pray more specifically for our ministry, let me know, and I would be happy to e-mail you a copy of these prayer lists. You are a vital part of our team. Thank you for your love and support. Keep on praying!
Your ambassadors to Perú,
Junior and Jessica Martin
Romans 9:3
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
February Prayer Letter from the Kokubuns
Dear Friends,
On Sunday, January 27, the Foust family, as well as some faithful members of our church including teenagers, began Iglesia Bautista Internacional de San Gabriel. What an exciting opportunity it has been to get to see this church come into fruition. Their first service they had 39 in attendance, and 6 people were saved. Starting a second church so soon has been a unique experience for us.
Although we personally have not been involved, many of the teenagers we have been training and influencing these past six months have had a major part in soul winning, leading music, teaching kids’ classes, and getting this church off the ground. It's so neat to see them grow and to hear the reports of how many people they have been able to see saved.
As many of them have become involved in what is going on with our second church, we are now starting a Friday night service for our teenagers. We are looking forward to the opportunity this will bring, not only to continue discipling our teenagers but also for the potential it will have to reach out to other teenagers in the community. Please pray for us as we begin this endeavor.
The church in Chorrillos continues strong. The adult choir just made its first début this past weekend and filled the church with a joyous sound. On Saturdays our group of people who go out soul winning has grown to over 40 people on a weekly basis. We also recently had 119 people attend on a Sunday night. It's exciting to see how God is expanding our influence in Chorrillos, and we look forward to how He will continue to expand it through all of Peru.
Thank you for your faithful prayers. Many a battle here is won because of your consistent prayers on our behalf.
Your co-laborers for Christ,
Daniel and Heather Kokubun
On Sunday, January 27, the Foust family, as well as some faithful members of our church including teenagers, began Iglesia Bautista Internacional de San Gabriel. What an exciting opportunity it has been to get to see this church come into fruition. Their first service they had 39 in attendance, and 6 people were saved. Starting a second church so soon has been a unique experience for us.
Although we personally have not been involved, many of the teenagers we have been training and influencing these past six months have had a major part in soul winning, leading music, teaching kids’ classes, and getting this church off the ground. It's so neat to see them grow and to hear the reports of how many people they have been able to see saved.
As many of them have become involved in what is going on with our second church, we are now starting a Friday night service for our teenagers. We are looking forward to the opportunity this will bring, not only to continue discipling our teenagers but also for the potential it will have to reach out to other teenagers in the community. Please pray for us as we begin this endeavor.
The church in Chorrillos continues strong. The adult choir just made its first début this past weekend and filled the church with a joyous sound. On Saturdays our group of people who go out soul winning has grown to over 40 people on a weekly basis. We also recently had 119 people attend on a Sunday night. It's exciting to see how God is expanding our influence in Chorrillos, and we look forward to how He will continue to expand it through all of Peru.
Thank you for your faithful prayers. Many a battle here is won because of your consistent prayers on our behalf.
Your co-laborers for Christ,
Daniel and Heather Kokubun
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