Dear Praying Friends,
For three days and three nights, His body lay in a tomb. After suffering rejection, pain, and the agony of the cross, He went to Hell to settle our debt. His perfect blood having been shed and the price having been paid, after three long days, triumphantly He arose on that Easter morning! “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” I am so thankful for Resurrection Sunday! Our hope, our salvation, our reason for being is all because He arose! Amen!
Our first Easter Sunday here in Peru was a great one indeed. The entire week was another “holy week,” with many people going on vacation and many stores closing their doors. However, the church house was definitely full. For the first time in their lives, the 100-plus people who flooded into our church realized the true importance and the awesome miracle wrapped up in the resurrection. We can rejoice! Because of the resurrection, people were saved, the altar was full, and lives are being changed.
It has been such a blessing to see our church grow. Due to summer vacations, we have had many people coming and going; but now that school has reconvened, our attendance is steadily increasing. In addition to this, we have gained many new families, especially this last month. I have been especially excited to have new families from San Genaro in our services every week. We are making progress on the construction on the church property, we have had people baptized each week, and the future is looking bright!
Speaking of San Genaro, God is opening many doors for us. Our Bible study is continuing to do well. I also have three more families interested in having their own Bible study. We are continuing to pray for God to open a door for us to start a church in this very needy area. Just this week God may be doing that. I have a few leads on rentals for the church, and I believe we will be able to start this church before the end of April.
All of our Bible studies are continuing to grow. Currently we have eight active Bible studies. We also already have four of our church men teaching in these Bible studies. One of these men, Jhonny Farfán, has one Bible study and is looking to start a new one in San Gabriel. Last week while soul winning and looking for a home for this Bible study, he led 24 people to Christ! That is what it is all about.
Watching our people grow has to be one of the greatest blessings of our ministry. To see them become more involved, grow in their commitment, and begin to share their faith is a source of constant joy. As I stated in our last letter, we had our first week of college this past month. Of course, we started off teaching on the Great Commission and personal evangelism. They ate it up! We had a total of 16 people come to our institute. Watching them “practice” soul winning and seeing their desire to learn is so exciting.
On one final note, I was blessed to have my parents and sister here with us for a week. We had a lot of fun and were able to do a lot of sightseeing. One day we went to do some shopping in the Incan Markets in Miraflores. One of the shops was owned by a lady named Luz. We spent a long time in her shop looking for something to send back to some special people in the states. This gave me a great opportunity to explain to Luz our purpose for being here. As I did, I began to share the Gospel with her. Tears filled her eyes as she listened and asked questions. After several minutes, Luz bowed her head and trusted Christ as her Saviour! God is so good to use us.
Of course, minus the resurrection, your prayers, and support, none of this would be possible. Jessica and I are honored to be your representatives in Lima. It is a privilege to add souls to your account. This month 164 people accepted the gift of salvation through soul winning and our church services. Thank you for allowing us to have the greatest job in all the world!
Your ambassadors to Perú,
Junior and Jessica Martin
No comments:
Post a Comment