Dear Pastor and Praying Friends,
One more person closer!
My family and I have been very fortunate to help out in a new church plant that Team Peru has started. We have been able to help on the weekend with the soul-winning program. Being that the new church is in one of Lima’s nicest districts, I knew it would be a different experience. However, I didn’t think my children would notice.
There we were walking down the beautiful park path handing out tracts, soul winning, and making small talk with the residents. I could see Marco a few yards ahead of me. I continued walking when suddenly I see Marco stop and turn to look at me. That look he gave me almost broke my heart. It seemed as though all the wind had been knocked out of him; his big smile was gone. “What’s wrong?” I asked from afar. I could read his lips: “Dad, I don’t want to do this anymore,” was his whispered plea. I quickly worked my way to him. He stated that the people here were “meaner” and that they ignored him. I got on my knee and told him that the majority of the local residents aren’t mean that they only act that way because they think they have everything they need. I told him not to give up, that there is someone in this area who was waiting for a “Marco” to stop him and introduce him to God. I told him that he was getting closer to that person every time he got rejected. He smiled, and I could tell his “battery” was recharged a little. He continued his walk. He turned to look at me after he was rejected once more and mouthed, “One more person closer.” That’s my boy!
How do I make that sound cool and productive?
We were fortune to host a visiting Bolivian missionary and five of his men a few weeks ago. He was able to join us for one of our team meetings, and we were able to glean from each other. Then this question was asked to the men of Team Peru: “So what do you do for Team Peru?” There I sat thinking of an answer as they went around the table one by one. My mind had flashbacks of the most recent projects I ran for Bro. Hubbard and Team Peru. Boy, how do I make that sound cool and productive? was my
thought. Uh-ho, it’s my turn. “Well, I run the Children’s Program, and I take care of the team finances and legal processes,”
was my response. I sat there repeating those words to myself as the Bolivian men asked me more questions. To be honest, I
do feel productive, and I do feel what I do is “cool.” However, more than that, I count it a blessing to be able to work
shoulder to shoulder with the great men of Team Peru and labor in the shadows of Team Peru’s great leadership. Now how
do I say that without sounding like I want a pay raise? :)
I’d like to thank you for your continued prayers and support. We really couldn’t do what we do without you. Please know that you are also being prayed for by our family. We love and appreciate you very much.
Praises:
- One more church has taken us on for support: Open Door Baptist Church, Mesquite, Texas, Pastor Francisco J. Mendoza.
Prayer Requests:
- Safety for our family, our team leader Dan Hubbard, and the other families of Team Peru
- Additional monthly financial support
New Contact Information:
Abraham Avila (To avoid problems with our courier, correspondence must state my name and not “Avila family.”)
Caminos del Inca 2780, Block-C (Street name and house number)
Departamento 504 (Apartment number)
Urb. Prolongación Benavides (Residential zone)
Surco, Lima 15039 Perú (District, city, zip code, country)
219-378-8617
Thank you once again for your prayers and support.
Your co-laborers to Peru,
Abraham, Fabiola, Marco, Leilani, & Joaquin Avila
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Monday, August 5, 2013
July Prayer Letter from the Martin Family
Dear Praying Friends,
July is my favorite month of the year! As you already know, both my wife and I celebrated birthdays this last month. Thank you to the many of you who made our days special through e-mails, cards, Facebook messages, and other ways. This year my birthday fell on a Tuesday, the same night as our church service in San Genaro. At the end of the service, I called on one of our men to dismiss the service in prayer. As he came to the pulpit, he announced that they had a surprise for me—a birthday party! Several of our church ladies and my wife had conspired and planned a very special night for me. We had a blast, and it was a great blessing. God has truly knit our hearts to some very special people.
July 7 was an incredibly special day. As you already know, this was the Sunday we celebrated the one-year anniversary of our church in Villa Marina. It was an amazing and emotional day! Our church people brought a ton of visitors and encouraged many people to attend who had not come for a long time. We had our 2 highest attendances ever—245 Sunday morning and 201 Sunday night! In addition to this, 34 people trusted Christ as their Saviour in these 2 services. I am so thankful for the year God has given us here in Chorrillos.
God has also continued to bless our other 3 church plants. God is doing a great work in our church in San Genaro. Please pray that we find a new building very soon. Many people struggle finding our location, and we are currently renting a second facility for our children due to a lack of space. It is a great problem to have after only three months. Please help us pray so that we can take our church to the next level.
We also had the privilege this last month to host Pastor Xavier Lopez from La Paz, Bolivia, and five of his church men. We were able to show them all of our churches and Bible studies, as well as teach them our pattern for church multiplication. It was a great encouragement to spend some time with another like-minded pastor with a passion to start churches in all of Bolivia. Please pray for this ministry that is doing and is going to do great things for God.
Many of you remember the two college-aged men, Alan and Fernando, who spent several weeks with us in January and February. Upon returning to their hometown of Moquegua, they used what they learned to start two Bible studies in two different parts of their city. Recently one of our team men, Zach Foust, went to visit these two works, to teach, preach, and give them some items to help convert these Bible studies into churches. Little did we know that the Iglesia Bautista Puerta Abierta de San Antonio and Chen Chen were already churches (pictured below)! Please pray for these two young pastors and their church plants!
In closing, I have one story I must share with you. For about eight months, there is a bakery I’ve been frequenting that is across the street from our original church property. The sister of the owner, Jackelin, is an employee there. Every time I went there, we would always talk, and I would always invite her to church. She lives in San Genaro, so when we started our church there, I began inviting her to attend there. She always promised but never came. Two weeks ago, just before the start of our Tuesday night service, guess who walked in—Jackelin! She attended the service that night and afterwards received Christ as her Saviour! This was an incredible blessing for us. Please pray for her as she continues to come to church and grow in Christ.
Jackelin is one of the 251 people you helped us to reach with the Gospel in the month of July. Thank you so much for your investment in us through your prayers, encouragement, and giving. Please continue to pray for us and the ministry here, as I am sure that August will not disappoint!
Your ambassadors to Perú,
Junior and Jessica Martin
Romans 9:3
July is my favorite month of the year! As you already know, both my wife and I celebrated birthdays this last month. Thank you to the many of you who made our days special through e-mails, cards, Facebook messages, and other ways. This year my birthday fell on a Tuesday, the same night as our church service in San Genaro. At the end of the service, I called on one of our men to dismiss the service in prayer. As he came to the pulpit, he announced that they had a surprise for me—a birthday party! Several of our church ladies and my wife had conspired and planned a very special night for me. We had a blast, and it was a great blessing. God has truly knit our hearts to some very special people.
July 7 was an incredibly special day. As you already know, this was the Sunday we celebrated the one-year anniversary of our church in Villa Marina. It was an amazing and emotional day! Our church people brought a ton of visitors and encouraged many people to attend who had not come for a long time. We had our 2 highest attendances ever—245 Sunday morning and 201 Sunday night! In addition to this, 34 people trusted Christ as their Saviour in these 2 services. I am so thankful for the year God has given us here in Chorrillos.
God has also continued to bless our other 3 church plants. God is doing a great work in our church in San Genaro. Please pray that we find a new building very soon. Many people struggle finding our location, and we are currently renting a second facility for our children due to a lack of space. It is a great problem to have after only three months. Please help us pray so that we can take our church to the next level.
We also had the privilege this last month to host Pastor Xavier Lopez from La Paz, Bolivia, and five of his church men. We were able to show them all of our churches and Bible studies, as well as teach them our pattern for church multiplication. It was a great encouragement to spend some time with another like-minded pastor with a passion to start churches in all of Bolivia. Please pray for this ministry that is doing and is going to do great things for God.
Many of you remember the two college-aged men, Alan and Fernando, who spent several weeks with us in January and February. Upon returning to their hometown of Moquegua, they used what they learned to start two Bible studies in two different parts of their city. Recently one of our team men, Zach Foust, went to visit these two works, to teach, preach, and give them some items to help convert these Bible studies into churches. Little did we know that the Iglesia Bautista Puerta Abierta de San Antonio and Chen Chen were already churches (pictured below)! Please pray for these two young pastors and their church plants!
In closing, I have one story I must share with you. For about eight months, there is a bakery I’ve been frequenting that is across the street from our original church property. The sister of the owner, Jackelin, is an employee there. Every time I went there, we would always talk, and I would always invite her to church. She lives in San Genaro, so when we started our church there, I began inviting her to attend there. She always promised but never came. Two weeks ago, just before the start of our Tuesday night service, guess who walked in—Jackelin! She attended the service that night and afterwards received Christ as her Saviour! This was an incredible blessing for us. Please pray for her as she continues to come to church and grow in Christ.
Jackelin is one of the 251 people you helped us to reach with the Gospel in the month of July. Thank you so much for your investment in us through your prayers, encouragement, and giving. Please continue to pray for us and the ministry here, as I am sure that August will not disappoint!
Your ambassadors to Perú,
Junior and Jessica Martin
Romans 9:3
Friday, August 2, 2013
July Prayer Letter from the Kokubun Family
Dear Praying Friends,
We planned for 200. Having 200 people on our first-year anniversary would be incredible! Having a regular attendance of around 120 on Sunday mornings, we figured that planning for 200 would be plenty. All the plans and preparations were made for our special one-year anniversary and the big meal that followed. The morning came, and we were ready! We had a big choir singing
“About the Cross,” and a children's choir from our church plant in San Genaro came to surprise Preacher. What a wonderful day and service we shared. God exceeded our expectations by allowing us to have our biggest service ever that morning. We had 242 people come to celebrate our day with us, and 34 got saved! We also had over 200 in our evening service, and numerous
members of our church plant in San Gabriel came and were baptized. We praise God for the growth He has given our church this past year, not just numerical growth but also spiritual growth in each individual life.
Last month I wrote to you about Bryan and Kevin's family. While I thought we had reached their entire family, this past week one more older daughter, who was their father's child, came to church. She was sweetly saved this past Sunday! Thank you for your faithful prayers for our ministry here. What we do here would not be possible without you. If you would like to pray specifically with us, here are a few thoughts:
• Please pray for Luis, who has just recently started his own Bible study with his family in a section almost on top of the mountain of San Genaro. Pray for their study to grow and that many would be reached through their outreach.
• Pray for the growth of our believers, that they would grow in their personal faith and gain a passion for personal soul winning.
• Pray for our pastor and team. The Devil does not like what is going on here and would love to destroy anything we are able to do as a team. Pray for God's guidance as we continue following His plan.
• Please pray for our young people. Pray that God would guide them in all purity and that they would seek His heart.
• Please pray for two of the young ladies with whom we have recently been blessed. One is 15, the other 17. They will both be giving birth to children next month. Pray for wisdom as we lead these young ladies.
On a personal note, we were blessed this month to have a visit from two of my wife's siblings. It was a blessing for her to get to soak in some family time and show her siblings our life here. One day, while showing her siblings downtown and allowing them to shop for souvenirs, I had the privilege of meeting Olga. She was very curious about what had brought us to Peru, and I had the chance to share with her the reason we are here. She sweetly accepted Christ as her Saviour and thanked us gratefully for sharing Christ's free gift with her.
In His service,
Daniel and Heather Kokubun
We planned for 200. Having 200 people on our first-year anniversary would be incredible! Having a regular attendance of around 120 on Sunday mornings, we figured that planning for 200 would be plenty. All the plans and preparations were made for our special one-year anniversary and the big meal that followed. The morning came, and we were ready! We had a big choir singing
“About the Cross,” and a children's choir from our church plant in San Genaro came to surprise Preacher. What a wonderful day and service we shared. God exceeded our expectations by allowing us to have our biggest service ever that morning. We had 242 people come to celebrate our day with us, and 34 got saved! We also had over 200 in our evening service, and numerous
members of our church plant in San Gabriel came and were baptized. We praise God for the growth He has given our church this past year, not just numerical growth but also spiritual growth in each individual life.
Last month I wrote to you about Bryan and Kevin's family. While I thought we had reached their entire family, this past week one more older daughter, who was their father's child, came to church. She was sweetly saved this past Sunday! Thank you for your faithful prayers for our ministry here. What we do here would not be possible without you. If you would like to pray specifically with us, here are a few thoughts:
• Please pray for Luis, who has just recently started his own Bible study with his family in a section almost on top of the mountain of San Genaro. Pray for their study to grow and that many would be reached through their outreach.
• Pray for the growth of our believers, that they would grow in their personal faith and gain a passion for personal soul winning.
• Pray for our pastor and team. The Devil does not like what is going on here and would love to destroy anything we are able to do as a team. Pray for God's guidance as we continue following His plan.
• Please pray for our young people. Pray that God would guide them in all purity and that they would seek His heart.
• Please pray for two of the young ladies with whom we have recently been blessed. One is 15, the other 17. They will both be giving birth to children next month. Pray for wisdom as we lead these young ladies.
On a personal note, we were blessed this month to have a visit from two of my wife's siblings. It was a blessing for her to get to soak in some family time and show her siblings our life here. One day, while showing her siblings downtown and allowing them to shop for souvenirs, I had the privilege of meeting Olga. She was very curious about what had brought us to Peru, and I had the chance to share with her the reason we are here. She sweetly accepted Christ as her Saviour and thanked us gratefully for sharing Christ's free gift with her.
In His service,
Daniel and Heather Kokubun
June/July Prayer Letter from the Hubbard Family
Dear Praying Friends,
The past six weeks passed as a whirlwind! In the beginning of June, I spent twelve days in the States helping with FBMI’s Missionary Candidate School, meeting with Pastor Wilkerson, and having my annual cancer checkup at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. It was a very productive twelve days. I received the best report I’ve had since my cancer diagnosis, as none of the tumors experienced any growth in the last year! Praise the Lord! It seems that the treatment they gave me shortly before leaving for Peru worked. They gave me another treatment for this year.
Upon my return to the field, we began to plan for the one-year anniversary of our main church in Villa Marina. I am thrilled to report that the anniversary service was incredibly blessed by God. We had 242 attend Sunday morning and 201 Sunday night. Both of those attendances broke any previous records we have had. There were 30 saved in the services that day alone! The
Spirit of God was evident, and it was exciting to see our facility nearly maxed to capacity!
The four other church plants of our team are steadily growing. We could write volumes to record the testimonies of these precious people. The evening service of our anniversary was sweet, as we had representation from each of the church plants. We had a time of testimony of the blessings of God. What a joy it was to hear individual after individual testify of their love for Christ and the change He has made in their lives. The words of Christ echoed in my heart, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” (John 12:32) God alone deserves the praise and glory for the miracles we’ve seen this past year, likewise,gratitude to each of you who sacrificially give and faithfully pray for our team and our ministry.
We began our fourth week of modular Bible seminary that same week. I never tire of the zeal I see in the members of our church. They want to learn all that they can. They are so excited to be a part of all that is happening in south Lima.
We also had the privilege to host Missionary Xavier Lopez and five men from his church in Bolivia. They came to see first-hand the blessings of God upon our ministry. I believe the five days we spent together will reap eternal rewards, as Bro. Lopez is excited about church planting in Bolivia. We enjoyed sweet fellowship.
We are looking forward to this next month, as we have launched two new Bible studies that have the potential to be churches before long. My family and I will be leaving Peru for ten days in August because of the children’s visa issues. My wife and I have our residency; however, Peru changed the laws while we were working on the children’s residency, and they ended up overstaying their visas. It is not a major problem; we just need to pay a fine and take the children out of the country so that we can begin again under the new laws. Please be in prayer that all will go well with this trip.
We are so grateful for your support of our family and this ministry. We are happy to be your ambassadors to Peru. Thank you!
For His glory,
Dan Hubbard
The past six weeks passed as a whirlwind! In the beginning of June, I spent twelve days in the States helping with FBMI’s Missionary Candidate School, meeting with Pastor Wilkerson, and having my annual cancer checkup at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. It was a very productive twelve days. I received the best report I’ve had since my cancer diagnosis, as none of the tumors experienced any growth in the last year! Praise the Lord! It seems that the treatment they gave me shortly before leaving for Peru worked. They gave me another treatment for this year.
Upon my return to the field, we began to plan for the one-year anniversary of our main church in Villa Marina. I am thrilled to report that the anniversary service was incredibly blessed by God. We had 242 attend Sunday morning and 201 Sunday night. Both of those attendances broke any previous records we have had. There were 30 saved in the services that day alone! The
Spirit of God was evident, and it was exciting to see our facility nearly maxed to capacity!
The four other church plants of our team are steadily growing. We could write volumes to record the testimonies of these precious people. The evening service of our anniversary was sweet, as we had representation from each of the church plants. We had a time of testimony of the blessings of God. What a joy it was to hear individual after individual testify of their love for Christ and the change He has made in their lives. The words of Christ echoed in my heart, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” (John 12:32) God alone deserves the praise and glory for the miracles we’ve seen this past year, likewise,gratitude to each of you who sacrificially give and faithfully pray for our team and our ministry.
We began our fourth week of modular Bible seminary that same week. I never tire of the zeal I see in the members of our church. They want to learn all that they can. They are so excited to be a part of all that is happening in south Lima.
We also had the privilege to host Missionary Xavier Lopez and five men from his church in Bolivia. They came to see first-hand the blessings of God upon our ministry. I believe the five days we spent together will reap eternal rewards, as Bro. Lopez is excited about church planting in Bolivia. We enjoyed sweet fellowship.
We are looking forward to this next month, as we have launched two new Bible studies that have the potential to be churches before long. My family and I will be leaving Peru for ten days in August because of the children’s visa issues. My wife and I have our residency; however, Peru changed the laws while we were working on the children’s residency, and they ended up overstaying their visas. It is not a major problem; we just need to pay a fine and take the children out of the country so that we can begin again under the new laws. Please be in prayer that all will go well with this trip.
We are so grateful for your support of our family and this ministry. We are happy to be your ambassadors to Peru. Thank you!
For His glory,
Dan Hubbard
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)