Written by Noél Rich
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04 January 2014
Hi you all! Welcome to 2014!
Already a week into this New Year! May it be a very fruitful year for you as you serve the King of Kings, our Lord Jesus. Thank you so very much for your part in His work here in Southern Perú! God is blessing here.
Last month one of our teenagers, Maryori, was baptized here in the main church of Arequipa, on her 16th birthday. She has a real clear testimony of knowing and loving the Lord even though her parents are not believers. Her Dad´s father was a faithful believer way up near the high mountain ranching area of Culypampa. He was having meetings with the young believers there during the terrorist years in Perú.
The military accused him of being a terrorist and grouping their subversive forces. So they tortured him, tied him up and threw him into the freezing lake by Culypampa. This really caused Maryori´s father to be resentful against the church. But he did come to her baptism and is allowing her to be one of us. Please help us pray for the family, and for our youth who want to serve the Lord.
I will say Maryori reminds me of myself at that age. My Mom did not permit me to be baptized till I was 16. I also had conflicts in the home, but really desired to serve the Lord. And I am so thankful for God´s people who helped me, and prayed for my Mom, and it did bring fruit in the end. She is now with the Lord. So thanks for praying for others now in the same situation!
The group that is going out to Yarabamba are also seeing results from their visiting and having Bible studies there. Another dear man from our church here is going a little farther to the town of Polobaya. In both these agriculture towns, Yarabamba about 1 hour from Arequipa and Polobaya about 2 hours, there are folks who are close to being baptized, identifying with Christ. Thanks for praying for this outreach.
These days around the end of the year we have had a couple weddings, young couples who desire to form Christian homes. Bob has good messages for these weddings, and together we have a couple songs we dedicate to the couple. Please also help us pray for these young families starting out. Our society is very corrupt, and it is harder and harder to have a godly family life. How we do need God's hand in our homes!
When God blesses and folks really start going right, Satan fights it. In a few of our young families there are severe conflicts, even family feuds. This is sad, and the children are affected. Thanks for praying fervently!
School is out till March, but we will have a vacation program. I may teach English some days, and please pray for wisdom in this, in everything we want to glorify Christ. We had a good end of year program, I trust it was God honoring. Thanks for praying for the school. We have real needs of expansion of the patio and reconstruction of one of the buildings, all terribly expensive. Barring a real miracle it will be impossible to do it this year. Please pray for God's provision and timing. Also please pray for Christian teachers for the next school year. This is crucial to guiding the students and parents, and a Christ centered testimony. Thanks!
Must close - yesterday I read a quote from our daily devotional calendar. So sadly true:
I looked for the church, and found it in the world.
I looked for the world, and found it in the church.
Please pray for our churches here. We want to do God's will and have them being led in His ways.
Cannot thank you enough for all your prayer and sharing with us! May God bless each of you this year and on!