| 12 December 2024
YES! Year's end is almost here again.
And, praise the Lord, we are still here, in southern Perú. Bob and I are especially busy all the time, so many people come for help, Spiritual and physical.
Earlier this year we had several weddings, and we are very thankful for these young couples who are continuing to serve the Lord. Many of these couples continue to serve through outreaches to poorer areas around Arequipa, teaching children and evangelizing adults and other youth. Christmas time is the time for most of them to have their hot chocolate and panettone specials with prizes for learning Scripture verses and faithfulness in attendance, etc.
There are too many cases of child abuse especially in these poorer areas. School vacation is from mid December through February, as it's "summer" here in the southern hemisphere. It's rainy season but we have not had much rain yet. Thanks so much for praying for these outreaches, to children and youth as well as some parents and other adults.
School will start early March, Lord willing. Please help us pray for dedicated Christian teachers for 2025. We are very thankful for the freedom we have to teach God's Word, His values and principals. Sadly, when the Lord works and changes lives, our enemy works too. Some of our older couples are struggling in their marriages, resulting in unfaithfulness, discontent, confused children, and bad testimonies. Bob and our other elders are dealing with some of these.
Thankfully some are truly repenting, and God is changing their lives. Some still are rebellious. Today's families need more prayer and less cell phones. Those little devices look harmless but are destroying many homes.
Bob has had two sessions of chemotherapy here. He has tolerated them well so far, but they do cause tiredness and weakness. He needs to rest more, but this is difficult as so many want his counsel and teaching. God is really giving him strength to keep going. He is on his way now to the Majes valley mostly to deal with a problem with one of our older believers. Tomorrow he needs to go from the valley to Chuquibamba to do much the same, deal with problems and see to some paperwork for the title of their meeting place. (People here trust Bob more than other Peruvians so he has "inherited" meeting rooms for some of our churches in rural towns. Now he has to get out of "owning" these rooms, being "president" of their associations, etc.)
That last is very difficult to explain, enough to say there is way too much "burro-cracia" in Peruvian affairs, land titles, etc. - legal work. Saturday Bob will come back to Arequipa via Pedregal where he is having the monthly leaders training meetings. He will hopefully encourage these believers plus our worker Teodoro Huayta and family. Bob will join the church there for Sunday a.m. and then hopefully arrive home Sunday night to be in shape for the Monday leaders meeting plus the study he is teaching on the gospel of Mark Monday evening. Bob always takes with him at least one of the brothers who can drive if necessary.
Our son Paul and his family are due to arrive here Dec. 20. They are Paul and his precious wife Kim, with their 6 children and one daughter in law. We sure are looking forward to their visit here, December 20 till January 3. They want to do some tours here, Cusco, Colca, etc.
This time we have one way tickets to the U.S. in mid January. We want to come back to Perú if and when Bob's health permits, and the Lord definitely leads us clearly and opens the doors. We pray we could after a couple of months but we are not sure. We are really thankful for the leaders the Lord has given us this year, dedicated Christian elders, deacons, and other servants of Christ that we can trust with His work here. Thanks to all of you who pray for us and share with us for the Lord's work in the south of Perú. God is still at work here, and so are we.
Thank the Lord with us for sending our Lord Jesus Christ to us. Truly amazing that our dear Jesus came so humbly to save us. We wait for His majestic and glorious return to take us to live with Him forever. Our support address is:
Christian Missions in Many Lands, Inc.
P.O. Box 13
Spring Lake, NJ, 07762 0013
May you each have a very blessed Christmas, and a very fruitful new year 2025 love, Noél for us
