Written by Noél Rich | 09 April 2013

Hi again, friends,

Last month went way too fast! But good things have happened, and we thank the Lord for each day. Bob had several good trips, mostly to the Espinar area. There were baptisms there and also here in our Arequipa churches. Some more of our youth followed the Lord in baptism, and last Sunday an old man who had come to one of the home meetings also was baptized. So age is not a factor, God's time is eternal.

Last month Bob recognized our dear brother Fortunato Morales as an elder in the main Arequipa church here. We have been and still are praying for a solid team of leaders to help here, thanks for praying with us. Please do pray for Fortunato and his wife, Sandra, and their two precious little girls, Tayra and Kristel, and for more godly leaders to help in the Lord's work here in Southern Perú.

Also we are enjoying the visit with our former co worker here from Rumania. Aurel and another believer from Rumania are here for about 3 weeks. They had special meetings over the Good Friday weekend in one of our churches here, but believers from several churches here and from other towns came. These were all day Thursday and Friday, and were a real blessing to all.

Now the Rumanian brothers are spending a week up in Cotahuasi and will come back through Pampacolca where Aurel and his family worked before they had to leave Peru because Lumi, Aurel's wife, developed Lupus while here. She has been in treatment in Barcelona and in Rumania, and it is controlled, but it does limit her activities. She couldn't come this time to Peru.

Last week we had a good Holy week program in school too. I think the Lord was glorified in that as we remembered what Jesus did for us to save us and His commission to us to share this good news everywhere. School is in full swing now, and we are in the first month's testing. So I am very busy with that. We have more students this year than last year, somewhere between 260 and 300. Please pray for Spiritual fruit in these precious lives, and in their homes. Thanks so much!

The little apartment next door is getting the finishing work on it, but it will be probably another month before the carpenters are finished and we can paint and get over there. It sure has cost a lot more than we had hoped, but should be nice when finished. We think we will have enough, Lord willing, for that. Thanks so much to all who have helped us here and thanks mostly for the prayer behind God's work here. Truly we appreciate all of you and are very grateful.

Guess our rains have gone for a while, but it is still warm here. Many streets are blocked off because they are getting fixed after the flood damage. Traffic is a mess. Well, thanks again so much.

Written by Noél Rich | 02 March 2013

Hi to you all!

No sooner had I sent last month's letter that it hadn't rained much here than it started to pour. And we have had a lot of rain. Feb. 8 we had like floods, with the big drainage ditches (torrenteras) coming in from the higher places with tons of garbage, big rocks, and mud. There were landslides and a lot of damage done to property and vehicles. 6 people were killed and others hurt. Arequipa is declared in an emergency state for a couple months.

Good news though, José Mamani was freed, along with the other Peruvian and the two Colombians who were also being held hostage by a guerilla group in Colombia. The Canadian boss of the mining company is still being held captive. Thanks for praying. Bob has talked to José. He sure was scared there in the jungle, but in spite of realizing that God truly did permit that these hostages be freed, José still isn't ready to fully commit to Christ. His wife in Lima is Catholic - maybe that is part of the problem. José came to church here last Sunday and is staying in Arequipa one more Sunday, then will return to Lima. He does come to the meetings here and sincerely thanked the believers here who prayed for him and the whole situation.

Bob has had a couple good trips this last month, one was up to the highlands (Cuchocapilla) - a little ranching area that used to have meetings with their few believers and now want to start these again. Believers from a couple churches here in Arequipa and some from other areas close went for a united meeting to encourage them. Several of the leaders from here spoke in Quechua, which is the main language up there. Now Bob is gone to Puno and ranching areas there for meetings and Bible teaching this weekend.

Here, school starts Monday, March 4! We are praying for a good year and to see many lives influenced for God through us. Please pray for this - we are so very thankful for the opportunity to teach God's Word here.

The little apartment we hope to move into is getting built, still has a ways to go, and it is involving a good bit of expense. Thank you for helping us pray for all this, and thanks so much for sharing with us. Truly we are grateful to have the freedom here to share Christ. God's richest blessings for you, Noél for us.

Written by Noél Rich | 04 February 2013

Hi all!

Yes, February already! Here it is the rainy season. We had a couple days of a lot of rain when we got back Jan. 12, but since that it has not rained. It gets cloudy and very warm sometimes. They say it will rain, maybe ?

The believers here for the most part have done well the first month of 2013. Our prayer still is for the needed elders to really be able to take charge of the main church here in Arequipa. Bob is faithfully preparing them, and they are coming along. Thanks for praying for this with us.

As soon as we got back we learned that the dear sister who lives in our ex guest apartment had a very serious health issue, got trichina in the brain and it caused an aneurism. She convulsed and her little daughter found her that way, in time, praise the Lord. She then had treatment to kill the trichina but then had to have a very dangerous, high risk operation, in Lima, to dissolve the aneurism.

Well, the Lord miraculously brought her through this, and we are all truly thankful. There was a slight problem with the insurance company the airline where she works uses, as it was a very expensive operation. But it finally all worked out. We are all overjoyed and thankful to see Karla back home here. She is still on medication to keep her blood thin, and still hurting in places, but is recuperating, slowly but surely. She too is very thankful to God and more than ever committed to Him. Her former husband was here taking care of her daughters during the whole time she was in Lima, and our prayer request is that this home be restored. The girls really love their Dad, Tito, so please pray for Tito and Karla, and their two daughters (both in our school). Time will tell, and the Lord knows.

So after that praise - and prayer request, we are faced now with another very hard situation. The son of Miguel Mamani and his wife Tomasa, José Antonio Mamani, works for a mining company in Colombia. José, along with another guy from Arequipa, 2 Colombians, and a Canadian with this company, were kidnapped by the National Liberation Army ("ELN") on January 18. Some of you may have heard this news. Anyway, José's Dad, Miguel is a believer who has helped in the work here and in some of our mountain churches. His wife, Tomasa, and some of their other children are also believers.

They are really distraught over this. Miguel comes to pray with us and some of these churches here and in the mountains are rallying around the family and praying for them. José himself came to church here while he was here, but has not yet made a commitment to Christ that we know of. He was recently married and his wife lives in Lima. Please help us pray for José, for his salvation and for his release, along with the other hostages. All this brings back very difficult memories for us, but we know God is in control, and somehow Miguel knows that we do understand and are praying.

This month Lupe and Marino are evaluating teachers for the school year which starts here March 4. Please help us pray for the right Christian teachers - so needed and vital.

This is long, but I must mention one more need for us here. Bob decided (rightly) that it is time to get the church property and our apts. above it out of our names. We plan to make an association for the church, and put the whole front part including the meeting room, store room, etc. in the name of the association of the believers. The apartments will, Lord willing, be bought, little by little, by Karla's parents, Mario and Gladys Soto. This also has to include the Sunday School rooms and Bob's office downstairs, and the guest room, as they are attached to the back part of the property.

The property here is terribly expensive right now, and of course Mario can not pay what it would be worth, but we would not sell it to anyone else really. Mario was an elder here before moving back to Puno, where he was a university professor. He now has a masters degree and a doctorate too, besides being geological engineer and dean of faculty in the university in Puno. Anyway, he is getting his retirement, and the great part of his family lives here in Arequipa, so wanted to buy a place here anyway.

The best part is that Mario will respect the church in everything, indeed he is an important part in it, and the Sunday school rooms and all installations used by the church here will remain for that use. He and Gladys are currently living in the guest room while Karla and family are upstairs. We are a lot of people in this place now, sometimes have shortages of hot water, etc. but all is working out well. However, we ourselves need to move, and eventually when Mario's situation works out in Puno they will have to move here where we live.

They are currently kind of "renting" to buy, that is each monthly they give us of about $275. goes off the sale price. However, they are not able to pay us a lot at once. So our need is of a place to move to! God is so good! Marino and Lupe are very thankful for all we gave for the school and are giving us back all they can. They have begun construction of a small apt. on top of the front part of the grade school, on top of the garage, by the school's yard.

In back of this is the grade school, second and third floors which some of you have helped to build. This light construction for the third floor grade school is almost done! We are very thankful. Marino has run out of funds and construction is terribly expensive, so by faith we are finishing it, Lord willing, praying it will be done by April anyway. Thank you for praying for this with us, we are thankful and trusting the Lord to just lead us step by step.

Last week I went with Bob up the Ocoña valley to visit the believers in two small churches up there. On the way going and back we were able to visit the beach for a little while. That was really nice!! The believers up there are doing pretty well, and wow, did the car ever behave wonderfully!! We went on the very difficult road and dike going, (road in horrible condition), so decided to take the old high road on the way back, and test the 4wd and car's power. I felt like the old song, "you take the low road and I'll take the high road and I'll be in Scotland before ye". Anyway, the car just was amazing in strength and getting up that steep dirt, and we weren't going to Scotland but sure got back faster than the other way. Car even said thank you, I'm sure.

So, thanks so very much, you dear ones.
God's richest blessings for you!
Noél for us

Written by Noél Rich | 07 January 2013

YES! 2013, New Year already!

Hope you all had a very wonderful Christmas and now will have a truly blessed and fruitful 2013, all year and more!

This month finds us here in the U.S., we arrived Dec. 11 and will return to Perú Jan. 11, arriving in Arequipa Jan. 12, Lord willing. We are here for family weddings and visits. Our granddaughter, Mark's oldest daughter Tamra, was married in Florida Dec. 14, to Benjamin Travers. They had a very simple, practical, really lovely wedding. Now this Saturday Bob's nephew gets married in Michigan. We will be there, Lord willing, and then back here in Indiana for Sunday.

We should leave Monday to head back to Florida to fly out Friday the 11th. So it is a quick trip, and we thank all of you who have made it possible! Our dear 9 grandchildren have grown! Graduations from high school and college have occurred and more are to be coming! We had Christmas with our daughter Terri and her family in Northern Virginia, and our son Joe who lives in Indiana but accompanied us in Va. for Christmas too.

While there, Bob spoke at 2 churches: our son in law Josué's church in Virginia and in an English service, plus a Sunday School class there. Now we are with our son Paul and his wife Kim, and their 5 children here in northern Indiana. Bob will be sharing in their Spanish service here this Sunday. We are thankful for these opportunities to share and serve, and very thankful for our children and families who are serving the Lord and growing in Him.

From Perú we hear that our brethren are doing well and waiting for us to return. They are in their "summer" vacation from school, and we hear that they are working on the building of the third floor of the primary school building, and should be able to finish that soon, as it is not really raining much there yet. Severe rains could cause delays in construction, so we thank you all for praying for this finished project in these next 2 months.

Some of our youth are traveling this month for missions training and also for service and outreach in their mountain and valley towns. We pray for them and ask you to please pray that our youth and brethren in Perú will indeed retain a missionary vision and will carry on in God's Word and service for Him. Please also pray for wisdom and direction for leaders there, elders especially for our main Arequipa church. Thanks so much!

Written by Noél Rich | 03 December 2012

Hi to you all!

Well, this year has gone fast! I say that every year now, as it happens that way! We trust you had a blessed Thanksgiving and will have a very joyful Christmas season, remembering God's unfathomable love for us in sending us our Saviour! HE is our Life!

What a privilege it is to teach God's Word! A couple weeks ago a dear gal who comes to our adolescent meeting was baptized here. I am really thankful to be able to work with these adolescents - this is the second one who was baptized here, and another gal was baptized in Puno when we were there last month. Well, the first two are also my students in school, and the school has had a real positive influence on them.

This last one, dear Veronica, comes from a broken home. Her mom is a dear believer here, but her dad, who is a dr., is not. He at first accepted her being baptized but this past week has given her a real hard time over it. She spends every other weekend with her mom and lives with the dad and his wife and family. The adolescents went with me to the State boys' home Saturday, Dec. 1, and Veronica's dad refused to let her go. This was very sad for all of us.

We were able to give out little Christmas bags to the almost 80 abandoned boys down there (many of them street kids), and have a good time of testifying to them. The teens from here had prepared some Christian skits illustrating the Gospel and our youth leader who helps with the adolescent meetings was able to give a short message. Please pray for these outreaches. It is good to see our youth serve and witness. A group of the older youth go out to the nearby town of Yarabamba and vicinity each Sunday aft. witnessing and having Bible studies with interested ones there. God is blessing these efforts too. Thanks so much for praying!

Now we are in the midst of final exams at school. I am having to stay up too late and all to get all mine done and graded and registered, etc. before we leave Mon. Dec. 10 for just one month with family in the U.S. Our oldest granddaughter is getting married Dec. 14 in Florida!! Wow, that makes me feel old! But we do want to share in this joyful time in her life. We are truly thankful for our children and grandchildren following the Lord!!

The third floor of the primary school has the bases up for the light construction to be put on it as soon as vacation starts, mid December. We trust all will be finished and in use by March when school starts again here. Thanks so much for all who have given and prayed for this project.

Bob continues faithfully preparing and teaching God's Word, also dealing with countless dear brethren here who have problems. God is blessing, but there are always problems - in our homes, with the fight against sin in many of our believers too. Bob has a vast teaching, visiting, encouraging and counselling ministry.

Truly, thanks so much to all of you who pray and share! May God give you a very blessed and joyful Christmas! Thank God for Christ!