Dear brothers in Christ:

My dear brothers in Christ, May the Lord bless your lives and your families.
Michael, a youth from Pennsylvania has come to spend time serving the Lord here in The Church of the Savior in Barranco. The lord was moving his heart months ago so he began to pray to know God’s will in this regard. The Lord opened a door for him to glorify Him here in Peru and he is going to be here until April 2nd. He is going to be baptized this month, on the 21st, and he wants me to baptize him. I am excited because it is going to be the first time I will baptize someone. He was baptized when he was eleven, but he wasn’t saved then because when he grew up his life did not reflect that of a truly converted person.  

Brad was here in February and we had a really good time studying the book of Mark and 1st Timothy. He taught a lot of things that I had never seen in Mark, things that were veiled for me and they were a tremendous blessing for me. He didn’t want to be so academic or simply fill our heads with knowledge, but to encourage us in Christ,  and to encourage us to see Christ's Lordship, Deity, and what he accomplished on our behalf.  The time of classes was a blessing not only because of the instruction and teaching, but also because of our communion in Christ with other missionaries and good brothers who love the Lord.  

But not everyone is responding in the same way. Many people are really angry towards the teaching of the Gospel and the Sovereignty of the Lord in saving the lost. There is a great deal of the “desicionist gospel” here, but also of the “prosperity gospel”. I have been talking through email with different people who are claiming we are so wrong in preaching that a prayer cannot change the life of people and give them salvation and eternal grace. Other people from charismatic movements are writing to me everyday and saying that they are watching Paul Washer’s sermons, but they are still relying on weird manifestations and visions and dreams, and when they are confronted with all these kind of doctrines, they reject sound doctrine and turn against us saying we are not speaking in a right way of the Holy Spirit, because He is still doing great things in many places, healing and performing miracles.

Many youth are coming from different charismatic movements and it is a great joy in knowing the Lord is using many resources, even the web page to draw them. But it is the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who shines on their hearts through the inward work of the Holy Spirit bringing them under conviction of their sins and the need of holiness and godliness in their lives. Mark and Christian are two youths who were talking to Martin and me during the last week and there is a great passion and urgency in their hearts for the preaching of the gospel. They were seeing sermons of our brother Paul and were convicted by the Holy Spirit about the false gospel that they were preaching and the false teachings that have been taught in their congregation, so they decided to get out from there and started looking for a church where sound doctrine is taught. They came here three Sundays ago and they want to be involved in an active way here.

I will be going to Piura, which is a city sixteen hours away from Lima, from the 23rd through the 28th. There will be a conference about the Sufficiency of the Scriptures in Evangelism, Family, Christian life and Church. The conference is going to be held by a Baptist Church. Miguel S. and Carlos M., who are both missionaries from HeartCry, are going to speak too. We are going to go to parks and streets to preach the gospel there. We ask for your prayers on our behalf, for the Lord to guide us and give us a humble spirit. I will be speaking on Thursday the 25th on the Sufficiency of the Scriptures in Evangelism. It will be a great opportunity with pastors and leaders. They are really glad and want to know more about these subjects. May the Lord use us with a demonstration of power and the Holy Spirit.

We continue teaching in an exegetical way the book of Hebrews and it has been a tremendous blessing for my life and for youth’s lives. Now we are studying chapter 11 and explaining more about the faith of the men who lived before the Cross of Christ. What a great joy in knowing every Christian throughout history has been saved only through faith. Too much confusion has arisen in this matter. Were Christians saved only through faith in the Old Testament or this is a different condition in the New Testament? Were they relying on the promise of God about a Messiah or they were trusting in their ability to obey the commandments of the Law given by God through Moses? What a great encouragement in seeing the life of faith in the saints of the Old Testament! I am really thankful to the Lord for this opportunity of teaching these great doctrines. We are not worthy of anything, but in His mercy the Lord grants us this privilege of teaching His Word to His people, this group of young people.

I can say with great confidence and joy in the Lord that our great and glorious God has given us a good group of youth and they are growing in their knowledge of the Scriptures and in grace in the Lord. I am really, really thankful for this and my heart is full of joy and gratitude to my Lord and God, hoping the Lord will continue giving me wisdom and grace to keep sharing with them the amazing things that are in Scriptures. It has been a blessing and I have never seen a group of young people who share their faith with boldness and confidence in the Lord. What a great joy to see God’s work in their hearts!!! As I teach them the word I remember the words of the preacher: “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth”. Please pray for these people, for the Lord to sustain, preserve and persevere His work in them, until the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We continue studying the book of Genesis along with youth and we have enjoyed it a lot. We are in chapter 9 studying about Noah and the covenant of God with him and studying the beginnings of all the doctrines found in the Scriptures.  They are really encouraged in studying and learning more about their Creator and Sovereign God. They are interested in learning and studying diligently the Scriptures. Definitely, it is the Work of our Almighty God who causes in us the will and the work by His own good will. Praise be the Lord for these blessings and the opportunity of seeing how these youth are growing in mercy and in the knowledge of our great and glorious God.

Please pray for my life and for God to enlighten through His mighty Spirit my heart to be able to understand His Word and the amazing truth of the Gospel in our Lord Jesus. God is the Gospel and this is an amazing truth. Pray for God strengthen my life more and more through His Word and Holy Spirit. May the Son Of God receive the full reward for His suffering.

I am really, really thankful to the Lord and to the people who are giving through HeartCry to support missionaries here in Peru and throughout the world. My gratitude to the Lord and many, many thanks to people who are supporting this ministry. I cannot help giving my gratitude to the Lord for their lives and every time I remember them I give thanks to the Lord for such a grace in their lives in giving themselves to this grace. May the grace of the Lord abound more and more in their lives.

In Jesus Christ,

Walter I.

1 Corinthians 15:58