Jungle Conference

The trip to the Jungle of Peru in July to work with missionary Arturo M. was a great blessing. We need to continue praying and do our best to help train them, because our brothers don't have the possibilities and preparation and also access to the different resources that we have.

It has been a great lesson for me again to see the effort of these brothers, and to see their love and desire to please our God. Many of the brothers at the conference understood that the work is not up to us, that the center of everything is God and in the time that we have we must dedicate everything to Him alone with a reverent fear and a sincere service of sacrifice and surrender.

The question and answer times were very productive as always. The brothers were not afraid to express their concerns and, even though we know that in the end God is the one who teaches, He used us in a humble way and what we have received by grace we passed along in the same way.

Pastor Arturo M. called me and wrote to us asking for us to continue going there, so we are going to present this request to the church too, because even though as a mission we can respond to this request, the church of Barranco will participate in this as well. God willing,the church will do this by sending its elders and leaders for the edifying of the body of Christ, His beloved church. It is my desire and hope that the church could participate actively in this great work.

Lima's Conference: The Suficiency of Scripture

This conference was a little bit different than the other ones that we have had. We did not send out very many invitations because the teaching to a large group is not as personal, and it limits our ability to attend to the personal needs of the participants. We wanted to really minister to the people who came. Among them were brothers from Cotahuasi (Arequipa, in the southern part of the country, an area  where we haven't worked yet), from Jauja, from Huancayo, from Pichanaki (mountain and central jungle), from Piura, from Chiclayo (Northern Peru) from Brasil and Mexico, and of course from Lima too.

It was wonderful seeing their desire to learn more about the true Gospel. The question and answer times were also very profitable. We were able to respond to the specific needs and we could see the encouragement and desire with which the brothers presented their questions. God helped us to answer in His wisdom.

Many doors have been opened to continue teaching God's truth. In Cotahuasi there is a seminary directed by brother Bradley Shaw who teaches every two months. They are teaching through the videos of past conferences held in Lima and they are changing their theology, conforming it to the scriptures. Also they are giving up pragmatism and resting in the power of God completely. They have asked us to come help them. This is yet another opportunity that we are considering.We will evaluate how might be able to help them. Here is where we understand the desire of our Lord to "Pray that the  Lord of the harvest would send forth labourers into his harvest."

We are seeing more and more the need to have biblical churches, so our church is preparing its members for this work, and I think that the youth, leaders and pastors that we are now preparing, will serve to fulfill this need in the work of God. Thank God, because this is happening in our church in Barranco. He has given us teachers and evangelists, by His grace we are working for his honor and glory!

Brother Arlen visited us from Brasil and he was very joyful because he had gone almost nine months without attending any church. He told us that for many years he didn't have this great communion with brothers who love the Lord and enjoy learning His word. He says that he likes to evangelize on Sundays in the streets because at the "church" where he was a member, five years ago he asked for their help to purchase a microphone for his street preaching ministry and he never received any help. The pastors of this 12,000 members church told him to pray for God provide the microphone, which by the way he did provide in a marvelous way. This is the state of the church in Brazil. But we know that there is a true remnant there and because of the things that he learned at our conference, he is thinking of establishing a congregation to gather all the people who make professions of faith as a result of his ministry. Praise the Lord! This week we will be going with Alfonso to Brazil and we'll pray to see how we can help out with the great need in that country.

Pray as well for the establishement of Biblical churches in Latin America. Daily we receive e-mails from brothers from different countries telling us of the great need in their countries. Many of them literally tell us that they are crying every Sunday when they can't go to a place of meeting, and also to see people going to congregations where the leaders feed them with vain hopes. May God show us and guide us to know how we can help meet this great need.

God bless you,  and thanks for continuing in the communion and support in the service to our God.

Martín Z