Jr.
Urb. San
Carlos
Huancayo, Peru
011-51-64-21-21-52
E-mail: acivey@mindspring.com
Website: www.iveymission.org
January 31, 2005
"If you
make the Most High your dwelling -- even the Lord, who is my refuge -- then no
harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent." Psalms 91:9-10
NIV.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in
Christ,
Grace and
peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. We
praise the Lord God for having sent his Holy Spirit to guide and direct
each of our steps, and for pouring out His grace upon us through His precious
Son, Jesus Christ. We hope and pray that He has been blessing you
wonderfully during this past month and that your life has been filled with
His glorious riches and mercy. We want to give you a special
thanks for your continued prayers for us and support of the
ministry in
January has been a month of God's outpouring and protection. The Lord Jesus has continued to increase the number of people participating with us in the ministry and has been deepening each person's experience of the Holy Spirit and their relationship with Him. At the same time, the spiritual warfare has increased against some of our precious brothers and sisters. Several churches have been robbed and some folks are experiencing personal problems and attacks such as intense nightmares. We have been seeking the Lord for his protection during these times, and He has been giving us many assurances through His word such as Psalms 23, 37, 91, and others. We believe that these attacks and difficulties are a good sign, as they indicate that the enemy is feeling the pressure of our prayers and is afraid. Please be in prayer with us for great victories, and that none of our precious brothers and sisters would be frightened away by these events.
During the last days of December and the first week of January we were blessed to have a team of young adults from Clemson University FCA to help us with our ministry to youth and young adults here in Huancayo. The team had eighteen members and was led by Elaine MacCorkle. This was a special blessing to us as Elaine came to Peru four years ago on a team from our home church and has now returned as a team leader. The team participated in and helped lead significant prayer activities with our youth and young adults, such as praying at different discotheques, bars, and other places where the unsaved young people of Huancayo frequently gather. As the Lord gave the opportunities they also evangelized, and during the week over 75 people gave their lives to the Lord Jesus. The team also helped with special discipleship events designed to encourage and to help our youth and young adults grow in their relationship with the Lord.
New Year's Eve gathering with a group from Clemson.
Mary Alice will be teaching English to children in the Colegio El Camino during the next school year. She will be teaching kindergarten through seventh grade. She has been busy preparing lesson plans for the next school year. Since the Colegio El Camino is a Christian school , this will also give her a chance to interact not only with the children and influence them for the Lord Jesus Christ, but also with their parents.
Genaro and Arthur traveled to Tarapoto to plan for a medical team that will be coming from Dalton First United Methodist Church in February. They will be working with the Esmirna Church to provide medical, dental and eye care to persons who do not have much access to this type of care. The local neo-natal hospital has agreed to work with us to provide facilities to perform gynecological procedures and eye surgeries. We are able to use these events not only to help meet peoples' physical needs, but it also gives us an opportunity to meet their spiritual needs. Each patient not only receives medical care, but has the chance to hear the gospel personally, receive spiritual counseling, and is given an opportunity to receive the Lord Jesus Christ.
Arthur sharing at Saturday night youth gathering in the Esmirna Church.
The end of the month the entire family had the blessing of participating in a youth camp in Trujillo, Peru with a team from our home church. The youth camp was sponsored by the Iglesia Mision de Cristo en el Peru. Youth from various parts of Peru, a praise and ministry group from Venezuela, and the team from the United States all participated in this event. Approximately 70 youth attended the event. Workshops were presented by Mark Nyeswander, Terry Cantrell, and Eddie Sapp. Other team members presented testimonies and talks in break-out groups. Elizabeth Zubianadi, Benjamin, Joshua, and Arthur provided the translation. It was a time of renewal for us as we do not often get to be in ministry together as a whole family.
Mary Beth (center) participating in the dance presentation at the Noche de Gala for the youth event.
We were able to start our discipleship groups again. We have a number of new people from various different backgrounds. We have groups that meet on Tuesday night, Wednesday morning, and Wednesday night. In all, we have an attendance of 34 people. As part of their participation in these groups each person had to sign an agreement that after 6 months of preparation they would begin disciplining other people as well as continue to receive the disciplining in their original groups. We have seen the Lord Jesus moving in these groups to heal deep emotional wounds and to give hope to many that they can live in freedom from bondages. Arthur is blessed to have a dear brother in Christ, Gonzalo Hualcas, who received this training from Arthur during our previous term in Peru, to help with these groups when he is traveling with teams and other duties. Please be in prayer for these groups. Please also pray for Arthur and Gonzalo as they lead these groups.
Please continue
to be in prayer for the continued growth in the ministries here in
We pray that God is drawing
you closer and closer to Him every day. God bless you. We love
you.
Yours in
Christ,
Arthur, Mary Alice,
Benjamin, Joshua, and Mary Beth Ivey
The Mission Society
Missionaries to
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