Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

 

     Greetings in the name of our precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  We praise the Lord Jesus for having so wonderfully blessed us and for having sent his Holy Spirit to guide and teach us. We hope and pray that He has been blessing you wonderfully and that your life has been filled with His grace.  Thank you for your continued prayers for us and support of the ministry here in Peru.  We definitely see the results of you praying for us.  You are special people called by our Lord Jesus Christ to minister to His children.  Thank you for your faithfulness to His calling.  Thank you for your love for Him, for us, and for His children.

 

     June was a month of receiving answers to prayers.  We were blessed to have two medical teams from Kentucky work with us this month in two of our most remote churches.  The people in these churches are isolated by distance, difficult travel conditions and poverty.  We and the people of these churches have been praying for over a year that God would send them a blessing and encourage them in their work.  During the month of June God answered these prayers.  A medical team of 30 from Morehead United Methodist Church in Morehead, Kentucky joined by a Peruvian team of 25 made the difficult trip to Puerto Bermudez.  This trip required three days of travel to get in and three days to get back out.

 

Traveling to Puerto Bermudez. 

 

    During their four days in Puerto Bermudez this team treated over 1600 persons for various medical, dental and optical problems.  Each one of these persons also received spiritual counseling, which resulted in over 270 professions of faith in Jesus Christ and over 100 persons rededicating their lives to the Lord Jesus.  During the evening each night an outdoor activity was held for the town. Christian music was presented by the members of the local church, a different Christian film was shown each night, and a Biblical message and invitation to receive Christ was given.  Many people responded to the invitation each night. 

    

Line of persons waiting for medical attention in Puerto Bermudez.

 

     A medical team of 23 from Mayo United Methodist Church in Paintsville, Kentucky joined by a Peruvian team of 20 made the long trip to San Martin de Pangoa to share God's love with the people in that region.  This area was one of the last areas to be freed from the hold of the Shining Path Terrorists and still suffers from great poverty.  During the four days of medical attention given by this team they treated approximately 1650 persons for medical, dental, or eye problems.  During the clinic almost 300 people gave their lives to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and in the open air events each evening even more responded to the invitations.  As a result of this clinic the local government donated a small plot of land to the Methodist Church for the construction of a new church building in the city.

 

Assisting a patient in San Martin de Pangoa.

 

    These events have left much follow-up work for the local churches.  This will be a major challenge for them. Please pray for the churches in Puerto Bermudez and San Martin de Pangoa for strength and commitment to this great work.  Pray also, that God would provide workers for the harvest and give them super-natural wisdom to care for these new believers. 

 

     The Kid's Clubs are going well and there is more interest by the church leadership in this type of ministry.  The people from the Huancayo church under the leadership of the Arroyo family have continued to work in the Kid's Club in Concepcion which has now grown to have a weekly attendance of 120 children.  The El Tambo church is in the planning stages of starting two additional Kid's Clubs.  We now have four Kid's Clubs meeting each weekend with a combined attendance of approximately 470 children and the potential for adding two more in the near future.

    

     In the Kid's Clubs we also have a group for adults. One problem we have experienced in the Kid's Clubs is adults who want to know Christ and grow in their faith, but cannot  read or write.  This makes studying the Bible difficult at best.  We have been praying for a long time about how to overcome this hurdle.  Mrs. Jo Ann Leifeste of Cumming, Georgia has been faithfully praying and searching to help us find solutions.  God has answered our prayers.  Mrs. Leifeste introduced us to the Alfalit Program which was designed specifically for this purpose and is a Christian organization, but we still had a problem only God could solve.  We did not have anyone  willing to volunteer their  time to teach.  After several months of prayer, God responded and called several people to be involved almost simultaneously. Praise be to the Lord Jesus Christ!  We trained 10 persons who have volunteered to be literacy teachers this month and will start classes in the middle of July.

 

     Again we want to thank you for all your support and prayers.  Please continue to pray for the church here in Peru. Please pray for our discipleship groups and the attacks against them.  Please pray for the children and young people that are part of the ministries here, for the tension in the churches, and for the church leaders.  Pray for the Lord to enable us to train more church leaders, cell pastors, and church pastors. Please pray for the leaders of the church here:  Bishop Marco Ochoa, and District Superintendents Jose Bustamante and David Figueroa.  Please pray for our safety as we travel, our continued adjustment and ability to understand the Peruvian culture, and that we will boldly speak God's Word wherever we go.  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

                                                                                                                               & nbsp;    Missionaries to Peru