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.

 

     May was a month of blessing for us.  We had a special celebration of baptism this month, also.  Fourteen persons were baptized, including our own Mary Beth.  Persons from the Huancayo church, the El Tambo church, and the Ahuac church were baptized.  These celebrations are always very special and uplifting as the churches unite together to praise and worship the Lord Jesus Christ.  One of the greatest blessings was to be able to see the amount of growth that had occurred in these churches since the last baptism celebration.  After the worship and baptisms, we all enjoyed a time of fellowship, sharing in a wonderful meal and time of recreation.

 

     Mary Beth had come to us and expressed her desire to be baptized.  We shared with her what baptism was and why we do it.  She asked the pastor of the church if he would baptize her and talked with him about the meaning of baptism, also.  She understood that it was a step of faith that was important to her walk with Christ, and was ready and willing to make this deeper commitment.  She told us after she had been baptized that she felt different inside and we were able to see in her face that she had experienced a change. 

 

   

    We had a visit from a close friend, Keven Adams, and Arthur's brother, Joel Ivey.  It is always interesting to see the children respond so positively to the presence of friends and family in our home here and to see their spirits lighten during these visits.  It was also interesting to see how our own spirits are lifted and how a visit from friends and family can be such a ministry and blessing to us.  Unfortunately, we did not have much time to relax with them because of the many things that we have to do to prepare for teams that will be coming soon and to keep up with regular routines, but our guest just joined in with us and this made the work load seem considerably lighter.  Arthur had to travel down to the jungle to make travel arrangements for the first medical team that is coming, so Keven and Joel just went with him. They got to experience the vast changes from mountain roads, cold air and seeing vicuña at 15,000 feet to thick vegetation, hot steamy jungle air, and a totally different culture of the jungle.  They also experienced the difficulty that local protests and strikes can cause and the difference in the Peruvian way and the American way of negotiating services and contracts.  Most important they were able to experience the blessing of seeing the Lord's hand upon us as we work here.

 

Vicuña on the high plain of Lomo Largo

 

     The Kid's Clubs are going well and there is more interest by the church leadership in this type of ministry.  The church leadership has also begun to express interest in the use of cell groups as a valid form of ministry.  We have been blessed to have  three cell groups meeting weekly in our home with an average attendance of approximately eight persons in each group.  In addition, we have a leadership training group that is going well. Those participating in this group are in the process of seeking God's guidance about who they should ask to be their close group of disciples that they will begin to disciple and train as leaders. 

  

     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