011-51-64-23-76-69
July 31, 2002
"The law was added so that the trespass
might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so
that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through
righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Romans 5:20-21 NIV
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.
The first week in July we had the pleasure of
receiving a medical mission team from Frazier Memorial United Methodist
Church in Montgomery, Alabama. The team of 10 persons lead by Mary
Nell Crawford, treated medical problems, providing over 3000
consultations in the jungle town of Satipo. In addition to medical
treatment, classes in preventative healthcare practices were taught by one
of our young people from Huancayo, Lorena. Some 345 persons prayed
to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives and approximately
150 prayed to rededicate their lives to Christ.
Consultation with patient in Satipo
During the same week that the Frazier team was in
Satipo, a team from Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church from Marietta,
Georgia was ministering in San Ramon with the assistance of Ivar and Andy
Quindsland, Mission Society missionaries based in Lima. They
ministered through construction, by completing the electrical system,
painting and installing kitchen facilities. They also participated
in the showing of the Jesus film where 19 children prayed to receive
Christ Jesus into their lives. The team also provided a Vacation
Bible School for the children and participated in the worship services
during the week. The work in San Ramon by teams this year has been
especially important in trying to provide stability to this church.
The church experienced a split last year and has been with out a full time
pastor for almost a year now.
Near the end of the month a team of young people
from Lewis Memorial United Methodist Church in Augusta, Georgia came to
help us with evangelism and children's ministry as well as construction in
Ahuac. They reached out to children using a clowning ministry and
Bible school type activities. They constructed a roof over two
classrooms so that we now have places to meet during bad weather.
In addition, a medical team used the building the following week to
minister through medicine.
Clowning for the Kid's Club
The Kid's Clubs are still doing well. Our
teaching team is continuing to grow spiritually. The youth are
participating more and more in the planning of the programs with Mary
Alice. They have been teaching the children how to share their
faith and the message of salvation by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We hope that through the latter part of the year they will begin to
write the lessons. We are continuing to see increases in
attendance, especially at the adolescent ages and the teaching team has
been trying especially to increase the interest of adolescents and youth
in the programs. Our youth worked with Kristen Eble, our mission
intern to learn several drama presentations to use to present the
Gospel message and organized and performed open air presentations to
attract more youth.
Genaro Puente and two of our missionaries working with the Kid's Club at
El Tambo.
We also have a youth discipleship group that meet
son Thursday nights. Most of the youth were unchurched when we
started. The group has grown to over 20 now. We also have a
group that we are training to be cell leaders. We want to divide the
Thursday night group, but do not have leaders ready for the division yet.
Please pray for the rapid development of leaders for our Thursday night
cell group.
Again we want to thank you for all your support
and prayers. Please continue to pray for the church here in Peru,
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 to 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
The Mission Society
P.O. Box 922637
Norcross, Georgia 30010-2637