Arthur & Mary Alice Ivey 
San Jose 454
Urb. San Carlos
Huancayo
Peru
011-51-64-23-76-69
 
November 30, 2003
 
"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion "Your God Reigns!"  Isaiah 52:7 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, especially during difficult times. 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.
 
     October and November were months of difficulty and great reward.  We have been and will be spending more time in prayer and fasting throughout the remainder of this year as we seek to know more fully the will of the Lord for His work here.  We have already seen some blessings that are born out of prayer and fasting and the difficult times through which we sometimes have to travel.   
 
     The first week of October we had the pleasure of getting to know a group from Asbury United Methodist Church from Madison, Alabama.  They came to help teach our young people and one of our local churches more about evangelism and to encourage them in this area of their spiritual life.  The timing was perfect as we are also in a time of emphasizing this part of the Christian life through our cell groups and discipleship ministry.  The teaching was done using on the job training and not in the classroom.  This allowed everyone to not only have a practical experience with evangelism, but many came back with a deep awareness of the incredible hunger for Christ that exists here in Peru.  Some of our young people were crying about the great spiritual void that existed and the fact that they could have been so unaware of such a deep need in their own community.  During the four days of evangelism approximately 280 person gave their lives to Christ.  The church is now trying to follow up and disciple as many of these new believers as possible.
 

             Erika Chavez sharing the gospel with youth in the street.               

 
     During October we were also preparing to open an new Kid's Club.  We had received a request from the mayor of Chilca (Chilca is part of Huancayo) and three of the local neighborhood presidents to start Kid's Clubs in their neighborhoods.  We worked with the Arroyo family to make the preparations. Lorena, her father Cesar, and her mother Cristal, took responsibility for directing this work and recruited Christian workers from various churches in Huancayo.  Lorena receives the lessons from Mary Alice each week and prepares the workers in their group.  The new Kid's Club was started on the 15th of November with an attendance of 94 children.  In three weeks it has grown to more than 130 children and more than 20 adults are attending.  More workers have approached us with the desire to participate in this work.  With more workers we could open a second Club in Chilca as early as January of 2004.  
 
     In August one of our teachers, Charo Puente, married and moved to San Martin de Pango with her husband, Abram.  Abram had worked with Arthur and a medical team in Pango in June of this year to start a new work there.  San Martin is in the jungle approximately 9 hours from Huancayo and still suffers from the influence of the terrorist group Sendero Luminoso. Charo has now started a Kid's Club as part of this work and is discipling a group of 15 children (ages 8 to 10) who are also helping with younger children in a Kid's Club.  The Kid's Club has had an average of 50 children each week. Praise be to the Lord Jesus Christ, we now have seven Kid's Clubs located in Pichcus, El Tambo, Ahuac, Concepcion, San Jeronimo, Chilca and San Martin.  We are also working with the Iglesia Peruana in Tres Esquinas to open a new club there, and in January, the Lord willing, we may be able to open another one in Chilca.
 
Small group from Kid's Club
 
     In October, Arthur was also able to design and oversee the construction of a flat concrete roof for a building in Puerto Bermudez.  The classroom building that received the roof has been in existence for over two years but has never had a roof, and for this reason could not be effectively used.  The church building itself is significantly deteriorated and the space in the classroom building is badly needed.  A medical group from Morehead United Methodist Church in Kentucky, that worked in Puerto Bermudez in June, provided the funding.  The building now has a roof and is prepared for a future second floor.
 
     Mary Alice and Arthur had to leave the country again at the beginning of November due to the visa problem.  This time, however, thanks to the grace of our Lord Jesus,  your prayers, and the willingness of Mision-AMEN to act as our new legal representatives here in Peru, we were able to obtain new residence visas.  We only have one more trip to Lima to complete this process.  Since this change has occurred we have seen new doors of opportunity opening for the ministry here.  God is good.
 
     Mary Alice traveled down to San Ramon in the high jungle to teach a workshop to the youth from the churches in that area. Youth came from San Ramon, Chincana, Puente Paucartambo, and Satipo.  The workshop was on how to prepare lessons for Kid's Clubs.  We are hoping with time that this will result in additional works in those areas.
 
 
Mary Alice teaching workshop on Kid's Clubs in San Ramon
 
     Arthur traveled to the Santa Rosa de Quives area to the towns of Yangas and Canta to prepare for a medical mission scheduled for this area in June 2004.  He visited with the church plants there sharing with them the vision and the methods for conducting a medical mission.  He visited with the mayor, the governor of the region and the medical post officials and shared the vision and process for the medical mission.  These officials were all willing to cooperate by providing spaces, tables, chairs and other necessities for the event.  The two church plants in this area are a work of Mision-AMEN and are only a few months old, but already have about 15 new members each. 
             
     Please be in pray with us for the continued advancement of the Kid's Club ministry and our efforts to find and train additional workers for this ministry.  Pray also for the discipleship and leadership training and the youth cell ministry, and that God would continue to impart His vision in these young people.  Please ask God to expand our time and provide additional financial resources for the ministries.  Please continue to pray for our new relationship with Mision-AMEN.  Most importantly we would like to ask you to covenant with us and the youth leadership team to be in regular prayer and fasting throughout the remainder of this year for the new phase of ministry to the lost and dying youth of Huancayo.  Pray that we would be protected from attacks and that the enemies' power over these young people would be broken.
 
    Again we want to thank you for all your support and prayers.  Please continue to pray for the churches here in Peru. Please pray for the tension in the churches, and for the church leaders. Please pray for the leaders in the Methodist Church:  Bishop Marco Ochoa, and District Superintendents Jose Bustamante and David Figueroa.  Also be in prayer for Obed Alvarez, the head of Mision-AMEN, as well as their other leaders and missionaries.  Please be in prayer for additional financial support for the ministry.  Please pray for our safety as we travel, 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
                                                                                                                           The Mission Society Missionaries to Peru
 
 
 
The Mission Society                                                      P.O. Box 922637                                                        Norcross, Georgia 30010-2637