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| Hello All,
I am in the village of Lampa right now. It is in southeastern Peru, and really cold. It was 50 in my rooom one morning when I woke up, but I can honestly say that I like the cold better than the heat. But so far things are going pretty slow. Last Sunday we had a small Bible study with 4 people, and it went pretty well, and we are planning on having the same this week. But other than that, it has been hard to get much going. There are a few solid Christians that we know, but they are really busy, but I hope that we will be able to spend some time with them this summer. But on Friday, we were able to go to another village about 5 miles away from Lampa, and speak in the school. We are planning on going there every week to teach them simple Bible studies.
But do please be praying that God will open up doors for us to start Bible studies here. There is good potential, but the people just don't seem to want to make it a priority. So please pray that God will continue to work and soften their hearts and help them to see that they need Him in the village of Lampa. And some people that you can be praying for are Mr. Mendez, Carlos and his family, Francisco and his family, and Daniel and his family from another village. So far these are the believers that we have met. And as always, thank you so much for your support and prayers.
God Bless,
Brad | | |
| Hello All, We had a really good trip this last week. I went with a group from the Charlotte area of North Carolina, and we did research in about 7 villages in the mountains of Lima. It was a lot of walking, but luckily we got a truck ride the 33 miles up the mountain, and then just had to work our way back down. And 33 miles may not seem like a long time, but it took us 5 hours in the truck, and then about 3 days to hike back down. But we were able to get all the information that we needed to get about the area, and hopefully a church will adopt it soon, and start to work more. It was pretty sad because the only non-catholic influence on the people were the mormons and a small group of Isrealites; so the people there still are almost completely in the dark when it comes to the truth. But we were able to share the gospel with a few people along the way. No one accepted, but hopefully with more time God will raise up leaders in Huaochiri. But thank you as always for your prayers and support. These next two weeks we will be getting ready for the summer missionaries to arive. They come in on the 22nd of May; so please do be praying for them and that God will use us all this summer as we work in several different mountain villages. Also, I think the place that I will be this summer is Lampa; so plese be praying for it. I am still not sure, it is possible that I will not know until a couple of days before I leave. But thank you again for your prayers and support. God Bless, Brad Taking a little lunch break. The team from Lincolnton getting ready to get on the truck. And another pic. outside the place we slept. | | |
| Hello All,
Last week was pretty good, a lot of hiking, but it went really well. Me and Derek went on a research trip to a place in the state of Lima about 6 hours from Lima city. And we traveled to 5 different villages doing research on how many smaller villages are around in the area. We hiked into 4 of them, and all the hikes were amazing. The heavens and earth really do tell the story of God's greatness. And to one village we were able to ride on the back of a fruit truck. It was a nice break from walking, and kinda reminded me of a hay ride, except there was no hay, lots of potatoes to sit on, but no hay.
But we were also able to meet up with a family from Lima who moved out to the village to start churches. They were really an encouragement. We got a chance to go to 2 Bible studies with them, and it was encouraging to see believers from the villages worshipping. We also went around and visited a few people in their homes. One lady knew of a lady that was sick and she wanted us to pray for her. So we went and told her that God can heal her, but that He also wants to heal and save her soul. So we shared the gospel with her and she accepted Jesus as her savior. And then her husband came in from working, and we shared with him, and he wanted to accept Christ too! And then we explained that it would be through her faith that would heal her as well. And we prayed that God would take away her pain and make her well! But altogether it was a productive and encouraging trip.
And a few prayer requests. Derek is going back to the same region with a college group on May 8th. And I will be going with a church group that has not been to Peru before on Saturday May 5th-11th, I believe are the dates. And then we have about 50 college students coming as summer missionaries on May 22nd. So please begin to pray that they will all get here safely with all of their stuff. I still do not know where I will be spending this summer, but I am pretty sure that it will be a place that I have not been before. Also, I have several friends who have been sick lately. Some in Peru and others in other parts of the world; so please pray that God will protect their bodies from Satan and keep them healthy; so that they can serve our Lord! And thank you again for all of your prayers and support.
God Bless,
Brad
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| Hello All, I had a really good week last week. We were in the village of Pomancanchi with a church group from North Carolina. We did everything from door to door evangelism to speaking in schools, to having 2 Bible studies. When me and Derek got there we met with the Christian lady that we knew about, and she was very excited that we had come and wanted to meet with us. And we met with her on Monday, and then she said that this was too good for it just to be her; so on Tuesday she cancelled a teachers meeting and brought all of her fellow teachers. And on Tuesday 2 of them received Jesus as their Savior!!! And a really cool stort to go along with it was that we had met a man named Persy on our first day. He seemed really interested and wanted to know when we were going to meet to talk about the Bible. We invited him to a few different times, but he was not able to come. And we had been praying for him all week, because I felt that God really wanted to save him this last week. So we asked our Father for Him, and He provided. He was able to come to the Bible study on Tuesday and I was able to talk to Him for a while and explain that Jesus is the only way to heaven. Alot of Peruvians, especially in the villages, believe that there are many different ways. For example, the catholic church and its rituals, the mormons, the Jehovah's Witness, and us too. So please pray that they will see the only way! But I was able to explain that the Bible says that it is only by Jesus that we can be saved. And a few minutes later, I saw on e of the translators and the leader of the group praying with him to recieve Jesus! And now he wants to help his community see what he now sees. It was really awesome to be a part of. And God reminded me that all we need to do is ask. "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth, in Peru, in America, as it is in heaven." God wants to be glorified and wants to see people believe in His Son, and we need to be faithful and ask. And I want to thank you for asking and praying for me as I work here. This weekend we are having a team retreat until Sunday, and then I will be leaving on a research trip, but I am not sure where yet. So please pray that all will go well with that. Thank you again for all of your help and support and prayer! God Bless, Brad And here are some photos of Pomacanchi. 
One of the youth from N.C. and one of our translators teaching the kids. 
The town of Pomacanchi 
A beautiful lake outside of Pomacanchi where we had our Easter service. 
A statue of Jesus overlooking Pomacanchi. I pray that people will truly look to the Son for their Salvation! | | |
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A few people in the town of Santa Rosa, watching as we taught in the school. The class in Santa Rosa as they sang a few praise songs. More singing and playing! 
One of the translators that went with us translating the gospel into Spanish for the kids and teachers! Peanut Butter and Bananna Chips, what a meal! The four Naval students that got to be on my team for the week, resting after almost 2 days of hiking up and down looking for villages. Hello All, But we did have a good time. We split up into three teams and all went in different directions. We were able to find a few villages that the church from Memphis wanted us to, and also were able to do some ministry in the town of Santa Rosa, going into the schools and teaching. The 4 that went with me, finally found a village called San Luis, and were able to talk to a few people there. They were interested in the gospel, but not ready to make a decision. But all in all, the students were able to get a taste of missions, and some said that they are very interested in pursuing missions later in their lives. Again, thank you for your prayers for us this week. We did a lot of traveling and had no problems, no one got sick, or too lost to where we could not find our way back. Thank you again for your prayers and support! God Bless, Brad | | |
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