Beginning Our 5th Full Year

As we close in on beginning our 5th full year in Trujillo, Peru I want to share something that I have shared with many already.

Mike and Danell went to Peru at the beginning of 2005 and spent the first year studying Spanish. They were going to help our team with visiting groups from the U.S. That was pretty much it. Little did we all know what was in store for them or PNHI.

A year ago we did something we never imagined would have happened, for a number of reasons, when they first went to Peru. We made Mike the team leader of PNHI in Peru. We never imagined that we would do that because we never thought we would have to let our former team leader go. Also, we would have never guessed Mike had the ‘metal’ to become a team leader. His resume doesn’t look like someone who would be the leader of a team of 35 people in another country. Little did we know 5 years ago, but God knew.

I told Mike in the beginning that his role would be like that of a coach taking over a professional hockey team that had a dysfunctional relationship with their previous coach, and that it would take at least a year to rebuild the team, develop a good spirit, and find out who really wanted to work. Mike took up the challenge and has done an amazing job. The transition has NOT been easy. It has been stressful. But Mike and Danell’s commitment, drive, faith, openness, fairness, integrity and perseverance have helped them through the tough times, making tough decisions, facing the fallout, and still keeping their eyes on the goal of a new effective team reaching people for Jesus and planting churches all over Trujillo.

Mike and I are convinced that the numbers we currently have should have been 2 or 3 times larger - IF all had gone right. But it didn’t. As of February we will have had a team on the field 4 years and as of June of 2010 our team will have been in the barrios working for 4 years.

Right now we are averaging 1500 people active in our ministry. As I said, that is less than Mike and I believe it should have been but it is still pretty good considering all that has happened this year. Here is what is very encouraging to me. Since the first part of the year the attendance of adults in Oral Bible story groups in homes has grown 100%. That is amazing considering all the changes that have been taking place. They have grown from about 375 average attendance in these groups, just counting adults, to 746 and that is during a time when we have had to deal with rebellion and divisive actions by some previous team members which resulted in losing some people. There are 75 home groups. That’s up 200%. On top of that we have 600-plus children and 140-plus youth involved. I’m so grateful to God and our key people in Peru, for their hard work and dealing with all the challenges they have without throwing in the towel or losing site of the goal.Now, let me talk about evangelism. Mike and Danell have started getting the remaining people plus the new people coming on board really focused on bringing people to Christ. They are doing it by training, encouragement and personal example.

Over the first many months of 2009 the team was experiencing 2 to 4 baptisms a month. With a renewed emphasis on training, insistence on using the Peace Treaty and seeing the natural excitement of those going out and sharing the Gospel, things have turned around.

You need to know that most of these people who were baptized in the recent months were taken through the Peace Treaty. That means someone had to meet with them FOUR times to teach the four lessons. These weren’t just people who raised their hands at a rally and then were taken to be baptized. They were reached, taught, discipled and then baptized.

Here are the baptism numbers for the last four months and 10 days of 2009:

August - 14

September - 33

October - 32

November - 29

December - 9 (the first 10 days or so – Dec/Feb is summer in Peru)

Total = 117

Now that is more like it should be.

Our team is rebuilding.

They are focused on reaching people for Christ and sharing the Gospel using the Peace Treaty.

They are training people in planting churches using Oral Bible story telling.

They are opening new barrios working with Life Winds.

We are on track. We will still have challenges, but we have the nucleus of a team that GETS IT and are doing it.

PRAY FOR THEM. This is a very crucial time. With a renewed emphasis on training trainers and doing evangelism, we pray that 2010 will be a powerful year for Christ.

God bless you all - and have a wonderful Christmas,

John and Carla