Hi to you all!

True, when we think how fast time flies, it is sobering! Hope you are having a nice fall season. I sure still miss the autumn leaves and crisp air, even after almost 48 years here.

Last letter told of many positive things, people baptized, etc. We are thankful we also had one young man, son of a dear believer with rheumatoid arthritis, baptized in Sept. However, another young believer, 26 years old, died in Sept. Juan Carlos had a rare condition that caused tumors to grow and invade his organs. He had this from infancy and had a difficult life. His father abandoned him, his mother and sister when he realized this condition. So his Mom, Janet, devoted all those 26 years in caring for Juan Carlos and his older sister. Carla is now in Brasil finishing post.grad. studies and Janet was able to go with her there last week. Juan Carlos was a blessing to us, though he was weak and suffered physically. We are thankful he knew the Lord, as do Janet and Carla. Thanks for praying for them.

There was also a tragedy in school. One of our little 5 year olds, Zenaida, died. She was diagnosed with hepatitis, but they say she died of pneumonia. She had been in the hospital for a couple weeks. I understand the parents are not believers, but our kindergarten teachers are (her little sister is in the 4 year old group). These kindergarten children know and sing precious praises to our Lord every a.m. and they are told God's Word. They love Jesus. We know Zenaida is with Him now, but the family is quite upset.

There are problems with just living in Perú. Our water system is bad these days. We are in a draught, did not have enough rain last rainy season, and so the water levels in our dams are way too low. They raise trout in these water reserves, and there is way too much algas in them. The water tastes awful, smells awful, and is awful. Please help us pray for rain to fill the reserves to the required levels to be able to purify and drink decent water.

Then there are social problems. The state paid doctors have been on strike for like 6 months. This really affects the needy sick folk. Also, our Post Office has been on strike for almost a month and there is no solution in sight. For those of you who will get this by snail mail, we have no guarantee how long it will be till you get it. Sorry! They say mail goes out from here to Lima, but may not go farther. The working hours are only mornings till 4 p.m. and I can hardly get there before they close. Only one employee works at the window and they are not putting mail in the boxes.

Also, we have had some problems in the main church here. All these need prayer. Guess the enemy does not like it when God's Word prospers and souls are truly saved. Thanks for praying.

Also, the school project was rejected by the municipality, but there is good news: after some modification, the plans should be approved. The demolition has been approved, it is just the way the reconstruction is in the plans. They are too fussy. This will cost extra in modification, but we have to do it. Thanks for praying for all these needs.

There is good news too! Bob has had some good trips. In Pampacolca, one of our older churches, the believers are also all older. Youth tend to leave these small towns to come study in the city, and literally all the believers in this town are in later 70's or 80's. Bob was able to baptize a new believer there! He is 87 years young! His wife is a believer and prayed for her husband for a long time, so we are glad he gave his heart to God. His name is Cesar Chavez.

On Sunday, Oct. 5, Perú had municipal and regional elections. There will be a runoff election for the regional president in a month or more. Voting is obligatory here and there is much corruption. Please help us pray for our leaders and for continued freedom to spread God's good news here. Thanks!

So, good news and some not so good, but we are so thankful for the Lord´s presence here. Thanks so much for all your prayer and sharing with us. God bless each of you!

September will bring us spring sometime. Weather is changing slowly. We thank the Lord for new life of spring, but mostly for the new life, fruit, for God. Two young men were finally baptized in Yarabamba, about an hour's drive from here where some of the believers from our main church in Arequipa have been going weekly. Please pray for Luis and Elmer, and that they can help win their families and friends.

A single believer from Polobaya, Ernesto, was baptized a couple months ago, and now Paul and Celida Ramos, also from Polobaya, were also baptized. A dear couple from here, Vicente and Emiliana, have been going Fridays and Saturdays to Polobaya and places around. This is about a two hour drive from here and these brethren rely on public transportation, so they appreciate your prayers for their outreach. God is bringing His own into His fold.

An older couple from here in Arequipa who have been attending with us on Sundays for some years was baptized a couple weeks ago. One of the elders from here has worked with them in weekly Bible studies for some time. Thanks so much for praying for growth in these new believers, all part of God's springtime in His garden.

Bob has had some fruitful trips to the mountains: to Espinar area and Sibayo. Now he is visiting the Quechua communities near Juliaca. The believers in the towns need encouraging and we are thankful Bob can still visit them. Another believer from here visits Pampacolca and other towns encouraging the believers. Pampacolca is lacking in youth, and the older believers are sometimes discouraged, so we are glad brother Justo can help them. Many of the mountain towns lose their youth as they come to the city here to study and work. Many do not follow the Lord as their elderly parents in the mountains do. However, some of the youth here do indeed carry on in the faith and we are so very thankful for a good group of Christian youth here in Arequipa.

Please continue to pray for our Ebenezer Christian school. We pray for fruit from the Lord among the students, teachers, and families. There are many distractions and temptations here in the city and many homes are falling apart. Please also pray for the building project. Permission from the Municipality needs to be granted, hopefully soon. We are trusting the Lord to supply the rest needed for this as well.

Hi, y'all!

Already August is here! And already moving quickly! Here the weather is nicer, not so cold and days are getting longer. So till the winds come it is nice. High winds in August bring lots of dust, not fun.

Bob had a good trip to Espinar earlier in the month. He also has gone to the Majes Valley and seen some encouragement there. Our big event July 26-29 was the visit of a dear missionary friend from Bolivia, David Sommer. July 28 is Peru's Independence day so schools are on vacation and the 28th and 29th are holidays.

David blessed us in youth meeting Sat. night and church Sunday a.m. with good messages and films on God's miraculous intervention in Israel throughout history. Then the 28th and 29th several believers from different churches in and around Arequipa joined together for his teaching on the book of Acts. We had like 300 so had to use the school's patio. We wouldn't fit in our church meeting room. Sessions were from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with dinner served for all. Our dear sisters really pitched in and cooked wonders for all. Everyone helped and we were blessed to work and learn together for the glory of our Lord. Some not yet believers also came and God's message of salvation was very clearly presented.

Some of our youth are going up to a youth gathering the 15th of this month to the Espinar area. The national worker we support up there, Daniel, is seeing God work in many communities or ranches up in this area. There are new believers, baptisms, and a real hunger for the truth. Thanks so very much for praying! These new believers need teaching. Right now Perú has many voices in "religion" and alot of these give false teaching. This causes confusion for new believers, here in the city as well as out in the rural areas. Please continue to pray for God's work here.

Please continue to pray for the school year. Last half starts Monday Aug. 4. We do pray for fruit in the lives of these dear students, all 300 of them! Please pray for the project that needs to be done over our vacation starting right before Christmas. Our school year here is March to December. The plans and proposals are presented to the National Cultural Institute. We have been recently warned by the Regional Direction of Education that the patio has to be enlarged. The Civil Defense told us this last year as well. Please help us pray for the rest of the funds needed for this, God has supplied most of the need, but we still lack some. Thanks!

Hi, y'all!

Well, it's July already! Hope you up there in USA had a great 4th! U.S. did well in the soccer, but there are always those who do better! Anyway, the prize that really is worth winning is the one Christ will give to His faithful servants at His coming! Let's aim for that one!

Thanks so very much for praying for us and for our family. Our dear grandson, Mark, is recuperating! His life is truly a miracle after that horrible accident a month ago. He is now at home! Has to go for outpatient therapy at a local hospital in northern Indiana, much better than up in Michigan. But we are super thankful for the excellent care he was given up there. God is his healer, but the drs. and staff at those specialized hospitals were really a blessing. Mark cannot put weight on his right foot for a couple months, as he had 4 or 5 fractures in the pelvis and will have to have the nails, etc. removed later. We are so grateful that even though he had a fractured skull and much bruising to the right side of his brain, that it too is healing! They say he will have full recovery. Thanks to God!

Here too, thanks for praying! My finger is healed. I then had a nasty bronchitis - had a couple weeks of strong antibiotics. That is healed now but with the force in coughing, my lower back is still hurting, could be lumbago, I don't know, but please keep praying. We both are really glad for the health God has given us so far, and we do pray it will continue, so we can continue to serve Him here. It is a cold winter, especially nights and early mornings, but has been sunny in the days. We had a small earth tremor the other day, they say this affects the climate. Others say it doesn't, but weather always changes some after tremors.

Thanks for praying for our Christian university students. God helped Esther and her Christian friend. They did not have to defend the homosexuals, only had to define the proposed law that is being debated in congress now. Bob has printed some tracts presenting the true Gospel and how God is against these perversions of this generation.

Bob had a good trip last week to the Espinar area. God is working there! Several churches Bob planted are growing. The main Arequipa church is supporting a worker there, plus giving to other believers in the area for this outreach. It is mostly Quechua, so we are really thankful for the national workers there. Here, the outreach in Yarabamba and Polobaya continues. The two young guys who were baptized in Yarabamba are meeting and witnessing. But as yet, no one else has joined them in that step of faith, identifying with Christ. Bible studies with interested ones continue, please pray!

Please also continue to pray for the school here. We are thankful for our dedicated teachers. We pray for true conversions to Christ for our students. They are growing up in a wicked generation and need our prayer and support. Thanks so much to you who are helping sponsor some of the students here. Please also pray for the project that needs to be done the end of this year, the demolition and reconstruction of the middle building on the school property, in order to extend the patio to meet Civil Defense's requirements for enough open space for earthquake drills, and possible quakes. Most of the funds have been provided, but we still lack some.

Thanks for praying, and for sharing with us May God bless you richly!

Hi to you all!

Seems like it is soon to be June already, but here we are! We surely hope all you Moms had a great Mother's Day, and now for all you Dads, hope your Father's Day will be really good! How we need strong Christian homes for this generation of youth! May we be faithful in leading our children to God and His ways!

Mid May and end of May we had weddings here! It seems like more will be coming too! We are glad for these Christian homes forming and we pray they will truly be examples of Christ and His church. These weddings are a lot of work, though we try to keep them simple. Here in Perú the municipal authorities have the power to make a marriage official, so really in the church we just have a "blessing" ceremony, but Bob usually has the couple say vows and truly his messages are geared so that all present will know the true meaning of marriage and the importance of homes with Christian formation.

Bob traveled to Cotahuasi earlier in May and we trust his time there was useful in encouraging the believers, also in Chuquibamba. Also he has continued to go to the Majes Valley every two or three weeks. An older brother who was recently baptized in Central is here in the hospital, and needs to have kidney dialysis. His kidneys do not function. He is blind because of this condition and it is discouraging for his dear faithful wife too. They will have to move to Arequipa, selling at least some of their cattle, as there is no dialysis machine in the hospital in Aplao, the nearest city to where they live. This is a huge change for them. Please pray for Augusto and Livia in this. They have one teenage son who is there in the valley with the cattle, besides being in high school. They have some cousins and Augusto has brothers who are helping with the cows, but still it is very hard. Livia has a real hard time adjusting to the city and as Augusto can't see, his wife has to be with him most of the time.

God is blessing the outreach in Polobaya and in Yarabamba, where some of our youth from here go on Sunday afternoons. There have been 2 young guys baptized in Yarabamba. Please help us pray for more. It is hard for these people to break with tradition, even if the tradition is idolatrous. Still, there is hunger for God's Word. Thanks for praying.

There is a debate now in Perú's congress on the issue of "Civil Union" - which is gay marriage. This is affecting many Christians. One is not supposed to in any way criticize these people or they go crazy in protesting their "abuse of rights". We have a very lovely young Christian girl with a Social Work major in the state university. She was assigned to debate, on the defense of this "Civil Union" issue.

She consulted with Bob, but of course she knew the answer. She just cannot do it. She says there are 2 more Christians in her group for this project, from other churches. Guess they will get a zero on their project if they do not do this. They are not allowed to change sides, though they requested to. Well, thanks for praying for Esther and her friends in this. They cannot defend the indefensable.

I always thought that Social work was a good major, and a helpful career, as it is to help others. Our granddaughter is doing a master's now in this, fortunately in at least a nominal Christian university, but it seems all the professions have so much humanistic teachings making it difficult for Christians to stand up for God's righteousness.

May, June, July and part of August are the coldest and dryest months here. The finger splitting months for me. Always before, though painful, the splits and cracks on my fingertips healed within a few days. This time, the "pointer" (index finger?) on my right hand got a nasty infection, an abcess, cellulitis, black and swollen and just really had me crying in the nights with pain. Bob took me to a local post where the dr. treated it, but did not poke it, so it got worse.

He started me on antibiotics, and finally I had to get another dr. who did indeed poke it and lots -- lots of puss came out. He changed the antibiotics and anti inflammatory meds. and praise the Lord it seems to be healing, still has a ways to go, but greatly relieved. Please help us pray for complete healing and that my stomach will hold up under the week long meds. going in.

Thanks so much for all your praying for us and sharing with us. Truly we appreciate each of you, and we pray for you too.

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Teodoro Huayta's Testimony

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Encouraging Jacinto

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Bob's Peruvian Birthday

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