Our month of August here in Peru was truly supreme. Sarah and I have been seeing souls come to Christ every week. We started teaching our “Physical Proofs of the Faith” Bible study in San Genaro in the church on the mountainside. The first night, 2 ladies came and were saved at the end of the service. Four people from the church in Surco were baptized this month. Also in Surco, our new children’s Sunday school teacher, Andrea, invited our family to her home for lunch. Her brother joined us for lunch, and she was overjoyed as I had the privilege to lead her brother to Christ. Andrea is now winning souls on a regular basis. There are so many blessings to share, but the greatest blessing to us was the salvation and baptism of our own daughter, Savannah Grace.
In order to share this story properly, we will share with you a week in the life of a missionary from Monday through Sunday. Monday is our family day. Usually we spend Mondays taking the children with us to catch up on errands, and we do a fun activity along the way. By the evening Sarah and I sometimes have a date. This particular Monday Savannah did the errands with Mommy. I watched the boys at home, while spending every spare minute of my day writing a 14-page Sunday school series in two languages. I started Tuesday with a construction meeting at our church in Chorrillos. Then I had several hours of deskwork. Savannah came with me Tuesday evening to our “Basic Doctrines” Bible study at the pizzeria in Surco. After a three-hour-long Bible study, 5 people got saved. Amen! To go anywhere on the public buses here in Lima usually takes between 30 minutes to 1½ hours. I always take a book to read or talk to my children about the Bible if they are with me. Savannah and I talked many hours about salvation that week. Wednesdays are a full day of meetings for me, with deskwork in between. On Thursday Savannah spent the whole day with me from my Spanish class in the morning to our midweek evening service in Surco. Friday morning I taught a class to our team children; then I worked on building maintenance projects. Friday evening Savannah came with me to our church in Chorrillos, where I had the privilege to preach to 20 young people about the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Saturday morning and afternoon, Savannah went soul winning with me. Saturday night our entire family went up to church on the top of the mountain. That night I again preached about the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ. After the service Savannah watched as I led Edgar to Christ.
Within a week, Savannah had watched her Mommy and Daddy lead several people to Christ: strangers at the park, taxi drivers, and people at Bible studies and church services. During this week I had no idea what was happening in Savannah’s heart, but the Spirit of God was burning her heart’s door down. Late Saturday night Savannah began to cry in her bed. My wife brought her to me and said, “You need to hear this.” Savannah said, “I don’t want to go to Hell. I want to live with Jesus forever.” Sarah and I both witnessed to her for half an hour. All of us knelt together beside the bed, where Savannah in her own words wept and called on Jesus to save her soul. IT’S SHOUTING TIME!!! God is good! Sunday night she was baptized in very cold water, but she was burning with excitement.
God is so good to us, but as always, we stand in need of prayer. Please pray for our children’s visas. Please pray for the newspaper ministry we’re in the beginning stages of starting. This will be a work with much time in preparation. We are in need of a trumpet in good condition. Please pray for our teammates and disciples. Your faithfulness is such an encouragement to us. Thank you for your love, support, and prayers. God bless you.
The Rader Family,
Mark, Sarah, Savannah, Paul, and Samuel
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- Five were saved in one evening in our pizzeria Bible study.
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- This is one of our Wednesday meetings at the office.
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- We started our “Physical Proofs of the Faith” Bible study in San Genaro.
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- Sarah is playing the Bible word game with our children’s class.
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- We packed the kids in the cart at the hardware store as we prepared for our school room.
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- Saturday, August 9, 2014, at 11:40 p.m., Savannah called on Jesus to save her. She was baptized the next day.
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- Mark was cleaning the windows, among other projects, at our church on the mountainside.
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- Pastor Martinez baptized 2 doctors and a rehabilitated taxi driver this month.
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- Gianfranco took Mark’s place playing his trumpet for the congregational songs.