Praise the Lord! After a trip that lasted 30 hours, we finally made it to Peru. We left Dallas and had a 16-hour layover in Mexico City. Irene has an aunt who lives there, and we were able to visit and spend the night with her. The next day we continued the trip to Lima. We arrived around 5 p.m., which is the beginning of the “rush hour” that lasts until about 10 p.m. The Foust family and Josh Hedderman picked us up, and we headed for the Fousts’ house. Traffic was lighter than usual, and we made it in good time. We stayed with the Fousts for a few days until we could get settled in our new apartment. We were able to find a great apartment online before leaving, and with Abraham Avila’s help, we were able to rent it before we arrived. We sent many things to Peru on the team container over five years ago. It was a blessing to have our household items here and ready to go. It took us a few weeks to get settled, go through our boxes, and remember what we sent.
Our first Sunday here was the 5th anniversary of the church in San Gabriel. This is the church that is pastored by Zach Foust, our team leader. We will be working in this church for at least the first six months. This church is in an area with hills and is an hour or more away from our home by public transportation. We take a combie, which is a van bus route, to get there. Thankfully, there is a route that starts close to our house and ends just after the church. It’s always an adventure getting to church!
Since being here, we have helped put on the first Couples’ Banquet (which was held in February), streamed the Spanish Servants’ Conference from First Baptist Church of Hammond for the San Gabriel church members while Bro. Foust was in Indiana attending and speaking in the same conference, and tried to keep the church running smoothly while they were gone for 12 days. We have a very full calendar of events for the church and will have plenty of things to report on in the near future. Going soul winning in San Gabriel is a very unique experience since much of the terrain is very hilly and rough. The great thing is how open the people are to the Gospel. We have seen over 25 people saved and are seeing people get saved and come to church on a weekly basis.
We are adjusting quite well due to the three months we spent here previously. Many things are very familiar to us, including our neighborhood, since we lived in the same area three years ago. I have started language school and am learning a lot. Please pray that I do well and learn the language quickly. We are really looking forward to telling you more as we continue to work here in Peru! We are going to be sending out our prayer letters more frequently so that you can easily keep up to date with us.
In His service,
Chris and Irene Williams