Happy New Year from SUNNY Lima!! It’s always been a little strange singing “Let It Snow” as the Southern Hemisphere transitions to summer, but we sing it all the same!
It has been nearly four months since we started the new church plant here in Lima, and it has been an adventure! We are thankful for all that God has done. It is true, if we obey, He will build His church. Thank you all for the love, support, special gifts, and prayers that made starting a new church possible.
Our official Grand Opening was on Sunday, October 29, and we had around 100 people in attendance. Multiple people were saved, we had 30+ guests, and it was incredible to see what God did that day. We prayed over the church, asking for God to bless this new work in a way that only He could do. We celebrated the new beginnings by eating, which is the best way to celebrate anything, anywhere!
Since then, we have been able to add more and more opportunities for people to come and learn, and we have seen regular, constant growth. Heather has had ladies’ meetings, we’ve had teen nights, as well as men’s activities. We had our first baptism service a few weeks ago, and we had an entire family get baptized together, which was a huge blessing! We have had missionary families come through to present their work, and we have watched as our people have been generous in helping them with their work. We are looking at starting Sunday School and small groups here in the next few weeks and months. It has been fun to watch new people come in and get involved and start learning. We are only four months into this new church plant, but we are already seeing faithfulness from new converts!
In December, we were able to have a big Christmas event, where we had 300 people at the church (we had to use both the second and third floors to hold them all!), and we were able to give gifts to all the children, we were able to preach the Gospel to all of them, and many were saved through that event. It was fun to watch our own new people reaching out to other, even newer people, showing the love of Christ to all who came that evening.
Our online ministry has also taken off! We receive thousands of messages each month from people responding to the programs we put out. In December, we had 492 different people write to us letting us know they had put their faith in Christ as their only hope for Heaven, and hundreds more wrote seeking more information about salvation; as well as many others writing in, looking for a church in their area. It has been a blessing to see God work so mightily through that ministry.
Please continue to pray for all that God is doing here. We want to see Him glorified in everything.
Serving HIM in Lima,
Josh, Heather, and Joseph Hedderman
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- Baptism Service
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- Grand Opening Crowd
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- Gift Bags for the Christmas Event
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- Missionary to Uruguay
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- Ladies’ Meeting
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- Christmas Crowd
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- Christmas Crowd
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- Grand Opening Crowd
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- Sharing the Gospel