October and November have been packed full of blessings here in Peru. We participated in three different conferences and taught two, eight-hour institute classes. We are winning souls and preaching on public buses, and eight new members were baptized.
Two different young couples came to us for premarital counsel. Each couple also asked for a Bible study on baptism, so we started with baptism. During the counseling sessions, two of them received Christ as their Saviour, and all four of them realized that they needed to be biblically baptized. The mother of one of these who got baptized came to me after her daughter’s baptism and asked for a study on baptism. Two days before our study, she was involved in a car accident. She came to the study wearing a neck brace. After the Bible study, she confessed that she’d had no plans of being baptized because of her injury. She then went on to say that, after understanding the Scriptures clearly, she knew she needed to be baptized as soon as possible. Just as soon as her injury permitted, she was baptized. After watching her baptism, another couple in our church wanted a study on baptism. The husband was already baptized, so the study was primarily given to his wife. At the end of the study, I asked him to answer an honest question to himself: “Have I been biblically baptized as a believer? Was I baptized trusting in my own works or trusting in God’s grace?” Our Bible study was on Saturday night. On Sunday morning the husband called me and said, “Pastor, I need to be biblically baptized.” That Sunday morning, both he and his wife were baptized.
Amidst all the baptisms, we participated in three conferences, and our church hosted one of them. At the beginning of October, our team flew out to Iquitos. Sarah and I personally only participated for two hours of the first evening because we had to get back to teach at the institute. After teaching for an hour and a half on Creation, 8 young people were saved. We had been invited to preach a conference on Creation and the Flood, and after teaching that afternoon, we set a date. Two weeks later, our church hosted our team’s banquet and conference for pastors. Our moms, dads, and teenagers all participated to make the banquet a success. Moms and dads worked in the kitchen, and our teenagers became first-class waiters and waitresses. Many of our members gave their hearts and souls to the work of the Lord that weekend. Our young ladies, with Kim Durand, did a magnificent job singing “Go Reach the World.” One of our adult ladies was physically attacked for her purse on the street the night before, but I could not keep her away from serving the Lord that weekend. We had a great conference listening to Pastor Andres Gomez and Eddie Lapina preach and teach.
The next day on Sunday, we heard Bro. Lapina preach at our church, and the honor was mine to interpret for my youth pastor. In the evening we heard him preach in Chorrillos. After the service we got the family home, and I went with one of our church members to the airport to pick up my sister and brother-in-law, Hannah and Joe Hembrough.
The following Wednesday on November 1, Peru celebrated the Day of the Dead. Twenty-nine people from our church, including my sister and brother-in-law, visited one of the world’s largest cemeteries here in Peru. Our people led 14 people to Christ and passed out 13,000 Gospel tracts in 3 hours. That same evening our family and Hannah and Joe hurried to the airport to fly out to Iquitos. For two nights we talked about biblical science, geology, archaeology, and history concerning Creation and the Flood to 4 different youth groups. The first night, 3 were saved. The second night, 8 surrendered to the will of God for their lives. The hosting pastor wants us to return next year.
Thank you so much for your love, support, and prayers. Please pray for Pastor Zach Foust as he leads our team into another year. Please continue to pray for our family. Please pray for the construction work at our church, as we must finish many projects soon. Please pray for big plans for this upcoming year. Thank you so much for all that you do for the Lord and your love for Peru and the lost around the world. God bless you, and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
In Christ in Peru,
Mark, Sarah
Savannah, Paul, Samuel, & Rebekah Rader
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- During our trips to Iquitos, 11 were saved, and 8 surrendered to God’s will for their lives.
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- We were honored to have Bro. Gomez and Bro. Lapina preach at our conference for local pastors.
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- During our trips to Iquitos, 11 were saved, and 8 surrendered to God’s will for their lives.
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- We were honored to have Bro. Gomez and Bro. Lapina preach at our conference for local pastors.
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- We were honored to have Bro. Gomez and Bro. Lapina preach at our conference for local pastors.
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- We were honored to have Bro. Gomez and Bro. Lapina preach at our conference for local pastors.
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- Eight new church members were baptized.