Our month of May began with us saying “goodbye” to a dear friend and teammate, Daniel Kokubun. Heaven is truly a better place with Daniel. Daniel’s wife Heather is continuing his work here in Peru valiantly. Please continue to pray for Heather Kokubun. She serves as an inspiration to us all.
In the same weekend that we celebrated Daniel’s life, we also celebrated Mother’s Day. The single adults of our church in Surco, Lima, all went out of their way to make Mother’s Day a great success. Then just a few short weeks later, they again made a huge effort to make Father’s Day special. They decorated and prepared food for both of these special Sundays.
Our church also celebrated its second anniversary, and it was greater than even we had hoped. Everyone got involved with food, photos, music, media, and bringing visitors. The totals were 148 in attendance that Sunday and 10 people saved!
Every Thursday morning we have a prayer meeting with Juan Jose and his wife, the owners of our church property. One Thursday morning while weeping, Juan asked me to spend a Saturday morning and speak to his employees about physical proofs of the faith, the Gospel, and biblical business principles. We had a five-hour-long meeting with 21 in attendance. Among those who got saved that day was one of Juan’s long-time friends named Miguel. Juan had been praying for three years for him to be saved, and that morning his prayer was answered.
We are seeing souls trust Christ on the streets and in our services. We are continuing our youth meetings, singles’ meetings, ladies’ meetings, men’s meetings, and more. We had the opportunity in the month of June to speak for three consecutive Wednesday nights at a church in the next district. The teaching I was asked to share was on personal evangelism. Before the final week, the pastor told us that his people are already winning souls to Christ.
I cannot fully express to you what a joy and pleasure it is to serve and pray with the people of our church. We had a Friday night prayer meeting recently, and by the end of the three-hour-long prayer meeting, our people were pouring out their souls to God with tears. More folks are getting involved with church maintenance, office work, cleaning, translating Sunday school lessons, and more. Five new families have started regularly attending. Church members are asking for prayer and counsel. My heart is on fire for the people of our church! In the last three weeks, two men have approached me and said, “I believe God wants me to preach the Gospel for the rest of my life.” God is GREAT!
Amidst all the church fun, at the beginning of June, we were able to get away for a couple of days as a family and relax a little. The following week Sarah and I escaped for a day to celebrate our ninth wedding anniversary. God has been so good to us in every way.
Please pray that God will continue to bless His work for His glory here in Peru. We have huge plans for the future here, but only by God’s grace can they come to fruition. You have been so kind to us. Thank you for all your love, support, and prayers. God bless you.
In Christ,
Mark, Sarah, Savannah, Paul, & Samuel Rader
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- Thirteen dads were present for Father’s Day.
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- For our church anniversary, 148 were in attendance (all are not present in the photo).
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- Ten souls were saved during our anniversary service.
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- Nineteen moms were present for Mother’s Day.
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- Sarah led Cindy to Christ.
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- Walter and his wife Jenny got saved at our church. The next week they brought their daughter, and she got saved. They now attend regularly.
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- Mark taught Personal Evangelism at Pastor Huamani’s church.
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- Some of our neighbors came for counseling. We led Fernando and Beatriz to Christ, and they now attend regularly.
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- Solange won her first soul to Christ and has continued to win others.
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- Mark led William and Roli to Christ.