My Maker manifested Himself marvelously this May here in Peru. We started the month with a three-hour prayer meeting and ended with a third-year anniversary service. For Mother’s Day our men’s choir sang for the first time, and we honored 21 of our mothers for their love and sacrifice. My birthday was on a Sunday, and our church surprised me with many gifts, including a new suit. We could fill this letter writing about any week in May, but we want to share with you about our Anniversary Sunday.
Almost every day of the week before the Anniversary Sunday we worked into the night, because almost every day we had a different group of church volunteers working late fixing up the building, cleaning, preparing items for Sunday, waxing floors, decorating, etc. Two of our men worked all month long on the computer: Alex to prepare our website and Julio to prepare video and designs. Joyce donated her services in the printing of programs, labels, banners, and more. We had another team calling and emailing everyone on our records and delivering letters to past members. That Saturday we passed out invitations with 400 juice bottles with our church logo and information. To see so many of our people enjoying serving the Lord was such a blessing to us.
Finally, Sunday had come. We honored our founding members, especially Adela, who offered her home to help start the church. We presented a video with memories of our past year. We presented our new church website (www.ibisurco.org). We preached “Grace vs. Works.” That morning, 125 were in attendance, many were saved, 2 were baptized, and many visitors expressed interest in joining the church. GLORY TO GOD! Of course, we ended it all with food and cake. Amen.
Please keep us in your prayers. In June we will begin a Bible institute through our church. Please pray for Heriberto who has come from Iowa to help us during June and July. Please pray as we begin our fourth year as a church.
Thank you for your heart for missions. Thank you so much for your love for the people of Peru. We are very grateful for your love, sacrifice, and prayers. God bless you.
In Christ in Peru,
Mark, Sarah, Savannah, Paul, & Samuel Rader