Mark Rader Prayer Letter: We Had a Few ConferencesFebruary and March have been hot under the metal roof of our church here in Peru, and our people are on fire for God. We now have new Sunday school teachers teaching. We finished a Sunday night series on biblical standards, and many made decisions. Thanks to our friends, Chris and Irene Williams, we now have a soul-winning time for the church on Sunday afternoons.

We started February with Youth Camp. Pastor Andres Palo invited us to preach his Youth Camp, so we combined it with our teenagers for one week of camp. By the end of the week, many had given up their worldly contemporary music. Three ladies, including a camp counselor, gave up wearing pants. Here is a quote by the counselor: “I always thought that the matter of women’s pants was just the pastor’s preference. For the first time, it hit me that it is a moral matter of modesty based in Scripture.” Also in February, we enjoyed an excellent Youth Conference preached by Ricky Torres. We had 10 churches represented, with 180 in attendance and 10 surrendered to full-time Christian service. During the conference, I coordinated all the teenagers to go soul winning in the afternoon. I was as sick as a dog with fever and vomiting. Pastor Zach Foust caught me leaving with Bro. Torres and said, “You’re sick. You need to take a nap before the evening service.” I responded, “Yes, but I can’t send all of them out without going out as well.” We went to the hospital. I led the first 3 people with whom I spoke to Christ. Then I headed back for a much-needed nap. The same teenagers who trained that morning and went out that afternoon led 23 souls to Christ.

In March, we celebrated Paul’s 7th and Rebecca’s 2nd birthdays. We also squeezed in two days of a family getaway. Then we preached our first Biblical Music Conference on the north side of Lima. Both nights, 90% of the congregation responded during the invitation to repent of syncopated music. The following week was our institute class on missions with Pastor Luis Martinez, and that weekend was our Missions Conference. During the conference, one of our men gave an excellent presentation on the life of William Carey; and, of course, Pastor Martinez brought us excellent teaching and preaching. After the conference, our church took on two missionaries.

Thank you for all that you do for Christ. Please continue to pray for us. Please pray for Sarah’s pregnancy. Please pray for our children’s schooling. Please pray for our church’s upcoming anniversary Sunday, and please pray for our institute as we train future leaders in Peru. Thank you for your love, support, and prayers. God bless you.

In Christ in Peru,

Mark, Sarah, Savannah, Paul, Samuel, Rebekah, and One More Rader