Mark Rader Prayer Letter: Youth CampThis February here in Peru has been filled with blessings. Every week, souls are being saved on the street and in our Sunday services. New members are being baptized, and God is touching hearts in a great way.

The first week of February, we took our young people to camp. A year ago, I told Pastor Foust that I wanted to do a camp with our church young people for the following year. He asked me if I would consider doing one big camp with as many churches as would like to participate. I have to confess that the task was beyond my skills, so we invited Bro. Ricky Torres from our sending church, First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana. Bro. Torres coached me every step of the way and led the camp for us. He preached, led the games, and, in the mornings, taught the workers and counselors how to run a camp. We learned so much from Bro. Torres. My heart was touched by his energy, wisdom, and love for the youth. Ten churches sent 116 young people to our camp, with 44 volunteers. Ninety-six made important decisions at camp: 6 trusted Christ as Saviour; 36 decided to live as soul winners; 29 decided to give up worldly music; 30 made the decision to live pure; 13 made the decision to serve the Lord full-time; 12 made the decision to serve the Lord with their lives; 6 decided to give up harmful friendships, and 3 made the decision to follow the Lord in believer’s baptism. Please pray for our young people to follow faithfully.

For the first time on February 14, our church had a Married Couples’ Banquet. I told everyone, “Let’s just keep it simple and have a nice dinner.” Oh no, they had other plans. Our church came together and gave our married couples an elegant, classy, and beautiful evening. We had fun games and a brief devotional from the Song of Solomon. Twenty-one couples were served by 10 volunteers from our church. Our couples were so encouraged and have asked that we make it an annual event.

Oh, but wait! There’s more! February wasn’t done yet. We ended February with our annual Youth Conference. We had 25 young people saved and 53 young people surrender their lives to full-time Christian service. During the conference, the young people who went out soul winning led 110 people to Christ.

It’s been a great month. Please pray for our family’s health through this time. Please pray for our church as we pray for a future property. Please pray for our young people to follow faithfully. Also, four of our church parents have surrendered their lives to the Lord. Please pray for them. Please pray for those who were saved and baptized to congregate faithfully. Thank you so much for your love, support, and prayers. Please stay clean and safe. God bless you.

In Christ in Peru,

Mark, Sarah, Savannah, Paul, Samuel, Rebekah, & Luke Rader