We just had a fantastic time serving the Lord this past January and February here in Peru. More souls are being saved in our services, through personal soul winning, and through preaching on public buses. We have more blessings than we can share in one letter; however, we’d like to mention our Youth Ministry, our camp, and our institute.
Julio and Kim Durand are doing a phenomenal job with our young people. In January we started weekly meetings every Friday night. We are still averaging more than 20 teenagers in attendance, and every Friday night is a mini-revival.
The first week of February, we went to camp with six campers, two moms of campers, one grandma, and one single lady from our church. Seven churches were represented at the camp, and the theme of the week was “Holiness.” We were invited to be the secondary speaker at the camp, teaching half of the morning classes to the young men and preaching in the morning chapel. Our young people and adults who came responded marvelously to the preaching. Many made big decisions, and one of our ladies was sweetly saved that week. The pastor who coordinated the camp invited us to help plan the camp for the following year.
Our institute is running over 20 in attendance now. We have had visiting pastors and members from other churches present in both our January and February classes. In January we taught a day-by-day study of Creation and the Genesis Flood, and in February we taught on the Ten Commandments, morality, and their relevance to Christian standards. We had much more than we could teach in eight hours, so we taught the rest in our services. Many of our people responded beautifully to the teaching. We’ve heard statements such as but not limited to: “This was my first time to hear clear teaching of morality and standards and the reason and purpose for them.” “I am now convinced that I need to make a change in my wardrobe.” “Pastor, I feel like I’ve been living with blinders on my eyes. In spite of justifying my lifestyle for years, I now see that it’s still wrong.” We love our people. Once again they have proved their tender hearts to the Word of God. Many have already made changes in their lives. I don’t deserve to pastor such a wonderful church. These are incredible people.
Speaking of wonderful people, Sarah is almost due! The ladies of our church threw a surprise baby shower for Sarah. They filled our auditorium with the ladies from our church and ladies from a few other churches. Pastor Joe Kotvas’s wife Lisa spoke at the event. Also to be mentioned, in January we celebrated Savannah’s ninth birthday and Samuel’s third birthday.
Thank you for all your prayers for our family and ministry. We are organizing to obtain bigger blessings. Please continue to pray for our future here in Peru. Please pray for Sarah’s pregnancy. Thank you for your love, support, and prayers. God bless you.
In Christ in Peru,
Mark, Sarah, Savannah, Paul, Samuel, & One More Rader
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- Jimmy is now teaching Sunday school.
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- Our ladies gave Sarah a surprise baby shower.
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- Kim is doing excellent work with our children’s class.
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- Every Friday night our young people enjoy fun games and good teaching.
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- At camp the Lord touched the hearts of our young people in a great way.
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- Many are gaining a new understanding of the Word and are making good decisions in our institute.