June and July have been jumping with activity for the Rader family. We were blessed to have Lori, our adopted auntie from Harvest Baptist Church, come to Indiana the first week of June to help us drive back and relocate to Iowa. We were blessed to stay with our friends, Oscar and Margo Rivas, for a couple of weeks while we did some house shopping. We had been looking for several weeks, as we felt God speaking clearly and telling us that it was His plan for us to go back to Fort Dodge. During the month of January, when Mark had told me God told him that was where we were to go, I struggled to accept the change. After Mark went to Heaven, God spoke to me clearly through my daily reading and told me this was the place the Lord God had chosen. Therefore, we have relocated to Harvest Baptist Church of Fort Dodge, Iowa, and have joined the church here. We pray as we go through the process of deep grief, we can find healing and a place to serve and share what God is doing in our lives.
God provided us with a house, which we are still in the process of making home. Right after we closed, we set out on an adventure to Colorado. Bro. Charlie Clark, his sweet wife Jessica, and their four children were kind enough to meet us in Des Moines so we could ride together to Bro. Alley’s Family Camp. We were blessed to arrive the weekend before camp and spend some time getting to know their family and church. We had the opportunity to go out soul winning with them. On Saturday, June 24, I had the pleasure of sharing the Gospel with Marisol, who had just come home from the hospital and who had been listening to the Jehovah’s Witnesses. I prayed for boldness and decided to trust God for the outcome. Thankfully, Marisol was open to hearing and receiving the Gospel. My silent partner/babysitter Autumn did an excellent job keeping two or three small children who were along with us out of trouble, and Marisol sweetly bowed her head and humbly asked Jesus to be her Saviour.
The first part of July, we moved into our home, and my younger brother Caleb and his family drove out to help us with moving. They spent their family’s vacation helping us, and then my older brother Zeb came up from North Carolina to spend a couple of days with us. The two visits overlapped, so all three of us got to be together—what a special treat! In mid-July, Savannah had the opportunity to ride with friends from Harvest Baptist Church all the way to Youth Conference at First Baptist Church of Hammond. She stayed with Mark’s parents and enjoyed some quality time with them.
During the week Savannah was away at Youth Conference, my five other children and I got to participate in VBS. Initially, I was signed up to be a helper with a friend and neighbor Dawn. She has a detached retina and was told to stay home and take it easy. God used this incident to push me into a place out of my comfort zone. I love teaching, but the fifth and sixth grade girls seemed intimidating. I’m thankful for my helper Hannah and for God using me despite my inhibitions. Our friend Jaylah, who had just come for the last day and seemed to have a few walls up, came back for the evening commencement for VBS. When I sat next to her and began filling out the information box, the question on the form to be answered was the following: Are they saved? Circle Yes or No. This question on the form allowed me to launch into the Gospel. Right as we got to the opportunity to pray and ask Jesus for salvation, the service was starting. Due to her demeanor, I chose not to put any pressure on her. I told her that if she wished to ask Jesus to save her, we could do it after the service if she wanted. The service had ended, and I had forgotten and was busy talking to some ladies when there she was. Jaylah had come up to me and asked me if we could still do what we had talked about. She didn’t want to leave without getting it settled in her heart. Jaylah sweetly and sincerely asked Jesus to save her soul.
We have been busy trying to get things cared for, and we are now official Iowa residents. The children are signed up for Christian school, which starts in late August. We covet continued prayers as we navigate this crazy storm. Jesus is our
Captain, and we know He is in the boat—so we haven’t jumped.
Things are going well for the church in Surco, Lima, Peru. Bro. Foust has been super busy, pastoring two churches there and traveling for many different conferences in Peru and other neighboring countries. I am so grateful for Bro. Exodo Buitrago and his wife Yessica, who continue to labor consistently hands-on there in Surco and to be a constant for Iglesia Bautista Internacional amidst so many changes this year. The church continues to press forward, and they have around 30 going out soul winning each Saturday. Praise the Lord! They celebrated Peru’s Independence Day the last Sunday in July, with many visitors and several saved. They also had a baptism. Please continue to lift Bro. Foust and Team Peru up in prayer as they labor to get the Gospel to the uttermost.
Learning to serve here while my heart is still on another continent,
Sarah Rader and All the Rader Arrows
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- We are officially Iowans!
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- Full auditorium for the last Sunday in July at Iglesia Bautista Internacional in Surco, Peru
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- The ladies from IBC Surco always shine on this special Sunday!
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- Enjoying Bro. Alley’s Family Camp in Colorado
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- Family Camp in Colorado
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- My brothers, Caleb and Zeb, and I
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- Jaylah (my new sister in Christ) and I after she accepted Christ as her Saviour on the last night of VBS
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- Our new home in Iowa
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- Teaching fifth and sixth grade girls in VBS
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- Our family at our new home church, Harvest Baptist Church of Fort Dodge, Iowa!
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- My brother Caleb and his family, my brother Zeb, and all of us in our new home!
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- Savannah with her two new friends
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- Many heard the Gospel before the Peruvian Independence Day celebration meal.