From the Desert to the Jungle

Coffee Plantation- Central Jungle of Peru

Greetings once again! It is a joy to partner with you in the work of Latin American church planting. God continues to bless His work, and we remain humbled that He allows us to help advance the Gospel.

The young one’s fell asleep as this meeting began at 10:30PM one night!

Recently, I traveled to Peru to encourage national believers and lay groundwork for future church plants. God is moving in many regions, but I want to highlight one place in particular—Villa Rica—and invite you to join us in prayer as we seek to build a healthy church planting team around a future planter.

Sharing Christ with a local coffee grower

After 14 hours of travel, I arrived at the new Lima Airport and was warmly welcomed by Wilber, his wife Elizabeth, and their daughter Valera. For the past 2.5 years, Wilber and I have met regularly for discipleship since he came to Christ. God has radically transformed his life—and the lives of his entire family. All four of their children, ages 15–28, have trusted Christ and are now walking in unity. Wilber is currently enrolled in seminary and has developed a deep passion to reach his hometown of Villa Rica, a community of 20,000 in the central jungle of Peru.

After arriving, we drove from the desert, through the Andes, and into the jungle. On Sunday we connected with the local believers, preached, taught, and encouraged them to remain faithful. Throughout the week, we walked the streets, markets, coffee plantations, and neighborhoods—meeting families, asking questions to better understand the community, and sharing Christ with all who would listen. God gave us opportunities to pray with many believers and unbelievers alike and to discern how He might use Wilber to plant a gospel-centered church there.

Walking through the market, sharing Jesus as we went

Villa Rica is rich in agriculture and known for its high-quality coffee. The people are hardworking and culturally Catholic—mistrusting of pastors, yet surprisingly open to God’s Word. Many claim the name of Christ but have little understanding of a personal relationship with Him. As we met with the two existing gospel-preaching churches, the reality became clear: there are around 100 believers and not a single full-time ministry worker among them. It felt as though the Lord was saying, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” Local believers echoed this need and asked us to consider launching a gospel-centered church in their city.

Wilber and Elizabeth believe God may be calling them into this harvest field. They love this community deeply and long to see it transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is still much to be done—finishing seminary, continued discipleship, preparing their business for transition to their adult sons, and getting their home ready to sell or rent. We are praying toward the launch of a healthy church in the next 2–3 years, with ongoing trips between Lima and Villa Rica as we seek the Lord’s will with this potential church planter. As with all whom God calls, He equips. Pray that this equipping season is fruitful as we seek to pour in with ongoing training, discipleship, planning, and if the Lord wills, a future launch.

Continue praying for Debbie and I as we seek to pour into this region and planter, as well as several others. God is so good to continue opening doors as we continue in the work of building key teams for the work of Church planting in heavily unreached communities in Latin America.

Praises:

For recent salvations and impact of the Gospel in these regions

For great technology that allows us to be plugged in daily in multiple areas of the World

For open doors to encourage and equip nationals in the work of Church Planting

Our prayer requests are for:

1. For the regions in which we continue to build teams: Lima, Arequipa, Villa Rica, Bogota, Montevideo is just beginning, and potentially Cucuta.

2. For our family: Continued growth in our own personal walk with Christ

3. For gospel fruit: There is no lack of opportunities to share Christ with unbelievers. We are praying that God give us a great season of harvest. Also praying for our national brothers and sisters, that they would have the same.

140,000 people

Building Season