Dear Praying Friends,
January 2, 2013
The
most wonderful time of the year! This
Christmas may have been a little different from those we are
accustomed to, but wonderful just the same. We traded the snow and the bitter cold for
sunshine and scorching heat, snow men
for palm trees, candy canes for panetón, and silent night for fireworks. What a great first Christmas in Peru.
God
has been so good to us. Unsure of what
traditions we would start and how we would spend our holiday, a few of our
church families had an idea. Christmas
eve morning we went to church with an army of teenagers and four of our church
families. They had over 100 Christmas
gifts and candy bags wrapped and ready to go.
We loaded up 2 vans and 3 cars
and headed up to the far side of San Genaro, the poorest part of our
district. As we got out of our vehicles,
we were quickly surrounded by scores of children. It did not take long to pass out all the
presents. Tears filled my ears as I
heard the thank-yous and saw the smiles on their faces. I looked around at our teens as reality and
gratitude swept across the faces. That
is the kind of tradition I love…giving back for we have been given so much.
San
Genaro has become a special place for us.
This is where we spend the majority of our Saturday making visits and
soul winning. We have talked in the past
about this area being our first church plant, but now it is time to put action
to our words. We have decided to give
Jesus a Christmas present…a church in San Genaro. Please pray for Jessica and me as we start
this church with the help of some of our church families. I have been laying the groundwork and looking
for a building and, Lord willing, the church will start in mid-January.
Of
course, with the Christmas season comes a brand-new year. As we start 2013, I cannot help but rejoice
in 2012. God has
blessed in amazing ways during our first six months in Peru. God has blessed us with a strong church of
dedicated, hungry Christians. We are
currently averaging 133 people attending our church each week! This, of course, has caused a huge space
issue. I am very happy to say that 2013
started off at a brand new property! One
of our church families who own property near our church, have been praying for
some time what God would have them do to help the church. Recently,
they decided their property would be the next home of IBI! We have a lot of work to do over time, but as
you can see we were able to get it “usable” in time for our New Year’s eve
service. I am thrilled to watch our
church go to the next level!
Not
only that, but God has given us a great harvest of souls. Over the last 6 months, we have seen a total
457 trust Christ as their Saviour! Glory
to God! 34 of these people have also
followed the Lord in baptism. God is
truly blessing. Not only do these
numbers reflect salvations but also lives that have been changed. Many of those being saved were won to Christ
by our church members. Over the last
couple months, we have averaged over 30 people going out soul winning every
Saturday!
Please
pray that God continues to guide and enable us in 2013. Having established a strong base and
adapted to our new home, we are ready to take our ministry
to a whole new level. Not only do we
plan on turning this property into a beautiful church where we can triple our
size, but we want to triple our church right away! In January, we will plant a church in San
Genaro. In February, a church in San
Gabriel. In March, a church in
Surco. We have big plans for a big God
and a big year. God has shown us He is
very willing and able. Our church people
are excited and ready. 2013 will be the
year we begin to reach all of Lima from Villa Marina…and then all of Peru…and
all of South America.
Thank
you for partnering with us through your prayers and support. I hope you see that your investment and
sacrifice is not in vain. If you don’t
already, please follow us on Facebook and/or Twitter and see day by day all
that God is doing in Peru. I thank God
for my first six months and I cannot wait to see the next six.
Your
ambassadors to Peru,
Junior
and Jessica Martin
Romans
9:3
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