Dear Praying Friends,
April 2, 2013
For
three days and three nights, His body lay in a tomb. After suffering rejection, pain, and the
agony of the cross, He went to Hell to settle our debt. His perfect blood having been shed and the
price having been paid, after three long days, triumphantly He arose on that
Easter morning! “O death, where is thy sting? O grave,
where is thy victory?” I am
so thankful for Resurrection Sunday! Our
hope, our salvation, our reason for being is all because He arose! Amen!
Our
first Easter Sunday here in Peru was a great one indeed. The entire week was another “holy week,” with
many people going on vacation and many stores closing their doors. However, the church house was definitely
full. For the first time in their lives,
the 100-plus people who flooded into our church realized the true importance
and the awesome miracle wrapped up in the resurrection. We can rejoice! Because of the resurrection, people were
saved, the altar was full, and lives are being changed.
It
has been such a blessing to see our church grow. Due to summer vacations, we have had many
people coming and going; but now that school has reconvened, our attendance is
steadily increasing. In addition to
this, we have gained many new families, especially this last month. I have been especially excited to have new
families from San Genaro in our services every week. We are making progress on the construction on the church property, we have
had people baptized each week, and the future is looking bright!
Speaking
of San Genaro, God is opening many doors for us. Our Bible study is continuing to do
well. I also have three more families
interested in having their own Bible study.
We are continuing to pray for God to open a door for us to start a
church in this very needy area. Just
this week God may be doing that. I have
a few leads on rentals for the church, and I believe we will be able to start
this church before the end of April.
All
of our Bible studies are continuing to grow.
Currently we have eight active Bible studies. We also already have four of our church men
teaching in these Bible studies. One of
these men, Jhonny Farfán, has one Bible study and is looking to start a new one
in San Gabriel. Last week while soul
winning and looking for a home for this Bible study, he led 24 people to
Christ! That is what it is all about.
Watching
our people grow has to be one of the greatest blessings of our ministry. To see them become more involved, grow in
their commitment, and begin to share their faith is a source of constant
joy. As I stated in our last letter, we
had our first week of college this past month.
Of course, we started off teaching on the Great Commission and personal
evangelism. They ate it up! We had a total of 16 people come to our
institute. Watching them “practice” soul
winning and seeing their desire to learn is so exciting.
On
one final note, I was blessed to have my parents and sister here with us for a
week. We had a lot of fun and were able
to do a lot of sightseeing. One day we
went to do some shopping in the Incan Markets in Miraflores. One of the shops was owned by a lady named
Luz. We spent a long time in her shop
looking for something to send back to some special people in the states. This gave me a great opportunity to explain
to Luz our purpose for being here. As I
did, I began to share the Gospel with her.
Tears filled her eyes as she listened and asked questions. After several minutes, Luz bowed her head and
trusted Christ as her Saviour! God is so
good to use us.
Of
course, minus the resurrection, your prayers, and support, none of this would
be possible. Jessica and I are honored
to be your representatives in Lima. It
is a privilege to add souls to your account.
This month 164 people accepted the gift of salvation through soul winning
and our church services. Thank you for
allowing us to have the greatest job in all the world!
Your
ambassadors to Perú,
Junior
and Jessica Martin
Romans
9:3
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