Abraham Avila Prayer Letter: Goldfish Sunday!

It’s like we were old friends.

My wife and I worked extra hard to get out of our comfort zone at the early stages in our marriage. We learned that “outside our comfort zone” is the best place to grow. One of the ways we put this into practice is by meeting new people. My children know all the security guards and neighbors by name. It’s not uncommon to see a security guard every other block in Peru. We as a family strive to have a pleasant disposition with everyone we meet, even if the person we encounter is unkind. I tell my children that one never knows how much a smile and a kind word can mean to stranger who is having a bad day.

We find ourselves in a midweek service at our Surco church. A visiting young couple, Josh and Iris, just finished walking through our doors. My family and I smile and shake their hands. We welcome them and show them to their seats. I have an opportunity to speak to Josh and learn a lot about him. After we are done speaking, he states that he enjoyed the conversation. After the service I was able to witness to Josh and Iris. Afterwards we chat a little more, and I ask, “I can tell you liked the service. What’s one of the things that pleased you about the service?” They looked at each other and then said with a smile, “This church is very friendly, and we love how everything that is taught is Bible based.” They stated that they really appreciated my family’s sincere smiles and conversation. “It’s like we were old friends and were catching up after not seeing each other for a while,” said Josh. They live over an hour away from IBI Surco, yet they attend faithfully. Praise the Lord!

This is the last time we take a goldfish home.

We have started to promote the San Gabriel Spring Program for a couple of weeks now. I could tell that the children were getting excited for the first Sunday, Goldfish Sunday. Goldfish Sunday finally arrived, and the children came in droves thanks to the hard work of our IBI San Gabriel teens and our Sunday school children. We starting to get worried, as we thought we would not have enough goldfish for the children. It all worked out perfectly. We actually had goldfish leftover. I tell myself every year that this is the last time we take a goldfish home, yet there we are adding five more goldfish to our family every year. Many of the visitors have stayed for the following Sundays. Please help us pray that more families and children will continue to come and choose to call IBI San Gabriel their church.

To be continued . . .

I am thankful for praying and giving friends such as you. If it weren’t for you, my family and I would not be able to be here in Lima, Peru. We love you and pray for you often. I pray that the Lord continues to bless you and your family.

Prayer Requests

• Safety for our family, our team leader Bro. Zach Foust,
and the other families of Team Peru
• Additional monthly financial support
• Health for the families of Team Peru
• Our Spring Program in San Gabriel, which has begun

Blessings

• We had 62 souls saved.
• Our Sunday school class children are soul winning and bringing visitors to church.
• My dad is gaining more movement through his therapy and is starting to become more confident in his mobility.
• My children have made more friends.

Thank you once again for your prayers and support.

Your co-laborers to Peru,

Abraham, Fabiola, Marco, Leilani, and Joaquin Avila