Dear Praying Friends,
Our year started with a pleasant visit from our mission board. It was an honor to have Dr. Darrell Moore visit our church and preach for our midweek service. Also visiting was our mission board director, Bro. Billy Paugh, who preached for our Sunday morning service. One of the pleasant things about their visiting us was that our church people got to meet them and hear them preach. It was a blessing for our family and team to spend time with the visiting group. We enjoyed showing them our different ministries here in Peru and also the tourist attractions. We hope they will be back to visit us again soon.
Before our team came to Peru, we had plans of starting a school for the team kids. Since it took a great effort to get the ministry started here, we had to postpone starting the school. Meanwhile each family was homeschooling their own kids. However, in January we were finally able to start the school. The kids have been very excited and are doing great. Chrystal teaches the music program, helps out in the school nursery, and helps the team kids with their studies. I have the privilege of helping in the chapel service we have on Fridays.
Praise the Lord for another new Bible study started. After an eleven-week Bible study in the area of Barranco, I started a new one in Surco near our church. I am very proud of Hector; he is a faithful, growing Christian in our church who has been helping me teach some of the lessons. We are currently having this Bible study in the home of one our church members named Antonio.
Several weeks ago Antonio invited Jorge, one of his friends, to our church. Jorge did not receive Christ the first time he came because he left before the invitation. However, a few weeks later during our Thursday night service, I had the opportunity to personally lead Jorge to Christ. When I first began talking to Jorge, I noticed he seemed confused because of his Catholic background. I encouraged him to come to our Bible study, and there we studied Bible doctrines, including baptism. After teaching him the doctrine of baptism, I encouraged Jorge again to take that step to get baptized. The following week we took a trip to our main church in Chorrillos where we have a baptistery, and I had the privilege of baptizing Jorge. Jorge is still faithful to church, and we ask you to please be in prayer with us for his Christian growth.
February 1 was our one-year mark of arriving to Peru. It has been a great year, with many blessings for our ministry and family. We appreciate your faithful prayers and support. It is a warming thought to know that there are churches still interested in foreign missions. We love you and pray for you.
The Martinez Family
