Hebrews 4:16 tells us to “. . . come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” The same grace that saved us from our sins is the same grace that we can access daily to find mercy and help as we serve our Saviour. Without His grace, what failures we would be! We appreciate each of you who go to the throne of grace on our behalf. We are truly blessed with wonderful prayer warriors!
Our church in San Gabriel celebrated its 6th anniversary on January 27! What a blessing it is to look back and see the growth, not only numerically but also spiritually, of our church family. Just shy of 200 people were present, with 21 accepting Jesus as their personal Saviour. Like all good Baptists, we also baptized converts and ate a delicious chicken dinner! We had an Evangelist Carlos Sauceda as our special speaker, and many people made good decisions after listening to the preaching.
The very next week, Team Peru held an institute class on Children’s Ministry. Bro. Marco Turriza, a child evangelist from Mexico, was our invited guest teacher. We had 65 students for two evenings of classes. Everyone learned so much about working with children, and all came away with a lot of ideas and a greater understanding of the importance of this ministry. The children’s workers from all three of the Iglesia Bautista Internacional Churches were present, plus workers from several other Baptist churches in the Lima area.
Next week, Instituto Bautista Internacional will host Bro. Ricky Torres and his wife Zaida, as they teach a week-long institute class on working with teens. This much-needed class will end with a power-packed Youth Conference with the theme of “Take Up Your Sword,” focusing on the power of God’s Word in our lives. Please pray for these events.
Also coming up for our church in San Gabriel is Vacation Bible School! This will be held February 28 – March 2. Our workers will be using ideas that they gained from Bro. Turriza’s training. We are hoping to have around 100 children present. Please pray that the children will come and will understand the Gospel.
We would ask for your prayers for an upcoming trip to the Amazon Jungle March 7-12. We will be traveling with Bro. John Hays (inventor of the water-purification system), Pastor Josue Canaquiri, and other workers. We will travel for about 30 hours in a small boat called a peke-peke, stopping in villages as we go, preaching the Gospel and giving them systems to purify their water. We will then go to Saramurrillo, where we will preach for their anniversary service and teach on the importance of marriage. We will be baptizing converts there as well. We need much grace and strength as we make this journey, and we ask for your prayers.
Around 45 people have trusted Christ in the ministries of San Gabriel and personal soul winning since our January letter. We commonly use a tract as we witness to people that says “A Message of Hope” on the front of it. Recently as my wife was soul winning, a lady was sitting in a combi (a van used for public transportation) as it was being repaired. My wife handed her a tract and started to walk away to talk to some of her “bus kids” when the lady called her back. “What hope?” she asked. “Could you explain this to me?” What a joy it was for my wife to lead this precious, older lady to Jesus. How many more are only waiting for someone to explain to them the hope we have in Jesus Christ?
His for souls,
Zach and Karin Foust
Zach, C.J,. and Logan
