We’ve had a wonderful summer here in Lima! This year, for the first time, we did Bible Clubs for kids on Friday afternoons. It was a great outreach ministry for our area and also a blessing to our families. What a gift it is to see children bow their heads to receive Christ as their Lord and Saviour!
We also hosted our first Vacation Bible School! The kids absolutely loved it! One of the biggest blessings for me was seeing all our people getting involved and helping out! We had over 80 kids registered, with over 30 teens and adults working together to give the kids the best experience possible.
The following week I went off to Youth Camp with a group of our teenagers. Unlike other camps we’ve hosted thus far, this time we got to go along and enjoy the ride! Our teenagers came back motivated and closer to Christ. We received so much preaching that week, and our hearts were flooded with the Word of God. It was a huge blessing, and we are continuing to see the results, as our young people endeavor to walk closer to our Saviour and serve Him in practical ways in our church.
One of my favorite activities our church has started in the past year has been times of praying and fasting together as a church body. It has been amazing to see the way the Lord has worked in our church to give us a unanimous heart and a mind to serve Him. We’ve also seen His hand move and answer many a prayer request! One of those answers was permission to build on our new land.
When God answered, we presented the construction plans to our church! The Lord has blessed us with a beautiful property that we will have for the next five years. We have all the materials we used on our last building, and we desperately need a larger auditorium in which to meet! The Lord has already allowed us to raise about half of the funds we will need. We’re hoping to have a new auditorium built before July 8, which will be our 6th anniversary!! If you feel led to give to this special project, please send funds to FBMI, and title the gift: “Team Peru, Chorrillos Project.”
God continues expanding borders and opening opportunities for our whole team! Just recently Bro Foust, along with several other men, was able to go to Chiclayo (an area which was heavily affected last year by the water disasters) to train approximately 49 pastors, reaching much of the northern regions of Peru. The Lord has provided, through Bro. John Hays, a stand-alone water-purification system that can be used in villages and developing neighborhoods to make their water safe to drink. The water systems provide a perfect opportunity to meet an urgent physical need, while at the same time allowing the perfect opportunity to share about the Living Water and tell the best account ever told!
The response of the pastors was incredible, as each one grasped the possibilities of planting new churches and expanding the Lord’s work. God has opened a huge door of influence in the lives of these pastors, as many are asking for future training in more than just the soul-winning and discipleship classes with which we were able to equip them. Later this year, Lord willing, our team will get to go to Moyobamba, the northern part of the jungle to train many more pastors. These pastors live in the villages, and many will walk two to four days just to meet with us. We are looking forward to training and equipping them so they can plant more churches and expand God’s work! These are exciting times!!!
I am currently taking a short furlough through April and May. The Lord has opened several doors of opportunity for me to speak at ladies’ meetings, as well as to present the work He is doing in Lima. I am looking forward and hoping to see many of you during these travels. I do covet your prayers. I’m most aware that without Him I can do absolutely nothing. I’m praying that through His mighty power, He will accomplish great and mighty things, which we have not known.
Thank you for walking this road with me, supporting me, and loving me all the while as I live His dream.
Gratefully His,
Heather Kokubun
-
- This is another picture from one of the schools we visited.
-
- This is a picture from one of the schools we visited.
-
- We had a great turnout for our village services.
-
- This is the first service at Faith Baptist Church in Corozal, Belize. Three were baptized in the ocean after the service.