Josh and Heather Hedderman Prayer Letter: Busy, Busy, Busy!

Hey! Happy summer to you all! We are busy, busy, busy here in Lima!

We started this year with a new focus on supporting missions. As a church, we have been able to take on two new missionaries this year, and we are taking on a third this month. We are going out next week to visit one of them, a man sent from a sister church here in Lima to a city in the jungle. We are taking a group to help with his Grand Opening service. Please pray for this opportunity and trip.

Back in March, we reached out to Eddie Wilson, the director of Christian Media International (CMI), after watching a video of him presenting his vision in a Missions Conference in the States. He had mentioned wanting to be in multiple new countries this year, so we asked if Perú was one of those countries. To make a long story short, we have now started a nationally aired TV program that is shown twice a week. We spent a week in Bucaramanga, Colombia, recording 30-plus weeks of programming, and we are now sharing the Gospel on a network that has a reach of over 30 million people. We are thankful for CMI and their heart to reach the world with the Gospel.

As that was happening, we were getting ready for our 10th anniversary. We were able to invite Pastor Andy Gómez from Hammond, Indiana, and Pastor Noe Montelongo from Monterrey, Mexico. Both preached excellent messages to our people. We had three nights of a Family Conference and then a big day on Sunday. On those three nights, we had 200-250 people each night, and we had over 500 on Sunday. Throughout the weekend, we had 80-plus saved. My favorite part was watching so many people work together to make everything happen. So many of our people jumped in to serve and help wherever they were needed.

Since our anniversary, we have had two weddings, a funeral, a Teen Retreat, a Kids’ Conference, and continued food drives. We are running as fast as we can and enjoying seeing all that God is doing. God is growing His church, and it’s exciting to watch. The couples that were married had two very different stories, but both weddings were sweet all the same. One couple had been living together for a while but decided to get things right. The other couple grew up in church and were enjoying their series of “firsts.” That being the case, I loved watching our church members show up to both weddings, loving both couples and just as excited for each one as they took their next step.

We are running 300-350 every week here, and just this last Sunday, we had 363 in attendance for a normal Sunday service. In addition, the food drive has been especially blessed in the last couple of weeks. We have had 50-plus new people each week in the weeks since the anniversary, with dozens coming to Christ each week. We have visitors every week in church due to the food drive; everyone comes with their story, and God is able to work through the gift of food to reach so many.

I’d like to ask prayer for these requests:

• Pray for the missions trip that we will be taking this month. Pray for the coordination of the trip and that we can be a blessing.
• Pray for our annual Youth Conference. We are expecting 400-plus teens this year. Pray that God will be lifted up and that He will do a work in the teens here.
• Pray for provisions for the food drive. We have to raise $4,000 each month, and God has miraculously provided time and time again. It’s a constant need, but it is a ministry that continues to bear fruit.

Thank you so much for your love and prayers!

Serving Him,

Josh, Heather, and Joseph Hedderman