The cooler winter weather is coming on strong, but things are still busy here in Lima! Thank you to each of you who have prayed, supported, sent gifts, and in every other way loved us and how God has scripted our new story together! We recently celebrated six months of marriage together, and looking back, it’s only by God’s grace and the loving care of an army of people that our stories have come together like this. We are truly blessed.
We have been busy this month! At the start of April, I traveled with the pastor of our church, Dennis Llontop, to the cities of Piura and Jaén in the northern part of Perú. We worked for the week with Missionary John Biazzo during his Easter-week campaigns. During the week, we had the opportunity to pass out several thousand tracts, personally present the Gospel to over 1,000 people in open-air meetings and on the streets, and see over 300 public professions of faith. I personally had the opportunity to preach multiple times and was able to see over 70 people accept Christ. It was a busy few days, but such a blessing.
Right after that trip, I took off with Pastor Foust, Brother John Hays, and two others to the city of Moyobamba, a city in the high jungle of Perú. We met there with over 40 pastors, presenting them with water-purification systems and training them in soul-winning and discipleship programs. I had the opportunity to go out soul winning with Bro. Hays, and we were able to see 4 more souls saved there.
While I have been busy traveling, Heather continues loving our ladies here! Mrs. Deanna Kokubun visited us for a quick trip, and Heather enjoyed having her speak to our ladies during a special weekend we called Ladies’ Days right before Mother’s Day. Mrs. Kokubun spoke on topics such as faithfulness, a wife’s role in the home, and how to love you husband and children. It was a huge blessing for our ladies, and they are still speaking of the things they learned from her. We were blessed that our church chose to honor her on Mother’s Day for raising Daniel. It was a complete surprise to her, but the church loved showing their gratitude and support for all she and her husband did in raising their son.
In church, we have seen a continued zeal for soul winning, as well as growth in multiple areas. We are having to split Sunday school classes due to lack of space, and we are seeing new visitors every week.
Finally, one more blessing from this past weekend: Sunday night we had a lady visit our church for the first time with her son, coming in about 15 minutes late. I was on the platform and was unable to go down and greet her, but in the time during which we recognize visitors, she stood up and said that I was the one who had invited her. Come to find out, she was the wife of a man I had invited about six months before. He had come a few times, as his work schedule allowed, but she had never been able to make it. When his work schedule changed, though we stayed in regular contact, we figured they wouldn’t be able to attend. To make a long story short, she came Sunday night for the first time and brought their one-year old son. One of our ladies witnessed to her, and she was sweetly saved. It was a blessing to see the fruits of our labors, even when we didn’t see any progress.
Pray for us. We are coming up on the 7th anniversary of the church. We are planning a four-day conference, with Pastor Jonathan Ashcraft from Monterrey, Mexico, coming down to be with us. Please keep July 11-14 in your prayers. We would love for the Lord to meet with us in a special way!
To Him be the glory,
Josh and Heather Hedderman
