Sharing Faith - Part Two
As I mentioned in my April article, we set out as a church to be more evangelistic this year. At that time, we were in the beginning stages of that process. We wanted to be people who shared the Gospel with our friends and neighbors, so one of the first steps was for each person to sit down with pen and paper and write what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to each one of us. As we shared these short gospels with one another as a church, it was awesome to see what facets of the Gospel each person emphasized.
Being a Church of Servants
Two years ago we, as a church family, set out to be more servant-hearted and set a goal to do service projects together. Last year we worked at an orphanage fixing up their study room and dining room. From that service project we began further talks with the director of the orphanage (and of several other orphanages), Pastor José, about how we could continue to serve the kids and orphanages. Paty wrote about the way we have been involved with the kids for the past couple of months.
Sharing Bible Reading
ast year the small house-church network we share life, faith, and service with set three goals for the year. Among those was the goal of being more dedicated to reading scripture in small groups. We formed two groups, one to read through the New Testament and another through the whole Bible in a year starting last March (the beginning of the school year here in the southern Hemisphere). Here's how it went, and how it's helping us grow the second time around.
Sharing Faith - Part I
ast year the church proposed three simple goals: read the Bible, serve the community, and meet together more often. This year, we added a goal: be more evangelistic. This fits with our overall mission to be servants, students, and messengers. The church expressed wishes to first of all be equipped to share the gospel, as it can be a daunting task. We’re in the process of equipping ourselves and will eventually launch out into the unknown to share the good news with family, friends, and even strangers. We ask for your continued prayers. And we would ask that all of the readership join us in this process of learning, praying, and sharing faith.
Liliana's Baptism
Liliana is someone we came to know through Alfredo, a friend in the church. She is someone we have gotten to know over the past 10 months or so. As a lonely person, she has found a refuge in the church here. She has a complicated and difficult past. God has used some of my fellow missionary coworkers and me to reach out to her even though it has not always been very easy to do so.
Park Church - A New Group in Hunter
Arequipa’s parks fill up on weekends. A busy work week gives way to a day or two of rest in which parents and grandparents take their kids to the park to enjoy Arequipa’s beautiful, springy climate. On Sundays in Arequipa, the park is one of the places where life happens. Naturally that’s where we want the church—God’s presence as reconciled family—to be.
Meet the Church: Paty Montoya
Many of you who have been following this newsletter for the past several years may have heard of Paty before. She has been a servant within the house church groups here and also works with CUDA’s (the Christian Urban Development Association) microfinance projects and takes care of CUDA’s accounting. She has such a beautiful story to tell.
Meet the Church: Etelvina
Coming in at just under 5ft. you wouldn’t know it by looking at her, but Etelvina is tough. And she has had to be. She raised her two kids on her own while searching for God. She had been a faithful Catholic for her whole life before she realized she was missing something. This began her journey to start a true relationship with Jesus.
Jóvenes de Arequipa
“Jóven” translates to “young” or “young person” and this has been our latest project since about September last year: working with the young people of Arequipa. We had noticed that a lot of young people only had the option of drinking and going to clubs as a hangout but also found that a lot of young people do not have a space where they can explore their faith, ask questions, and be young. We were inspired to help some of the younger people in our church to connect in a way that was more real for them, to build future leaders, and encourage strong faith and community among these youth.