Covenant OPC Construction Team

The saints from Covenant OPC in Orland Park, IL sent a construction team down last month to begin building the new manse for the Wichanzao parish. Pastor Juan Marquina and his wife Mirian have been living for the past year and a half in one of the classrooms in our education building. As you can imagine, they are eager to see their home finished and to move in. We've run out of money for now, but thanks to the generosity of Covenant Presbyterian, we were able to lay the foundation, the floor, the first floor walls, and finish the first floor roof. We still have a long way to go before it is finished, but we are half-way there! Please join us in thanking God for the generosity of Covenant Presbyterian Church!

Peru Mission Thanksgiving e-Bulletin

Click on the image to see the Bulletin in a readable form

Travels

I recently visited Grace Presbyterian Church in Lexington, VA where Dr. Paul Carter is pastor. It had been about 15 years since I last drove through the Shenandoah Valley. I forgot how beautiful it is! The only thing that matched the Valley, was the wonderful hospitality of Pastor Carter and all the saints at Grace. I also enjoyed Sunday lunch with the John Pearson family. John is RUF Area Coordinator. Grace PCA and the RUF from Washington and Lee University sent a construction team to Peru this past spring for the second year in a row. I spoke to a Saturday evening gathering, telling about the work in Peru, and then preached at their two services on Sunday morning. You can listen to the sermon here.

Medical Ministry Update

This is from a recent eBulletin that we sent out updating everyone on our medical ministry.

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"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these my brothers, you did for me" Matthew 25:40

We have been blessed to have many medical professionals come and give of themselves, their time, and their resources to help serve the hurting people of Peru. In an effort to keep you updated on the spread of the Gospel through our medical ministry we will send periodic updates on current happenings so that you may labor with us through your prayers and through your financial support.

We have attended 3,000 patients since we opened the Wichanzao Clinic in 2002 and currently see up to 20 patients a day. Our aim is to serve with a level of compassion that is not seen in most Peruvian clinics. Not only are we able to offer medical services in one of the poorest and least served parts of Trujillo, we are also able to extend a higher quality of care through visiting American professionals, donated supplies, and medications from the US.

We currently occupy the first floor of our two-story facility. Having only one exam room and one dental room we are eager to finish the second floor which will add two additional exam rooms, and a room for sonogram and EKG, a laboratory, an additional waiting room, and office space. Stage two for the Wichanzao Clinic is to expand into the vacant building next door, which will increase our pharmacy area, provide more exam rooms, and give patients a larger waiting area. Each of these steps, however, requires help from our friends who have a heart for this ministry.

Because we seek to serve a very needy community by offering medical services at an extremely low cost, covering our operational expenses is very difficult. Including our doctors' salaries, and a full staff, it costs us $75/day to run the clinic ($1500/month) . We need $4,000 to complete construction of our second floor, and approximately $15,000 for renovation and expansion next door. Once we complete these expansions we will be able to serve many more patients in need and provide even more services in our clinic.

Jesus always preached the gospel in the context of acts of compassion and we consider this to be one of our chief responsibilities.  The Lord has greatly blessed this ministry, but we very much depend on the prayers and support of many friends. Please consider a regular contribution toward our operating expenses, as well as a specific gift enabling us to complete construction of the Wichanzao facility.

•Please pray the Lord gives us wisdom as we seek to run this clinic efficiently and effectively.
•Please pray that the Lord would use these acts of compassion to open hard hearts.
•Please pray that the Lord would bring true healing to those we seek to serve.

Joshua and the Great Comission

I spent this past Lord's Day at Bryce Avenue Presbyterian Church in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Pastor Henry Fernandez was ministering in another church in the presbytery, so I didn't get the privilege of fellowship with him and his family, but I did enjoy a wonderful time with Dr. and Mrs. Charles Bell (in whose home I stayed). I gave a presentation of our work during the Sunday School hour and then preached in the morning service. The sermon, "Joshua and the Great Commission," can be heard from the BAPC website by clicking here. After the service the church invited everyone to stay for lunch in the fellowship hall. There I enjoyed conversations with many folks. One of the highlights for me was meeting Dr. David Kuiper. Dr. Kuiper is a researcher at the national laboratory in Los Alamos, but most interesting of all, I learned that he is the great-grandson of Herman Hoeksema, the famous theologian from the Protestant Reformed Seminary in Grand Rapids, MI. I have frequently used Hoeksema's Systematic Theology over the years, as well as consulting from time to time his Commentary on Revelation. He also has a three volume commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism that I don't own, but I've heard tell that it is an important work that I should acquire.

Thanks to all the saints at Bryce Avenue PCA for a wonderful weekend, especially to Dr. and Mrs. Bell for their warm hospitality.

Hamas Leader's Son Converts

I've been convicted of late about the importance of praying more consistently for the conversion of leaders of both Islam and atheism. I never new about Yousef Masaf, and so I have not prayed for him by name, but the Lord seems to be answering somebody's prayers because, according to the Israeli Daily Newpaper Haaretz, this son of a top Hamas leader has recently converted. It is a fascinating story that you can read here.

A King, a Banquet, a Mission

We had a great time in Austin on Sunday visiting the saints at Redeemer PCA. They sent a construction and VBS team to Trujillo in June and we got to have lunch with the group. I also preached in the two morning services. Here is a link to the MP3 from the Redeemer website.