March-May 2021

Dear Family and Friends

We are glad to report that after three long months of recovering from Covid-19, we are finally feeling well and fully recovered. This fight was especially hard for Natalia because she ended up having Pneumonia which made things worse for her. We are very grateful that we were stateside when we got Covid-19. We can’t imagine how much more difficult the situation would be if our family was still in Peru.

Peru continues to struggle with the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently, the country is on an extended lock down. Churches, and other small or large groups are not allowed to meet in person. People are able to go out of their homes for only an hour, to walk for exercise and to purchase essential items for their families. Cars are only allowed to be driven by essential workers. The hospitals continue to be maxed out. It is almost a miracle to find an open hospital bed. The economy continues to suffer resulting in doubled and tripled price increases for medicine and all living expenses. To give an example of how bad things are, if anyone needs to go to an emergency clinic, before they will let you pass the lobby, you need to give a deposit of $30,000 to be seen by a doctor.

Politically, Peru is a mess. We had elections a few weeks ago, resulting in a runoff between two candidates. One is an ex-terrorist communist candidate and the other is the daughter of an ex-president famous for stealing from the country. Regardless of the outcome, we hope that at least the country will continue to be a democracy and will not become the next Venezuela.

As for us, John is helping out in some of the ministries at Providence Mission Homes, where we are currently living until August. Natalia is taking ESL online courses from Citrus College while continuing to home-school our children. Alejandro continues in the 8th grade and Emily is on the learning path to reading. As you know, for several months we have been taking care of the Cajamarca church from a distance thanks to Zoom and WhatsApp. After many months of praying and feeling that they needed more than just online meetings, the Lord opened doors for a local friend and pastor to take over the Cajamarca Refugio church. One of the benefits of having this new pastor lead is that members of the church will be able to take free classes at the Bible school where both Natalia and I served 5 years ago.  The new leaders are looking forward to opening the church as soon as the government allows it.

As we look forward to our next season of ministry, we have been busy talking to our Purpose Church Mission Board, our Mission Sending Agency Saving Grace and seeking wise counsel from other mission workers. In addition, we have been praying and seeking the Lord’s clear direction on what our next assignment will be. Keep an eye out for our next newsletter! We will send it out next week, giving our most current update.

For now, we ask for prayers for direction and provision. What we most wish is to obey the Lord’s will in our lives. We are called to serve as missionaries, and we will continue fulfilling our call.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Love,

John and Natalia Gunderson