We Need More Space! – Vanrenterghem Update

February 2025 Newsletter

Joshua Vanrenterghem

That power is prayer, which soars on high, through Jesus, to the throne, and moves the hand which moves the world, to bring salvation down.”James Wallace

Dear Friends, Family, and Loved Ones,

God has brought me down to Peru at quite a season of ministry! God is moving greatly here in Trujillo, and though I have only been here about two months, God has been bringing many new people to the church to the point that we had to add a third Sunday service! For some of you that doesn’t sound too bad, as the church where I grew up had 6 services between Saturday and Sunday at one point. But it is a great encouragement and sign of revival.

Disaster Strikes

Unfortunately, in the middle of February something terrible happened in the city! The roof of the food court in one of the only two malls in Trujillo fell and killed many people. It was a little shocking personally because I was in that very spot eating lunch the day before. As a church we went out and made basic needs available, but mostly to pray and comfort the families who lost loved ones and waited outside the mall. To make things worse, the authorities lied to the public and press by severely underreporting the deaths, sneaking bodies out during the night. 

Even in disaster, God uses it all for His glory. Being the only church there to help, many heard about Calvary Trujillo. That Sunday, and since, we have been packed to the doors until we had to begin the third service.

Continuing In Prayer

During my time set aside to pray at the beginning of the year, the phrase God gave me was “continue in prayer”. So far, this has been coming up over and over again. Prayer is truly what moves the hands which move the world. Another man, E.M. Bounds put it this way, “prayer effects men by effecting God, prayer moves men because it moves God to move man. Prayer influences man because it influences God to influence them. Prayer moves the hand that moves the world.”

With that being said, we pray that God moves in providing a property for the children’s home and the church. Because we believe it is vitally important as a ministry to be overseen and run through the local church, the ministry of the church and home go hand in hand. Right now we are focusing on finding a new property that will be big enough to fit the new growth of the church and the Calvary Bible Institute as we are also looking for property for the children’s home at the same time. It has been pretty difficult. Prices are ridiculous near the city, sometimes costing even more than some places in the States. Regardless, I know the Lord will provide in His perfect time as we continue in prayer. Personally, this has given me a sweet season of preparation and reconnecting with the church. 

More Language Learning?!

One awesome thing I have gotten into is the deaf community at church. An amazing missionary from Columbia named Sara began the deaf ministry at Calvary Trujillo just after I left in 2023. Now there are many deaf people who have been baptized and come every Sunday. Something stunning about the deaf community in South America is that many are never taught sign language, so they never get to communicate with anyone. Not just that, but even if they do learn it, most family members or people around them never bother to learn it so they still barely communicate. This also means many never hear about the gospel. One Wednesday night, I decided to talk with the first deaf couple to come to the church and during the conversation they asked me (through a translator) “Why don’t you talk to us? People who hear don’t talk to us much, why?” The question kind of shocked me, but it also convicted me because even as I gave my excuse that I didn’t know sign language, I felt it was inadequate. 

After that conversation I decided to sit with them for Sunday service, and while watching the lady translate the preaching in signs, I got a message on my phone from an app that gives me quotes every once in a while for fun. It said “Life isn’t a spectator sport”. When I read that, I felt like the Lord was calling me to invest time and learn sign language so I could talk with the deaf. Since then Arabela, one of the deaf ladies, has been teaching me Peruvian Sign Language every Sunday and Wednesday after service. Although it is not super complicated, it does make Spanish feel very easy. But the Lord has been ministering to me each time, I am have fun learning every time.

Calling All Partners!

It is my honor to connect you, my sisters and brothers in America, to all God is doing on the mission field, and show you the fruit of your work through me! If you would like get more involved in this work, there are different ways you can partner with with me as I seek to fulfill my call to rescue and care for children in trafficking.

One way you can support is through joining my Signal group. This is where I send prayer requests and more frequent updates on my life in the mission field of Peru! You can join this group by responding to this email.

Another important way to partner is financially. If you feel lead to become a financial partner, you can give through the link found at the bottom of this news letter! It is by your generosity that I am provided for on the field and available to give my all in this new work.

Praise Reports

  • The great blessings of growth at the church
  • Watching the growth of all the students at the Bible school
  • Creating new relationships in the deaf community

Prayer Requests

  • Blessing over our search for a new church property
  • Provision for a place for the children’s home
  • Wisdom for the leadership of the church regarding all the new growth
  • Comfort for the families and the light of the gospel to shine after the tragedy at the mall.

By Thy Word – Pastor 16 Update March 2025

Praise the Lord!

Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thank you, dear supporters and prayer partners, for your prayers and financial support. We are praying for your family and for your country. By the grace of God my family and I are doing well, God has kept us safe.

Last month we got the chance to visit brother A’s* house. We had fellowship with his family in the Word of God. I got the chance to share the Word of God there.

Brother A* is surfing with pain. He had neck surgery, but the surgery was not good. Since then his whole body is paralyzed. He has been unable to walk or stand up for a year. We are continuing to visit him and pray for him and share the Word of God with him and his family.

Last month our church conducted a children’s program. 50 kids participated. It was a wonderful time with them. The Word of God was shared through songs and a skit.

I met a child named P*. She has a hole in her heart. She has to have an operation. I prayed for her.

I am also teaching a computer class at our Calvary Bible Institute.

Prayer Requests:

  • Please pray for my children to grow in Lord’s fear and knowledge and also for their final exams.
  • Please pray our house visitation ministry. Please also pray for the students as they share the Word of God. May the Lord use them.
  • Please pray for our local village ministry. May the villagers grow in the Lord’s Word.
  • Please pray for the youth of our local area to walk in the Lord.
  • Please pray for our CBI students to grow in the Word.
  • Please pray for the young girl, P*, who has a hole in her heart. Pray that her operation goes well.

Blessings,

Paster 16* and Family

*Names and faces have been changed or omitted for security reasons.

Vincent Family March 2025 Missions Update

Greetings from Mexico. February was a blessed but busy month in our ministry, and in this update I want to tell you all about it. The foundation of our church’s missions program is our church planting program, and that all begins with our weekly church planting class. At the start of February we started our new class of church planting and we were surprised with nearly 50 students including 12 first timers.

The requirements to be in our class are that you #1- Are a faithful servant in the church, and #2- You are open to being sent out as a church planter or part of a church planting team. Over the years, each one of our 41 church planters have completed this course, and our 25 2nd and 3rd generation church planters have also completed the church planting class which was begun by their pastors in their local churches.

As I looked around at this years class, I reminded each one to believe that God can use them to do a great work. Because of the fruit of our program, many of our rookies begin the program wide eyed with hearts full of fear. I encourage them to work hard and to (even more importantly) trust in the work that the Lord wants to do through them. I also had two of our  final semester students share a testimony of how God called them during their time in the class to be sent out to do the church planting work that God has called them to do.

I do have some breaking news to share with you about our church planting program! The final words that Jesus shared in Acts 1:8 were “you shall be my witnesses, in Jerusalem and Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth!” Our church has done a great job of reaching our city (Jerusalem) our surrounding cities (Judea) and the other states that are close to us. (Samaria) But we have found it a challenge to send church planters to the ends of the earth!

As the word has gotten out about our church plants, I have had many men from other countries reach out to me and ask me to train them to church plant in their respective countries. Over the past couple years I’ve been praying about how we could do that, and in February I’m happy to announce that we started our very first Online International church planting class!

In this years class we have four students that live in the Philippines, Kenya, and Uganda. Each one of these men have been contacting me for over a year and we even attempted (unsucesfully) to get two of them over here to Mexico to train at our church in person. After much prayer, God showed us a way that we could do our church planting program 100% online, with our online participants receiving the same training that our local students receive. Were only three weeks into this new class, but so far it’s been fantastic. Please pray that this new online program bears much fruit.

In February, I was also interviewed by my good friend Pastor Hugo Limon for his SPOTIFY church planting podcast! Though mostly in Spanish, this podcast is one of the highest rated mission’s podcasts on Spotify. Hugo and I had a great time chatting together and reminiscing about the great things that God has done through his church and the 11 church plant’s he has sent out in just 10 years. You can listen to my bilingual interview by searching “Plantacion de Iglesias con Hugo Limon”! (I am on episode 26) 

We ended the month with a Vincent Family Reunion! My brother Matt brought out his six children (all adults now) and I brought up Grace and Daniel, who hadn’t seen their Kentucky cousins in over five years. We had a wonderful time eating, fellowship, singing, and eating some more, and as always my mom was a great host! Our time together reminded me how blessed I am by the Lord to have been raised by a mom and dad that honored the Lord and taught us to do the same.

We had a spiritually fruitful month, but we could not have done any of this without you, our generous ministry partners. Our family could have never lived here in the ripe mission fields of Mexico for the past 23 years if it weren’t for precious friends like you that choose to partner with us through your financial support and prayers! We love you and are praying for you!

Con mucho amor de Mexico,  (with much love from Mexico)

Mike, Sarah, Grace, and Daniel

Prayer Requests!

#1- Pray that God will bless our new church planting students!

#2-  Pray that God will bless my two missions trips in March to visit our church plants. (Mazatlan and Morelia)  

Praise Reports!

#1- Praise God that three of our church plants are planting their first churches in the next few months.

#2- Praise God for a blessed family reunion and a quick vacation with Sarah to celebrate Valentines Day together.


For our personal support, checks should be made out to Saving Grace World Missions with “Vincent support” in the memo section.  For special projects, checks should also be made out to Saving Grace World Missions or SGWM, with the project name in the comments section. Use the enclosed envelope or mail directly to Saving Grace World Missions, 17451 Bastanchury Rd., Suite 203, Yorba Linda, CA 92886-1873

For your convenience, you may consider giving through electronic funds transfer or direct deposit. Simply click on this link to directly support our family as your missionaries.

https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift2/?giftid=DFA990CC09D942B

Or, you can  go to our mission’s website, click on the “become a financial partner” button and fill out the information. Please remember to type in  “Vincent” in the “purpose of gift” section.

Testimonies of Those Who Were Rescued from Darkness! – Pastor 11 Update February 2025

Greetings to all of you!

I want to thank God the Father and all of you. Thank you for always praying for us and encouraging us through God’s Word every day. I thank God that, despite the fog and cold here, my family has been protected from pain and illness. God has protected us from all kinds of opponents even as persecution is increasing here day-by-day. People are being tortured in various ways by the villagers and the society. Praise be to God–despite the torture here, people are growing in their faith in the Lord and people are giving their lives to the Lord.

I thank God that by His grace this month went very well. It was very cold here, but we still went to two to three villages every week and studied, prayed and worshiped together. Twice a week we also have fellowship at our home, a Bible study on Friday and a Sunday service on Sunday.



Here are the testimonies of some people who gave their lives to the Lord and accepted the Lord Jesus as Savior last month.

The Lord chose a drunkard who used to beat his wife. The Lord completely changed his life.

I thank God that He is really great and alive. He has the power to change people’s lives. This brother’s name is VY*. He has four children. He is a three-wheel (rickshaw) taxi driver. We hired him to take us to do outreaches. When he went from village to village with us for our Christmas outreaches, he kept listening to the Good News. God convinced his heart and he accepted the Lord.

When we went to a place in his village in his rickshaw, he took us to his house also. The people who lived in his house told us that he beats his wife a lot after drinking alcohol. Then we preached the Gospel to him. He had already heard the Gospel from us during the outreaches he took us to.

He started crying and regretting his actions. We prayed for his whole family, then God brought peace to his family. He accepted the Lord that very day. Praise be to God! He is planning to get baptized soon. He now comes to our church with his whole family and listens to the Word of the Lord. I hope that in the coming days, like this brother, his entire family will also gradually believe and get baptized.

A person who was despised by the people of the village for not having a son has been rescued from darkness by the Lord.

I feel proud of God. God has chosen me and is using me for His work. God never discriminates between a son and a daughter.

I am going to share the testimony of a person who has just given his life to the Lord during our Christmas Outreach. He is very poor and has 6 daughters. In our area, if someone has only daughters and does not have a son, then he is looked down upon. No one respects him. A lot of money has to be spent on the marriage of a daughter. No man will get married without being paid a dowry. People believe that the lineage continues only through a son.

Because of this, in the desire of having a son, many give birth to daughters even though they do not have the resources to feed them. People become more and more poor. Many people even sell their land to give dowry in their daughter’s marriage. Because of this, many people get an abortion if they are expecting a girl child. It is illegal to test whether a baby is a boy or girl, but everything can be done by giving a bribe.

I thank God that when I reached his village and gave a New Testament to him, he was very happy to accept the New Testament. He listened to the true news of Jesus Christ. He started sharing about his life and that he was despised for not having a son. As soon as he heard the true news of Jesus, he immediately believed and handed over his life to the Lord. He accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior. Now he comes to our church and listens to the Word of the Lord.

A young man, who heard the Word of the Lord, asked for so many New Testaments to tell the Word of the Lord to others!

I thank God that He has been using me for His work and continues to use me. In November, when I went to a village that is 400 km away from my home, the Lord introduced me to this young man. His name is RK*. He does farming in the village and goes to the city to work. When I went to the village, I met him and showed the Jesus movie on a new projector. After that I also told him the Gospel. He slept in the same hut in which I slept. I talked to him about the Word of God throughout the night and encouraged him. As soon as he woke up in the morning, he said that he wanted to share the Gospel. I gave him some New Testaments and told him that if he wants to serve in the future, he can go to Bible college and gain the right knowledge of the Word of the Lord. Then he can go from village to village and share the Gospel properly.

He is ready to go to Bible college but his parents sent him to a big city to work. He often calls and asks, “When will Bible college start? I want to study the Bible.” He keeps asking for prayer for his parents to send him to Bible college. Because of his parents greed for the money he makes in the city, they will not let him go to Bible college.

Please pray that if it is God’s will, he will be able to study the Bible in the coming days and that he can go from village to village preaching about the Lord.

Praise Points!

  • Praise the Lord, God has kept me and my family safe.
  • Praise the Lord, He is leading the people of our church forward in faith and in the Word.
  • There was Hindu worship here and an idol was also installed in front of our house. By the mercy of the Lord, we were not attacked. Praise the Lord!

Prayer Requests:

  • Please pray. In a state of my country some anti-Christian elements are planning to rape and massacre the daughters and daughters-in-law of Christians. The date is set for 1st March. May God give protection to all the brothers and sisters there.
  • Please pray. In the coming days, there are many types of Hindu festivals in our area. May God give protection to our family and Christian brothers and sisters.
  • Please pray. Our country has elections in a few months. May God give us a government that lets us worship and pray in peace. Pray that no law is made against spreading the Good News.
  • Please pray. We are planning to do several types of outreach in the next few months. May God open the door to a village that has not heard the Good News yet.
  • Please pray. A pastor is planning to come from the United States which will be the first time in our area. May God protect him and keep us safe too.
  • Please pray for my wife. Three of her teeth are painful and hollow. She needs to get treatment. May God provide a good hospital here for her to get treatment. Otherwise, we will have to go somewhere else for her treatment.
  • Please pray. Two students from my church are ready to go to Bible college. Pray that until the next Bible college year starts, there will not be anything that prevents them from going to Bible college. The last time I planned to send a student to Bible college, his parents called the police.

May God bless you all!

Pastor & Mrs. 11*

*Names and faces have been changed or omitted for security reasons.

Connecting, Teaching, and Growing in God’s Mission – Anand Update February 2025

We traveled to a youth conference, that was hosted by one of our graduates. He is now serving as a pastor in the church there. Around 40 young people from the area attended the conference. We encouraged them with the Word of God. We also invited them to attend our Bible College. Two students decided to join next semester. We had a great time of learning and fellowship. We were happy to see our graduate serving faithfully. The trip was a blessing for all of us.

I had a wonderful trip to the South. We had a youth meeting. Around 120 people attended. We shared about our Bible College with them and invited the young adults to come. I had a great time with the students who traveled with me.

For the first time in my life, I taught in the that language at a youth conference. It was an amazing experience for me. We also met and connected with many pastors from there. The whole trip was a blessing and a joyful time.

For the past few months, Christians from all around the capital have been gathering once a month. We sit together, share our vision, and learn from the Bible. We also pray for each other and encourage one another. It has been a great blessing to stay connected. We asked those who come to share about our Bible College in their churches.

The people who come are connected with many different Christian organizations. The organizations do a lot of social work. This connection is helping us reach more people. We are thankful for this growing fellowship. It is a joy to see God working among us.

Thank you,

Anand and Usha and Family

He Stands at the Door and Knocks… – Landaverde February 2025 Update

Hello everyone! I hope all is well! Let’s get you caught up on what the Lord has been doing!

August/ September 

Drawing Jesus walking on water
Saying goodbye
Bonding time with hairstyles and worship

In August our team went to an unreached tribe in the mountains of Mazatlán. Here we were able to minister and share the good news. They not only received us, but they also received the good news of Jesus Christ. 

Pastor Antonio has recently been able to take over 70 Spanish Bibles to their tribe. With lots of patience, love and dedication, we are all still praying for many leaders to be raised up to pastor their own church!

Saying bye to family
Saying bye to friends

Returning from Mexico and the school, our leaders helped us on this next step journey. I mean, what are we supposed to do after ministering and loving these people, to have them receive Christ- to just leave?

This is not the end. My goal is to see it to the end. Not just to preach, but to teach. That’s when I knew, the Lord isn’t calling me to just preach the gospel but to teach it. To dwell in the land He will call me too- long term. 

So, I had to say goodbye. It’s never easy, BUT praise God I even have people to say bye to! I packed my bags and I moved to California!

I still visit for holidays! However, each time that I go, it tasks a toll. Looking back at my old newsletters, I knew the cost. Now understanding it- is something else. I pray that my family sees the good works and glorifies our Father in heaven.

October/ November/ December

October activities 
November/ December activities

The holidays are so weird now! My first ever Halloween as a Christian! It was the best time ever! We went to someone’s house and was able to set up a popcorn, hotdogs, cotton candy, drinks and of course candy. While hundreds of people came, we were all able to spread the gospel and share the love of Jesus. It was such a fun time. 

November was my first whole month living here, I started school and was working. At first it was really lonely and slow (now it’s the complete opposite) I celebrated Thanksgiving with my church here and with my family back in Las Vegas. This was such a blessing.

The reason for the season: Jesus! December was full of peace and serving. There were many events inside and outside of church. I was working hard doing my homework and being social. I definitely would say I should’ve been resting at the feet of Jesus more. 

January/ February

Sabbath and conference 
College outreach

January was such an awesome month. I received prophetic prayer at the beginning of the year and it was so encouraging and special to experience. I recently ended a relationship so I was on a spiritual high and felt so close to the Lord. Being broken hearted is much easier to call upon the name of Jesus.

We are currently in the month of February and so far, it’s been really challenging. I feel as though I am in a dry season. However, after speaking to some wise counselors and fellow saints, they helped me realize that IM HUMAN. Feelings and emotions aren’t bad, but they are not something to rely on or to have confidence in. They are a good indicator to point us to what we need (which is the Lord) but not to always listen. We aren’t always going to want to serve or workout or even get out of bed BUT GOD— listen to the word of the Lord. Proverbs 16:3 says “commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established.” Often times we tend to not WANT to do read our bibles or pray, we can either listen to the flesh and not do it (often times it’s not drawing near to the Lord) or we can commit ourselves to the work (reading and praying) and the Lord will establish our thoughts. 

This is a difficult season I’m in. It’s continuous surrender and taking up our cross. I would love prayer for this! Even doing this newsletter has been very difficult, my goal is to send one out every month. (You all have become my accountability partners) 

I thank you all for your precious time. Thank you for your fellowship in the gospel and I pray you all abound still more and more in the knowledge and discernment of our Heavenly Father. 

Answered Prayers:

  • I am growing in the Lord and becoming the women He’s called me to be!
  • My older siblings Anthony, Julio, Jacky and Deedee have all put their faith in Jesus!
  • The Lord completely providing a way for me to continue this path in doing missions

Prayer Request:

  • That I would be able to organize and keep to a budget and time management 
  • That the Lord will provide provision to go a vision tour
  • That I would be used to be the salt and light of the world (evangelism)

Ways to support:

  • PRAYER. IT CHANGES THINGS! Jeremiah 29:12, The Lord listens to us!Prayer is the most loving and effective ways to show you care, but that you also support me.
  • FINANCIAL PARTNERSHIP. Philippians 4:18-19, God has really blessed me with all that I have. If the Lord has put on your heart to support me in this way, I thank you and pray, knowing that the Lord will supply all your needs too.
  • SHARE IN THE VISION. My hearts desire is that all will call upon the name of Jesus; I can’t do this alone. Sharing this or even what the Lord has been doing in my life can and will help. 

Thank you again for your generosity and patience.

“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26

Love, Ariana

Birthday pictures [February 13]

A LITTLE HARRIS-Y: Esther – God of Promises – February 2025

A LITTLE HARRIS-Y: Esther – God of Promises(The votes are in… A Little Harris-y wins! Sorry to those who are disappointed:))

I love The Book of Esther; I often consider it my favorite book of the Bible, but it has long been shrouded by controversy. In his theological commentary, Paul Redditt notes that Eastern churches rejected the book’s canonicity and that the reformers did not devote much attention to it. Likewise, Samuel Wells points out in his biblical commentary of the book that these types of views are often related to the fact that the book “contains no promise to the Church, makes no mention of the Gospel” and “does not once introduce the name of God or recognize [H]is providence.” In fact, according to Reddit, “Luther could say that he wished the book did not exist at all, because it contained pagan impropriety.” So why do I love it so much? I would have to write more than I am willing to (and more than you would be willing to read) if I were to say everything I wanted to about it, but some of my favorite things about the book are how God is able to keep all His promises even though they seem to contradict and work out salvation even when He seems hidden.

Some of God’s most famous promises are found in what people call the Abrahamic Covenant (see Gen. chapters 12, 15, 17, and 22). When God called Abraham, He promised He would bless his descendants with a great name, a land of abundance, and a high population (Gen. 12:1-3). God also promised Abraham and his descendants divine protection, swearing that whoever blessed them would be blessed and that whoever cursed them would be cursed (Gen. 12:3). Most importantly, God promised that His descendant(s) would end up blessing every people group on the planet (Gen. 12:3, 22:18).

Around 500 years later, God made another series of promises to Abraham’s descendants in what people call the Mosaic Covenant (Exod. 19-24, Lev. 26, Deut. 28). In the Mosaic Covenant, God promised Abraham’s descendants that IF they were faithful to obey the terms of His covenant, the ten commandments (see Duet. 4:13), that they would be His treasured possession, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exod. 19:4-6). God went on to relay the wonderful blessings Israel would experience if they were obedient and the terrible suffering they would face if they were disobedient  (Lev. 26, Deut. 28). God said that if Israel continued in their disobedience, that they would eventually be driven out of their homeland (Lev. 26:33, Deut. 28:64). Perhaps most severely, God said: “But I will surely hide My face [אַסְתִּ֤יר] in that day because of all the evil which they will do, for they will turn to other gods.” (Deut. 31:18; also see 31:17, 32:20, and Ezek. 39:29).

One thousand years after God laid out His terms to Moses, those two sets of promises came to a head in the Book of Esther. Israel was facing all the threatened curses as a desperate, homeless, and foreign minority group on the brink of distinction because of a ruthless edict written by the leader of the pagan kingdom of Persia, just as they deserved (Esth. 3:13). Yet instead of being exterminated the book relays that many people actually decided to become Jews in the days leading up to their potential harm! (See Esth. 8:21). The book revolves around a plot to exterminate every living Jew, yet, because of God’s loyalty to Abraham, there are more Jews at the end of the story than there were at the beginning! However, the book does not explicitly give God the credit for this. Why? Because God had promised that He would hide His face during the time of their punishment.In the middle of the whole story is a young orphan named Esther, whose name is derived from the Babylonian god Ishtar. Yet every Hebrew who read Esther could see the four consonants in her name, אסתר, which form the title of the book and be continually reminded of God’s promise to אַסְתִּ֤יר (Hide Himself) during their punishment. This would bring comfort as they remembered that God kept all of His promises, for He saved them just as He promised Abraham, but He did it from behind the scenes because of what He promised Moses. 

I love Esther; it strengthens my faith that God sovereignly works behind the scenes of history to keep His promises and orchestrate the salvation and multiplication of His people. When God seems distant, I can be confident that “He knows, He is there, and He is working” (Douglass). Most importantly, I can remember that in God’s protection of Esther and the Israelites, He spared the line of the Promised Messiah, who came 2,000 years ago to suffer separation from His Father and bless all the families of the earth with salvation from sin and death!

Bibliography:

Douglass, Rob. Psalm 139 – He Knows, He’s Here, He works. Blue Letter Bible Rob Douglass Media
NASB. The Bible. New American Standard Version. Lockman, 1995.
Redditt, Paul. L. “Esther.” Theological Interpretation of the Old Testament: A Book-by-Book Survey. Kevin Vanhoozer, Craig Bartholomew, and Daniel Treier, eds. Baker, 2008, pp. 142-47.
Wells, Samual and George Summer. Esther and Daniel. Brazos, 2013.
Wechsler, Michael G. Commentary on Esther.
Wechsler, Michael G. Shadow and Fulfillment In The Book of Esther. Bibiotheca Sacra 154 July- Septemer 1997.

An Incredible Sendoff

… Yet, this alone is the true life of a Christian-its source, its sustenance, its fashion, its end, all gathered up in one word-Christ Jesus. Lord, accept me; I here present myself, praying to live only in thee and to thee. Let me be as the bullock which stands between the plough and the altar, to work or to be sacrificed; and let my motto be, “Ready for either.”Morning and Evening, January 7th, Charles H. Spurgeon

Dear Friends, Family, and Loved Ones,

Through this passage of Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon the Lord spoke to me at the beginning of the fast we started as a church in California to begin the new year right before I moved Peru. As I was denying my flesh its natural desires and about to leave my family and comforts for another country, the Lord spoke so clearly and outlined how my mentality should be moving away from home. This kind of preparation and communion with the Lord sums up my last few weeks leading up to the move. The Lord has spoken so clearly and so much, I feel like the most blessed man on the planet. Not just that, but all the prayers, support, and love I have received makes me hardly able to contain my joy and shock. I truly believe I am one of the most privileged missionaries ever to be sent out.

Of the many other confirmations, I want to share a specific one that was so clear and simple. Last year I shared how I received a prophetic word from a pastor who prayed for me during the week of fasting we had. I never met the man, but he described a vision of me being a sprinkler of water to children in a front yard, giving them the water of the Word. Additionally, that God was going to fulfill my desire for children. This was a clear answer to my prayers of whether I should pursue the calling to rescuing and caring for children in trafficking. This month, during the week of prayer and fasting, another man prayed for me (who I also did not know). After asking me if I knew God’s calling for my life, he said, “do not put it off, do it now, by continuing in that calling.” While having the same kind of urgency as proverbs 6:4. This confirmation to not delay helped fix my gaze concretely on the place and work God has called me to.

Below are some last moments I shared before moving. The first is of my Sending Sunday at CC Saving Grace, my last Sunday before moving to Peru, when the children prayed for me. The other photo was a going away party with the Spanish Ministry, which was a huge blessing.

The children from church about to pray for me on my last Sunday
Going away party with CC Saving Grace Spanish Ministry!

Living in Peru!

View out my window on the plane to Peru

To be fair, I already lived in Trujillo for most of 2023, while I studied at Calvary Bible Institute. But moving full time to serve in ministry is a very different experience! I left Southern California January 18th with a one-way ticket to Peru. I got greeted with news that the church would also be doing a week-long fast to seek the Lord! If I didn’t just finish the one in California, I probably would have laughed. Either way, I decided to follow the fast as best I could while we were doing construction work on Pastor Cory’s house. It was difficult, but at the end I felt a great inner strength and anointed for the new life and ministry in Peru. It was only towards the end of that fast that I realized it was actually an answer to prayer. The last few months leading up to my move to Peru I asked the Lord to provide time before going into full-time ministry that I could use for my own “wilderness experience”, like Jesus before He started ministry. Definitely not to be tempted by the devil, but to have time alone with the Lord to be strengthened and filled with the Holy Spirit. Well, somehow in all the busyness of moving, God had made the way for it, even if it wasn’t completely alone, I got to seek the Lord and deny my flesh with my home fellowship in California and new fellowship in Peru.

A Beautiful Oasis

If you know anything about my new home city, Trujillo, Peru, you know it is not the best place to live. As the largest city in the North of Peru, it houses 1,000,000 people. The problem is, as a costal desert, it gets close to zero rain all year. It is a very hot, dry, and dusty, and has the worst UV rays on the planet besides some parts of Africa, with levels commonly being at 11. The developing tan city can sometimes make me feel depressed. But one morning as I was spending time in worship, the Lord gave me a picture in my mind of beautifully vibrant grass hills, with a strong tree next to a stream. It was like a mental picture of Psalm 1. That brought me a great wave of peace and joy. Then, as I looked over at the city, in my mind I saw the whole city green with trees and rolling hills. It is a mental picture I take with me everywhere I go. Because, although the city may still be a dry desert, the Lord is with me, and wherever I go I am a tree planted by still waters!

Later that day on my taxi ride, I made small talk with the driver. As I asked where he was from, he began for almost 5 minutes to describe how green hills, trees, and big rivers surround the city he used to live in Venezuela. It immediately reminded me of the picture I had in my mind that morning of Trujillo, and I could tell the Lord had brought me to this man for a reason. Afterwards I shared my testimony and the gospel with him. As I began to share how I had hated my sin, but didn’t have power over it, like Paul in Romans 7, he yelled out, “Yes! That is exactly my problem!”. I then got to share about the victory I found in Jesus Christ, and all the amazing promises of Romans 8. I get to have these opportunities to share the gospel with taxi drivers almost every other day, so please be praying for many of them to receive salvation!

Working Hard

As soon as I arrived to Peru, I began working with Calvary Trujillo and interning at the Bible School. I am also taking two classes leftover from when I first studied here. One of the first projects we started when I arrived was constructing walls for Pastor Cory’s first story on his home. His house is directly on the beach and the salt from the ocean goes straight through the bottom of the house, destroying the little room down there, as well as his car. It is the most corrosive place I have ever seen. So we built walls to help keep moisture out. We are also doing lots of construction projects around the Bible School as well. This is a big part of mission work and serving in full time ministry- whatever needs to get done, you just do it! And God has been blessing us the whole way.

Putting up walls between the stilts on the first story to keep moisture out

Casa Calvary & Other Needs

In other news, we have been looking for a property for the children’s home. The non-profit has been legally created, and we have called it “Casa Calvary.” Though we are mostly in limbo as we look for a property, in the mean time, we have had other opportunities come up. One of them is a boys home which needs help. The orphanage, called “Ninos del Mundo”, was officially dissolved a few months ago. The problem is, the 6 teenage boys who live there have no where else to go, so they have been staying at the orphanage even though there it legally no longer exists. The food and lights are paid for by one man’s family business. Most of these boys will mostly be independent in 4 years, and our vision being really for trafficked children means we are looking for a temporary solution for them. I will be personally visiting and discipling them weekly as well as we seek out how we can take care of/provide a good place for these boys. I am expectant for the Lord to work mightily.

Calling All Partners!

It is my honor to connect you, my sisters and brothers of the American Church, to all God is doing on the mission field, and show you the fruit of your work through me! If you would like get more involved in this work, there are different ways you can partner with with me as I seek to fulfill my call to rescue and care for children in trafficking.

One way you can support is through joining my Signal group. This is where I send prayer requests and more frequent updates on my life in the mission field of Peru! You can join this group by responding to this email.

Another important way to partner is financially. If you feel lead to become a financial partner, you can give through the link found at the bottom of this news letter! It is by your generosity that I am provided for on the field and available to give my all in this new work.

Praise Reports

  • The incredibly blessed sendoff I got leaving to Peru!
  • A quick and (mostly) easy transition, and the quick improving of my Spanish
  • All the opportunities to share the gospel to taxi drivers
  • Being able to bless pastor Cory with a closed space under his home
  • An incredible start to a new, very full, semester at CBI. 

Prayer Requests

  • Grace, mercy, and peace as I begin to assist Cory with things related to the children home and discipling the teenage boys, interning at the CBI, and finishing my last class
  • To learn much from a conference I will be attending this February 20-22 in Trujillo about equipping people to take care of children from traumatic backgrounds.
  • Wisdom for how we can help the teenage boys from Ninos del Mundo.
  • The perfect property for the children’s home, and all the different resources that we will need

The Fire Within us, Around us, and Before us

“For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but (a Spirit) of power and love and self-control.”
2 Timothy 1:6-7 ESV

In this passage of scripture The Apostle Paul is encouraging and instructing his disciple Timothy not to be afraid of what he (Timothy) may have to endure for his faith in Jesus. And to remember what and Who lives with in him. (1 COR 3:16) 

The Spirit of God was living in Him, The One who has created all things and is called a Consuming Fire. (HEB 12:29)
Who has chosen us to be His vessels and dwelling place in the earth.
He who by His divine power was working in Paul’s life, Timothy’s life and now ours.
To take the burning light of The Gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.
(ACTS 1:8)

(WEEK OF PRAYER AND FASTING)

Hello Beloved, I pray this update finds you in peace and in the love of God.

January began with a beautiful time of fanning to flame our faith as a church and preparing our bodies, minds, hearts and souls; for all that The Lord wanted to do in us and through us for 2025. We fasted and prayed for a week as a church, the type and length was your choice but as a community we set our face to seek God and pray. We prayed for America, Our Government, The Church and The World. It was a time of humbling ourselves before God seeking Him to heal the land and a time for us to be unified as The Body of Christ.

(MINISTRY OPPURTUNITITES)

God has also given me awesome ministry opportunities. Our Missions School was invited to several conferences where we setup a booth to stir others up for missions, and I was also invited to speak with a friend at a mission’s week at a Christian middle school.
The first conference was a Church Planting Conference to learn about biblical church planting. The second was an Expository Preaching Conference held by John Miller and Skip Heitzig. My favorite opportunity by far was the Missions Week at the Christian Middle School, me and my friend got to share about Southern Asia and The Great Commission, getting the next generation fired up for Jesus and the lost.

(Pray for L.A)

As many of you know L.A experienced one of the worst wildfires in its history, that evacuated over 200,000 people from their homes, that burned over 57,660 acres in total and destroyed 16,000 structures in counting and took 29 lives. It is very tragic.
The area I live in was not affected, but I was able to join a relief team hosted by Calvary Chapel Monrovia. We went into the affected areas and ministered with food and supplies to emergency responder’s and people in the community who stayed with their property. The fires are 100% contained, but prayers are still desperately needed for the restoration of and healing of the communities.

As sad as it was to see, it was a sobering reminder of the fate of this world. The first time God judged The Sin of the earth it was with water; the second time will be with fire. (2 PET 3:7) All of our homes, money, “treasures “all of it will be destroyed.
I spoke to one man who lived in the affected area and managed to save his home.
I asked him “if he knew Jesus? “
and after conversing a bit I realized he didn’t. And the sad reality set in. This man was able to save his temporary home… but if he died that day his eternal soul would’ve been destroyed in the fire that can’t be quenched. (MARK 8:36)

We must tell the world about Jesus, for there is salvation in no one and nothing else.

Prayer Requests:

  • That God would save thousands upon thousands of Children, Women and Men across the world
  • That God would reveal where He would have me serve long-term
  • For my walk with Jesus to remain intimate and that I would abide in Him
  • That God would protect and provide spiritually, physically, and financially
  • That I would walk in His perfect will for my life
  • That God would help me to clear my debt

If you have any prayer requests, please click “respond” at the end of my newsletter, and it will be sent directly to my email: Haggstromdeprii@gmail.com.

I want to thank everyone who has partnered with me. I am so excited to share this journey with you all as we fulfill the Great Commission together. 

Stay tuned for all that the Lord is doing!
If you would like to partner with me as I serve with Saving Grace World Missions, a giving link will be posted below.

And may we all continue to faithfully follow, love, obey, and walk with the Lion and the Lamb.
God bless,
Giving Link:https://www.shelbygiving.com/App/Form/11d132d-b68e-4cfe-a719-1e35c951f5ea

God Desires That No One Should Perish! – Prakash Update February 2025

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

2 Peter 3:9

Romans 3:22 says, “Even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference.”

Christmas Outreaches

As we usually do, last year in November, we organized some Gospel outreaches in three different cities. The outreaches were very joyful. People came from all around.

Christmas Celebration at our Bible Church. 

The church members invited their neighbors, relatives and those who lived near the church so that they could have an opportunity to hear about Jesus. Over 70 guests came besides our regular church members. Praise God for a great occasion to share Jesus with them.

Gospel outreach at Calvary Chapel

The people who live around the church came and heard the Gospel. We pray that God will draw them towards Him.

Blessings!

Prakash & Muna