Dear Family and Friends,
We are glad to share in all the big news that has been happening here in Peru.
Belen ministry: We finally started the cooking classes in the orphanage. There are 20 girls from the ages of 15 to 17 who are taking this special cooking course. Everyone is so thrilled, even the kitchen volunteers want to participate in these classes! Thanks to the City Hall the girls who finish 100 hours will receive a government certificate. This certificate will enable them to find a nice job when they turn 18 and they have to leave the orphanage. It’s amazing how the Lord works! 50 percent of the girls in the cooking classes are girls that didn’t want to attend the Bible classes. These Bible classes were being taught by Natalia and the ladies from the Church. After we started these cooking classes for these young ladies, they are seeing the love that we have for Christ and for them. Now they are more open to talk with us and trust in us more.
First Medical mission 2018! This was a very tiring few days but we were very blessed to have an amazing eye doctor from John Hopkins along with a few others from the states, working with us at the local hospital. The team came for only 3 days and checked on many of the local patients. The doctor and his team have scheduled 30 of these patients for cataract surgery. The surgeries will be taking place in June. Our God has everything under control and He works everything according to His perfect plan. We saw many people coming to see the eye doctor and we were able to show the love of Jesus to them. After the medical campaign was done, we invited the local hospital’s doctors and workers to pray with us. One of the local doctors opened his heart out and shared with us about a very personal problem involving someone in his family. He was crying out and asking for prayers! We are looking forward to seeing what the Lord is going to do in June!
Men’s bible study: We are excited to share that we had our first men’s retreat! It was also the way we started our new men’s Bible study group. On Saturday’s from 6-8pm we have a nice time of fellowship with dinner and a study of the word. Right now I am leading the guys through 1 John. It’s great to see a group of 15 men growing in the Faith together.
Women’s breakfast and Bible study: This ministry is going very well. Many of the women started coming only to the breakfast study but now they are also coming to the Sunday services. It’s exciting to see all these women coming to learn more about God’s will in their lives and falling in love with Jesus. We definitely are witnessing a change in each person’s life! This makes all the hard work worth it!
English classes: Every week we have new people coming to learn English, but the most exciting thing is that some of them end up coming to church to learn about God’s word! The past 2 people that have started coming to the English classes are 2 refugees from Venezuela. We can see the pain in their eyes when they talk about the situation in Venezuela. We were able to sing happy birthday to one of them in the last class. Then we invited him to the men’s Bible study and he came. Actually both of the guys are coming to the study and also to the church!
Memorial service: John was asked to do a memo
rial for a Canadian that died here in Peru. His family wasn’t able to take his body back to Canada, so he was buried here in Cajamarca. We celebrated his life here with his Peruvian friends. They were really grateful. What we loved most about doing this memorial was that people who were around burying their loved ones were listening and paying attention to what we were sharing about Jesus and His love for us.
Sports club: We are currently playing baseball with the kids. They love learning this new sport! All of these kids are so precious. They really love Jesus so much and we love them! For Easter, we had a little party here at the house with these kids and we did an egg hunt with them. It was so much fun! We also taught that day about what Easter really means for us as Christians.
We continue serving at the local church. I still continuing to preach on occasional Sundays. Natalia is helping with the worship, and now our son Alejandro has started playing the piano for the worship time! We are so proud of him!
Family updates: Alejandro continues his music lessons and home schooling. He is really happy that he is getting to participate in the worship by playing the piano. Please pray for his heart to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and that he obeys with a happy heart.
Emily has started going to a daycare close to our house. In time she will be able to stay on her own with the other kids and the three teachers but for now Natalia is staying with her. We feel we don’t need to rush our little baby girl. We hope that in the future she will be able to stay there by herself. That will give us a little extra free time in the mornings, YAY! Please pray for health especially that we are going through the flu season right now.
Natalia is having a rough time with her health, but nothing is going to stop her from serving Jesus! She recently found out she has a fatty liver and has to be on a strict diet. Please pray for health, self control and contentment.
John-guidance and wisdom. To be a good leader for my family and the Church. Please pray that all of my Immigration paperwork is done correctly and that I will be able to receive my residency card.
We appreciate your love, support and your prayers.
The Gundersons