SOMETHING GREATER IS HERE
“But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here.”
- Jesus (Matthew 12:6 NASB)
Thank you for taking a few moments to read this newsletter and lift us up in prayer. We’re excited to share some recent updates from the ministry here in Peru, as well as prayer requests for our family and the ministry. God bless you!
Racquell with our sister-in-law Andrea and all the kids on the bus. Pray for the roads here!
This past month, we really enjoyed serving with and among our church family here in Trujillo. From birthdays and baby showers, to visiting archaeological sites, to evangelizing with the students here at CBI Peru…these past few weeks have been full.
On October 31st, Calvary Trujillo hosted a “Festival of Light.” We invited the church and community to enjoy a night of fun games, food, and fellowship in a safe environment. It was a family event but we had specific areas and activities for young children and jr.-sr. high youth. It was a blast.
Amalia next to one of the CBI Peru students. Tons of fun!
We peeled potatoes and prepped a bunch of food for the event. Not pictured are the bajillion balloons that Racquell blew up and installed as decoration.
Sometimes we forget how blessed we are to have family in Christ here with us in Peru. There’s other American missionaries serving here too, but we’re all here to serve and love the Latinos.
Recently we got invited to a birthday party and a baby shower for some of our close friends, and it meant so much to us. Here, generally lunch is “late” and when you get invited to something at a certain hour, it really means the food will be prepped much later. It makes for longer parties, and it’s great to connect.
All these ladies pictured are part of the one of the two Calvary churches here in Trujillo. Racquell decorates and gets to cultivate great friendships. Thank You Jesus!
This month I also got to visit Moche, a district of Trujillo that has archaeological sites dating back to 100 AD. I got to take some men who volunteer with me on the church’s YouTube and Spotify ministry. We learned about the old Mochica culture…those people were so lost without the gospel of Jesus.
Ruins of an old temple made to worship the sun and other idols. These mud bricks are as old as the Book of Revelation in the Bible.
Bible college students with youth boys who CHOSE JESUS. PTL!
Evangelism with the Bible college is one of my favorite things. On this day our group walked up to the catholic sanctuary near our house.
These boys were too ashamed to go in to the “mass” with their bikes. So we talked with them about Jesus right outside the Catholic Church — and they chose to follow Him! They had a friend standing by who didn’t want to listen — please pray for these young men and their friend.
Here’s our new friend, Salvador. He comes to youth group. He lives really far away and has a difficult home situation. Please pray he makes good friends.
God has been opening up doors for the gospel with the youth here. There’s two schools who want our church to come do assemblies for their students. One of the schools reported recent cases of the students having drugs and weapons on campus.
It’s clear that the youth are in need of something of substance. With this in mind, we cling to Jesus. He said three times in Matthew 12 “…Something greater than ___ has come.” Jesus is greater than the temple, greater than Solomon in all his wisdom, and greater than Jonah and his message — Jesus is simply greater.
Jesus is who this world needs. His wisdom is greater than the world’s, and His message greater than any other.
Pastor Joaquin and I got to meet with a police officer and school director. The director doesn’t know what to do for her troubled students, but knows they need something spiritual. WE PLAN TO GIVE THEM JESUS!
Jesus is GREATER!
We’ve mentioned in our previous newsletter about our trips to the US Embassy in Lima, 10 hours away. God is good, and gave us grace with Petra’s passport. We have it! We’re just waiting for her birth certificate.
Travel to Lima is costly but I was able to make good use of the time on my last trip by also making progress with my Peruvian drivers’ license. To keep it brief, let me just tell you that Peru loves their processes, and always has a way of surprising us with another layer of bureaucracy. But God’s grace is sufficient! And it’s worth it for Jesus — who is GREATER than them all.
The US Embassy in Lima. We’ll be back here soon.
Please join us in praying for:
Salvador and the rest of our youth group
The two schools where we have opportunities (and for more opportunities at schools!)
The young boys on their bikes who chose to follow Jesus
Laborers for the harvest
FAMILY THINGS:
Shepherding our daughters with great grace and good discipline
Provision. We have had inordinate costs recently: buying a dryer for our apartment, big maintenance on our car (again), travel to the US Embassy for baby Petra’s documents, etc.
Humility
We love you all and thank you for partnering with us. Through your prayers and generous financial support, you’ve made this ministry possible for us. This is the fruit of your labor as well. If Jesus leads you to partner with us financially, or increase your already generous support, you can do so by clicking on the “Give” button or mailing your support check to:
*Note “Stratton” in memo*
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