Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. – Isaiah 26:3
Greetings from Peru! We pray that all of you have had a wonderful Christmas and New Year season with your families, friends and churches.
Ministry News
This has been a wonderful year. The church has grown. We have sent out missionaries, we have experienced growth and maturity of our members, and we have had more people saved and baptized than any other year previously. Our Bible institute had our first graduation with one deaf and one hearing man graduating.
Our school year has come to a close here in Peru and many of our deaf students who live in the provinces are on their way home to be with their families for the first time since school began. It is a blessing to have a part in their lives. Many of these children have trusted Christ as Savior. We rejoice in this and ask that you pray for them as many go back to families who do not know the Lord. We are the home for 11 deaf children who have no place to go. What a blessing we can be here for them.
Please pray for our school. The government has changed many laws related to the education of deaf children. This has greatly affected us and we are diligently working to resolve several issues that have the potential of shutting us down for at least a year. This would be devastating to the children that we serve and their families. If we cannot come to an understanding with the Ministry of Education, this will set back years of work. Efata Christian School has been serving the Peruvian Deaf for over 40 years. We were doing it when no one else cared about the Deaf or their education, let alone their spiritual well-being. We have seen more parents saved this year and actively involved with their children and many coming to church.
The blessing about being a Christian is that we do not fight these battles alone. We have a Heavenly Father who is intimately involved in our lives and cares and as the verse above states: He will keep us in perfect peace. He is in control. We will work hard to obtain a solution while we rest in the LORD to provide wisdom to us as He works on the “king’s heart”!
Family News
On the family front; we will be coming to the States on Feb. 18th until July 11th. We have a very full schedule with very limited openings left. We will not be able to visit all of our wonderful supporters. We have been able to schedule with all who asked for us to come by and visit. If you would like for us to visit and we are going to be in your area; we will do all we can to make it happen. Just contact me.
Thank you for your steady and faithful support for us and this work. This economic situation in America has affected all of us. Not only has our support dropped, but In Peru, the exchange rate has dropped as well and with inflation taking its toll, we have a whole lot less “bang for the buck”. What is wonderful about this situation, is watching how God miraculously provides for our needs. He gives us wisdom daily to meet our daily needs and He gives us handfuls of purpose just when we need it most!
We are honored to be your missionaries working in Peru and beyond. We look forward to seeing many of you soon. We look forward to 2012 if for no other reason but to watch how God, our Heavenly father is going to mold and provide for us as we serve Him.
God Bless,
Bro. Joe & Lisa
Joseph, Julianne, James, Jared, Judson, Joy, John, Joel, Jessica, Jennifer