It has been an incredibly busy and eventful first couple of months of 2025. There is much to share. We are grateful to God for all of His care. He reminds us that he does in 1 Peter 5:7 when he says: “Casting all your care upon him; forhecarethfor you.” How wonderful it is to know that He truly loves and cares for us.
NOTICE: We are officially on Medical Furlough. We hope it will not be more than six months as we have a great deal of work to do in Peru. God has given me a great staff of men and women whom we have trained for ministry, who are able to maintain the work as I manage from here for now. More details are in the family news section.
Ministry News
In January we had the privilege of hosting the R.O.M.A. mission board’s international training conference for their missionaries and missionary candidates. We are grateful for the facilities that we have here at Efata that allow us to serve other ministries as well as our own.
In February we had several things going on. We co-hosted our annual Fires of Evangelism conference in coordination with International Baptist Church. That was a great blessing. While this was going on, International Baptist was having their youth conference, and we were able to accommodate both conferences at the same time. There were over 500 in attendance for these.
At the same time, our Efata Deaf members went to camp. It was a great time for them. In all of this, there were souls saved, and decisions made.
During this time, we had our mass evangelism events in the northern city of Piura. Twice In two different weeks, members of Efata under the leadership of our asst. pastor Victor Ocampo traveled to Piura and partnered with local pastors and churches to distribute gospel tracts, Bibles, and New Testaments. Pastor Victor and others did evangelism training for the participating churches. Several hundred thousand pieces of material were distributed, and many were saved.
As well, we had our annual vacation Bible school. Our staff did a great job under the leadership of asst. pastor Jose Ugaz and his wife.
Family News
Unfortunately, I was not able to personally participate, as I had to come to the US for medical checkups. During these routine checkups, I was found to have a large blockage in my upper aorta above the heart. It was a very large blockage and would have translated to a heart attack at any time. I had been having strong symptoms of fatigue, loss of breath and no stamina for moderate work. I mentioned this to my doctor (just thinking it was part of getting old and not being in shape). He ordered a stress test, which they had to stop after one minute and a half. They sent me for a heart catheterization and found the blockage, fixed it with a stent during the same procedure, and after an night in the VA hospital, sent me home with follow-ups etc. In addition to all of this, I still need to get scheduled for cataract surgery in April.
Also, our daughter Jessica has been having swelling around her left eye since September. It was only once a month until December, and now it is every week. Sometimes her eye is swollen shut. In the past two months, Jessica has been hospitalized for five days, seen every kind of doctor and several specialists, has had multiple MRIs, Cat scans, Sonagrams, and blood tests checking for allergies, viruses and parasites, all to no avail. Thus, we have come home as a family to seek out help for her.
I want you to be aware that we will not be doing a great deal of traveling to churches during this medical furlough. It has been approved by my pastor and mission board; as opportunities arise and if we find ourselves in your area, I will try to reach out to you for a visit and update. Thank you for your understanding.
Please pray for all of this as we ourselves pray for wisdom and for God to connect us to the right doctors or hospitals for Jessica and that He will care for all the costs that are involved with all she will need. I am so grateful for the care I receive as a Navy Veteran from the VA. It amazes me to know that God has guided me in my life with decisions that have made it possible for me to get the care I have needed.
Lisa, Joel and Jennifer are doing great. We are so blessed to have wonderful prayer and support partners like all of you.
Dios siempre es bueno, y estamos agradecidos por su bondad hacia nosotros. Me recuerda lo que el Señor dijo acerca de Israel en los últimos días:
Porque muchos días estarán los hijos de Israel sin rey, sin príncipe, sin sacrificio, sin estatua, sin efod y sin terafines. Después volverán los hijos de Israel, y buscarán a Jehová su Dios, y a David su rey; y temerán a Jehová y a su bondad en el fin de los días.” – Oseas 3:4-5.
Nosotros, como Israel, ¡necesitamos reverenciar (temer) al Señor y a Su bondad hacia nosotros!
Seguimos trabajando en la construcción de la Iglesia en Chancay. Muchos han donado para este proyecto, y agradecemos tanto a todos ustedes. La Misión comenzará a utilizar el nuevo edificio en enero. Aún tenemos que instalar un tanque de agua, y estamos tramitando la conexión de la electricidad. Eso llevará tiempo, pero estamos trabajando para lograr ese objetivo.
En octubre tuvimos un Día de la Familia maravilloso para la iglesia, donde tomamos fotos de cada familia en nuestra iglesia y disfrutamos de una comida deliciosa.
En noviembre, tuvimos nuestra Conferencia Bíblica anual. Pastor Scott Crabtree, Pastor Sordo de la Iglesia Bautista Signs of Life en Ohio, predicó a nuestros sordos, y Evangelista William Jeffcoat vino y predicó a nuestros miembros oyentes. Ambas conferencias fueron maravillosas con muchas decisiones tomadas.
Empezamos otro anexo ministerial en el distrito de Lurín, justo al sur nuestro. Esperamos con emoción ver lo que Dios hará en esta nueva área. Uno de nuestros graduados de seminario del año pasado lidera a este ministerio.
Este año, dos estudiantes sordas de nuestro Instituto Bíblico para Sordos y una estudiante de nuestro Seminario se graduarán.
Ha sido un gran año para salvaciones, bautizos y dedicaciones de bebés. Culminando este año, esperamos con ansias el siguiente. Hay mucho por hacer. Se viene el campamento de sordos y la Conferencia de Fuegos de Evangelismo en febrero. También tenemos otra campaña de evangelismo masivo programada para enero.
Una gran dificultad que hemos enfrentado se trata de nuestra misión en Callao, cerca del aeropuerto. Hemos estado tratando con la municipalidad durante muchos años, abogando por el título de propiedad de la tierra que nos fue donada en 1987. Desafortunadamente, el actual alcalde pretende reapropiarse de tierras sin título de propiedad para otros fines.
Hemos luchado con eso por mucho tiempo. Hace dos semanas, el municipio anuló las resoluciones que tenemos de años anteriores, dejándolas sin efecto. Ahora estamos trabajando con abogados para resolver esto. Dado que tenemos posesión del terreno por más de 30 años y hemos pagado todos los impuestos manteniendo los arbitrios al día, no pueden expulsarnos de la propiedad. Nuestros derechos de posesión durante más de 10 años deberían darnos una posición legal favorable en los tribunales, para eventualmente ganar y obtener nuestro título. Estamos en espera. Esta situación no nos permite construir espacios muy necesarios, ya que no deseamos construir presuntamente donde, por alguna extraña casualidad, podríamos perder el terreno ante el gobierno. Es probable que esta demanda dure muchos años. Les pedimos que consideren este asunto en oración regular. Les mantendré informados al respeto.
Noticias de la familia
La familia está bien. Lisa y yo acabamos de visitar a los Estados Unidos por unos días para la graduación de nuestra hija Joy del Entrenamiento Básico de la USAF. Ell está en la Guardia Nacional Aérea. Estará en entrenamiento activo hasta finales del próximo año.
Joel, Jessica y Jennifer están muy bien. Jessica y Jennifer tocan sus instrumentos en la pequeña orquesta de la iglesia y cantan en el coro. También ayudan en el culto infantil.
Una vez más, gracias por todo lo que hacen por nosotros y por su oración y cuidado. Gracias por las ofrendas navideñas para nuestro ministerio y familia. Que tengan una bendita Navidad y Año Nuevo.
God is always good, and we are grateful for that goodness towards us. It reminds me of what the Lord said about Israel in the latter days:
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days. – Hosea 3:4-5.
We, like Israel, need to reverence (fear) the Lord and His goodness towards us!
We continue to work on our Church building project in Chancay. Many have given to this project and we are so grateful to all of you. The Mission will begin using the new building in January. We still have a water tank to install and are doing paperwork for the electricity to be connected. That will take some time, but we are working towards that goal.
In October we had a wonderful Family Day for the church where we took pictures of all our church families and had a lovely meal on the grounds.
In November, we had our annual Bible Conference. Pastor Scott Crabtree, Deaf Pastor of Signs of Life Baptist Church in Ohio preached to our Deaf, and Evangelist William Jeffcoat came and preached to our hearing members. Both conferences were wonderful with many decisions made.
We started another annex outreach in the town of Lurín just south of us. We are looking forward to what God will do in this new area. One of our Bible College graduates from last year is heading up this ministry.
This year, two Deaf students from our Deaf Bible Institute and one student from our Bible College will be graduating.
This year has been a great year for salvations, baptisms and baby dedications. As we close this year, we look forward to the next. There is so much to do. We look forward to Deaf camp and the Fires of Evangelism Conference in February. We also have another mass evangelism campaign scheduled for January.
One great difficulty that we have been facing is with our annex mission in Callao near the airport. We have been dealing with the municipality for many years to advocate for the title to the land that was donated to us in 1987. Unfortunately, the current mayor is trying to reappropriate untitled land back into their control for other purposes.
We have been in the battle for a long time. Two weeks ago, the municipality annulled the resolutions that we have from former years making them of no effect. We are now working with lawyers to deal with this. Since we have had possession of this land for over 30 years and we have paid all of the taxes and kept them up to date, they cannot kick us off the property and our rights of possession for over 10 years should give us favorable standing in the courts, legally speaking, to eventually win and obtain our title. We are basically in a holding pattern that does not allow us to build any much-needed space as we do not wish to presumptively build where by some weird happenstance, we could lose that land to the government. This lawsuit will probably go on for many years. We ask that you make it a matter of regular prayer. I will keep you up to date on this issue.
Family News
The family is doing well. Lisa and I just went to the States for a few days for the graduation of our daughter Joy from USAF Basic Training. She is in the Air National Guard. She will be on active training duty until late next year.
Joel, Jessica and Jennifer are doing great. Jessica and Jennifer are playing their instruments in the small church orchestra and singing in the choir. They also help in children’s church.
Thanks again for all that you do for us with your prayer and care. Thank you for the Christmas offerings for our ministry and family. Have a blessed Christmas and New Year.
Regocijamos en todo lo que Dios hace. Como dice el Salmo 27: “Una cosa he demandado a Jehová, esta buscaré; Que esté yo en la casa de Jehová todos los días de mi vida, Para contemplar la hermosura de Jehová, y para inquirir en su templo.” A través de la oración, tenemos la bendición de “estar en la casa del Jehová” diariamente. Es nuestra fortaleza.
Como saben, venimos recaudando fondos para construir un nuevo templo para nuestra obra misionera en Chancay. Ya recaudamos la mayor parte de lo que necesitamos. Se vertió la base de concreto y el piso para el auditorio, los baños y cuatro aulas. Se colocaron las paredes exteriores y el techo, y estamos comenzando la siguiente fase de instalación de ventanas, puertas, electricidad, plomería, paredes interiores y plataforma con el baptisterio. Ya compramos 200 sillas.
Aún tenemos que recaudar los fondos para levantar las paredes de las cuatro aulas, completar los baños e instalar sistema séptico y cisterna.
Gracias a todos los que colaboraron para este proyecto. Gozamos en todo lo que Dios nos ha permitido lograr y esperamos completar esta primera fase, que incluye la estructura, los baños, el sistema séptico y el sistema de agua en las próximas semanas.
Tuvimos otra campaña de evangelización masiva en la ciudad de Arequipa en julio. Un equipo nuestro en coordinación con otras iglesias en Lima y Arequipa distribuyeron 200,000 tratados evangelísticos y decenas de miles de Nuevos Testamentos y Biblias. Muchos fueron salvos con el testimonio de nuestra gente en las calles, en las estaciones de policía, hospitales, edificios gubernamentales y escuelas.
Haremos esto nuevamente en octubre en Piura en el norte de Perú. Nos encanta poder llegar a todo Perú con el Evangelio. Gracias a Faith Baptist Church en Tacoma, WA, al pastor Mark Smith y al pastor hispano Gabriel Durán por todo su apoyo y ayuda proporcionando Biblias para estos dos proyectos.
En agosto, mi familia y un grupo grande de Efata viajamos a Arequipa en un viaje misionero para visitar a nuestros misioneros Wilder y Ruth Rojas. Fue de gran bendición ayudarlos en su nueva iglesia misionera, proporcionar ropa y juguetes a su comunidad, y predicar el Evangelio. Después de nuestra visita, el hermano Wilder me llamó informándome que la asistencia a la iglesia se había más que duplicado y que no tenían espacio. Pudimos aumentar su apoyo para que pudiera alquilar la otra mitad del edificio que había estado alquilando.
Justo después de nuestro viaje, tuvimos un campamento de música en Efata. Participaron más de 70 estudiantes adultos y jóvenes. Hermano Joan Zamora fue nuestro maestro principal. Dos jóvenes de los EE.UU. y otros de Perú ayudaron a enseñar canto, violín, piano y otros instrumentos. Decidí retomar la trompeta después de casi 28 años, y ha sido muy divertido. Dos semanas después, tuve el honor de tocar la trompeta en un especial con Joseph al piano, Joy (de visita desde los EE.UU.) en el clarinete, Jessica tocando la viola y Jennifer el violín. ¡Todavía estoy aprendiendo, pero fue hermoso!
La primera semana de septiembre, Efata fue la anfitriona de la Escuela de Pastores con la Iglesia Bautista Internacional del Perú. Esta fue una semana intensa; predicadores y líderes de muchas ciudades de Perú y otros países vinieron para recibir capacitación pastoral y predicación de pastores y misioneros experimentados de Perú, Puerto Rico, México y los EE.UU.. Alojamos a más de 80 personas en Efata. Asistieron cientos, muchos fueron salvos y tomaron decisiones por Cristo.
Estaré en los Estados durante el mes de septiembre interpretando en conferencias misioneras en todo Georgia para el pastor Henry Vásquez, nuestro pastor nacional en Chancay (para quien estamos construyendo el templo) y un pastor nacional de Bolivia.
Noticias de la familia
Dios está bendiciendo a nuestra familia; nuestros hijos se mantienen ocupados en la escuela y las actividades de la iglesia. Gracias por sus oraciones tan necesarias.
We rejoice in all that God does and is doing. As Psalm 27 states: “One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.” Through prayer, we have the blessed ability to “dwell in the House of the Lord” daily. It is our strength.
As you know, we have been raising support to build a new church building for our mission work in Chancay. We have raised most of what we need. The concrete foundation and floor was poured for the main church auditorium, bathrooms, and for the four classrooms. The outer walls and roof have been put up and we are starting the next phase of installing the windows, doors, electricity, plumbing, and interior walls and platform with the baptistry. We have already purchased 200 chairs.
We still must raise the funds to build the walls of the four new classrooms, complete the bathrooms, and install a septic system and a water cistern.
Thank you to all who have given toward this project. We rejoice in all that God has allowed us to accomplish and look forward to completing this first phase, including the primary church building, bathrooms, septic and water systems, in the coming weeks.
We had another mass evangelism outreach in the city of Arequipa in July. A team from our church with the coordination of other churches in Lima and Arequipa were able to distribute 200,000 Gospel tracts and tens of thousands of New Testaments and whole Bibles. Many were saved as our people preached on the streets, in police stations, hospitals, government buildings and schools.
We will be doing this again in October in Piura, another city in the north of Peru. We are thrilled to be able to reach out all over Peru with the Gospel. Thank you to Faith Baptist Church in Tacoma, WA, Pastor Mark Smith, and Spanish pastor Gabriel Duran for all of their support and help in providing the Bibles for these two outreaches.
In August, my family and a large group from Efata traveled to Arequipa on a mission trip to visit one of our missionaries, Wilder and Ruth Rojas. It was such a blessing to help them in their new mission church and provide clothing and toys to their community and preach the Gospel. After our visit, Bro. Wilder called me to inform me that the attendance at the church had more than doubled and they were completely out of space. We were able to increase his support so he could rent the other half of the building he has been renting.
Right after our mission trip, we had Music Camp at Efata. More than 70 students, both adults and young people, participated. Bro. Joan Zamora was our primary instructor. Two young ladies from the US and others from Peru helped teach voice, violin, piano, and other instruments. I decided to take up the trumpet again after almost 28 years. It has been fun. Two weeks later, I had the honor to play the trumpet in a special with Joseph at the piano, Joy (visiting from the States) playing clarinet, Jessica playing the viola and Jennifer the violin. I am still learning but it was beautiful!
The first week of September, Efata hosted Pastor’s School for International Baptist Church of Peru. This was an intense week where preachers and leaders from many cities in Peru and other countries come for pastoral training and preaching. Experienced Pastors and missionaries from Peru, Puerto Rico, Mexico and the US. come and preach and teach. We housed well over 80 people at Efata. Hundreds attended, many were saved and many other decisions for Christ were made.
I am in the States for the month of September interpreting in mission conferences all over GA for Pastor Henry Vasquez, our national pastor in Chancay (for whom we are building the church) and a national pastor from Bolivia.
Family News
God is blessing our family; our children are keeping busy in school and church activities. Thank you for your needed prayers.
