Praises and Progress:

◆  Purity Covenant:  Throughout September, we had a time of emphasis and teaching on purity for the young people of our church.  At the end of the month, we held a special service in which 9 young people covenanted between themselves and God to keep themselves pure, both physically and spiritually.  Pastor Henry Sucapuca from Arequipa was able to come with his family to preach for the service.  Please pray that these young people will be shining testimonies in their communities.

◆ Ladies Conference: Last week, 7 ladies from our church (including Sara) were able to travel to the city of Ica for a ladies conference.  It was a long trip (16 hours), but they enjoyed a good time of learning and fellowship.  I think the dads and husbands who stayed behind with the children also had a week of learning…how important the wife and mother is in the home!  It was definitely a fun and busy week for all.

◆  Spiritual Growth: We have seen the new Christians continue to take “baby steps” forward in their Christian walk.  Oscar and Natasha followed the Lord in believer’s baptism.  A few more are wanting to be baptized as well.  We have been able to give several of them new Bibles, which instead of “collecting dust,” are being read on a daily basis.  We continue to have men’s discipleship on Friday evenings with the new men.  Please pray specifically for Oscar, Natasha, Monica, John, and Leo to grow in the things of the Lord.  Monica’s teenage daughter, Valeria, has also made a profession of faith.  We are praying for these new Christians as they desire to reach out to their friends and families.

◆  Discouragement: While we have seen spiritual growth, the Devil has not been standing idly by.  Several people in our church are going through times of discouragement.  Please pray for them to submit themselves to the Lord (James 4:7) and return to church.  It’s a tough lesson to learn, but we must be careful, with the Lord’s help, to never leave our first love  (Rev. 2:4).

◆  Looking Ahead:  Please pray for our church as we reach out to the community in this upcoming Christmas season and summer break (Dec.-Feb.).  We have many things planned and much work to do, but we feel very blessed to have the opportunity to serve here.  Just last Saturday, we were privileged to have 75 children in the 3 Bible clubs.  Our prayer is to be a direct blessing to both the children and their parents, and that we would see decisions made for Christ and spiritual growth.

New Opportunity!
Sara and I had the privilege several weeks ago to go to a public school where one of our church ladies teaches.  We were able to spend about a half an hour teaching the 5-6 year olds the parable of the “Lost Sheep.”  Please pray that God would continue to open doors in the public schools here in Tacna to teach both children and parents about God’s Word, and that It would find a lodging in their hearts and lives.

Thank you for your faithfulness in praying and giving toward the work in Peru.  We could not possibly do what we do here without your help.  Our hearts emanate what Paul’s did in Philippians 1:3, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you…” Let’s all continue working, faithful to Him, until Jesus comes back!
May the Lord bless you richly!

En el amor de Cristo (in the love of Christ),
Robert, Sara, Josiah, Caleb, Joshua, Lydia, and Zachary Stover