December 2007 e-letter

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Merry Christmas!

Peru Mission Christmas e-letter

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MRP Christmas Party

Peru Mission had a Festive Chrsitmas Dinner at Hotel Paraiso in Trujillo for the associates of Misión Reformada en el Perú (MRP) : Pastors & Elders at the 3 churches, Peru Mission Team Members, MRP Administration, University Ministers, SALI staff, Sinergia staff, Wichanzao Medical Clinic doctors & staff, Architects, Engineers, Music Development team members, etc. We "old-timers" were especially touched to look around and see how the Lord has blessed the Mission over the years...

For more pictures, check out Clara Lee's Picasa site.

Another Stellar Performance

Once again, the kids played in a marvelous violin concert last night. This concert was even better than the last because there was an orchestra backing them up. So, each kid played their solo, then the rest of the violins, violas & cellos joined in to play another round with them. They performed beautifully - even after they had to wait over an hour for a power outage to end to begin the show.


Since the concert was held downtown (in the Instituto Nacional de Cultura), we were able to wander over to the Plaza de Armas (Main Square) afterwards to take in the traditional Trujillo Christmas festivities. Each year various businesses put up big decorated trees on the Plaza and the city puts up its culturally adapted nativity scene (Mary & Joseph are wearing typical Trujillo clothing and the 3 wise men brought red bell peppers, white asparagus & rice - all Trujillo products). It was a delightful ending to a very special night!

Violin Concert Invitation

Oswald Chambers on Intercessory Prayer

. . . men always ought to pray and not lose heart —Luke 18:1

You cannot truly intercede through prayer if you do not believe in the reality of redemption. Instead, you will simply be turning intercession into useless sympathy for others, which will serve only to increase the contentment they have for remaining out of touch with God. True intercession involves bringing the person, or the circumstance that seems to be crashing in on you, before God, until you are changed by His attitude toward that person or circumstance. Intercession means to "fill up . . . [with] what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ" (Colossians 1:24 ), and this is precisely why there are so few intercessors. People describe intercession by saying, "It is putting yourself in someone else’s place." That is not true! Intercession is putting yourself in God’s place; it is having His mind and His perspective.

As an intercessor, be careful not to seek too much information from God regarding the situation you are praying about, because you may be overwhelmed. If you know too much, more than God has ordained for you to know, you can’t pray; the circumstances of the people become so overpowering that you are no longer able to get to the underlying truth.

Our work is to be in such close contact with God that we may have His mind about everything, but we shirk that responsibility by substituting doing for interceding. And yet intercession is the only thing that has no drawbacks, because it keeps our relationship completely open with God.

What we must avoid in intercession is praying for someone to be simply "patched up." We must pray that person completely through into contact with the very life of God. Think of the number of people God has brought across our path, only to see us drop them! When we pray on the basis of redemption, God creates something He can create in no other way than through intercessory prayer.

My Utmost for his Highest

By Oswald Chambers

December 13, 2007
Intercessory Prayer

Ladies Bible Study

We have a wonderful ladies' Bible study that meets together every Tuesday morning here in Trujillo. I seized this photo opportunity today since we were in our house - but, we were missing a few ladies because of sickness and/or scheduling conflicts. We share our lives, study Scripture and pray together. They are a great blessing to me and I thank the Lord for them! - Allen

The Ellisons are here!

Dale and Susan Ellison and their children, Caleb, Jacob, Rebekah, Zachary and Lauren, arrived in Trujillo last week after over 6 months of language school in Costa Rica. They are patiently waiting for their house to be repainted and readied - and for their shipment to arrive from the USA. Dale is a medical technologist and will be integrally involved in Peru Mission's medical ministry. We are excited that they have joined us. Please pray for their adjustment and ministry here.

1st SALI Graduation

On Saturday, December 1, 2007, Peru Mission witnessed the culmination of several years of hard labor in the San Agustin English Language Institute (SALI). We celebrated SALI’s first graduation! The evening was a very encouraging time for everyone.

We are proud to present to you our first SALI graduates:

Ana Haro Chalón
Carol Ponte Roncal
Cory Luz Marina Vásquez Valles
Juan Eduardo Quiroz Aldave
Miguel Placencia Velarde

Thanks so much to all the SALI teachers and administrators who worked so hard over the years to make this a reality. Our prayers are with you, new graduates! ¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Happy Birthday Andrew!

See how he's growing!

Violin Recital

Without hesitation, we give God all the glory for our very first violin recital last night. First of all, if He had not called us to minister in this needy land, we would not have had the opportunity to take private violin lessons. Second of all, He has given the children ability and talent and growing discipline to learn what they have over the past couple of years (except that Hannah has only recently begun). And finally, we encountered various obstacles yesterday that could have hindered their performing to their best, which they earnestly desired to do in order to bring glory to His name. Mollie woke up with 103 fever – full-blown flu. By lunch, Hannah had a sore throat and a low grade fever. We prayed over them at lunchtime, and, by evening the fevers had subsided and their energy had returned. So, we gleefully headed to the auditorium. Then, after we arrived, William’s shoulder rest broke, which makes it really hard to hold the violin in position throughout the entire piece, but he determined to do it. Hannah played "The Monkey Song", Mollie played "Minuet 1" by Bach, and William played "Minuet 3" by Bach. God blessed each of them and honored their hard work – they all performed beautifully! We were all thrilled!

However, the flu returned in full force during the night – so we have 2 sick little girls in the house today. It’s going around Peru Mission…

November 2007 e-letter

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Violin Recital Invitation

Quilting in Arevalo

The ladies in Arevalo Presbyterian Church finished their 12 week quilting project this week - and very proudly displayed their handiwork for all to see! Thank you to all the generous sisters in Christ in the USA who donated the fabric for this encouraging project - and especially to Corinne Bradford for spear-heading the whole thing!

The Balls Are Back!

We are so excited to have Brad & Jennifer Ball back with us in Peru! They arrived last week and have been busy house-hunting and getting settled. As you can tell by the action shots, the kids are already part of the gang down here - all of our kids are thrilled to have the Ball kids here. Brad will be heading up Peru Mission's most ambitious economic development endeavor - please remember him, and his family, in your prayers.

Juan & Alicia's Wedding

We joyfully celebrated another covenant marriage in Larco Presybterian Church on Saturday night - that of Juan and Alicia Ponte. Three of our kids were in it (Bible bearer, flower girl, ring bearer) and they did great. The ceremony was a beautiful worship service praising the Lord for creating us in His image and pouring out His infinite love for us through one another.

Corinne's Birthday

We celebrated another birthday this week - that of Bill's mother. We were so blessed to be able to celebrate it with her here in Peru! Happy Birthday Dear!

Happy Birthday Bill!

This year Bill received 4 cakes at 4 very different events (Peru Mission 80's Party/Sunday Lunch/Surprise Party at Larco Presbyterian/Bradford Family Party) - quite fitting, as each cake commemorates a decade in his life (you guess what major birthday he celebrated!). We are all so thankful for his life and pray that the Lord grant many more decades of life to this dear man of God!

Visiting Doctor

For the next three weeks we have with us Dr. Kendrick Kaylor from Texas, a general medicine doctor who is attending patients in our newly inaugurated Wichanzao Clinic. Please join us in prayer for Dr. Kaylor and all our church members and neighbors with whom he comes in contact in the coming weeks.

Women of the Harvest Conference in Santiago, Chile

Any of you who know me personally know that I (Allen) am rarely at a loss for words … however, I am struggling to find words to adequately describe the marvelous blessing we received last week. On Thursday, two other missionary wives (Jami Baker & Heather Ferguson) and I headed to Santiago, Chile, to attend an amazing conference given by Women of the Harvest, a magazine designed specifically for all women serving our Lord overseas. The gracious women who volunteered to come put on this conference went over the top to pamper, refresh and spiritually feed the Lord's servants in Latin America - all through donations made by sisters in churches in the USA.

Our mornings were spent in praise & worship (in English!), being fed through I Thessalonians 5:16-18 by Shelly Volkhardt (a former missionary kid, former missionary wife & mother – whose honesty and love for the Lord is truly contagious), and sharing concerns and prayers in our assigned small groups. The afternoons were left open for free time to receive any of the free pampering services they offered (counseling, massages, pedicures, hair style…) or hit beautiful Santiago for a tour or shopping. Then, the evening sessions were pure fun – White Elephant Gift Exchange and Funny Missionary Story Time. We bonded with women from all over the USA and Canada who are serving all over Latin America in many different styles of ministry. We were enormously blessed.

Thank you, Women of the Harvest, for your sacrificial and sensitive service to women striving to faithfully serve our precious Lord in a foreign land. Thank you, Bill (dear hubby) and David & Corinne (dear in-laws) for taking care of things at home so that I could go. And thanks be to the Lord for providing through many sisters all over the world just what we needed, just when we needed it.

For more photos, click here.

Happy Birthday Mollie!

New Wichanzao Clinic Inaugurated

The newly constructed Medical Clinic at Wichanzao Presbyterian Church was inaugurated during a special ceremony on October 22, 2007. The new Clinic, located across the street from the church’s sanctuary and educational building, provides good visibility and easy access for the patients.

The ceremony marked several milestones for Peru Mission. The first milestone is that this is our first, fully functioning, fully staffed, free standing clinic. The clinic is a part of the ministry of the Wichanzao Presbyterian Church, and the pastor maintains a strong presence, helping connect the physical and spiritual needs of the patients.

The second milestone is that we now have an official agreement with the ministry of health to partner together in the significant task of meeting medical needs in the impoverished area of Wichanzao in a systematic and concerted manner.

Thanks to the many brethren who gave sacrificially of their time, money and prayers to make this clinic a reality. Join us in prayer for this vital ministry, that many will experience the healing power of the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through the Wichanzao Presbyterian Church Clinic.

October 2007 e-letter

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2nd Annual Spiritual Life Conference

We had a marvelous, blessed time at our 2nd Annual Spiritual Life Conference this past weekend. Dr. Knox Chamblin and his wife Ginger returned to Trujillo to encourage us in the special, specific ways that the Lord has gifted both of them and nourish our souls with God's Word from the book of James. We were all greatly encouraged to live a life of faith, trusting in the Lord who gives generously, without reproach. Thanks Knox & Ginger!


We also were encouraged by the time of relaxed fellowship – a rare occurrence in this busy, busy ministry. An added blessing was our visitors: a few USA missionaries from 2 other ministries in Trujillo accepted our invitation, as well as Rev. Mike Philliber, from New Life PCA in Midland, TX, who came down to teach in SBR Seminary for the week.

And besides sharing all the wonderful teaching together, we also competed in the 2nd Annual Peru Mission Feud (our version of Family Feud) – which always brings out the playful side in everyone. Thanks to all who contributed their questionnaire so we could declare, "Survey says..." - we were often surprised by the results ourselves!


For the unabridged photo collection (from Sandi Smith, Heather Ferguson, Corinne Bradford, Ginger Chamblin & Allen Bradford's photos), check out our Flickr site. And for a more thorough, thoughtful report, check out Heather Ferguson's blog.