Manuel has been showing him the Train & Multiply materials we are using in Peru and he is so very excited to be a part of this ministry. He has invited us to come to his church in April to do a training for his church along with four other churches to teach the people how to share the gospel with their friends and neighbors, and to use the discipleship materials.
He asked us if he could share his testimony with us. It is an amazing testimony!!
He said that four years ago, God called him to start a church in Zungaro Cocha. He acquired a building and tried to get help from other people to repair it to make it a church, but no one wanted to help. He had no money for materials to make needed repairs and he was sick. He was so discouraged that he was going to quit. He decided to leave the ministry. Then he devoted one day in prayer and fasting to seek God's Will. He told his wife that if anyone was looking for him to say he was not available because he was meeting with God.
While he was fasting and praying, he asked God to give him a promise from His Word. His Bible fell open to the Sixth chapter of the book of Zechariah. He randomly put his finger on verse 15 and God told him, "This is My promise to you."
Zechariah 6:15 says: "People will come from distant lands to rebuild the Temple of the LORD. And when this happens, you will know that my messages have been from the LORD of Heaven's Armies. All this will happen if you carefully obey what the LORD your God says."
Three days later, he got a phone call from a man he did not know who was in Lima, on the other side of Peru. The man said to him, "I am sending my son to help you build the church."
His son came and looked at the condition of the building, and said, "Give me a list of everything that needs to be done." Pastor Gilberto told him he did not have money for materials. The man's son said, "God will provide."
The next day, all of the materials they needed had been provided, and people came from all over to help.
Since then, the church has grown and God is at work in the village. He was crying when he said to us that this work - Train & Multiply - was part of God's plan for his church. The people are hungry for God. They are asking for materials to learn more about Him. This is what we need.
He told us to never stop doing what we're doing because God is using this ministry to reach His people in the Amazon.
So, we are committed to going to teach the people of these five churches how to MAKE DISCIPLES IN THE AMAZON.
Our plan is to leave April 9th and spend two weeks doing training and following up with the churches we already did training in last October. We are praying for God to make the agenda as He always does and we will go where He wants us to go.
We know that God will provide the money for the airline tickets and expenses we will incur in the Amazon while we are doing the work. If God is nudging you to give, we would be ever so grateful if you could partner with us.
Please pray with us now for this trip, that God will go before us and prepare the soil for the seed that will be planted. Pastor Gilberto said that he knows that the seeds planted through T&M will be harvested by his children and his children's children.
We also still need money to purchase Bibles for Bombonaje, if that is a need you feel led to contribute to. Continue praying for the Mission Team as they go to teach there the first week of March.
We are so encouraged by the work the Lord is doing behind the scenes. Thank you SO much for your prayers and support of this ministry.
#TrainandMultiply