Peru Paper Co. Online

Our friend, Grace Bateman, has put her micro-finance company online. It's called Peru Paper Co. Here is an excerpt from the website:

"It is out of the unlikely setting of impoverished neighborhoods in Trujillo, Peru, that Peru Paper Co. has flourished. Peruvian women are highly creative and industrious, thriving in even the most difficult situations, and Peru Paper Co. has grown to where it is today primarily because the Peruvian women working with it saw its potential early on and have worked hard to see that it succeeds. What began as a small craft project in Trujillo in the spring of 2005 has continued to grow, consistently adding employees and increasing production and sales. We produce and sell high-quality, handmade stationary and paper products from recycled materials, employing underprivileged and marginalized women in Peru who would otherwise not have the opportunity to make a livable wage to support their families. Your purchases help grow the business and change lives as more Peruvian women are employed."

Twin Lakes Article

Twin Lakes and Peru Mission are featured in the latest RTS magazine. Click here and go to pages 12-14 to read an uplifting article focusing on Matthew Nasekos, who has recently come on board as Peru Mission's Recruiter.

HT: Allen Bradford's blog.

From Death to Life

A father of one of our church members gave up on life and hung himself. To make matters worse, he was a renowned atheist. Yet his family called upon the church to administer his funeral.

The senior minister was on vacation, so I was on call. At first I panicked and thought to myself, “What does one say at the funeral of a atheist who committed suicide?” I sought God in prayer, and John 12:24 came to mind: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” After I read this verse in the sermon, I fixed my eyes on all eight remaining children and said, “Your father’s death will be in vain unless you bear the fruit of salvation in your life.”

I had no idea how the word of God landed that day until I received a call from César, the eldest son. In good Catholic tradition, the family requested that I preach again in their house for the one-month anniversary of their father’s death. Through my conversations with César and some of the church leaders, it became evident that the family wanted to start an evangelistic cell group. César is now one of the cell group leaders, and many are interested in being baptized and joining the church.

Only God can bring life out of the suicide of an atheist!

Cell Group Leaders: César, Wilmer, and Adrian

Ladies Annual Conference

Over 90 ladies from our churches gathered last Friday for our annual ladies conference with the theme of "United for Christ". My friend, Marti Bolton, did a great job talking on being united for Christ in the world we live in.

GTF Tour Women's Singles Tournament

Percy, my tennis coach


1st place this time!

Please pray for me (Sandi) as I deepen friendships with the tennis community in Trujillo, particularly with a group of 25 Peruvian ladies that I play with all the time. Ever since my early teen years, the Lord has used tennis to open doors to friendships and planting gospel seeds. I need wisdom and winsomeness (& good spanish:-) as our conversations deepen.

New church members

We had five youth join our Larco City Church last month. Four of them are young girls who are all orphans at Hogar de Esperanza, an orphanage our mission partners with. All professed their faith in Christ, were baptized and were welcomed as members of the church. The fifth was our friend (also member of Muyupampa folklore band), Hermes. We are so thankful for how the LORD is growing this church!