Flooding in Peru

          According to Humanity Road, a disaster preparedness and response information organization, "Intense rains have caused severe flooding and landslides in 24 of Peru’s 25 regions and 12 regions have been declared in a state of emergency.  It is the worst flooding in two decades, and more storms are expected.  According to the National Emergency Operations Center, 99,475 Peruvians had lost everything since the beginning of the year, while 626,928 had suffered less serious damage to their homes.

             Highways, bridges, and railways have been damaged hindering the flow of aid and leaving some towns stranded.  Communications are also out in some areas.  Water treatment facilities and sewage pipes have been damaged impacting the water supply.  There is a shortage of drinking water in some areas.  Some hospitals have been damaged by flooding and/or are in need of supplies and water, and there is the possibility of increased disease outbreaks due to mosquitoes."

             According to a news article, "Across Peru more than 90 people have died since the start of the year as unusually heavy rainfall caused landslides and flash floods."

            All of the affected areas are along the coast line of Peru and are bracing for more rain this weekend.  Since I am quite a bit inland in Northern Peru our area is not affected.  I have been trying to contact different organizations for volunteer opportunities to help with clean up, food preparation and distribution or anything else I can do but so far have not made contact.  We have two missionary families from the Assemble of God that have come to Yurimaguas about 1 1/2 years ago and one of them is going this Sunday to work with a church in one of affected areas.  They will let me know how things are and what can be done to help so that I can possibly join them later.  Please pray for the quick restoration of the affected areas and that no more lives will be lost.

5-Day Training 

          

The young woman up front, Sharquira, is telling the Bible story then leading the discussion.

           I want to thank all of you who stood in prayer for our 5-day training.  It went very well and I am so excited to say that not only the men participated in leading a Bible story but also the women.  They all stepped way out of their comfort zone and took the challenge of getting in front of their peers to lead a Bible story and a discussion to draw out the meaning of the story in order to apply it to their daily lives.  The goal was to get the people accustomed to doing this as much as possible so that when they returned to their villages they could continue doing this with those who did attend the training.

Alcidia sharing a Bible story and then leading the discussion

       

    

Men sharing Bible stories and leading the discussions

         

A New Church Plant

          On a village visit just prior to the 5-day training we met with the residents of San Francisco, one of the villages we've included about 1 1/2 years ago, to discuss the option of them becoming an established body of believers with the Assembly of God.  San Francisco has been very responsive to the Gospel and several people have already accepted Christ, been baptized and now, as a community, want to become a church.

          The authorities of the Assembly of God church in Yurimaguas and I coordinated a time to meet with San Francisco and the rest of the people attending our 5-training to discuss what needed to be done in order for them to come under the covering of the AG church.  It was a very profitable meeting and once the paperwork is filled out by the community, reviewed by the AG authorities San Francisco will be a church!

         In a prior meeting, the authorities told me that they had been praying about reaching out to the villages of the Shishinahua through a contact they had and so my coming to them with this request was quite timely.  I had met and worked briefly with two of the three authorities in the past and was quite impressed with their commitment to the vision of reaching the unreached with the Gospel and raising up leaders from within these areas to carry on the work.  I am looking forward to working with the Assemble of God to expand the Kingdom in this area and feel very confident that the Lord will richly bless our efforts together.  

        I want to thank all of you who stand in the gap for this work in so many ways and pray that you will take part in rejoicing in this monumental move of the Holy Spirit.  This community has never had a church in their village before and so by taking this step they are declaring that this is now God's territory!  God bless all of you for all that you have done to help bring this about.

Rejoicing With You,

Sharon Malcolm

          

Victory in Jesus!!

     I want to thank so many of you who stood with us in prayer for this last river trip.  I am happy to report that everything went very well.  We got to the villages easily and were able to invite them to our upcoming 5-day training that will happen from March 11th to the 15th.  

Community meal that we were invited to.  Note the taper skull on the left side,
this is the meat that we were eating from.

     We also had the chance to talk to the villages about the stories that were circulating about us: 

1) that we, and specifically me, were not teaching from the Bible and therefore no one should listen to us, and 2) that I was inviting people to the last conference in February not to learn about Bible storying but rather to receive the mark of the Beast (which would make me or one of the other missionaries helping with the conference the second Beast according to Rev 13).  Fortunately, when we went to one of our villages we had about six people with us who attended the conference in February and so I was able to say to the people there that clearly they do not have the mark of the Beast and therefore the story was false.

     As we continued to the other villages to coordinate for the 5-day training and to talk to them about these stories they all assured us that they do not believe them and would gladly come to the training to learn about the Word of God.  These incidents are exactly why we are having these trainings and village visits.  It is to teach the people what the Bible says so that they can compare that to what they are being told.  Please pray with me that this pastor stop going to all of our villages and sowing discord among them.  I don't believe I've ever met this man and so I don't understand the basis of his stories but because he is a pastor and carries a lot of authority the people believe what he says...or at least they're telling me that they did but not anymore.  Prayerfully they will still continue with us as we try and minister to them.

     Lastly, I would ask if you would join with us in prayer for the 5-day training from March 11 to 15. 1)  That whole families would attend and there be no hindrances to prevent them from coming.

2)  That the attendees will be able to grasp and retain what they are learning and not only be able to use it when they return home but be transformed by it.

3)  Safety for our boat drivers as they travel back and forth to return the people to their villages.

God  bless each of you and thank you again for your faithfulness in keeping us in prayer.

Always For His Glory,

Sharon Malcolm