Greetings to Everyone,
I wanted to take this opportunity to update you on the status of the COVID-19 situation here in Peru. When I wrote last in April Peru had 10,303 cases with 193 deaths now there are over 120K confirmed cases and about 3,500 deaths. It is difficult to assume that these numbers are completely accurate because of how many people are not reporting if they are symptomatic. This is due to the fact that there is not enough equipment in the hospitals to keep them alive and so they do not want to be admitted.
I was talking to a missionary who lives in the capitol city of the state that I live in, Loreto, and he said that there were about 800 deaths in his area and countless cases of the virus. Some of those who died did so due to the lack of oxygen, which even took the lives of some of their doctors.
The government has just given us notice that the country will be shut down until June 30 maintaining the same restrictions of curfews. This may be extended as the date gets closer depending on the rise or fall of the number of cases by then.
In Yurimaguas, the town that I live in, the local authorities have continued to enforce the restrictions of only being allowed out of the house 3 days a week with a 4 pm curfew. Because of this travel is prohibited outside of the area and so I have not been able to travel to the villages yet. Thankfully, I have heard from one of our village leaders of San Francisco, our first church plant, that everyone is well and healthy in their area as the virus has not reached them, praise God. A short time later I was also able to talk to the village leader of the community named July 6 and was very glad to hear that some of them were meeting regularly to study the Word of God in spite of the shut down. These communities do not have the "stay at home" restriction and so they can meet publicly, they just can't travel outside of their area.
Another missionary here in Yurimaguas and I are starting a radio program to reach the people with the Word of God while they are confined in their homes. We already have three recordings and are looking to get a total of 12 to complete one-month's worth of programming. I have found that this is an excellent way to reach a broad range of people in a very short amount of time. As the Lord shows you please pray that it will be used in the most effective way to present the Gospel and bring people to a saving knowledge of Christ. In the meantime I pray the Lord's richest blessing on each of you to meet every need you have.
Stay safe, stay healthy and stay at peace in our Savior!
Sharon Malcolm
