PERUSING PERU July/August, 2013

           

A family in San Eugenio using their wood-burning chimney stove for the first time

            A group of eight people representing three churches came from the States to work with me in the Spanish village of San Eugenio to build wood-burning chimney stoves for 12 families.  As you can see from the picture above the stoves are very effective in containing the fire in the stove body eliminating burn accidents and dangerous smoke inhalation that the village women are normally subject to when cooking over an open fire. 

       

Team gathering tools and equipment to start the first stove together.
     

The team divided into groups to work on different houses at the same time in order to finish the stove project.

  

The Lord´s Provision

We were enormously blessed on this trip as a direct result of the combined prayer for the Lord´s protection and provision.  To start with, the mayor over the district of which San Eugenio is a part heard that we were going to one of his villages to do a stove project so he offered his boat and 60 horsepower motor to take us there.  This reduced a 10-hour trip an amazing 4-hour trip!  Next, when we got to the village we found that not only had each family correctly prepared their platforms upon which the stove would be built but they also had gotten the required amount of sand from the river´s edge so that we could start mixing cement right away to make their stoves.  Because of this we were able to move quickly from house to house as we divided into three to four groups allowing us complete all 12 stoves a full day and a half early!  This extra time gave us the opportunity to minister the Word of God to the community through children´s programs, adult Bible studies and evening church services.

  

Team members using an “Evangecube”              Children´s afternoon Bible story class followed by an activity

to tell the story of Jesus to village children.                                  to reinforce the lesson.

        

    Sharon leading adult Bible study with Daniel            Daniel (striped shirt, far right) leading Bible study himself

Maria and team leading evening worship followed by the Word of God

            The results were truly amazing as the Lord poured out His love, compassion and truth through the different ministries to the whole village of San Eugenio.  We even had the opportunity to minister to the neighboring village of Baranquita when they came to San Eugenio for a village activity then chose to stay for our evening service.  During our time together everyone who attended the services heard the Word of God and had the chance to receive personal prayer. 

The people are very open to the Word of God in this village and want very much to learn more.  Unfortunately, this community has had not one but three pastors come and go over the last several years due to moral failure or unwillingness to finish the required pastoral training necessary to fulfill this role.  Now however, there is a young man in their village named Daniel, pictured above leading a Bible study, that I had the privilege of leading to the Lord just about three years ago.  Since he accepted the Lord he has had an insatiable desire for the things of God and so when the opportunity came to him to participate in a correspondence course for pastoral training he immediately accepted it.  He is now in his third year and will finish in February of 2014.  I have already approached him with the possibility of going to YWAM for three to six months for further training and he is very open to that as well.  It is my prayer that the Lord will use him to lead his village into the greater things of the Spirit and help his people establish their faith while learning to apply the Word of God to their personal lives.  Please pray with me for Daniel and these very important next steps towards his calling.

Outreach to Cusco

            Our time together as a team culminated with a 4-day tour in the “state” of Cusco, the mountainous part of Peru where the famed Machu Picchu ruins are and the Sacred Valley.  It was an amazing tour highlighting the history of the Incas and the Spanish.  Although I had learned the history of Peru earlier this experience gave me such fresh insight into the roots of this incredible country in order to know how to minister more effectively. 

When our tour ended we still had several hours in Cusco before we had to fly back to Lima, the capitol and so we decided to have an evangelistic outreach to minister to the people.  We split up into three groups and went in three different directions praying with people and sharing the Gospel with them.  As a result at least six people prayed with us to ask Jesus into their hearts!  This is very significant because although this is an extremely Catholic country due to the Spanish conquest in the 1500´s, the original Inca beliefs have not completely died.  According to the tour guides most of the Cusco population from all classes of society faithfully and with great conviction still make sacrifices to Mother Earth including the tour guides themselves.  I was so astounded to learn how deep the mixture of the Inca and Catholic belief systems were that it drove me to pray with urgency and passion all the more for the redemption of the people of this area. 

From my experience in Cusco I feel I have gained a much clearer understanding of the people that the Lord has given me to work with and a wiser perspective on how to pray and minister to them.  I want to thank my home church in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and the supporting church in Stafford, Virginia for making this extremely important trip possible for me.  It has helped me tremendously and has given me great insight into the minds of the people.  God bless you in every way for this invaluable gift!

I also want to thank each person who faithfully stood in the gap for our time on the river.  I absolutely believe that so much was accomplished because of the strong intercession and combined faith of committed prayer warriors.  I am truly honored and blessed beyond words to be united with you in this great work of the Lord.  Together we are seeing the kingdom of this world become the kingdom of our God.

Serving With You in The Great Commission,

Sharon Malcolm

PERUSING PERU Newsletter June 2013

Thank You For Praying

            I want to thank each of you that prayed for us during this last river trip.  I am joyfully able to say that the Lord answered our prayer and we did not have the citywide strike that was planned for late May or early June.  He also blessed us mightily with His protection as we traveled and enough rain to fill the river so that we did not have to push the boat at all to get in or out of the village except for getting stuck a couple of times on some felled trees. 

The other prayer requests for open hearts and minds to the preaching/teaching of the Word of God were met in abundance as well.  On one of our evening meetings we had just the children in attendance and the Calvary Chapel team that came from Colorado ministered with the Word of God and prayer to each one.

            At the other evening meetings we were able to minister to adults and children in the same way so that by the time we left everyone had the opportunity to hear the Word and received personal prayer.  Gloriously, we even had one teenage girl request to get water baptized which, of course, we were very glad to do.

     

Maria, a Shawi YWAM missionary, baptizing Alaina in the river.  Alaina´s mother was baptized one year earlier.

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The purpose of this trip was to minister the Word of God and to build wood burning chimney stoves for each house in the village of Santa Clara.   The project went very well and we even finished one day earlier than planned.

  

 Making the stove platform

     

Mixing cement

 

 Muddy path to the other side of village

  

Laying brick for the chimney

 
Finished stove

            Our time in Santa Clara was challenging and the work was hard but the results far outweighed the hardships.  We were able to finish the stoves and minister the truth and reality of God through our love and service to the community via the stoves, the evening meetings in preaching the Word of God and through personal prayer for all who desired it.  Although this will be the last time we can get into Santa Clara before the next rainy season due to the lack of water in the river, we are planning to have a conference in September to bring in anyone interested for a 3-day intensive training on the Word of God.  We will be inviting the other villages that we have been working with as well so that as many as possible can be trained on how to study the Bible, worship the Lord, pray for others, lead a meeting and many other topics.  This will be the first time we are trying this and so please keep this in prayer.

            In the meantime we will again be traveling to the Shishinahua River with another team from the States to do more stoves in the village of Yarina.  Our dates of travel will be June 23 to 28 and I would ask your prayers for this trip as well for:

• Safe travel since we will be taking at least two boats and the team will be split between them.
• The conviction of the Lord upon all who hear the Word of God during our evening meetings so that true repentance can take place.
• Sufficient rain to get in and out of the village as quickly as possible so that no time will be lost in the village in order to finish the stoves and minister to the people.
• Anything else that the Lord lays on your heart.

I want to thank you so very much for the intercession for this work and the people.  It is without a doubt that so many have been touched, healed and come into the Kingdom because of our combined prayer.  I encourage you therefore to continue with me in prayer to see the completion of the will of God for this people.  What a privilege we have to be a part of what God is doing in their lives!  God bless each of you for all that you for the Kingdom.

Reaping the Harvest Together With You,

Sharon Malcolm

Prayers for our next trip

Our next trip, which was scheduled for the 19^th was postponed until Sunday, the 21^st.  We will be going to the three villages that we have been concentrating on, Santa Clara, Santa Rosa and Yarina to minister the Word of God and pray for all who are interested.  I am especially praying for the opportunity and acceptance of concentrating on a few interested people that expressed a desire to be leaders.  If they could assume this role this will be extremely helpful because they will be able to initiate and lead meetings when we can´t get in due to the dry season and low waters.  Our dates of travel will be Sunday, April 21^st to Sunday, April 28^th.  Please keep us in prayer for the following:

Healing and Rededication on the Shishinahua River

I am so thrilled to be able to share with you the tremendous things that the Lord has done on this last trip to the villages of the Shishinahua River.   It started with a direct healing for Maria, the Shawi woman that has been traveling with me since last March.  When she, her brother and their nephew arrived in Yurimaguas from their village (about 8 hours away by boat) the day before we were to leave she was terribly sick with a burning fever and headache.  I wasn't sure she would be able to travel but she insisted that she was going to make the trip with us and so before we parted we prayed together for her healing and sure enough the next day when we met to leave she was completely healed!

The next miracle happened in the village of Santa Clara.  One of the village leaders´ 1 1/2 year-old-daughter was sick with diarrhea and so he asked me if I had any medicine that could help her.  I said that I did not but I did have faith to believe for her healing and so he allowed me to pray for her.  It was one of those times when I could tell that the Lord was already answering our prayer and healing the child as we spoke.

The next day when I asked Asunsción how his daughter was he said she was fine and had no more diarrhea.  His response to what God had done for him was so mild that I had to remember that the Shawi culture does not allow for over expression when things like this happen.  He did however, share with Maria privately and in their Shawi language he said that he was really, really surprised that his daughter was healed and that it now made sense to him what we had been saying about the Lord all this time.  He understood that the Lord, and not coincidence, had healed his daughter.  Praise God!

Later that day we had our evening meeting and the daughter of the main village leader and her husband came with their 12-day-old baby.  I didn´t know that their son was sick but Asunción knew and told the father to ask for prayer since the Lord just healed his daughter.  So Tito came up and explained that their son was feverish and was not taking his mother´s milk.  It would be cause for concern if this happened in the States but out here it can be fatal if a baby is sick like this.  Once again we prayed and once again I could tell that the Lord was already touching this precious child with His healing hand as we petitioned for his health.  I was able to tell Tito after we prayed that the baby will start taking his mother´s milk now because the Lord has healed him.

We continued with our meeting, adjured and turned in for the night.  The next day when I saw Tito I asked him how his baby was and he told me that he no longer had a fever and that he had started taking his mother´s milk!  His response, like Asunción´s, was so mild that I felt that I had to get excited enough for the both of us.  I later told him that the Lord had done this for him to show His great love for him and his family and to prove to him that He is with them and will take care of them as they trusted in Him.  Tito and his wife prayed to accept the Lord the night we prayed for their son and now, the next day he was very eager to learn more about his new found faith.

The healing of his daughter and Tito's son so impacted Asunción that although he had prayed to accept the Lord with us before, now he said that he wanted to live only for Him.  He even got the rest of the village to agree to build a church building to hold our meetings instead of the school where we normally met.  He pointed out that when school is in session we don't have use of the building for the morning and afternoon meetings (which apparently he wants to continue) so a church building would accommodate this need.  He and the others even picked out a place where they want to build and so together we are moving forward to build the first Christian church in Santa Clara. 

This is nothing short of a miracle from God and clear evidence of His mighty hand moving on the hearts of the people that He has sent us to minister to.  We all have a wonderful and incredible part of this manifestation of God´s saving grace and it is changing the lives of the people that we have together labored for.  I want to thank you so much for all that so many of you have done for this work in seeing the Kingdom of God established in this area.  May God mightily bless you in all that you are doing for Him.

  

We will be traveling again to these communities to continue with the ministry of the Lord on Monday, March 18 through Tuesday, March 26.  Can we be in prayer agreement for the following points of concern so that the Lord can carry on His awesome work among these villages? 

1. Safety as we travel against boating accidents, sickness and environmental hazards such as snakes, ticks or malaria carrying mosquitoes.
2. Divine wisdom to know how to articulate the Bible lessons that instruct who God is, what He´s done and how to walk faithfully before Him.
3. Passion for the things of God for all the believers so that they can apply what they are learning to their daily lives.
4. Faith and discernment to believe for greater things than these to happen in the Name of the Lord.
5. Anything else that the Lord shows you.

Thank you again so much for all the ways you have joined with me in this work and may He direct you to continue mightily in Him.

Your Co-laborer in the Faith,

Sharon Malcolm

Prayer letter Feb 20th

After an extended time in the States to update supporting churches on the work of the Lord and tend to my mom I am again back in Peru and ready to continue to minister to the villages that the Lord has had us concentrate on namely Santa Clara, Santa Rosa and Yarina.  This past year these precious new believers took great strides of commitment to the Lord and I am believing for even greater strides this year.  Therefore I will be traveling to these communities to continue in their discipleship from Saturday, February 23 to Tuesday, March 5.  Would you join with me in praying for the Holy Spirit to touch these lives with greater comprehension and application of the Word of God as they hear it and divine wisdom for us to know the best way to present it.  Please join with me in prayer for the following points so that we can see the Kingdom of God established in these hearts and lives:

 

1)    Safety as we travel.  Thankfully the river is very high right now due to the rainy season and so that means less trouble getting in and a quicker ride.  However, it also means that the river current will be very strong and will probably have more floating and submerged branches, logs and trees that can be very dangerous if not seen immediately.  Please pray that the boat drivers will be alert and cautious as they drive so that there are no accidents.

 

2)    Clarity of the Word of God as it is presented so that it can be understood, received and applied to daily life of everyone who hears it.

 

3)    Wisdom and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit to move as He directs in order to accomplish His full will.

 

4)    Anything else that the Lord lays on your heart.

 

I want to thank you so very much in advance for your support of the ministry in this way.  I am truly honored to be able to join with you to see the Kingdom of God established in this part of the world.  What a privilege we have to be able to be a part of it!  God bless each of you mightily as you follow the Lord for His will for your lives.

 

With Loving and Deep Appreciation,

Sharon Malcolm

Prayer request for village travel

Dear Prayer Warriors,

 

I am very happy to report that the last trip to the Shishinahua River proved to be most successful.  As a medical team we saw about 480 patients while working in four different locations and had the opportunity to pray with several at each clinic.  We showed Christian films and had church services each night after the clinic allowing people to see and hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Gloriously many people were ministered to both physically and spiritually as a result of this outreach and I know that many seeds of Life were planted in people´s hearts from all that was done.

 

We did however, have a few challenges that I feel is worth mentioning so that we are aware of spiritual warfare that we are engaged in.  They are as follows:

 

1)    The first village that we went to refused us entry and did not want to have us do a medical clinic in their community even though prior arrangements to do so had been made.  We graciously respected their decision, slept on the boat that night and left at dawn the next day to another village.
 

2)    The boat driver that was sent to us by the mayor did not want to finish the task of taking us to the different villages and then back to Yurimaguas (our starting point) and so left us in the last village while he himself started to head back to Yurimaguas.  Fortunately for us the other boat driver that he assured us was coming to take his place did not come and so he was forced to return in order to finish the trip (thank you Lord that he came back!).
 

3)    At the last village the night before leaving to return to Yurimaguas, two men from the community tried to steal our equipment.  The men didn´t realize that two women from the Peruvian team that were with us and with whom I´ve been traveling with for some time now, were sleeping in the building where our things were being stored.  When the women heard the noise they came out to investigate and the men to ran away.  Thankfully nothing was stolen.

 

I will be going back on the river with the Peruvian team that has been traveling with me to visit the three villages that we have been concentrating on:  Santa Clara, Santa Rosa and Yarina.  Our dates are November 20 to 29.  Please keep us in prayer during this time and for these points:

 

1. Safety as we travel on the river.
2. Wide open hearts and minds as we disciple the new believers and continue to present the Gospel to those who have not come into the Kingdom as yet.
3. Wisdom and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit as we minister so that all of our meetings will be anointed and powerful to bring down strongholds.
4. Anything else that the Lord has you pray.

 

I want to thank you so very much for your ministry of prayer and please be encouraged that it is because we are joining together in this work through faith the Lord is blessing it mightily.  The Lord be with you in all that you do.

 

Reaping the Harvest Together,

Sharon Malcolm

Sharon´s prayer letter Oct 25th

Dear Prayer Warriors,

I want to thank you again so very much for standing with me in prayer for the villages of the Shishinahua River.  Because of our combined intercession many people have accepted Christ and many have chosen to learn how to walk out their new life with Christ through our discipleship classes.  I am so thrilled, as I trust you are, to be a part of what the Lord is doing in these precious lives.

I am excited to tell you that we are planning another trip to minister to these villages beginning October 30 to November 7 but this time it will be with a team from Calvary Chapel in Aurora, Colorado.  We will be holding free medical clinics in four locations along the Shishinahua River to make sure that every village will have the opportunity to receive the medical attention they need for their situation.

This will be a wonderful way to not only meet some very real physical needs but more importantly, some very real spiritual needs as well.  I have not worked with several of these villages for a number of years and so this will provide a great opportunity to reconnect with them.  I am praying that the Lord will open their hearts to receive the ministry of the Word so that they will experience a life-changing encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ as we have.  Will you join me in praying for this outreach for the following points?

1. Gloriously we have started the rainy season and so the rivers are high enough for us to travel without any delays.  However, this also means that the river current is much stronger and there is more debris in the water such as branches, logs, and submerged tree stumps making it difficult to navigate the large boat we will traveling in.  Therefore prayer for safe travel is extremely important.  Please stand in prayer with us for this need as we travel during the dates of October 30 to November 7.

2. That every person will be open to the Gospel and prayer as it´s provided during the medical clinic and in the evening services so that the Lord can do a mighty work in each heart.

3. That the medical clinics will run smoothly and efficiently so that everyone who needs help will receive it well.

4. So the villages that I will be reconnecting with will be open and receptive to me and to the ministry that we are bringing them.

5. Anything else that the Lord lays on your heart to pray for.

I want to thank you in advance for your willingness to pray for this outreach to see the Lord move in behalf of these who have yet to come into the Kingdom.  God bless each of you in all that you do in glorious and unexpected ways.

Your Co-laborer in the Faith,

Sharon Malcolm