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Tuesday, March 27, 2007

 From Jim and Sarah Ward 

HEY!Well, we’ve had quite an interesting 6 days! Last Thursday we left for Suffolk (pronounced “suf-fik”), VA and we just got back home! Whew!

We arrived in Suffolk barely in time for dinner. But, hey…we made it, alright!

Friday night we had a wonderful time of worship to begin our weekend…then off to the farm we’re we stayed at all weekend… (more…)

Jim & Sara Ward are currently living in St. Louis and raising funds to go to Lima, Peru with Mission to the World (MTW).

As we were driving down Highway I-70 I saw a “Jesus is Real” sign. Then a “If you died today where would you spend eternity?” sign. I think I take for granted our great freedom: there are churches on every corner.

In the part of Peru where we will be working the there is one solid church for 200,000 people. It is too far to walk for most people and transportation is too expensive for them. They have no options. The need for church planting is great. As we travel the U.S. from wonderful church to wonderful church and so many say my church is my family, how necessary is it for us as the church to spread this wonderful fellowship to all the nations. Not only is it a privilege , but a command.

Our team leader, Mark, and his family returned to Lima in February and he has begun the process of developing national leaders, so that one day, many churches will planted throughout Lima. The need is so great and the Peruvians are so excited about the possibility. In one of the neighborhoods Mark visited, their were 40 people that came together wanting to start a church in their area. God is moving ! This is just the beginning. Jim and I look forward to joining our team in these efforts.

Ward News

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Excerpts from Mark & Lori Berry’s June 26, 2006 Lima Update

“Unless the LORD builds the house,

those who build it labor in vain.”

–Psalm 127:1

Dear Praying Friends,

Thank you once again for lending your prayer support to the building of our ministry here in Lima. Daily we cry out to the Lord Psalm 127:1 above, asking that he give us his wisdom, strength, vision and love to accomplish the task for which he has sent us to Peru: to see churches planted and revitalized, leaders raised up and trained and mercy ministered to the poor. Please continue to plead with the Lord for us and the work here, that he would be building HIS house through all we do, however weak and halting and laced with sin it may be as a result of the jars of clay he’s appointed for the task. Thank you.

It has been a whirlwind since we last wrote you. We would like to bring you up to date on some things you have been praying for….

Mark started teaching EE at Santa Anita on June 10 and this past Saturday was class #2 with the first home visit. For those of you not familiar with Evangelism Explosion, you have a class on some aspect of sharing the gospel for an hour and then you spend an hour going to call on someone who you’ve made an appointment with to present the gospel to them. This is done in teams of 3, two students and a trainer in each. Teams return to share their experiences and then you end with a time of corporate prayer. In this training class at Santa Anita we have 10 students and 5 trainers, thus 5 teams. On Saturday 4 of the 5 people visited prayed to receive Christ and 2 were in attendance at worship the next day! Praise God with us for these new believers and pray for the Spirit to protect and solidify their faith in the days ahead as we seek to follow up and disciple them. Please also be in prayer for that training time each Saturday from 4-7pm through September 9, for me, the trainers, the students and those with whom we will share the good news of the gospel.

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The following is a short report on our recent trip to Lima, Peru and the areas of Santa Anita, Huaycan, and Amauta. The purpose of our trip was to reconnect with our brothers and sisters in Peru, work along side of them in the initial stage (first week) of their church plant in Amauta, and develop a church-to-church relationship (become a “sister church”) to the new church plant in Amauta. Mark & Lori Berry (Team Leaders) have been back in Peru approx. 2 ½ months after having spent one year back in the USA to raise support, visit with their supporting churches & friends, and spend time with family and friends.

We arrived early in the morning on Wednesday May 17th, around 5:30AM. It was good to see Mark as we left customs and also Enrique our cab driver (and active church member in Santa Anita) whom we became friends with during our previous visit. We went to the Asturia Hotel and had some “down time” catching up on some sleep. Mark returned around noon and we discussed our agenda for the week, how things were going in Peru, and some of the future plans. Lori and two of the Berry’s girls (Taylor and Abigail) joined us for lunch. (more…)

Please pray for elections in Peru. Run-offs will be held June 6. To read about the current situation here:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_Peru_Garcias_Party.html

From Andrew Stern and the Peru Team, May 18, 2006

Hello everyone!

You must be praying because we have had incredible VBS evenings. The first night we saw up to 70 and tonight up to 90 children. The church here has done a wonderful job of hosting and preparing the clubs. The host family is a relative of Adrian in Amauta who recently became a Christian. Her home in Amaunta has a 15×10 brick home with a tin roof, an outdoor working space with a thatch mat for shade and then a large open space towards the front 12×30 where we have the VBS. All the home area is fenced off with parts of old tin roofing, thatch, and odd bits of wood.

We play lots of games with the children, do a Bible verse, short teaching time, and crafts (sound familiar!). Many of the dogs like to join in too!…

…Please continue to pray for the VBS clubs…with 3 more days we may have to think of where to put all the children!

Grace to you,

Andrew for Mike and Todd

Prayer Requests from the Team:

1. The work in Peru, specifically the raising up of local leadership and their growth in Grace to lead the people of Peru and the raising up of churches to serve the people of Peru and glorify God.
2. Prayer for the union of NCF and the local church in Peru. The team will be beginning to build relationships in Amauta, a brand new church plant in a community where we hope to develop a long term partnership.
3. Prayer for Mike Parker, preaching the Word two Sundays, and wisdom for pastoral encouragement for the Berrys, Pastor Adrian and his wife, and the other members of the leadership teams at the churches there.
4. Prayer for the Berrys, that we would keep them lifted up before the Lord for His grace, guidance, and protection.
5. Prayer for the Rosses and Wards - for fund raising, language skills, and more of God’s grace upon them for the fulfilling of His purpose in and through them. The Rosses are attending language school in Peru.
6. Prayer for wisdom, guidance, protection and multiplied grace as we (NCF) go to Lima.

Team: Andrew Stern, Pablo Ayllon, Sonia Tello, Todd Fizer, Mike Parker and Julie Murphy

“Peru - Rewarded the Same:Those who stay back, pray and partner with those on the field.”
by Todd Fizer, September 2005 Mainliner

“How wonderful it is, how pleasant, when brothers live together in harmony! For harmony is as precious as the fragrant anointing oil that was poured over Aaron’s head, that ran down his beard and onto the border of his robe.” — PSALM 133:1,2

In 1st Samuel Chapter 30, David and his men returned (3 day journey) from the land of the Philistines to find that their city, Ziklag, had been attacked and plundered by the Amalekites. David and his men wept aloud with great despair and then sought the counsel of the Lord as to whether they should pursue the Amalekites. The Lord’s response was to, “pursue them”. So, David and his men went out in pursuit of their women and children, as well as other belongings. But there were 200 men of the 600 that were too exhausted from their journey back to Ziklag to pursue the Amalekites. So, David and 400 men went in pursuit.

They found the Amalekites drinking and eating and enjoying the loot that they had taken from their raids in Philistine, Judah, and what they had taken at Ziklag. David and his men fought the Amalekites from dusk until evening of the following day. Of the Amalekites, only 400 escaped. David and his men returned home to Ziklag with all of their women, children and goods, as well as the booty taken from the Amalekites. But when they met the 200 that stayed behind, some of those who went grumbled against those who had stayed behind and stated that they should not get anything, but David said, “No, my brothers, you must not do that with what the LORD has given us. He has protected us and handed over to us the forces that came against us. Who will listen to what you say? The share of the man who stayed with the supplies (stuff) is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.” 1 Sam 30:23-24(NIV)

New City Fellowship currently has Mark and Lori Berry faithfully serving in Lima for the past three years. (more…)

Project: Most of our work dealt with construction. We hauled sand and cement up to the second floor of the church (in Huaycan) and mixed it preparing it for use, picked (with small picks and hammers) fallen plaster from the floor (2nd floor) to prepare it for the concrete to be applied, removed hardened cement from boards so they could be reused, sifted sand to remove the coarse for finish work, and did general clean-up and associated smaller tasks….

We also had an opportunity to reach some children in the hills surrounding Huaycan. One day we went up into the hills surrounding Huaycan to speak with a man who is involved in drugs, theft, etc. along with his wife. When we arrived, Lucho (a former gang member) and our friend from the Huaycan church, walked up to his home, while we waited approx 100 yards away. His son, Junior (8 y.o.) answered the door and said his father and mother were gone. His father had come to the church initially to get help for his son, because he saw him following in his own bad ways. (This boy walks to Lima, alone, 7 hours one way, meets with other boys there, a common practice for gangs in Lima.) Short long story, we, Andrew Stern and Lucho explained the gospel and prayed with the boy and six of his cousins who soon gathered around us. We followed by getting some animal crackers for the children. In this area there is no running water or sewage. There has been some electrical wiring connected, but nothing “official”. The people live in small shacks, some made out of masonry block, some wood, and some a thatch type of material. (more…)