July 2, 2007

Dear friends,

The months of May and June have been months of national unrest in Peru. When union groups here go on strike their custom is to block the highways so no one can travel. This forces the government into action, either entering into negotiations or sending in the troops. We have seen both types of reactions the past two months. Though it does not put the public in any immediate danger it does halt the transport of goods and supplies to the different towns and villages along the highway. I tried twice to travel to Lima (enroute to Iquitos) and strikers were blocking the roads. This cost me two airplane tickets that the airlines would not reimburse because it was “not their fault” that I could not make it to Lima in order to make the flight. Life does not always appear to be “orderly” on the mission field, but our heavenly Father is always in control and it is all for our good (Romans 8:28).

I did finally make it to Iquitos (three weeks late!) and the Lord blessed the time there with one lady trusting Christ as Savior. She was visiting that night so I could then see why the Lord had me delayed. That woman’s soul is valued at the price of the shed blood of Christ, and the cost of two lost plane tickets does not even compare to that! Yes, the Lord’s ways are always better than our ways!

I also had the opportunity to travel up into the northern mountains to the city of Cajamarca. I helped the First Baptist Church of Cajamarca with their 17th anniversary. This work was started by missionary Paul Mulling, now retired. On the second day of the meeting we ordained Brother Samuel Yopla to the Gospel Ministry. He responded well to all the questions. Please pray for this young man, he is married with a small baby and is looking to start a new mission work about four hours out of Cajamarca. During the three day meeting several came forward rededicating their lives to the Lord, three came trusting Christ as Savior, two came for baptism, and one former excluded member came repenting and asking to be reinstated. All in all it was a very good meeting.

A few months ago I mentioned about a new ministry Anita, my wife, is preparing for: a literacy program for adults. The illiteracy rate here in the Andes Mountains is high, especially among the women, and so many want to be able to read their Bibles. Due to strikes in the country this past month the training classes had to be postponed until the end of July. Please keep this project in your prayers. Anita continues to work on Sunday school literature for children and also Bible studies of the ladies. She has been such a blessing to so many here.

The new mission work in Oxapampa is doing well. This is the work Brother Carlos Gonzales started several months ago. About the same time they arrived in Oxapampa they discovered that his wife, Maria, had stomach cancer. I mentioned this in one of my letters a few months ago. She has gotten progressively worse and at this time is bedfast. She knows the Lord and is ready to go but please continue to remember them in your prayers. At present I am renting a building for them to meet in but Carlos has found a nice piece of property for nine thousand dollars ($9000.00). Perhaps some of you would be interested in taking this on as a mission project. I will be traveling to Oxapampa the first week of August and try to take a picture of the property.

Speaking of traveling, I am curtailing a lot of my traveling to the works until more funds come in. Anita and I are the only missionaries in Peru with Baptist Faith Missions and I have to travel a lot to keep the works encouraged and help out where ever I can. There is still plenty to do and we always stay busy but I do hate to see some aspects of the ministry suffer in this way. Please pray for us that the Lord will supply these needs.

The Monday night Bible classes that I conduct each week are doing well. It is always a joy to see the interest in learning more about God’s Word by His children. My first class is for the Baptist Pastors from the province of Huanuco and they have been very faithful to attend. At present we are studying through a book I wrote on The Administration of a Baptist Church. My second class is open to all the members of our Baptist churches in the area. I am in the midst of teaching a “panorama of Christianity” at this time. It is proving to be very fruitful. There is so much more I could write about but this letter is getting too long. Until next month.

Serving Jesus in Peru,

Sheridan and Anita Stanton