Key Word for thought is RENEWAL.
I recently read that “Renewal gives us a sense of excitement and anticipation. It takes us out of our ordinary lives, where we might be feeling everything is old and stale. We yearn for this renewed state of aliveness, when our life-force is activated and we experience everything around us with new eyes.”
2 Corinthians 4:16 “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”
These last couple of months have been exhausting. It has taken us out of our routine but has also been a rejuvenating and renewing time.
We were able to travel back to the States for two weeks to witness the graduation of our oldest son from Maranatha Baptist University. We packed in so many things in the short time to see family and friends.
Before leaving Perú, we made arrangements for our church to have an assistant pastor and his family come and hold special services for the church. It was encouraging to see the church people be hospitable and work together to cover areas in the church.
Upon departure, we noticed we had been approved for permanent residency at the immigration check point even though we hadn’t received our actual visa cards due to a mix up with our passport numbers.
We had a group of 13 people come to our church from Chorrillos, Perú to help us with evangelism. With new church gospel tracts printed, we were able to blitz the area. Our spirits were renewed when twenty-five people made a profession of salvation and many others heard the Gospel. It was refreshing to have Bible teachers in the group to help offer more classes and minister in the church.
Our church is being renewed day by day as we celebrated 13 children completing a 13 lesson discipleship program; Mother´s Day; Father´s Day; birthdays and special speakers. Please continue to pray for spiritual growth of the church and that God would give the increase. We continue to pray for more laborers and for the church to have their own adequate land.
The riots from the beginning of the year have dissipated but a state of emergency has been declared in many regions over Dengue Fever in May when two new types were discovered and the cases increased from previous years due to the abnormal rainy season. Again, we are thankful to be living in an area not affected but are praying for those being hit hard in Perú. There has been preventative recognition and fumigating with results of 30% less cases in the last week alone.
Family update: Nisha and I are in good health and spirits. Matthew arrived in Perú on June 7th and is making final preparations for his wedding on July 8th in Oxapampa. He has accepted a Christian school teaching position in Vermont starting in August. We are praying still to hear of visa approval for his fiancé to return to the States. We anticipate seeing our other three children, family, and friends coming for the wedding. Pray with us for safety in traveling in these months and for all the extra work and expenses for the wedding along with the ministry.
Serving a Great God,
Jon & Nisha Harris
