March Prayer Letter

March 9, 2010

Dear Prayer Partners,

Our summer here in Peru is officially behind us and all the schools are back in session. This summer we spent a lot of time in leadership training and preparing new leaders. We have had a lot of discouragement in our workers, so we geared a lot of activities toward character training and serving others.

During our Evangelistic Campaign in January, we saw many salvation decisions as well as lots of new contacts. Our teen and leadership camp was attended by over 60 teens. 20 of those were new teens that have started coming over the last year. Most have made public decisions for Christ and many have been baptized and are beginning to serve in the church.
The last Sunday of February we had the privilege of baptizing seven people. Two of those were a husband and wife 70 years old! Praise the Lord that God still saves young and old alike!

Our summer Sunday School campaign ended the last Sunday of February. We had record attendances during those eight weeks averaging 130 with high days over 160. The ladies class, that Becky teaches, had the most marked attendance with 25-30 every Sunday. We are praying that God would continue to move in the hearts of men, because we desperately need men of God to lead their families and our church family.

The 7th of March, we had our second annual “Open House Sunday.” We praise the Lord for well over 200 in the morning service. We held the service outdoors at the basketball court that is in front of our church. A Gospel message was given and the 60+ visitors were able to hear about their need for Christ. Many raised their hands for salvation, and we will continue to follow up for security of salvation.

After the morning service we had a mini “Carnival” of games. More visitors continued to come and we ended up with a total attendance of over 350. Our Muslim neighbors came, many of Andrew’s basketball team came, a group of girls and mothers from Abbey’s volleyball team came, a group of firemen came as well as many folks we invited from stores where we shop. It was an incredible blessing that God used our kids to see over 30 different visitors attend the Open House. In total there were over 150 visitors, praise the Lord!

This last week we said goodbye to 2 more young people as they went off to Bible College in Trujillo. José and Lucía are starting their first year, Richard is returning for his second year and Cristian is finishing this year and will return to work here in the church, Lord willing, in December. It is a great joy to see our spiritual children surrender to full time Christian service!

This April we are sad to be losing one of our best workers in the church! Sarah is heading off to college. We are sad and glad, as we will be a LONG way apart for what seems like an eternity. God has given Sarah some very specific goals and we are extremely proud of how God has used her during her time in Peru.

Please make the following financial needs a matter of prayer. Our medical insurance went up $100, our landlord is raising our rent, six passports need to be renewed this March, and we need to travel to the Embassy in Lima to renew our passports. We will also be looking at a van in Lima that another missionary is selling. We have $2,000 in designated gifts toward that purchase. Praise the Lord the bank of Heaven never closes!

We really need a vehicle for the work that God has given us to do. After our trip to Lima we have been invited to the jungle of Ayacucho to do a week of leadership training in the mornings and an Evangelistic Campaign in the evenings. We have another invitation to do the same program at the Peru/ Ecuador border in May. If we had a van, we could save over 50% in bus fares and have the safety of traveling during the day. Most buses travel at night and that is when they are robbed. Last week two men came to Tacna from Ayacucho to confirm plans for our visit to Ayacucho. Their bus was robbed with armed thieves. Praise the Lord, nobody was hurt, but that is a reality here in Peru.

Thank you for investing in Peruvian souls. Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. Our prayer is that God will greatly reward you in Heaven for the investment you are making in Peru.

Fellow laborer,
Jonathan and family

Poor blog

You poor neglected blog! So much time has gone by... and so much had happened! We will do better to keep you updated. : )

Revival and VBS Update

We are excited to share with you the tremendous blessings we received during these past two weeks. The Lord brought Pastor Mark Smith and a group of adults and teens from Washington State. Their goal was to equip us with materials and help us reach our city for the cause of Christ. While here, they as well as our team of leaders were able to see around 100,000 tracts and flyers distributed in three different cities (Lima, Arequipa, Tacna).

We held four VBS clubs as well as 4 revival services. Three of the clubs had over 100 children in average attendance! Over 500 different children were registered in all the clubs. We were excited to see so many children raise their hands for salvation, as well as many parents. A personal follow-up visit to each home will help solidify their decisions. We also saw at least 25 adult decisions made during the nightly services. This week we are following up on each of these people and will get them assigned to a discipleship partner.

Pray with our churches and leaders that we will all be faithful to cultivate the many seeds that have been sown. Each piece of literature that was printed gave a web site for further follow-up and questions. www.conocecristo.com We have received many contacts through the website and even have had several phone calls to our church in Tacna. Pray for our ministry as we go forward to reach our city and country for the Lord.

We were able to work with Pastor Alex and Pilar Mamani while in Arequipa. Their family has been such a blessing and encouragement to our own ministry. Despite the hard conditions in which they live, they never complain, do not share their difficulties and always have a smile. Alex called this past Sunday to let us know that the landlord of their property came by and gave them 15 days to either purchase the property they are using for the church or move out. They are currently renting a 128 m2 building. It is in a great location and has the potential of adding at least two or three floors. The landlord is asking $5,000. The one draw-back is that they would have to add sewer immediately which would add about another $1,000. We would ask you to pray with us that the Lord would show us clearly if this is the right place, right price and right timing. Once again, we would ask you to consider joining with us financially as we help Pastor Alex and the Source of Light Baptist Church obtain a permanent building for their congregation. This would mean a work crew would be a great plus also!!

Much has been done this week for the Kingdom of Heaven. Pray with us that Satan would be bound and would not steal our joy through discouragement or distraction. We have a work ahead of us and we need the strength of the Lord in order to see continued victories!

Becky is still being seen at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. She has had a couple of appointments and has gotten LOTS of information; actually she is in information OVERLOAD!

There was an error in scheduling her MRI, so that will be done on Monday the 27th at 10:00 a.m. They will be injecting a dye to get better images. She will be seen by the surgeon that same afternoon. They are also running a series of tests regarding her failing eye sight, “curtains” of grey that black out her vision from time to time, as well as why she has fallen or tripped so often over the past year or so.

Please keep our family in prayer. First, pray for Becky’s health as well as wisdom for the doctors. Pray for our family- we don’t do well separated! The kids are having a hard time with Mom being gone! Becky hates being alone as well! It is hard for me, because I am torn between multiple responsibilities; supporting my wife, caring for my kids as well as the ministry here in Peru!

On top of all that is the stress created by the financial pressures! The Lord has laid on our hearts to contact a handful of Pastors to pray about helping with this need. We have never asked for help for personal needs, but I guess that is why we have “supporting” churches! We are truly blessed to have such a tremendous group of supporters! Please pray for God’s will to be done, in His timetable.

One last item… please pray for a major evangelistic program we are planning with a group from Faith Baptist in Tacoma, WA, August 13-24. We have been praying and preparing our workers for a great harvest of souls. We are tentatively planning 4 different children’s outreach programs, 4 revival campaigns in 4 different cities, as well as passing out thousands of tracts! Please pray for God’s perfect will to be done.

Feel free to call or write to us here in Peru, or contact Becky at becky@earnharts.com I know she would appreciate your words of encouragement. She is staying with my parents in Rochester.

Just a quick note to ask for your prayers for Becky. In February she took a fall down the stairs and got her arm caught in the railing. She has had consistant pain since that time and lately the pain has become more intense.

We had had Xrays taken as well as a MRI here in Peru. We have sent the images to the Mayo clinic and we are in the process of getting an appontment for Becky. Becky will be traveling to Minnesota this Thursday at midnight (12 am Friday).

Please pray for... Becky's health and wisdom for the attending doctors.

... Family (everyone does poorly when Mom is gone!)
... Finances, well, right now there arn't any!
... Future, wisdom to do what is right.

You can email Becky at becky@earnharts.com , call us at 760-466-7684. Once Becky gets to Minnesota she will activate a cell phone and I will pass along that number.

Greetings from Peru! Today actually finds Jonathan and me in the capital city of Lima. I'm posting this blog from the very plush and comfortable chairs of Starbucks! We have taken a few days to 'come apart' and enjoy each other's company as we celebrate 18 years of marriage. It seems like only yesterday we were travelling together on a singing team representing our college. Those days were so much fun...that we've chosen to 'travel together' 'til death do us part :-) I am so blessed to serve alongside my best friend. Not everyone can say that, you know!

We're enjoying the slow pace and are looking forward to catching up on some reading as well as much needed rest. We hope to visit an incredible park with huge fountains of water that have laser displays and synchronized music ...it's quite romantic, I must add. We've also made reservations to see a free play tomorrow night. I know we'll enjoy these few days together and it will be a wonderful opportunity to renew our commitment to the Lord and to each other.