MM Founder Brian Mark Weller at the Costa Azul Feeding Center in Lima, Peru in 2005.
I just returned from a very fruitful mission to Peru. It’s hard to comprehend that I first visited Peru 20 years ago, in 1999. Little did I know then that God would give us a burden for the people of Peru, call us to minister there for two decades, and one day use Message Ministries to inspire Peruvians to reach unreached nations in the 10/40 Window. Over the years we’ve been privileged to see amazing things by God’s grace, a dedicated team of mission supporters, some dedicated missionaries, and a great team of Peruvian pastors and ministry workers. Since 1999:
- Tens of thousands of people have received Jesus Christ through local churches, youth camps, school outreaches, street outreaches, eyeglass clinic outreaches, Christmas Blessing Project outreaches and more.
- Thousands of children have received discipleship through feeding centers and children’s ministry programs based out of local churches.
- Thousands of teens have come to our youth camps and retreats, many who met the Lord, and some who became leaders in their local churches.
- Dedicated youth have received discipleship training through the Corazones en Fuego Discipleship ministry at our mission base in Marquez.
- Many needy families have received pre-fab homes in some of the poorest slums of Lima. Many widows and widowers benefitted from this outreach.
- Hundreds have received career training through Able Hands Vocational Training and now can better provide for their families.
- Many disciples of Jesus Christ have received Bible school training through our partnership with Pacto de Vida Universidad.
The Wellers with Pastor Fabian Santillan and his wife, Cecilia, at their Pachacutec church in 2004.
Floyd Wagner (left) and Hector Del Carpio (right) played vital roles in the mission work in Peru. Hector is still involved.These past 20 years are so filled with memories of God’s work in Peruvian lives. Today, we praise God for many positive changes. The economy is improving. Local churches have grown stronger. Trained pastors are discipling new believers of all ages, and sending out their own mission teams to finish evangelizing Peru. Today, only .5% of Peruvians have never heard the gospel. That means the churches have done a fantastic job! They will continue to reach their nation with the Good News, but now they are also helping us reach unbelievers in the 10/40 Window. Peru was once “the mission field,” but now Peruvians are excitedly receiving the call from God to reach those who have never heard of Jesus Christ.
On this past trip, we witnessed something incredible: this once very needy mission field of Peru is now becoming a country of missionary senders. On Friday, April 12th, we held a missions conference and gave a call to reach the unreached. Peruvian pastors, leaders, and believers came forward to receive the burden of the Lord for unreached souls. These leaders broke when they realized that about 50,000 souls slip into the eternal darkness of hell every day without ever hearing the gospel of Jesus. They came to the altar weeping and wanting to help. After the conference, a leader of a pastoral fraternity in Lima told me — “we are going to help and do our part.” A day later, our good friend Pastor Gilberto asked me to teach his church how to get involved with world missions. They already support an indigenous missionary in Cambodia but want to do more. Several days after, a long-time partner church in Pachacutec (the Sandy Slum) gave an offering of S./ 2,000 soles (about $600) to help us reach Cambodia with the gospel. They’ve given a similar offering two other times in the last year! Brothers and sisters, this is amazing! It’s exhilarating to watch the helped become the helpers; to watch the receivers become the givers. Peruvian churches who once sought missions help now have opened their hearts to help reach the unreached. They have heard the call of God to evangelize the whole world and want to take part in God’s great commission call to usher in the coming of Jesus Christ.
Peru leaders and friends at the 2019 Leaders Retreat. These leaders have caught a passion for unreached people groups.
During my trip, I loved spending time with our son JJ and his wonderful Peruvian wife, Cynthia. A highlight of the trip was our leaders’ retreat. What a blessing to see our partners enjoying fellowship and getting refreshed and revived for the work ahead. I visited many partner ministries and preached in some of the churches as well.
Please pray for us as we prepare to go to Cambodia as ambassadors of Jesus Christ from June 11 to July 3. Anne, Cynthia, JJ, and I will join Jim Randall and a group of indigenous ministers to reach unreached villages, perform eyeglass clinic outreaches, train ministry workers, reach soldiers on the border of Cambodia and Vietnam and more.
Finally, I want to thank all of you who support this ministry through your prayers and donations. Thank you for your part in keeping this ministry active, fruitful and going forward. If you’d like to join arms with Mission Cambodia, we welcome your help as senders. To donate now, click the red button below.
