Special Visits in Rinconada

Rev. Melissa Erha, Rev. John, Adrienne & Anabelle Lautenbach, Andy & Lorraine Nelson are in Peru for Youth Meetings and more.  You can follow their blogs here. 

Monday 3/25 - What a day!! Words can't even describe how beautiful this day was! We visited 4 homes in the Rinconada community. First, we went to Pastor Pelayo's mother's house - what a blessing! To get to their house, we had to take public transportation for about 5 min. and then climb down and up a few steep hills. Just when we thought we were there, Pastor Pelayo led us up about 50 steep stairs that were built into the side of the mountain. As we climbed up, he explained how each week they have to haul their water up in large buckets and they store it in a trough outside of their home. His mother, grandmother and aunt greeted us with homemade Chicha Morada - a peruvian juice made from purple corn. They were so happy we were in their home and just kept giggling. Pastor Pelayo's grandmother speaks Quechua (language from the mountains) and doesn't know Spanish, so he would have to translate from Quechua to Spanish and then our interpreter would translate from Spanish to English! Before we left, all 3 of them wanted us to pray for them. God's presence came into that house as Rev. Lautenbach prayed for healing for their bodies, strength and that God would give them a special blessing.

We also visited a brother from the church. He has a small factory in his home where his family makes fabric that is used for school uniforms, sports jerseys, sneakers and many other things. The team was amazed to see how he lived, as he allowed us to tour his factory. We were able to talk with him and answer questions he had regarding water baptism. At one point he said that he feared failing God and Bro. Andy Nelson had a scripture to encourage him. With a smile from ear to ear, he just kept saying "I am so happy you are here in my home - thank you for coming!"

In another home, we ministered to a 19 year old girl who used to attend the Sunday School at the Lighthouse Church. Her family is very concerned about her right now because she parties all night and sleeps till noon every day. They worry that she is getting into prostitution because she doesn't have a job but somehow has money. At first, as we talked with her mother, she didn't want anything to do with us and would hide her face. Then, all of a sudden, she saw Rev. Lautenbach and said, "I remember you!" She showed us a photo that she and her sister had taken with Rev. Lautenbach 13 years ago. Immediately she began to open up to us and we encouraged her to come to the Youth Revival this week. We are praying and believing that she gives her life to Christ!

Altogether we were able to visit 5 homes where we ministered and prayed for people. It was beautiful to see the team walking down the paths with their Bibles under their arms, ready to minister to whomever had a need. Thank you for praying for us. We are excited about what is going to happen during the Youth Conference, which starts on Wednesday PM!

Rev. Melissa Erha & Team