I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, and New Year growing in Jesus Christ the Saviour.
Luke 19:10 "for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
Acts 4:12 "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
Please see the attached PDF of the latest newsletter for text and pictures. If you are not able to view the PDF the text
is included below. Please feel free to let me know if you need it sent in another format.
Merry Christmas from Peru,
Jonathan G. Koehn
Christmas in Peru
December is a bit different in the hilly jungle of Peru. Instead of snow it is one of our hottest months. There is a tradition here to have a midnight supper on the 24th of December. Our local plaza is full of motocars decked out like sleighs with cutout reindeer. To the right is a picture of one. Much like in the states, many are caught up in the materialism which tries to sweep away the true meaning of Christmas. Jesus, King of kings, came to earth, and he humbled himself by becoming a man. He became God in flesh. (John 1:1,2,12,14) I hope we all, especially myself, look to the King of kings throughout this season and remember Him. Remember God is with Us – Emmanuel (Matthew 1:21-23).
Preaching/Teaching Opportunity
Thank you all so very much for your prayers throughout the time that I taught/preached at the church here. I taught lessons based on Dr. Richard Seymour's notes. A basic outline of what I taught follows: 1. The Requirement of God: Perfection, The Righteousness of God (Psalms 5:4); 2. The Need of Man: He is sinner, not perfect like God, not righteous like God (Ecclesiastes 7:20); 3. The Provision of God: His Son, Our Saviour, and Salvation by Grace (2 Corinthians 5:21); 4. The Response of Man: Believe in Jesus Christ (Acts 16:30,31; John 3:16); 5. The Guarantee of God: Eternal life to those that believe in Jesus Christ (1 John 5:9-13). We did a quiz before and after these lessons to see what people understood about salvation.Many people understood the salvation message better after the lessons! We also handed out a slip of paper with many verses showing that salvation is by belief/faith in Jesus Christ alone. If you are
interested in the quiz or this slip of paper please email me at Jonathan@customgraphicwork.com.
Continued on next page . . . (The Pueblo (Village) Churuzapa: Youth Group Mission Trip, and Chocolatada)
The Pueblo (Village) Churuzapa
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12/5/2009 Youth Group Mission trip. To the right and left are some pictures of some of the youth that went. This was a good trip for all who went. Mainly the youth performed a drama about who and who not to date as a believer in Christ. Many youth are not taught, and do not take dating seriously.There is a danger to date someone who doesn't believe in Jesus Christ. Also, briefly included in the drama the importance to keep yourself pure. Another point on dating is that there really is no point to date unless you are ready for marriage because this is the end goal of dating/courting. Pastor Delwin taught a lesson on how we should study the Word of God, and used the hand as an illustration. He used the fingers to illustrate 5 points to recall while studying the Bible. They are as follows: 1. The pinky finger -- Examples to follow; 2. Ring -- Commands to Obey; 3. Middle -- Sins to Confess; 4. Index -- Promises to Claim; 5. Thumb – Truths. He tied his message back into the drama by talking about being pure by looking at the promise in 1 Corinthians 10:12,13. These verses explains God has always given a way of escape from temptation. Brother Ricardo at some point during the program shared a special song. Thank you for your prayers, please continue to pray for the youth group to grow in the Lord. Praise to God for
the trip with the youth, and others that went.
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12/19/2009 Chocolatada is a time when hot chocolate is served with a fluffy cake like bread called Paneton. To the left is a little guy that is eating some panetone with his hot chocolate. Dip in and chow down! Also some gifts were given out along with some donated clothes. Various ones from the church came to help out and it was a wonderful time of bonding together. It was a fun time full of getting rained on along the way, getting sunburned, and getting to see God's people serving! Praise to God to hear the wordless book explained to the children by Pastor Delwin's wife, Techy with the assistance of a couple youth Katy and Paola throughout the program. I had an opportunity to share a little with some guys about the Bible. At times, in these conversations, I realize how much further there is to go in Spanish learning. Please continue to pray for more and more understanding of the Spanish language. To the right are some of the ladies that helped out from our church, and some little children from the village. Also here is a cute little girl with her little doll that she got as a gift. Sometimes their hair turns blondish because of mal-nourishment. You can also see Pastor Delwin with Lucas, Marcos and three of their friends on the bench. Please continue to pray for the church in reaching out to those around us.
Continued on next page . . . (God's Open Doors, Prayer & Praise, Closing with a funny picture!)
God's Open Doors (Thank you for praying for open doors!)
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With Frank my Spanish teacher. Please pray for Frank's salvation. Monday thru Thursday we are in Acts. We continue to read in the Bible in order to expand my vocabulary, give me examples of Spanish in my mind, etc. We also are going through a local devotional article by a church in the area. This provides opportunities to see local "evangelical" cultural understanding of the Bible and also to see where there are areas the church needs to grow. Please pray for people here to rely on the Word of God instead of traditions. Even some believers in Jesus Christ are still very tied into traditions that are
within the church.
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Other opportunities: Please pray for other opportunities such as with Daniel. I talked to him a couple times at a market. He opened up to me a bit. I hope more opportunities will come. Pray for my love to grow more and more for the people. The gospel needs to be shared in love.
He associates himself with a church that tries to hold onto the law. Many do not understand Romans 10:4 and the book of Galatians. It is important for believers in Jesus Christ to remember that we are not under the law. As believers we are made righteous by faith not by works, please read Galatians 3.
Please pray for more opportunities to share the message of salvation in Jesus Christ. I need the words
and the boldness to do so (Ephesians 6:18-20).
Praise & Prayer:
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Prayer - Pray for future church leaders. To the left is men's Bible study, and, hopefully, future leaders. Left to right: brother Hugo, brother Sergio, Pastor Delwin and a brother I fondly call Papi Ricardo.
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Prayer - Please continue to pray for my learning of Spanish. I so hope to be fluent someday. This may seem impossible before I head to the states but, in God's hands, it is possible. Please pray for fluency by February 4th. I hope to continue to study while state side. I want to hit the ground running with Spanish. We'll see what God does.
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Prayer for upcoming trip to the USA. I'll be leaving on February 5th and, Lord willing, coming back to Peru in June. Need prayer for planning and preparation for this. Pray for many open doors to share in churches, any opportunties God may bring, and His provision for ministry. This is coming up quickly and while I am waiting to go various doors here may close so please pray that I will buy up the time each day. (Colossians 4:5,6)
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Praise for God's provision for each day and for the future. Thank you all so much for your prayers, and how you give out of love toward the ministry here.
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Praise for the Spanish learned. There is much to go but it is wonderful to be able to talk more and more with people.
- Prayer for an unspoken request, hopefully soon more to be made known, please pray for God's wisdom and direction.
To bring a smile to your face this Christmas. I included the picture on the right! Poor critter! :)
I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a wonderful New Year in our Precious Saviour Jesus Christ.
Sincerely,
Jonathan G. Koehn
(Luke 19:10 "for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.")
-- Jonathan G. Koehn serving in the San Martín Project in Peru. Serving God with http://www.tentmakersbiblemission.org If God has directed you to support please go to https://tentmakers.webconnex.com/giving/southamerica Skype: jonathan.g.koehn Facebook: Jonathan G. Koehn Email: Jonathan@customgraphicwork.com Website: http://jonathankoehn.customgraphicwork.com ----If you would like to be removed ----from my emailing please let me know, ----thank-you.
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