Dear Friends,
July was just as action packed as the month of June! In last month’s letter I reported on the visiting mission team from Hiddenite, North Carolina. The week after they left I traveled north of Lima to preach a four day meeting for the Faith Baptist Church of Huaral. We had a great time preaching and teaching on the Exchanged Life in Jesus Christ. The following week I preached in the anniversary services of the Zion Baptist Church here in Huánuco. It was a true blessing to have been in both of these meetings. One week after the anniversary services I traveled to Peru’s capital city of Lima once again to meet our second summer mission team. This group was mainly from the Grace Baptist Church of Taylor, Michigan with three joining from the Storms Creek Baptist Church of Ironton, Ohio. It was the first time for the Grace Baptist Church to take on a summer mission project and they did an outstanding job. There were fourteen of them on the team and they not only worked hard and shared God’s love everywhere they went but they also laughed a lot while having a great time. They will be missed and we hope they will come back again sometime in the future. Like the first mission team they also helped the Grace Baptist Church of Huánuco build a security wall around the property. Digging ditches with picks and shovels and then filling the ditches with concrete and rocks was exhausting work but they really seemed to enjoy it! The traditional soccer match with Americans and Peruvians playing went as expected! I’m sure you can guess the outcome! On Wednesday night Pastor Matt Brooks brought a moving message at the Central Baptist Church here in Huánuco. I had the privilege of translating for him. After the work days we goodbye to Huánuco and began our journey to Cusco and Machu Picchu.
While in Cusco we visited the Berea Baptist Mission pastored by our Baptist Missionary friends Jason and Rebecca Reinhardt. Pastor Gary Harrah preached on Sunday morning with me translating. What a blessing the service was for all present! From there the team travelled by bus and train to Machu Picchu (which is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World). Machu Picchu is an amazing place and pictures just cannot describe the experience adequately. After arriving back in Cusco we flew back to Lima then began our trip on down the Pacific coast to the town of Paracas where the group was scheduled to travel eleven miles out into the ocean to the Ballesta Islands but the sea was choppy that day and the port authority would not allow any boats out. So we had a great seafood lunch and then continued on down the coast to the Huacachina oasis. This team, like the June team, had an incredible time sand surfing and dune buggy riding in the sand dunes that stretch for as far as the eye can see.
The next day our dear friends left Peru, heading back to Michigan. They made a wonderful impression and we hope the trip challenged and excited them to do even more for missions there at home. Hosting mission teams is exhausting work but also very, very rewarding for Anita and me. We certainly enjoyed having them with us and we hope they will come back. We thank the Lord for their love and concern for the dear saints of the Lord here in Peru.
In HIM by HIS grace,
Sheridan and Anita Stanton
July was just as action packed as the month ofJune! In last month’s letter I reported on the visiting mission team from Hiddenite, North Carolina. The week after they left I traveled north of Lima to preach a four day meeting for the Faith Baptist Church of Huaral. We had a great time preaching and teaching on the Exchanged Life in Jesus Christ. The following week I preached in the anniversary services of the Zion Baptist Church here in Huánuco. It was a true blessing to have been in both of these meetings. One week after the anniversary services I traveled to Peru’s capital city of Lima once again to meet our second summer mission team. This group was mainly from the Grace Baptist Church of Taylor, Michigan with three joining from the Storms Creek Baptist Church of Ironton, Ohio. It was the first time for the Grace Baptist Church to take on a summer mission project and they did an outstanding job. There were fourteen of them on the team and they not only worked hard and shared God’s love everywhere they went but they also laughed a lot while having a great time. They will be missed and we hope they will come back again sometime in the future. Like the first mission team they also helped the Grace Baptist Church of Huánuco build a security wall around the property. Digging ditches with picks and shovels and then filling the ditches with concrete and rocks was exhausting work but they really seemed to enjoy it! The traditional soccer match with Americans and Peruvians playing went as expected! I’m sure you can guess the outcome! On Wednesday night Pastor Matt Brooks brought a moving message at the Central Baptist Church here in Huánuco. I had the privilege of translating for him. After the work days we goodbye to Huánuco and began our journey to Cusco and Machu Picchu.
While in Cusco we visited the Berea Baptist Mission pastored by our Baptist Missionary friends Jason and Rebecca Reinhardt. Pastor Gary Harrah preached on Sunday morning with me translating. What a blessing the service was for all present! From there the team travelled by bus and train to Machu Picchu (which is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World). Machu Picchu is an amazing place and pictures just cannot describe the experience adequately. After arriving back in Cusco we flew back to Lima then began our trip on down the Pacific coast to the town of Paracas where the group was scheduled to travel eleven miles out into the ocean to the Ballesta Islands but the sea was choppy that day and the port authority would not allow any boats out. So we had a great seafood lunch and then continued on down the coast to the Huacachina oasis. This team, like the June team, had an incredible time sand surfing and dune buggy riding in the sand dunes that stretch for as far as the eye can see.
The next day our dear friends left Peru, heading back to Michigan. They made a wonderful impression and we hope the trip challenged and excited them to do even more for missions there at home. Hosting mission teams is exhausting work but also very, very rewarding for Anita and me. We certainly enjoyed having them with us and we hope they will come back. We thank the Lord for their love and concern for the dear saints of the Lord here in Peru.
In HIM by HIS grace,
Sheridan and Anita Stanton
New Life Baptist Church 