Praise, passion and promises

Tracing the Lord’s work in Peru

For the last seventeen years Anthony Green has kept a daily journal, to trace and document the Lord’s work as he and Roxanna have served in Arequipa, Peru. Looking back, Anthony sees many examples of the Holy Spirit’s gracious work and the fulfilment of God’s promises.

I came to Peru in 1996, met my Peruvian wife Roxanna, and was a married man within nine months—our wedding taking place in 1997. Our daughter Melissa was born in 1999. We spent a couple of years in Tacna, a city bordering Chile in the south, serving the Lord while seconded to the Irish Baptist Mission. Then in 2000 we moved to the city of Arequipa after our home church and GBM agreed to send us to church plant in the city. We rented a small house in the Simón Bolivar district, and began ministry with a team of workers. Now after years of ministry and seasons of gracious conversions, there is an established church and congregation, meeting in the new facilities we built in 2007. The church continues to grow and is now led by Pastor Ronny Tipismana, who has been supported by the Mission since the inception of the work.

A new ministry

In 2015 I was itching for a new challenge, feeling we needed a change, and began to seek the Lord in prayer. By a series of remarkable providences during a sea of turmoil, the Lord led us to a new ministry in another area further north in Arequipa, called Buenos Aires. The pastor of this church asked us to join them in the work, and we accepted the call and started our ministry there in September 2017. Three years later, Pastor Carlos, out of the blue, shared that he would be leaving the church to serve the Lord in a church north of Lima. At the next church meeting the whole membership called me to lead the church. This was 15 March 2020—the same day that the President of Peru declared a state of emergency with everyone confined to their houses because of the coronavirus. This meant the previous pastor was unable to move to his new church for three months—not an auspicious beginning for both of us! But somehow, we managed in those months to have a baptism in the river Chili—chilly, I must say!

Steady growth

There has been steady growth in the church in the last three years. One of the highlights for me was leading four marriage services in one year, with all the couples serving the Lord in various ministries of the church. The church began with a small group of believers meeting on a plot of land donated by a Christian couple. They were able to erect a meeting place constructed with drywall and a corrugated roof—not at all safe in a seismic area with regular earth tremors and periodic earthquakes.

We began to pray and seek the Lord for sufficient funds to provide the church with new facilities for future ministry. Again, in a remarkable way in God’s providence, we were able to construct the building with living space for a future pastor and family. It was built more through prayer than materials, as we began the work in faith. The builders started, and sometimes when the funds were almost exhausted, the Lord sent the needed supply! The workers never stopped for a day until the work was completed. I think it will be my last construction project as I am near retirement, but not in the service of the Lord.

Fruitful witness

It was encouraging that the last two men who we baptized came to church through the witness of two of our members, who had personally discipled them in the Word. I could give many testimonies from the believers here, but I share one regarding a sister in the church who is such a blessing through her sacrificial love for the Lord. She supports any outreach of the church, whether in the open air, visits to the local hospital, visiting ladies in their home to encourage them, or cooking for over 130 people at the recent inaugural services! Her father is eighty-two years old and shared with me that his daughter, when around eighteen months old, was seriously ill and died in their home. He was desolate and rang for the ambulance to take her to the morgue or hospital. Just minutes before the ambulance arrived, a brother from the church knocked at the door to visit and he prayed in faith for Teresa. They heard a gasp from her mouth, and she was instantly restored. Years later she was called and saved by the grace of God.

Looking forwards

In August we will use the baptistry in the new church building for the first time—may it be but the first of many to the glory of God! We are soon to start a meeting on Sunday afternoons called ‘The Roundtable.’ This will be more informal, where we can deal with different themes and doctrines and people can ask questions and invite friends and neighbours to have a coffee and fellowship after time in the Word of God. It also helps me to know where people are in their understanding of the gospel in a more relaxed setting. The children’s ministry is growing as more families attend. Roxy has been able to receive help with the Sunday School in preparing other teachers. We have several men who can share the Word, with Jesús and Leslie considering future ministry. One of our members, Max, recently spent two months in the north of Peru, helping a church reach the indigenous people in the Amazon rainforest.

Passion for evangelism

We had a full church for the weekend ministry for the inauguration of the new building. I invited Pastor Marcos Figueroa from the mother church in Comas, Lima, to minister in all the services. They have a large membership with three services on a Sunday, a school and seminary. They are keen to support us in sending teams for future evangelism. The church there supports sixteen pastors and missionaries in Peru and abroad.

The gospel in Peru is growing with a real passion for evangelism in many churches. New churches are springing up in Arequipa and teams reaching the unreached in the indigenous areas. The Lord has promised greater things for his church, promises that in his will shall come to fruition. My journal and life are not yet closed, so we wait on the Lord in anticipation of his working among us with a greater outpouring of blessing.

Seeking the Lord

We are now focused on seeking the Lord for a Peruvian pastor to lead the church in the future, who can work alongside us for a few years in preparation for our retirement from GBM. The church in Lima help by forwarding names of men seeking the Lord for future ministry. My wife Roxanna is now struggling with health and restricted in doing what she was able to do in past years. Our daughter Melissa is a veterinary surgeon and is now working full-time in Arequipa, although she is praying to the Lord for opportunities to specialize in another country where there are better opportunities to develop her career. The Lord is good, and we will praise him today and for all that is yet to come!