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| Growing the Church in Peru Not Only Wide, But Also Deep |
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| In 2006, more than 400 Peruvian believers received training and resources through SIM's theological education assistance program--a vital part of meeting the spiritual needs of the rapidly growing church in Peru. |
Recent statistics indicate that the evangelical church in Peru has doubled in size over the past 10 years. Although this is great news, it also presents the tremendous challenge of finding qualified spiritual leaders to shepherd these new believers toward maturity.
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Most of us have heard the staggering statistics associated with the HIV/AIDS pandemic, but only a handful of us in America have ever seen tears in the eyes of a fatherless child, heard the cries of an orphaned infant, or attended the funeral of a loved one who died from the disease.
In Africa, the opposite is true. People may not know that 60 million people have been infected by |
HIV, but they know how their own lives have been affected by AIDS. Everyone, it seems, knows someone who is living with--or has died from--the disease.
That fact became real to me in Ethiopia through a young man named Engedu. Desperately poor, Engedu literally lived on the street near our home and survived by scrounging for odd jobs. I had hired him a few times, and we had become friends.
When our house worker told me one morning that he had died, I was shocked. How could this young man entering the prime of his life be dead? "Was it an accident?" I asked. "No," she replied. "He was sick."
Immediately, I understood. Engedu almost certainly had AIDS.
At the funeral later that day, I was haunted by a question: Had I failed Engedu? I couldn’t remember if I had ever clearly shared the gospel with him. Now it was too late. But it wasn’t too late for the dozens of other street boys and girls who stood around me at the funeral.
That day, Engedu put a face to our responsibility as Christians to fulfill both the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. While we "love our neighbors as ourselves" by meeting people’s physical needs, we must also meet people’s spiritual needs by "making disciples." It’s not enough to do one without the other. |
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A short time later I spoke to Mogus, a young Christian friend from our neighborhood. Mogus had met Engedu a few weeks before his death. While they were talking, Engedu mentioned how hungry he was, and without a second thought, Mogus invited him into a roadside café. As they ate, Mogus told Engedu all about Jesus.
In that one afternoon, Mogus demonstrated the heart of what SIM does every day all around the world. By partnering with local churches, other ministries, and friends like you, we work diligently to meet both the physical and spiritual needs of hurting people in need of a Savior.
So thank you for your part in making these ministries possible and for helping us reach so many of the Engedus of the world before it’s too late.
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