Update for December 2022

Political situation

Thanks to everyone for your prayers and concerns about the political situation here in Peru. Things have quieted down a lot after the violence the week of December 12th. The airport resumed day flights about 5 days late and night flights resumed a little over a week ago after repairs were done to the landing lights. After a truce for the holidays, protests resumed on January 4th with some roads blocked but so far nothing real extreme.

GTO team

The last part of November, GTO sent a team for 2 weeks. They helped different churches with projects including ceiling repair and painting in our church here. The church also wanted to experience a USA Thanksgiving so they helped us a lot in preparing and sharing on Sunday about the history of Thanksgiving in the States and how to apply that to our lives. After church we had a Thanksgiving dinner with the church ladies also bringing some peruvian dishes. Having a buffet with so many different varieties of food where you can help yourself is a foreign idea to them, but they really enjoyed it. I don’t think we will repeat it again though. Instead of having Thanksgiving celebration tied to USA culture, I would rather they adopt a day that’s meaningful to them and their culture if they want to celebrate a special day of Thanksgiving to God.

Paying a “tip”

Last update I shared that our long awaited visas came through. This allowed me to start the process of getting my Peruvian driver’s license. I tried to get a license transfer (which is also quite a process) of my US driver’s license, but they rejected my driver’s license report on a technicality, an error in the translation. So that meant I had to do the whole process as if I had never had a license. 

The brothers here in this church told me this is the only time when believers sin intentionally because they said it is impossible to get a driver’s license without bribing the officials. I started the process with trepidation, but relaxed after a while, hoping to get by without paying any bribes. My hopes of passing the physical driving test were pretty much shattered the day before my test when the broker offered me a chance to pass on the first try by paying a substantial “tip”. I’ll have to admit it was a temptation because I knew at that point there existed secret communication between them and the officials administering the test, and that unless God intervened, I would not pass until the 3rd or 4th attempt. The extra cost of all the attempts would eventually equal the cost of the bribe. But he told me to think about it and we would “talk” the next day before the test.

On my way home that day verses about the “eyes of the Lord” kept running through my head so when I got home I searched for reference and context. The one 1 Peter 3:12 seemed especially applicable, “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

In light of the population protesting the corruption in the government and calling it evil, it seemed appropriate for me to explain this to the people in Transport also. I was prepared to share, but after refusing to pay the bribe, they rushed me through the process and I didn’t have an opportunity to share anything about why I wouldn’t pay. So I was expecting to fail but was pleasantly surprised to pass on the first attempt. I’m pretty sure the Lord intervened.

This testimony has been an opportunity to share with the believers who think that the only way to live in this culture is to pay bribes. And I’m not the only missionary attempting to get my driver’s license that has a story. Thankfully, the missionaries that I know here as a whole are against bribery and also have their own stories.

The church in our house continues to mature spiritually, which is really good to see. I have started a weekly post because of the sources and messages that sometimes appear on the church’s message group. Sometimes I write them, other times I find appropriate articles and translate them. I also plan to start preaching monthly here. And because of the growth the men have seen in their wives that participate in the ladies group, a men’s group has been formed that meets every Wednesday night.

Blessings, 

Stan & Ruth

commissioned missionaries by Good News Fellowship