Woodard Family - April Update

Dear Friends, April 2024

Greetings from sunny Arequipa! The last couple months have gone by so fast. We have seen God working in hearts and answering prayers.

The ministry at the Life of Hope Baptist Church in Horacio Zeballos is growing “poco a poco” ( little by little), and there’s much work to be done. God provided the means to hold a children’s outreach during Holy Week in connection with Samaritan’s Purse for children and adolescents to reach more children and adolescents with the Gospel of Christ.  We gave 35 beautiful gift boxes and have 35 more to give away. We’ve started the 12 week discipleship course that is part of the follow up provided in this ministry. We had 12 adolescents and 8 children last week and are praying to reach more. Some of the mothers have also started attending the services. Please pray for Delfina, Teresa, Roxana, Monica, Aydei, Sara, and Paula. We had 18 adults two weeks ago though normally we have between 10-15. We praise God for how He is working. Angel, a young man who works with one of our leaders, professed faith in Christ as his Savior three weeks
ago. Pray that he will follow in believer’s baptism and grow in his walk with the Lord as a true disciple. Erica, Viviana, and Melanie continue to meet with the ladies every other Friday for Bible study and prayer. Dave has discipleship classes with the leaders as well as with one adolescent young man Luis who recently trusted Christ
as Savior. Please pray for spiritual growth and for God’s Word to spread and reach more with the Gospel. Pray for David, Renee, and German who live in the area and are evangelizing daily. German was saved out of a very worldly lifestyle and has many unsaved friends to whom he is witnessing. The ministry at the Worthy of Life Prenatal Center continues to be used by God to encourage ladies to put their trust in the Lord. Melanie and Edith are counseling 3 days a week. Seeds are being planted, lives transformed, and we ask for you to pray that
God will save these ladies and that this ministry will continue to grow for God’s glory. We enjoyed a special visit from Pastor Daniel Berger and his daughter, Victoria from Faith Fellowship Church in Clarence, New York, one
of our faithful supporting churches. They were a tremendous encouragement to us and to our Peruvian brothers and sisters. We had opportunity to visit the church in Alto Jesus where we served from 2008 to 2018.
(below: Pst. Juan and family) Then on Sunday afternoon, he shared his testimony in Horacio Zeballos, the Life of Hope Baptist Church. He also challenged the adolescents from Proverbs 14:9. We also showed them around our beautiful city. Dave’s seminary class is going well. He has 23 students and there is good participation and they are asking questions. Pray they will grow in their walk with the Lord and become Godly leaders in their churches.

Bekah will finish her first year at college next month. Please pray for God to make it clear to her what His plans for her are for the summer. Please also pray for Ben also that God will protect him in his work as a plumber and that he will grow in his walk with the Lord.

Continue to pray for the camp in Camana that God would protect it from being taken from us as we have had it for 38 years. Praise the Lord for providing the needed funds for this! Pray that God continues to guide in this legal process and for the name of Christ to be glorified above all. The Lord opens unexpected doors as we serve Him one day at a time.

Melanie received a call from Jessica, one of our youth, who lives alone and suffers physically from spinal problems, needed assistance in the emergency room as she was dealing with intense pain in her knee and leg. While there, going from one doctor to the next, they also had opportunity to pray with and briefly share the Gospel with four other patients who were emotionally distraught. Flor de Maria and Aydei were among them. Please remembering you are a necessary part in partnering with us to reach the lost and train believers. Thank you so much for your faithfulness in praying for God´s work in Perú, for our family, and for His Word to spread throughout the nations. God is answering. 

Rejoicing in His faithfulness,

Dave and Melanie Woodard