Evangelical Christianity spreads throughout Peru
Peru is located in western South America bordering the Pacific Ocean, between Ecuador and Chile. The first Gideon camp in Peru was formed in 1958 and there are now 88 camps there. Over 23.5 million Scriptures have been placed there by Gideons.
Peru was the central location of several ancient civilizations, the most famous of those being the Inca civilization. Polytheistic in their beliefs, the Incas suffered internal conflicts that resulted in the Inca Empire being vanquished by Spanish conquistadores in the 16th century. Peru would remain under Spanish rule until 1821.
Today, Peru’s economy is actually growing, but it’s estimated that more than 45% of Peru’s residents live under the poverty line. However the literacy rate is above 90%, which is good news for Gideons distributing Scriptures there.
The population is mostly Catholic, but the evangelical church has grown considerably in Peru over the past few decades. In 1960, there were only 80,000 evangelicals there. Today, there are almost 2.5 million.
God works through the Gideons in Peru
During a recent camp visit to a Gideon camp in Arequipa, personal witnessing by Gideons helped lead to the salvation of three cab drivers, six women in shopping areas, a hotel clerk and her 16-year-old son.
“These people are so eager to hear about Jesus and how to be a Christian,” said one Gideon.
At a Gideon presentation in Talara, an unmarried woman filled out an application to become a Gideon. When it was explained to her that only Christian business and professional men could qualify to become a Gideon, she kept her commitment to the ministry by asking that her dues payment go toward Scripture distributions.
We learned of a hospital near the Piura camp where Gideons could not get Scriptures placed. But then The Gideons made a presentation at a local church service where a woman who worked in administration at the hospital was sitting in the audience. She was so moved by the presentation that she invited The Gideons to bring Testaments to the hospital. As we’ve seen so many times, even when doors seem closed tight, God can still move inside.
In Lambayeque, there was a school distribution where every student in the entire class signed their name in their new Gideon-placed Youth Testaments following the prayer of confession and salvation.
One struggling Gideon camp was down to two members, both who were brand new. But praise God that after one of their first Scripture distributions, they reported that approximately 300 of the 380 school children who received Youth Testaments prayed to receive Christ as their Savior.
At a meeting to open the Neuvo Chimbote camp, 11 new Gideons and one Auxiliary signed up to join the ministry. The next day, following training and the appointing of camp officers, the new members were on their first distribution at a large hospital.
The Chimbote camp was also informed that $21,000 had been raised by U.S. Gideons and Auxiliary for the Chimbote camp’s Scriptures. The new camp’s members were moved to tears by the gift, overjoyed by the fact that brothers and sisters in Christ whom they’d never even met had helped provide funds for their camp’s Scriptures.
Please pray for Peru
Please pray for the upcoming International Scripture Blitz in Peru, April 17th-May 2nd. Pray that doors would open for Scripture distributions and that the inhabitants of Peru will be open to receiving God’s Word.
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