First Peruvian Mennonite Church celebrates 15 years
LUCRE, Peru – This year, EMM missionaries John and Cindy Kreider stepped in to pastor the Mennonite church in Lucre, a picturesque mountain village of about 500 families. The church had been without a pastor for two years and was floundering as a rift between two church leaders widened. Attendance had dwindled to 25-30.
The Kreiders began meeting weekly with the leaders and training cell group leaders, but soon realized they couldn’t ignore the simmering conflict. They called a meeting of the leaders of the two dissenting sides. Miraculously, the leaders reconciled with one another – giving the church a new lease on life.
Fresh creativity began to flow, and the church decided to celebrate its 15th birthday by throwing a party for the whole community. On October 16, church members welcomed visitors with hot drinks and fresh bread. The worship team played, and John preached a short evangelistic sermon.
Emiliano, one of the first believers in Lucre, told how he and several others from Lucre met God 15 years ago while panning for gold out in the jungle. They came home to Lucre and invited EMM workers to help plant a church in their village.
After the worship service, celebrations continued with firecrackers, hugs all around, and handfuls of confetti in everyone’s hair. There were plays, baptisms, and large portions of noodles, baked potatoes, and chicken for everyone.
The day concluded with piñatas for the more than 50 children, and volleyball and soccer for the youth and adults. Cindy commented, “We felt like many walls came down and there were a lot of relationships built in the community.”
God continues to work. The Kreiders told of amazing personal transformation in the life of one Lucre church leader.
“She had come to church for months, but never looked us in the eye,” Cindy said. “During a ministry time at a church retreat, we learned that at eight years of age, she’d had an incestuous relationship with an older brother. Since then her life had been a jumble of broken relationships, children, and abortions. She’d even attempted suicide. When we prayed for her, she heard voices telling her to leave. But she persisted, repented of her sins, forgave those who had sinned against her, and renounced the strongholds in her life. She came away free in Christ! Now people talk about how different she is, and she looks us in the eye.”
-Jewel Showalter
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