Our Lord sent us to minister to people in the mountains, jungles and coast of Peru.

These are some of the slums on the outskirts of Lima. Squatters have built shacks on the sandy hills east of the city.

This was where Christ told us to start our mission.

We began at the Iglesia Aleluya church in Lima. We conducted an eye clinic there and restored sight to about 50 people.

We spent one evening leading worship at the Valle de Jordon church in Lima. This was unscheduled, but a local pastor extended a special invitation to our team when he learned we were in town. Nine people made first time professions of faith in this service, and dozens more rededicated their lives to Christ.

On August 15, 2007, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck 93 miles south-southeast of Lima. More than a dozen aftershocks greater than magnitude 5.0 followed in just the next few days. We already had made arrangements for our missions trip, but when we learned of the disaster, we immediately changed our plans in order to help. Our second day in Peru, we traveled to Pisco and Chincha, the costal cities worst hit by the earthquakes. When we arrived, we were stunned by the devastation. Official estimates claimed 80 percent of structures were destroyed. Unfortunately, that number was about right. So many buildings looked like this one …

… and this one.

There was rubble everywhere.

About 480 people died in Pisco. 148 perished in this church on the main square when the roof collapsed while the people were celebrating mass.

Hundreds had to be evacuated to Lima because the town’s hospital was rendered unstable by the earthquake.

Thousands more were forced to live outdoors in some type of crude shelter such as this. Their homes are not safe and they have nowhere else to go.

Following prayer, our team got to work. We distributed more than 75 large bags of food and several suitcases full of clothes.

We also began to hand out tracts and then preach the Word of God. People began to gather …

… several dozen came.

Following his message, our Dan Fleischmann, shown on the left in the tan shirt, led the people in prayer. 45 persons made first time professions of faith at this simple impromptu street service.

Of course, we didn’t stop there. The man on the left facing the camera is a local pastor and the man in the blue vest in the center of the picture is his music minister. Their church was destroyed by the earthquake. The pastor’s mother was killed on the place where he is standing. He wanted to rebuild his church on that spot. After a worship service with the pastor’s congregation and our missions team, we donated $500 to the cause. Since our trip, the church is rebuilding, it is holding weekly services, and the congregation is now growing every day.

The man on the right in the tan shirt with his finger extended is another local pastor. We also donated money to help him rebuild his church. His congregation has also finished the task and is expanding.

The next day, we returned to Lima to meet with some of Peru’s elected representatives.

We met with Representatives Karim Lisa Lopez, Michael Urtecho, and Margarita Sucari (front row, left to right). Pepe Florez, Director of the Peruvian Baptist Convention, is standing second to the left on the second row in the white shirt. They are surrounded by our missions team wearing the colored shirts. We discussed ways the Peruvian Government could help churches aid their citizens and presented the representatives with study Bibles .