Lima The Gray
Hello from Lima!
Lima is known colloquially as “Lima la gris” or Lima the gray. For about eight months a year, we have a mostly overcast sky, with few sunny days. I know it may sound depressing to some, but for me, as a very fair-skinned man whose skin burns after about 19 seconds in the sun, I am looking forward to the return of the constant clouds that usually comes in March-April. We are leaving summer behind!
It is hard to believe that we are now six months into a church plant. It both feels like we started yesterday and as if we have been going for much longer than six months, but what we are most definitely sure about is that God has been good these last six months. From day one, He has been bringing people, helping us reach new families, and allowing us to make a difference in our area.
Since we started, we have been amazed seeing all that God has done for us. God showed us where to plant the church, He gave us a very central location, He allowed us to find a building with a Christian owner who wanted to have a church meet in her building, He has allowed us to get involved in the local community, and He has been bringing people left and right to every service. We had more than 40 visitors in February, and are looking to surpass that here in March. We have had multiple people come and be saved and baptized, and our discipleship classes are running 40+ people every week.
One of the most exciting things has been people coming in, accepting Christ, and then desiring to grow.. We have an older couple, Edwin and Susana, who came on our grand opening Sunday in October. Edwin had gone to a Christian church as a young man and had even studied in a Christian Seminary. Susana had always been staunchly Catholic. They saw a message online that we had published through our social media ministry, and visited the church. After they came, we were able to visit with them and Susana accepted Christ, and Edwin came back to his roots. The next Sunday, our people rejoiced with Susana as she was baptized, Edwin looking on with a huge smile on his face. Both of them are the first to get to every service, and are taking discipleship courses to know what the Bible says about growing as Christians.
There are many stories like that of God using this new church plant to help people to know Christ as well as people coming back to Him after being away. God is doing big things here, and while I don’t fully understand why He allows us to be a part of all that He is doing, it’s amazing that He would use us.
Please pray for our ministries here. We are growing as a church, and soon will have to look for more ways to fit everyone into the space that we have. Pray that God shows us the best option, whether that entails holding two services on Sunday mornings or finding a new meeting place. He has opened doors in the neighborhood where we are currently located, so we would prefer not to move too far away, but He knows best.
Additionally, I would ask for prayer for our online ministries. God is doing big things through our social media ministries. In 2024 alone, we have already seen over 1,700 people write to us saying that they have accepted Christ. It is amazing to see what God is doing in the lives of so many. Our plan for this year is to build a recording studio so that we can both produce more content ourselves, as well as enable local pastors and ministries to do the same thing, reaching more people in the process. Pray that God provides the necessary funds as well as taking care of all the details in the construction process.
Thank you so much for being a part of what God is doing here in Lima! We love seeing so many people so involved in His work here.
May God bless you and your family,
-Josh, Heather, and Joseph Hedderman