Brothers and Sisters,
I send you warm greetings. We are grateful that you are partnering with us to ensure more children and teenagers will have the opportunity to know the love of our heavenly Father. Your support will open doors of opportunity to transform children, their families and their community, and to release them from poverty in the name of Jesus!
I am Cristina Zavala, Country Director for Compassion Peru. In 1984, Compassion began our ministry and I have been serving in this role since 2005. Peru is a country with a very rich history, beautiful places, warm people, but also extreme poverty, broken families and vulnerable children.
Together we can offer those who are voiceless and suffer the most valuable gift, which is hope and eternal life in Jesus. There is no more extraordinary thing to me and that brings me great joy. Seeing leaders and members of the local church open their arms and receive our children with love, take care of them and share the gospel is as amazing as in the book of Acts!
Our team is very careful in the selection of mother churches — that they show maturity in carrying on Compassion programs. The mother church helps with its experience, resources to purchase the land, and by providing support and encouragement to the new pastor and congregation. As a result, we have seen a greater commitment from our church partners to work with children. “You are our strategic partner in the Great Commission,” they say. The church has taken a great role in the community in caring for children. As Compassion Peru, it is our honor to walk with them and provide guidance, expertise and support. It is an excellent opportunity for the church to develop new skills, management and organization.
We are very thankful to the Lord because this strategy shows us that His hand is effective in reaching more communities with the love of Jesus. In fact, the impact is such that more church partners long to be part of this strategy when seeing the outcomes. Church planting ensures development practices in empowering the local church and encouraging her to invest in her area; identifying and ensuring adequate native volunteers; and taking responsibility in building and resource mobilization.
We are also seeing how this mobilization allows spiritual growth to our local churches, encouraging them to have more prayer time together and mobilization for evangelism. By the grace of the Lord, we wish to keep growing in the Northern and Andes regions, projecting to benefit more than 15,000 children within the next 5 years — transforming their communities with the gospel!
We believe that poverty will be defeated in our world and in Peru, if we continue working together to release children from poverty in Jesus’s name. Thank you so much for joining with us in response to the Great Commission!
In Christ,
Cristina Zavala, PE Country Director
