Church Plant Update

Mission Hills Church, we are pleased to share this initial field report from your church plant, Evangelical Church of Pilgrims of Peru – Pucara in Jaén, Cajamarca, Peru. The church is beginning work on a 750-square-foot property and has provided a number of details on the progress. Thank you for your generous gift and for partnering with Compassion in releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name!

Construction Progress and COVID-19 Update

Implementation on the church began with hiring qualified contractors to create a structurally sound building. Workers began by clearing the land of debris and leveling the foundation. Construction has progressed to laying bricks and supporting beams for the building walls, but due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, church leadership is experiencing delays in moving forward.

The Peruvian government implemented a mandatory quarantine and closed their borders to travel. Large gatherings are banned, but businesses are allowed to continue operating at 50% capacity. All Compassion frontline church partners are putting activities on hold to abide by social distancing guidelines set by Peruvian officials. Church leadership have been working with the Compassion Peru office to distribute over 150,000 food packs and nearly 46,000 hygiene kits to children and families. The Evangelical Church of Pilgrims of Peru – Pucara is doing everything they can to continue moving forward with construction while practicing safe social distancing.

: A view of the construction site.

Church Activities

Currently, 15 adults and 12 children attend the church regularly. In the past 60 days, three people have made first-time professions of faith in Christ.

Church leadership are connecting with families through phone calls, messages and socially distanced home-visits. They are actively delivering food baskets and water to those living in extreme poverty
Discipleship with families and Bible classes for children

: Community members come to see the church construction site.

Next Steps

In the next 60 days, the following activities will be carried out:

Continue building church walls.
Installing doors and windows.
Laying cement for the floors and ceilings.

: A view inside the sanctuary.

Testimony of Impact

“I am very pleased with the church. Since the church staff have come to our community, they have taught us about the Word of God, given us Bibles and they have supported us with food. Many people are very happy about the new building. At first everyone was afraid and bewildered about the new project, but now we see that everything is good and will benefit the community. I went to see the construction site myself. This is the first church to do this kind of project for work with children in our community.”

-Maximo, father of a child attending church activities

Praises and Prayer Requests

Please pray that children will be reached and transformed with the power of the gospel.
Please pray that God would provide the necessary resources for this project, and that He would be present during this time of global crisis.

: Construction workers clearing the land.

Photos of Progress

Mission Hills Church, thank you for your kind support of Evangelical Church of Pilgrims of Peru – Pucara. I’d like to share these words with you from the church pastor: “We are deeply grateful to God and to you for your kind generosity. Without your support, this important project would not have been possible. We hope our good God will reward you according to His purpose. The authorities in our community are also very pleased by the work our church is doing. We are seeing cheerful faces among families who are receiving support and hearing the good news of the gospel.”