Peru — September update

September, 2009
Dear friends,

Just a quick update to let you know about the ministry and what is happening in our lives.
Aaron has been burning the candle at both ends for a long time and we didn’t see the warning signs of burn out, exhaustion and depression until they hit full force the middle of July. With the help of our home church we were able to get away for a much needed time of rest, relaxation, counsel and family time. We can’t thank our pastor enough for his help and counsel help during our rough time. We had not had any time away from the work in over a year. We believed we could hang in there until our next furlough which starts in March of 2010. However, the burnout and depression got to be too much, so the Lord provided a way to get away so we could be refreshed for the next stretch of ministry opportunities. Our prayer is that we will finish well.

We would like to thank Pastor Jerry Lancaster of the Starkey Road Baptist for his counsel during our weeks in St. Petersburg. He met us on three different occasions. Aaron has also been reading some great books on depression, especially one called “Winning the Battle over Depression” by Tim LaHaye. He will continue to work through this as well as other books and workbooks. We were shocked to learn the facts about depression, what causes it, and how it can be dealt with. After a lot of reading, we found that there are a lot of great pastors that have struggled or are struggling with this same problem. There are even men of God in the Bible (Elijah, David, etc.) that struggled with depression. The good news is that there is a light at the end of the tunnel!

The ministry side of things is going great. The first week of August, the co-pastor Abraham baptized 4 people that had been saved and gone through the baptism classes. This short break that we have taken has given the people, as well as Abraham and Viviana, a taste of what life will be like once we leave for furlough next year.

The ladies ministry has been going great. Before we left for our break, Debbie and the ladies held an outreach and had about 30 ladies there. The theme was “Focusing on Christ”. Our partner’s daughter, Stephanie Douglas, brought the devotion and challenged our hearts to keep our focus on Him.

The first semester of seminary finished up in July. We had the highest number of students enrolled since we began the seminary. Aaron will be teaching the Good Soil evangelism and discipleship course this semester, which will begin as soon as we return.

We flew back to Peru August 31 and spent two days in Lima renewing Debbie and the boys’ passports. We arrived back in Arequipa Wednesday night. We are looking forward to seeing our church family and finishing our current term well.

Some things to pray about:

· Zack’s decision about college

· Setting up meetings (starting in April 2010) for furlough

· Health for all of us.

· The church’s transition from Aaron as pastor to Abraham as pastor.

We praise God for each of you and thank those of you who have called and prayed for us during this time, and always.

In His Service,
Aaron Karr and family