Jungle News

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

It’s newly a joy to be able to write to you all and share with you all that the Lord is doing in us and through us. We are so privileged to live in a time where technology allows us to communicate so easily and quickly.

         Someone once told us, “If you can do anything else in this life, besides being a missionary, and be happy, do it; because, in order to be a full time missionary, you have to be passionate about it.” Being missionaries and serving the Lord may not be the easiest life we could have chosen, but it is the best life. We are passionate about serving Him, and we are thankful, because we know that our passion comes from our God. A lot of times when people think of over-seas missionaries they think of primitive conditions and no medical care, poverty and things,similar to that. While most of that is true, what many people don’t see is the amazing faithfulness of God.  There are no physical conditions or cultural differences that our God doesn’t give us the grace to deal with. There is no lack of money, food, or anything that our God doesn’t provide for us. And there is no greater joy, peace or satisfaction that could come apart from serving Him.  We see God’s faithfulness in so many ways every day. Not only did God bring us here to share His truth with those around us, but He also brought us here to mold us into His image. As we grow more in Him each day, we are impacted by His greatness and His love.  We Love Serving Him.

Ministry Updates.

We are thankful to God that the children’ ministries are moving forward. We now have a regular attendance of 20 to 25 children in Bible club each Saturday.  We are studying through the Bible with them and have just finished the book of Judges.  For the past few weeks we have been studying the life of Samson and the danger of playing around with sin. We learned along with the children that we need to live lives that please our God, and that we need to be separate from this world. Sin always has consequences and hinders us from living the life that God has planned for us.  We ask that you would accompany us in praying for the lives of these children. Many of them have believed in Jesus, but come from non-believing homes. Pray that they can show Jesus in their lives and be testimonies of His love to their parents. We are trying to establish relationships with the parents of the children, and share God’s love with them also. Also we have started a discipleship for the children. Our goal is to disciple all of the older children (8+) by the end of this year. The discipleship is an 8 week program and takes place each week in the child’s own home. It is a special one-on-one time that we have with the children as we study God’s Word with them. Not only do we have the opportunity to talk to and challenge the children to grow in their walk with the Lord, but we also have the opportunity to get to know their parents.  Our desire is that the parents of the children would come to know Jesus as their Savior. As part of the discipleship we would like to give a Bible to each child who finishes the program.  We want to encourage them to be in the Word even at their young age. We are praying that the Lord would give us wisdom and provide the necessary funds to purchase these Bibles.

        



  Not only is the ministry for children moving forward, but the teen ministry is also being greatly blessed by the Lord. Right now eight young teens are faithfully attending the 5p.m. meetings on Saturdays.  At first only four of them were believers, but now all eight of them have made decisions of faith. Two weeks ago we began special classes with them to help them grow in their faith. The classes are called “My New Life in Christ”.  Daniel is teaching the four young men, and Mattie and Raquel are teaching the young ladies. Raquel is also a missionary with TBM, who is serving the Lord in Tarapoto. She is a great help and blessing to work with. We are praying for the spiritual lives of these eight young people and for more to be added.  Last Saturday we were studying the security of our Salvation, and this Saturday we will be studying the victory that we can have over sin in our daily lives. Keep us in prayer!

          




   There is a new program in the Bible community called couples night! Each Sunday evening we are going to be working with the married couples. Last Sunday we had eight couples in attendance!!! Two of the couples who attended were visitors. Pastor Delwin is going to be giving eight conferences on marriage throughout the next few months. We praise the Lord that there are strong marriages in the Bible community; however there are some who have suffered a lot. We pray that this will be a blessed time of learning and growing for each couple.

                We are still studying Philippians and Ephesians with our church family here in Tarapoto on Sundays and Wednesdays.  Please join us in prayer for the spiritual growth of the church.  We are also praying for land to build a church.  Pastor Delwin’s home is a blessing, but we have outgrown it. We know that only God knows when and where we should build.

               

 Personal updates:

                We are very much enjoying our second year of marriage, and we are excited for the years to come.  It’s so amazing how God can join two people who are so different and form one complete person in Him. It’s so sad for us to see marriages where God is not present; they are missing out on SO much.  We are still praying about our desire to come visit you all next year, and we are still praying for a place to live when our time in this house is up in September. Also, we have started a small project to help out with our financial needs. We are going to start selling baked goods like pies, cakes and pizzas. Homemade pizza has been a huge LIKE for our family and friends here, so we are going to try selling some and see how it goes.  We sold our first apple pie on the 4^th of July, and several people have put in requests for different pies and cakes! We wish that Peru would see the need to sell disposable pie tins, but we have learned to be creative and think of another way.  Please pray that God blesses this project. We would like to start a small savings fund with it for our future travel and visa expenses. 

Well dear friends it has been a pleasure writing you.

Here are a few prayer requests:

·     

·         The spiritual lives of the children, teens, and adults who are part of the Bible Community Church.

·         Bibles for the children’s discipleship program.

·         For the couples night. That those who are coming would grow, and that more would come!

·         For the spiritual growth of the church.

·         For our baking sales. We pray that God would bless it and use this project as an opportunity to share His Word.

·         For a means of transportation.  We know that God will provide us with transportation in His way and in His 
        time. Help us in prayer

May God bless you all. We encourage you to keep your minds focused on Him. Philippians 4:8-9

       Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy meditate on these things.  The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
   

      In Christ, Daniel and Mattie Melendez

A big thanks to all of our ministry partners. Your prayers and contribution are making a difference.  If you would like to partner with us in the ministry you can do so by praying for us, or by financially supporting the Peruvian Jungle Project. Just go online www.tentmakersbiblemission.org  and click on get involved!!! Together we can make a difference!!!

Tentmakers Bible Mission, Inc. P.O. Box 160 401B Highway 151 LaGrange, WY 82221 Our Peruvian address 18 1 Jr. Oscar R. Benavides Morales San Martin Peru Phone:011-51-42-796396 danielandmattie@gmail.com