Peru – Cross Street Youth Mission Team
It is always amazing how God provides! The day before we left for Peru, the rest of the funds we needed to pay for the Peru Youth Camp arrived. As I left our P.O. box that day, I couldn’t wait to tell someone. Sometimes God makes us wait until the last minute, but He always comes through. I truly am amazed how His people seem to know exactly when to send the help that’s 
needed.
Thank you for your faithfulness. Together, we praise you, God, for allowing us to be a part of your master plan!
This year’s team was a truly amazing group of youths and leaders. We had a lot on our schedule; that meant it was going to take everyone working together to accomplish the goals the Lord had placed on our hearts. With the wonderful organizational skills of Marco Aroni, the hard work of our Cross Street Mission team and the Peruvians who worked with us, and the power and grace of God, we were able to accomplish everything that we set out to do.
In all, we built three prefabricated homes, ministered in four public schools, hosted a youth 
camp with a total of 160 attendees, conducted street evangelism, door to door ministry, street meetings, and hosted a youth conference.
So many wonderful things took place on this trip; we’re only able to give you an overview here. Please take the time to visit our Facebook page to get more details and to see more pictures.
Thank you for your love, prayers, and your gifts which make it possible for us to do what we do.
Peru Mission Trip Update by JJ Weller
Dear Message Ministries supporters, thank you so much for your donations and prayers towards our recent Mission Trip to Peru. It was, in my estimation, the most fruitful trip I have ever had the opportunity to take.
Our weeks were packed with house-to-house ministry, street evangelism, and discipleship opportunities. The Lord even saved a young man who was working at our Hostel. We were able to begin to disciple him, and we gave him a Bible!Returning home is always hard, but it was particularly hard this year. The American Dream has turned America into somewhat of a spiritual wasteland,and we,the church, have not been unaffected. In fact, it’s very difficult for us not to succumb to the egotism and material consumerism that attacks us with such power here. But we must strive to abide in Christ, to bear fruit that is contrary to these fleshly things; they are opposed to Christ’s teaching and counterproductive to the Great Commission!
Friends, let’s examine ourselves to see if we have become self-centered or consumeristic. Let’s both fight to abandon these things that the “American Dream” has worked in us so that we can pursue God’s dream, the Great Commission, in all of his power!
Until the whole world knows, JJ Weller
Jim Randall Mission Update
There is a shift that is taking place in missionary work in Asia. Because of economic downturns, funding from the US and Europe has decreased significantly forcing mission agencies to look for new and innovative ways to fund their work. It seems that God is directing missionaries to begin setting up businesses that will generate needed funds to grow the ministries. This movement is called “Business As Missions” or BAM. BAM is having two unexpected benefits beyond funding. First, it is opening new doors into the community and reaching people not touched by traditional mission activity. Secondly, it is empowering people not called to traditional mission work to realize that they can make a significant difference in advancing the Kingdom of God every day in the marketplace. I am scheduled to go to Bangladesh in late July to meet with a pastor/businessman to talk about setting up a branch of a Christian company from Singapore that will fund new church planting work. I will go to Yangon (Rangoon) in August to help find a BAM project to fund orphanages and schools to reach children while their hearts are still soft and open.
Last month, I was invited to an unusual type of Bible School in Thailand, just across the border from Myanmar (Burma). There were 40 pastors and church planters from Myanmar, Laos and southern China who work with tribal people in their own country. They come to Thailand three to four times per year for a week of intensive training so that they can finish a Bible School curriculum in two years. Laos and China and some provinces in Myanmar are Communist controlled and restrict Christian activity. They must be careful about contact with westerners so they to come to Thailand for training. This type of two year intensive seminar type Bible School is also used in Vietnam and Cambodia. I will go to Cambodia next month to teach for a week and if some scheduling conflicts can be resolved, to Vietnam in September. The travel and seminar cost of these Bible Schools are paid by us western missionaries because the native missionaries could not otherwise come. Thank you for helping fund their training by your gifts.
The faces of these native pastors and church planters are removed for security reasons.
Dr. Jim Randall
