Dave and Michele Mahon
June 2024
My trip to Cajamarca – pronounced ‘ca-ha-marca’ (roll the r!)
Hello everyone! We hope the weather is warming up nicely for you! This prayer letter focuses on a regional teaching conference Michele participated in. We continue to cherish your faithful prayers for the work here in Peru and this account gives more details on what some of our service here is like:
When I received the invitation to be part of a team of expositors for a conference on Mission by the Evangelism and Missions Group of the Central Baptist Convention, I was excited about the opportunity to share and encourage the churches in the northern Andes region of Peru. I was part of this conference two years ago, when we jointly delivered on the same theme in Trujillo. Some churches in Lima had also planned a similar event but sadly that was cancelled, because it clashed with some other joint church events; so I was pleased that this one in Cajamarca actually took place.
On my flight to Cajamarca via Lima, the landing was delayed due to strong winds over the mountains of the regions. It is such a beautiful city with lovely mountains and an abundance of sheep and cows. Dairy and farm produce is so fresh and rich and they have some amazing hot springs in this region of Peru. I arrived two days before the conference to give myself enough time to adjust to the altitude – Cajamarca is almost 9,000 feet above sea level and when Dave visited the same city for the January 2020 Peruvian Baptist Convention, he suffered with altitude sickness for the first couple of days. Hence, I left armed with the recommended remedies, only to find out when I arrived that all this was not necessary. I suffered no altitude sickness to my delight! Thank you Jesus. I decided to use the day before the conference to visit Los Banos del Incas – the baths of the Incas. It's a beautiful tourist attraction with well-tended gardens, open air hot spring pools and several private baths one can hire for 30-minute soaks. Anything more than that time is said to do physical damage.
I also visited the Plaza de Armas, the main square of the town with its ornate cathedral filled with impressive icons and faithful Catholic congregants. The young people of the city seem to flock to the plaza for their open-air dance rehearsals to both modern and traditional songs. It was wonderful to see many indigenous women dressed in their traditional costumes.
The conference was attended by representatives of 10 churches who form the association of Baptist churches in the region, and my part was to teach on the biblical basis for mission from Genesis to Revelation, as we see throughout the bible God's loving master plan to draw all creation into a divine relationship with the Trinity, ourselves, and others. This is illustrated from the creation story to the call of Abraham and Israel who are a sign of God's salvation call to every nation. The ministry of Jesus was handed over to The Twelve and now the church, as we look forward to the events detailed in the sights and sounds of Revelation, always calling on others to join the family of the King of kings and Creator of the universe.
Others in the team explained the history and aims of the Missions Board, ways to develop your personal call to missions and a plan of action to plant churches. The response was very encouraging. Several churches accepted the challenge to jointly plant a church, after a time of united prayer and fasting, to begin soon. We would love your prayers for this endeavour! Another item of prayer would be some days of teaching that Dave will be involved in from July 10-20. Michele accompanied this team last year as I joined the group of teachers and students from the Misison's Department of the Trujillo seminary who taught the Awahun community. We will also be visiting Iquitos as a family at the end of July to encourage our partners there, and we would ask for your prayers for that trip too. Thank you all so much for your support and constant care for us!
Blessings,
The Mahon Family
P.S.Please note that we will be on home assignment in the UK and available to request for mission worker visits from 28 December 2024 until 24 January 2025.
