2025 Ayacucho Trip
Dear West Side,
Firstly, thank you all so much for your generosity. This trip is because of your faithful prayers and cheerful giving. The only reason we have been able to be a blessing to the city of Ayacucho, Peru and this local church (IBC: Iglesia Biblica Christiana) is because of your support. God is doing something wonderful. Before sharing a few highlights from our trip, I promised to share this message: “Thank you, West Side!” The church was very thankful and wanted me to pass along their gratitude.
The gospel impact began on the flight to Lima, Peru. One of the members from the team sat beside a young man named Ricky. They were able to spend six hours talking about all kinds of things, and ultimately he was able to share the gospel with him. A day or two in, we met a man named Sean at a coffee shop. He is from New Zealand and is cycling through South America. Sean is agnostic, but searching. We spent a little over an hour defending the faith and sharing the gospel with him as well. Please pray for Ricky and Sean. We have their numbers so you bet we’ll be following up.
Sunday morning, I (AJ) was honored to preach on the urgency and necessity of sharing the gospel. A breathtaking moment from that morning was when we sang in both English and Spanish simultaneously. It was Revelation 7 kind of worship. Later that evening, there was an outreach event where we had over 50 kids and 15 parents. The kids played games and did Bible trivia while Pastor César, Pastor Rick, and myself were able to speak to the parents on the importance of raising your children up in the church and with a love for God’s word. Last year, there were less than 20 kids and almost no parents. Lots of growth numerically and relationally. The largest win is that there were five fathers present (one helping with the event). This is huge because of how common fatherless homes are, like in America but even greater.
Considering that Ayacucho means “corner of death”, please continue to pray that the gospel that brings eternal life would spread to every corner in this city. Continue to pray for joy and endurance for Pastor César and Vanessa, Pastor Rick and Donna, and the members of the church. Continue to pray for the West Side Team; that we would travel back home safe and for even more opportunities; whether we’re at a coffee shop, on a plane, or in a church.
Grace and peace,
Pastor AJ Garcia
JUNE 19, 2025Dear West Side,
As most of you know, a missionary team of six are traveling to Peru on Saturday. This is the second year that we’ll be serving the city of Ayacucho, which is an hour flight from Lima, the capital city. You might be wondering: Why go to Ayacucho, Peru when there are plenty of lost people in Traverse City? Good question, but that assumes that we’re not committed to local outreach in our city—we are. Nonetheless, we believe the Scriptures teach that the local church should be considerate of the global church. Psalm 22:28 says, “Kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.” Christ is Lord over Ayacucho as well. God’s desire is for the nations to sing His praise (Psalm 96). Therefore, we long to reach the nations with the gospel.
Ayacucho is rich with gospel potential. As far as we’re aware, there is a single gospel-centered, Bible-believing church in the 100,000 person community. This church is named IBC. IBC stands for Iglesia Biblica Cristiana or Christian Bible Church. Our team plans to come alongside this church in a few ways: We all will be doing some street evangelism in the public square and university campus. We will be doing some apologetics near the local Mormon temple. We will be helping the church with their children’s events. We will be visiting members in their homes, painting the newly purchased building, and installing some appliances. I (AJ) will be preaching on Sunday morning. Chris Keene and I will be teaching on biblical relationships on Wednesday evening. Jason Jones has done a great job at working with the locals in putting the schedule together.
West Side, this is an all hands on deck kind of mission. Every member has a role in missions: pray, give, or go. While the six of us are in country, the rest of you are asked to pray for and with us. Here are a few areas to focus your prayers this week:
Please pray for God to be exalted in the nations (Psalm 46:10). It is with great conviction, compassion, and compulsion that we pray for and go to Ayacucho. Pray that the gospel is preached, disciples are made, and that God is glorified.
Please pray for Pastor Cesar, his wife Vanessa, and their family. He is a Peruvian pastor, who planted this church and is in the process of reaching, training, and sending out more disciple makers in Ayacucho. The work is never easy for a church planter—pray for encouragement, refreshment, and clarity of direction.
Please pray for Pastor Rick and his wife Donna. They are American missionaries who planted this church alongside Pastor Cesar. Pastor Rick teaches at the local college and Donna is involved in children’s ministry and the worship team.
Please pray for the West Side team. We will be traveling a lot and hitting the ground running. Pray for practical things like health and endurance. But pray, too, for spiritual things like humility and courage. May we be a unified team on fire for the things of God.
Thank you for being a church that prays. As some go because some gave, the rest pray. Thank you for interceding for us and I look forward to updating you on all that God does, seen and unseen, this week. We could not do this without you.
Grace and peace,
Pastor AJ Garcia
