A string of events caused by grace

Click on my face above to see a video of our most recent outreach to our local community of Llacanora.  

A string of events caused by grace

Good morning from the Andes Mountains.  Thank you for your interest in what God is doing here at Calvary Chapel Bible College, Peru.  I would like to tell you a story, something I was able to be a witness of over the last few weeks, concerning a string of events that displays the direct connection between our first class of the semester and the direct fruit born in the outreach seen above in the video. This year God led us to open up our semester with our first class “Growing in Grace” taught by Brad Lambert from CC Living Hope in Oceanside, CA (class seen above). Our principal goal as a school can be expressed in the words of the title of the class, that we might see God raise up an army of Christian servants who are driven by grace.  In the class a contrast was made between “Old Covenant, law driven” servants of God and “New Covenant, grace driven” servants of God.   Now I would like to introduce you to one of our students Alexis Fiestas (seen above).  Alexis, before arriving to Calvary Chapel Lima, was in a ministry for a long time that he would describe as Old Covenant.  They had a program, they were strong, but he couldn’t find the Lord working in his life in that ministry.  He then arrived at Calvary Chapel Lima and finally to the Bible College where he has learned about the grace of God.  He summarises the change like this, “Before, legalism was more important to me, now, the people are more important.”  A week after the end of “Growing in Grace” we had our first semester outreach to the central plaza of our small farming community called “Llacanora" (video above).  Alexis was placed in charge and he led it with emphasis toward people and relationships and with less emphasis on program and schedule.

Alexis' emphasis bore fruit!  During the outreach, the students as a whole were, on their own initiation, pursuing the people.  Toward the last hour or so of the outreach one could see students scattered throughout the plaza talking one on one with the people, meeting them, praying with them.  The next Sunday at our brand new on campus church service, we received our first two non-student or staff attenders, two people from the community who we were able to reach through the outreach!  There names are Nancy and John.  They brought their children and their children were able to enjoy Sunday school.  This is the kind of the fruit that we love and expect to see if it is God moving through this school, and I am so privilegded to be a part of it.  It begins with the word in class, and it reaches one student leader, it changes his emphasis, it spreads to many students, it reaches into the community, and it begins to light a fire in the hearts of men.  This is not a man centered work!  This is God, showing grace and lighting hearts on fire with passion as a result. Thank you all so much for being a part of the fruit of this ministry.  Please pray that our current classes: "Daniel" with Marquitos Martinez, "Pastoral Epistles" with Kevin Green, and "Proverbs" with John Bonner would bear fruit as well.

The staff and student body of CCBC Peru Spring 2016.   Construction has been happening at break neck speed the last few weeks.  This is a recently finished room in our administration building where we are currently meeting for church services.  We call it "the sun room."  It looks sunny, doesn't it? A team from Seigen, Germany was here for three weeks and tackled huge amounts of the construction project.  And they were a hilarious group of guys.  I never thought I would come to Peru and learn some German.   Women's retreat just last weekend at Laguna Seca Resort.  Theme: John 15 Pastor Brad from Calvary Living Hope, when he taught the Growing in Grace class brought three good friends of mine with him to support the work.  They were a blessing to me and to the class and also did some work on campus.  Mike Farril (to the right of Brad), Jared Younger, and David Mealy (both on far right).   One of the things the German team tackled was the roof of the auditorium.  Pretty soon we'll be meeting in here to have church services and classes.

Thank you for your prayers from the Carvers.  Please pray for wisdom in discipleship of the students, which is the most important focus of the ministry.  Also please pray for wisdom concerning the next step in our family life, the education of our children.  There are so many options and in our situation we need the Lord to direct us to the right one.  God bless you all...until the Lord comes.

Copyright © 2016 Calvary Chapel Living Hope (with Calvary Chapel Bible College Peru), All rights reserved.  Support Info: All checks payable to Calvary Chapel Living Hope at the address below - Memo: Carver Family. Or at http://www.cclivinghope.org - Click "Select a page", "On-line Giving", "Missions:Carver Family"  Our mailing address is:  Calvary Chapel Living Hope (with Calvary Chapel Bible College Peru) 625 Seagaze Dr. Oceanside, CA  92054

With Jesus in his trials

The end of the Semester Fall 2015

The people, they are saying

"They are crazy..." they do tell

"To go to a place to teach the bible, 

where cows and donkeys is what they smell."

These people, let them keep saying.

We permit them! Let them tell!

All the more we will keep on praying

Cause we've seen God provide a well.  

Update on semester beginnings, class teachings, well diggings, and upcoming new baby happenings.   View this email in your browser

Woohoo Semester Beginnings The Fall 2015 student and staff  This semester we have with us a brand new group of students.  They come from all over.  From Lima, Peru; Iquitos, Peru; California, and even one from Yucatan in Mexico.  This new group is exciting because they come focused and prepared.  As new adjustments have begun and staff and students alike are getting to know each other, it is apparent that the bond of unity that the Lord has placed inside every believer is present and alive in this group, uniting beyond language, culture, place of birth and skin color is present.  Amongst the cultural blunders and translation confusions which have always been a commonality at CCBC Peru, there is present with us an understanding that the Holy Spirit of God is he who  unites and that he is more than sufficient to do so.    This is semester started off in a new way in that John Bonner (the Founder and President) and the rest of the board decided that it was time he began to take less of a day to day role in the affairs of the college and to take more of a role in general oversight.  This frees John up to travel and teach in various roles all while still remaining the president of the Bible College while Matt will be come the Director and manage the day to day ministry.  "There's a lot involved in being the Director over this campus, but I'm very excited and I believe the Lord has led us this way.  First order of business is to make us a master key."   This semester I was the teacher for the 2nd class which ended up being Ecclesiastes.  It was a blessing to watch the students understanding grow as they got to see the reality of a man (Solomon) who tried to live without the reality of God in his life and where that led him in his thoughts.  One of the things we hit on was that, in the end, the closest Solomon ever got to God was law based religion.  And that led him to dark places in his thought processes and behaviour.  But we as Christians experience something called the transforming of the mind that occurs when one is brought near to God by the blood of Christ.  Solomon's conclusion was that all was vanity, but for us Christians, "in the Lord [our] labor is not in vain." (1 Cor. 15:58).  The best part of the class was that my wife got to be my translator (she's the best one on campus).  I taught in Spanish and my wife translated me into English.

A few months ago our old well took a turn for the worst.  With the dry season coming fast and the ever present threat that the community wells would dry up (they do every year), we had to act fast but we didn't have the money for a new machine dug well.  Our head contractor, Santos, saw our dilemma and offered to dig us a well by hand.  He is a new Christian who got saved during his time working here at the college. Since then he has become a great example of service and patience and is maturing fast.  At first I just brushed off the suggestion as crazy.  But as he explained it to me it sounded (still crazy) but at at least doable.     The idea is this.  He starts with a cement column that he has a molde for.  He digs down a meter and the cement column drops.  He then makes another one on top.  The next day he digs a meter more and both cement columns together drop, and then he adds another.  Every day he digs and at the end of the day he lets the whole column together drop and then adds another on top.  Incredible right?     So sure enough we are now at about 75 feet down and every morning they find at least 6 feet of water at the bottom of this thing.  So they pump it out and keep digging.  The goal is 100 feet in order to have about 15 feet of water.  At a meter wide that equals something like 4000-5000 liters.  That's actually 18 times as much as our old "machine dug" well could hold. The lord has answered our prayer for water in a great way and within the next few days we should have a pump down there and be able to get enough water to live off of.  Interestingly enough, it occurred just in time.  The city just restricted our water Sunday.  Some of us are without showers, but with our new well we are going to make it.

Please pray for Ivy as she is due in October (next month).  We are having a little baby boy (all the doctors are sure of it) and we are going to do it here in Cajamarca (When I say we I mean mostly Ivy since she will be doing the majority of the work.)  Pray for a good doctor and healthy circumstances.   This week Pastor David Landry is here from Calvary Chapel Casa Grande New Mexico and he is teaching the students the book of Romans.  I am translating him into Spanish along with 2 other staff members.   This October 4th there will be a CCBC Peru reunion/Appreciation Night in which all who have been involved in the ministry over the years might come and participate.  We will not be there personally, but you are all welcome and invited.   Ivy and two other moms on campus have taken the initiative to start a homeschool group for the children here on campus.  Ivy is in charge of teaching them their letters.   This is my official Peruvian Drivers license.  It took about 1 week to get.  In the process I got accused of cheating on the test because the computer malfunctioned, I was told that they wouldn't accept my Calvary Chapel Bible College degree as proof that I was educated, and when I finally passed it was communicated to me with one word, "cerveza!" (he told me that I had passed by telling me that I should go drink some beer - I almost didn't get it. )  It was a strange process but halelujah I can drive.

Copyright © 2015 Calvary Chapel Living Hope (with Calvary Chapel Bible College Peru), All rights reserved. Support Info: All checks payable to Calvary Chapel Living Hope at the address below - Memo: Carver Family. Or at http://www.cclivinghope.org - Click "Select a page", "On-line Giving", "Missions:Carver Family" Our mailing address is: Calvary Chapel Living Hope (with Calvary Chapel Bible College Peru) 625 Seagaze Dr. Oceanside, CA  92054

The Dry Semester

A few of the happenings during the season that we affectionately call, "The Dry Semester."

Graduation Plus Coffee Shoppe

Satiate the need to graduate... View this email in your browser Graduation! “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom..."  Luke 22:28 I want to know the reason that the Lord has brought these trials into my life, and if I give up half way through, I may never find that reason out.  But if I persevere then God is faithful to show me the good things on the back side of the trial.  This semester met us with quite a few trials.  Intense sickness, overwhelming circumstances, new challenges.  There have often been times of doubt and the desire to give up.  But this years graduation 2 weeks ago brought a great redemption.  The semester just ended on such a high note, with so many students encouraged, with staff absolutely united, and a bright future in store for the bible college.     Coffee Shop The Graduation this semester took place in our brand new coffee shop which was finished just the week before by a mega construction team from Fort Bragg California.  When we talk about being able to do the impossible with the Lord, this coffee shop will always ring true as proof of that.  What the team was able to do in just a week and a half was astounding.  And the astounding nature of it is seen in the picture below displaying what the room right next store still looks like.  There is a lot to be done.  But the potential and the excitement was fully displayed the night of graduation as we were able to use our new room so soon after it was finished.   This is our great staff for the Spring 2015 semester.  The truth is I actually tricked them into taking this picture as an excuse to have them all together so that the students could surprise them with a special dinner.     This is a picture taken of the class of Nehemiah which was taught by Cory Kilgus (middle back) and translated by Matthew Carver (back right).       After handing out certificates to each of the graduates, the staff laid their hands on them and prayed for them.  Represented amongst the graduates are 2 Americans, each from California, one Brazilian from Sao Paulo, and 2 Peruvians from Huacho and Iquitos.   I got the chance to present the graduation certificate to one of my favourite guys, Cory Kilgus, who, after graduating, is becoming one of our long term staff members.  One of the great stories of this semester for me is the way that I have been mentored by Pastor Bill Holdridge (seen above on the right).  This semester has marked a turning point in the bible college's history in that the Director John Bonner has decided to take a step into a visionary presidential role and take his hands off day to day details of the college.  Through much prayer and prodding from the Lord, he has led Ivy and I to be those providing the day to day details and administering the vision of the Bible College to the students and staff here.  With this new step being taken, I was so thankful for the presence of Bill training me as a leader.  As I watched Bill make decisions and considered what I would probably do in that same situation, I realised all the more how much I was thankful for his input (as I realised that in many situations I probably would have done the wrong thing :).  But I have confidence in God's guidance and am looking forward to the next few years as the college just becomes more and more established in the vision that the Lord has for it.  Thanks Bill for all your help.  (I don't think we ever took a picture together...what a bummer).   Also...we're having a boy.   God Bless everybody. Copyright © 2015 Calvary Chapel Living Hope (with Calvary Chapel Bible College Peru), All rights reserved. Support Info: All checks payable to Calvary Chapel Living Hope at the address below - Memo: Carver Family. Or at http://www.cclivinghope.org - Click "Select a page", "On-line Giving", "Missions:Carver Family" Our mailing address is: Calvary Chapel Living Hope (with Calvary Chapel Bible College Peru) 625 Seagaze Dr. Oceanside, CA  92054 Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences

Little Lamb

Calvary Chapel Bible College: Spring 2015 Matt and Ivy Carver Things are going well as we near the half way point of the semester.  We have 7 students joining us from different parts of the United states, as well as 10 joining us from all over Peru and South America.  Plus the miriads of volunteers, from all over both the states and Peru.  If you can't find Ivy and I, we are in the back left, just look for the monkey on top of me picking at my hair.   One of Ivy and I's most consistent jobs this semester has been translation.  As well as teaching "Evangelio de Lucas" in Spanish every Tuesday morning, I also translate "Nehemiah" on Thursday morning and many other scattered services such as devotions and some chapel services.  (Seen above: a sunday night chapel service taught by Nate Bauer with me translating). We also have one more announcement: The photo above is self explanatory.   Ivy also translates a lot throughout the week: Wednesdays for "Attributes of God" Class taught by Bill Holdridge along with various power point presentations, quizzes, tests, and other events such as the one pictured above.  This is Ivy translating for Luanna (one of the students) at the women's retreat held this semester at "Laguna Seca Resort and Spa."  As well as translating Ivy was also the principle organizer of the event.   God Bless you in all your ministry Please visit our website at: www.carverfamilyinperu.blogspot.com Copyright © 2015 Calvary Chapel Living Hope (with Calvary Chapel Bible College Peru), All rights reserved.  Support Info: All checks payable to Calvary Chapel Living Hope at the address below - Memo: Carver Family. Or at http://www.cclivinghope.org - Click "Select a page", "On-line Giving", "Missions:Carver Family"  Our mailing address is:  Calvary Chapel Living Hope (with Calvary Chapel Bible College Peru) 625 Seagaze Dr. Oceanside, CA  92054

Vision

This video is about the vision that God has given to John Bonner, the director, and consequently how it is being caught.  I hope through it all who watch might get an idea of where we are going and how they can be a part of it if God is leading.  Thank you.