Iglesia Bautista Vida Nueva/ Monterrico Christian School

We are so grateful you are taking the time to view our site and get to know us.  We are Ivan and Kristie Ashby and our 4 beautiful children.  We are serving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in Lima, Peru.  The following is a short description of the history of the work here and how it leads up to our coming to Peru.

“ TO LIMA WITH LOVE”
In the early eighties, ABWE missionaries in Lima, Peru began to change their focus of ministry. Their objective transitioned from not only reaching out to the poor communities but to building strong church plants among the middle and upper classes. The plan was to see those churches grow and become self-sufficient and self-reproducing by sending out Peruvian pastors and missionaries. This program, called “To Lima with love,” has been very successful, although it is still in the beginning stages. Several churches have been planted and are thriving.

IGLESIA BAUTISTA VIDA NUEVA (NEW LIFE BAPTIST CHURCH)
One such church plant is in Monterrico, a suburb of Lima, and was started by ABWE missionaries Rich and Jo Ann Davis and Pastor Salvador, a Peruvian pastor. The church is about seven years old and currently averages about 120 attendees each Sunday. As the church began to experience growth pains a few years ago, they eagerly desired to find a property to meet the ministry needs and goals. With the poor economy and astronomical housing market though, the members of Iglesia Vida Nueva were reluctantly willing to settle on a building that would only provide a temporary solution to purchase a building with sufficient space.

MIRACLE ON A HILL
While Rich and Jo Ann were home on furlough, God did a miracle. One family heard of the need in Lima and desired to make a difference with the wealth God had given them. While watching the Davis’ presentation, this family felt the Lord leading them to give 1.2 million dollars (with $500,000 as a matching gift to be given back in order to invest in another ministry), so the church could purchase a much larger building. The ministry opportunities in a building of this size that sits up on a hill are endless.


MINISTRY OPPORTUNITIES
Because there was so much room available, Iglesia Bautista Vida Nueva began to pray about how they could be faithful stewards of the blessing God has given them.

ESL classes: Reaching the surrounding community with the gospel by offering English as a Second Language classes with the Bible as the main textbook.

Christian School for Peruvian Children: One goal the church had in mind was to start a christian school, but who would administrate such a ministry? The school was started by faith, and they knew that if having a school was God’s will, then He would provide. In fact, God was already at work. That is where we fit into God’s plan. As God was providing Iglesia Bautista Vida Nueva with this miracle building, God was also working in our lives, bringing us to complete surrender. On passion of ours is for children to hear the gospel and be saved, and through prayer and godly counsel we knew God was calling Ivan as a pastor/teacher (Eph. 4:32). We are here as church planters with Ivan’s primary ministry being as the administrator of Monterrico Christian School.

MONTERRICO CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
Monterrico Christian School began in March of 2002. We started with K4 and will add a grade each year. Currently, we have K3, K4, Kindergarten, and 1st-4th grades with 94 children.

But is there potential for spiritual impact in this type of ministry? Peruvians very desperately want their children to learn English.  In fact it is so vital to them, that the very same parents who will never take their children to a Baptist church, will not hesitate to take them to a Baptist school, as long as English is taught. Therefore, we have the opportunity every day to present the truth of the gospel to unsaved children. We also know that because those children go home and tell their parents what we are teaching them about Jesus Christ, that the parents will be asking us questions as well, which will open doors to present the gospel to the parents. Is there potential for spiritual impact in Lima, Peru? The building, minus the part used by the seminary, can house 600 students. Take 600 students plus 1200 parents hearing the message of salvation through Jesus Christ, then being discipled so that they, too, are leading people to the Lord and, yes, there will be an awesome impact!  All the glory must be given to our Heavenly Father because He is the author and finisher of this exciting work in Lima, Peru.

ARE YOU EXCITED YET?!!!!

Other opportunities: With Lima being a city of approximately 9 million people and 75% poverty, there are many opportunities for extension ministries. Outside of our ministry in the church/ school, we will be able to serve with the church through ministering to the poor, the elderly, the homeless, the sick, the addicts, the abused, the confused, and the lost. Children as young as 8 have been found on the streets addicted to drugs and used for all types of wickedness. The abortion rate is exceptionally high in Peru. We know we will want to help the ABWE crisis pregnancy centers throughout Lima as well.

HOW CAN YOU HAVE A PART IN THE WORK IN LIMA?
Fellow believers, the fields are very ready to be harvested but Satan is hard at work trying to corrupt and burn the crops. Our family is part of God’s work in Lima, but please do not miss the fact that the needs are so great, that we need many, many more families to surrender their will and their plans to God’s will and plan. (Roman 12:1,2) Are you holding something so tight that it will hurt when God takes it away, or have you surrendered your all to Him, and are you willing to go where He leads you?

Perhaps the Holy Spirit is urging you to be a part of THE ASHBY’S ministry team. We need a strong team of prayer supporters because we know that being in God’s will means the enemy will be hard at work to stop us. We also need a strong financial support group to keep us on the field. God may not call you to the physical trenches of Lima, Peru, but He may be calling you to the spiritual trenches of prayer or the financial trenches needed to back up your missionary troops who are in the physical trenches.

Ivan and Kristie Ashby
Rebekah, Sarah, Elizabeth, and Caleb