The goal of Project New Hope is to give hope to the suffering, socially abandoned, economically trapped and spiritually seeking in Santo Domingo, Ecuador, and Trujillo, Peru. PNH works with nationals in the communities, establishing churches to empower the poor to experience personal and community transformation, using the key strategies of Community Health Evangelism (CHE) and Bible storytelling.
 

Peru

Seed project

Seed Projects are one-day activities that we do with the community to benefit the people who live there. For five years, Project New Hope in Trujillo, Peru, has worked with the Peruvian American Cultural Center to lead entertainment and cultural activities for children in the areas where we work. On September 19, we helped this organization with the bookmobile library where school-age children could read stories, watch videos and answer questions in reading comprehension through the use of laptops. It was a new experience for children and a practical opportunity to bring knowledge to disadvantaged areas.

Haydee

We thank God and all those who prayed and continue praying for Haydee’s recovery from third-stage cancer. We are filled with joy because she received Christ in her heart. After sharing the Peace Treaty with her, she decided to accept Christ as her Lord and Savior and she wanted to be baptized. She had to wait until she was physically able, and then we shared this wonderful day with her.

She continues to fight her disease, but now as a child of God she doesn’t feel alone, with our Savior and her new family in Christ there to support her.

Haydee went to Lima, Peru, to continue her chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Since she does not know anyone who lives there, a church friend accompanied her and they stayed at a member of the church family’s house. Haydee was able to stay with this family as she is waiting to start her three-month treatment.

The church members and neighbors are looking after her two youngest children, guiding them and providing spiritual and emotional support. The oldest son, Kevin, belongs to the church youth group. He is a young man who has many needs; he has low self-esteem, is easily influenced by friends, and lives in an environment where a gang called Hooligans is very strong and recruits very young children to train them for crime. A lot of Kevin’s friends are in the gang, so he is struggling with this temptation. His father works all day and sometimes he has to work over the weekend away from home. Kevin and his sister are both doing poorly in school and have a hard time coping without their mother around. We are building a stronger relationship with this family, and when Haydee returns to Trujillo we will start discipling her to grow her relationship with Christ.
 
 

Ecuador

Youth retreat

We had our first youth retreat with 29 youth from three barrios in Santo Domingo where we work. Many more youth wanted to come, but everyone had to raise his own money to go. The young people worked really hard for six months raising money as a team. They sold donated clothes, had several bingo games and sold different types of food. We are very proud of them for reaching their goal to be able to go on a two night, three-day retreat in a town called Mindo. We stayed in cabins in the woods. This was not only the first retreat we had as a church, but it was also the first time that these youth experienced something like this!
Youth comments:

“We came from different barrios but we all got together like a family.”

“I have more friends now and I’m going to pray for them.”

“I learned a lot about friendship, sharing, respect, being punctual and staying firm in your faith.”

“I never experienced anything like this; it was awesome!”
Not only did we have a lot of fun doing several different activities, but we also had some really good teaching times and spiritual experiences. We taught on relationships and abstaining from having sex until after marriage. The cultural norm here is to have sex at a very young age, have lots of kids and never get married. So this subject is very important for the youth to discuss. Since most of them are not being taught this at home, we felt that it is our duty and responsibility to teach what God wants for their lives.
Youth comments:

“I learned that it is important to show Christ’s love.”

“I learned that it is important to put into practice what you learn about the Bible.”

“I never thought about getting married before having kids; in fact I never thought about getting married!”

“This is the first time I heard about this, waiting to have sex until you’re married. I thought if you have a boyfriend, after a couple of months it’s okay to do.”

“I learned a lot about Jesus, especially praying for my enemies.”

“I feel that my relationship with Christ is going to be stronger.”
Another teaching that we discussed was alcohol and drug use. The youth broke up into groups and discussed the problems that come from alcohol and drug use and then each group shared with the rest. After this teaching, Gabriel, an Ecuadorian missionary from our church, gave his testimony for the first time. It was very powerful and emotional testimony. His teenage daughter was there and was hearing it for the first time as well. It was very hard for him, and he thought that he wasn’t going to share all of the details but felt the Holy Spirit giving him the words to share. His story is very common for these young people; most of them are living it now. A lot of them shared that Gabriel’s testimony really affected them and they were moved by it. The best part is hearing and seeing the transformation that God has done in Gabriel’s life.

One of my favorite parts of the retreat was watching the kids open and read the letters their parents wrote. It was very emotional and impacted the youth a lot. Most of them shared with us that they didn’t think their mom or dad cared about them. This experience is one they will never forget; lots of tears were shed.

We have been working with these youth for about two years and three more of them accepted Jesus and decided to be baptized. This is the beginning of a new life that they will have with Christ!

When we got back to Santo Domingo the parents surprised their kids with a welcome home party! It was awesome to feel the love that was in the room. Three days later the youth invited their parents to the church to watch a video about the retreat and the youth handed their parents a letter that they wrote when they were at the retreat. What wonderful time we all had seeing all the relationships growing.

Praises:

  • A successful youth retreat.
  • Three more disciples of Jesus.
  • Getting involved in the communities in Peru and Ecuador.
  • Member in the church taking initiative to do God’s work.
  • Haydee giving her life to Christ.

 

Prayer Requests

  • For God to send more workers.
  • For God to use us to grow His Kingdom!
  • For the health of the missionaries and their families.
  • For God to guide and help us make disciples who make disciples.
  • Raising money for the micro-business program.
  • Haydee and her family: for her walk with Christ and the salvation of her family.
Thank you for all your prayers and support!

Mike, Dani, and Nicole Bukta
Team Expansion missionaries to Peru and Ecuador
 

Project New Hope + CMF

CMF and Project New Hope are part of an exciting partnership with Team Expansion missionaries Mike and Dani Bukta and their work in Peru and Ecuador. Through this partnership we will work together toward holistic mission where disciples are made, individual lives are transformed, and nationals are empowered to lead. U.S. churches will be challenged to actively partner in this ministry with the goal of creating dynamic Christ-centered communities (churches) that can transform the world.
 
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