Extreme Nazarene Ministries' four-year project in Peru included a weekend rally in Cerro Juli, near Arequipa, Peru. Thousands lined up to attend the big event.
Tammy Trent, a popular Christian singer, headlined the women's conference. Singing and sharing about the death of her husband, she touched many women who are suffering.
Felix Vargas, who found Christ and left the Colombian drug cartel, told his story at the men's conference.
Two thousand children attended a festival just for them, with games and activities, and hearing about how much Jesus loves them.
The Love Extreme event included a cuy feast planned for 10,000 people. Cuy is guinea pig, a delicacy in Peru.
The Love Extreme weekend event also included a medical clinic.
Thousands moved between several arenas to hear concerts and speakers.
Live music entertained the crowds with songs of hope in Christ.
Keynote speaker Nick Vujicic told of being born without arms and legs, and how Christ had given him hope, joy and purpose in life. He challenged the crowd to accept Christ into their lives.
Over 1,000 people filled out forms asking for someone to follow-up with them to talk about their need for Jesus Christ in their lives.
In the coming days, local pastors and church planting volunteers will meet with those who filled out forms requesting someone to talk with them about their need for Christ.
Editor's note
Extreme Peru is a four-year ministry strategy from Extreme Nazarene Ministries, with the goal to plant 120 churches across seven cities in Peru, as well as to construct the Larry and Addie Garman Missionary Training Center.
June 19, the project held its Love Extreme rally in Arequipa, Peru, intended to attract more than 10,000 city residents with concerts, men's and women's conferences, activities for children, a giant cuy (guinea pig) feed and an evangelistic service Read on to experience the event.
Arequipa, Peru -- The day everyone had been anticipating for such a long time finally arrived. The preparations were made. The fliers and posters were all over the city. The project was being bathed in prayer from around the world. Now we just had to wait and see what the Lord would do.
Love Extreme started early on Saturday morning with a 7 a.m. bus ride to Cerro Juli, where the big weekend event would take place. Volunteers and leaders of Extreme Nazarene Ministries spent an hour in prayer, anointing each speaker, singer, presenter and language interpreter. The doors were opened around 9 a.m.; a crowd of between 2,000 and 3,000 were waiting to get in, excited to be there.
The grounds at Cerro Juli were perfect for holding all kinds of events. The men’s and women’s conferences and prayer salon were held in a conference center. Concerts took place on the main stage. An entire building was reserved for the children’s festival. Rooms were used for a medical clinic, and there was even a gated area holding a giant ostrich and llamas. This place had it all. There were also areas for buying food, which included empanadas, sandwiches, hamburgers, hot dogs (not like you’ve ever seen—they were pink!) and cuy. Cuy is guinea pig—a delicacy for Peruvians. It was a diverse menu.
Women’s Conference
The women’s conference was standing room only. Tammy Trent and Lonna Vopat were a dynamic duo in the women’s conference. Tammy sang and shared her testimony, including when her husband died in a scuba diving accident while they were on a mission trip to Jamaica. She talked about how her whole world fell apart, as this happened the day before September 11, 2001. God brought her through the experience and her faith lies solely in God. Lonna shared her story of abandonment, abuse, divorce, alcoholism, drugs, depression and suicide attempts. Her story had something to speak to every woman. By the end, more than 150 woman came forward to accept Christ.
After the conference was over, several Extreme Nazarene Ministries staff members and short-term volunteers had the opportunity to speak one-on-one with women who were hurting and in bad relationships. God put people in just the right places to be there for these women.
Men’s conference
As the men’s conference began, it quickly became obvious that it required more space, so the prayer salon was moved to a different room in order to expand the men’s conference. Even after this, men continued packing the room beyond capacity. Felix Vargas shared his story of being a member of the Colombian drug cartel, and how Christ saved him. Between 150 and 200 men came forward to accept Christ. God used Vargas's story to meet the men where they were.
Children’s festival
Over 2,000 children attended a children's festival, which included drama, face painting, inflatables, balloon animals and much more. But, beyond the fun, everything was Christ-centered. The children heard the message of God’s love, and many responded to this good news.
Afternoon activities
It seemed like there were people everywhere by lunch. The arenas were all busy. There were concerts on the main stage in the afternoon, and people received Christ then, as well. Some young people surrounded the stage as a North American pastor spoke, and they seemed to hang on his every word. Nazareno, a group from Cali, Colombia, also performed, preparing the crowd to hear the next speaker.
Nick Vujicic
People anxiously awaited keynote speaker Nick Vujicic all day. Nick was born without arms and legs; he travels the world to share his testimony in Jesus. One statement he made was unforgettable: “I could spend 90 years with arms or legs, or I could spend my life as I am and bring thousands of people to Heaven with me.” For him, there was no question which he would choose.
Nick gave a powerful message and invited Peruvians to receive Christ. As hands shot up throughout the crowd, he turned to Christian Sarmiento, his interpreter, and said, "There are too many people raising their hands. They don't understand. Say it again." Christian tried to clarify to the crowd by saying, "This is not a blessing, this is a commitment." Most of the people raised their hands again. In total, the crowd was asked three times to raise their hands if they were making a decision to follow Christ, and they continued to keep their hands raised.
Later, Nick said to the Extreme Nazarene Ministries team that he was amazed at the large response; the typical response when he speaks is about 10 percent of the attendees. He said it was obvious to him that God was at work in this city, and how the event must have been bathed in prayer. Thank you to everyone who was praying for this event. Your prayers were obvious.
Follow up
Local pastors and 40 volunteer church planting teams have over 1,000 contacts to follow up on this week. They will be making phone calls and visiting people in their homes to invite them to a spiritual retreat this weekend. It’s a big job. But when God moves like He did at Love Extreme, you have to be ready to follow through on the harvest. Praise God for everything He did at Love Extreme.