Volume 2 ! Issue 7 ! Anthony.Diliberto@lcms.org

Peruvians are some of the friendliest people I’ve ever met. Combine their friendly nature with their generally positive disposition towards foreigners, and you can imagine how easy it is for our mission team to strike up conversations with the locals here. Sometimes, however, I feel as if I’m having the same exact conversation over and over again. Here’s a short excerpt of the script I’m stuck rehearsing just about every time I interact with a Peruivan for the first time. New Friend: Where are you from? Me: The United States. New Friend: It’s cold there, isn’t it? Me: Ummm…yeah, in some parts to the north. But I come from a place where the weather is very similar to the weather here on the coast of Peru. New Friend: Ah, yeah? What are you doing here? Off to see Machu Pichu? Me: No, maybe one day. I’m a missionary with the Lutheran Church. New Friend: Ah, yeah? I’m Roman Catholic. Are the Lutherans Evangelicals?” Me: Ummm…yes and no. Being a “gringo” and living in a Latin American country opens the door to numerous opportunities for sharing the hope I have in Jesus with all those whose curiosity is sparked by my very presence. The more I’ve been forced to “rehearse” this conversation, the bolder it’s made me at sharing who God is and what He has done for us in Christ Jesus

(John 3:16; 2 Cor. 5:18; Rom. 5:8). In Peru, the term Evangelical means essentially any religious group that isn’t Roman Catholic. When I tell a stranger on a park bench that I’m a Lutheran, odds are he’ll place me in the same category as the Pentecostals, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the Mormons. In order to share the good news of the Gospel with Peruvians, it’s almost automatically necessary to separate ourvelves as Lutherans from all the other groups that put a price tag on the free gift of salvation that Jesus won for us on the cross. Yes, I am an Evangelical. Actually, us Lutherans confess alongside of the original Evangelicals, who a little over 2000 years ago took the world by storm with the “good news” (the evangel) that by God’s free gift of grace we have been saved, through faith, on account of Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). I pray that our LCMS congregations all across the US would be blessed with the same opportunities we, as your representatives in Peru are to share this free gift of salvation with those surrounding you. May Lutherans everywhere spark the curiosity of our neighbors by boldly witnessing to Christ’s forgiveness, showing mercy to the poor, the homeless, and the weak, and loving one another in Christ’s name!

On Being a Lutheran Gringo in Latin America

Anthony DiLiberto El Cuy Times Globally Engaged in Outreach Missionary, Perú

1 800 433 3954 www.lcmsworldmission.org Anthony.DiLiberto@lcms.org

Peru mission team with Pastor Ted Krey and former missionaries to Peru, Pastors Dan Mcmiller and Martin Teigen.

Jamie and Katie with Peruvian

friends. …God was reconciling the world

to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against

them. 2 Corinthians 5:19

To be added to or removed from this mailing list, send an email message to

Anthony.DiLiberto@lcms.org with the word ADD or REMOVE in the subject heading.

Mission Update Trip to St. Louis My brothers and sisters in Christ at Faith, Lutheran, Oakville graciously hosted me Wed., May 4 through Sun., May 9

th. While

there, I shared pictures and told stories from the field. Thank you members at Faith for your wonderful hospitality, your encouraging words, and the invaluable support you offered to me during my time there.

Special Visitors LCMS World Mission Regional Director for Latin America, Pastor Ted Krey and two former missionaries to Peru (Pastor Dan Mcmiller; Mission Executive, SWD and Pastor Martin Teigen; Missionary, Hispanic Mission, MSD) joined us May 13-18 to meet our newly assembled team, encourage us in our work, and help us develop our long-term mission strategy. It was a tremendous blessing to meet these men of faith and soak up the insights they’ve gleaned from the over 35 years of mission experience they between them.

MOST Ministries Eye/Dental Clinic

From June 13 – 20, a team from MOST

Ministries (an experienced short-term

mission sending organization based in

Michigan; www.mostministries.org) will be

joining us in Lunahuana for the third annual

Eye Glass Clinic. This will be the third time

I’ll have the pleasure of serving alongside of

this group, and I couldn’t be more excited to

see the work God will do through them as

they are merciful to the people of

Lunahuana in Jesus’ name.

Please Pray…

for the safety of my teammate Katie Lane, as she travels home to Minnesota for home service June 5-24.

that God would bless my support-raising efforts for my third year of service as a GEO Missionary in Peru. for the upcoming MOST Ministries Eye Glass Clinic in Lunahuana June 12 – 19. for Pastor Mark Eisold, Bruce Wall and their families as they adjust to their new lives in Peru. for the health of my teammate Sarah Wall as her and her husband Bruce plan to welcome their third child in the middle of July. for the health of Rosie (good friend and local mission supporter, Martin Candela’s wife) as she prepares to have a tumor surgically removed from her neck.

Support There’s absolutely no way I can continue to serve in Peru without the support of mission-minded Christians like you! Please prayerfully consider partnering with me in mission. To support my work financially, you may send a tax-deductible gift to: LCMS World Mission, 1333 S. Kirkwood Rd., St. Louis, MO 63122-7295. Make checks payable to LCMS World Mission. Mark checks “Support of Anthony DiLiberto.” Gifts can also be given securely online through the LCMS World Mission web site on my project page: www.lcms.org/diliberto www.lcmsworldmission.org www.lcmsworldmission.org/prayercards