On this Sunday morning, Fortunato climbs the hill towards his workshop. Today, he’ll teach a class on how to make a leather bag. Fortunato lived many years as a cowboy in rural Peru but eventually settled down in Cusco to start a family.

Perched high above sea level, Cusco is an ancient city,once the historic capital of the Incan Empire. Not far from here, you can find Machu Picchu, a world heritage site. People from all over the globe come to visit this marvel.

This area on the edge of Cusco is still developing as the city continues to expand. There’s limited electricity and no running water in this neighborhood. Many families here find it hard to earn a steady income to improve their quality of life, so Fortunato got an idea. He wanted to equip his neighbors with a new skill: leather crafting!

Fortunato’s workshop is filled with tools, supplies, and handmade goods, reflecting his many years of experience in leather crafting. He invites everyone from the community to his workshop to learn this skill. Before each lesson, Fortunato shares a short worship thought. He opens the Bible to a passage he thinks God will use to speak to his visitors.

Then they continue on to the leather crafting lesson. Fortunato teaches his guests how to cut, glue, and sew the leather to make a beautifully crafted bag. Throughout the class, he connects the lesson to his earlier worship thought.

Fortunato believes that Christ’s method of ministry is the most effective way to share the gospel with his community. Through his leather crafting ministry, he has planted multiple churches. His latest church plant is called the Loma Linda Church, which roughly translates to “the beautiful hill” church. It’s an fitting name for this location that sits high atop a hill overlooking the city of Cusco.

This small congregation meets each Sabbath to dive into Bible lessons. They listen, learn, and ask questions about things they’ve been studying throughout the week.

An important element of the church service is the music. Each week, a small group of musicians performs with traditional instruments, singing in both Spanish and Quechua, a local native language.

Fortunato’s brother-in-law Ciriaco leads the music each Sabbath. He has a ministry of his own. Much like Fortunato, Ciriaco volunteers his time to teach classes, specifically music classes. He offers both children and adult music lessons once a week, working around the people’s schedules.

Today’s class is for the children. Ciriaco loves how eager they are to learn and how quickly they grasp concepts. He starts with the basics, but over time, they’re able to follow along as they sing or play various instruments.

When a group has made some progress, he invites them to come play for the congregation at church. Many who come to perform return week after week to keep hearing the stories about Jesus. This congregation is continuing to grow through Fortunato and Ciriaco’s outreach efforts.

This quarter, a portion of your 13th Sabbath offering will help build a youth-focused community center in Cusco, Peru. This center will be a place where people can come for a variety of activities that will connect them with Adventist church members.

Please pray for church planting in Cusco and throughout South America. Thank you for supporting the mission offering!