The Fragrance of Grace in Lima & Pisco

After wrapping up ministry in Moyobamba and arriving at the Lima airport, our Refrescante Ministries team split ways. Some traveled back to the United States, while my pastors headed to Pisco with another pastoral couple from Chiclayo and the Santiagos.

I was picked up by Gaby Cann, a Peruvian Charis Bible College graduate with such a big heart for her country. Gaby has a desire to see more Peruvian churches become familiar with Charis Bible College and Andrew Wommack Ministries, and that desire led her to connect me with Pastora Carmen Amelia Cavero, better known as Pastora Amelia, who leads a beautiful church in the Los Olivos district of Lima.

Through Gaby’s encouragement and prompting, Pastora Amelia opened the doors and organized three full days of ministry for pastors, women, and church leaders. Over those three days, I taught and ministered around 14 times, and each day was unique but certainly ordained by the Lord.

Day 1: Tiempos de Renuevo

The first day was specifically for pastors and ministers. We spent the day in the Word with foundational Charis teachings like La Vida de Cristo (The Life of Christ) and Un Alma Próspera (Establishing a Propsperous Soul), while emphasizing core teachings like Espíritu, Alma y Cuerpo (Spirit, Soul, and Body) and La Autoridad del Creyente (The Believer's Authority).

The attendees were not accustomed to hearing grace and faith taught in the balanced way I was sharing it. They were very serious. Some would barely make eye contact with me, and I truthfully wasn’t sure what they were thinking. All I could do was keep on speaking with confidence.

But the more I spoke, the more they began to lean in.

Little by little, their expressions changed, they began asking questions, and eventually, I had everyone’s attention. Our time together ended with a powerful ministration, in which many experienced breakthrough and a sweet refreshing in their souls. 

Some of those same pastors invited me to minister at their churches over the following nights I would still be in Lima.

Day 2: Perfume Agradable

The second day was dedicated entirely for women. Almost 60 women came from all kinds of backgrounds and life experiences.

I taught Una Mejor Manera de Orar (A Better Way to Pray), and my sermons were The Rawness of the Cross and Pleasing Fragrance.

In Pleasing Fragrance, I shared how Gomer (in the book of Hosea) perfumed herself for strange lovers and how, through Christ, we are empowered to live out a completely different reality. We are His Bride, and as we live close to our Beloved, our lives begin to release His sweet-smelling fragrance that already indwells us.

There was salvation, reconciliation, healing, and many women received the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in new tongues. One of them was a female Adventist pastor!

Marcia Lazón came with severe problems in both knees. The menisci in both knees were damaged, and she also had damage to her coccyx. During the ministry time, I didn’t lay hands on anyone. I simply ministered from the altar and asked the women to lift their hands and receive.

While she had her hands raised, Marcia felt as though someone was applying pressure against them. She didn’t think much of it at the time. She was simply enjoying what the Lord was doing.

Later that night, her husband asked how she was feeling.

That’s when she started moving, jumping, and doing things she had not been able to do for years. She realized she had been supernaturally healed!

Her mother was also present at the event. She was a devout Catholic and had not been very open to evangelical circles, but that day she confessed and received Jesus as Lord and Savior too.

Listen to her testimony below!

That morning, while I was meditating on Jesus, I internally voiced a desire for a new perfume because the one I had brought with me was almost finished. It was such a simple prayer that no one knew about and I honestly thought nothing of.

After I ministered over the women and was getting ready to preach at another church, one of the women who had come to the Lord approached me with something in her hands.

It was a perfume.

She gave it to me and said, “I made this with my own hands for you.”

Day 3: One Body, Many Members

The third day was for church leaders and people serving in different areas of ministry.

We started with a ministry identity exercise where they identified their gifts and began recognizing where they fit within the Body of Christ. From there, I taught One Body, Many Members and 10 Essentials of Godly Leadership.

One of my favorite parts of the entire day was actually the Q&A.

They asked all kinds of doctrinal questions and with them, I helped them identify and dismantle beliefs that years of legalistic and fundamentalist teaching had instilled in them.

In many nations in Latin America, following Jesus oftentimes is a very heavy yoke. That's why I enjoyed watching them realize that the Gospel really is the "too good to be true" news.

There was one community leader who had been crying throughout the day. She was very exhausted and drained from laboring without seeing much fruit. Leadership had been difficult, and she was at the point of giving up. As she continued sharing how impactful 10 Essentials of Godly Leadership session had been for her, I eventually asked her if she was a Christian.

She told me that the right time had just never seemed to come.

I told her that at some point that evening, she would receive an invitation, and when it came, she was completely free to accept it or not.

At the end of the day, we were going to do a prophetic activation. Everyone would split into groups, listen to the Holy Spirit, and minister to one another.

Before we began, I explained that only those who were in Christ could prophesy what His Spirit was revealing to His children. I also told them that anyone who wanted to receive Jesus could do so and freely participate in what the Holy Spirit was doing.

That was the timely invitation she gladly and joyfully accepted.

She received Jesus as her Lord and Savior, and then she joined the exercise. Even though she was a 3-minute old new convert, she began giving powerful, sound words of knowledge and wisdom to the people in her group.

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

I had the pleasure of watching that truth unfold right in front of me.

The People Behind Those Three Days

I can’t talk about Lima without talking about the people who made those days so special.

Pastora Amelia’s church served with so much excellence. There was food, coffee breaks, ushering, worship, organization, and so many details happening behind the scenes. They served me and everyone who came through those doors incredibly well.

Frank Cavero, Pastora Amelia’s sister, is a powerhouse.

She is genuinely one of the strongest examples of service I have ever seen in my life. She was everywhere, doing whatever needed to be done, leading the entire kitchen and hospitality committees, and serving with her whole heart. 

I met and grew to love Emily Hernandez, a powerful worshipper, and Roxana Ramirez, an evangelist in formation, who accompanied me and Gaby in many of my speaking engagements. 

“Read, Read, Read”

Pastora Amelia’s testimony reveals how God hears the cries of His children and is always faithful to respond to the,.

For some time, she had been praying and asking the Lord for direction because she knew there was something different stirring in her heart. She was more inclined toward grace than much of the system surrounding her, but she needed clarity.

Months before I arrived, she was praying at the altar when she heard the Holy Spirit say:

“Read, read, read.”

She didn’t understand what He meant.

Later, she picked up her phone and began watching a synopsis of Job. At the end of the video, the person teaching suddenly said something along the lines of, “I am begging you—read, read, read.”

When I arrived months later and we spent those three days opening the Word together, she understood.

The Lord was calling her deeper into His Word so that she could be grounded in truth and not confused by everything around her.

She was so touched by those three days that she decided to come with us on the next part of the trip.

So early Saturday morning, Pastora Amelia, Gaby, Frank, Gaby’s sister and nephew, and I packed into a van and headed to Pisco.

Anniversary Celebration in Pisco

We met back up with my pastors and our friends at Iglesia Nueva Vida Pisco, pastored by Manuel Mejia and Damaris Tinco, in the district of Túpac Amaru Inca.

That Saturday morning, the church hosted its Festival de Esperanza, an outreach where they serve families from their community, minister to children, give gifts, and simply love people in practical ways.

Later that night, they held a powerful worship concert with anointed ministers and worship ministries. Pastor Jay and I had the opportunity to preach, and once again, we saw reconciliation, breakthrough, and people responding to Jesus. We ended the night celebrating together with lots of jumping, dancing, and joyful shouting!

The following day was Iglesia Nueva Vida Pisco’s 12th anniversary, and when I say they celebrated, they celebrated!

The day started with chicken soup in the morning and continued into a service that lasted around five hours, followed by an amazing grill-out. There was worship, preaching, fellowship, food, laughter, and so much joy.

One of the things I loved most about Pisco was watching Pastora Amelia and Frank just sit to receive, after three intense days of serving everyone else in Lima.

Pastora Amelia cried almost the entire weekend. She was hearing the message that her heart had been searching for without even knowing exactly what she was searching for.

By the end of our time together, we decided to sponsor her first year of Charis Bible College Español online.

Now she gets to continue growing in the Word and becoming established in the message of grace and faith that the Lord was already drawing her toward.

She is going to be an incredible asset to what God wants to do in Lima and the surrounding region.

Please Pray for Iglesia Nueva Vida Pisco

There is also something very important I want to ask everyone reading this to pray about.

Iglesia Nueva Vida Pisco has been facing a serious situation involving the land they legally obtained in Túpac Amaru Inca.

Land invasions and disputes over private property have become an issue in different parts of Pisco. There have been reports of groups occupying privately owned land and claiming that it belongs to the State or that the legal owners have somehow lost their rights to it. Authorities have also investigated the possible involvement of groups engaged in illegal land trafficking.

Pastors Manuel and Damaris have been standing through a similar struggle concerning the property their church legally obtained. In the midst of it all, they keep serving. They keep reaching families, loving their community,  ministering to children and youth, and preaching Jesus.

Please keep Pastors Manuel and Damaris, their family, and Iglesia Nueva Vida Pisco in your prayers.

Pray that they will continue to stand firm and strong against every attack. Pray for wisdom, protection, and favor with the appropriate authorities. Pray that what they obtained legally will remain protected.

And pray that when all of this is over, they will be able to testify of how they experienced the goodness of God in the land He Himself gave them.

“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”
Psalm 27:13

Until Next Time, Peru

When I look back at Peru, I’m still amazed by how the Lord connected everything.

From ministering to hundreds of pastors and leaders in the jungle of Moyobamba, to three power-packed days in Lima, to serving alongside a church we love in the desert region of Pisco—it all felt so intentional.

People received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, pastors and leaders were strengthened, and people discovered their place in the Body of Christ. New friendships were formed and effectual doors opened that I never could have planned myself.

As I reflect on all that transpired during those 2 weeks of ministry, I am in awe of how God had gone before us.

He had been speaking to Pastora Amelia months before she ever knew me. He knew the questions those pastors were carrying. He knew every woman who would walk into that meeting in need of a divine encounter. He knew that a tired community leader would come with questions and leave having received Jesus.

He even knew my perfume bottle almost empty.

There are pastors, ministers, and believers throughout Latin America who are hungry for the Word, hungry to understand grace, and hungry to know Jesus more deeply. God knows each and every one of them, and I do believe He is raising men and women to reach them in ways that transcend human understanding.

There is so much more ahead.

And this is only the beginning.

P.S. I owe all my lovely adventures to God but secondly, to the authorities and parental figures He gifted me with (Pastor Jay & Pastora Mary). Knowing and being loved by these two unlocked everything I am experiencing and enjoying in ministry, and I'll forever be grateful for that. To more Holy Spirit adventures with you both, tesoritos!