Transformation & Fulfillment in Moyobamba

From August 3–18, 2026, I had the privilege of returning to Peru for two incredible weeks of ministry. From the moment I left Añasco, Puerto Rico, with my pastors until we finally arrived at our hotel in Moyobamba, more than 26 hours had passed. There was a lot of air travel and ground transportation to get to what the Peruvians describe as the jungle ("la selva"), which reminded me a lot of my tropical island; notwithstanding, it was totally worth the journey.

Refrescante Ministries

From August 5-9, our team had the privilege of ministering at the annual ministers conference of M.E.M. Peru (Movimiento Evangelístico Misionero), where more than 400 pastors and ministry leaders from all over Peru gathered under the theme Transformación y Plenitud—Transformation & Fulfillment. The two books they were gifted with, both by Andrew Wommack (AWMI), were "You Already Got it!" and "The New You and the Holy Spirit".

This trip was special because for a second time, we traveled as Refrescante Ministries, a ministry birthed from my home church with the desire to reach and impact the Spanish-speaking world in a more intentional and strategic way.

The main speakers included my pastor, Jay Sánchez; Victor Santiago; Dr. Steve Cassell, founding pastor of Beloved Church in Lena, Illinois; and Javan Smith, representing A.R.M.I. through AWMI. I had the privilege of serving as Dr. Steve's Spanish translator throughout the conference.

The Ladies

Behind every successful married minister, I believe there is a well-equipped wife who renders support and empowerment. The wives were right there with us, the entire time. Each of them play a vital role in Refrescante Ministries, which is an immense blessing. 

On Friday, Mary Jiménez, Dora Smith, and Kay Cassell ministered during the women's meeting, and Carmen Santiago closed that beautiful time by speaking a powerful priestly blessing over the women.

There were so many divine encounters throughout those days. The ministry was powerful, but also incredibly sweet. There was such a genuine move of the Holy Spirit, and I loved watching God minister personally to pastors and leaders who spend so much of their lives pouring into others.

Our hosts, Pastors Samuel and Flora Cornejo, were absolutely wonderful to us. Their entire team served with such excellence, generosity, and joy. Their hospitality was incredible and they made sure we well taken cared of. They even took the time to celebrate Javan's 40th birthday and my pastors' 30th wedding anniversary, which warmed and melted all our hearts.

We left Moyobamba with immense gratitude for them.

Hearing From Their Own Leaders

One of my personal highlights was getting to sit back for a moment and hear members of M.E.M. Peru's own executive leadership minister. I loved it because it gave me a deeper glimpse into the spiritual foundation, history, and vision of the movement we have the privilege of serving.

Pastor Justo Ángulo has been part of M.E.M. Peru almost since its beginnings and has personally trained hundreds of the pastors who were sitting in that conference.

He taught from 1 Corinthians 6:16–17 about what it truly means to be joined to the Lord and to be one spirit with Him. He connected that truth beautifully with our position in Christ—seated with Him according to Ephesians 2:6, already blessed with every spiritual blessing according to Ephesians 1:3, and living from the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe.

I thought nothing could improve his powerful message until he shared his testimony.

Before knowing Jesus, Pastor Justo had actually been trained to become a military man and described himself as a very violent young man. At 22 or 23 years old, someone invited him to a Christian gathering at 6:00 p.m, that started about 20 minutes later, which didn't impress him at all. He even thought the Christians were playing and singing very badly. He wanted to leave but for some reason, he couldn't.

Then another young man began to cry as he voiced how he was experiencing the love of God.

For Pastor Justo, there was nothing more dishonorable than for a man to cry. However, something about that moment challenged him, and for the first time in his life, he spoke sincerely to God:

"Prove to me that You are real."

Suddenly, he felt warmth begin at his head and move throughout his entire body. Before he knew it, he was crying too. The man who thought crying was an unforgivable and unredeemable weakness couldn't stop crying—and couldn't even bring himself to leave.

He cried so much that his entire shirt was wet.

I loved hearing his testimony because sitting before us decades later was the fruit of that one encounter: a man transformed by experiencing the love of God, who would go on to spend his life helping equip hundreds of others to know Him and preach His Gospel.

A Vision Bigger Than One Generation

Another person who ministered was Pastor Eugenio Cruzado of Iglesia Elim in Chiclayo, and there is quite a bit of history here for us.

We first met Pastor Eugenio in Chiclayo in 2023, during New Family Church's first missions trip to Peru and first time organizing a ministers conference in Peru. That gathering had around 60 pastors from different churches and denominations.

Pastor Eugenio shared his enriching experience with the executive board of M.E.M. Peru, the next time they met. That opened the door for our team to be invited to their larger ministers conference in Cajamarca in 2024, followed by another invitation in Trujillo in 2025, and now, for the third consecutive year, Moyobamba in 2026.

During his session, Pastor Eugenio took us all the way back to the beginning.

M.E.M. was born from a vision its founder, Rev. Carlos Estrada Rodríguez, received in 1963. In it, God showed him an enormous field of wheat ready for harvest, with countless laborers gathering it before an approaching storm. He was then shown Peru, with Lima at its center, and from there lights spreading throughout the nation, South America, and the world.

The essence of the message was that there was a great harvest to gather, and God was raising up laborers with the right heart to reach it.

Pastor Eugenio then brought that decades-old vision into the present. He shared statistics about Peru's current spiritual reality, spoke about the work already being done, and reminded the pastors that reaching the entirety of Peru with the Gospel was not simply part of their history—it is still God's plan for them today.

The most impacting segment for me was that part of the original vision indicated M.E.M. would need help to reach everything God had called it to become and do. Pastor Eugenio shared that he is convinced that our team—Refrescante Ministries—was part of the help that had been prophesied about decades before.

We don't take a statement like that lightly, we received it with a lot of humility. Only God deserves all the credit for the wondrous works He's actively doing in M.E.M.'s present. To think that relationships God began forming only a few years ago could somehow fit within something He placed in another man's heart more than 60 years ago reminded me again that God sees the entire picture while we are simply walking out our little piece of it, in humble obedience.

The Harvest Is Still Plentiful

The president of M.E.M. Peru's executive board, Pastor William Arteaga, also ministered a message that deeply encouraged me.

He spoke about evangelism and service flowing from a revelation of the finished work of the Cross. We don't serve to earn something from God; we serve because of what Jesus has already accomplished.

He exhorted us and at the same time, dared us to be more like Jesus in everything we do. If we are going to represent Him well, we have to learn to see as Jesus saw: recognizing the need and looking at people through the lens of compassion; praying for the harvest and its laborers; understanding the authority Jesus has delegated to us; being continually sustained by the living Bread of His Word; and finally, allowing ourselves to be sent as His laborers into a harvest that is still plentiful.

Coffee & Cacao for the Heart

Preaching wasn't the only thing happening in Moyobamba. We all had our fair share of divine connections and encounters with Jesus and coffee at the hospitality table.

We enjoyed authentic Peruvian coffee and cacao, especially at Mahanaim, a local coffee shop and restaurant connected to someone from the host church. We visited enough times that we might have single-handedly contributed to their monthly revenue... Before leaving, we also had the opportunity to pray over them and bless their business.

And the food!

I got to eat paiche, a massive freshwater fish native to the Amazon basin and one of the largest freshwater fish species in the world. Between that, the immense variety of seafood, and everything else we ate, Peru continues to confirm that it has some of the best cuisine I've ever tasted.

Ministry Finds You Everywhere

Before leaving Moyobamba, we also visited the Baños Termales de San Mateo, one of the area's well-known attractions. The thermal baths contain naturally heated mineral waters associated with the geothermal activity beneath the region, with pools at progressively warmer temperatures. They were really hot, which felt so good and relaxing after 5 days of intense ministry.

But somehow, even there, God had a divine appointment waiting for us.

While we were in the third bath, my pastors and I met three young women who were trying to figure out their purpose in life.

One was a licensed psychologist who desperately wanted clarity about her vocation. Another was a civil engineer who was finding her way back to walking with the Lord. And the third was studying law because, as she very candidly explained to us, she hated math. 

As we talked, I got to share part of my own testimony with them—what God has done in my life, how He redirected my plans, and what I've learned about trusting Him with purpose. My pastor then closed our conversation by praying over them and blessing them.

The Holy Spirit brought those three young women to thermal baths in the middle of the Peruvian jungle, so they could encounter His goodness, love, and peace in a profound way. My pastors and I didn't know what He was planning, but we're grateful we were in the right place, at the right time, speaking the right and blessed truth to the right ladies. 

From Moyobamba to What’s Next 🇵🇪

Moyobamba was only the beginning of our time in Peru, this past August.

From there, our journey continued to Lima and then Pisco, where completely different ministry opportunities and God-ordained encounters awaited us. But those are stories for the next updates.

What makes everything we experienced in Moyobamba even more meaningful is knowing that next summer, we will return to Lima to minister to more than 2,000 pastors and ministers from diverse churches and congregations.

When I think back to the vision God gave M.E.M.'s founder in 1963—a great harvest, laborers being raised, and lights spreading from Lima throughout Peru and beyond—it's beautiful to see that vision continuing to unfold more than six decades later.

M.E.M. Peru continues to raise leaders, equip ministers, plant churches, and carry the Gospel throughout the nation. It is truly a lighthouse to Peru, the Americas, and ultimately the nations of the world. What a privilege it is for Refrescante Ministries to come alongside them and play even a small part in what God has been building for generations.

And with that, our time in the jungle came to an end.

Next: Peru Update #2 — Lima.