Declaring Christ -- Special Edition --

 Greetings Family, Friends, Supporters,
    You will find below our newsletter, but to see it with pictures please open the attached .pdf file.
In Christ's Love,
    Jonathan & Bethany

“I will instruct you and

teach you in the way which you should go;

I will counsel you with My eye upon you.”

~ Psalm 32:8 ~

Taking Youth to Camp

Since we first landed here in Peru it has been a wonderful place of growing and changing and learning to be more like Jesus. Jonathan first came here in summer of '08 and Bethany in summer of '09. Then, we arrived, in God's direction, as a married couple on July 2, 2010. We planned on staying as long as God directed us. We never knew how long He would keep us here but just like Proverbs 16:9 says “The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.”God has used the believers here to encourage us, challenge us and love us. Each person He has brought into our life here has taught us something! We are so encouraged by how God has been strengthening us as a married couple here too! All in all, the time God has given us in Peru has been tremendous and we won't take any of it back.

Our friend
Katty Melendez's 21st Birthday Party

Since December, we have been praying for the Lord's direction about our next step as missionaries. After much prayer and seeking godly counsel, God has shown us that His next step for us is to move to the USA. God has shown us this is His next step for us through several means. We would like to share a few with you now. We have seen that there will soon be a huge transition time in our life. We began to see that when our fellow missionaries, the Fowlers, arrive here we will need to find a new house and also a new ministry as we have been filling in for them while they've been gone. We saw that God was pushing us on to something else. We also began to pray and think about building stronger relationships with our closest supporters, our families, in the States. After our marriage, we were not able to spent the needed amount of time with them in order to the build strong, lasting relationships that we desire with them. We saw God instructing us to move to the USA in order to build stronger relationships with them. We have a great desire to be heavily involved in a church-centered ministry serving as missionary pastor and wife. We love one-on-one discipling and the close relationships that are developed between a pastor and wife and a local church. We know there is need for pastors/church-planters in the States and so God taught us that He wants us to minister in the USA. Do we still see a need in Peru? Of course!! There is always a need everywhere. Lord willing, we hope to come to Peru, in the future, on some short-term training trips. However, we see that the combination of what God has instructed us and taught us is leading us to the USA to minister, as long as He directs.

We are so thankful for our team here, Delwin & Techy Fowler, who are presently in the states working on Techy's citizenship, and Daniel & Mattie Melendez, who are working alongside us here in Peru. We've enjoyed getting to know Daniel & Mattie over the last 8 months or so. They are a godly couple seeking to serve the Lord. Delwin and Techy have been such a blessing to our life and have become dear friends. We know God will continue to use Delwin & Techy and Daniel & Mattie in the ministry here. Please continue to pray for them in the work here as God uses them. 1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” They have a very valuable ministry.

. . . continued on next page

Some things you should know:

We love the ministry!! We desire to stay in long-term ministry where ever God leads us. We will be staying in ministry, will be staying with Tentmakers Bible Mission, and will be staying in the service of the LORD!!! We will also still be missionaries and are so thankful for your continued support in this next step of God's will.

Still planning. . . We are, of course, still in the planning, packing, planning, packing stage so, we not every detail is ironed out. We are praying about and looking into ministry in the Utah/Idaho mission field area.

Going forward!! We know that this is not a step back for us. Oh, NO, this is a step forward for us in God's will for our life. Thank you so much for being with us in your prayers and your financial support!

When? Lord willing we will be arriving in the states on June 1^st.

Prayer Requests:

~ Please continue to pray for us as we seek the Lord's direction about the specific place He wants us to minister.

~ Thank you all for your prayers as we continue the Lord's work here in Tarapoto. Please keep praying for Jonathan as he preaches and teaches here in the church. Pray that our Spanish would only get better and better.

~ A team from the States will be arriving on February 26^th and staying through March 7^th !! We are anticipating there arrival and wrapping up details for their stay so, we covet your prayers about this.

~ Please continue to pray for the field here in Peru as there is still a great need for training the local believers here.

~ Please pray for the people to whom we will minister next and whom will minister next to us. Pray for God to direct us to them and them to us and all our hearts to be open to His will.

Final Note:

~ Please feel free to email and ask us if you have any questions. We look forward to hearing back from you.

We love you all and are thankful for you love for us!! ¡Muchas gracias por tus oraciones! Thank you all so much for you prayers!!

In Christ's Love,

Jonathan & Bethany

--  Jonathan & Bethany Koehn serving in the San Martín Project in Peru. Serving God with http://www.tentmakersbiblemission.org If God has directed you to support please go to https://tentmakers.webconnex.com/giving/southamerica Skype: jonathan.g.koehn Facebook: JonathanandBethany Koehn Email: JBKoehn@customgraphicwork.com Website: http://todeclarechrist.customgraphicwork.com ----If you would like to be removed ----from my emailing please let me know, ----thank-you. 

Seeking to Declare Christ

Greeting Family and Friends,

    We pray that things are going well for each of you. Please let us know if you have prayer requests you would like us to be praying about.
We've attached a copy of our latest newsletter and the text is below for those who can't open the file.
Thanks to each of you for your support and encouragement!!
In Christ, Jonathan and Bethany

“At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ . . .”

Colossians 4:3

Teresa & Naomi – When we first arrived here in Tarapoto we began to build a friendship with a young woman who works in a grocery store that we frequently go to here. Her name is Teresa. Slowly but surely we have been growing our friendship and trust with her. One day, after the tragic death of one of her co-workers, we shared a Gospel tract with her. Then, we decided to invite her to our house last Monday. When she and her daughter arrived Bethany and she visited for quite awhile and we enjoyed time with her little girl, Naomi. Then she invited us to go with her to see a resort where her brother works. We spent about 5 hours with her eating lunch, walking around, seeing beautiful jungle animals, boating around a little lake, and taking pictures. She seemed to really enjoy it and we very much enjoyed being with her.

Please pray for her to trust in Christ. She does understand that God has a purpose for her life as He saved her from dying from an overdose. And He indeed does have a plan for her life! Please pray that she would stop depending on herself and her works and see her need for Christ. Please also pray that we can continue to build a trust and friendship with her.

Ministry here and now – Life is keeping us on our toes and has not been anywhere near boring lately :)

Jonathan will soon be finishing preaching in Spanish from I Corinthians after roughly 6 months of filling in. He picked up in chapter 11 at the end of July. We are in chapter 16 and will be starting a two part series about the travels of Paul, Timothy, and Apollos from I Corinthians 16:5-12. We are learning about how Paul desired and planned to come visit the Corinthian believers to collect their donations for the church in Jerusalem. But, God had other plans for Paul and he did not arrive in Corinth until quite some time later, much later than he expected to be there. “A man's heart plans his way but the LORD directs his steps.” Proverbs 16:9

Last Saturday Bethany finished a discipleship class with two godly young ladies here in the church. This class has been a wonderful encouragement to Bethany and, we pray, to Katy and Paola as well. Please continue to pray for these two young women. Katy as she heads to Bible school in Lima, Peru and Paola as she continues to work and live here in Tarapoto.

We are also looking forward to different things going on with members of the church here. These include some of the youth going to camp this next week and a church outing to a nearby river for fellowship and lunch together the following Sunday!

Upcoming excitements – We are looking forward to and prepping for the arrival of a team from the USA. They will be arriving on February 26^th and departing on March 7^th. While they are here they will be teaching a Pastors/Church Leaders Conference for about 3 days. They will be ministering in the church here and they will also be involved in evangelist outreach here. We are excited to have them here. Please pray for their health, both physical and spiritual, while they are here. Pray that God will work effectively through them.

We are so thankful for each of you and your prayers for us!! Thank you for standing with us to be lights in this dark world.

Declaring Christ,

Jonathan & Bethany Koehn

--  Jonathan & Bethany Koehn serving in the San Martín Project in Peru. Serving God with http://www.tentmakersbiblemission.org If God has directed you to support please go to https://tentmakers.webconnex.com/giving/southamerica Skype: jonathan.g.koehn Facebook: JonathanandBethany Koehn Email: JBKoehn@customgraphicwork.com Website: http://todeclarechrist.customgraphicwork.com ----If you would like to be removed ----from my emailing please let me know, ----thank-you.