A Healing River Across Peru

// Arequipa, Peru

The diagnosis was grim. She had 11 tumors in one breast, 13 in the other, and three incurable diseases. Doctors gave her no hope. Three times a week she’d go to her local church and pat the statues of the saints on the feet, desperately trying to get their attention—but to no avail. She was dying.

Then she heard something. At a meeting in her city, people were being prayed for and healed. Immediately she said to herself, “I’m going to that meeting and Jesus is going to heal me.” She went and was completely healed. Every tumor instantly disappeared! “I went to Jesus one time, and He healed me,” she exclaimed.

Jim and Faye Andrews, directors of Rhema Bible Training Center Peru, held that meeting, and for them, such testimonies never grow old. In fact, after 27 years in Peru, Jim and Faye have a much clearer picture of what it means to walk as Jesus walked. They’ve seen the dead raised, the lame walk, deformed limbs grow out, blind eyes opened, and countless other miracles. They’ve also seen well over one million people receive Jesus as Lord. But in their eyes, what they’ve accomplished is only the beginning. “Honestly,” said Jim, “we feel like we’re just getting ready to do something great.”

The Journey Begins

Jim and Faye’s journey to Peru began when they met at age 12. “Faye was my childhood sweetheart,” Jim smiled. Eventually, the two married. They were born again later—Jim on one side of the altar, Faye on the other—neither knowing the other had gone forward.

Soon after, they were introduced to Kenneth E. Hagin’s ministry through radio. They began listening to him and reading his books, and eventually attended Campmeeting.

“We had to believe God for enough money to get to Oklahoma and back to Florida,” Jim remembered. “We camped at a state park with our four kids and niece, showered in public showers, and packed sandwiches in a cooler to eat during the day. But I remember seeing different manifestations of the Holy Spirit in that Campmeeting and saying, ‘If that kind of anointing is available, then I want it.’ ”

That desire led the couple to attend Rhema Bible Training Center. At the Lord’s leading they packed their things, put their property up for sale, and moved to Oklahoma. “We got here with $350 in hand, four kids, no house, and no jobs,” said Jim. Faye added, “But we knew we were where we were supposed to be. And God provided. Those were very exciting years that set our course in life.”

After Jim graduated in 1980, the Lord began directing the couple toward missions. They spent three years in Guatemala helping another missionary. Then the Lord spoke to them again: “I want you to go to Peru.”

Though they had just furnished their house, the couple sold everything and packed their few remaining personal belongings into the back of a borrowed van. They returned to the U.S. for a few months to get everything in order and in October 1984 moved to Peru.

Mission Peru

“I didn’t know what we were going to do in Peru exactly,” Jim recalled. “But three things just sort of floated up in my spirit: to establish a Bible school, build a strong local church where the Spirit could manifest as He pleased, and hold seminars all around the country teaching the Word of God.”

That first year, Jim preached 800 times, teaching a message new to most. In March 1985, the couple held their first church service in their home. Around 60 people attended. Wonderful miracles took place as Jim demonstrated God’s healing power. He commanded a short leg to grow out in Jesus’ Name and it immediately did. Four deaf people were healed, and a man paralyzed on his left side began to smile with that side of his mouth. He’d also been blind in his left eye for three years, and that eye instantly opened up.

				Did You Know? » Jim and Faye Andrews credit the training they received at RBTC for giving them a stability in the Word that has allowed them to overcome in every situation.
				Fast Facts » Jim Andrews, a 1980 RBTC graduate, and his wife, Faye, direct Rhema Peru. » Jim and Faye pastor a 2,500-member church located in Lima.
				www.RhemaPeru.org

With such miracles happening, Jim and Faye soon had 350 people packed into their home for services. “We finally decided we needed to get a building,” Faye laughed.

Today, the couple’s church in Lima— La Comunidad Carismática de Lima—is thriving with 2,500 members. And they have established 20 associate churches in this city of nine million to better reach and minister to people. “We’re surrounding the city with churches,” Faye said, “and God has raised up many national pastors to help us.”

A Healing River Flowing

Obeying the vision God gave them, Jim and Faye also traveled extensively across Peru preaching the Word. “It seemed like a healing river just flowed across the country,” Jim noted. “Everywhere we went, amazing things took place.”

In Tacna, a city on the border with Chile, the couple held an evangelistic style meeting during one seminar. Several men present who had just been released from a Chilean prison heard Jim and Faye preach and were born again. As the couple laid hands on the sick, these men took what they had just heard to heart and thought, “We can do that.” They jumped up and began praying for people. “They were fresh out of prison and just born again, but they were getting people healed and out of wheelchairs,” Jim said. “It was amazing.”

In the same seminar, Jim and Faye witnessed grown Latin men—men who don’t normally cry—weeping as the revelation knowledge of the Word came to them. “They were so thankful we came,” Jim said.

RBTC Peru

In addition to their church and seminars, Jim and Faye started a Bible school. Palabra de Fe (Word of Faith) opened in Lima in September 1986 and graduated 100 students in its first class. Later the school officially became Rhema Bible Training Center Peru.

Today the school has more than 6,000 graduates and five campuses—including two in Chile. Campuses are strategically placed in key cities, making it easier for students to attend while keeping their jobs. To further help working students, RBTC Peru offers both nightly video classes and regular morning sessions.

Peruvians teach all but one or two classes—another part of Jim and Faye’s vision. “We’ve endeavored to build on national leadership,” Faye explained. “They have a heart for their people, and when you put the right tools and the right training into their hands, they are very capable.”

The results speak for themselves. Rhema Peru’s graduates have founded nearly 300 churches. Many others are out teaching and doing missions work—continuing to spread the message that has changed their lives.

“It is very evident that we arrived in the country when God was ready to do something in it,” Faye remarked. “I would dare say that most every evangelical pastor in Peru has at least been to one of our seminars, if not studied at the school.”

“The Gospel message has changed the nation,” Jim affirmed. “And I believe God is calling for more of His people to go into the world like we did. I believe we’re going to see people rise up with authority that we haven’t seen before and change nations with the message they bring. This is a great time for the Body of Christ—a great time for those who understand the true Gospel. This is a great time to be alive.”