Atul & Maritza Gopalan

Biography

Atul grew up in India from the ages of 5 to 15 years old. Atul was saved out of Hinduism and became a Christian at the age of 15. Since then, he has had a heart for bringing the Gospel to unbelievers. This has led him to go on short-term mission trips to Kenya, the Dominican Republic, and the Philippines. Atul has also served in long-term missions in South Korea for 3 years and in China for 1 year.

Maritza grew up in Lima, Peru, in a non-Christian home. At the age of 17, the Lord was pleased to convict her of her sins and her need of a savior. Maritza has been living in the US for the past two decades. She learned and grew in Biblical knowledge through attending churches in the USA that had expositional preaching. She desires to help plant healthy churches in Peru. Maritza’s prayer is that the Lord would use her background in dental and translation to bring the gospel to the lost.

Since 2012, the Gopalan family has traveled to Lima, Peru, every two years to see Martiza’s family. During this time, they saw the grip that the prosperity gospel had on the Peruvian churches in Lima, causing Christians to be discouraged by the churches they attended. This caused them to pray that the Lord would open a Reformed Baptist Church in Lima, Peru.

In 2020, the Lord provided opportunities for the Gopalan family to have Bible studies with Christians in Peru, with Atul leading them. What they noticed was that these Christians lacked Biblical knowledge yet had a hunger for the truth through these studies. This is when the Lord started burdening Atul and Maritza to start a church in Peru. God used our church and the different mission conferences we attended to continue to move our hearts towards missions. In July 2024, the Lord opened an opportunity for them to help with VASE, a ministry started by Larry Secrest that uses medical campaigns to aid churches in remote parts of Peru in bringing the gospel to these communities. They saw how God used this ministry and began praying to see whether God was leading them to help with it. The Lord answered their prayers by continuing to open doors and burdening them towards ministering in Peru. They plan to be in Peru in August 2026, to help with the VASE ministry and for Atul to be a teacher at SAM Academy (a ministry towards Missionary Children), as a means for them to enter Peru. Our church (Grace Reformed Baptist Church) also agreed to be sending church. The goal is to start a Reformed Baptist Church in Peru when the Lord opens the door.