NEW YEAR GREETINGS FROM LATIN LINK

We start 2008 with a new look monthly e-news and prayer guide with the latest news and prayer requests from Latin America alongside diary dates. We hope this format will be easy to use, and will continue to inspire and assist your prayers—thank you for praying with us for Latin America into 2008.

Pastors over the moon in Havana

We praise God that with all the odds stacked against them, a group of pastors in Havana have been able to receive 15 hours worth of Bible teaching... despite their lecturer being stuck in the UK!

The teacher was meant to travel to Cuba in December, to give a series of lectures on Old Testament theology. When his visa application was rejected, he came up with an ingenious plan: he would record the lectures onto CD and send those to Cuba instead.

He spent a week recording all the talks onto his laptop. Meanwhile, various leads were being followed as to how to get the CDs to Cuba, while supporters prayed fervently.

Within days, the son of a Cuban pastor in Miami was able to help, and a Catholic nun returning to Cuba from Britain acted as courier. The CDs were collected from her just one hour before the classes were due to begin!

'We give great thanks to God that the Havana group of pastors met to study the "Old Testament 1" module they've been preparing for over these last few months,' says Carl Chambers, who helps resource Cuban church leaders.

'The group are hungry to be taught God's word, and are delighted to be able to have this input. The course is greatly appreciated - not least for the quality of its content, but also for the full notes which are given. We give thanks for our teacher's perseverance in speaking into his lonely laptop. Pray for him as he begins to teach other modules in this way.'

Please pray for Cuba:

• The government has announced that it will sign two major UN agreements on civil and political rights, and also that it will allow UN monitoring of its human rights record.
  
• There are signs that President Fidel Castro, who has held power since 1959, may step down.

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Settling in. Various Latin Link members are either returning to Latin America after leave, or just starting out there:

Phil and Carolina Rout are just starting their ministry in Brazil with university students. Pray for them as they settle in Bauru in the state of São Paulo. January will be the time for making contacts, finding a job for Carolina in teaching, and discovering the best church for them to be involved with.

Stuart and Jenny Oliphant, Daniel and Matthew go back to Argentina to work with the Asociación Misionero Internacional (AMI), the mission department of the Argentinian Baptist Convention. They will be involved in the recruitment and care of mission candidates, based in Buenos Aires.

Chris MacBruithin starts to work full time as Latin Link's Short Term Mission Co-ordinator in Bolivia. This will be a busy time as he gets to grips with the work pattern, the procedures, and making contacts with national Christian workers about possible new projects for Steppers and Striders.

Fernando and Cristina Meier and family have just returned to Anápolis, Brazil, from Germany. There will be a lot of adjustments for the children who have been speaking German for a year. Pray for them as they settle down into life on campus, and for Fernando as he begins to prepare his lectures for the new college year.

And while praying for the people listed above, please pray also for People Resources Coordinator, Katy Griggs, who is visiting some of the teams in Latin America over the next few weeks. She starts off in Bolivia during the last week of January. Pray for safe travels... and no strikes along the way!

It's a jungle out there! Although the Shalom Centre, Peru, is officially on holiday they are continuing activities. For the younger children these will be based on the Jungle Doctor adventure stories; the older children's adventures will be in and around Arequipa, discovering more about their city. Ruth Green asks practical prayer for the safety of these physically disabled students, who will be more mobile than usual, and that the great message of salvation will touch their lives.

Summer school. January is officially a holiday month at the Evangelical Missions Centre (CEM) in Viçosa, Brazil. However, it's going to be busy with intensive study weeks for Postgraduate/Masters courses. Phil and Jan Greenwood ask for prayer that they will have a good number of students for these weeks.

Lest we forget... 'There's still a lot to pray about in Colombia,' says Latin Link member Manuel Reaño. 'So many people are still kept captive by guerrillas; there are no peace talks taking place; there's corruption everywhere... and a quarter of a million, mostly poor, people are suffering from the effects of a very intense rainy season all over the country. Their homes are literally under water and they have nothing to eat.'

• On a happier note: Last June, Simon Walsh asked for prayer as he embarked on a month-long mission to Quibdó, a remote part of Colombia. He sends this piece of feedback: 'I have just heard that one lady inspired by her 'Funky Frog' Sunday school teacher training has set up a new kids' club. It's going so well, the mayor's office has helped to fund it!'

Learning to communicate. Strider Naomi Gosnell is working as a children's nurse in a medical/dental clinic in Patzún amongst the Cakchiquel people with Asociación Vida. She asks for prayer that she would pick up the Mayan language of Cakchiquel with supernatural ease and speed!

Aguaruna children eating panetone at Christmas

Teaching the teachers. Marion Burke is helping to develop the Sunday school in the Aguaruna community of Bajo Naranjillo about 70 km north of Moyobamba, Peru, where she lives. Pray for her as she meets teachers and shows them how they can teach the Bible in an exciting and relevant way.

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