Evolution in the Galápagos.
'Praise the Lord the people of the Galápagos Islands are now able to watch Unsión TV and hear the Christian message,’ says María Augusta Cowan. Husband Douglas was responsible for the recent installation of a transmitter on San Cristóbal Island, 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador.

He met Pastor Wilson who has over 150 people in house groups, and will soon start building a meeting place. ‘There is a growing evangelical church on each of the three main populated islands,’ reports Douglas. ‘Sparsely populated Floreana is seen as the next island for a church plant.’ Please pray for faith to flourish in these isolated islands.

‘I was impressed and very proud.’ Eirwen

New bookshop opens in Huánuco, Peru.

'It´s so nice to write with good news!’ says Latin Link member and bookshop manager, Eirwen Harris.

'At last we have finished building our new El Inca bookshop in Huánuco. Can’t believe we´ve done it! In fact, I didn’t do very much at all as I had a good architect and an engineer who oversaw everything. When we were ready to install the bookshelves and furniture, my boys from Lima did it all, and told me to stay put!

‘So on 1 March I saw the building in all its glory and was impressed and very proud. We all travelled from Lima and, with about 120 pastors from the area, dedicated the building and celebrated this very special day. Only God could use the money of an elderly lady, and the money from the Steve Corbin Memorial Fund in such a special way.

‘While in Huánuco I realised that as it is such a rural area which stretches for miles out into the jungle areas, we need a worker to visit all the small villages and outlying areas. Maybe next year we will be able to do something about that.’ Please pray:

• for Justa and David who will look after the new shop in Huánuco.

• for Eirwen as she represents El Inca bookshops at the Expolit Book Fair (see Diary), for a useful time and one of blessing to her personally.

• for a replacement for Eirwen when she retires. This could be a Peruvian, or someone from abroad. If you know of anyone who might want to manage the El Inca chain of Christian bookshops, please get in touch.

Road chaos in Quito

Ecuador is facing the worst flooding that many people can remember. Latin Link members Stuart and Janeth Aitken write: ‘In the mountainous area where we live, there have been problems with landslides. The road from Quito to Santo Domingo has been frequently blocked. On one occasion there were more than 100 landslides of varying degrees and the road was shut at night.

‘A tremendous thunderstorm in Quito caused damage to all the access roads in and out. The most serious damage is to an area known as el trebol (cloverleaf), a major junction in the city for traffic going from north to south and into Valle de los Chillos where we live. The junction was built over the river Machangara, and the amount of water coming down the river destroyed the tunnel running underneath. As a result, part of this major junction started to fall into the river 75 metres below. This is causing huge transport problems in Quito. Early estimates suggest that repairs could take a year.’

• Please pray for the traffic in and out of Quito, that extra care would be taken to avoid accidents.

To see some up-to-date information re: work being done in Ecuador in response to the flooding, why not click on this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-01_cdpeWw

Terry, Sarah and Simone Lockyer

New Brazil Team Leader. Terry Lockyer has been elected as the new Team Leader for Latin Link in Brazil. He is excited about the possibility and hopes he can do at least as good a job as his predecessor, Phil Greenwood. The official handover takes place later in the year. Please pray over the next few months of handover and preparation.

Healing words. During her weekly hospital visits in Cusco, Peru, Jenny Brown is concentrating on the Burns Unit. There are many children there, some with very serious burns. The length of stay can run into months, which means they can get very bored, but it does mean that Jenny has the chance to see them a number of times. Pray as she builds relationships with children and families.

Vision of things to come: a nursery already up and running successfully in a Lima shanty town.

A nursery/early learning centre has just been set up in Villa María, Lima, Peru. Margaret Saunderson asks prayer for Candy whose idea it was, and who will be running it: ‘Pray that it may be a blessing to many families and a means of more people coming to know the Lord, as well as the children being helped.’

Jesus loves young people*. Verna Langrell has been asked to be a worker in the street school ‘Papo de Responsa’ (slang for responsible talk) with the JEAME* project two days a week. Join with Verna in praising God for the clear confirmation she has received about doing this, and pray the project will find strategies to reach and help the crack-cocaine addicted children and teens who are their focus.

Bible teaching. Geoff Low will be busy this month teaching in different Bible schools: evening classes on Bible Interpretation at the Cusco Presbytery of the Peruvian Evangelical church, and mornings at the Horizontes Institute on Romans and the Missiology of Paul. His special prayer is that his teaching would spread beyond and through the students he’s training.

A load of rubbish! Jürg Hofer is organising a recycling project at the church he and Mirjam work with in Trujillo, Peru. The bottles, cartons, paper, tins, etc, can be sold to raise money, but members are collecting things so enthusiastically it’s getting hard to manage! Please pray that they’ll find a bigger place for storage, and that the project’s success would challenge people to help out.

Extra-curricular Bible studies. For the new school year, the International School in Arequipa, Peru, has started up its weekly Bible study groups again: for senior staff (currently looking at Paul’s letter to the Romans), for the Christian outreach team (studying Matthew’s gospel) and other groups for parents and teachers—all strategic ministries. Do pray that the Word won't just be sown but will take root and grow in many hearts.