august street girls social unrest
biblical truth
The distances some pastors will travel for a Bible – see the One Minute Window overleaf
Truth to tell. The summer issue of Latinfile lifts the lid on the colourful country of Cuba, and here we highlight some points for prayer. Church growth in Latin America is amazing and something to praise God for. But as cults and sects increase too, we pray for biblical truth to remain untarnished.

1 Jesus in Cuba. Please pray for:

  • Catherine Darke, leading the Step Team in Cuba from the end of July until early September. Pray the Team will build on relationships formed last year, as they help and encourage the churches;
  • Cuba for Christ, as they plan a training conference for Cuban pastors next March, on how to study and teach the Bible. Pray for the necessary speakers and resources;
  • the political future of Cuba at a critical stage in its history.

diary

8 The last Summer Step Team flies to Cochabamba in Bolivia today for seven weeks. Team Leaders will be Rohan and Claire.

17-18 El Inca bookshop, newly-opened in Cusco, Peru, is running a two-day pastors’ training course. Pray that each church leader present will benefit. Study books, subsidised by El Inca, will be on sale to enable the pastors to build a basic library (see the One Minute Window).

3 Religious tourism. Santería, meaning ‘the way of the saints’, is possibly the religion most practised by Cubans. It originated when African slaves, with their own deities and practices, incorporated Catholic saints and images of the Virgin into their belief systems. Practised privately in homes, santería
22 New Latin Link member Katy Griggs leaves for Ecuador today. Please pray for her, and for Latin Link’s

has been growing in popularity, and is now actively promoted by the government as an inoffensive cultural attraction. ‘Neither evangelicalism nor catholicism is regarded as cultural,’ says Baptist pastor, Vicente Calvo, ‘The Bible has a liberating message – it makes people think.’

  • Pray that tourists would see beyond the exotic attraction of santería, and that locals, too, would know the truth that Jesus is alive in Cuba.

Stuart and Janeth Aitken, who will be helping her acclimatise to life in Quito. Katy’s main focus during her first year will be on learning to speak and understand Spanish, as she prepares to start working with needy children.

31-1/9 Hans Breekveldt teaches Biblical Interpretation to clergy and lay people of the Diocese of Uruguay, in Montevideo. He asks us to intercede for all church leaders in Argentina and Uruguay as they prepare talks and Bible studies, that they will explain the word of truth correctly (2 Tim. 2:15).
6 Brazilian transfer. Please pray for Bill and Glenice McMillan as they adjust to life in London after thirty-six years in Brazil, and as they establish a Brazilian congregation with Cliff Walk Evangelical Church in Canning Town.

11 Who’s that girl? The girl with the lovely smile, whose picture appears at the top of Prayer Guide (and on the cover of the 2001 Prayer Calendar), is Adriana Aquino. Glenn Every-Clayton tells us, ‘Adriana is a former student of ours who graduated from the Congregational Seminary in Recife, Brazil some years ago. In September she’s off to Guinea-Bissau, West Africa where she

believes God is calling her to use her talents as a Christian in drama.’

  • Please remember to pray for Adriana when you see her photo, as she raises her support locally and prepares to go to work in Guinea-Bissau.
The Prayer Guide is designed for flexible use and the points may be used at any time during the month. We include a Diary of events, and for those who prefer to pray systematically, suggested dates against each prayer point.

‘Who’s come the furthest?’
One Minute Window with Eirwen Harris, Peru

‘I shall always remember the last delegate to enrol at the seminar we held in Cusco in January. We had exactly 150 Bibles, and 149 people registered, yet there was still a long queue of pastors and church workers, all eager to get their Bible and attend the special two-day course. "Who's come the furthest?” shouted the pastor helping us with registration. A small, bedraggled, Quechua man pushed his way to the front, his hair unkempt, his jumper inside out, his poor sandals made from car tyres. He had no luggage. "I've come from Puno" – about 300km away – "It's taken me three days, walking and hitching lifts on the back of lorries – please let me in." We did,


though we were not very popular with the rest waiting outside. ‘At the end of the course, the pastor from Puno received his Bible, with a big smile on his face, from the speaker, a towering American. As the shorter man hugged him around the waist, everyone howled with laughter. I'm not sure how he got back to Puno, but he went home carrying a new Thompson Chain Reference Bible.’
Please pray for:

  • manager Abel Vega and the staff of El Inca bookshop as they resource churches in the rural areas around Cusco
  • encouragement for church leaders, like the pastor from Puno, who live in isolated places.
14 Social unrest in Argentina. 50 per cent wage cuts… road blocks by protesters… riots and fatalities… the economic and labour situation worsens. Problems are particularly acute in Salta province in the north, where there have again been violent clashes between troops and protesters. Latin Link’s Louis

More ways to pray:

Prayer Guide, sent on request by post or email each month, is one of a number of Latin Link prayer resources:

  • Latinfile is our regular publication, with news and stories from Latin America
  • Members’ prayer letters – an insight into their work and country of service, as well as personal and family news – on request
  • Prayer groups – join with others in praying for the work of Latin Link. Ask for your nearest group, or we can help you start your own
  • Prayer cassettes, with recorded news and interviews, are produced bi-monthly to provide additional material for prayer groups
  • Prayerline – call 020 7939 9018 any time, updated weekly
  • 2001 Prayer Calendar features all current Latin Link members, with a brief description of their country, their team and their work. With pages dated 1 to 31 and prayer points for each day

For further details, please telephone or email us.

Woodley, based in Tartagal, asks that we pray: for the government to fulfil its promises to revitalise the local economy and create more full-time jobs; for Tartagal and the department of San Martín, once prosperous and now in decline as oil companies pull out; that peace can be restored to the region; for the Church to rise to the challenge of being a prophetic voice in the region and maintain its fervour in prayer.

20 Team building. At their last conference, the Ecuador Team decided to operate around two centres – the capital, Quito, and in Santo Domingo. Following home leave, all the Quito team will be back together this month. Please pray they would become a strong team under Stuart Aitken’s leadership.

24 More training. Please pray for Latin Link’s John Hart and Tim Pawson in Santo Domingo, Ecuador who are increasing the number of sessions they teach at the Evangelical Leaders Training Centre (CCLE) to five mornings a week, as more people request training for Christian ministry.

27 Latin London. Please pray for Latin Partners, a branch of Latin Link, as it resources and supports Latin churches in London. Please pray for Ray Miller and Guillermo Silva as they set up a new leadership training course in Spanish, in conjunction with Spurgeon’s College, due to begin early in 2002.

‘A girl asked whether my parents used to beat me – later that day we drove past her dad, drunk on a street corner.’ Nicola

29 Praise the Lord for Ellie Bolton and Nicola Spencer’s year as Striders with Remar Girls Home in Quito, Ecuador. This Christian-run home offers street girls from very difficult backgrounds a place to stay and some education, but operates with only a skeleton staff and few resources – even relying on leftovers from hotels and markets for their food each day. Praise God for great answers to prayer, as Ellie and Nicola built relationships with the 45 girls, and used the gifts sent from home churches.
Please pray for:

  • Nicola, returning to Remar in September for another term;
  • two new Striders, Catherine Mark and Pamela Pilkington, as they meet the rough-and-tough realities of life at Remar;
  • Latin Link’s María Augusta Cowan supervising Striders and developing links;
  • the street girls themselves, with huge emotional needs, to find love and security, and a new life in Christ;
  • the need for additional staff with experience and maturity.