No limits. Few things can be more reassuring than to know people are praying for you. The knowledge that you are supported makes it easier to act in faith and with confidence. It’s humbling to know people care, and it challenges our own commitment to prayer.

At the beginning of a New Year it’s Latin Link’s prayer that this Guide and our other resources will help you extend your prayers – for Latin Link members, the situations they work in, the people they work with, and for Latin America itself.

With prayer and with God there are no limits.

7 New staff member Daniel Kirk will join People Resources in the London office in January, completing the new team after a period of staff changes and restructuring. Katie Chapman, who heads up the team, asks prayer, ‘that God would help as we get to know one another, learn how to work together and develop the area of People Resources in Latin Link. A particular focus this year will be recruitment of new members to serve in Latin America, whatever period of time they will be going for.’

10 Please pray for the new Striders arriving in Latin America in January – Jenny Thompson and Jane Bustard to work in Bolivia, Ben Symons in Argentina, Emma Simpson in Peru; and Roz Baker preparing to leave for Peru in February.

16 A high school in Ecuador recently tested all its students for HIV, and found 15 cases — an indication of the scale of HIV/Aids in Ecuador. Latin Link’s Matt Hart has set up a ‘Youth Against AIDS Network’ locally with groups of students who will promote Aids awareness and education among their peers.

• Please pray that the project will have a real impact on the youth of Santo Domingo de los Colorados and go a long way to prevent young people from being infected with HIV, through making changes to their lifestyle.

diary

5 Epiphany celebrations. The International Prison Fellowship group in Oruro, Bolivia, is involved in a joint event in the prison. Julie Noble writes that their responsibility is to get presents for the children of all the prisoners, and also to organise dance, drama, clowns and entertainment. Please pray that the day will go smoothly, and pray for the Group as it looks for ways to develop new activities with the women and children — they’ve worked only with the men until now — and with under-25s, now a substantial part of the prison population.

13 Please pray for all the students on the national student leaders training course, in Campinas, Brazil from the 13th for two weeks. Phil and Jan Greenwood will be involved in giving seminars and generally encouraging the students. Pray as they think about what it means in practice to be ‘lights in the darkness’ in the student world.

13-17 Latin Link Bolivia Team Conference. Please pray for team members to be encouraged and strengthened as they meet together and as they prepare to receive new members later this year. diary

14-18 A core international leadership group of Latin Link meets in London. The main item will be to officially accept the election, by a resounding majority, of Marcel Dürst, as the new Latin Link International Team Leader. Please keep Marcel, Jeannette and family, based in Switzerland, in your prayers as Marcel prepares to take over the reins from John Chapman in September.

19 Latin Link Ireland Information Day in First Antrim Presbyterian Church Halls, Co. Antrim. Speakers: Hans and Priscilla Breekveldt, Latin Link members on leave from Argentina. Also today, a Latin Evening, again with Hans and Priscilla, at Exodus Christian nightclub in Portstewart, Co. Derry. An Exodus Team went to Brazil in partnership with Step last year.

31 Winifred Every-Clayton starts her first post-graduate teaching module: a week on Latin American Church History, at the Baptist Seminary in Recife, Brazil.

One Minute Window: Abigail

At Christmas, Nicola Spencer finished her time on the Stride programme as a volunteer with Remar Girls Home in Quito, Ecuador. Her reflections on the past year included this account of one little girl who, thanks to Remar, Nicola, and another Strider Ellie Bolton, starts this New Year with a bright future ahead of her.

‘For Ellie and I, May and June were dominated by Abigail, a toddler who had been abandoned at birth outside Remar. We were thrilled to hear that a Spanish couple were arriving in mid-June to adopt her. But simultaneously it was really upsetting to watch her physical condition deteriorate rapidly without the individual attention she needed. One day at home time I just could not leave her there crying, with her skin covered in sores. Ellie arrived back from her holiday just as I arrived home with Abigail, wondering what I was letting us in for.

It was a strange and rather sleep-deprived four weeks, as Ellie and I become temporary mums. With care, Abigail’s skin problems healed fast, and it was a privilege to see first hand that she was a delightful, bright little girl. We worried that it would be confusing for her when her new parents arrived, but when we met the new family – after Abigail had spent a fortnight with them – we knew it had been the right decision. Ellie and I left the meeting beaming from ear to ear.’

Please praise and thank God for:

• little Abigail living with her new parents
• Nicola and Ellie adapting to life back home, and new Striders, Pamela and Catherine, now helping at Remar
• new Latin Link member Katy Griggs who has started going into Remar
• several changes in leadership at the home, which have brought great improvements, but there is still a need for stability
• new social worker, Nora, and the outworking of a healthcare project she has introduced for the girls
• the 40 or so girls of all ages who live at Remar for short and longer periods, to find hope and a better future

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.

20 In 2002 El Inca bookshop in Lima, Peru, celebrates 90 years. ‘We will be celebrating in a big way,’ manager Eirwen Harris tells us. ‘with special events each month. But rather than have a superficial celebration, I want to help and encourage the Christian community and build up the church.’ In January their focus is on distributing free Bible reading notes which have been specially produced for all ages.

• Cusco update: El Inca’s new centre and literature ministry in Cusco, is going well. Manager Abel Vega, his wife and son who moved there from Lima last Spring absolutely love it, having adapted well to the Quechua culture and lifestyle. Thank you for your prayers and please continue to pray for Abel and his family and the success of this still new venture.

24 The serious economic situation in Argentina has been featured and reported several times on national TV news in Britain recently. If you have access to the Internet, the BBC Americas News website is a good source of up-to-date information for prayer. You can access it easily from the Links page on the Latin Link website: www.latinlink.org

29 Praise God with us that seven new Latin Link members plan to go out to Latin America this year. Pray for them as they prepare and work to raise their support: Martin Bone for Peru, Simon Walsh for Colombia, Brenda Greenslade and Clare Churnside for Ecuador, Linda Bethell and the Parker family for Bolivia. If you’d like more details, personal profiles of all new members are available on request.