Praying for the nation. In mid-February evangelical leaders in Argentina called for a Day of Prayer. A vast crowd gathered to pray in the Plaza de Mayo in the centre of Buenos Aires, and in town squares throughout the country.

The collapse of the economy in December and emergency measures introduced by government have left the people of Argentina feeling dazed, betrayed and angry. Church leaders see the crisis as a wake-up call to the church, to stand for true values in a society which has allowed corruption and mismanagement to bring it to the brink of disaster.

Please pray in solidarity with Christian brothers and sisters in Argentina who are rising to the challenge the present crisis brings:

• to make a stand against corruption
• to get recognition for evangelicals
• to help those in need
• to cope in reduced circumstances
• for revival which impacts society

For more on Argentina, see the next issue of Latinfile, published mid-March.

1 Channel of light. Asoma Christian TV station in Ecuador is in the process of starting re-transmission of satellite broadcasts of the Christian channel, Canal Luz, to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Please pray for Latin Link’s Doug Cowan and his colleagues at Asoma as they develop Christian TV programming.

5 KidsGames. Churches north of greater Buenos Aires, Argentina, are invited to register this month for KidsGames, taking place over four Saturdays in April and May. Centred on biblical values, KidsGames will include sporting and other recreational activities, together with Bible readings for children from 4-14. The vision is to mobilise churches, who have a passion to reach children and young people in their area for Christ, in a creative way. To take part, groups must sign up for training this month - please pray for a good response.

10 Quacking good news! Those who saw the One Minute Window from Brazil in last month’s Prayer Guide may remember praying for Gwen Griffin (or Aunty Quack-Quack), and the purchase of building land in Rio Pequeno shantytown. Gwen thanks all who prayed and writes, ‘Praise the Lord- a million times - the documents were signed and the money handed over.’ They hope to start building a new church, school and community centre in April.

One Minute Window with Wilma Davies in Argentina

While mum was here on holiday she started to make me two skirts. Just as she was about to stitch all the bits together we discovered the machine wouldn’t work - long neglect, no doubt!

So off to the repair shop I went, sewing machine in tow on the luggage wheels. As the assistant looked at me, her face brightened into a huge smile. ‘Oh, help,’ I thought, ‘I do know that face, but what’s her name?’ It had been several years since we met, here, in this very shop, only last time she was a customer and now she was serving. ‘I recognise you,’ she said, and immediately plunged into her story.

‘The last time you were here, your husband said to me, "We’ve come all the way from Britain to serve Jesus in Argentina, and you have the church on your doorstep and never go!" Well, that really hit me and I thought, "He’s right!" So I went back to the church, got baptised, and I’ve been there ever since. The Lord has helped me so much since then. My estranged husband left me some money and I bought this business. Thanks to God, it’s doing well. Isn’t the Lord good!‘

15 Fears for El Niño. Freak summer rains in Peru and hail in Bolivia have caused flooding, bringing fears of a return of El Niño. There have been rains in Peru’s desert areas, and 5,000 families lost their homes; others had to clean up houses filled with mud and stones. Please pray that adequate preparations will be put in place if there is a real threat of more to come.

20 Biggest Step yet. The number of Spring Steppers leaving for Latin America this month is the highest yet and something we praise God for. Please pray for Step Co-ordinator Laurence East, responsible for development of the Step programme, and for the teams:

• Bolivia team members David and Denise Flynn are leading a team exclusively for deaf people. Please pray for this team of ten, as they get involved in Deaf ministries and use Bolivian Sign Language.
• International Latin Link member, David Frith, is leading a multi-national, mixed age team to the mountain town of Ayacucho, Peru, for two weeks. Pray for team members as they seek the Lord about what mission will mean for them in the future - while painting an orphanage, sharing with the children and experiencing Quechua culture.
• Five other large teams in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Peru going for four months.

25 News from nowhere. The little Bible study group started as a result of relief efforts to the remote town of Yanakihua, following Peru’s earthquake last year, has grown to 30 - wonderful news from Latin Link’s Rosemary Gibson, headteacher at the International College, which led the aid initiative.

Please pray for:

• former pupil, Jenny Meléndez, leading the work in Yanakihua.
• a newly-graduated pastor from Rosemary’s church in Arequipa, who has offered some help.
• Yanakihua’s local priest, who is wary of the new group, that potential divisions will be healed early on.

30 Passing on the baton. International Team Leader John Chapman asks for prayer for his last few months in office, as he prepares to hand over responsibility for Latin Link International to Marcel Dürst. John and wife, Debbie, will move to Ealing, west London in June, where John will take up a curacy, his first appointment with the Church of England.