July 26, 2006

Dear Prayer Warriors,

Warm greetings from the jungles of Peru! It has been extra hot here, without much rain. I'm sure you are dealing with summertime heat as well. May we be thankful for the Son of God Who fills us with His warmth and light.

It is hard to believe that almost 2 months have passed since I last wrote. Sarah Britton traveled from Iquitos last Saturday. Pray for the Lord's guidance in her life. We are glad she came here and gave us a year of her life to enrich ours.

Thank you for praying for the Pattons. Andy and Carol have been appointed to return full-time to our field along with Derek and Karen Roberts. The Roberts feel led of the Lord to do river ministry and are looking at the Ucayali River, upriver from Iquitos.

Rich and Dee Donaldson have passed their medical exams with flying colors and celebrate 50 years of marriage next week. We look forward to the end of October when they can rejoin us. Pray for their furlough ministry in the various churches in the East.

Darlene and I are doing okay. Some days we just "hang in there." Other days we're "flying high!" God is good and always provides what we need. We're thankful for His faithfulness.

Right now Peru is celebrating 180 years of independence. The first school semester has come to a close. Some of the students at the Bible institute still owe for first semester, and all of them need funds to register for second semester. Pray that they will have what they need to be able to continue studying. This is a major part of Darlene's ministry. Because of the lack of funds, the institute retreat for this weekend has been postponed.

At Efata Baptist Church and School for the Deaf, we are still going ahead with plans for this weekend's retreat. Patsy and I are taking turns teaching children and women. I still have 4 lessons to finish preparing. With the children we are teaching the 5-lesson Wordless Book series. I plan to teach the women the lesson of the woman who poured her costly oil on Jesus' feet and want them to think of the sacrifice Christ made for us and how we can respond by giving Him our best in gratitude. Pray for safety and for the Holy Spirit to have freedom to work in our hearts. Because we have had such dry weather, I am planning to drive out in the Nissan Bluebird. It has been working very well, which is another answer to prayer.

Praise the Lord, my health continues to be manageable. :-) I did have a fall at school today while walking backwards trying to get the best angle on a picture. The scratch on my leg and the bruised hip will heal, but not so sure about my digital camera. It flew off and hit the dirt hard enough to bend the lens part. Even when we pulled the lens straight, it would not retract. Praise the Lord, I do have my other camera and the possibility of making my negatives digital! When God closes a door, look for His open window. :-)

Well, this is getting long so I'll close for now. Thank you to those of you who wrote personal notes after the last update I wrote. Next week we are on vacation from school, so maybe I can get caught up on my correspondence.

Take care and keep looking up! God bless you!

Your sister in Christ,

Lynn Porter