October 14, 2008

Dear Prayer Warriors,

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! Thank you for your prayers on behalf of the ministry here in Peru. It truly is a battle, and we need all the reinforcements we can get. The enemy is strong and uses such subtle tactics to discourage us. Our God is all powerful, though, and He is the Victor in this war. Please pray that I will keep my eyes on Him and run in His strength and speak in His wisdom.

Thank you for praying for the institute choir. We have visited two of the five churches where we are scheduled to present a program. There are three more programs coming up, Oct. 26, Nov. 9, and 23, plus the graduation program Dec. 6. Our music is lacking polish, and we have lost some of our choir members. Please pray that we will all be committed to doing our best and be good representatives of our Savior and of our school.

The History of Missions class is going okay. One of the students may not be able to continue due to his inability to pay his bill. He has not gotten very good grades, either, which has kept him from getting a scholarship. One of our teachers quit suddenly the second week of the semester, so I have been helping teach one of his classes on Sects. Pastor Juan Romayna is the other teacher for the course, so we have been taking turns teaching. It also meets on Mondays, right before the History of Missions class. I enjoy the interaction with the fourth year students.

Tuesday is the night for chapel, and a number of deaf have said they would attend. Please continue to pray for wisdom in interpreting for them. I am also concerned that they not think of chapel as a replacement for church. They need to be in church on Sundays, as well as the other weekly services.

My weekend ministries at Betsan Baptist Church are going well. For some reason, I do not sleep well there and so have shortened my stays to overnight. The Lord has blessed with an increase in attendance on Sundays. Pray that His Word will have an impact on lives to change them and build up a bright witness in that place. Many have made professions of faith over the years, but no one has followed through and been baptized. So we are still on the ground floor of church-planting there.

Pastor George continues to recover and is seeing improvement through his therapy sessions. We are in a financial crisis right now with having used up funds available for Pastor George’s treatment and still having the ongoing responsibility of paying guards. Please pray for the Lord’s provision for the funds needed. If the Lord leads you to give an offering, please send it to ABWE earmarked for Pastor George Arvi to the account number 0444003. Some of you are going through a financial crisis now as well. I am praying for the Lord’s provision for you, too. Praise God, His riches are sufficient for all of us!

This coming Saturday, Oct. 18, I am having a praise service to thank the Lord for the 50 years of life He has given me. It has also been 30 years since by grace He gave me eternal life through faith in His Son. Pray that it will bring glory to His great Name and serve as a testimony to the unsaved deaf and hearing friends who may attend.

Thank you again for standing with me in the ministry here in Iquitos. May God bless you and enable you to run with patience the race He has set before you. Keep looking up!

Your sister in Christ,
Lynn Porter