February 4, 2010

Dear Prayer Warriors,

Greetings from Lima! Thank you so much for your prayers. The Lord answered with His usual blessing and grace. J

Four guests came from Chiclayo in northern Peru: BIMI missionaries Lee and Eva Johnson and Nancy Burns. Rolando (Roly) Maqquerhua from their church also came and was a good asset to the retreat. Roly recently surrendered to the Lord to minister to the deaf and did really well with his sign language. Eleven river deaf attended, including four new ones - Roger, Keyla, Kiko, and Christian. In the two previous years, the deaf we reached were only from three towns, but this year we doubled our outreach to three more towns - Apayacu, Panguana Zona 2, and San Jose de Yanashi. Pastor Lee challenged us to be diligent and persistent in taking the Gospel to others. 17 of us went forward to dedicate ourselves to this great task, including 8 deaf. The leadership team worked well together to present the plan of salvation visually. It was thrilling to see the light of understanding in their eyes at the end of the third class. Please pray for them to grow in their spiritual understanding.

Lord willing, this year I will be making several follow-up visits to the river towns where our deaf friends live. The visit to Mazan has already been set for March 13. In April, I hope to visit Gallito/Panguana. There are three more deaf there who did not make it to the retreat. In May a missions conference is planned in Caballo Cocha, which I would love to attend and look up the deaf in that town. Lord willing, in July, during the institute vacation, I plan to return to Apayacu for a follow-up visit of about three days. Roly would like to return, so the dates of that visit depend on his midyear break at the seminary in Trujillo. There is much work to be done!

Right now I am in Lima for my medical check-up. So far I have had six tests. This morning during my last test, I was told that there is a suspicious lump in my left breast that will probably need further study. My life and health is in the Lord's hands so I am at peace. As you can see from the paragraph above, I am hoping and praying that He will allow everything to check out benign. However He is the Lord of the harvest and knows what is best, and I will accept His decisions for my future. Thank you for your prayers!

Please pray, too, for the Bible institute and all the planning for the classes this year. Pray, too, for the Lord's provision for two missionary families coming our way this year - Andy and Carol Patton and Tim and Virgie Farley.

May the Lord bless you all richly!

Serving with joy in Peru,

Lynn Porter