We (Juan Carlos and Penny Marcés) continue to work in the Anglican Church in Lima, Perú, with a definite aim in ministry to be preparing those who will take on leadership in the future. The celebration entitled “The Lord is faithful”, held in April to celebrate 40 years since Penny came to Peru, was a reminder that time does pass, and we will not be around for ever!

This celebration was held in Jesús el Salvador Church, where Penny (then single!) served when she first came to Peru in 1985; finding a few photos from then was a reminder too of how much Lima has changed in 40 years, and it is doubtful whether children living there today would recognise it as the same place. There was much interest as photos were shown from all those years ago and people recognised themselves as children. Jesús el Salvador is also the place where Juan Carlos began his ordained ministry, and where we had the privilege of overseeing the purchase of land and construction of the Church building – there is definitely something special about knowing that one corner has bricks with rolls of paper in the holes, one of which bears YOUR name, as being a “living stone” in the Church at the time the “stones” (well, bricks) were laid. THANK YOU to those of you who have been praying for us for all this time – you too have been part of all that was remembered at this celebration. It was a wonderful opportunity to invite some of those we have known over these years – just a shame that in all the planning we forgot to actually take any photos of groups of people….
Meanwhile, ministry in both San Juan Evangelista and Jesús el Nazareno continues, with its joys and challenges.

The joy of seeing new people finding a relationship with Jesús,

The joy of the toddlers who come to Jesús el Nazareno on Wednesdays, and of sharing together their quirks and milestones.

The joy of seeing the young people in San Juan Evangelista learning to work together, and giving their testimonies

The joy of seeing an 11 year old, who has just read about Jesus healing Peter´s mother-in-law, who then asks what a “mother-in-law” is, who then has it made VERY clear since she, like many, lives in a house owned by the grandparents but where the children and grandchildren all live. “It´s the same as your dad, and your grandmother”. Pause, and then the very excited realisation – “So Peter was MARRIED!” (To be honest, the joy was not so much that she now knows that Peter was married, but rather that there had been some “reading comprehension” taking place, and that she was really trying to understand what the Bible story was about)

The challenge of encouraging those situations are, to put it mildly, difficult. In Jesús el Nazareno, in order to encourage people to give more generously to God, we decided that someone on the Council could give a testimony about God´s faithfulness – far different when it comes NOT from someone who has a stable income, but from someone in a family which at that time came into the “extreme poverty” category. God IS faithful – she now has a stable job (well, for a year) which she enjoys.

The challenge of helping people to engage in daily Bible reading. Clearly not easy when literacy is poor anyway, but should we make it easier by recording the daily notes to send on WhatsApp, or not? There IS a plan to put a series of pictures of Bible characters on the wall in Jesús el Nazareno to show the sequence of events, in the hope that people will perhaps learn that Moses lived BEFORE David – but it hasn´t happened yet. We DO have a section of wall with our monthly Bible memory verses – some of which are better known than others….

Apart from local Church ministry there are other things to keep us busy. The book on the history of the Anglican Church in Peru is STILL not complete, thus continuing to give Juan Carlos frustrating moments. However there is optimism that the draft edition will have been completed, read and commented on; then revised, and published by Sept 6th, when it is supposed to be presented. So we continue to pray….

And the writing of children´s materials for Sunday School also continues. One day these will get produced earlier in the week than is the case at present….

Finally, for those of you who may have wondered. No, we do NOT know the new Pope (who took Peruvian nationality whilst working in Peru as a missionary). He actually worked about 500 miles from Lima, so whilst not being impossible it would have been highly improbable that we would meet. But given where he worked whilst in Peru, he can certainly relate to many of the same realities as we work with, as well as his US experience.

Many thanks again for your participation in all that is going on here.

The Lord Is Faithful - Juan Carlos & Penny Marcés