The last 6 months have seen many changes in both our family and in Juan Carlos´ ministry here in Lima, Peru. In April, on the last Sunday before we left for the UK, Juan Carlos officially retired here, and left the Church in San Juan Evangelista where he had been serving for 2 years. We had been praying for a successor (the Anglican Church here is very small, and who takes on the responsibility of a Church is a matter decided by suggestions and acceptance rather than possible incumbents applying and being chosen), but the way God answered prayer was not as we had imagined. Juan, whom Penny first taught as a member of the young teenagers´ group when she first arrived in Lima in 1985 when he was 11, was a member of San Juan Evangelista who later went to seminary and was ordained. However, he took a step away from ordained ministry several years later, and became a lawyer. A few years ago, he decided the Lord was leading him back into leadership – but hadn´t done much about it. He was then attending a different Church, but Juan Carlos invited him to preach in San Juan Evangelista one week and “as it happened” the set passage was the story of Zacchaeus. As Juan preached on “Jesús said to him “Come down out of the tree”” Juan heard the Lord saying those words to him, and realised that he needed to act…. To sum up, Juan is now the Rector in San Juan Evangelista.

‍We arrived in the UK in April, in time to enjoy the beautiful Spring blossom, which has no equivalent here in Lima. As always, it was lovely to see so many long-term friends/supporters, although as it was technically our last official visit it was quite poignant to visit some places without knowing whether we will go back at any point. We visited St John´s, the Church which sent Penny out to Peru in 1985 – thank you to those who have known us since even before 1985, and to those who have shared with us since then. We were very grateful for the provision of a car, thanks to a specific bequest in a will – Hertz gave us a free upgrade so it was a rather higher-range car than we are used to! One plus was the excellent air conditioning (Once we had worked out how to use it!)

Whilst in the UK, Joni and Sharon married in London – a wonderful occasion. They are doing it Peruvian style, so this was a civil wedding and they will have a Church ceremony next year in Peru. With Joni (and Sharon) and Lizi living in London and Becky in Lima we don´t manage to all be together very often now, but this was certainly one important occasion. Becky also announced her engagement to Alejandro so we will all be together again in November for HER wedding (in Lima)

We arrived back in Peru just before the change of government at the end of July; it was a close run-off between right wing and extreme (=Communist) left wing, following a first round of Presidential elections where a significant number of polling stations did not receive the paperwork so elections for these people were the next day when many were unable to vote since it was a working day and they couldn´t miss work. Since these polling stations were NOT in far-flung rural areas but rather in Lima the allegations of manipulation cannot be totally denied. We pray that the new government will be able to develop ways to combat the extorsions and violence which continue to be part of daily life here.

Julio with his three Bibles, and helping someone find the passage in theirs

Since our return we have been together in Jesús el Nazareno Church, in an area of south Lima still considered to fall into the “extreme poverty” category although happily a large proportion of inhabitants have succeeded in coming out of this. Since 2020 we had had responsibilities in more than one Church, and we are enjoying the relative simplicity of both being in just one Church. During our absence a young man joined the (small) Church after marrying someone from Jesús el Nazareno; he led the music group in his previous Church and has now taken on the responsibility of building up a music ministry again, which is a great joy.

Penny has re-started the Bible study group for (now) 12-13 year olds, with 2 new members, one of whom arrives very early and brings no less than 3 Bibles with him. Impressive for a 12 year old from a non-Church background! The coloured-page “Bible” is the NT + selected passages given as a prize by Samaritans´ Purse to children who complete the 12 week “Great Adventure” course after they receive their evangelistic event booklets and boxes; the children in Jesús el Nazareno received these in April. Having previously read Mark and Acts we are currently reading Philippians. (For your interest, he always wears a red cap so we can distinguish him from his identical twin brother). This is a special group, since during the pandemic children had NO school during 2020 and 2021, and the ONLY time most of then sat at a table in the presence of other children during that period was for the classes we had at Church where they sat in family groups – children weren´t allowed to go anywhere on their own but COULD accompany parents so this was with adults as well. We pray they will continue with this enthusiasm for the rest of their lives

Whilst we continue to make plans for this next year such as a Course for Couples in the area, we are also very aware that in a year´s time Penny will officially retire and we will leave Jesús el Nazareno, so we are all praying that God will raise up someone to take over there too….

Many thanks again for your support of the Church in Jesús el Nazareno through your support of us.

Exciting Updates From Juan Carlos & Penny Marcés

At Your Service - an Update from RCB