The momentum is building. Those committed to the Piura Norte (PN) church start have been actively preparing for the 1st event to be held the evening of February 24th. The majority of the photos show us preparing the invitations and mementos for the evening.
Our speakers, Paul & Carol Stevenson, from NY, along with a son and his wife, arrive tomorrow morning. Please pray for them as they minister all week in the Grau church and Friday night with PN. Please pray that the invitations to the event will be well-received and that there will be a good attendance to hear about Strengthening Relationships, focusing on restoring damaged relationships. Our relationship with God was broken by sin, but Jesus has provided the way for that relationship to be restored. Please pray that that message will be delivered clearly and that many would respond to the invitation to enter a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The key verse is John 13:35, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
Onto a totally different topic, I have finally experienced rain here. “When it rains, it pours” is not quite the case, but it is persistent. Here the top picture represents the Piura River as I’ve seen it until last week, which is represented below.
The rain affected me as well as it drained from the roof into my living room through the floor and to the office below me. The top row shows some of the damage in the living room and the bottom row shows the innocent beginning on the roof to its being flooded to the pools that remained because the drain is not at the low point.
I was up until about 3 am several days mopping up the water as it rained all night. Fortunately, the problem has been resolved. The drain exits had been blocked when the building was painted while I was on Home Assignment, so that was fixed and the drains were lowered on the ceiling. It rained again last night, but nothing came in and the roof was dry in the morning. 
This “trial” is nothing compared to those of friends who have lost loved ones or are battling cancer and other diseases or of Christians facing persecution. We all need to remember “that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (Romans 8:28, NLT) and to hold each other up in prayer, “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel.” (Ephesians 6:18, 19, ESV)
(Last time I used yellow to highlight the prayer requests. It looked great on the website, but was barely visible in emails. Hopefully underlining is better, but you can always read the letter and past letters at www.brendamatthews.missynew.ws)
Along with praying for PN this week for the evangelistic event, please pray for a fruitful week for me in Lima March 3-10.
Grateful for your prayers,
Brenda
