As always, I’m grateful for your prayers. This will be a quick update because there isn’t a lot different to report on and because I’d like to ask for your prayers for safety in these days. Hurricane Nora is on the way up the coast. It was looking like it would hit the Baja Peninsula directly tomorrow. Now it looks like it’ll be on the other side of the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California) and not affect us until tomorrow night or Monday. We would like the rain without the destruction, but those on the mainland coast are being hit. Please pray for a minimum of damage and for safety for those affected.
In response to my last letter, one of you put me in contact with a pastor whose specialty is small group ministry. He will generously be providing training for us (saving me a lot of translation work!). The leadership has met with the potential candidates to lead this ministry and have asked them to pray about this possibility and to take the training sessions (along with the leadership) planned for the end of September before making a decision. Please pray for the Lord to clearly indicate who should head-up this ministry.
I am enjoying meeting with the four ladies from El Faro training to be teachers of that ministry. We decided to not start the teaching part until next month to give us a chance to better prepare for it and also hoping that the attendance will be better. The ladies have been doing their homework and we’ve had good discussions. They are taking this seriously, so please pray that they apply what they are learning to be good Bible teachers and that they will be able to continue the teaching part of the Ladies’ Ministry with me and beyond my participation.
The progress of meetings with the PD cohort, the PD training, and with the pastors continues forward, but at a snail’s pace. Please pray for patience for me and for a solid foundation to be laid. Part of the “slowness” is due to health issues, so please pray for the health of the El Faro leadership and for each one involved to realize the importance of their commitment and participation.
Health concerns are a major portion of the Ladies’ prayer time and the church prayer meeting. Most of those with COVID are in recovery mode, but one lady, Graciela, has been hospitalized since the end of last month. They have tried to remove the tubes twice and bring her out of the coma, but she has not responded well. She has been dependent on the respirator and blood transfusions. Yesterday they removed the tubes a third time and we are praying that she will stabilize. The father/husband of two of our ladies has COVID, pneumonia, and is diabetic and also needs to have a toe amputated due to an infection. The cousin of one of the ladies from church has renal cancer that has metastasized to the liver and brain and the cousin of another has COVID and is intubated. Those are the more serious cases and I’d ask you to join with us in prayer for the Lord’s will to be done in each case and for the full recovery of those who are getting over COVID.
All the meetings still take place on Zoom and Sunday services on a combination of YouTube (for the worship playlist) and Facebook (for the sermon). Please pray that the Lord would guide the leadership to know when and how to open the church doors again.
I apologize for the lack of visuals in this letter, but I appreciate your prayers for these requests.
Trusting in our omnipotent God,
Brenda
