A lot happened in September. I was shocked yesterday to see that we are in October already!
In the last letter, I asked for prayer for several people struggling with their health. A week after writing, Graciela went to be with our Lord. A few days later the husband of Polita/father of Erica also left for his heavenly home. Then, last week, the mother of Paty ended her battle with cancer and joined her Saviour. The good news is that all of those mentioned are believers, and all of the families would appreciate your prayers as they continue to grieve. Luisa’s cousin who was sent home from the hospital because nothing more could be done for his cancer is trying a new treatment, and Maguy’s cousin who was on a respirator with COVID is now recovering. All of these have expressed their gratitude for the prayers lifted up on their behalf.
I have mentioned Iván and Jimena before. Jimena’s sister, Nuria, also married an Iván and last month he fell off the roof onto the fence piercing both arms. He underwent surgery and it will be a long, slow process of healing and rehabilitation to see if he can regain the use of his hands. Please pray for his healing and for Iván and Jimena who are hosting and caring for them. Jimena’s husband needs a corrective surgery from all the work done when treating his cancer, but it had to be postponed when their family came down with COVID and again now so they can care for Iván and Nuria. That gives you lots to pray for!
I also asked for prayer for wisdom for the church leadership to know when and how to open El Faro again. That is a major prayer request now. A small group of us went to clean and see how things could be set up. That led to a precipitous announcement, in my opinion, which, also in my opinion, led to a contentious situation. I note that those are observations from my perspective because God is sovereign and none of this escapes His ultimate control. As Joseph declared in Genesis 50:20-21a (NLT): You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. No, don’t be afraid. Please do pray for great wisdom from above for the leadership to know how to proceed, for God to be working in the heart of each one involved, for me as I work closely with Rafa and Marco, and that God would be glorified in the process. (People in Faby’s photo taken that day already mentioned in this letter: Rafa and Faby of the leadership team on the right, Efrén the widower of Graciela in orange and Luisa in the middle.)
The El Faro leadership also needs wisdom in chosing the leader(s) to formulate and begin the process of establishing a small group ministry. The training for that was offered these last two weeks and it would be great to keep moving forward in this process. I have the next level of training videoed and would appreciate prayer as I work on the translation and preparation of the materials. The group receiving the PD strategy training is also entering the final stretch, so please pray that the teaching would be taken to heart and implemented as well. This Tuesday’s leadership meeting will have a lot of serious issues to deal with, so please keep the leaders in your prayers.
I have continued working with four ladies to participate in the leadership of the Bible study for the Ladies’ Ministry (Cony and Nancy in the middle; Betty and Linda not present that day). I have really enjoyed this time and look forward to starting the Bible study portion this month. It will be interesting to see how many ladies will want to and be able to participate. One of the ladies, Aracely (far right middle), is about to give birth any day now, so please pray for the smooth birth of a healthy baby and the smooth beginning of this new study.
Hurricane Nora missed us, but we were hit by Olaf. Fortunately for me, there wasn’t a lot of rain so the water that comes in through the walls wasn’t as bad as it has been in the past (it would be nice if they would fix the problem). Unfortunately, there was a lot of wind resulting in downed cables and blown out transformers which meant that a lot of people were without power, some for five days that I know of, and others were even longer without internet connections. Please pray that we could have more rain, but without destruction and danger! (While writing this, it started to rain and we had this beautiful double rainbow!)
Due to the storms (weather and El Faro), I have missed several opportunities to skin dive and when I did go, the visibility wasn’t the best. However, it still offers a chance to get away and relax and enjoy God’s underwater creation. (Photo: Yellowfin Surgeonfish, Bluechin Parrotfish, Finescale Triggerfish; top: Mexican Hogfish.) Once the water cools, I’ll be back to birding when I can.
Keenly aware of the need of prayer,
Brenda
