Juan Carlos and Penny Marcés, working with the Anglican Church in Lima, Peru, continue to find that life never becomes any more predictable – “flexibility” is definitely a key word, both in daily life and in our ministries.

The biggest joy in the last few months has been the start of a new ministry in Jesús el Nazareno, where Penny is Lay Rector – the “Tesoritos del Señor” group for mums and toddlers. This was originally planned for April 2020, but the pandemic, and then the fact that the co-leader´s child got to nursery age so she went back to work, delayed the start just a bit(?!). It is a real blessing for the mum of 9 month-old twins, and for 14 month old Oliver who lives with his parents and older siblings in one room and thus has little space to run around at home.

Penny´s work producing Sunday School materials also continues; they are now available on the SAMS Ireland website, and the aim is to complete the 3-year series in 2026. The weekly deadlines seem to come round rather too fast though.

Meanwhile, Juan Carlos had a change in ministry in March, when he was asked to take over the leadership of San Juan Evangelista Church in the same district as Jesús el Nazareno. Originally this was for 6 months, but a couple of months ago it was confirmed that the “6 month” visit to Spain had turned into (at least) 2 years. One of the ministries in San Juan Evangelista for 17 years has been the Compassion project; 12 years ago, Compassion changed their policy in Lima so since then there have been no new sponsored children and the group has gradually but surely diminished in size as students “graduate”(having finished their education) (or leave for other reasons). The 17 young people still in San Juan Evangelista are all 16+, and one of Juan Carlos´ priorities is to help these young people come to faith and become part of the Church family even when they are no longer part of Compassion and receiving material benefits. Two ex-Compassion people lead the youth group, so please pray for them.

Penny is also praying for the young teenagers and youth in the Jesús el Nazareno area. Hopes that a group would be started last year came to very little, and no-one has been willing to take part in accepting leadership. This was the case until a few weeks ago, when the WHOLE of the music group (5) suddenly decided they saw this as a priority. Wonderful – except that sadly it meant that they suddenly abandoned the music. Hence we are currently praying for BOTH ministries.

Inevitably, Juan Carlos now having the charge of San Juan Evangelista affected plans for ministry in Arequipa (700 miles away). We DID have an English-speaking service in June, which was well received by those who went, but for multiple reasons the idea of regular services has not been followed through. Whether or not there is a Carol service remains to be seen!

This year, 2024, the Diocese of Peru is celebrating a Jubilee year, since it is 50 years since the Diocese was formally founded. The big celebration service and memorial event will take place on 2 November. Given that the Anglican Church was founded by Anglican mission partners, Penny has been asked to talk about how a missionary feels as they leave their home – this is VERY different now to what it was like in 1985 when Penny left, and even MORE difficult to imagine how Allen Gardiner (founder of SAMS) felt when he left UK 200 years ago..... Please pray that the whole celebration is both encouraging and at the same time challenging as we look towards the future. Juan Carlos is overseeing the production (NOT the writing!) of a book on the history of the Anglican Church in Peru; originally it was hoped that this would be ready for 2 November, but not all contributors have been punctual with their contributions, so this is still a project under way.

Finally, at the end of June Penny had an unwelcome reminder that hearts can object to prolonged bad habits – in this case not getting enough sleep. One part of the solution is to cut down on activities – still being worked out!

Thank you for reading and for praying with us that the Church here in Peru should continue to grow.

'Flexibility Is Definitely A Key Word!' - Juan Carlos & Penny Marcés