At the recent St Mary’s Evening we welcomed Penny and Juan Carlos Marces. They work in the Anglican Church in Lima, Peru; Juan Carlos as minister in charge at San Juan Evangelista (SJE) and Penny as lay minister in charge at Jesus el Nazareno (JeN).

They spoke on Philippians 1:3-6 “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” They thanked us for our partnership with them in the gospel over the last 40 years and highlighted that in a partnership the partners work with a common aim, ours being that others should know Christ.

Several examples of recently answered prayer were given:

  • The area around SJE was very run down and used for drug taking. The church organised a series of prayer walks and this has resulted in a successful approach to the authorities and a much-improved environment, an example being that the Christmas Day evening service was held in the recently cleaned, planted and illuminated park.
  • Thanks was also given for the provision of a new minister for SJE for when Juan Carlos retires this year. He is Juan Rivera, who as a young boy attended Penny and Juan Carlos’ youth group but then left the church and has now returned to ministry following a sermon on Zacchaeus where Jesus called him to ‘come down’.
  • Praise was given that at JeN a small group of young teens have been meeting weekly and have faithfully read through Mark and Acts.

Penny and Juan Carlos asked for prayer the nation of Peru. After a series of very short-serving presidents, some of whom are now in prison, Peru faces significant political instability and increased violence, especially from gangs extorting money. Recent elections have resulted in a run-off between two extreme candidates.

We are asked to pray for the future leadership of JeN as Penny will be retiring in 2027 and for Penny and Juan Carlos as they consider the future when they step down from leadership as they turn 70.

They shared great joy in family news – their son Jonny married Sharon in May and daughter Becky has recently become engaged.