Dear Friend,

There are 49 million Native Americans Indians in Latin America today.
In many countries, they make up a sizable minority; in some countries (Guatemala, Ecuador, Bolivia, possibly Peru) they are in the majority. Since these countries are all "Christian", does that make the Indians believers? Not if a "Christian" in the United States is an example!

But the Evangelical Church is having a remarkable impact among many tribes. LAIM has, on several occasions, come alongside the leaders of the Ticuna Indians in the Amazon, to help 
them find their way to their next goal. The Ticunas number at least 45,000 people, scattered around the juncture of Colombia, Peru and Brazil. There are hundreds of small villages, most reachable only by river travel. Close to half the tribe are believers! And they are organized: they have their own mission board, OMITTAS. That name in Portuguese means "The Missionary Organization of the  Ticuna Tribe." And it has a goal: to send a Ticuna missionary to every village in the Amazon basin. Their missionary training sessions draw well over a hundred young people every year. And Ticuna missionaries have gone to many places, including completely unreached "wild" Indian groups in the Brazilian jungles. Currently, LAIM is trying to help them solve a water problem at their training center, and in many of the villages along the mainstream of the Amazon. The water is so polluted with heavy metals that children are dying. Miners up in the headwaters are using heavy metals to leach out gold and these all get washed downstream.

Apu Ayylu Refuge

Far south in Peru, the Apu Ayylu Refuge is beginning to function. The first large house has been completed and orphans are being selected. More buildings will be completed shortly. A dream of the Quechua church leadership is being realized!

The goal that had been agreed upon after much discussion with native pastors was to establish an experimental self-sustaining community to provide shelter and training for two at-risk groups among the Quechua people in the highlands of Peru: indigent seniors and otherwise uncared for orphans. LAIM partnered with Missionary Action Projects to find a suitable farm to purchase and to build the initial structures. Once operating, the project is to be self-sustaining.

Dr. Joel Sauņe, a Quechua medical doctor in Cusco, has taken leadership for this project. He has been seeking out Evangelical Quechua seniors with farming experience who are now landless and without pension income, but that also have church leadership experience. These are not hard to find, because so many of the Quechua people have spent their whole lives share-cropping for absentee land owners. Then Dr. Sauņe is sorting out orphans between eight and fourteen years of age who are not currently under the care of any other program. Most of these will have some "street" experience, so the first question is whether they are willing to accept the discipline of the program.

    All this is not without its struggles. This past August 3, at about 2:15 AM, the vehicle for the Apu Ayllu Refuge was firebombed. It was parked out in front of the home of Dr. Sauņe, who had just returned a few hours before from a remote village where he was investigating some orphans who might be placed in the Ayllu. The police immediately investigated and appear to implicate the previous owner of the land where we are now building the orphanage. He had recently tried to move back unto an unused part of the land, and previously had tried to have the land purchase annulled. We are not sure what is motivating this man, but it is a concern that he now appears to be turning violent. Joel says that, quite frankly, he now fears for his family and his own life. Please pray!

Totonac Project

Our key leader among the Totonac people in Mexico is Felipe Ramos, who pastors the church in Nanacatlan, where he has trained a growing number of key persons involved in the continued evangelization of the tribe. He also has been the key translator of the New Testament, the Jesus film, and many other needed programs. Currently he is the speaker on the weekly radio broadcast in the Totonac language that is having such an impact in the tribe. We are not sure where the ministry would go without Felipe.

Three weeks ago, Felipe reported he had a reoccurrence of the prostate problem that invalided him for three months a year ago. For treatment he has to drive six hours to the city of Puebla. The prescription medicine, which he is to use 
indefinitely, is costing nearly $100 a month, which is a large percentage of the family's income. Our prayer is that cancer is not involved, but the test results are slow in coming back.

LAIM also is currently involved in beginning a school to provide skills training to Otomi young people. This will be in San Bartolo de Morelos, a community in the state of Mexico. We are just now taking the first steps in this project, after a good deal of research to determine feasibility and exactly the sort of training to be given.

Thanks for your gifts, your prayers, and for being a partner with us in this ministry.