Craig and Amanda Cunningham

Craig, who hails from Scotland, and Amanda, originally from Pickering, Ontario, are preparing to return to Bolivia for ministry once again, this time with LAM Canada. Craig and Amanda met in Bolivia in the summer of 2003 and married four years later.

Recently they have discerned a call from God into full time missions. Their heart remains with the work they carried out under the Totai Foundation in the city of Trinidad. Totai provides essential, low-cost services to the impoverished community of Trinidad and helps to meet the town's spiritual needs within that context. Its services include health care, education, prison ministry and also a sports ministry.

Craig, a teacher, will be assisting in the area of religious education and EFL (English as a Foreign Language) training. Amanda, a health administrator and phlebotomist, will work at the health centre. Craig and Amanda would appreciate prayer as they continue to raise both financial and prayer support for their ministry. Their goal is to be back in Bolivia by early 2010.

Pete and Linda Lugtigheid

Pete and Linda Lugtigheid are newcomers to the greater LAM Canada family, but they are experienced missionaries. They have worked in Bolivia since 2002, and are sent out by Latin Link, LAM Canada’s sister organization in the UK. Pete hails from Ontario and Linda from the UK.

Pete and Linda live and work in Apolo, Bolivia with their three children, Finian, Aiden and Kalisha. Their work involves agricultural development, discipleship and church strengthening with the aim of establishing strong and active Christian congregations and helping people to improve their lives. Pete works with FEDI - Evangelical Facilitators of Holistic Development - a group of seven local believers who are involved with around twenty Quechua speaking communities in the area. Linda, who is a veterinarian, works with community development by providing agricultural and livestock management training. She also home schools Finian and is involved in church ministry, including helping the churches develop youth programs.

Tom and Karen Sweeney

Tom and Karen Sweeney left for Belo Horizonte, Brazil on September 2, 2008, as tent-making missionaries: their financial support comes partly friends and partly from their own work.

During the first year Tom’s primary responsibility will be bringing his Portuguese up to a standard where he can confidently teach at a seminary. His interest lies in spiritual formation and tent-making as a missionary concept. Tom’s professional expertise is in web development. Having lived in Brazil before, Tom already has a good grasp of Portuguese.

Karen is a Canadian who grew up in Brazil. During her fist year she will be involved with Ame Menor print shop where she will help the ministry set up sustainable production and sales initiatives. Ame Menor print shop is a ministry founded by Karen’s missionary parents; it provides care for underprivileged kids and gives them a professional skill. Having previous experience and a master in counseling, Karen will provide leadership and pastoral care to the training of Brazilian missionaries.

LAM Canada is partnering with Latin Link Brazil in the placement of the Sweeneys.

Claudia Botero

Claudia works at the Shalom Adonai Community Congregation, in Armenia, Colombia. She coordinates the prayer ministry, which includes leading prayer and intercession groups, weekly prayer meetings at the church, monthly prayer vigils, and teaching Sunday School class on prayer.

She also leads Shalom’s women’s ministry, which includes discipleship, hospital and prison visitation, counselling, and retreats. Claudia has two adult children, Andres, who recently married, and Tatiana is still at home. Claudia joined LAM Canada in 2003.

Please pray that Claudia’s ministry will be filled with the power, the authority and anointing of the Holy Spirit, allowing each area of ministry to bear fruits of righteousness; that God will help the congregation to maintain a tender-hearted and repentant attitude before Him; that they will maintain the right spirit to create an atmosphere conducive to bringing revival and God’s presence, so the congregation can be salt and light in Armenia.

Pray for the safety of the pastoral staff, Ruben and Beverly Ramirez, Henry and Ofelia Pelaez, and Hernando Zamora, that they will diligently and faithfully minister the Word of God.

Jacob Paul

Jake Paul began his short term missionary assignment with the Shalom Adonai Community Church of Armenia, Colombia the third week of October of 2009.

Jake’s first trip to Armenia was at age 16, a life-impacting experience which helped shape his vision for missionary work. Since then, Jake has taken several trips to Colombia, and following completion of his B.A. (Honours) in English and History at the U of Western Ontario, Jake spent a year in Viet Nam, teaching English as Second Language at a high school in Ho Chi Minh City.

Jake’s experience includes serving several years as Youth Pastor at Grace Bible Chapel, Parkhill, Ontario. His pastoral work and his experience in teaching English have equipped him well for his assignment. Jake’s work will include starting an English Bible study under Shalom Adona, a project Ruben and Bev Ramirez have had in mind for some time, and later plans include setting up an English Club at the school.

As Jake becomes more fluent in Spanish, he will get involved more fully with the youth program at the church. Jake notes, "I have a passion for people in general, so most of my plans and goals will be focusing on building relationships with people to encourage them in their walk with God, or to help them begin a relationship with Jesus".

Hernán Bravo and Rosa Camargo Bravo

In the year 1988, God called us to serve as missionaries in our own country, founding churches in places where the gospel had not been preached. As of 2008, we have founded 3 churches and supported leaders and pastors to start 15 new churches in the city of Barranquilla. Since 2005, we have been extending our work to other cities of the Caribbean Coast of Colombia and Venezuela, by training and supporting pastors and leaders to start new churches.

Due to years of civil conflict that Colombia has suffered, more than three million people have been displaced from their homes and lands, and forced to live in extreme conditions of poverty. We have complemented the work of founding churches with development projects for needy people, including programs in health, education and small loans for micro enterprises. Right now, we are supporting Christian churches and organizations working directly with vulnerable communities through the Doulos Foundation. Hernan is a dentist who specializes in managing social projects. Rosa has a Masters Degree in Social Development.

Our Vision and other local Ministry Opportunities

Our Vision for the next few years is to build a church association en Venezuela similar to the Caribbean Church Association in Colombia, encouraging local churches to become salt and light in the middle of their community, living according with the principles of the Kingdom of God:

• Bringing the good news to those who does not know our Savior Jesus Christ.
• Sharing the love of God with those who are suffering: Poor people, people living with HIV, children at risk.

Ministry Opportunities

We would like to link churches from Canada with churches and ministries in Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Venezuela through the placement of short term missionaries.

Doulos Foundation is signing an agreement with the Open University of London in order to provide high level training to the leadership of NGOs in Latin America.

Our website is www.fundadoulos.org

Gerry Thornton

Gerry Thornton was born in picturesque Woodstock, NB, Canada. Even as a child, he was captivated by the awesome creation of God but did not come to know Him personally until he was 16 years old and living in Ontario. He studied at Bethany Bible College and served for 12 years as a youth pastor before sensing a call to El Camino Academy, an international Christian school in the city of Bogotá, Colombia.

He is in his eighth year as chaplain/High School Bible and World Geography teacher at ECA. As chaplain, he is responsible for the spiritual development and well-being of ECA´s 257 students plus the staff. That includes overseeing student discipleship groups and chapel services, as well as leading staff and teacher devotionals. He also directs the children’s ministry team in outreach and puppet ministry in the poor barrios and schools. He recently married a great Colombian girl and is enjoying their ministry together. It is exciting to see students develop a deep love for God and a desire to impact the world for Christ. Please pray for a keen sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, creativity and wisdom in guiding the students to discover God’s truth in class, and guidance in leading the spiritual development of the school.

Gerry’s Vision for El Camino Academy

His personal calling is to raise up a generation of young people who are radically committed to Jesus Christ and prepared to change the world through the power of His Holy Spirit as they pursue His calling in their lives. ECA provides a great opportunity to disciple teens and to involve them in various areas of ministry. In the last eight years, they have worked with World Vision and Compassion International in Monteria, with a new Christian School in Mariquita, Clinica del Niño, Children's Vision International and various schools and ministries throughout Bogota. Their second ministry team, with students from grades 9 and 10, is using drama to reach out to children both in the city and in the countryside. The Grade 10's are also sponsoring a child in Africa and are working with homeless families in Bogota. Opportunities for mission trips are everywhere in a country like Bogota.

Carina and Gerry together in other ministries

Carina and Gerry are looking toward working in a children's ministry in a local church. Gerry appreciates being able to bike regularly for that provides him an opportunity to get to know and interact with individuals in the barrio. It has opened doors for him to help one man named Edison to develop his own small business and to share regularly with others on the street. Carina has a ministry of giving Christian literature and also encouragement to her co-workers at her government position with the Ministerio de Hacienda.

Bev and Ruben Ramirez

Ruben and Beverly Ramirez have been ministering in Colombia with LAM Canada since 1990. Initially, they were involved in student ministry in Medellin; later, they worked in Manizales mentoring pastors. Then, in 1994, they moved to the city of Armenia to begin a church plant.

Today, 14 years later, the Shalom Adonai Christian Community Church has become a congregation of over 800 people. Their mission is to evangelize and disciple Colombians in the knowledge, love and service of the Lord Jesus Christ. Their objectives are to pastor a church strong in the principles and practices of the early church expressed in Acts 2:40-47, with an emphasis on the preaching and teaching of the Word of God, the fellowship and communion of the saints, joyous worship, strong prayer and discipleship. They are praying and working towards building a community of believers that articulately and relevantly proclaim and live their faith in Jesus Christ in today's society, and that will be the future spiritual, social, economic and political leaders of Colombian society. Many different ministries operate in the church; as do weekly discipleship groups; and missionary outreach includes training indigenous leaders for work among their own people, music and worship training in remote towns of Colombia, and further theological training overseas. Ruben and Bev have two children, Andrew ('93) and Catherine ('97), who are also involved in the church in their areas of giftedness: Andrew plays the drums on the worship team, and Catherine works with young children in the Sunday School program.

Rubén and Beverly's prayer requests: Pray that their church might be light and salt in a very dark and insipid place, and that all they say and do as pastoral leaders and as a congregation would be marked by a deep love for God, a passion for making Jesus Christ known, and the life-changing, healing and liberating power of the Holy Spirit.

Ministry Opportunities

In our congregation, we have people who work in many different areas of society in our city. Our church's Christian school is praying for a full-time volunteer English teacher. There are always opportunities to teach English to adults, and to use that opening as a door to evangelize. One couple runs a ministry to physically and mentally challenged children, and could use any number of volunteer professionals. Another couple works in an extremely poor neighborhood with children. Depending on one's giftedness and willingness to serve, there is always a need and an opening for short-term service in our church and in our city.

Nery and Pamela Duarte

Born and raised in Guatemala, Nery became a Christian at the age of 16 while in his second year of university. He served on the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ for four years before moving to Canada.

At the age of 20, Nery moved to Montreal where he attended Peoples Church of Montreal and Concordia University. In 1984, he moved to Toronto after being accepted at Ontario Theological Seminary, where he earned a M. Div. In 1989, he worked as a counsellor for the World Vision Reception Centre in Toronto. In 1990, he was hired as a case worker to supervise federal inmates on day parole.

In 1990, he married Pam, who volunteered at the Reception Centre and who also worked at the head office of World Vision Canada. They have been married for 18 years, and have two children, Jonathan (14) and Andrea (12).

In 1993, he joined LAM Canada, and ministered in Costa Rica including several years at ESEPA Seminary where he served as professor in pastoral counselling.

In 2000, Nery started a counselling ministry to people with addictive behaviors, and also joined a prison ministry. At present, Nery continues working with the counselling centre, La Casa Grande, which has an emphasis on group counselling. He coordinates support groups for approximately 120 attendees in both their main office and in the prison in San José, Costa Rica.

Nery has been involved in short-term mission projects in Cuba, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. He coordinates short-term mission projects involving home construction for pastors, counselling instruction, and support of a Bible seminary in Santa Clara, Cuba.

Nery was recently appointed Assistant to the National Director of the Costa Rica Red Cross. He is involved with driving the ambulance, providing medical assistance, fund-raising, and search and rescue efforts.

Nery is the treasurer of the Spanish Language Institute, where approximately 200 missionaries receive language and cultural training for service in Latin America.

David and Marilyn Longworth

Dave was only a year old when he arrived in Costa Rica from Canada with his LAM missionary parents, who were assigned to minister at the Roblealto Bible Home for children. After obtaining his M.Sc. in poultry science at the University of Guelph, Dave returned to work as an agronomist with the Roblealto Hatchery, which was set up to help support the ministry to the children.

Marilyn arrived in 1975 and after a year of language school, began living at the Home as resident nurse. She and Dave married in 1980 and for several years continued their work at the Home and the Hatchery. Marilyn still helps some with nursing, but her primary ministry is teaching Bible at the Home’s school, where she considers it a tremendous privilege to share the Word of God not only with the children living at the Home, but with the ones from the town who attend the school. Since leaving the Hatchery in 1993, Dave has worked with the Bible Society of Costa Rica and with Camp Roblealto. His latest ministry is with the Glorious Day Foundation, a foundation Dave helped to set up with two other men who share his vision to minister to adolescents at risk in need of a loving, Christ centred environment in which to prepare themselves for the future. They presently have 6 boys in the care of the Foundation, living in a rented house with their house parents in the town of Barva. Glorious Day hopes to buy a rural property soon to develop a facility with several homes for adolescent boys and girls, as well as a vocational school.

Dave and Marilyn’s prayer requests for this year: that the children at the Home and the adolescents at Glorious Day will come to know Christ and grow spiritually; that they will develop in every area to be what God wants them to be; for financial resources for day to day operations; for God to supply property, facilities and human resources to expand the outreach to adolescents.

Our own vision

• Expanding the work with adolescents. There is much need in Costa Rica.
• Have a farm with several houses and a vocational school and agicultural projects.

Ministry Opportunities

There are opportunities with both the Roblealto Association and the Glorious Day Foundation for volunteer groups We forsee there being more opportunities in the future when the foundation has its own property and starts to build.

Website: www.roblealto.org

Jim and Pat McInnes

We began missionary work in Costa Rica in 1972 in the areas of our professional training, Jim in electronics and Pat in nursing. Over the years the Lord has led us on a path of youth work, university age and couples’ discipleship Bible studies, short term mission’s projects and eventually in 1984 to pastoring the bilingual congregation of Union Church.

There we work with a dedicated team of international professionals who love Jesus and are committed to serving Him by awakening, restoring, and equipping people to take the good news of Jesus to the nations. At present we have missionaries serving in Panama, Mexico, Argentina, Holland and Switzerland. Our goal is that Union Church will continue to grow and prosper in the call that God has put upon us as a people to share Jesus wherever we go.

Ministry Opportunities

In our congregation, we have people who work in the rehabilitation of street women in San Jose, and a couple who work in Nicaragua in a children’s outreach which includes a feeding program. Also Union Church has a school, pre-kinder through high school. All of these areas could use help occasionally. Our missionaries appreciate prayer and could use extra financial support and there is always the opportunity for full time service.

Our web site is www.iglesiaunion.net

Rodolfo and Nancy Rose Umaña

Rodolfo and Nancy Rose (Longworth) Umaña, and their two girls, Anna Margarita and Elizabeth (Lisa) joined the LAM Canada missionary family in 2006. They work with the Iglesia Bíblica Monte de Dios in Heredia. Rodolfo previously served with Camp Roblealto and ESEPA Seminary as Director of Development.

Rodolfo and Nancy Rose sensed God was calling them to serve full time in the area of preparing workers for the mission field, and so they took a step of faith into this ministry alongside their home church. Their primary ministry is to develop the home church’s Ministry Training School. The vision of their church is to plant a new church every two years. Well trained workers are an integral part of their strategy. Nancy Rose is the daughter of retired LAM missionaries Don and Nancy Longworth.

Please pray for wisdom, discernment and good time management in their ministries. Pray for the leadership of their church, and also that new believers are added to the congregation; that they will heed God’s direction, not depart from obeying Him, and to be aware of the wiles of the enemy. Please pray for God’s timing, direction and resources.

Paul and Ulrike (Ulli) Jespersen

God has put a desire in our in our hearts to serve him through work with street children and youth in Latin America. Our first placement will be with the Roblealto Child Care Association of Costa Rica for four years.

Ulli and I first first met at the Bodenseehof Torchbearer Bible School in Germany in 1995. Some nine years later, we married and settled in Alberta. We have two sons, Benjamin and Thomas. We currently live in Edmonton and are members of Clareview Community Church (Evangelical Free Church of Canada). Both of us are teachers. Ulli has a M.Ed in Teaching English as a Second Language and has taught Adult ESL classes in Edmonton. Paul, who has a B.Ed, has taught for six years and currently works as a high school English and Social Studies teacher at a First Nations school. Paul is familiar with LAM, having participated in Spearhead in his youth.

We hope to be in Costa Rica by August of 2010 to begin our work with the Roblealto Child Care Association. Our primary task will be to develop and implement ESL programs for the various parts of the organization as a whole, and we will have the day to day task of teaching in the Enrique Strachan School, which is a part of Roblealto's Bible Home for Children. These are areas of need to which we will be able to make an immediate contribution to Roblealto and the children and families it serves. Our long term vision is to take what we will learn at Roblealto to another Latin American country with a great need for ministry to street children and youth, including ministry to older youth who are transitioning from an orphanage or other care program to adult life.

Dave and Esther Bettney

After completing 2 years of service in Honduras, Dave and Esther Bettney are currently completing a 6-month furlough in Ontario, raising support and preparing to return to Central America in mid-January 2009.

From February to June 2009, they plan to study Spanish full-time in Antigua, Guatemala.  After Language School, they will move back to Siguatepeque, Honduras. 

Upon returning to Honduras, Esther will serve as the Director of the English Program at Siguatepeque Bilingual Christian School, where she previously taught High School English and Psychology.  Her new position will include academic and curriculum development, fundraising, recruitment and support of international teachers and volunteers, as well as various other administrative duties.

Dave looks forward to being involved in a new ministry in Siguatepeque.  He is a carpenter by trade, with interests in photography, the outdoors, and agriculture.  Please pray for God’s direction to a ministry that fits Dave’s gifts and interests.

Websites

- Personal website: www.daveandesther.blogspot.com

- School website: www.ceehonduras.com

Ministry Opportunities

Siguatepeque Bilingual Christian School has positions for full-time elementary and secondary teachers in their English Program.  There are also various volunteer opportunities available.

The school website is www.ceehonduras.com or contact Esther Bettney at recruitment@ceehonduras.com

Ken and Sue Vissers

Ken and Sue Vissers have worked with LAM CAN in Christian camping since 1996, first pouring their hearts and energy into the development of Camp La Cumbre in Costa Rica, bringing the ministry to self-sufficiency with national leadership.

Following a side trip to Edinburgh, Scotland in 2004, which allowed Ken to pursue his Masters in Outdoor Education, the Vissers felt called to Honduras where Ken is the national coordinator of camping ministries for Scripture Union Honduras. As to their ministry there, the Vissers share, “It is our primary goal and our privilege to present the gospel of Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord, to the young people and adults who come to the camp through an experientially based, dynamic program of recreation and adventure. We hope to achieve this through training and discipling of national leaders; strengthening their foundation of faith, and moving the camp toward self sufficiency and environmental stewardship to provide a model of sustainable Christian camping for Latin America.” Ken’s ministry also extends beyond camping, as the ministry is developing a strategic business plan as a means for income generation while providing training and ministry through business, to meet the needs of this society. Sue - in addition to her work at the camp - is involved in outreach to their neighbours, has taken on a leadership role in their church’s Sunday School program, and runs a weekly Bible study in English at the bilingual school where their children Josh, Hannah and Theo attend.

Long term Prayer requests

• For our children’s educational needs as we need to find an international school that will help them bridge the gap between the Honduran educational system and post-secondary studies.
• For the strategic planning process of Scripture Union Honduras we move toward self-sufficiency without losing sight of our main vision and mission to serve the people of Honduras.
• For continued safety in a country that suffers from poor education, extreme corruption, increasing violence and the breakdown of the family.

Ministry Opportunities

Scripture Union Honduras is seeking to meet the needs of this society in a holistic way. Providing for the spiritual hunger that is evident, but also addressing the social issues of poverty, education and unemployment; all leading to an increasing amount of men abandoning their families to pursue a “better life” in the north. We hope to provide employment opportunities through small business, not just teaching a skill, but the ability to run and maintain a business effectively and train others to do the same. Our goal is to develop an international leadership training centre that includes business administration and how to see this as a ministry opportunity. Scripture Union currently runs a block factory where these principles are in place.

In addition the camp ministry, SU Honduras has a children’s ministry, reaching out to over 17,000 children a year through a volunteer force of over 300; a youth ministry focusing on HIV/AIDS education and prevention, a book shop, and is one of the largest providers of Christian literature in the country.

As the camp is in its beginning stages, we are looking for teams interested in serving through construction and site and development. Community outreach opportunities are also part of the experience through our children’s ministry programme and local church.

Website

• Scripture Union Honduras website: www.ubhonduras.com

John and Tracey Pieters

Starting Churches in the Neediest Parts of Mexico: John and Tracey, Keila (10) and Kiana (8) Pieters work on the edge of Mexico City – a city of almost 30 million inhabitants – to motivate, assist and equip Mexicans to start and serve in these new congregations.

The Pieters are working alongside the “One in Christ” congregation, a church they helped to plant over the past 3 years. Their main goal is to raise up and train leaders and eventually plant another church in the nearby neighbourhood of Héroes de Tecámac.

John works with the young people teaching keyboard and guitar, and motivating them for service. He also disciples the men, meeting weekly to hear about how God is using them in their jobs and family. Tracey, a former director of Spearhead, oversees the short-term teams from Canada and the U.S. that come to serve. She also assists with women’s and children’s ministry and has many opportunities for teaching and counseling. Keila (10) teaches a class of young children at the Saturday Kids’ Club.

Ministry Opportunities

Héroes de Tecámac is a new low-income housing development of about 500,000 with virtually no evangelical witness. Our goal is to find a home to rent or buy in the community so we can begin outreach there, with the help of the One in Christ church, and eventually plant a sister congregation.

Outreach to new families and youth in the Héroes de Tecámac community will include neighborhood Bible studies, Vacation Bible School, prayer walks, social and sports events and family growth seminars. We welcome teams and individuals to come and participate in these activities in order to get to know the people in this adjacent neighborhood.

Our website is www.MexCity.org

Allan Holt (Toronto Canada)

Allan Holt is LAM Canada’s Short Term Missions Coordinator. Together with wife, Rhoda, Allan has carried on this ministry for many years. On average, the Holts organize three trips each year to Latin American destinations, run during Canada’s winter months from January to March.

Generally, there are two types of people who come on these trips: the skilled (carpenters, electricians, plumbers, masons) and the willing. According to Allan, it usually takes two to four willing people to keep a skilled person fully busy! If you would like to volunteer for one of these trips, please contact the LAM Canada office for more information.

The Holts request prayer for direction in the planning of their yearly trips. Pray that God will move in the hearts of those He has in mind to join each team and that the volunteers will find supporting prayer partners to uphold them during their trip. Pray for the availability of resources for each project, and for the health and safety of all team members.