Elizabeth Hamlin is training PEPE teachers in Ecuador and asks for prayer:
"My work here, as a PEPE network co-ordinator of the mountain and jungle regions, will be to support churches in social and evangelistic outreach, through the PEPE pre-school education project. Thus far, I have visited two PEPEs. One enduring image is of puzzled but smiling faces in a class in Sacha, a town in the jungle area. The children were copying my actions as I taught them a song in my slightly suspicious Spanish! Later, I heard some of their stories; one little boy's mother left him with a neighbour for the afternoon when he was eight months old and has never returned to collect him. It has really struck me that, for him as for the other pupils, PEPE is so vital in giving a taste of the love and hope found in God. I have been very much inspired by the teachers and other adults involved in PEPE; all volunteers from their church congregations with such hearts for their local communities, working with patience, care and a sense of fun.
"My task in the coming months is to continue to support and encourage these pre-schools, as well as begin new PEPEs in different churches in the Quito region. The next few months are crucial in helping churches keen to start working with their local communities to lay the foundations for setting up their own PEPEs.
"For those who pray: Please remember the children and their teachers already involved in PEPE projects in Ecuador in your prayers.
"Also, please pray for new churches as they consider setting up their own PEPEs and for me, that I can facilitate and support them in this with discernment, learning to have greater confidence when meeting with new pastors and churches."