Dear Friends,
We are in the last leg of our work for the month…whew. But we have already seen and heard back wonderful reports since the volunteer team visit and our trainings we have had. Seeing souls won is a tremendous joy but seeing our local friends effectiveness in winning them is by far a greater one. And still the greatest is when we can all reflect that it is because He first loved us that compels us to obey. The work doesn’t come without some consequences. It has led to our children to be a bit sad that they couldn’t spend a lot of time with both parents at the same time. Please remember them as we look to the very end of the month to have some real quality time with them.
Pr Requests:
· A leader’s husband has recently died, in fact, just yesterday. It was very unexpected. The wife believes he could be raised again like Lazarus. She asks us to believe that He could do that if it is in His will. She is the key leader of a major county in our area. Of recent, we have seen great burden from the believers for the people there to come to know Him. It is characterized as a place where people have money but no lasting peace and joy. It is one of the most unreached areas of our city. The enemy surely doesn’t approve of us trying to extend His kingdom in this area. Please pr that He would open the door for His message of good news to break through. Please pr that God’s glory will be seen in this area, especially through the few who have tremendous burden for it.
· The next couple of days, several leaders are gathering to consider the work for a major part of the work here in Asia. Please pr for protection and that His guidance and wisdom will be evident. Please pr for His creativity especially in light of the ever surmounting limited resources.
· Pr for those who participated in the training that there will be a tremendous spirit of unity, boldness and burden in the days ahead as they implement their strategy plans. Pr also that we would be able to raise up local trainers who could do this training. Pr that they would be people of pr. Pr for their areas of emphasis that we would see His work come to fruition. Pr also for our time of follow up in the next couple of weeks.
· Pr that our believers would know how to discern from the growing number of cults that seem to be in our area. Pr that they shouldn’t fear them but know how to train their flocks in knowing how to resist them. Pr for clear discernment of His Word. Pr that they will not back down in shining His light.
· Next month we shift our focus to supporting two new interns that will be staying with us for the summer. They come with anticipation and joy and we are looking forward to their time. Please pr for their preparations and a heart of willingness to learn and grow and sense His call for long term service. Pr for their effectiveness and boldness. Pr for their fellowship as they prepare to send them.
· We also have two sisters from America here and one is considering staying here more than just for the summer. They are wanting to support our overall work and already we have given them some beginning tasks to work on. Please pr that we will learn how to equip them where they would be effective partners to our overall work. Please also pr that we would know how to build a lasting relationship with their ch to continue to adopt our city and beyond.
· Pr for guidance in our and perhaps your visa situation. The children and Ev’s visa end in August, but we have several options now that seem viable. One we are targeting is an English Training Center that wants to provide a worker’s visa for us as a way to support M’s on the field. We are excited about this because there is no requirement on our part to work as a teacher for them. Their vision is to support M’s. They hope we can help recruit foreign English teachers though where they can serve as English teachers and share the good news. Perhaps He is calling you? There are real options here if you feel like this could be for you.
Answered Pr!
· In a mid-level follow up meeting we had, it seems that people we hadn’t heard from in a while were not floundering but in actuality seeing some significant fruit. They saw their group being kicked out only to see it thrive now in the new place they are meeting at. They are really reaching that area of town. The same group that dealt with the false prophet also is hearing from a cult called Parental God. However, since they dealt with the false prophet they knew how to repel against it and stay focused on reaching out with the truth.
· The training team that was here had trained 10 and another 40-50 others partially. The response from the training lead to some asking for it again and more concretely it led to 3 solid plans in reaching their area of our city and beyond. More importantly, it was amazing to see that they wanted to work with one heart and purpose in unity even though they came from so many different ch’s. While it may be hard to see absolute unity, it was obvious that there was aggressive collaboration going on and a willingness to serve one another.
· The American team that was here walked away with a greater sense of how large our Dad is. They met more than 50 people here and had invested significant time with them. There are two that are here as I mentioned above that will be following up with them. They also have helped see several come to faith.
Praises!
· One of the networks who was at the training already hosted a couple of EV gathering and several had come to faith just from that meeting. It was inspiring to hear that everyday someone was being added!
· Recently, we have made this observation of our work. Last year, He opened up many doors to begin seeing His work being accomplished. This year we are seeing the influence of our work beginning to be realized. In every strata, demographic, and most locations of our city we are seeing our local brothers and sisters taking the torch in seeing the people come to know Him. Also, you always know that they are taking ownership when they rename and package our training so that it is better received!
