Saturday, December 13, 2008

Dinesh & Shannon, Update 12/12/08

My apologies for not writing to you earlier. My exams just got over and had been very busy studying. Thank you for asking about my parents.  The incident occurred on the other side of Mumbai so my parents are fine.

We just visited them for a couple of days. They are doing well. We continue to pray for their salvation. Shannon's parents are visiting us presently. We are having a good time with them.

Mack Update, 12/12/08

We are frequently receiving Email from people asking us about our VISA situation. So here's an update. RSA Home Affairs has now accepted our application and taken our money, but we still don't have the final outcome. It looks hopeful and people assure us we will receive them. If not, we have the name of the supervisor and someone who works for the government who will contact her for us. We have received suggestions from many people in RSA and even from the USA and many assurances of prayer. We should know for sure in about 25 days and, if we don't get it, we have some ways of appealing. If all else fails we could go to Botswana for a short period and then could return for three months and then back to Botswana and then back here and so on. We've been contacted by some missionary friends from Kenya suggesting that they would love to have us come there and they think they could get us VISA's there. I think they were half serious and half kidding, but we are fairly sure that RSA is where God wants us to be. GSM classes and other teaching/preaching/ministry commitments already scheduled for 2009 would seem to indicate that this is where God wants us to minister.

We along with Josh and Marda and Beth and Sybrand are having wonderful opportunities to contact, teach, counsel and assist native Africans. Bible Studies are being established in several of the settlements and townships around Pretoria. We have a black brother who has been trained at Christ's Seminary and at Grace School of Ministry living with us along with another black brother from the DRC. Robert, the well trained black brother, is out almost every day in one of these places visiting people and conducting Bible classes. He's doing a great job and growing in usefulness. It's a joy to see him maturing. Jaungo (from the Congo) is entering Christ's Seminary in January. Someone has provided a scholarship for him. He is so excited. He will continue to live with us when he is not in school. He is reading and studying and listening to CDs and is growing like a healthy plant. He soon won't a neophyte (Greek for young plant). Several black men have made professions of faith and are meeting regularly with Josh to be discipled. Josh and marda have become foster parents to another abandoned child - they now have 7 children (4 biological and 3 foster children) and they would fill the house with more refugees and orphans if we would let them have our part of the house. Incidentally, you might join us in prayer as there is a house for sale right next to our house. If we had the money we would consider buying it (once we're sure about the VISA thing) and move into it which would give Josh and Marda room for more orphans and/or having a black family move in so they could disciple them. I don't know of anyone who is more appropriately aggressive and selfless in the way they reach out and sacrifice for the people in South Africa or anywhere than they are. Their zeal and willingness to reach out is a real challenge to us and others. They use whatever they have to the max in ministering  in His Name. Anyway, if the Lord wills we would consider the house next door - that would expand our ability to minister considerably. Part of that willing would be for God to provide enough money to purchase the house. Ephesians 3:20 is still in the Bible and still true.

Meanwhile our daughter and son-in-law to be (January 17) have begun their ministry at a church 10 minutes from us. I preached his installation sermon this past Sunday. The church has a Christian school with 90 children (mostly black children) and Beth is already meeting with the staff and sharing her expertise with them. It is a very well integrated church with godly and knowledgeable black and white Christians serving key roles. Beth will also help us at Grace School of Ministry doing some of the same things she did when she worked with me as Director of the Summer Biblical Counseling Institute at The Master's College. She and Carol and Marda will probably be starting a preschool program for homeless children in a place called Stinkwater where there are 60 parentless pre school children who are left to themselves throughout the day when their older siblings are at school. Hopefully, this will care for these little children, but also open doors for impacting Stinkwater with the Gospel.

Appreciate your prayers. Thanks for your support and encouragement.

Have a blessed Christmas celebrating the One for whom we live and minister; the One who makes life worth living.

Blessings. SDG.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Howell, South Africa Trip On!

Greetings Friends,

This is a just a quick note inviting you to rejoice as the Lord has provided the funds necessary to travel to South Africa!  Thank you for your prayers and encouragements!

Ministry opportunities in South Africa are developing and several are already calendared.  Pray for wisdom in order to maximize my time there with so many beloved South African brethren and churches.

I’ll keep you posted but wanted you to know that God has answered your prayers on behalf of this ministry!

IFO Christmas Party Update

I want to thank all of worked so hard to provide the international students with a wonderful Christmas event.  I love this ministry for many reasons but one reason is the opportunity to serve with you.  I am so honored!  For all who either decorated, cooked, baked, provided Christmas goodies, provided gifts, provided transportation, served, and prayed; I pray that God will multiply your gifts according to Matt 6:33. 

We will soon be posting pictures on the IFO website.  Give us a week or so and then take a look at www.IFOarkansas.org .

Now I ask that you pray with me that God will cause the internationals to seek Him.  That by the power of His mighty Spirit they will hunger for the Truth of His word.  That the Lord would draw them, tear down strongholds and lies, and open their hearts that they might know Him.  Pray that He will bless the words of Steve Bowyer (Grace Church Pastor) and the love of His people shown to each international in every act of serve.  

For you I pray that no matter where right now in you journey in this life, that He would grant the desires of your heart for you and yours.  Remember, God is with us and He will help us. What a great God we serve.  Truly, there is no other!

Serving them for Him – with you,
LaJuana
Note:  In this picture is Richard (my husband/Santa’s hat), Haidar (from Iraq), intls playing Rudolph and elves.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Howell Update 12/9/08

Greetings Everyone,

I am so grateful for the prayers and encouragements of those who are a part of the MissionCrossRoads Team!  Thank you!

The primary travel component of the January trip to South Africa is nearly funded and wisdom is needed to know whether or not to buy tickets--its that close!  So please do pray.

Several venues for ministry are being arranged as I have heard from former students who are now colleagues in ministry along the Cape, in Durban, and Johannesburg.  I am very excited to see them and to Lord willing, be an encouragement to them in their ministry.

Those desiring to fellowship in this ministry financially may do so by sending support to:

Biblical Ministries Worldwide
Patrick Howell - #4141
1595 Herrington Road
Lawrenceville, GA 30043-5616

I will keep you posted and thanks once again for your prayers!

Hart Update 12/9/09 - Christmas Letter

DEAR FAMILY AND FRIENDS,

At this Christmas season we wish you a blessed Christmas and a prosperous new year.  We, indeed, need to seek God’s face for our nation and our personal lives in these  uncertain economic times. In several places in the Bible the subject of prospering is tied to the study and meditation of the law of the Lord so it is good to remember that one of the names for Jesus in the Christmas story is Immanuel, which means “God with us.”

I (Bud) have found that the Lord is with us even in difficult times this year..  Let me summarize the lesson I learned in 2008.  It started unexpectantly when I went shopping for Carolyn’s birthday present back in July. As I walked  into the store there was a sign at the entrance saying “Free Screening for Diabetes.”  Good idea, I was not in a hurry so I sat down at a little table, the man pricked my finger and read 271.  He said that it was high and suggested I go to see my doctor. 

Next picture – I ended up in the emergency room three days later where I was told I was diabetic and that my liver enzymes were high. Subsequent appointments were made so that July was a series of being “pricked and poked, scanned and scoped.”  Bottom line was that there was a mass in the pancreas that needed to be analyized and taken care of.
Surgery took place in August and the surgeon performed what is called the Whipple procedure which is quite extensive involving the stomach, the duodenum, the pancreas and various ducts running into the small intestine. A tumor in the pancreas was removed and the other areas around it were all negative.  It was a rough time recovering in the hospital but I’m home and taking chemotherapy 3 times a month for ? months.  The biggest visible change is the weight I lost since I am now back at my playing weight when I was at Wheaton running the soccer field.

Now all of this is to say that God was very real during those days when the road was rough and full of potholes.  He has promised His presence (Immanuel) during all our days and in all circumstances but never did He say that all would be smooth and trouble free.  He is the rock, the solid ground,  and the One you can depend on when hurting or frustrated.  He has said that “My grace is sufficient for you for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”  Truly I found this to be true and it remains so today.

So, who knows what 2009 will bring?? God is sufficient for whatever we face and He is to be loved and honored.  Let us be like those wise men of old who bowed down and worshipped the Lord Jesus as Lord of lords and King of kings.  May you know His presence in your lives this year.
 

In His Grace,
Bud and Carolyn

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Bridgman Update - 12/3/08

Thanks for praying all year! May this Christmas bring great blessing!

Praise God for

  1. The wonderful piece of land that God has provided for Sanyo Grace Church
  2. How He has blessed both of our son with good relationships
  3. Very good church attendance during November
  4. 5 of the 6 ladies taking Violette's English Bible course have finished, and one has a few lessons to go (pray for a spiritual harvest)
  5. Two believers who have decided to officially join our church

Pray that
  1. Our financial support will increase to reflect the loss in the value of the US dollar
  2. For our outreach to kids in our neighborhood this Christmas (date not set yet, but probably on the 23rd)
  3. For wisdom and unity of our believers as we plan the new church building
  4. For a city wide Christmas evangelistic event on Dec. 14th
  5. For Paul to finish off well as chairman of the neighborhood committee
  6. For the right people to replace us during our one year home assignment in the USA (July 2009 to July 2010)
http://church.jp/Sanyo_Meg

Central Baptist Church of Mazabuka - Update 12/3/08

Bi-Weekly Prayer Report for the period 17th to 30th Nov 2008


Book launch: We give thanks to God that we were finally able to launch a total of seven booklets as supplementary readers for secondary schools. This is a project we have been working on close to five years now. The objective is to get into our schools using literature which addresses various topics that affect the youths. This first series is on male female relationships and the set of booklets has been approved by the ministry of education for use in schools. The launch took place on the evening of 28th November with the blessing of the Minister of Education who was supposed to attend had he not been out of the country at the time. Those who attended included representatives from schools; the media; and members of both reformed and non reformed circles. Our prayer is that this project will encourage more reformed brethren to write and thus provide resources for our institutions of learning as well as for non reformed readers. Pray that the Lord will bless this project to the benefit of many and the extension of His kingdom. Pray for our writing ministry that wisdom might be granted to us to know how to proceed.

Membership and baptism drive: We had planned to have our very first baptism service on New Year’s Day but we have now postponed it to a later day. This is to give us more time to scrutinize and teach the potential candidates. Some who had shown much promise have of late given us cause to doubt their profession of faith. Pray that the Lord might lead us to his true sheep. Pray for us as we seek with the coming baptism to constitute our first membership. Pray that the Lord establishes his work in the town of Mazabuka.

Home bible study: The Thursday bible study at the home of Mrs. Musonda has continued and we are now looking at the Lord’s Supper. Mrs. Musonda continues to show a lot of interest but we are still not persuaded that she is converted yet. Do pray for her spiritual well being that she might experience genuine conviction of sin and repentance. 

Kennedy: This is the young man the church is sponsoring at a secondary school in the town of Monze. Recently there was a riot by some pupils at his school. This happened in the night and he and some other boys ran into the bush to get away from the rioting pupils. They came back at sunrise but were implicated as having been amongst the trouble makers. About 45 were locked up at the Police station and were later chased from school pending suspension. Pray for Kennedy so that justice might prevail in this matter and that his school should not be disrupted.

Chipo: We have continued counseling sessions with her and she testified that she is already seeing light at the end of the tunnel and she feels energized to go and end the illicit relationship she has been entertaining with a married man. Pray for her as she will need much grace to turn away from a relationship which has been going on for a number of years.

Mr. and Mrs. Kalonga: This couple recently started attending church having come from Lusaka. The husband has a Catholic background and the wife a Pentecostal one. They got married outside church and they are now seeking to have their marriage ‘blessed’ in church. We have a pending appointment to discuss this matter and we hope to take this opportunity to discuss matters of salvation with them. Pray that the Lord will open doors.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

IFO Christmas Party Reminder

IFO CHRISTMAS PARTY REMINDER
There are only a few more days until the world comes together for the IFO Christmas Party.
That’s the world that is studying in Little Rock.
Friday, December 5th, at 7pm IFO will host its International Christmas Party.
Grace Church is our host.
Will you come and celebrate with us?
____Yes LaJuana, I’m coming with _____others.
____No LaJuana, I can’t make it this year but will pray for open hearts.
(a RSVP helps us plan well and gives us some idea of how many to plan for)

If you are planning on attending, please bring 2 dishes of food to feed at least 15 people each.
Something Christmasee or a traditional Christmas dish that you serve at your table.

Also, as we share about The Gift of Christmas, we are trying to give every international student a Christmas gift.
Would you like to help? We are trying to keep each gift around $10. It can either be for a female, male or a family.
Please wrap and mark on the bottom: F for female, M for Male, FM for family.

One more thing: Let me know if you want to provide some baked Christmas goodies for the intl students.
We need to have them in individual cans, bags, plates, or boxes.

I hope to see you on Friday.

South African Update - Howell 12/2/08

Greetings Friends!

I hope your Thanksgiving was fantastic. We enjoyed the day with a family of 30+ folks and they just took us right in--what a great day.

As this email goes out, I am just about to teach Church History at TES.  I love history and studying Church History is a fascinating endeavor. There is so much to inspire one--and so much to learn in order to avoid similar mistakes!

The trip to South Africa is taking shape and God has provided more than 40% of the ministry budget. I will have to make the decision as to whether to go or not soon as the calendar clicks on--so thanks for the many of you who are praying and to those who are giving as well. It all matters and your prayers are greatly needed! (If you're unfamiliar with this South African endeavor, check out the MissionCrossRoads events) or email me and I’ll send you more detailed information.  Some have written and asked about sending support for the trip.  It is a simple process and 100% of all support goes toward ministry.  Checks can be made out to Biblical Ministries Worldwide and mailed to:

Biblical Ministries Worldwide
Pat Howell #4141
1595 Herrington Road
Lawrenceville, GA 30043-5616

Lot's going on these days. Elizabeth's birthday was Monday (12/1) and my birthday is Sunday (don't ask, please). The third semester of TES ends mid-December and with great gratitude for our students and the growing development of the school.

In January, I hope to be in South Africa ministering to churches and former students as well as seeing many old friends from our ministry there.  Then, later in the month, Cathy and I have been invited to Los Angeles for John MacArthur's 40th Anniversary at GCC.  Many former GCC staff members will be there and we will be among them. This will be a great celebration of God's faithfulness through John's ministry to GCC. It is a great blessing to count him a friend--and a privilege to have served with him as Missions Pastor and a Senior Staff member at GCC in the 1990's!

Mid-February brings two weeks in Myanmar and then a return to Los Angeles for the GCC Shepherds Conference.

I continue to pray and seek God's direction for my future ministry.  Such a process is an inexact science for both the man and the church so again, prayers and counsel are always welcome!

Thanks for your encouragement and fellowship!

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Mack Update, part 2

Not sure if you received our former letter about the need for prayer for our visa. We still don't have it and December 28 is coming and things move very slowly over here. One option is that we may have to fly back to the United States, probably Chicago, as we're told that that is the best RSA consulate to get it. God is up to something - we count this trial with all joy knowing James 1:2 - 5.

Last night we had as is true many Friday evenings 50 people with about 30 blacks at our house - fed them, gave them boxes of food that we had collected and then sang with them, prayed with them and explained Bible verses to them. Most of the blacks are very poor - struggling to get by - we do what we can (or rather Josh and Marda are really facilitating this ministry and walls are being broken down and people are being reached. We now have over 30 blacks that are attending GFC - we now have a Sunday School class for them in which a black man who has become a pastor at our church (he lives with us and we are mentoring him) teaches them in their own language and explains the message that was heard in the previous hour and a half. They understand English after a fashion but need further explanation - so that's what he is doing. He and another young man who has joined us from the USA (he also lives with us) to be discipled are also doing Bible classes in Mamelodi (a huge black settlement) during the week. Josh and Marda are going out to a place called Stinkwater often (in fact they are going again today). There are 60 parentless children there under the age of 6 who have no one to take care of them during the day when their older siblings who are their caretakers are in school. Carol, Beth and Marda are considering starting a preschool for these children to reach them for Christ and to provide Christian upbringing and some education during the day. GSM is going well and plans for the wedding are progressing. Counseling opportunities abound and we are seeing God move in the lives of some people with some serious problems. To God be the glory! What a privilege to be in a place where the ministry is so needed and many people seem to want it and respond to it. We can expect that Satan and his demons who are opposed to Christ and His Gospel will not be happy with Gospel efforts and positive responses to the Gospel and so we are encouraged. Nevertheless, we need a VISA to stay and continue to minister. Please pray.

Sybrand, our almost son-in-law (January 17 is the date) begins his ministry at a church in Pretoria on January 4 - I am preaching his installation sermon next Sunday. They have an outreach ministry to blacks and also a school for training and educating them and reaching them with the Gospel. They see the school as a mission opportunity. Beth will also be helping at GSM - doing some of the things she did in the MABC program at The Master's College. She will also be involved with the same kind of orphan ministries in which she was involved - in fact she will still be involved in the Lambano ministry (it's about 45 minutes away).

Anyway, that's a brief review of what's happening recently, but the main reason for this Email is to ask you to pray.

Thank you for remembering us in prayer and support.

Mack, Urgent Prayer Request - 11/27/08

This is a note asking for your specific prayer help on a rather urgent situation on behalf of our ministry in South Africa.

We have been trying to get our visa renewed and are having some problems. We have prepared all the materials that the Home Affairs Hot Line said we should. We went to the Home Affairs in Pretoria on Wednesday and the line was so long that we decided to come back early on Thursday. We did. We arrived at 6:45 AM, stood in line, presented the application with all the supporting Data and were summarily turned down. At this point we don't know what to do. Our present visa runs out at the end of December. At the end of December if they will not renew our visa we will, I suppose, be in the country illegally and if we don't get it renewed I probably would not be able to, ministry teach at Grace School of Ministry or fulfill other teaching opportunities that I have for 2009. We had no idea that renewing our visa would present a problem. We got the first three year visa back in the USA with no problem. So we thought it would be no problem now and thought we had no reason for concern, !
but apparently we were wrong. At present we are receiving our support from the USA and Grace Missionary International has given us a letter saying that they would provide fully support and that they would make sure we had the money for tickets to return. We also have a letter stating essentially the same thing from Grace School of Ministry here in South Africa. That was for some reason confusing to the men we encountered at Home Affairs and they just flat out said that the people who gave us our first visa were wrong in giving it to us. That was confusing to us in that we are here on a volunteer basis - costs the country here nothing - and we are helping train pastors, doing orphan work and helping the poor.

God has a way through. He can open that no man open and shut doors that no man can shut. The hearts of government officials are in his hand and he can turn them however He chooses. So we wait on Him with Romans 8:28 confidence. But, if you would, please pray for us that God would move whomever to grant us a visa to minister here.

Thank you for any prayer assistance you might give us in this matter.

Hefner Update 11/26/08

We got our tickets last week and I should have contacted you guys right away. We will be home the 16th. We just got word yesterday that Mayo refused Lindsay application because she is not presently seeing a doctor that can do the follow-up after they treat her there. Rick Houk has been a big help and I'm waiting on his advice before we proceed further. We are planning to get the medical things taken care of first thing. If the treatment is in LR it will probably take longer than if we get into Mayo so I really cannot say how long we will be in LR before heading to Washington. We are resting in the fact that God is in control of all this.

As far as expenses go, I'm really not sure what to expect. Our insurance through the mission organization will give us some help and from the brief reading I've done it looks like the maximum that we'll pay on our end is $6,000 even if the bills get up into the 6 digits. We have someone buying our vehicle here in Senegal and that should take care of those expenses (we would be selling the vehicle regardless of Lindsay's medical situation). I really do not feel that BCLR needs to help us financially at this point. We would rather see that money go to a missionary with greater needs. If needs do arise that are beyond our financial ability we feel the freedom to communicate those to you. You have been very gracious towards us in this regard.

Thanks to you and the entire church for your prayers for us. We can honestly say that we have felt the Lord upholding us each step of the way, without Him we'd have fallen for sure. This is a testimony to your prayers. We are glad to be serving Him and trust that He will accomplish His work in and through us in His time.

We are in communication with the other churches that support us trying to work out a schedule for our year on furlough. We would like to spend at least 3 months there in LR with BCLR doing whatever it is we can to connect with the folks there during that time. We desire to visit our sending church in Washington State first and we are tentatively planning to be there from Feb - May.

Walker Update 11/21/08

Growing up, our tradition for Thanksgiving was to go around the table and each person said what they were thankful for. It was a good time to reflect on the events of the year and be grateful for all that we had experienced of God’s goodness.

Jeannie and I are so thankful for Psalm 34.8 this year.

"Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh the joys of those who trust in Him."
We have lived it and taught it. It was a key verse in the Come TOGETHER through Conflict course that we had opportunity to teach in Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines.

This year didn’t turn out as we had planned, but we learned that God had something better in mind. In February, Bangladesh seemed like a diversion, a place to wait until we had a visa to return to Indonesia. Now we see our time there as a great opportunity. We’ve learned a lot, and God has used us to equip Christian leaders to be effective teachers. And that is a core part of Jesus’ Great Commission…“teach them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matt. 28.20).

Looking back on 2008, we are thankful that we have seen some ‘fruit’ from our labor. For example, three of our ‘alumni’ have designed and taught seminars for Christian leaders to raise missions awareness and prayer bands.

Martin took our Learning that LASTS (LtL) course three years ago and immediately began teaching others what he’d learned from us. We met up with him again in August, and he told us that LtL is now part of the core curriculum at the teacher training college where he teaches. As we sat under a grass roofed gazebo in the mountains of Papua, he shared his vision of transforming primary education so that children learn to follow Jesus. When Martin asked us to come back and be a part of their ministry, I thought of the impact that dedicated Christian teachers could have in Papua. I’d love to have a part in training them.

While in Papua we had the opportunity to teach alongside Scotty and Heidi for three weeks. They are having a huge impact on the young Papuans in their school. Paul, the director of their program, asked us to come back and help build up their teachers. The news we are getting from Scotty re: their students is so encouraging – Papuans and American young people living together in love, new freedom from bondage, God’s character shining through many. Can’t wait to go back and be a part of it!

And this is exactly what our Wycliffe leaders want us to do! Training teachers in three schools and missionary care will be our roles. PRAY that God will use us to build up leaders, educators and Bible translators to reach the people of Papua, Indonesia.

We are thankful for the direction that God is giving, for the joys of working with Him and the anticipation of living near Heidi and family.

Thankful, too, that in a few days we’ll be back in Arizona for two months – with Emily, Russ, Eric, Rosie and our parents.

Please PRAY for
  • our visas for Indonesia.
  • funds to build a new campus for Netaiken, Scotty’s school.
We just learned that the American students may have to leave Indonesia ASAP since their visas were not renewed. They have a plan B, which must be better than plan A, because God's ways are perfect. PRAY for their faith and good attitudes for this change of plans. God could work a miracle to make plan A go as planned -- they were going to start a week-long trek through a number of Dani villages, the highlight of the semester that they have been training for.

We are thankful for you who encourage us and make it possible for us to be here in Asia through your gifts and prayers.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Mack Update 11/26/08

In several places in Scripture the Apostle Paul acknowledged his gratitude for and need of the prayers of God's people in his life and ministry (cf. Philippians 1:18b - 19; 2 Thessalonians 3-1; I Thessalonians 5:25; Ephesians 6:19; Colossians 4:2 - 4). And so following his example, Carol and I do the same to everyone who has prayed and/or will pray for us and for the ministries in which we are involved.

First, through your prayers you have helped us complete the following ministries in the past two months.

October 6 -11 - Module 1 of Grace School of Ministry where Introduction to Biblical Counseling was taught and a Discipleship Lab was conducted with 60 eager students from 8 different countries in Africa and Europe.
October 17 - 19 - Marriage and family seminar was conducted at Jeffrey's Bay Bible Church in Jeffrey's Bay, South Africa. Carol also did a one day women's seminar for the ladies.
November 6-11 - Module 2 of Grace School of Ministry where Methods of Biblical Change and a course on How To Properly Interpret Scripture were taught to the same students with two others joining us from South Africa and Nigeria.
November 16 - Preached at Hillcrest Baptist Church in the Durban area of South Africa.
A new book called It's Not Fair was published and made available from P & R Publishers.
A booklet called God's Plan for Parent Child Relations After Marriage that will be published by P & R Publishers is almost completed.
Carol has faithfully taught women's Bible classes and done much discipling with women.
Carol and I have had the privilege of counseling numerous people who were struggling with various issues in their lives.

Second, we request your involvement through prayer in the following service opportunities during the rest of 2008 through the end of July of 2009.
December 7, 2008 - Lynwood Baptist Church in Pretoria, RSA
December 14, 2008 - Grace Fellowship Church in Pretoria, RSA
December 21, 2008 - Grace Fellowship Church in Pretoria, RSA
December 28, 2008 - Grace Fellowship Church in Pretoria, RSA
January 4, 2008 - Grace Fellowship Church in Pretoria, RSA
January 11, 2008 - Jeffrey's Bay Bible Church in Jeffrey's Bay, RSA
February 2 - 7 - Grace School of Ministry all day biblical counseling classes - Module 3 - Theological Basis of Biblical Counseling and Counseling from the Book of Job
March 2 - 8 - Grace School of Ministry all day biblical counseling classes - Module 4 - Christian Life Issues in Counseling and Counseling from the book of Proverbs.
March 20 - 22 - Seminar at Grace Fellowship Church in Sassolburg, RSA
April 24 - 26 - Seminar in Zambia
May 25 - 27 - Seminar in Johannesburg, RSA
May 28 - 31 - Seminar in Polokwane, RSA
June 1 - 3 - Seminar in Capetown, RSA
June 9 - 12 - Seminar in Mozambique
June 21 - teach at Grace Fellowship Church in Hazleton, PA
June 26 - 28 - teach at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio
June 29 - July 2 - Believer's Chapel in San Antonio, TX
July 3 - 5 - Calvary Bible Church in Fort Worth, TX
July 6 - 12 - Bible Church of Little Rock in Arkansas
July 13 - 19 - Providence Church in Duluth, Georgia
With the editing help of Deborah Howard I am writing a new book which may be entitled Your Best Impact for Christ Now and Later.
We are in discussion with a retired Christian business man about better ways of providing and distributing good resources for strengthening the individual lives of Christians and the counseling ministries of Christians here in South Africa.
Some Christians (pastors and individual believers) have discussed with us the possibility of using modern media to conduct classes in other areas without me actually and physically being on site where the classes are conducted. This would be done by what I believe is called virtual media meaning that the students may be able to see and hear me and me being able to see and even hear them. There are some men with the expertise to develop this kind of arrangement who want to use their skills to serve Christ in this way. This will require some finances to secure the equipment that is needed for this to become a reality. Please pray for an awareness of God's will as we proceed. If this arrangement could be used for His glory and the good of His people we want to be involved. If it's of God we know He will provide and if it's not we don't want to be involved anyway.

And so in closing this new/prayer letter, we again want to extend our gratitude to all of you who have been part of our ministry through your prayers and interest. And also, we want you to know that we will deeply appreciate your continuing prayers and interest as we press on in our feeble attempts to glorify God in our lives and ministries.

Sola Dei Gloria

Dinesh & Shannon Update 11/26/08

Greetings from India. We are working on an update but wanted to take a moment to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! As we celebrate with other seminary families on Monday (because of school schedule), we join you in thanking God for so many blessings He gives:

The gift of knowing Him and being assured of salvation. This is especially precious as we meet many who still don’t even know His name.

The comfort and security of knowing there are no accidents in life but that God is sovereign over every detail and working it all together for His glory and our maturity.

Our home which is cool, roomy and lacking most of the unwanted guests (i.e. critters) which frequented our house in Madhipura. We’re thankful for good (and wanted!) friends here to share our home with.

The joy of marriage and of our children who are healthy, growing and who make us laugh and remind us daily just how dependent on the Lord we must be

You, our family and friends, who shower so much love on us by your gifts, prayers, emails and support. Thank you for making it possible for us to be here both in seminary studies and to share Christ in this wonderful country.

Blessings!

Kinch Update 11/25/08

Things are going well here.  Gonzalo, Carmeyla and their little 8 month old Nicolas, finally leave us for Mitu and their village of San Luis, this coming Sunday.  It has been a real blessing to have had them here since February.  We are tired and will be ready for a break.  Pam is doing a final edit of nasalization and fine grammar points with Gonzalo on Acts.  They just finished rechecking through Acts 26 tonight.  They have 2 more chapters to go, before Gonzalo leaves us. Seems we have been dealing with grammar issues on this book for a very long time, but we can now see how the Lord chose to use this book in Gonzalo's life this year, while he and Carmeyla have been living with us for all these months.  They have really grown stonger in the Lord, and they have been learning to lean on the Lord this year.  It has been wonderful to see the growth and maturing process at work in Gonzalo and Carmeyla's lives.  They are a neat couple, and we are so blessed to have both of them helping with the translation process -- Gonzalo now doing some heavy lilfting on the translation end, and Carmeyla, a whiz on the computer, doing data entry, rough edit changes, and lots and lots of keyboarding!  Years ago we NEVER could have guessed that Yuruti would be helping us with pretty fine-tuned computer skills!

Gonzalo wanted to print up a new draft of the Yuruti chorus book so that they could have something more substancial to use in worship in the villages.  We just got 45 copies printed up and through bindry today.  Gonzalo and Carmeyla are happy!  We are sending packages of 10 to each of the 4 villages of San Marcos, Consuelo, Puerto Loma and San Luis.  Folks from the villages who chose to come for worship with the believers, will have to share the copies, but it will give all of us chance to test it and see how it works.  The Yuruti wanted to have Yuruti and Spanish choruses mixed in the chorus book.  That way, we ended up with about 100 choruses they can now sing together.  We trust that the Lord will use this new chorus book to encourage worship in each of these villages.

We plan to head to the US around Dec 9th, and be in the US for about 2-3 months.  Will see how our plans shape up, but we do need to make some church contacts while we are in the States.  Do you know what plans might be in the works for Missions Conference in 2009 at the Bible Church?  Just wondering as would like to see if in some of our travels we would be able to drop in and see you all, if you are still in Little Rock.  We continue to pray for you both, as you keep looking for His next steps for you.  We want to keep in touch, wherever the Lord leads you.  

We just witnessed another Yuruti couple being baptized about 3 wks ago.  What a blessing!  They are coming to know the Lord, one at a time.  Please be praying for Wilmer and Fanny, as this was their last year of Bible School, and Wilmer realizes that his "famous" temper needs to be really softened by the Lord.  As a couple they have really grown a lot this year.  They are from the village of San Marcos, on the south side of the Mitu mountains ... a very difficult and traditional village.  Gonzalo and Carmeyla will be planning to find times to travel to that village and encourage them.  These next 3 months will be important ones for all of the believers, as they attempt to reach out to each other, to encourage each other, and to do planning for outreach and ministry to their respective villages, and to the rest of the tribe.  There is a lot of opposition to the entrance of the Gospel, but the believers have been doing a lot of talking and praying about how to reach their ethnic group with the Gospel.  The men will also begin working on helping us get a rough edit of Titus, Philemon and 1-2 Timothy, while continuing to do rough edit work on Matthew during these months we are apart.  They will also be doing their yearly planting of crops, so that they can have food for the rest of the year.  It is going to be a busy time for them ... and for us.  These will be our next books to tackle after the first of the year.  the first draft is pretty rough, and needs a lot of work ... and the men need the message of these books.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Central Baptist Church of Mazabuka

Bi-Weekly Prayer Report for the period 3rd to 16th Nov 2008
No. 47


  • Women’s meeting: The monthly women’s meeting for November took place on Saturday the 15th. About 35 women attended. The women had a visiting speaker from Kabwata Baptist Church, Mrs. Mwamba, speaking on ‘Financial management in the home’. Most women struggle in this area resulting in bad habits like accumulating debts and indiscriminate borrowing from their neighbours. Mrs. Mwamba showed that all the resources we have are from God and we are therefore under obligation to manage them prudently. She showed how one can make a simple budget before spending their money. The topic was greatly appreciated. Do pray with us that much good will come out of this presentation.
  • Chipo: She has been to a couple of the ladies meeting and after the October one she indicated that she would like to receive some counseling. She has finally come forward to share her situation. A young lady of 26, she’s involved with a married man and has a child by him. The man’s marriage is on the rocks and she wonders what she should do if he asks her to marry him. Spiritually, she claims she professed faith in Christ some six years ago and that she has been derailed in her spiritual life by the scandals she finds herself in. She would like us to assist her to come out of this mess. We pointed out to her that what we offer is biblical counseling and she should be prepared to obey what God says in order to come out of her difficulties. She was agreeable and promised to make herself available regularly for counseling sessions. Pray for Chipo as she seems very deeply involved emotionally with the married man. Pray that if she is indeed a child of God, she will experience increasing spiritual strength and resolve which will enable her to say no to all that which is sinful. Pray for us that grace and wisdom will be granted to us to know how to assist her.
  • Maureen: She is one of those who over the past couple of years has shown much spiritual promise as we have been seeking to assist her after her marriage broke down. She is one of the people we have had on the list of potential baptism candidates. But of late, after her husband came back and took her back into his home she has disappeared from church and seems to be actively avoiding us. This is a great disappointment to us coming after she had shown so much promise. Do pray for Maureen that the things of God she has learnt in the period she has been in our midst will be used of the Lord to convict her and to show her the right way. Pray for us that we may deal patiently with her.
  • Gift: He is a young man who has been consistent in attending church services over the past few weeks. We started interviewing him with regards to his salvation. He has a Seventh Day Adventist background and he seemed rather muddled up in his understanding of salvation. He is newly wed and his wife is SDA. We agreed to commence evangelistic studies in his home to be attended by his wife as well. But before we could commence, he just got a promotion at work and has been transferred to the town of Mongu in the western province of Zambia. We therefore plan to hand him over to the brethren in Mongu so that they continue following him up. Pray that this works out and that Gift and his wife will have an opportunity to fully grasp the gospel message.

From the Bridgmans

Please see that this message is communicated to everyone at BCLR.

Thanks for the generous Christmas gift!!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Solis Update - 11/18/08

Dear Christian Friends,

Greetings from Jerez, Zacatecas, Mexico!  This year has been reasonable for us; it seems to have gone by very quickly! Currently we have 8 Bible studies or services a week.  Jose continues his radio programs in TX and here in Jerez.  Proverbs 16:3 encourages us:  Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.

We enjoyed having Mom and Dad with us here in Jerez for January and February.  They are a great help and encouragement.  In January we resumed pastoral duties in La Ermita after a church split there.

In May we were able to renew without problem my FM 3 Mexican immigration document.  In July we enjoyed having youth from BCLR to help us with VBS.  This year we had it in 4 locations instead of 3; we had several professions of faith.  We were also privileged having Dr. Coye  with us that week..  He gave Jose and me both physicals and has continued to help Jose in regulating his medications for diabetes and high blood pressure.  Jose takes 9 pills each morning!

In August I was able to spend a couple weeks in IL with the family.   Jose stayed in Mexico leading the churches.  Actually he was very ill the end of August and the beginning of September.

We are preparing for a wedding on Sunday and then Lord willing  we plan to spend a few days with our kids in Dallas for Thanksgiving.  We also have some business to attend to in Pharr.

Jose and I want to thank all our friends and supporters for their faithfulness.  We desire for each of you a bountiful Thanksgiving and a blessed Christmas!

Our e mail is solisjj(at)hotmail(dot)com  Thank you.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Encouragement regarding Missions

Roland Walker thought we would be encouraged by the following thoughts from John Piper:

Bad Times Are Good for Missions
October 26, 2008  |  By: John Piper

I believe the Lord brought this word to mind in one of our prayer meetings on Friday:
                             The worst of all times is the best of all times for missions.

We were praying over Lamentations 3. Those were the worst of times for Israel. But in that moment they were given the best of promises,
                          The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (3:22-23)

Today marks the close of Missions Focus at Bethlehem. So we were praying for missions. That is when this word came: The worst of all times is the best of all times for missions.

Such words do not have intrinsic authority the way Scripture does. They must be tested. Here is the truth I hear in those words.


1.  During an economic downturn we are more dependent on God. That is the most fertile soil for creating missionaries.

2.  During an economic downturn unreached people around the world do not expect you to come, but to look out for yourself. So they may more likely see your risk as love rather than exploitation.

3.  During an economic downturn those who need Christ around the world may be less secure in earthly things and more ready to hear about eternal life.

4.  During an economic downturn people at home may be wakened to the brevity of life and the fragility of material things, and so may become more generous not less. And when they give under these circumstances, it will make Christ look all the more like the all-satisfying Treasure that he is.

And so it may well prove to be that the worst of all times is the best of all times for missions. 

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Howell update

As some of you may know, the funding for my current position at The Expositors Seminary expires at the end of 2009. It is very gratifying to see The Expositors Seminary up and running and I am so very thankful for the opportunity to teach and serve here. I particularly love the classroom experience and count it a great privilege and joy to teach our students.

This ministry opportunity was very unique in that it was funded by sources outside of both The Expositors Seminary and The Bible Church of Little Rock. So, the possibility of this position not continuing in perpetuity was known from the beginning.

Thus, in light of our funding limitations I must begin to search for and review new opportunities for ministry. I am thankful to those who made this opportunity to serve at The Bible Church of Little Rock and The Expositors Seminary a reality. Both of these ministries and the people involved in them are very dear to our hearts. I am also grateful that we know this part of the future well in advance so that we may begin our search at the earliest possible time.

As I search for a new position, I prefer that of a senior pastor/pastor-teacher position, or other teaching related ministry. I am open to other opportunities, but I have been counseled by some respected and appreciated brethren to return to the pulpit and agreeing with them, that will be my priority. Another desire would be to be based in the USA and travel regularly overseas for the purpose of teaching national pastors and church leaders. I might also consider a church plant if all the basic and foundational elements were to align Biblically and philosophically.

For those of you who know us well, you know that our adventure in ministry has been a very interesting one indeed. Missionary training, pastoral ministry, teaching at two seminary’s and in nearly 30 countries. As we look back over nearly 30 years of ministry, we are very, very, blessed to see individual’s, church’s, pastor’s and leaders to whom God has granted us the great privilege to serve and in some way strengthen them for kingdom service. It is undoubtedly true that we have learned much more than we have taught and been graced with many wonderful brethren and friends around the USA and the world. As much as we have enjoyed the pilgrimage, it is our hope that this upcoming move will be our last!

Your prayers are very much appreciated and any suggestions are very welcome! Thanks!

It is a privilege to serve the leaders and students of TES and the BCLR family and I look forward to doing so over the next year.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Central Baptist Church of Mazabuka - 11/6/08

CENTRAL BAPTIST CHURCH OF MAZABUKA
Bi-Weekly Prayer Report for the period 6th Oct to 2nd Nov 2008

  • Women’s meeting: The monthly women’s meeting for October took place on Saturday the 18th. About 25 women attended. The pastor preached on the theme, ‘Daughters of God’ from 2 Corinthians 6.17-18. He showed why every woman should desire to be a daughter of God. There are many benefits both in this life and in the life to come that accrue to the daughters of God. He also showed the requirements of God for one to become a daughter of God and the folly of trusting in man. Many women trust in man for their well being. And many desire the benefits without submitting to God’s conditions. Two women, Chipo and Gertrude indicated that they would want to be assisted with counseling and helped to find Christ. Pray for all who heard the word and particularly for Chipo and Gertrude so that they make themselves available for counseling and that their individual problems will be addressed.
  • School leavers meeting: An attempt was made to recommence the meetings for school leavers after they were disrupted by the funeral of the republican president. But only a handful turned up. We intend to try again this month. Do pray that wisdom will be granted to us to know how we can best catch and sustain the interest of these school leavers.
  • Regional conference: The first regional conference for the reformed Baptist churches in southern province took place on Independence Day 24th October at Choma Reformed Baptist Church in Choma. Approximately 80 people were in attendance. 15 came from our church. Pastor Conrad Mbewe preached on the theme, ‘An overview of the doctrines of grace’. The objective of these conferences is to spread the work of reformation by inviting many from non reformed circles to attend. The second one is planned for 1st May 2009 in Livingstone. This one might be more than one day and will therefore require more resources. Do pray for the success and organization of these conferences and that the Lord will use them to the glory of his name.
  • Presidential elections: The town was a hive of activity prior to the presidential elections that took place on 30th October. Thank God that the voting process went on peacefully and that although the losing parties were aggrieved, the situation did not degenerate into anything nasty. Pray that the country might quickly pick up from where the late president left off and quickly make progress.
  • Baptism and membership: We are planning to conduct our first baptism service early next year and this will also mark the start of our church membership. Before then we need to identify the potential candidates and take them through baptism classes. Pray that grace and wisdom will be given to us so that we do not end up baptizing anyone who will turn out to be a ‘Simon the magician’!

Monday, November 3, 2008

Bridgman Update - November 2008

Thanks so much for praying for Sanyo Grace Church!

Praise God for:

  • Unanimous approval for purchasing land for our new building at the church business meeting at the mother church last Sunday
  • We have enough funds in hand to purchase the land (price was less than expected)
  • The location couldn't be better on a major street with a good view
  • This was truly a miracle brought on by God answering the prayers of His people. He gets the glory.

Prayer for:
  • Developing a plan for a building that we hope to get started the beginning of 2009 and finished before summer comes
  • We still need someone to fill in for us while we are on home assignment from July 2009 through summer of 2010. We need missionaries or nationals who would be able to preach in Japanese.
  • Pray for many souls to be saved (especially young people, and starting a Sunday school for kids)
  • Pray for our Christmas meetings


Thanks for praying. Please continue to remember the continuing requests from previous mailings.

Claxton Update 11/3/08

The Claxtons have posted photos along with updates on their ministry in Ukraine on their blog:  http://claxtonfamily.blogspot.com.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Walker Update - 10/30/08

It's nearly midnight .  tomorrow's our last day of Come TOGETHER through Conflict here in Davao, Philippines. Why am I not sleeping?  Was it something int he fajitas I ate tonight.  I do have trouble sleeping, but I'm praising God that I have gotten good sleep this week of teaching.

CTC has gone well.  what a blessing to work with such great people:

Pastor H is doing a great job of pastoring a number of churches using the Scriptures translated into his language.  His wife has already taught some of her friends from the course materials I sent her before we met in Davao this week.

Pastor James and his wife want to teach this course in their church.  PRAY that we can find a way to help them do it.  Jean is typing up teacher notes that should make it easier for others to teach what they are learning this week.

We are praising God for this opportunity to serve thru teaching CTC.  PRAY for future opportunities to teach it.  We just heard from one of our leaders in Wycliffe that we may have an opportunity in Indonesia early in 2009.

tomorrow we step out of the classroom and into plane bound for Jakarta.  After a one night stay, we go on to Dhaka, Bangladesh. We'll be coaching three your ladies who are learning to teach Learning that LASTS on their own.  We are there to coach and cheer them on.

We plan on returning to the USA in time for Tgiving.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Hefner Photos

Aaron and Lindsey have given us permission to share these photos with our blog readers.


















Aaron spends a day in a tribe in PNG and helps with the building of the missionary’s house.














Aaron visited the village, where literacy is an important part of the church.















The kids with Falai and Jata, some good friends, sitting in a hut they made.


















To quote Aaron, "What happens when Dad is supposed to be watching the kids."













Susannah, our family’s donkey, is being trained by Aaron and Wiye to work in the fields.

Mack Update 10/22/08

The first week of GSM was super. Thanks for your financial and prayer support. A great group of hungry and eager students. Very encouraging feedback from the students. Many said they will promote the courses with pastor friends. After the GSM week we went to Jeffrey's Bay where we just had a great week end conference. Philip and Trenie K, a business man who has a heart for God and is excited about ministry were present from Sassleburg (sic) and we spent some time with them yesterday afternoon. They and others who were there brought up an idea that merits consideration (will describe later in this Email). We are staying in their beach house. Enjoying it immensely. A beautiful place, almost as nice as Capetown. International surf board championships are held in front of our house. As I write Carol is speaking to the ladies at a ladies conference. The ladies are excited. Good attendance at all the meetings. Packed on Sunday. Many outsiders - they had put posters up in various places and the people invited. Good feedback about the Lord's working in lives and marriages.

Here's an idea they mentioned that carries with it an exciting possibility. They are asking us to come down and do some counselor training courses in the area or to pipe it down (virtual media) by way of satellite - they say the eastern cape of South Africa gets neglected. They are going to work on seeing about the cost and the possibility of installing the virtual equipment on both ends (Pretoria and Jeffrey's Bay). If that is done it would be simple to just pipe the classes down here while they are going on in Pretoria. That would expand our outreach and impact. People from here applied for GSM last time, but were too late - classes were already filled. Met with several yesterday about the possibility of working out this arrangmenet and making it a reality. I told them that we have enough to do in Pretoria with classes and students there so that we couldn't take on any more in terms of finances and labor. They then assured me that they would do all the work - raise the money for the equipment, do the promo, do the grading of papers, etc. Leon (a former student of GSM), Wynand Fourie (pastor and graduate of TMS), Andre (Pastor and graduate of TMS) would do the work and Philip K would help in any way that he can (not the grading of course, but other aspects). Possibly and hopefully Martyn Beets one of our former students who pastors in Port Elizabeth (close by) could also help. One of the guys who met with us is into installing the virtual equipment as well as having contacts about how to get it. Philip K is really excited and looking for some way to use his time profitably since he's turned his business over to his son-in-law. He says he wants to serve and helping this to become a reality may give him some meaningful things to do. He wants to get involved. The boss of the man who has expertise in the area of facililitating satellite equipment was at the conference we presented. As soon as he heard about the satellite possibility, he came to see us and is really excited. He sees it as an opportunity to use his skills for ministry. Perhaps the Lord is putting a team together for this endeavor. If He is, we'll trust Him about the finances. The personnell seems to be in place. PTL for all of this. We're much in prayer. Hope you will be also. To have this satellite program will cost a considerable amount of money for the equipment, but will broaden our impact tremendously. Hypothetically, we could reach all of Africa without leaving Pretoria If we could do this in the Jeffrey's Bay area, we could do the same in other areas of Africa as well. Wow, the possibility excites me.

Warmly in Christ,

Wayne

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Claxton Update

Some great news from the Claxtons below. Also, you can read their blog here.

Getting off the plane again in Kiev was very different this time. There was no feeling of panic, we understood about 40% of what we were hearing as we stepped into the airport and the people looked, well like people rather than foreigners. Most of all we knew we had a home full of our own things to recover from the jetlag! It was stocked full of groceries, toys and starbucks coffee (Thanks to the BCLR youth group)! We were excited to see Kiev friends that we missed and a had new resolve to work hard on the Russian Language. It was actually surprising that we felt so comfortable in what seemed like such a strange place just a year ago.

This year is different in that we are adding 7 conferences to make total of 13. Our conference cities are Kiev, Lviv, Chigarene, Simferopal, Odessa, Rovno, Zhitomar, Vinnitsa, Donetsk, Ternopil, Novgorod, Cherkassy and Uzhgorod. We are very excited about how hard our Ukrainian volunteers are working to bring their fellow countrymen to the conference and minister to them in the name of the Lord. They are so excited to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and to reveal God's plan for marriage and family. Their passion is both inspiring and humbling. The Kiev conference is October 25, we are thankful for a full house of 140 couples, many unbelievers. Pray for our Ukrainian Speakers Alex and Lena Travnikov and Vitaly and Johna Borody. Also pray for our American co-workers Scott and Cymp Stemple who will be presenting the gospel to the conferees. We are so excited to see what God will do this year!

Also we are hoping to become involved in a church that is beginning in Kiev. We are trusting the Lord that we will be able to serve in a Ukrainian church without translation so that we can come alongside another American family to plant a Bible centered, expository preaching church. Serving in and modeling a life built around Christ and His Church is one of the reasons we moved here so we are very excited about this opportunity and may be letting you know how you can help this church to grow and prosper here in Kiev. Pray for us as we take this exciting step!

We had a wonderful time seeing you all in America. We were able to see our families and church family, it was so encouraging! We were able to stock up on medicines, syrup and peanut butter! We feel much better! We were able to go to Chicago and meet Carra's wonderful friends at Moody. We couldn't ask for a more godly group of girls to encourage and help Carra while we are out of the country. We even attended some classes and were very impressed with her professors and Biblical training. God is so good to us! Pray for Carra as she had mono this summer and hopefully is recovering rather than relapsing. Also she is a Junior this year majoring in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, and has to do an internship teaching English in a foreign country this summer. Pray the Lord will guide her as she makes these preparations.

Spencer is having a great school year in 11th grade, taking a very tough schedule of honors classes and studying for the SAT and ACT. Pray as he begins to make college decisions. We are grateful God has provided a wonderful group of friends for him who are seeking to grow together in the Lord while having alot of fun! One thing we love about his school is the emphasis on service to Ukrainians, pray he will continue to be servant hearted during these projects and have an attitude pleasing to the Lord.

Finally our homeschool year has started off wonderfully since we haven't had to move this year!!!! Yay!!! Miraculously everyone is on grade level and doing well after the doubling up and summer school we had last year in the midst of chaos. To God be the glory great things he has done! Pray the children will really take off in Russian as they meet with a tutor 1 hour a day, 3 days a week. Pray we will be faithful to speak Russian together as a family and not be afraid to use what we know. We hope to make alot of friends this year both Ukrainian and American so the children will be happier to be here. Some days they love it here and others they miss their friends and family deeply. It is hard to convince them that if they lived in America they would still have to do school and chores! They remember it as a place to swim with friends and go to VBS!

The Lord is good and we see it as a privilege to serve among these wonderful people.
We love and miss you all and are so grateful for how you helped us this summer and continue to be used of the Lord to keep us serving Him here in Ukraine.

The Claxton family

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Hefner Update Sept-Oct 2008

We Hefners are homebodies. We like to stay put. Just thinking about packing and going to and fro on rugged roads and hanging out in airports makes us tired. We would much rather stay in one place – preferably home! In spite of those preferences, the months of August, September, October, and November have been and will continue to be filled with a lot of traveling – across Senegal, into Guinea, and even across the ocean to Papua New Guinea! Here’s a little peek into what the Hefners are up to…

August – At the beginning of the month Lenaya spiked a very high fever that continued for 9 days. We suspected malaria at first, and tried treating it with malaria treatments two times with two different medicines. Her fever persisted. On day 9, Lenaya still had a fever of up to 105 degrees, so we called an emergency medical flight and flew to Dakar as a family and immediately saw a doctor and had some tests run. Through wisdom given by God, the doctor prescribed a special antibiotic for Lenaya, even before the results of her tests were in! It was really neat to see the Lord so obviously watching out for her and guiding the doctor’s decisions. She was diagnosed with e-coli and we spent 2 weeks in [city] while she recovered. Many of you back home were praying for Lenaya, and for that we are incredibly grateful. We went back {home} for 2 weeks, and then…

September – Aaron flew to Papua New Guinea for a church-planting workshop. This was quite a lengthy trip (3 ½ weeks) and because of Lenaya’s recent illness we didn’t feel comfortable with Lindsay and the kids staying in the village alone. So, once again, we packed up and ventured on the rugged roads. Aaron had a wonderful time in PNG visiting different tribal works, talking with other church planters, and being taught and trained by experienced missionaries. He was greatly encouraged by seeing how the Lord is building His Church in other parts of the world. We trust that things that he has learned during his time there will be very beneficial to the entire NTM West African team. After...spending a couple of weeks at home…

October – Aaron will pack his bags yet again, this time traveling to Guinea, W. Africa (just below Senegal) along with a few other members of our NTM Senegal team. While attending a conference there, Aaron will have the opportunity to share the things that he learned while he was in PNG. This will be a shorter trip – 1 week – and after he returns we will be going back{home}…and hopefully staying put for a while!

Prayer and Praise

We are so very thankful for the Lord’s protection and healing of Lenaya. His care for our family was evident in very tangible ways – providing the right doctor, the kindness and care of our support team, health and strength for dad and mom in spite of very minimal sleep. Thank you to everyone who was praying for us during that time.

Aaron’s trip to Papua New Guinea was not only a beneficial time of learning for him, but also a time of refreshment and encouragement. We are thankful for the friends he was able to spend time with and the blessing he received through seeing first-hand the work that the Lord is doing there in PNG.

Being able to homeschool the kids is such a blessing to Lindsay. She loves watching the kids learn, and also learning along with them. It is a joy to be able to give Elijah and Lenaya an education based on the Word of God. We thank the Lord for this opportunity!

Please continue to pray for the young man who began meeting with Aaron in August to hear Bible lessons. When we return to the village (beginning of October) our desire is to continue these meetings with him and continue on until he hears the full message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In our absence, {our co-worker} has met with him a few times (upon his request!) and gone over some of the Bible lessons. Pray for continued interest and understanding.

Pray for Lindsay’s health. She is still struggling with regular spells of unwellness. We hope to have thorough testing done when we are on furlough this next year. Please pray for strength as she continues to care for the family and do language and culture study.

Please pray for us as we seek to raise Elijah and Lenaya according to God’s Word. Pray for wisdom, consistency, patience, and humility.

As we come to the end of our first term on the field, our hearts are heavy for our friends {here}. Things are not as we desired that they might be, yet we trust in the goodness and wisdom of our great God. Please pray for the people {here}…and the other 110,000 {tribal} people of West Africa.

Walker Update 10/18/08

We had a good meeting with our supervisor this week and God answered your prayers re: direction for the future.  It looks like God is opening the door for us to be back in Papua, Indonesia next year.  Our Wycliffe leaders asked us to return and help build up 3 Indonesian Christian organizations.  Interesting how this seems to be coming together out of our contacts in August.  Our supervisor is going to Papua next week to get the ball rolling with one of these organizations.

We'll share more details as we have them.  Pls PRAY as we begin negotiating with the 3 organizations.  Getting a VISA is a big issue, too.  It's not too early to begin praying about that.

On Tue and Wed this week we met with colleagues who are eager to help missionaries on multi-cultural teams work together well.  Focus on other cultures reminded me of how prejudiced and critical I am.  So the big request:  PRAY that I can cooperate with God in the ongoing transformation of my heart.

PRAY, too, for Jean.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Central Baptist Church of Mazabuka

Bi-Weekly Prayer Report for the period 22nd Sept to 5th Oct 2008

  • ZIAH: A couple, Lewis and Karen have expressed interest to work with the students at this college of agriculture. Our ministry there has been very limited due to shortage of laborers. We would now like to introduce Lewis and Karen to the college as counselors with whom the students can freely talk to. We are planning more preaching sessions and we would also like to introduce a bookstore at the college. It might also become necessary to introduce a bus service to pick up the students for church on Sundays immediately we have a number of them expressing interest to attend church. Pray that these plans will be implemented and be blessed of the Lord. Pray that many students will be converted and grounded in the things of God and that when they are finally scattered all over the country upon graduation, they will equally become witnesses to the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  • Women’s meeting: The monthly women’s meeting for September took place on Saturday the 27th. About 15 women attended. We have taken note that the attendance is drastically affected when the meeting is held just after pay day as many women are up and about doing there monthly buying for their homes. We looked at the topic of ‘love’ how we can identify the genuine from the counterfeit. Many women have fallen prey to the counterfeit and have ended up in questionable relationships. We compared the story of Jacob and Rachel in Genesis 29 to that of Amnon and Tamar in 2 Samuel 13. The one represents true love and the other the counterfeit. Pray that the many women who are entangled in questionable relationships will be assisted to come out of them and find peace in Christ.
  • Mr. and Mrs. Mbembela: This couple has not been to church for a while now. Visited them to try and understand their situation. The man is working awkward hours due to a critical shortage of labor at their work place. The wife, who professed faith recently, claims she’s had problems with transport since they recently moved to a place which is out of town. Looking at possible means of assisting her, including holding mid week bible studies. Pray that the Lord may grant us wisdom to know how best to assist this couple. Pray also for the husband that he also will profess faith in Christ having heard the gospel message many times before.
  • Home bible study: The mid week home bible study at Mrs. Musonda’s home has continued and we are still looking at the subject of afflictions. Having looked at how we ought to respond when we are afflicted, we are now looking at how we can assist those who are afflicted. We are drawing lessons from the accounts of Job and his three friends as well as the account of Lazarus’ death and how Christ went about comforting the sisters. Pray that this study will bear much fruit.
  • Off sick: I have struggled with a stubborn flu in the past week leading to raised temperatures and dizziness. Consequently this has also triggered high sugar levels being diabetic. Do pray for a quick recovery.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Bridgman Update

http://www.church.jp/Sanyo_Meg/

Praise for:


1) For approval to buy land for Sanyo Grace church, the price is being negotiated as I write this
2) For our faithful supporters
3) For record attendance at our special evangelistic service on September 28 (21 attended)
4) For a new video we want to show to the kids that come to our house
5) For how our special speaker on September 28 encouraged our believers and made an impact on the new-comers
6) Many opportunities to witness to kids playing baseball and soccer in the park, and older folks in ground golf club
7) Mrs. Michihiro, Mrs. Yamada, Mrs. Kishimoto and Mr. Taniguchi seekers coming to church (pray for salvation)
8) Jeffrey and Kevin have started back to school and continue to do well
9) Paul is getting to know the members of the neighborhood committee more - pray for good outreach to them (none of them are Christians, yet)
10) 6 ladies (including Mrs. Yamada) are continuing to study the Bible in English with Violette

Pray for:

1) Pray for the salvation of the ladies who are studying the Bible in English with Violette
2) Mr. Igarashi, a Christian businessman, asks for healing and salvation for his son who has cancer (His son isn't baptized yet, but recently prayed to Jesus)
3) Mrs. Omura asks for continued prayer for health and her daughter's special needs(We haven't seen her during the summer)
4) Dr. and Mrs. Yoshii are seeking the Lord about when they should wrap up their medical practice, so they can have more time for ministry
5) For the kids Paul has contact with during the week ( parks and parties at the house) to be spiritually open
6) For new members in Violette's English Bible class on Sunday morning to stay for church in Japanese
7) For Mrs. Watanabe to choose to get baptized soon and Her daughter's salvation (She hasn't been able to attend church recently because of health)
8) Financial provision for Sanyo Church as we look forward to building a building (Pray for the remaining financial goal of $150,000 to be met)
9) Mrs. Omori continues to miss church because of bad health, pray for healing
10) More English students and friends who are seeking the Lord
11) For Paul as he fills the role of the chairman for the Japanese neighborhood organization (Cho nai kai)
12) For Mr. Hamada who has returned from the US, and has no job
13) Our financial support to continue to improve (also special needs for Kevin's educational expenses)
14) For Miss Ishihara to be faithful in attending church and to keep growing spiritually
15) For Paul as he is the special speaker at another church on October 19th, to encourage the believers there in personal evangelism
16) Spiritual growth and unity of the believers at Sanyo Church as we develop a vision for growth that includes purchasing land and building and calling a pastor
17) That Miss Kubo (came with her mother to special meetings!)and Mrs. Demura (never seems to be able to come)would be free from family obligations to come to church
18) The Lord's provision of missionaries or Japanese pastor for Sanyo Grace Church during our home assignment starting July 2009
19) For Reed Daigal, Allen Lungren, and Mr. Kennedy, three native English speakers who come to prayer meeting and have Japanese wives (They are believers, but we are not sure of their wives faith)

Thanks for praying

Walker Update 10/2/08

Dear Friends,

We stepped off the plane in Papua, and it looked like ‘home’, but it didn’t feel like home.  We were in our house a couple times to get some things, but someone else is renting it.  So we stayed with friends.  We only had a visa for 30 days, so we couldn’t stay.  A weird and not so wonderful feeling.

The next day we flew up to Wamena, the town in the mountains near where Heidi and family live.  We had a rich time with family, teaching, and exploring options for future service. 

For three weeks we taught the teachers and students of Netaiken College, the school  that Heidi and Scotty work with.  Over meals we got to hear some of the students’ stories.

Yani was planning to leave his home in the mountains and attend the state university on the coast.   He had four pigs ready to sell that would finance his education.  Then they all died, and his dreams were dashed.  So he went to the top of a hill for three days and prayed with fasting. When he got home he found an envelope full of money that someone had slipped under his door.  (He still doesn’t know who.)   Then his uncle, a pastor, gave him the rest of the money he needed for his first semester at Netaiken.  (This $110 just covers room and board).

Yani  is happy with the English he has learned at Netaiken.  But he said, “I’ve learned  so much more.  I have learned that Jesus carries my sins.  I can’t carry them myself.” 

We had been asked to teach on  Unity for the Netaiken staff retreat.  So for three mornings we taught parts of the Come TOGETHER through Conflict course.  PRAY that they will apply the Scriptures to the way they relate to each other, especially in the inevitable conflicts that come when working together cross-culturally.

Jean listened to Vivian, the wife of one of the leaders, who was struggling with forgiving someone who had hurt her deeply.  In the evening fellowship time she shared how she was now ready to forgive.  I know God was happy to hear that.

After the staff retreat, we took an adventure truck ride around the mountain to the campus where Heidi’s family live.  (At Disneyland in the 60’s that kind of ride cost an ‘E’ ticket. But with the baby barfing in the back seat, we should have gotten a discount.) 

First we taught the 16 Papuan students on handling conflicts.  After we talked about the need to confess our sins to God and each other, Freddy wanted to apply that principle right away.  After class, he asked me to hear his confession and pray with him.  What a privilege to listen to him and affirm God’s forgiveness!

Then 10 American EduVenture students arrived.  To help them form a learning team for the semester, we taught some ‘multicultural teaming’ modules. Papuans and Americans were paired up as roommates and study partners.  We’ve heard good reports that they are growing a lot as they live and learn together.

Before we left Papua, Netaiken and another Christian college asked us to come back and help them in the area of staff development and member care.  One leader said, “We want you to be like pastors to our teachers.”  I would love to help their teachers grow as followers of Jesus and as teachers and disciple-makers of their students.  Jean would like to come alongside staff and students to listen, pray with them and help them find greater freedom in Christ.

These relationships and experiences have touched us deeply, and we would like to go back.  Being able to spend more time with family - love those grandkids J – certainly adds to the tug on our hearts to go back to Papua.

Bouncing around Asia this year without a visa to live in Indonesia, we have been asking ourselves, “What will we do next year?”  We’ll meet with our supervisor on October 13 to consider the options together and seek God’s guidance.   These include:

1) Continue to develop courses to equip national and foreign missionaries throughout Asia.  This is something I find very satisfying and can see some of the impact we are having.  Now that Jean is teaching with me, it’s more fun than ever.

2) Jean has opportunities to expand her role in member care.  She really has a heart for coming alongside individuals. I would like to help her on the training side of this role.

3) One thing that touched our hearts is the crying need to provide quality Christian education for Papua’s young people. Serving with Netaiken has the potential to touch thousands of children’s lives for Christ across Papua. 

Many of the  Netaiken students came out of high school with only a 4th grade education.  That is typical of the education system in Papua. They learn English more easily than the ‘basic’ subjects.

One thing we did to help last month was teach 16 Netaiken teachers about ‘learning styles’.  Then they turned around and taught the new students about their learning styles and how to use them to improve their learning.  A NEW IDEA for them was, “You are your teacher.  So take responsibility for your own learning, and you will learn.” 

I am excited about the vision Netaiken has and would love to help build up their teachers.
Before we left Papua, the Netaiken director took us to a piece of land overlooking mile-high Wamena, the main town in the area.  “This is where we will build our new campus, kindergarten through college,”  he said.  “We plan to start primary schools in the villages with Netaiken alumni as teachers.”  Please PRAY for the funds they need to build this campus,  which they need in order to expand their ministry and keep their accreditation.

4) There is a big need to train Papuans to translate the Bible into their own languages.   They need ongoing training, encouragement, and a support system to be successful.  This Mother Tongue Translator approach could reach dozens of language groups with God’s Word.  Helping in this program is another possibility for us.

“Why are we asking these questions about the future?” you may be wondering.  As you recall, in February we accepted an invitation to serve in Bangladesh while we waited for our visa for Indonesia. As the months rolled by, we began to hear from our leaders that we can’t get visas like we used to. We will need to find a local organization to sponsor us in order to get a visa to live and serve in Indonesia.

The changes and uncertainty about the future have been stressful, not just for us, but for many of our colleagues. Fortunately,  our God is not changing.  And we are just beginning to see how wonderful our Daddy is.  So we praise him that our trials help us to depend on him more than ever.

Pray with us as we carry out these plans:
October -  Philippines -  teaching and meetings
November 1-18 – Bangladesh – coach the new Learning that LASTS teaching team
Nov 19-23: LA -  visiting friends
Nov 24- end of Jan – AZ – preparing training materials and enjoying family.

Then back to Asia as the Lord directs.

Thanks for standing with us as we learn to hang on tight to God’s promises.  This summer marks 35 years with Wycliffe, and we are so thankful for all of you.  Amazingly some of you have stood with us for most of those 35 years. 

Blessings,

Roland (and for Jeannie, too)

IFO Update - 10/3/08

BCLR Family --- I thought you might like this!
But first, I want to thank my sweet BCLR family for all your kindness and “overwhelming generosity” shown during the IFO picnic.  You guys amaze me.  There are few people who know how to serve like you do.  One of the many blessings that I personally have is my “extended church family”.  Thank you for loving me, and serving with me, to reach the world for Christ --- as the world comes to Little Rock.

Okay, I wanted to share this with you.  I’ve been thinking about it all week and thought I should pass it on to you.
Last week I used a statement from Barry’s Wingfield’s sermon (one of my Cornerstone pastors) at Conversation Club on Monday night.
Barry quoted a Gallop Poll about American being the loneliness people in the world.
I wrote it into a question to be discussed with the internationals on Monday night.

Question:
A Gallop Poll said that Americans are the loneliest people in the world.
Americans…Do you feel this is true?  Why or why not? 
Internationals….What about your country?  Do you feel that people within you your culture are generally lonely?   Why or why not?

One of the Iraqi’s answered:
In Iraq, each home is responsible for this neighbors…7 houses to the right of him and 7 houses to the left, WHATEVER THE NEED! In doing so, each family is cared for by another.  Therefore, loneliness is not a problem in Iraq.

Now that’s practicing “loving your neighbor as yourself”!  I don’t know about you, but I want to practice what I preach!!!

One more thing: 
We have 2 more weeks of Conversation Club this semester.  We meet on Monday nights, 6Pm at MetroBCM on the UALR campus.  We would love for you to join us.  We would love for you to come, eat, and join in some good discussions.  Here are the discussion questions for this week.  Come if you can.

Conversation Questions:

Tell us about one of the best decisions you’ve made in your life.
Talk about something that you would like to pass down to the next generation.
Talk about something that recently made you happy.
If you had one month to do anything you wanted to do, and cost wouldn’t be a factor, what would you do?
What do you do when you need to relax?
What activity makes you feel the most alive?
Tell about a change that brought a new chapter in your life.
Can you name one way that people from different cultures can understand and respect each other better?
Most Americans know something about the 10 Commandments from the Bible.

Most Americans, however, cannot tell you what they are.  Look over the list below and for discussion…..Share some of your thoughts?
(Remember, Cclub guidelines allow you to pass on questions that are uncomfortable----no problem).
 
10 Commandments, Exodus Chapter 20 --- God’s Standards

1.  You shall have no other gods before Me.
2.  You shall not make for yourself a carved image-any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
3.  You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
4.  Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5.  Honor your father and your mother.
6.  You shall not murder.
7.  You shall not commit adultery.
8.  You shall not steal.
9.  You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10.  You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.  


Serving them for Him – with you,
LaJuana

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Central Baptist Church of Mazabuka 9/24/08

Bi-Weekly Prayer Report for the period 8th to 21st Sept 2008

  • ZIAH: The students at this agricultural college had gone on recess and they recently reopened. They have a new intake of first year students. Their Christian Fellowship invited us to go and speak to the new students. About 45 students attended the meeting. We spoke to them from Daniel chapter one on the theme of the resolution that Daniel and his counterparts made. We tried to show them that these 4 young men were equally students in the king’s college. Like all students they faced pressures and challenges which required a firm and unwavering commitment in God for them to face. Because of their faith in God, they triumphed and they became an evangelistic witness to all around. Do pray for the students at this college especially for the first years so that they make the right decisions. Pray that instead of behaving like the prodigal son, many should find a living relationship with Christ.
  • Sheba: We have continued counseling sessions with Sheba. We pointed out to her that she needed to be in a good church where her soul would be fed if she was to experience a speedy recovery. It was good to see her show up at church last Sunday. Continue to pray for her especially as she needs to make critical decisions with regards to marriage and careers.
  • Merit Muposhi: Merit has been staying with a man who abandoned his wife and family a couple of years ago. But as she has listened to God’s word and more especially our series in John 4 looking at the Samaritan women, she has come under increasing conviction. She requested to see the pastor and she explained that she has now believed in Christ but wondered if God would forgive her for ‘grabbing’ another woman’s husband. She went on to explain that she does not want to stay with a married man and wondered whether she should leave him until he finalises the divorce with his legitimate wife. We need God’s wisdom to handle this matter because there are two possibilities. Either she is trying to use scripture to put pressure on the man to quicken up the divorce process so that she can ‘legally’ become his wife, or she has genuinely come under conviction of sin. Complex and crafty as human beings can be, do pray with us that we might know discernment concerning this matter. Pray for her man friend, Ivan who professes to be a Christian but has been living in sin that he should come under conviction and repent. He diligently comes to church.
  • Women’s meeting: The monthly women’s meeting for September is scheduled for this weekend. Having tackled a medical topic last month, we hope to tackle an evangelistic topic this Saturday to challenge the women to faith in Christ. Pray that the Lord will grant us the right message for this occasion. Pray that many will respond positively to our invitation to attend this meeting. Pray that the attendees will not only hear the word but that many will be converted.