Sunday, March 30, 2008

Hefner - March 29, 2008

Dear praying friends,
 
This is the last update you will receive before this phase of the teaching is complete.  We’ll send another update to you all at the conclusion.  
 
Our teaching schedule is as follows:
 
Saturday:  Rich man and Lasarus
Sunday:  Blind Bartimaeus and triumphal entry
Monday:  The last supper
Wednesday:  Betrayal and trial
Thursday:  Crucifixion
Saturday:  Resurrection
Sunday:  Great commission and ascention
Monday: Concluding lesson
 
You can see from the teaching schedule that we are coming to the climax of the story, how Jesus, God in the flesh, would actually die as a result of man’s sin.  But as we all just celebrated last Sunday, death and sin could not hold him.  He rose again!  There is hope. 


Man can be reconciled to God.  He can have fellowship with the holy God.  All of this because of Christ.  Pray that our friends would see the glory of God through the testimony of His Word about who he is and what he has done.  
 
Our hope rests in God alone.  My speaking ability is far from perfect.  My lessons leave much to be desired.  This is why we all must pray that his Holy Spirit would use God’s word to penetrate dark and hardened hearts with the glorious light of the gospel.
 
We love you all and appreciate you standing with us.
 
For the King,
Aaron 

Walkers - March 27, 2008

Hi,

We just returned from a wonderful 5 days at a mission hospital out in the country. 45 acre wooded campus overlooking rice paddies and winding rivers. Just what we needed for a rest and seeking God. We read some books about God's work in Bangladesh and it stirred me up to think more about going back to Namatota. Please PRAY for wisdom as we consider the future. Also for visas.

Going back to Dhaka (capital of Bangladesh where we are living) was difficult to take. I felt kind of depressed going back to the big, congested and polluted city. Also we moved into a hotel and just have a small room, after having a good sized apartment before. A new apartment was rented for us. PRAY that they can renovate and equip it soon so that we can move in early in April. I'm so thankful that Jeannie is a stable, content and flexible woman. In these times of change and stress, she is a great encouragement to me.

PRAY for final preparation for the Learning that LASTS workshop next week. So much of this course is in my head (having taught in > 30 times) that I have not written down, that it is a challenge for the interns. All of the participants and 3 of 4 interns speak English as a second or third language. This will be a big challenge for all of us. PRAY that we will experience unity and work together with one mind and heart.

Blessings,

Roland

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Panjwani

There is another development that has taken place in Madhipura in the past month or so which is matter for much prayer. The hospital conducted a free eye camp in the month of January. An eye surgeon was called from another EHA hospital for the cataract operations. They operated 165 cataracts over 3 days. A few days later 8 of them became infected. The patients then went to the government authorities to complain against the hospital.


The whole report has been published against the hospital in the newspapers with exaggerated numbers. The State assembly has ordered an enquiry into the matter. Everyday one government official or the other comes asking for a report of the situation. Today the commissioner is visiting the hospital to look into the matter.


Dr Jachin is the only doctor right now and is trying to field all the questions and reports alone. I request prayer for her, and me as I return to this tense situation.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Mack - 3-17-08

One of the particular requests I will pass on to you is a prayer request that God would raise up people who will contribute to a scholarship fund. This year we provided free tuition as well as transportation funds for some students who could not even afford the low cost of our tuition. We will have to do the same in the future.
 
For example, there is a godly, dedicated colored pastor who pastors a church in one of the poorest settlements (squatters camps) in the Capetown area who would love to come, but cannot unless we can provide free tuition and transportation expenses. He represents other black and colored pastors who live on very little and barely make it just to provide meager food and lodging. But they are dedicated and want more training. Please pray for this need.
 
This is especially important at this time in that many of the rather affluent professing Christian white people who have and can provide funds are making plans to immigrate out of the country to Australia or New Zealand or England because of the dangerous economic and safety situation which seems to be occurring here. Talk of and plans for immigration fostered by fear is a very prevalent, even dominating topic among white people here. If this continues to happen we will face increasing financial pressures at GSM. We must reach out to and train the black and colored pastors here.

Hefner - 3-15-08

Dear praying friends,
 
If you go outside at night and look at the moon you will see how much longer we have in this first phase the teaching.  I requested that folks come to the teaching for 5 days a week for 3 months/ moons.  We are into the 3rd moon now so the end is approaching.  Before the next moon appears, I promised the people that this first section of teaching would be done.  
 
We continue to request your prayers as we are coming to the conclusion of the gospel message.  
 
Our teaching schedule is as follows.
 
Saturday:  Jesus heals the paralytic, “I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
Sunday:  conflict with pharisees, Jesus healing people, calling disciples
Monday:  Parable of the sower
Wednesday:  Jesus’ calms the sea, heals the demoniac
Thursday:  Jesus feeds the 5000
 
I have resumed reviewing rough drafted lessons with two men, Wiye and Burame.  In asking them questions after each session it is evident that they are understanding their personal need for Christ’s offer of salvation and their own inability to save themselves.  We have not actually covered Christ death, burial, and resurrection yet, but they know from what Jesus and the prophets have said that Jesus must die in order to save sinners.   Please be praying that these issues will become more and more clear as we go over those events.
 
In one interesting exchange after a lesson in which we covered Jesus’ statement “the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” we discussed why Jesus had to give his life for his sheep – in order to pay the penalty for sin.  We talked about how our good works would not take away our sin – the natural Dialonke way of thinking.  These good works include the fasting and praying that other religions proport to possibly take away sin.  Burame then asked, “Well, Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness.  So when we believe on him and he becomes our substitute, then we no longer have to fast, b/c he has fasted for us?”  
 
In essence Burame was talking about imputed righteousness – Christ fulfilling the law on our behalf – something I don’t want to discourage, but unfortunately he had the wrong law in his thinking – Islamic law.  So, how do you answer that? I thought for a moment and silently prayed to the Lord for wisdom.  Being that the point of the lesson is that Jesus saves us from our sin – not how we are made righteous in God’s sight, I reminded him that Jesus sacrifice – his death – was on our behalf, in order to in John the Baptists words, “takes away the sin of the world”.  Christ’s sacrifice of himself was a holy one, on our behalf, and he died to take our sins.  Then I made a mental note that fasting and praying are going to need some more treatment in the teaching.
 
Whether I responded appropriately or not is up to debate. Probably not – I constantly fall short of being a good missionary.  This is why I constantly ask you to pray.  We need God’s help.
 
This conversation also underscores the difficulty of working in a context where an incorrect understanding of “God” and “God’s word” have already been taught and received.  We are seeking to replace bad thinking/ teaching with good, biblical thinking, but this change does not occur overnight.  We need wisdom in how to teach God’s word to confront these wrong beliefs and the spirit of God to bear witness with their spirit that these things are true.  
 
For the King,
Aaron

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Mack - March 9,2008

Dear Friends and partners in Ministry,

This has been a great week at Grace School of Ministry in that we have finished and graduated the students you'll see in these photos after two years of intensive training in Biblical Counseling. Your prayers and financial support have been a vital part of this ministry.  To God be the glory great things He has done and is doing to and through the students of GSM.

My heart is full of praise for what God has done to and through the students at GSM. To God be the glory. And to top it all off, just this morning we had one of our students, a black brother pastor from Zambia preach at Grace Fellowship Church. He preached with biblical accuracy, power, clarity, skill, and controlled enthusiasm and with great application in our church, which is largely a white congregation. No white pastor could have done a better job. What a thrill to have black brothers who can handle God's word so effectively. There is hope for the church in Africa if God will be pleased to raise up more men like this dear man who can counsel and preach as well as he. What a searching, helpful message he preached.

Anyway, give God praise. Please pray for GSM. We already have more applications at this time for the next two-year course that begins in October than we did two years ago at the same time. Some of these applications are coming from people in African and outside of Africa countries that were not represented in the student body we had from October 2006 until March of 2008.

One of the particular requests I will pass on to you is a prayer request that God would raise up people who will contribute to a scholarship fund. This year we provided free tuition as well as transportation funds for some students who could not even afford the low cost of our tuition. We will have to do the same in the future. For example, there is a godly, dedicated colored pastor who pastors a church in one of the poorest settlements (squatters camps) in the Cape Town area who would love to come, but cannot unless we can provide free tuition and transportation expenses. He represents other black and colored pastors who live on very little and barely make it just to provide meager food and lodging. But they are dedicated and want more training. Please pray for this need.

This is especially important at this time in that many of the rather affluent professing Christian white people who have and can provide funds are making plans to immigrate out of the country to Australia or New Zealand or England because of the dangerous economic and safety situation which seems to be occurring here. Talk of and plans for immigration fostered by fear is a very prevalent, even dominating topic among white people here. If this continues to happen we will face increasing financial pressures at GSM. We must reach out to and train the black and colored pastors here. 


Every blessing in Christ,

Wayne and Carol

Hefner - March 8,2008

Dear praying friends,

We are now entering the final month the teaching program.  We have introduced Jesus Christ and the nature of the work through the prophecies of the OT, the words that the angels spoke to Zacharias, Mary and Joseph, and Zacharias’ prophecy.  We are excited to now begin sharing about the ministry and message of John the Baptist and Jesus.  
 

Our teaching schedule is as follows:

 Saturday: John the Baptist’s message of repentance

Sunday:  The baptism of Jesus and John the Baptist’s teaching about Jesus

Monday: The temptation of Jesus in the wilderness

Wednesday:  Jesus’ ministry begins

Thursday:  John 3

Please continue to pray that we will communicate effectively the critical truths related to Christ and his ministry. Pray that God would be merciful and open blind eyes so that they may see the light of the glory of the gospel of Christ.

We thank you for your prayers for our health.  We have not experienced any major illness during this time.


For the King,

Aaron

Solis - March 6, 2008

March 6, 2008 

Dear Christian Friends,

     The work here continues.  We had a fellowship meeting and baptismal service on Sunday night here in Jerez.  The La Ermita group attended too J!  The church in La Ermita meets 3 times a week and the church here meets 3 times a week, with a joint youth meeting on Saturday nights.  On Wednesday there is a home meeting.

  Jose continues to try to do his radio programs.  Recently the computer had a problem and was down for 3 weeks. Jose was frustrated, but PTL it is working again…and so is he!

     We appreciate your prayers and support.  We would especially request prayer for health for us and our family, and for church growth and a special Easter.

     The Lord is coming soon and we need to be ready!

In Christ

Jose and Jan Solis

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Dinesh & Shannon Panjwani

A doctor to join us.

Gloria Carlson. The nurse from Minnesota who just underwent a surgery on her foot.

Anna Grace’s growth physically

Pray for travels and settling in as we go back to Madhipura

Salvation of Dinesh’s parents. For our time with them in Mumbai

That we would learn to love and sacrifice for the believers in Madhipura by giving of
ourselves, time and resources

A like minded pastor and wife to join our ministry team

Sarah Ray who will be travelling with us to Madhipura for four weeks

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Hefner - The Dialonke are now the Jalunga

No, we didn’t start working with a new people group!  We’re still in the same place, working with the same people.  The language was recently codified (declared an official language) and the pronunciation and spelling of the tribal name was changed.  In future newsletters we will refer to the people and the language as “Jalunga” (juh-LOON-gun).

Hefner - Praise & Prayer

First and foremost we are praising God for His Word, which knows no language or cultural bounds and is presently being taught to our friends here in Madina Bafé.  Please pray that the “living and active Word” (Hebrews 4:12) would penetrate their hearts, that they would see their need for Christ as Savior, and that they would turn from their sin and embrace God’s Truth.

We are thankful that Lindsay’s tooth is in “remission” right now.  After nearly two months of continual pain/ discomfort, she is experiencing some relief.  We know that this is due to the prayers of you at home.  Thank you!  At this time, we are planning on waiting until after the teaching is done to have her tooth worked on.  Please pray that this would be possible (i.e., that it wouldn’t become infected/abscessed or the pain make the waiting unbearable). 

“The Battle of the Colds” – that’s what we’ve been fighting lately!  Even with good sleep, vitamins and a good diet we just can’t seem to fight off the germs that are running rampant in the village.  Please pray for patience during this season of illness and for the Lord’s protection, especially over Elijah and Lenaya.

Please pray for Aaron as he writes Bible lessons, reviews them with his helpers, prepares for the evening Bible teaching, and spends time with people in the village.  Pray for physical strength and health, mental sharpness, and wisdom. 

Pray for us as a team – for unity in decisions, open communication, and consideration and encouragement of each other.

Pray for us as a family – that our marriage will be unified, strong, and focused on the Lord, that we would raise Elijah and Lenaya according to the Word and not neglect them or be inconsistent during this busy time, and that we would be flexible and considerate of one another. 

Hefner Update - March 1, 2008

Dear praying friends, 

This week we will reach the halfway point of our evangelistic teaching in Madina Bafe.  We thank you for your faithful prayers on our behalf.  They are having an effect.  One of our major goals during the first half of the teaching is to communicate the truth that all men are sinners and therefore separated from God.  In judging from feedback we have received, this point is being communicated.  Whether or not it is believed is up to the hearer, but they are understanding this important truth that is contradictory to their former beliefs about the nature of man.

One man asked me the other day, "Is there medicine for my sin?"  I replied that there was indeed "medicine" for his sin and that we are going to be talking about the remedy in the future.

He looked at me with disbelief and said, "I've never heard of this before."

I simply smiled and said, "That is why I said at the beginning that this is an important talk.  You haven't heard this talk before and you need to keep coming to hear all of it."

The religion they are presently practicing does not have a "medicine for sin".   There is no remedy available, only the feeble line, "do good works, fast and pray, and maybe God will accept you."  But as people compare their daily lives against the holiness of God as revealed in his Law there is no hope to be found in such reasoning.  Christ is the only hope.  And fortunately we get to teach about his birth this week.  Please be praying that they would see in the coming weeks, "the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ."

Our teaching schedule is as follows:

Saturday (3/1): the message of the prophets concerning the Messiah

Sunday: Luke 1

Monday: the birth of John the Baptist

Wednesday: The angel appears to Joseph, birth of Christ

Thursday:  Jesus' childhood

 

For the King,

Aaron Hefner

Bridgman Prayer Update - March 2008

Bridgman Prayer Update March 2008 

Praise for:

1) For good church attendance during February

2) Prayer meetings on Tuesday; we are studying th the book of Hebrews

3) Kevin has recovered from his bout with Stevens-Johnsons Syndrome (Thanks for all you or prayers!)

4) Church members are encouraging each other to pray for land and building

5) We are planning a kids program for Easter

6) Many opportunities to witness to kids playing baseball and soccer in the park, and older folks in round golf club

7) Mr. Taniguchi still comes to church. Miss Ishihara has accepted Christ

8) New English students and some returning


Pray for:

 1) Good follow up of those who have started coming to our fellowship recently

2) Mr. Igarashi, a Christian businessman, asks for healing and salvation for his son who has cancer

3) Mrs. Omura asks for continued prayer for health and her daughter's special needs

4)Dr. and Mrs. Yoshii want to start a ministry of evangelism and counseling with their patients  

5) A guest speaker (Rev. Akiyama) who will be coming to our prayer meeting on March 11th.

6) Our missionary Spring Prayer conference on March 16-18.

7) For Mrs. Watanabe to choose to get baptized soon and Her daughter's salvation

8) Financial provision for Sanyo Church as we look forward to purchasing land and building a building (Pray for the financial goal of $300,000 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 assumes the role of the chairman for the Japanese neighborhood organization (Cho nai kai)

12) Us to be sensitive to the Lord's leading particularly about extending our term in Japan to summer of 2009

13) Our financial support to continue to improve (also special needs for Kevin's educational expenses)

14) For our evangelistic meetings planned this Spring (fellowship evenings at our home, cooking classes, and an evangelistic concert, kids Easter program)

15) The planning of effective evangelistic events for all of  2008 ( We will have a nationally known Christian special speaker next September)

16) Spiritual growth and unity of the believers at Sanyo Church as we develop a vision for growth that includes purchasing land and building

17) That Miss Kubo and Mrs. Demura would be free from family obligations to come to church again