Archive - White Fields

November 2021

Village 1

Our ministries and visits continue with refugee families and local families. We are doing follow-up with them and Bible studies.

We are visiting the families in the camps and talking with them about Christ and his miracles. We pray for them and their sicknesses and needs.

Village 2

We are visiting refugee families and sharing various verses from the Bible and praying with them.

As we were sharing with them about the love of Christ and prayer in his name, one of the sons of the family began to ask questions and compare religions. He was trying to convince us that Islam is the truth, but we engaged in discussion with him and even showed verses from his own book. He began to understand the mistakes in his book. He did not get angry at all during this discussion but rather began to think logically about the matters.

Pray for this young man and an open door for the Gospel.

Village 3

We are continuing to visit families and do follow-up by offering Bible studies with them. There are several topics we have shared and studied together. As a result, we are noticing spiritual growth.

Our meetings have been rich in prayer for various topics and people outside of their families.

Please pray for the family in whose house we gather.

There are people outside who are asking about us and why we visit them. They are asking why we talk about Jesus. There is pressure on this host family from their relatives and neighbors.

Village 4

We are visiting new families in the neighborhood and have engaged in conversations with them. Several of these families have invited us to visit them again. My wife and I have visited several women and are following up with them as well.

We are visiting local and refugee families in this village and another village about forty-five minutes away.

Local House Visits

We are visiting local and ‘traditional Christian’ refugee families and engaging them in conversation about faith and clarifying various matters that are not clear to them concerning faith versus tradition and intercession (not Mary, but Jesus alone). We are organizing house meetings with one of the families. Many of them are not born-again believers. Some of them have a simple faith in Christ, but it is still cluttered with confusion about Mary, saints, etc. from their traditional background.

We began to gather with a family that we had visited previously in the hospital. We spoke with them concerning many matters and are organizing discipleship lessons every week in their house. Currently we are following-up with the husband over the phone with Bible verses and encouragement while he is sick. Pray for healing for this man.

We visited a refugee family in the local town and spoke with them about Christ and prayer because their daughter is sick. Pray for healing for their daughter.

Prayer requests

Pray for the families that are facing persecution from relatives and friends because of their faith.
Pray for all the families that God would supply for their needs.
Pray for the continuation of the ministry.
Pray for the new family in the town where our church is.
Pray for more open doors for preaching in each area.
Pray for the ‘traditional Christian’ refugee families and for God to supply for their needs for healing and to be able to travel.
Pray for the traditional local families that the Lord would open their hearts and minds.
Pray for me and for my family.
Pray for our vehicle as we depend on it and are seeing it continue to be less reliable.
Pray for the Lord to provide the tuition fees for children’s school.

As we pray for you all and for your families, we pray that He would bless you and keep you in the name of the Lord Jesus.

October 2021

This has been a wonderful season of ministry, thank you so much for your continual support.

Village 1

Our ministry and our visits continue with the refugee families and the local families. Our follow-up consists of discipling them and reading passages of the Bible and discussing the passages. We want to share with you how happy they are in their faith. They are grateful for having peace and knowledge of the Lord and especially in seeing Him answer their prayers.

Open Door

Recently between visits, we met some children on the road, and they invited us to visit their tents. We accompanied to children to their homes and got to know their families. We shared our faith with them, and they invited us to visit them again.

Village 2

We visited refugee families and were able to take care of some of their clothing needs. We shared Bible verses with them, and we prayed for them. Please pray that the seed of the Gospel would take root in their hearts.

Big step

While visiting one of the families with whom we have had many discussions and comparisons between Christianity and Islam, the head of the family confessed that Christ is God! He discussed a passage in the Quran where it calls Christ the ‘Word of God’. Then, he asked us to read from the Bible where Christ is truly taught as being the eternal Word of God.

Pray for this man and his understanding of the gospel.

Village 3

We continue with visits to the families, and we continue studies with them. We talked about many topics and subjects from the Bible, and we rejoiced to see their joy and their revived thirst for the Word of the Lord. The family is still full of joy because of their recent baptism.

Training

These families insist on intense meetings and they last for a very long time! This desire is because of their love for meeting together and their love for the lessons. They are eager to be taught more how to share the Gospel with others.

Village 4

We continue with visits and follow-up as we read, pray, and provide for spiritual and physical needs. We pray for them, that they will be able to express their joy and their peace in Jesus Christ, and that they will set aside times for reading, prayer, and sharing the Word of the Lord Jesus with their friends and family.

Open Door

We recently got to know a new family in this village, and we were able to meet with them and talk about the truth. They have invited us to visit again.

Local House Visits in two cities

We continue meeting with people from the majority religion, and we are sharing many topics with those who are willing to talk when we find them open. We have also been able to invite some of them into our home recently.

In conjunction with our local church

We visit local families and discuss our faith with them as we clarify various matters that are not clear to them about the faith and the true intercession (Christ, not Mary), and we have arranged for several house meetings with one of the families.

Challenge

We were recently kicked out of one of the families’ homes. A man shouted at us in anger and threatened us because we were clarifying doctrine and not going along with them about ‘traditional’ doctrines concerning intercession. Many of them believe that they must pray to Mary and the ‘saints.’

Prayer Requests

Pray for the families that are being exposed to trouble from their families and friends for their faith.
Pray for the refugee families and for provision for their needs concerning health and their requests to travel to countries where they will be allowed to work.
Pray for the ‘traditional’ local families that the Lord will open their hearts and minds.

September 2021

By the grace of God, we continue to see the group in the city grow in knowledge and numbers. A family of six was baptized! Praise God for this amazing work in their lives. We weekly visit families in the village to the east. These are mostly refugee families that invite us into their homes and tents. We have the opportunity to open the Bible with them every time we visit. The village to the north remains very dark spiritually. In the past there have only been a few families that received us, but recently there was a new family that welcomed our visit. Previously the inhabitants of this village have been more hostile to Gospel advancing efforts.

We continue to serve in the home visitation ministry from the mother church. We usually visit families that come from a Christian background and encourage them to come to church and make every effort to assist them in their understanding of the true Gospel. Many we meet do not seem to be born again Christians, but they believe they are in good standing with God based on the rituals and customs they perform from Catholic and Orthodox traditions. There are also majority background people in the nearby villages of our church that we want to follow up with from previous visits.

Pray the baptized family of six would continue to grow and be firm in their faith.
Pray that the light would shine in the village to the north.
Pray for open doors with the families we visit weekly.
Pray the families following Catholic and Orthodox traditions would understand the assurance of our salvation in Christ alone by faith alone.
Pray always for my family and our physical needs. We are all in good health and the kids are back in school (in person!).
Pray for wisdom as we seek to find the right balance caring for our kids and serving in ministry.

Summer 2021

My wife and I continue to do house visits to the same believing families and a few non-believing families in the villages to the East and the North. A few new families from the majority faith are asking questions and desire us to visit them and share our message. They all have many spiritual and physical needs. These non-believing families have many of the same questions, and we continue to answer their specific questions more in-depth. Pray that these conversations will produce fruit in their lives.

We have focused more of our time and energy on the families in a neighborhood in our city. This neighborhood is the same area that we have recently baptized one of the families. God is doing fantastic work in the extended family, and they are eager to learn more about Jesus. Another family is also close to baptism. Word spread among their friends, which resulted in an invitation to minister to another house in the neighborhood.

Pray for these new families to also come to faith.
Pray for the believers who desire to proclaim their faith through baptism.

One of the believing families in another area is experiencing push-back and minor persecution from their extended family members because they learned of their new faith in the Lord. This family has not yet been baptized, but that event will be a big step and might cause even more persecution when they are.

Pray for this family to be strong in the Lord and for the extended family to come to faith.

We are excited to update you that we have other church leaders in support of our ministry. It has been a long time we had this kind of support; we are incredibly grateful and hope that God will use the church and us to mutually benefit one another for fellowship and edification in the work of evangelism for the church.

Pray for our continued protection and provision as a family in this ministry.
Pray for God’s wisdom and strength in our interactions with others.

Fall/Winter 2020

After the government eased restrictions and opened things up again, we wanted to continue to be careful about visiting people. We were surprised that virtually all of our contacts in the village to the East wanted us to continue coming to share the good news with them. We answered questions about the Bible and how God is at work through the virus.

The village to the North used to pose the greatest challenges to the ministry, but we have recently been able to serve some of the families there. We praise God that even during this time of difficulty in meeting people, we have been able to continue in the work.

There was a lot of progress in one of the areas in the city. We had started working here last year before the virus. Soon after the government restrictions were loosened, we were able to meet with these families again. Quite soon after that reuniting, we got to lead an entire family to be baptized the same day! We praise God for how good He is to save these people and welcome them as His children. God has give us more families to share the good news in this area.

In another area of the city, one of the believing families has been faithful to reach out to their neighbors and share with them. My wife continues to lead a women’s Bible study in this area. They have a strong and steady number of participants.

Pray for the continued opportunities to converse with one man who is the elder of the majority religion here. I was able to share many truths from the Bible with him and he is more open than any other elder I have met before now.
Pray for provision for my family during this time.
Pray for good health and protection.

Spring/ Summer 2020

We now have weekly or semi-weekly meetings in six different places; two of these meetings are in villages over two hours away in opposite directions. We thank God for the influence that He has given us among these people. We desire that God will produce among them leaders that I can develop to share the needs of this ministry.

We are encouraged by opportunities to meet new families as well. Some of the groups of believers are beginning to function as a church. Watching these groups develop into churches is one of our greatest desires, and a difficult and challenging process as none of the believers are from a Christian background. Due to this vast difference in backgrounds, thoughts, and reactions, it is stressful for them to be public about their beliefs or connect as a group. We praise God for their spiritual growth as they learn from His Word.

Pray for God’s grace to draw them together into one body.
Pray these groups would grow in number and spiritual development.

Last month we met a new family in the village to the East, and they have been very eager to know more about Christ and meet with us regularly.

Pray for this new family to come to know Christ and join the fold.
Please continue to pray that we do not grow tired of traveling to many different places for ministry.
Also, pray for the physical needs of this ministry as we conduct this ministry full time from support.

Fall/Winter 2019

We persist in our visits to homes and refugee tents in the village to the East despite persecution from authorities. We have been visiting with one family for a while discussing crucial matters of faith. They are receptive to us and have asked us to visit them as frequently as possible to talk about these issues.

Recently, we went back to visit another family we had not seen in a long time. They are from a village to the north where we had been ministering years ago. However, we received too much persecution to continue there. This family received us well, and we hope for more occasions for fellowship and to encourage them.

The families we visit regularly are still hungry for the gospel, and more knowledge of God’s Word. We thank God for this and pray he will continue to equip us with the ability to minister to them.

Pray for discernment as we continue to meet with many new people. Most of our ministry is to non-believers of the majority religious background, which can be difficult and must be kept quiet.

Pray for more open doors to share the good news.
Pray for wisdom and protection as we minister to the believers and non-believers.
Pray for healing for a sick child in one of the families.
Pray for the physical and spiritual needs of the believers.
Pray for my family and me to have everything that we need and that we would be encouraged in this work.

July/August 2019

Our work in the village to the East has continued despite pressure from the government. One of the members of our groups was brought in for questioning about our meetings. This has caused many from our community to be afraid. Please pray they would take courage in the Lord.

We continue to see the Lord’s faithfulness in our meetings in some of the places around the city. We continually have excellent studies and conversations with the attendees who are already believers or even with those who are still from the majority religion background.

Pray for courage and boldness for the believers as they face pressures from the government.
Pray for peace as they rely on God’s grace and love during times of trial.
Please pray for safety and security for my family

Despite the risks that come from this ministry. We provided refuge for someone who claimed to be a believer and was without a home. She stayed with our family for two weeks, and towards the end of her stay, we learned that she was working for the intelligence and trying to compromise our work. By God’s grace, we were mostly unaﬀected by her eﬀorts, but this was a trying time for us. I sent my wife and kids to stay with my wife’s family in the country north of us, as we waited for these problems to settle. Praise God, nothing has happened to us, or the ministry for now, and my family is back home and safe. We are so thankful to have partners in this work.

We pray for you often, and we thank you for your prayers.

Pray for the protection and comfort of the pastor and his family as they minister.
Pray for wisdom and discernment as they share of God’s love with those around them.

June 2019

We made several visits to the village in the East but have needed to be extra careful about meeting with the believing families in their homes due to security reasons. This has caused our focus to shift more towards the non-believing refugee families that we are frequenting following-up with and to make new contacts. The believing families were able to come to our house for prayer.

We continue to be encouraged by the house meetings that we facilitate in the village south of us in addition to the neighborhood across town. These groups are committed to learning God’s Word on many topics, specifically about who God is and His character. This interest has led us to do a focused study on the divinity of Christ.

Pray for protection for the believing families, including our own, and that we would escape the dangers that are before us because of persecution.
Pray for the family who was recently baptized and moved to a country north of us.
Pray for them to find a healthy church in that place.

Pray specifically for my family. We have been exhausted by the pressures we faced a few weeks ago from some persecution.
Pray for our safety and the feeling of security in this trying time.
Pray that we would trust in the Lord.

May 2019

We are thankful for all the ways God continues to use us in this ministry. We are praying for the family we baptized last month as they are moving to another country north of us.

Please pray with us that they will find a church home in their new area.
Pray for their safety and protection, pray for a church home to support them in their new faith.
Pray for courage as they are facing challenges.

The families of believers that remain in the village to the East are thriving in their faith and opening doors for us to meet others in the community and share with them. The husband in one family that we recently met and shared the good news with became very sick. This man and his wife began to pray and ask God to heal him and forgive them. A week later, the man was healed. They gave God credit and praised Him for this work in their lives. We are thankful that the Lord uses many ways, even trials, to draw people to himself.

Pray for a woman and her family in the east village, they are facing challenges at work.

God opened the door to preach and minister to a group of believers in another part of the city that I had not served in before. We are amazed to see how God chose to use us to further His kingdom and are encouraged by this new field that has just begun. The pocket of families that we meet with continues to grow, and they are accepting the truth more and more. A man who had joined this group was very defensive of his beliefs, but God blessed me with the skill to defend my faith in God in a respectful and honoring way. By the end of our conversation, he was disarmed and convinced by many of the arguments. Pray for him to come to faith in the true God.

Pray for these new families, specifically for the Lord to complete His work in them.
Pray for the man to come to an understanding of the gospel and accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

We visited the group in the village to the south and prayed with them. We studied many difficult passages from the Bible and ministered to their needs.

The family of the woman who was miraculously healed last year has since become great evangelists and continues to grow in their faith. We met with them to study the Bible and had them write down the trust that is difficult for them to understand. This was an excellent exercise for each of them that deepened their faith and caused them to become better learners of the Scripture.

Pray for the believers who are growing in their faith.
Pray for wisdom and discernment as they study the Scriptures and for those who teach to be clear and confident in their words.
Pray for the pastor and his family, for the personal challenges they face ministering in this location.
Pray for their ministry and spiritual lives.

Thank you for your support and partnership in our prayers.

January/ February 2019

In the village to the East, we are excited to report an increased boldness from the believers as they share the good news with others. Pray they would not lose their eagerness to share and that many people will come to Christ.

One of the families in this group are planning to get baptized this month. Praise God for this step of obedience. The son in this family is growing exponentially in his faith and obedience. He is daily studying the Bible with his fiancé and encouraging her in the faith.

Pray for the believers in the village to the East to continue to share their faith boldly.
Pray for the family as they prepare to be baptized. Pray for the son and his fiancé to grow in their faith.

I am consistently meeting with the group in the village to the South. We study the Word together each time, and I’m encouraged by the faithful steadiness from the members in this group. I desire this group to grow together into becoming a church body, committed to God’s Word and to each other.

Pray for the group to continue to persevere and grow in their faith.
Pray for their knowledge of God’s Word to increase through their studies.
Pray for the group to have unity as brothers and sisters in God.

I mentioned a family who saw the power of God through the miraculous healing of a woman’s cancer. This family has been meeting with us frequently to discuss the truth, and their interest has grown more each time. The husband and his relatives keep asking me to come back again and share more with them. They desire us to start a meeting with each that meets weekly. Some of the family have professed belief in Jesus Christ, and others are very close. We are encouraged by this and expect to see more people come to faith through this family.

Pray for the believers to grow in their relationship with God, to stand firm on his promises, and to encourage others to come to faith.
Pray for those in the family who are close to faith to surrender their lives to God wholeheartedly and to make the declaration of faith.
Pray for the pastor and his family and for their needs to be met.

We pray for you and thank the Lord for your service and love for Jesus Christ.

December 2018

The two separate groups in the village to the East have continued to meet regularly. One group consists mostly of one large family, and the members of this family are preparing to be baptized. Pray for them especially, as they get ready to take this step of obedience in recognition of what God has done in their lives. This family is also planning to move out of the country soon. Remember them in your prayers as they leave to start a new life in another place.

Pray for the family members who are preparing to be baptized. Pray for courage and faithfulness as they boldly declare their faith.
Pray for the group that remains after this family moves to stand firm and remain confident in their faith.

We continue to meet new families in this village. We are blessed to share the good news about Jesus with them for the first time and often they have many questions.

Pray for wisdom and discernment for those who are sharing the gospel.
Pray for those who are hearing to have their doubts answered and to come to salvation in Jesus Christ.
Pray for the teachers in the school in this village. They work hard, often doing much more than what is required of them. Two of them are extremely close to believing in the truth.
Pray for the teachers to take the step of faith and ask Jesus Christ to be the Lord and Savior of their lives.
Pray for the children who are being taught to be open to hearing the gospel.
Pray for the school to continue to find funding. It provides an excellent way to follow up with the refugees and teachers in addition to many opportunities to preach the message of salvation.

In the village to the South, we have seen more consistency with some of the members of the group. One of the daughters in one family committed her life to Christ in a new way. Pray for her faith to grow deeper. Another couple is sorting through difficulties in their marriage and speaking of divorce. They have one child.

Pray for the daughter to grow in her relationship with the Lord and in her knowledge of the Word of God.
Pray for the couple struggling in their marriage to be strengthened by the Word of God and to come to a place of understanding. Pray for their child during this time of challenge.

One of the sons in the village to the East is trying to reach his friends and family with the gospel message.

Pray for courage and boldness to speak the truth with compassion.
Pray for health during the flu season.
Pray for the poor families that we serve to find sustenance in the Lord.

We pray for you, thanking the Lord for your love and participation in the glorification of His name. Thank you for praying for our ministry.

November 2018

We pray for the Lord to bless your love and increase your grace and blessing in the name of Jesus Christ. The ministry in the village to the East is continuing to meet regularly. The believers are faithful to the Lord and to one another. We praise God for blessing this ministry.

Pray for the believers as they live their daily lives and for encouragement from their studies.

We have had more conversations with the families of the students in the school discussing the truth about the prophets and the true message of the gospel.

Pray for the school in the village to the East to be able to continue.
Pray for the teacher who has experienced pressure from the government.

Some of the friends in the city are new believers and have many questions about the faith. We are meeting with them to answer these questions.

Pray for them to find the Lord faithful as they search for answers and encouragement in the scriptures.

We praise the Lord for the many opportunities to share with people whose paths we cross on a regular basis in addition to our travels from place to place for ministry. Pray for the fruit to be produced in these simple encounters.

Pray for God to give us wisdom as we talk with people about the Bible and the good news.
Pray for my family and for the ministry.

October 2018

God is at work in our meetings and we praise Him for sustaining us in this ministry. Our meetings in the village to the east have been filled with times of prayer, a study of God’s Word and encouragement to share the gospel with friends and family. Om H is one of the women in this group and requests prayer to heal her broken leg. We are encouraged that she has consistently called on us to ask for encouragement and continues to joyfully follow the Lord. This event in Om H’s life has created more opportunities to share the gospel and explain the truth to her daughter who has been home helping her mother. Pray the Lord would draw this young lady to faith in Him.

Pray for the complete healing of Om H’s broken leg. Pray for her daughter to come to an understanding of salvation through the witness of her mother and others.

Some families in the school accepted Bible this month and have promised to read them. We are praying for God to use this influence in their lives to draw them to Himself. The school provides opportunities for reaching the students and their parents with the message of salvation.

Pray for the continued influence of the school on the community and for more open doors.
Pray for the Word of God to convict the hearts of those who read it and for them to desire salvation.

The group in the southern village is growing deeper in their knowledge of the Word of God as they faithfully attend the group each week. We are grateful and encouraged to see their desire to learn more and grow in their understanding and faith. The group in the north of the city has been unable to meet recently due to family circumstances.

Pray for the hunger and thirst of the group in the south to persist and for their questions to be answered through the leaders in this group.
Pray for the group in the north, especially for the one family, and for this group to be able to meet again in the future.

One of the members of the Bible study group in the city had cancer. After much prayer, she was healed to the amazement of the doctors as they found no cancer left in her body. This was a miracle that deeply affected the non-believers who are in the group as they asked questions about this Jesus who removed cancer from her body. Some of those in the group have not yet come to a complete understanding of the gospel or taken the step to proclaim themselves as Christians. They are open but still analyzing and questioning the salvation of God. Pray for this miracle to dispel their doubts and bring them to faith in God.

Give thanks for the healing of this woman and pray for no return of cancer in the future.

Pray for the non-believers to take the last step of proclaiming faith in Jesus Christ and accepting Him and their Lord and Savior.

We pray for the blessings of the Lord be with each of you and your families.

Thank you for your prayers.

September 2018

This month was busy with studies and discipleship meetings with our usual groups. We have a couple of groups to the South, one in the North and a few groups in the village to the East. It has been encouraging to see the opportunities that God has provided for us to share with new people.

Pray for the faithful attendance to the regular meetings and for the Christians to grow in their walk with the Lord.
Pray for the conversations with new people and for God to bring those people to faith in Him.

The house groups in the village to the East have shown much excitement and growth as they apply the principles we are teaching them about prayer and God’s power. They love to listen to the message and eagerly respond in prayer. We continue to encourage the workers at the school through prayer and Bible verses. We are grateful for the doors that this school has open for the ministry.

We were able to meet a new family in this village and visited them at their home. We discussed the good news about Jesus with this family. Pray with us for their salvation.

Give thanks for the excitement of the believers as they learn about the power of prayer.

Pray for the workers at the school to respond positively to the gospel message.
Pray for the new family to continue being willing to listen to the gospel message and to come to an understanding of salvation.

Our newest group to the south was started by my wife and a faithful woman who was eager to see her friends come to Jesus. The group is growing. The husband of the faithful woman is not yet a believer. I had the opportunity to share with him, and we had an extensive discussion about Christianity. Pray that his eyes would be open to the power of God already shown to him through the Word and the answers to prayer that occur in his family and the group.

Pray for the faithful woman to continue witnesses to her husband. Pray for his salvation.

August 2018

The persecution of our church has caused our members to spread. This trial of suffering has also brought new challenges and opportunities. Members of our original fellowship now host smaller house groups to study the word of God and encourage one another. One group meets to the northeast and one to the south of our original location. I travel to each group once a week and focus on establishing the believers. I continue to support the school in the village to the east.

This month, my family and the ministry team made several visits to the students’ homes. We spoke to many of them about their knowledge of Jesus Christ. We met with the teachers and discussed how Jesus came that “they might have life and have it to the full”. They see this life in us and they asked many questions about the peace we have because of Christ. Two of the five teachers are already believers. We will continue to meet and pray with them. We desire that God would continue to use them in the lives of their students.

The usual discipleship visits to the home groups in the school village were encouraging. We observed an increased longing for the word of God among the believers and many of them are inviting their family members and friends to attend. We desire for the Lord to continue his work in the lives of these people.

Pray for the house groups to support and encourage one another.
Pray for travel for Pastor O. as he travels in a wider area to support these believers.
Pray for the salvation of the remaining three teachers.
Pray for the salvation of the kids who attend the school and their families.
Pray for the believers’ desire for more knowledge to continue and be satisfied through the study of God’s Word.

One of the families from the village in the south came with me to visit a family in the village to the east. It was a joy to see the Lord bind them together in the sharing of trials and fellowship. We read and explained many scriptures with this family of believers. The mother kept asking for more, this was the most hunger and eagerness that I had seen in her. We were encouraged and strengthened through seeing the Lord’s work in her life.

Give thanks for the blessing of fellowship.

Pray for the mom’s continued desire to gain knowledge and understanding.

Many of the people we visited were experiencing a difficult time. Some of their families, still in the country that they fled, were kidnapped or killed in various attacks. We were able to sit with them and comfort them as we taught about the God of all comfort and the Savior who forgave His enemies.

Pray for peace for these families as they grieve the loss of family members.

The group to the north continues to meet and often has new visitors. Their growth in the knowledge of the word has been remarkable. We gave them passages of scripture to discuss this month that focuses on the importance of prayer in the life of a believer.

Give thanks for their spiritual growth and desire for knowledge.

Pray for the group to the north to stand firm in their faith and gain more understanding from their study on prayer.

The faithfulness of the believers in the south is encouraging. They are always thirsty for the word of God and long for their friends and relatives to be reached with the gospel. Many of them invited new people to attend the service. I visited some of these families in their homes and shared passages of scripture with them. One was a church member who had traveled out of the country but has returned. The mother of this family saw an opportunity to host a group in her home to study the word together. We are excited to see the possibility of another homegroup forming form this ministry.

Give thanks for their faithfulness.

Pray for their boldness to invite new people and to reach their friends and family.
Pray for the possible new home group.
Pray for the new families in the home groups.
Pray for Pastor O. and his ministry. Pray for strength, comfort, and courage as he reaches out to the believers and non-believers.
Pray for Pastor O.’s family as they are visiting and for the sharing of the gospel through their visit.

Please pray for me as I continue to equip myself for greater effectiveness. My mother church and my White Field’s mentor have encouraged me to keep formally studying pastoral ministries. I am currently taking two classes and working to write final papers for my course in Christology and Hermeneutics.

We are continuing our village church planting efforts as well as providing leadership to our mother church during their time of crisis. It is a stressful and tiring time, but God is giving our family the strength to press forward.

The ministry in the village continues to be fruitful. The school for refugee kids is strong, and we are thankful that the funding is back on track and all the staff got paid last month. The faculty and student families at the school continue to be open for home visits, and we them weekly to share Christ and disciple the believers. The two village home groups have now completed the seven-week course on fundamental Christian beliefs and living. It was an excellent study, and the believers are becoming consistent in their personal Bible reading and asking great questions when I visit.

July 2018

Thank you for your care and support. This year began with many challenges for our church and ministries.

My church planting effort was commissioned out of another recently planted church. I was tasked with establishing a church in a rural area, and our mother church is in the city. Over the last few months, our mother church has been under pressure from anti-Christian groups to the extent that our lead pastor has fled the country for the safety of his family. In his absence, I find myself as a primary member of the leadership team for our mother church as well as the leader of the village church plant.

These increased responsibilities were unexpected, and it had been very taxing on our family to bear this leadership burden. I believe that God has called us to stand firm and press forward. At the same time, the five-person mother church leadership team, of which I am part, does not yet have a unified vision for how the ministry should move forward. Please pray for unity, commitment, and perseverance.

We continue to visit new families and share Christ. You can pray for one family. My wife and I have regularly visited the grandmother for many months. She has not made a commitment to Christ but is open. We pray continually for her kidney problems and lack of fresh water and have encouraged her to get regular check-ups with her primary care physician. We recently hosted a medical clinic in her village. She came to the clinic and told everyone, very loudly, that she did not need medical attention this month because the pastor prays for her in Jesus’ name. We went to visit her a short time later and she was not home but we met her adult son who welcomed us. I had never sat with him before and had an opportunity to share with him about Christ. He said that it was the first time he had heard about Jesus’ death and resurrection. We will continue to visit and pray that God will save him.

In the same village, we established two weekly home groups and have hopes of expanding to three. Some reliable men are sharing leadership responsibilities with me. At the same time, there are personality conflicts. One of the more mature men was recently complaining that the lessons were too basic for him. I offered for him to lead the following week. He led and did a fine job but realized how difficult it was to prepare and lead. It was a good lesson for him. He asked me to lead the next week again.

I continue to make regular trips to the village for discipleship and evangelism. We have two home meetings, and the believers are continuing to grow and mature. One recent blessing was a box of devotional guides donated by a friend of the ministry. Quality Christian resources are difficult to find in our language, and the believers were all very excited to receive a copy of the book. The home group members are diligently working through the devotional books with their personal Bible reading and have many questions that flow out of their study.

A new family came to Christ last week. I have spent the last year visiting them periodically. They allowed me to read scripture and we had many discussions about Christ. They seemed to be agreeable to the Word of God but had not committed to following Christ and still expressed doubts. My last visit with them was five hours long. I explained the story of salvation and the gospel in detail, and they asked many questions. When I prepared to depart, they pressed me not to leave until I lead them in prayer to become followers of Christ as their savior. The father, mother, and daughter all repented of their sins and confessed faith in Christ and committed to following him!

(2) We are very excited to report that Abu M and his family asked to be baptized. They professed Christ some time ago but had not been discipled. I have been working diligently to disciple them over the last few months, and they have come to the point of firm commitment. Their son is particularly devoted to reading the Bible and personal prayer. Please pray as we prepare for their baptism service.

We continue to oversee the Friday home group in the capital city that I inherited from Pastor R. The group is small but committed and growing together. We are also starting a new home Bible study in a town south of us, and my wife was asked to start a weekly women’s group in another township. There is one believer there, and she takes the initiative to invite her unbelieving friends and neighbors. Opportunities are opening everywhere, and we pray for the strength to serve well.