April 2021 Mission Prayer Prompts
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April 2021 Mission Prayer Prompts The Covid-19 worldwide pandemic has affected the ministry of all the missionaries we support. Limits and restrictions have been implemented that restricts travel, size of gatherings, etc., just as we have experienced here in America. In some cases the restrictions are greater than we experienced here. But is seems from the newsletters, things are beginning to open back up. PTL. Stephanie Alderman – Togo, Africa. Church planter working with women and children ministries. Here is the Converge link to the work Stephanie is focusing on: https://converge.org/project/africa/6-degree- initiative/togo-church-planting to learn more. You may remember that voodoo is heavily practiced in Togo and has been for over 600 years. One percent of the population is Christian. Our vision for our new kids curriculum, DMD (Disciples Making Disciples) Kids, is in the name; we want them to become disciple makers. So our challenge to them is simple, share what you heard on Sunday with one or more of your friends. As of today, 80 kids have heard the gospel from their friends and three have chosen to follow Christ. Please be in prayer with us as we develop our teaching team, continue helping kids become disciple makers, and pray and work toward our goal of 190,000 disciples. I would say this is the multiplication principal in action! Bob and Barb Bartz – Working virtually from Florida through online contact. Far Eastern Broadcasting Company loaned Bob to an organization which is developing media resources and services to support their ministry teams working among many of the least reached people groups around the world. Bringing Christ to the nations through media. (Bob asked we not share the name over the internet). The Content in Context workshop that I developed fits right into my new role with this new organization. However, there are significant adjustments to be made. In the past, the workshop has been conducted in specific locations where teams can gather together. The lack of travel and restrictions on gatherings due to the pandemic further illustrates the need for this workshop to be available online. So my first major focus over the past few months has been shifting the concepts and applications of the workshop into a module based format for teams to access virtually and at their own pace. This requires adapting to available platforms and modifying team activities to accommodate this. Because the new organization Bob works for is international and is being formatted to be used online rather in workshop gatherings, it is no longer necessary to be based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Bob and Barb have just moved back to the United States to base their work from here. They emphasis they are not retiring from work at this time. Since their work is internet based, they are simply changing their home base location to work from. CrossRoads will continue to support them in this new but similar endeavor. For more info: https://www.febc.org/give-to-missionary/bob-and-barbara-bartz/ Asian Missionaries – Converge missionaries sharing the Gospel with Hui Musl*m group living in the same country. We have been asked to not share their names on the internet. This couple has been restricted also by the pandemic. They have been outside of their host country back in the country of their birth waiting for travel restrictions to be lifted, which has not happened yet. “We are now staying with my husband’s Mom. We know this is from the Lord, for us to be able to have extended time with her.” I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His word I put my hope. Psalm 130:5 We are much encouraged to receive your letter and to learn how CrossRoads Church (plus everyone else involved in working towards expanding our Lord’s Kingdom) are able, with the Lord’s help, to creatively press on despite ongoing COVID-19 restrictions. Indeed, much has changed because of the pandemic. We continue to ask the Lord how we should do ministry differently during and after COVID-19. We seek to know what our Father in heaven is doing, so that we can move in tandem with His spirit and plans. Prayer topics: For spiritual breakthroughs that some of us are still waiting for, in our personal lives and in our ministry!! We wait for breakthroughs with the target group of Musl*ms. Also, that when these people hear the Gospel, they will understand Abba Father’s love and follow Him. And secondly, that God will display His power over evil amongst these people, and open their eyes to the truth that Jesus is their Savior and Lord. For more info: https://converge.org/missionary/mao-phoenix Juan and Elena Felipe – Minnesota / Iowa Conference Baptist Missionaries serving in Pelican Rapids and Park Rapids. Juan is a Pastor and an Evangelist to Spanish speakers living in our State. They seek our prayers for full recovery from Covid-19. Many in his two congregations have also experienced sickness from Covid-19. Pastor Felipe shared his gratitude to the Lord for six new church members who received the Lord Jesus as their Savior this past winter. He urges us to pray for their growth in faith in the Lord. He asks for prayer for Sister Lidia who recently lost her son to violence in Mexico from the drug cartel. It has been very sorrowful for her and the rest of her family who resides in Minnesota. He asks we also “pray for the Church in Pelican Rapids where a very small group of believers is struggling because several of the members have moved to other cities. Pray for those who still are attending the services for their growth and faithfulness to the Lord.” He asks for prayer for a new roof for his house and for the Lord to provide financially. Lastly, he asks for prayer “for his family’s health, especially my wife’s.” Pastor asks “May the Lord open more opportunities for me to share His gospel with those who need Him and prepare their hearts to received His Word.” Pastor Felipe thanks CrossRoads for our financial support of his ministry. For more info: https://converge.org/north-central/giving-campaign/juan-felipe Todd and Karen Indehar – Converge Missionaries evangelizing and church planting in Thailand. You may recall that the Church plant area in Bangkok is in inner city slums. Recently, Todd led a team to a Northern Province to share the Gospel and more with children of a village. “We hope you had a blessed celebration of the resurrection. Ours was truly joyous; our little church was packed! We currently have two new attenders who seem to be seekers of truth. Please pray for these requests Todd shared: * Our marriage is a source of strength, rest and deep friendship. But we cannot take that for granted, so please pray for us. We have passed through seasons of trials but by the grace of God we’ve stayed as one. * Our children are great! Our numbers are increasing. Especially pray for the opportunity to reconnect with all and meet our newest grandchild, Juniper, born in Feb 2020. This may happen in 2021 or 2022. We do not wish to allow COVID to rule us, but are constrained by governments which attempt to manage it well. * Relationships with national co-laborers is sensitive and the enemy uses misunderstandings as a tool against our work. Please pray. * Relationships with people in sex trade outreach (Hosea Project) seems to be going well, but we need wisdom. Currently we minister to seven “bar girls” who are out of work due to COVID. One just lost her mom to cancer. Another suffered a bike accident. All but one is saying they will not go back to the bar to work! * Relationships to a UUPG in Northern Thailand are very encouraging as the village mayor seems to be enthusiastic to receive us for a 5-day program. This needs focused prayer. With the current COVID situation, we are not certain we will be allowed to do this. As always, thank you for your prayer and support. For more info: https://converge.org/missionary/todd-karen-indehar David and Carol J. – Converge Asian Director of Missions. There is a degree of uncertainty with the ministries I participate in throughout Asia. And yet these words spoken by Jesus readily come to mind: “Don’t be afraid; just keep trusting…” [Luke 8:50] As we trust, here is some of what we see coming about: Seeing God’s work around the world. That gives us hope, and joy, and expectation. From Dave’s newsletter: The organization I work with, Converge, is asking God for a gospel movement among every least-reached people group — in our generation. “In 2020, 1,769 churches were launched (bold is my emphasis) in cooperation with international partners — all among the world's least-reached peoples. These new churches are discipling 28,304 newly baptized believers. In addition, 20 new Converge global workers passed the assessment process. Converge now has 175 workers around the globe with another 63 preparing to deploy.” I am diligently searching for partnership in ministry among the least-reached people of Asia. I am discovering local workers and building stronger partnerships in Japan, India, China, Thailand, Indonesia, and Philippines. NOTE: this short video Pray for Buddhists (prayercast.com) (https://prayercast.com/buddhism- landing.html for further information) may be of interest to you. For more info: https://converge.org/missionary/david-j Jim and Lynn Jarman – Converge missionaries working from Sweden with the Nordic Baltic Initative.