AFRICA
BOTSWANA: Sid & Karen Halsband: "The [church]
building has all but reached the roof level.... It has 12 pillars in
it on which the steel roof trusses will be mounted.... The brethren in Canada
tell me that the trusses are ready for transport to us here in Botswana. They
are presently checking on prices to have a 40 ft container purchased and shipped
out." [MSC]
D.R. CONGO: Pearl
Winterburn: "The Tchabi Women's Conference is July 20-23. Prayer for
safety, as these women must walk many miles thru the forest; Idohu area is still
insecure. Second, for God's provision in setting up this conference and the
opportunity of encouragement and much needed ministry.... Above all, God's
blessing on His word in their hearts." [MSC]
TANZANIA: Prayer partners will be aware that
Ron and Maria Cunningham are currently visiting their former
field of service in Ethiopia. We are sorry to advise that Maria suffered a
stroke on 20th July and is currently hospitalised in Addis Ababa. She is,
however, making progress; she is conscious and talking, although feeling
fragile. At this stage it is too early to determine any permanent effects of the
stroke. Ron, and their son, Sam, are with her and it is hoped that she will be
well enough to leave Tanzania within the next few days to return to the UK.
[EoS]
TANZANIA: Ron and
Maria are so thankful to the Lord that this occurred whilst they were
at the SIM headquarters in Addis Ababa and that medical help was quickly
available. Had this taken place whilst they were visiting some of the remote
rural areas, medical help would not have been available. [EoS]
ZAMBIA: Alice White:
"[At the village ladies' meeting] we talked about the importance of prayer: not
only personal, but in a group. It used to be that the Christian women in each
village would gather once a week for prayer.... With this group it has
been about four years since they gathered regularly for prayer."
[MSC]
ZAMBIA: Vickie Saunders:
"The Lord was so good to me; He opened all the doors to get me here [to Canada
from Zambia]. Yes, it was too late to see my Mom here on Earth, but it was in
His time. As I look back and think about it all, it is amazing and I know God
knows best.... I believe Mom is with the Lord, and I will see her again. I
was privileged to speak at the funeral - which I know was arranged by the Lord.
I needed to be here and the Lord knew that. Thank you for all your help and
encouragement; I would not have gotten here if it weren't for all your
help. "All together I have 6 siblings - please continue to pray for all of
them. There is not much interest shown from any of them when it comes to the
Lord. It would be so wonderful to see them all come to know Him. Pray that I
would be a faithful witness to them." [MSC]
ZIMBABWE: Philip & Marilyn
Barnes: "Paediatric Aids Clinic: Through the generosity of a ladies'
missionary group in Canada, we have been able to start a program whereby we
supply tea and peanut butter or jam sandwiches for 80 to 100 children Tuesday
mornings. These are children with AIDS who travel from rural areas into the main
government hospital in Harare to have secondary infections treated. The doctor
in charge of the clinic has noticed an increase in the number of children
arriving hungry, so she requested our help in feeding them." [MSC]
ASIA
INDIA: Ian Elliott gives an
update on his leg. The doctor is happy with progress being made and Ian has to
return for a checkup after two weeks. Please continue to pray that this
improvement will be sustained. Also, please pray for Anita’s mother, who has had
surgery to remove gallstones. The surgery went well but she has felt poorly
since returning home, which may be due to the antibiotics. Pray that she will
recover to full health soon. Ian and Anita also mention the bomb attacks in
Mumbai and Srinagar. Srinagar has seen many such attacks in the past but in
recent years has been regaining popularity as a tourist location and at this
time there will be many tourists there. Mumbai is also a place where there have
been many bomb blasts but the recent ones are among the worst. Please pray for
this situation, for those who have lost loved ones, and for those who have been
injured. [EoS]
JAPAN: Charles and Rita
Lawrence request prayer for a one-night camp to be held on 23rd and
24th July. The husband of a lady who started attending meetings with her two
daughters will be attending. This will be his first exposure to the Word of God.
Please pray that the Lord will speak to his heart. Pray, too, for Arata Imamura,
who is to have an operation to insert a bone in his left ear. Pray that this
will be successful. [EoS]
JAPAN: Yukio & JoAnne Morikawa: "We feel the
Lord is specifying Lake Town in Koshigaya as our new frontier. It is an area
currently under development to be completed around 2008, and we have found an
office building with three adjoining rooms in the vicinity. We are asking the
Lord for His guidance. Your prayers will help open some impossibly heavy doors."
[MSC]
AUSTRALIA
Tasmania: Please continue to bear
Bro. Charles Wigg and his wife in your prayer. His wife
seems to have settled into the retirement home quite well. She has had two trips
to hospital for scans, as one of her legs began to swell up. It seems that she
has a big clot in one leg, and she has to have daily injections for three months
to try to dissolve it. She is in a room where a brother from their Assembly had
been, and she seems very happy there. Once all is settled Bro. Charles will be
much nearer the Assembly as well as the nursing home. [eMail]
EUROPE
BELGIUM: Anne Dryburgh requests prayer for
the team involved in giving out refreshments and chatting to those attending the
annual Gent Festival this week. This is a time of revelry and all-night
partying. Please pray for good conversations and for the Lord to work in hearts.
[EoS]
FRANCE: Maureen
Williamson: "I wanted to ask your special prayers for several
Chechen women with whom I'm currently in contact here in Strasbourg. These women
lost practically everything when forced to flee from Chechnya some time ago due
to the brutal civil war in that region. Through them I've discovered that
there's a whole community of Chechen people here in Strasbourg, all of whom have
experienced a lot of loss and suffering. Since these kinds of situations often
open hearts more easily to God's love, please pray that I'll be able to share
the 'message of reconciliation' with many of them. The majority have no doubt
never had an opportunity to hear of God's love and pardon for sin, so please ask
the Lord to open many hearts and give me wisdom in these contacts." [MSC]
FRANCE: Briand Tatford
advises that a couple from Vitrolles are serving the Lord in North Africa.
Please pray that they will enjoy safety of travel and spiritual freshness, and
that they will be a blessing and encouragement to the local believers. In
addition, Briand advises that a container has left France for Benin. Please pray
that the Benin authorities will allow this to be cleared without administrative
problems and that the requisite goods will reach the intended recipients.
[EoS]
GREENLAND: Hans Sivertsen
has just finished two weeks of camp at which he experienced the Lord’s help. He
requests prayer for the next fortnight when a camp will be held with a new team
of 33 campers. Pray for safe travel, safety in all the activities, encouragement
and blessing from the Lord. [EoS]
ITALY: Alec and Patrizia
Catchpole request prayer for proposed open-air meetings in strategic
areas of Pozzuoli on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays every other week throughout
July and August. Please pray that the authorities will give permission and that
the assembly members involved will be spiritually prepared and put in the effort
needed. [EoS]
SERBIA: Steve & Jenny
Luibrand: "Steve is meeting once a week with the three other
young men in the church for Bible study. He hopes through this time to quicken
in their hearts a thirst for the Word and greater capacity for spiritually
feeding themselves." [MSC]
SPAIN: Ken and Alison
Barrett request prayer for themselves and Helen Ortiz, who will be
working alongside the GLO team in Avila. This year’s team is larger than
previous years, which offers both opportunities and challenges. Pray for the
contacts made and for the opportunity to effectively follow them up in a city
full of suspicion about evangelical Christians.
[EoS]
MIDDLE EAST
Following the recent
bombings, we are pleased to report that our missionaries are safe and well, and
we have received messages from all of them:
LEBANON: Melanie Parker advises
that she and her children came to the UK last week. Matthew is in Chicago for
meetings, and will join her later. The boys in the Dar El Awlad orphanage are
all fine. Many of them come from the southern suburbs of Beirut, so they are in
the best place. There is a young man from Northern Ireland working at the
orphanage, but he is safe and is in contact with the embassy.
[EoS]
LEBANON:
Annette White and the children went to Beirut on the first day of the
trouble, which was a good move as the road from Tyre is now impassable. Nigel is
in Tyre, and although it was safe, roads are now being targeted nearby. Nigel
says that the biggest bombs are not being used, so although it is noisy, the
damage is not widespread. Their home telephone is not working. Urgent prayer is
requested. [EoS]
LEBANON:
Nicola Alexander reports that she and her children are in the UK. Don
has now informed us that he and the short-termers, Philip Stockwell and Rebecca
Smith, managed to get to Damascus over the weekend, and travelled by bus from
there to Jordan. They hope to catch a flight out from Amman as soon as possible.
[EoS]
LEBANON:
Steve White says that he and the family are all safe and the bombing is
two or three miles away from where they are. However, they are confined to the
house and the children are getting bored. Also, Steve’s parents are in Lebanon
visiting them. All the ports, airports and roads out of the city have been
destroyed, and people are fleeing the country on foot. This situation has not
affected the short-termers, however, as they have already gone home for the
summer. [EoS]
SPECIAL
AREAS
VARIOUS AREAS: Please pray
on for Ryeli, the granddaughter of Phil and Carole Wagner, for whom we have
requested prayer in recent weeks. It has been discovered that she has a new area
of blood on her brain, so after having an MRI, doctors will need to decide on
the next step.
[EoS]
SPECIAL AREAS: Neale & Barbara
Goetsch: "Attendance is more consistent [in the English language Bible
class] and there is good discussion during the study in John's Gospel. One of
the women, burdened by family concerns, seems very moved by the compassion and
power of Christ. We are glad she will be with us until December."
[MSC]
Please remember the following GLO Teams
which are involved in evangelistic outreach activities this coming week:
Tanzania (Moshi); Romania (Talmaciu); Spain (Avila); UK (Johnstone &
Belshill/Viewpark, Scotland). Please pray that the team members will
enjoy safety of travel and good health during this time. In addition, please
pray for a good working relationship within the team, that meaningful contacts
will be made, and for lives to be touched by the gospel.
[EoS]
The Living God is a Missionary God (Part
1)
John R.W.
Stott
Millions of people in today’s
world are extremely hostile to the Christian missionary enterprise.They regard
it as politically disruptive (because it loosens the cement which binds the
national culture) and religiously narrowminded (because it makes exclusive
claims for Jesus), while those who are involved in it are thought to suffer from
an arrogant imperialism. And the attempt to convert people to Christ is rejected
as an unpardonable interference in their private lives. “My religion is my own
affair,” they say.
“Mind your own business, and leave me alone
to mind mine.” It is essential, therefore, for Christians to understand the
grounds on which the Christian mission rests. Only then shall we be able to
persevere in the missionary task, with courage and humility, in spite of
the world’s misunderstanding and opposition. More precisely, biblical Christians
need biblical incentives. For we believe the Bible to be the revelation of God
and of his will. So we ask: Has he revealed in Scripture that “mission” is his
will for his people? Only then shall we be satisfied. For then it becomes a
matter of obeying God, whatever others may think or say. Here we shall focus on
the Old Testament, though the entire Bible is rich in evidence for the
missionary purpose of God.
--
M. John R.W. Stott is Rector
Emeritus o f A l l S o u l s Church in London, President of the London Institute
for Contemporary Christianity, and an Extra Chaplain to the Queen. For 25 years
(1952-1977) he led university missions on five continents. He has addressed five
Urbana Student Missions Conventions. This article was first presented as the
opening Bible lecture at Urbana 1976. Taken from You Can Tell the World, edited
by James E. Berney. Copyright 1979 by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA.
Used by permission of InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL
60515.
Missionary Support Partnership
["GO" (Mk 16:15) or "SEND" (Rom
10:15)]
Updates
We thank the Lord for the way in which
He works. The first instalment of the financial support to the
missionaries selected are being distributed in the North Indian States of
West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Tripuara. We are also grateful to all
our Support Partners who have whole-heartedly responded to the need of
these missionaries as well as to the Kerala Evangelistic Missionary (KEM Fund)
and its Secreatary, Bro. Paul Thomas, who are taking the responsibility of
receiving and distributing the funds on behalf of [MSP].
We would like to extend the support to the
following missionaries, with effect from August or September 2006, if the Lord
wills:
Jharkhand
1.
Habel Kisku (Dumka)
2. Bablu
Das (Kalyanpur)
3. Hemlal (Jhagadu)
4. Awadhesh
Thakur (Jamtara)
Bihar
1. Niranjan
Paswan (Jamal Pur)
2. Jeby K Simon (Mothipur)
3. Sunil
Paswan (Jha Jha)
4. Krishna Sharma (Musfarpur)
Similarly, we have established contacts in
another North Indian State of Orissa towards identifying deserving missionaries
who are serving the Lord in that state. Our Partners would recall
that the Australian Missionary, Bro. Gaham Stanes and his two sons were burnt
alive some years ago while they were serving the Lord in this that
state. We seek your continued prayer support so that God would work
through His servants to transform the people of this
state.
We also seek your prayer, as we
are in the process of putting up a web site for [MSP] which will have
details about all what our Prayer and Support Partners, Missionaries and the
LORD's people would need to know.
[Ben]