Praise & Prayer Update April 5th

Praise the Lord for the cloudy and windy weather we've had this week! In the states we are usually really happy for a sunny day, but in spring and summer here, since most days have blue skies and are HOT when the sun is out, we rejoice when it's rains or there's actually clouds giving us some relief from the sun.

Praises:

• H was able to give out personal cards containing Bible verses to 15 of her co-workers this week. So far, people have been touched to receive a personal card of appreciation, but we pray that they would not only feel encouraged but also challenged and inspired to seek God. May any invitations we receive for tea, lunch, dinner etc. be times where we can share the gospel.
  
• One Jesus film (in the local language) was given to the religious studies teacher. Since this teacher loves to watch movies, pray that not only would he watch it, but that the Holy Spirit would speak to him and lead him to the truth
• We have been able to pray together more consistently this week
• Two people have already responded to our need for language school support!
  

Prayer:

• Pray the Lord would help us manage our time so we can be strategic in reaching out to those around us
  
• Pray that those who received a card would think about their relationships with God and desire to know Him
  
• Pray that we would have access to easy to read native language versions of the Bible to give out. Currently there is a hang up with a local Bible Society which is blocking contextualized Bibles from being printed
  
• Pray that the Lord would provide the $4000 we need to do language study this summer. We are currently partnered with other workers in our area, but we are not sponsored by any organization. Wedding gifts allowed us to travel here, buy a car, and get set up when we first came.Our local salaries allow us to pay for all of our regular monthly expenses, but since language school involves living in another country, visa expenses, and course fees, we are not able to afford it on on local salaries at this time. Would you please pray and ask the Lord if you would be able to help us study language this summer?
  

Thanks for your prayers & support!

Praise & Prayer Update March 11th

Praises:

• D and a friend went to a city in our province (3 hours away) to do some outreach training over the weekend. It seems that the training was well received. Please pray that those who attended would feel a burden to be intentional in reaching the lost.
• H is finally driving! She was able to go out shopping this weekend and hand out some literature in the local language. Pray that we both would want to sow the Word abundantly, even if it may not always be well received.
  
• We have both been able to share more with people at our workplace. Pray for the student who D will be giving the Bible to this week.
  
• Electricity! We have had 20+ hours a day of power which has been a blessing in school and at home.
  

Prayers:

• Travel - We will be leaving the country on Saturday to check out a language school for the summer. Pray that we will focus on the Lord during our vacation and that He we will also be intentional about sharing with the different people we meet during the journey. It will take 1-2 days of travel to reach our destination.
  
• Platform - Please pray for us as we make decisions about what we'll be doing professionally next year. We need the Lord's guidance as well as his provision for the proper visas.
  
• Strategic Outreach - We heave been feeling burdened to be more focused on sharing and being strategic with our time. Pray that the Lord will give us his plan and method so that we may bear fruit in this land. May we not only think of our friends and coworkers but may we have vision to see multiplication of faith among the people groups of this region.
  
• Laborers for the Harvest - There are 180 million people in this country who speak over 60 languages. Most foreign organizations in the country focus on mercy ministries, and while those efforts are much appreciated we are not seeing many people come to know the Lord and follow him. In short, we are not seeing much eternal fruit in this field. Even if there may be foreign workers in a village hospital (which would still be rare) there may not be an active witness of the truth. Pray for more workers who are willing to be bold, creative, strategic, and full of the Holy Spirit to come to this land. Pray that those of us who are here would not get bogged down in the mundane or neglect to focus on what's going to make an eternal difference.