Hello everyone! We started the day off at the funeral of "grandma." We arrived a little late, but it turned out to be for the best. We missed all of the strange rituals they do and got to pray with Barbara at the grave. Barbara was doing well and holding up incredibly considering she didn't sleep all night long. Her sisters ( she is one of 9 and has 1 brother) were all criticizing her and trying to provoke a fight. They are all mad at her because she has forgiven her uncle and they think that is wrong.
Her uncle was soooo sad. He was all alone. No one wanted to even get near him. Greg walked with him for almost a mile, just the two of them. They talked about God and His forgiveness and David (the uncle) told Greg he wanted to start coming to our meetings. He said he used to hang out with some "brothers" (meaning Christians) and he thought he would like to do that again. Please pray for him. He has a long road ahead of him. He has been a very strong alcoholic and for him to leave this behind will take a miracle! The custom here is to mourn the death of a loved one for 7 days. So... he will be faced with drinking for at least the next 7 days.
We had our meeting tonight and bless Barbara's heart, after not sleeping all last night and all day today, she still came tonight to tell everyone how God was working and to ask for prayer for her uncle. She is SO precious! I was so proud of her today, she thought of how God would view every one of her actions! I am sure He was proud of her too!
We had a great Christmas celebration tonight and our numbers continue to grow. God is moving! Please continue to pray for us! We love you!
This blog was started in 2004 when Annie was badly burnt. Over the years we have seen how God has continually provided for us and answered our many prayers.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Please Pray!
Barbara's grandma died yesterday. ( the one who had been beat by her son) The funeral is in a few minutes. Please pray there are no problems! There is a lot of hate toward the son because he ultimately caused her death. He has been very repentant, but we fear their will be a lot of problems. Please pray for Barbara, she feels Satan is attacking her from every corner. (she was the one who was recently baptized) More later!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas! I am sorry I haven't posted anything for a few days. I have been a little under the weather and really haven't had much to tell. But... I am doing much better and thought I should give all of you faithful readers, something to read! ;o)
Monday night went well. We are still praying for our friend and recovering alcoholic, Salvador. He has stopped coming to our meetings. His wife, Angelica said that he is finding it too hard to leave all of the customs of their people behind. At this time of year there are MANY customs that are against the Bible's teachings. Please pray for this family as they are struggling in many ways.
On the bright side, we are finding that many of our new believers have committed to leave behind these customs. This is an extremely hard thing for them to do and there is a lot of pressure from their family and friends to participate in these rituals. Please pray that God would bless them for leaving behind these different customs to follow Him.
We are trying to offer them other ways to celebrate during this holiday season. So we will be having a special night on December 29th in honor of the birth of Jesus.We are very excited about being able to give each one of the children who have been coming on Monday night, a shoebox filled with gifts. We have about 35 shoeboxes that we will distribute during this celebration! That is one of the perks of living in another country, we don't have to end the celebration on the 25. Please pray that we have enough shoeboxes for everyone and that they will see this as a celebration of the birth of Christ and not just another ritual. We thank you for your prayers! God bless all of you!
Monday night went well. We are still praying for our friend and recovering alcoholic, Salvador. He has stopped coming to our meetings. His wife, Angelica said that he is finding it too hard to leave all of the customs of their people behind. At this time of year there are MANY customs that are against the Bible's teachings. Please pray for this family as they are struggling in many ways.
On the bright side, we are finding that many of our new believers have committed to leave behind these customs. This is an extremely hard thing for them to do and there is a lot of pressure from their family and friends to participate in these rituals. Please pray that God would bless them for leaving behind these different customs to follow Him.
We are trying to offer them other ways to celebrate during this holiday season. So we will be having a special night on December 29th in honor of the birth of Jesus.We are very excited about being able to give each one of the children who have been coming on Monday night, a shoebox filled with gifts. We have about 35 shoeboxes that we will distribute during this celebration! That is one of the perks of living in another country, we don't have to end the celebration on the 25. Please pray that we have enough shoeboxes for everyone and that they will see this as a celebration of the birth of Christ and not just another ritual. We thank you for your prayers! God bless all of you!
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
Baptism went great!
Hi everyone,
We had a great day yesterday! The baptism went great! It was a little different since the only place we could find to do it was about an hour and a half away. There are places here, but it is sooo cold that it would have been torture! So, we went on a day trip and had a blast. Barbara and Icho shared their hearts with us throughout the day and Icho mentioned that he too felt like he should be baptized but just wasn't ready. We are so thankful to all of you for your continued prayer support! It means the world to us! I will keep trying to upload a picture of the wonderful event!
If you are sending Christmas cards and are looking for our address somewhere, you won't find it. We have no mailing address. However, if you are interested in sending one you can send them to my mother-in-law's address and she can bring them to us when she comes in a few weeks. Just email me for the address and I will send it to you. Thanks again for your prayers! Missy and family
We had a great day yesterday! The baptism went great! It was a little different since the only place we could find to do it was about an hour and a half away. There are places here, but it is sooo cold that it would have been torture! So, we went on a day trip and had a blast. Barbara and Icho shared their hearts with us throughout the day and Icho mentioned that he too felt like he should be baptized but just wasn't ready. We are so thankful to all of you for your continued prayer support! It means the world to us! I will keep trying to upload a picture of the wonderful event!
If you are sending Christmas cards and are looking for our address somewhere, you won't find it. We have no mailing address. However, if you are interested in sending one you can send them to my mother-in-law's address and she can bring them to us when she comes in a few weeks. Just email me for the address and I will send it to you. Thanks again for your prayers! Missy and family
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Baptism
Well, just like most things in our life, our plans for the baptism have been changed. Due to a conflict in schedules we had to change the day for the baptism. So... we are heading out tomorrow, Wednesday at 9 am for Barbara's baptism. Please pray everything goes well and we all have a great day. I will do my best to post some photos tomorrow night. Thanks for lifting us up! Missy
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Great night!
Hi everyone,
I only have a second to write, but I wanted you all to have an update on our night last night. We are now averaging about 30-35 people each week. Last night we had three new visitors that we have been praying about. Our friends have been inviting many of their friends and family and some are beginning to come! That is a big PRAISE!!
Last night was the first night that we had about an hour where they all shared and talked about one verse in the Bible. There is one man, Prisiliano that has started to take over the role of leader. He is sharing scriptures and praying and even answering the door. God is truly answering our prayers about this because this man needs to be ready to take over in about 6 months. (at which time we will return to the States for 10 months) Please pray that God will equip Prisiliano with every skill needed to become a pastor. We have started our first outreach group! How great is that? Greg, Prisiliano and his wife Petra will be visiting people this week. They will be visiting friends or family members of our group who have either shown interest in coming or are sick and need prayer. We are very excited about this new addition to our Monday night meetings.
Thursday we will have a break from school. In the States the boys had snow days sometimes and here, well... we have baptism days! ;o) Thursday we will take Barbara, her husband, Icho and their 3 children to a town about an hour and a half away, (where it is still hot) where she will be baptized. We are so excited about this and can't wait to see what God is going to do with Barbara! Hope you all have a great day today!
I only have a second to write, but I wanted you all to have an update on our night last night. We are now averaging about 30-35 people each week. Last night we had three new visitors that we have been praying about. Our friends have been inviting many of their friends and family and some are beginning to come! That is a big PRAISE!!
Last night was the first night that we had about an hour where they all shared and talked about one verse in the Bible. There is one man, Prisiliano that has started to take over the role of leader. He is sharing scriptures and praying and even answering the door. God is truly answering our prayers about this because this man needs to be ready to take over in about 6 months. (at which time we will return to the States for 10 months) Please pray that God will equip Prisiliano with every skill needed to become a pastor. We have started our first outreach group! How great is that? Greg, Prisiliano and his wife Petra will be visiting people this week. They will be visiting friends or family members of our group who have either shown interest in coming or are sick and need prayer. We are very excited about this new addition to our Monday night meetings.
Thursday we will have a break from school. In the States the boys had snow days sometimes and here, well... we have baptism days! ;o) Thursday we will take Barbara, her husband, Icho and their 3 children to a town about an hour and a half away, (where it is still hot) where she will be baptized. We are so excited about this and can't wait to see what God is going to do with Barbara! Hope you all have a great day today!
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