Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Kalika Peske Approved as Short Term Assistant

KalikaKalika Peske has been approved as a Short Term Assistant to help the Jores.  Kalika plans to leave for Uganda in November and serve for around six months.

Kalika graduated from Concordia University (Nebraska) with a degree in elementary education.  She was originally from Minnesota, but has been teaching at a small Lutheran grade school in Denison, IA.

Kalika's family served as missionaries in Peru for 13 months in 1991 under the World Mission Prayer League.  Her primary responsibilities will be to help with the house and children as Rhoda begins home schooling Elijah.

Kalika states her motive for living as follows,

"I believe that Jesus is my Savior and the only way to the Father.  It is because of his death and resurrection that I have the hope of an eternal life in heaven.  Such good news should be shared!  It is my desire that God uses me to spread this message and encourage other believers wherever I go."

Short Term Assistants are responsible for their own support.  Gifts for Kalika's ministry can be sent to:

 

AFLC World Missions Office

3110  Medicine Lake Blvd.

Minneapolis, MN 55379

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Things Falling into Place for Justo Pillman

IMG_8813

Justo Pillman is an AFLC missionary candidate who will be going to Ecuador for a number of months as a Short Term Missions Assistant. 

 

Greeting in Jesus name. 

Just yesterday I received an letter from Ecuador with all the paperwork I need from that end.  PTL!  I'm having my physical today and should be able to have all my paperwork finalized in about a week.  At that point I will apply for the visa.

I just received an email from a friend in Ecuador.  It was just confirming that my housing in Cuenca has been all arranged and they are ready for me any time.  The way things are progressing, it's looking like I'll be flying to Ecuador sometime in October.

Lord willing I will be sharing on missions for the message this Sunday at Christ the King in Wilson, WI.  It's our home church, but Pastor Johnson will be on vacation.  I'm thankful for the opportunity. 

I don't have very many weekends left, but if any other church would be interested in having me share, they would be welcome to contact me.  My email address is jpillman@gmail.com

Thanks for your prayers and encouragement.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Ben Jore Arrives Safely in Uganda

Ben and Children Thank you so much for your prayers on my behalf as I traveled this past week. I have made it safely to Uganda and am at my brother's along with all my luggage! The trip was quite uneventful though very tiring. It is always a huge blessing to be here with them. I'm looking forward to seeing how my time here pans out. I brought our Jesus Film projection equipment from Tanzania and we are planning on doing multiple showings while I'm here. I'm sure other ministry will also present itself. I'm planning on close to a month here before returning to Tanzania to meet up with Jesse and head to Waama for the start of year #3!

Thanks again for your prayers!  God bless,

Ben

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Jonathan Abel's Latest Newsletter

Abel's NewsletterAs I felt myself being pushed
forward, almost falling, I knew
right away I was being mugged.
I had just stepped out of the bank
after taking out the little money
that was in my account to pay
two major bills, someone had
been watching me in the bank,
and when I was crossing the
empty street, got hit by the mugger . . .

To get the whole story click here.

Prayer Update from Ingrid Giles

Ingrid Dear Friends,

I had a wonderful time in July in San Luis Potosí helping teach the linguistics course.  It was hectic!   A lot of information was covered in a short time.  I wrote a little bit more about that experience on my blog.  http://ingrid.zrgtech.com   I've been back in Jerez for two or three weeks, but I hit the ground running and it took me a while to have time to write this prayer letter!  I am appreciating the calmer pace.

One student who was there to take the advanced class was a classmate of mine in the basic class last year.  Her name is Brenda.  She is on her way to the foreign mission field on the other side of the world as I write this.  She is very excited and a bit nervous!

Please keep praying for Claudia Arcos and her four kids!  On Thursday she and I finished the Bible Study that we have been doing, and we decided not to start a new one, although she will keep coming every Thursday for prayer and to visit.  We might study something fun, like phonetics.

Just before I left for San Luis at the end of June, a woman from our church named Bibi had a stroke.  She was in very bad shape at first, but when I saw her again after I returned to Jerez a little over a month later, she looked so much better I could hardly believe it was the same person!  She was sitting up by herself, and talking and laughing, and the best part is that she looked happy!  Our wonderful Lord, who uses all things to work together for good, has used her illness to heal some problems among people in her extended family.  Please pray that God would continue to heal her and her family!

Here is my prayer list:

Please (requests):

  • Pray for my continued health.
  • Ask God to continue to provide Dan and Marcela's financial needs. 
  • Please continue to pray for Claudia Gamboa and her kids, and Nena and her kids.
  • Pray that God would give me the words and phrases necessary to do the best possible job of translating this Sunday School material so that it will be clear to children from all over the Spanish-speaking world.  Also pray that God would use these lessons to speak to the children and teachers who use them.
  • Pray that I'd do a good job as Sunday School teacher.
  • Ask God to help me be diligent and spend my time wisely.  Also ask Him to help me live and do all that I do in a way that honors and glorifies Him.
  • Ask God to keep healing Bibi and her family.

Thank you (praise):

  • God gave me a wonderful experience in San Luis, and allowed me to be useful in some small way to the work of Bible translation in Mexico!
  • I got to visit a little with my friend Brenda before she left for China.
  • God has been healing Bibi and bringing her family together.
  • I have been healthy.
  • Claudia Arcos is continuing to seek God and follow Him, and she has grown a lot spiritually.
  • God is continuing to provide our needs.
  • I get to live with Daniel, Marcela, Ari and Andi, and see them every day!

Sincerely,

Ingrid Giles

Monday, August 18, 2008

Update from Nate Jore

Jores Nate Thank you so much for your prayers for our family and the ministry here.  We have seen the Lord at work in different ways this week and wanted to share some of it with you.

A drunkard of 30+ years has been sober for one month now!  This man is a good friend of ours and has been involved in the church work for many years.  The sobriety is an outward sign of what is going on in his heart.  He shared with me his testimony of how his father had asked him to stop drinking.  The old man was on his death bed and told his son, "I am soon going to be with your mother in heaven and I also want to see you there.  My son, there is no bottle in heaven."  Those were the last words that he heard from his father.  Now, a year since his father died, he has given up the bottle!  Instead of drinking in the evenings now, the man is borrowing books from me.  This past week he read The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun and For the Love of my Brothers by Brother Andrew.  The man is being transformed and his new-found joy is contagious!  His transformation will be a huge blessing to our ministry here!  Praise the Lord!

When someone has HIV/AIDS in this country it is usually kept as a secret because they are ashamed.  Even close friends and family members may not know if someone is suffering from the disease.  I have a friend here who has confided in me that he has HIV.  We have been working together to find the right treatment for him to try to prolong his life.  I cannot share a lot of details about the individual as his testimony is not yet public.  He had contracted HIV from his immoral life-style before he became a believer.  He had tested positive for HIV four different times over the past two years.  Last week we went together to a clinic that tests and treats people for free.  They took his blood and the following day he went for his results.  They were negative!  Confused, they tested again and it was negative again.  They called the other clinic where he had been tested previously and they confirmed he had been positive.  He is going to go back in a month to test again, but it seems that an AMAZING miracle has taken place!  He told me recently that some of the pain and fatigue that he usually feels he had not felt for three days. He is a fervent believer and had been praying that the Lord would heal him and extend his years so that he could serve Him.   Praise God!

Wilberforce Bampalana The work with the pastors is going well.  Yesterday (Aug 17th) Wilberforce had the opportunity to preach to some inmates at a prison near his place.  I was with Sospeter and Chris at our congregation in Bukoma for a baptism service.  On Friday Martin met with the group of pastors from his area for Bible study.  Ludigo was visiting a Pentecostal church in his area on Sunday.  His main message was that we are all informed (how we should be living) but we need to be transformed.  He recently testified after preparing the course "Bible Study on Romans / Galatians" that he has never been transformed so much by any book as he has been by the book of Romans.  Chris told me yesterday that in his area the pastors he is working with are catching the vision for home Bible study groups.  The Bibles that we have been able to distribute have been the catalyst for many such groups forming.  He told me that new groups are starting every week and that some groups are meeting every day!  He also said that people are getting saved through the Bible study groups.  Thank you for praying for the work!  This coming weekend we will be together on Friday and Saturday at our place to plan for the training program.  Please pray for wisdom and unity.

Thank you for standing with us!  God's presence has been felt both in these encouraging times and the discouraging ones.

Nate & the family

"Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord... But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him."    -Jeremiah 17:5,7

Ben Jore Traveling from Brazil to Uganda

Ben and Children Greetings from Brazil! Today marks the end of a wonderful 6 weeks in Brazil with my parents and little brother, Andy. It was such a blessing to have an extended period of time with them, meet up with old friends and see their new house, school, and workplace (they recently moved to Vianopolis). But that time has now come to an end. I board a plane this evening at 5:30 local time starting a marathon trip. After passing through Sao Paulo, Dubai and Dar es Salaam, I will land in Arusha on Wednesday evening. Thursday afternoon I will jump on a bus for an overnight trip through Kenya to Uganda, usually about an 18 hour trip. I should arrive at Jinja, Uganda Friday morning. There I will be visiting my brother Nate and his family (including the newest addition, Hannah, whom I've never met). I am planning to stay in Uganda for close to a month. There are many activities planned: showing the Jesus Film, going to some villages, working on their pastors' training curriculum, playing with the niece and nephews, and maybe even have enough time for a round of golf :-) Towards the end of September I will return to Tanzania to meet Jesse (who will be returning from Washington). We will have a couple weeks to get settled and start working on renewing our residency permits (which expire in January 09) before classes start at Waama again in October.

Thank you for upholding Jesse and I in your prayers. This break has been a good chance for both of us to get recharged and refocused on the calling the Lord has for us in Tanzania.

A couple prayer requests...

  • Please pray for journey mercies as I travel this week. Pray that I would be able to get over jet lag quickly
  • Pray for the upcoming ministry in Uganda

Praise the Lord for...

  • A wonderful time in Brazil - what a special blessing.

May God richly bless you,

Ben

Thanks for Praying for the Navamanines

Thank you so much for praying for us. I think I have had one of the worst weeks of my life. Miriam has been really sick. I know what she is going through because I also had the same thing, but it is harder to watch your child go through it. Over the years we learn how to deal with illness and other issues, but kids don't have the same stamina.

It was a little scary, because one of the things they are worried about here is Dengue Fever, so if you have a fever for more that three days they say you should have a full-blood count done. After four days of fever, Miriam's White Blood cells were about half what they should be and her platelet count was very near the level where they hospitalize for Dengue Fever. In fact that is what the doctors at the clinic we went to assumed she had. After we asked you to pray, they went up a little. However the next day they were down in the danger level. We almost took her to the hospital, but because the white blood cells were improving and the fever was gone, they gave her 500 ml of saline and sent her home. Later that day we checked again and the platelets were increasing and the next day she was out of the danger level. So thank you for praying. This meant that I could complete the VBS program I started. We had our closing program tonight (Saturday) and I am very glad this week is over. It was nice that the clinic we went to was just up the road from the church, so each day as Miriam was getting her blood checked, I could run up (literally since Ron had the car) and be there when the doctor gave his opinion and advice. I think we will do one more test to see if it was Dengue or just a very strong virus. I know I had the same thing and I am pretty sure it is only a viral flu, although a terrible one. We have heard of others who are having the same symptoms as we have.

Keep praying for Miriam, although the fever is gone, she is still very uncomfortable. She still has headaches and stomach pain and the big problem right now is flushing redness, especially on her feet and it makes them itch a lot. She has had trouble sleeping at night because of this. I had the same thing, it was uncomfortable, but Miriam seems to have everything worse than I did. Nothing tastes good, even water tastes bad, so it is easy to get dehydrated. She will need to rest for at least one more week to be out of the woods. I still have stomach pains after three weeks and am only now getting my appetite back. She also feels bad that she missed VBS and camp. It would have been her last time to go.

Thanks so much for praying for us, We appreciate all of you who wrote and said you were praying or sent email prayers for us. It makes us feel confident of God's protection and love for us.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Update from Silesia - Tim Hinrichs

Update from SilesiaIn May we celebrated THE 10th ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIBLE SCHOOL. Actually, it won’t officially be 10 years until
October when classes start but because of planning issues, we celebrated a few months early.

We organized events which went on for the whole day, from morning until evening. The main focus was to give honor and glory
to God for what HE has accomplished over the past decade in the Bible school. Has it really been a decade already? . . .

To read the whole newsletter click here or on the graphic.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Pray for the Navamanies

Ron and Marsha Navamanie are missionaries in Sri Lanka.  Marsha is a member of Emmaus Lutheran in Bloomington, MN.  She is the daughter of the Gene Quist's. 

Hope everyone is enjoying their summers. We are not having such a good time here, please pray for us.

Marsha had a bad flu virus three weeks ago, it took her two full weeks to get over it, it was terrible. Miriam has it now and she seems even worse, if that is possible. We had her blood checked today and it was not good, White blood cells are half what they should be and her platelet count is very low, almost in the danger level for Dengue Fever. We have to take her for another blood test tomorrow. Please pray for the Lord's healing for her. She can't keep any food down and still has a fever after four days. She was suppose to help with VBS this week and then go as a helper on the Youth for Christ Deeper Life camp starting tomorrow. She is really disappointed. She also has a lot of school work to complete before the end of the month. Many people here are praying for her, but we thought adding all your prayers would also help. We appreciate you all and your prayers for us.

I have 18 kids for VBS as of today, Tuesday. They are not kids I know well, not sure if my English is too difficult for them. Please pray I can make it relevant for them. It isn't easy doing this coming off this bad flu, still don't feel strong, stomach is still giving me problems after three weeks. With Miriam also sick and trying to make things she would like, it is not easy, so please pray for us.

Thanks so much, Marsha

Paul and Becky Abel - Busy in Brazil

Outdoor Wedding

Dear Friends,

            Greetings from Brazil!  I realize that you haven’t heard from us in awhile again.  We had a wonderful trip to the U.S. to spend time with family and get some much-needed rest!  Everything was wonderful and was used by God to refresh us for the next big push back here in Brazil.  Since we have returned it has been non-stop action.  I think we have done a year’s worth of ministry in the last month.  Thanks to those of you who faithfully pray for us!  God has continued to sustain us day by day.

            Paul has been involved in many meetings concerning changes in our Free Lutheran church body in Brazil.  We have been going through much transition in many places.  Although this is stressful and stretching we realize that God is in control and that He promises to work all things together for good.  Pastor Jaime who was pastor of the São Braz church and president of our Brazilian Free Lutheran church, is no longer exercising any ministerial function due to moral failure.  We pray that the Lord will continue to draw him to Himself and that Jaime will experience the grace and forgiveness of God.  The church is now looking for a new pastor and the laymen are working together to continue the ministries in that place.  On a national level we also lost our Vice-president, Pastor Iran, who accepted a call to teach in a different seminary.  So the second vice-president, Silvio Paes, is now acting as president until the next Annual Conference in January. During this last month the director of the Miriam Infant Home also resigned, so there is a “changing of the guard” there as well.  As the second semester of the seminary school year is beginning in Campo Mourão we ask for your prayers for the seminarians who will be graduating in November.  We also ask for prayer for the teachers as they minister to the students and make plans to re-instate a two-year Bible School program for next year.  The teachers are spread thin and are in need of our prayers day by day.

            In July we traveled to Campo Mourão to help with a winter Bible Camp for youth.  We took a busload of 44 people from Curitiba to participate there.  While at camp one of the boys we brought from Campo Largo (who is not yet a Christian) was bitten by a poisonous snake.  We got hjm to the hospital in time to be medicated and cared for, but he ended up spending half of his camp time in the hospital. This led to an opportunity for Paul to share the Gospel with Reginaldo’s family upon return home. While in Campo Paul had the privilege of marrying a couple we have known for years at a lovely outdoor wedding.  The following week we had another outdoor wedding, but this time at the ARCA in Bateias. The parents of the bride are long-time friends of ours who were converted in our early days of ministry and who have been faithful supporters of the ARCA ministry, serving on the board for years.  The groom has been an ARCA camp counselor for as long as we can remember, so it was appropriate to have the wedding at the ARCA. 

Youth Team Earlier that same week a group of five young people from the U.S. arrived to spend three weeks with us.  We have enjoyed them immensely, and their time with us is quickly coming to an end tomorrow as they head back to the U.S. The FLY group participated in our regular ministry opportunities, sharing their testimonies and bringing special musical presentations (5 services each week).  They also made friends with many youth in Bateias and enjoyed teaching the Brazilians how to play Ultimate Frisbee.  During the day the group helped build a house for a needy family and give a hand with some projects at the ARCA.  One weekend we had a mini-retreat at the ARCA, teaching on sexual purity and God’s plan for relationships. Of course I kept busy in the kitchen trying to keep every one happy and satisfied. Last week we traveled with the group to visit Campo Mourão and Iguaçu Falls, where we are at the writing of this letter.  Here they have helped painting windows at the church building site and have also participated in the special services we had at the two churches in town.  Paul preached three times here.  The people have really enjoyed seeing us again and being encouraged by the messages and friendship.  Last night we participated in a 2-hour Christian radio program in Argentina that members of the church here finance and prepare every Monday evening.  The team enjoyed being in three different countries yesterday – Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay.

The last few weeks have also been marked by much prayer and concern for special people in our lives who have been undergoing physical problems.  Evaldo, one of our ARCA employees, suffered a heart attack one day and was thought to have died by the time he reached our little health clinic in Bateias. A member of our church “just happened”  to be with Evaldo when he suffered the heart attack and immediately got him to the clinic.  A doctor “just happened”  to be at the door of the clinic and administered medicine under his tongue (even though she felt he was already gone).  A special ambulance equipped with machines and a doctor “just happened”  to be in Bateias at the time and quickly took him to the hospital.  A praying wife and congregation joined in fervent prayer for a beloved man and the doctors have no way of humanly explaining the miracle that happened when they tested Evaldo and found no damage to his heart.  He is home again praising God for more days to live for His glory.  Our caretaker’s wife also suffered a near heart attack the next week but seems to be doing better at present.  And then there is our dear Marcia.  We have asked you to pray for Marcia on many occasions.  She is the single mother who lives in the little house behind ours with her two little girls.  Everyone at the ARCA has adopted this mom and girls as our own.  Over a year ago Marcia had her first surgery to remove the growth of pig worms in her head.  At the time she also had meningitis.  During the past year she has done very well until about a month ago when the headaches returned.  She has been such a sick gal, suffering with terrible headaches and nausea with almost constant vomiting. We have been back and forth to the emergency ward many times and she was hospitalized for over a week.  Surgery was performed to put in a permanent drainage tube from her head to some other place in her body to relieve the pressure on the brain.  The care here is a far cry from care in the good old USA. Anyway, the whole ordeal has been very stressful.  After her surgery Marcia was still not doing well and the doctor ordered a CAT scan, but through socialized medicine the exam would have to wait for another month.  Evaldo, happy to be cured from his close call with death, took it upon himself to raise the necessary funds to pay for Marcia’s CAT scan.  In 24 hours the people of Bateias came together with a love offering for Marcia.  It is beautiful to see people who have so little for themselves offering to share with someone in need like Marcia.  She is back home now but is still not feeling well.  Will you join us in prayer for this dear friend and her two little girls? 

This is just an overview, but I think you get the idea that life with Paul and Becky in Brazil is full of action and opportunity.  We try to use the opportunities God gives us to witness wherever we go. May others come to know Jesus through our love and preaching. We share in church, of course, but there are also numerous opportunities to share in the hospitals and the other places God leads us.  Thanks for reading this epistle and for joining us though your gifts and prayers! 

We serve a wonderful God who deserves our very best efforts in communicating to a lost world the riches of His love and grace!  May He be blessing you today and providing for your needs in a special way.  Isn’t it amazing that He can take care of all of us and all of our little and big needs all at the same time?  Wow!  Praise be to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond that which we could ask or think!   

Love in Him,

Paul and Becky

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Evangelism Lessons in India

Evangelism ExplosionThe pastors and Bible women of the AFLC of India recently attended evangelism classes in Bapatla.  The classes were put on and sponsored by the AFLC-I using material and teachers from Evangelism Explosion.   The workers found the classes to be very helpful.