Paul and Becky Abel

Almost two months have slipped by and I realize it is time to communicate with our web of friends and supporters. We hope everyone has returned to another school year with a desire to do all to the glory of God and give Him thanks in all things. 

Looking Back

We have had a full two months.  I just want to give you a quick overview so that you can rejoice with us and pray for us as you have done so faithfully throughout the years of our ministry in Brazil. Paul had a complete recovery of his voice after weeks of struggling with laryngitis.  Our time in Campo Mourão in September giving a course on courtship and sexuality was blessed by the Lord and we hope the decisions made will be significant in helping young people remain sexually pure.  We taught the classes together this time because of Paul’s weak voice.  As he ministered during the week his voice gradually strengthened. 

The following week we drove to São Paulo to meet my folks and take them to visit a boy they support monthly through Compassion International. Then we returned to Curitiba to spend a wonderful three weeks together.  It is almost hard to believe that this was their 10^th visit to Brazil in the 25 years we have been here.  How thankful we are for their faithful support and encouragement of our ministry!  They kept busy the whole time they were here, painting our house and doing fix-up jobs that we just don’t get around to doing.  Of course we enjoyed sharing our life and ministry and friends with them as well. One highlight for all of us was babysitting for Deborah and Sarah for 10 days while Joanna and Silvio were traveling. We had a great bonding time and memories to cherish for the years to come. We also enjoyed celebrating a host of birthdays.  I feel like I have made plenty of fancy birthday cakes for awhile.  Thanks to all of you who remembered to send birthday greetings to us!

We are praising God for the rentals at the ARCA.  After several months of financial struggle we are thankful to report that we have bookings set in place until the end of the year.  We are breathing a little easier now. Thank you, Lord! We had an Annual ARCA board meeting in September.  Yara has decided to terminate her ministry with the camp for the time being but will continue to serve on the Board. Her husand Carlos continues to work as camp manager.

Paul took a quick trip to Campo Mourão a couple of weeks ago for the funeral of our dear friend Dona Vita. She and her husband have been caretakers at the Bible Camp in Campo Mourão for over 40 years. She was a dear saint and will be greatly missed.

Looking Ahead

The church construction in Borda do Campo is progressing (see photo) and they plan to have the dedication service on November 14^th and move into unfinished quarters to escape the monthly rent bill.

We have started a weekly Bible Club on Saturdays in Campo Largo in yet one more attempt to reach out to the community.  We have had several visitors and are excited about this new avenue of ministry. 

This coming weekend the ARCA is hosting our Second Missionary Conference. The first one was in 2007.  We hope to host this event every other year to encourage our Free Lutheran people in mission outreach.  This year four different workshops will be offered in preparation for a practical mission outreach event in the community on Monday, November 2 which is a national holiday in Brazil. 

The Mighty Fortress Church in São Braz also took the initiative to offer a bi-weekly course for training leaders in our area churches.  We meet together on Tuesday evenings to learn and encourage one another.

We look forward to the arrival of four Canadian young men next week to help with some construction projects around here.  The two short-termers from the States, Jon and Nathan, are still waiting for their visas to be granted, but we hope to see them soon.  One other volunteer, Karyn Ballman, is in the process of applying for a visa to spend some time with us as well.  Please keep these young people in your prayers.

I’ve already have gone on too long and I feel like I have barely scraped the surface. Life and ministry keep us busy all the time.  We are still here because of the mercies of the Lord. We are so glad He never tires of loving people and offering opportunities for men to be reconciled to Him.  His Word through the prophet Ezekiel expresses His desire for all mankind – “I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!” Ez. 18:32

Thanks for praying for us as we lead people to repentance and faith! 

God’s best to each of you!  Love, Paul and Becky

P.S. Our old website is no longer active, but I have put together another one if anyone needs information about us or would like to take a look – www.paulabel.shutterfly.com

Darwin Jackson

"Fall on your knees and grow there. There is no burden of the spirit but is lighter by kneeling under it. Prayer means not always talking to Him, but waiting before Him till the dust settles and the stream runs clear." F. B. Meyer

It's been great to be in full swing again after being sick for so long. I thought I'd never get rid of that thing! The only thing is, we're so busy teaching and preaching we haven't had as much time for fishing... for men. That's a hint for prayer :-).

We're (Alfonso and I) preaching and teaching three times each Sunday in Mascarenas, twice in two different homes and once in the church. Been preaching more often in Buenos Aires, giving Pastor Antonio more time for visiting and just having a break. And twice at the rescue mission each week.

Florencia is working weekends now, but holds the children's Bible school on Thursdays now in Mascarenas, and it is going well with about 13 to 15 kids strong.

On our visitations in Buenos Aires we ran into a family who were very open to us. We'll be visiting them again this Sunday. Please pray for Victor (back slidden after getting out of prison), Fidencia and Xochit (pronounced shochit).

My guitar student/worship leader in the making, is doing awesome (Edgar). I believe he'll be ready to start leading on his own soon.
Mary Ann and the kids are doing great. They have been on vacation all week. They'll be coming back tomorrow. Pray for their travel from L.A.
Pastor Antonio is on vacation as well this week so I'll be taking his place tomorrow. It is a real joy to be able to do this for him.

Thank you all so much for "waiting before Him till the dust settles and the stream runs clear." Your fellow workers,

Darwin, Mary Ann, Gracie, Cesar, Sykari and Laura

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

Jesse Long - Tanzania

God is good and I am excited to have many evidences of His goodness to report in this update!!  I was just looking back at my last update and realized that I didn’t say much of anything about Tanzania.  I guess it was more a report of my time away from Tanzania than anything.

Well, since that time, Ben arrived safely here in Tanzania.  He was a couple days behind me due to a delay in Chicago but we are thankful that both of us ultimately arrived safely along with ALL of our luggage.

Ben and I met up in Arusha where we spent our first couple days picking up supplies for the coming semester and making sure our motorcycles were up-to-date with maintenance and in good shape after sitting unused for the past couple months.  One praise is that Ben was able to acquire a different motorcycle from a Norwegian friend whose term here in Tanzania had come to an end.  His ‘new’ bike is a 650cc (rather than his old 250cc) and is about 5 years newer, as well.  With both of us having bigger bikes (see attached picture), we sure saw a difference in the travel time between Arusha and Mbulu.  More importantly, however, is the peace of mind that results from having reliable motorcycles to drive.  God is good.  Another related praise is that Ben has already found a buyer for his old bike.  It really was a miracle and came about without him needing to put up even one advertisement!!

So, we had a safe trip out to Waama.  We arrived on the 4^th of this month.  Right away that week, we began having meetings with the other teachers to get things set for the school year ahead and especially for this first semester.  In that first week we had 3 different teachers’ meetings and were able to set the start/finish dates for each of the three semesters, propose a date for this school year’s graduation, set the schedule for each semester’s finals, as well as divide up the teaching responsibilities for this semester.  Another praise is that a third pastor has been brought on board to help teach this year.  He is not full-time here at the school and is actually the pastor responsible for overseeing a nearby district of churches but this has its own set of blessings.  Perhaps most significantly is that he receives his salary from his work in this neighboring district and the school gets the benefit of another teacher who they don’t have to pay but is still carrying a full load of classes.  Again, God is good.

Anyway, it was good to get moved back into our house.  Students began arriving on the 7^th and classes started this past Monday, October 12^th.  This semester I am teaching ‘Evangelism’ (a 4-credit course), Philippians (a 2-credit course), English (a 2-credit class), and James (another 2-credit course).

I would like to ask you all to pray for the dean as he has been having some health issues.  We actually have not even seen him yet as he has been in his home village of Haydom where there is a good-sized mission hospital.  I am not exactly sure of what all he is dealing with but I know the problem has particularly affected his legs.  My understanding is that he had surgery of some sort within the past couple weeks but is expected to make it out to Waama perhaps even this weekend.  Again, please keep him in your prayers.

Perhaps the most significant praise is one that I have not yet mentioned.  WE HAVE ELECTRICITY AT WAAMA!!  God is so good.  I received an email while I was still in the States that said the “power was turned on August 26^th” but I had a hard time believing that it was true until I arrived here and saw it with my own two eyes.  It is a whole new life.  We still don’t have internet and virtually no cell phone network at our house but the step that has been taken is a good one.  Thanks so much to all who had a part in this project!!  The school will benefit from this progress for decades to come.

Well, I am sure there is much more that I could tell you but I think I will save it for next time.  Thank you all so much for your ongoing prayers for us and support in so many ways.  God is good and we are excited to be involved in His work in this part of the world.

God bless you all for your part.

In His service,

Jesse Long

Mbulu, Tanzania

Flooding in India

Some news doesn't make international news even though it can affect a lot of people. This past week, the Krishna River in Andra Pradesh hit a flood stage greater than had ever been predicted possible. The rains from neighboring states overwhelmed three dams along the river. 400 villages have been affected by the floods.

Eventually the river bank gave out in the area where we have 4 AFLC churches. The one church has 300 families in it. In the fisherman's village water went on top of the roof of a three story building.

AFLC World Missions has released some emergency funds to help the victims, please consider supporting this relief work through AFLC World Missions.

Kevin Olson, Traveling in India

Ben Jore

Greetings from Waama Bible School! After nearly 3 months in the States, both Jesse and I are back at Waama ready for our 4th year of teaching and showing the Jesus Film!

The brief couple months we had in the States were a huge blessing. I was able to share a dozen times about the work we do in Tanzania! I was also able to meet up with many friends and family and had a very blessed time with all of them. God is so good. But before I knew it, it was time to head back to Tanzania for another year.

The return trip to Tanzania was quite eventful including a two day lay-over in Chicago, which paved the way for a volleyball game with a friend from 1st grade (thank you Facebook!), a tour of London, two overnight flights, a night in Dar es Salaam, and a 10 hour bus ride! And that only got me to within 3 hours of Waama! I felt like I needed to go on vacation again. But God has been so good to us and has given us a couple days of blessed peace and quiet here at Waama before the students come and classes start.

We actually have already had a couple teachers meetings and divided up classes for first semester! Usually this doesn't happen until AFTER the students arrive. This year I am going to be teaching Intro to Biblical History, Bible History 1, Bible History 2, and Bible Customs and Geography. These total 11 credits, 8 of which are new courses that have never been taught and have to be written from scratch. This is by far the heaviest load I've ever had, but I'm excited to teach these classes and love what I do! Classes are scheduled to start on Monday, October 12!

One of the first things we noticed when we arrived at Waama was that all the buildings had power lines running to them! Indeed, all the buildings on campus have been hooked up to the national grid! This is such an incredibly huge blessing, I can't even explain. On behalf of everyone here at Waama, THANK YOU to everyone who prayed for and gave toward this project! This will be a huge blessing for many, many years to come.

Would you praise God with us? Praise him for...

...electricity! This is such a huge blessing and answer to prayer.

...calling Jesse and I back for another year. We are excited to see what God has in store for us this year.

...a great summer. It was great to see so many of you this summer and share what God has been doing over here.

...Adela Hein. This summer I started courting Adela! We are excited to see where He leads us and covet your prayers on our behalf.

Would you please pray for us and this coming school year? Please pray for...

...students. 51 applications have been accepted for the 2009-10 school year. Capacity is 72 and we would love to max out this year.

...protection. We need protection while we travel - Jesse and I travel many kilometers for both ministry and personal needs. We need protection from sickness - Last week there were 20 confirmed cases of swine flu in Mbulu, 5 miles away. Pray for protection from the "pestilence that stalks in the darkness" (Ps 91:6).

...good ministry. With Swahili getting easier and easier, the opportunity for deeper ministry increases. Pray for wisdom, discernment, boldness, and cultural awareness in all our opportunities.

...rain. There is a pretty significant drought across the country. Many crops failed last year (though God blessed Waama with a huge harvest), many livestock are dying, and the government is passing out food by the truckload. Pray that the rains would come soon.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support! May God bless you,

Ben

PS We are at the beginning of a new year and many of you are new to this update list and have requested information on how to partner financially with me. Here are two different ways it can happen...

-Write a check, made payable to "AFLC World Missions". On a separate note write "For the ministry of Ben Jore". Then mail to: AFLC World Missions, 3110 E Medicine Lake Blvd, Plymouth, MN 55441.

-For those who would like to support me monthly but don't want to write a check every month, you can set up an automatic transfer. To do this, click here to receive the form, print it and fill it out. Then send it to the above address. If you have any questions feel free to contact me or the World Missions office at 763-412-2013.

Kevin Olson

Thank you so much for your prayers for the work and the ministry in Uganda and India.

After two weeks in Uganda, this is the fourth day in India.

There were some great encouragements in Uganda that I would like to update you on and the training in India was in session the morning after arrival.

Before more updates, some prayer requests include:

- The flooding of the Krishna river in the state of Andra Pradesh is very severe. It has never reached these levels. One large hydroelectric dam has opened all of its flood gates but the incoming water is double the outflow. The water could begin going over the dam before the peak flow hits. Water has already entered the dam and the power has been shut down. Literally hundreds of thousands of people are moving to temporary shelters. Thankfully there have been relatively few deaths. The town, Porta Lanka, that the church we were to visit today is being evacuated, so we won’t be going there. Other AFLC churches along the river’s path are also of concern.

- Our family has also been experiencing spiritual warfare. Everyone of us in our own area of weakness has had to deal with something. Somehow those type of things encourage me more than discourage me. It means that ministry is happening and that the battle to be won is the Lord’s and not something I need to worry about.

Here are a couple of people that I want to give you a snap shot of.

The first is Chris, he was Nate and Rhoda’s gardener. From age 13 on he has been away from home, earning a living on his own and even providing for his family. His history is rough, with illness and problems, but in the same way the Lord has been working in and through him. He was miraculously cured and given a new start on life. This past June he and Sarah were married. They did well to have both the traditional African introduction and the Christian marriage at the same time. Marriage has it’s own challenges as it did for Chris and Sarah, but God is good and has carried them through that as well. Last week, Sarah and her mother-in-law were going to one of three funerals in his family. The motorcycle tipped over and Sarah broke her arm.

Even though he has faced more trials than most of us can imagine, God has carried him through them all and the Lord is using him as a young man to teach and lead pastors that are twice his age. Pray for him and the ministry the Lord is doing through him.

Back in Tanzania

Greetings once again from the beautifully warm country of Tanzania!  It is hard to believe summer is already over and even harder to believe all that has happened since I last sent an update like this.  God truly blessed my time away from Tanzania and I am especially thankful to have been able to see many of you.

For those that don’t know, my summer “break” included time not only in Washington with my family, but also time in Oregon, California, North Carolina, Georgia, Australia, and Brazil.  Actually, in some ways it feels like I needed to come back to Africa to rest but, nonetheless, I would not have traded any of the opportunities I had for anything.

To briefly summarize, after arriving home on the 4^th of July, I spent my first week in Arlington, Washington with most of my immediate family.  My second week was spent in Astoria, Oregon working back at my old desk at LEKTRO, Inc.  My third week included an amazing vacation in Eastern Washington with my good friend Eric Paulson, all my brothers as well as my sister, Esther, and several other friends.  Immediately following that trip, my brother, Joe, and I headed off for our trip to California and Australia made possible by a friend in the airline industry and some frequent flier miles.  We returned from that trip on the 15^th of August and already on the 21^st of August I was again on a plane, this time headed to Brazil for a LEKTRO business trip.  Thankfully, that trip was followed-up by another week back at home in Arlington and those days were followed up by a trip back to North Carolina to visit my sister, Sarah, along with her husband and two boys.  However, as evidence to the fact that my self-diagnosis of having both A.D.D. and hyperactivity is accurate, I scheduled some ministry related business into the middle of that trip.  This took the form of a road-trip down to Atlanta, GA where I met with the staff of Renew World Outreach, the organization responsible for developing the solar-powered audio/video units used in remote villages for showing the Jesus Film.  In fact, I was blessed to have been provided with the money to be able to pick up two more of these units (in addition to the one unit we already have over here in Tanzania).  Ben and I are quite excited to put these three units into the hands of local evangelists as early as possible this school year in order to attempt to nationalize the Jesus Film ministry we have been carrying on over the past three years.  I returned from my trip to the East Coast on the 17^th of September and enjoyed some final days with all my siblings together until it was time to board a plane again heading back here to Tanzania on the 25^th.

So, God blessed me with a full and productive summer.  In some ways I feel like I am still trying to absorb all that happened but it is good to be back here in Africa.  God blessed both Ben and me with safe travel and, though Ben was delayed a couple of days, we are now both here in Arusha and praise God that all our luggage arrived safely as well.  These days have been full of preparations for the coming months out in Mbulu.  We plan to make the trip that direction this Sunday afternoon so that we can have a few days to get our house put together.  As the schedule stands, students should begin arriving on Wednesday, the 7^th, and classes should begin the following Monday, October 12^th.  As we look towards the coming year, please pray for these specific requests:

• Wisdom as we both teach various classes – some for the first time.
• Protection as we travel in this environment on our dirt bikes.
• Blessing on the students who will be studying at Waama this year.
• A prompt and blessed start to the school year.
• Direction and wisdom as we seek to establish these three national Jesus Film teams equipped with the new equipment we have returned with.

Thank you all so much for your love and prayers.  I am always amazed as I am home each summer and experience the love and support so many of you show.  May God continue to bless you all in your specific calling.  I look forward to keeping in touch in the year ahead.  Keep up the great work!

In Christ’s service,

Jesse Long

Mbulu, Tanzania

Chmiels Update

Greetings from Ukraine! New school year is in full swing here in Lviv so we will keep this short. As we mentioned in our last update we lost a volunteer who was helping us last year and was planning to come work with us full time this year so we are thankful for all your prayers as we are still trying to figure out what changes to make so that we would be able to manage the ministry ourselves.

We would also appreciate your prayers for the fall weeklong retreat that we also already mentioned in our previous emails. Right now we are working on all the details together with the youth leader of the Lutheran congregation in the Czech Republic that invited us. We are really encouraged to see the enthusiasm of this Czech youth group and the desire they have to share their faith with our youth. That is an answer to our prayers in many ways and we thank all of you who are praying with us for this retreat.

Another prayer request that we also already mentioned earlier is our visa situation. Our Ukrainian visa and registration expires now in October and we are right now in the process of trying to get a renewal. We submitted our documents last week and we should probably hear from the office this week to see if we will be able to get another one-year renewal. Last year it was a headache to get this done so please pray that, if it is God’s will, that it would go smoother this year.

This weekend, the new bishop of the German Lutheran church is coming to Lviv (pictured on the left) and we were asked to host him, his wife and his translator in our apartment. That will give us an opportunity to get to know him better. If you think of us this weekend please pray that our time with the bishop would be honoring to God and that God would grant us wisdom when we discuss some of the details of our work in Lviv.

If you’d like to see some new pictures from our lives and ministry, we updated our summer gallery at http://picasaweb.google.com/HannahJoyChmiel/Summer2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCMn83qCFnaC4Kg#

And of course Hannah’s gallery is updated at http://picasaweb.google.com/HannahJoyChmiel/  For those who like baby pictures :) :) :)

And one last thing, we wanted to really apologize to all of you who sent us emails and got no answer from us. We are REALLY BEHIND with emails that need to be answered so it is possible that if you sent us an email at a time when we were not able to write back right away, the email ended up in a LOOOONG line of emails that need to be answered. If you are still waiting for our answer on something that is important, please do not hesitate to write again and remind us and we will try to email you right back. We are so sorry for this. Every day we hope to get caught up and somehow it is not happening :(

Have a great rest of the week,

Tomasz, Miriam and Hannah

Remember Justo Pillman in Prayer

I just wanted to write a quick note and ask prayer for continued safety down here.  I don't get paranoid about it (I should probably be more careful than I am), but recently have realize how many dangers there are every day.  Just in the last couple weeks I've seen the Lord's protection multiple times while traveling.  Traffic feels like a zoo sometimes there are so many close calls.  Also, last Fri. Josue (the pastor's son) was robbed at knife point at 6:30pm one block from the church.  I walk by that corner almost every day, and frequently ride the public transportation as well.  What peace it gives to rest in the Lord, but I also want to be wise in the places I go.  It is by His mercies that we are not consumed.... great is His faithfulness!  Lam. 3:22-26
Thanks for praying!
-Justo

Jonathan Abel’s Newsletter

In March we were able to buy a property to build a church, after saving  for 4 years. Now we begin our faith journey to build the church.

Click here to read the whole newsletter.

Greetings from the Schierkolks

As we've been traveling on deputation these last few months there were a number of people asking us about the violence in Mexico.  If you'd like to see the article in the New York Times that talks about what has happened in our town you can find it by clicking on the link to the AFLC World Missons Prayer Blog http://aflc-wm.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html .  In my letter posted Wednesday, January 14th you'll find the link to the New York Times article.  Up until the time we left Jerez in May things were significantly calmer and I have told people that we have not felt personally threatened and have felt no need 'to be let down in a basket with a rope over the city wall' like the apostle Paul was on one occasion.  Things have certainly not reached that point but all of us in Jerez greatly appreciate your prayers for us.

During our visits this summer we have been sharing a DVD movie about the work in Jerez.  You can access the video via the World Missions home page at http://www.aflc.org/world-missions/.  Click on "View World Missions Videos" and that should take you to "Schierkolks Part 1."   The movie is divided into two parts.  In the second part the music had to be edited significantly so if you'd like to see the original you can contact the World Missions office and ask them for the copy of the DVD.  After you view "Schierkolks Part 1" you can watch "Schierkolks Part 2."  If the title doesn't automatically come to your screen just type it into the search bar and it will show up.

This summer was a great time for all of us to be with family, visit with friends and supporters from numbers of churches and share about the ministry going on in Jerez.  We are so grateful for the love and support that we have received from so many over these years.  We are very blessed to be partners in the Gospel with you.  We would ask you to continue to remember our fellow-workers in Jerez, Short-Term Assistants Ingrid Giles and Dan and Marcela Giles and their children.  Thanks for your prayers and support for them as well.

The first weekend of October we're looking forward to a quick visit from Dan and Debbie Giles for the baptism of their new little grandson and we'd appreciate your prayers for their travels, too.

In Christ,

Todd and Barb Schierkolk

Kevin Olson

Hello Friends,

Thank you for all of your prayers for this trip to Uganda.

The trip has gone smoothly and there have been many great connections and experiences.

Some great answers to prayer have been the following:

• Peace returned to Kampala before we went through the city. It was interesting to hear from some of those that did go through the rioting. The mobs were burning cars at random. Life is an amazing adventure. It is awesome to go through it with the Lord.
• The curriculum and other details were all ready before leaving on the trip.
• We have been through the first step of oral testing of the students. They are being tested on the second semester material which is 450 verses from 14 stories of the Old Testament. How would you do if you were memorizing 450 verses every 14 weeks. They are doing great and are growing in their knowledge and confidence of the Word of God. It was fun to hear them answer each other regarding questions that people on the street were asking them.
• The meeting with the ELCU went well and we were able to talk about some of the differences in how we see things.
• This past Sunday service included four baptisms, 23 confirmations and communion. Basically the whole congregation had never been through confirmation. The pastor went through confirmation last January, so it is cool to see him passing it on to his people. Question: How do you do communion in a culture where there is neither wine nor grape juice?

Prayer requests that remain include:

• That we could finish the testing and that the students would put their whole heart and soul into the training.
• For the vision of the church of Uganda and for an understanding of how they can begin to stand on their own.

Let me introduce you to Soka Grace. He is the host pastor of the church where the training takes place in Butagaiya. He and his wife have been married for 23 years and they have seven children with one on the way. He would give the last meal in his home to welcome guests. He struggles with how to pay the school fees for his children and that is a common problem in Uganda. As the host for this training he has brought a sense of unity among the pastors in the county so that they are working together to bring the Word of God to the people rather than being in competition with each other. Now when one of them is in need they all join together and attend each others events. I was at Soka’s house for lunch on Monday. They asked me “Who is a Christian?” and we decided that the title Christian should be the name that someone else gives us rather than what we call ourselves. Instead when we are asked if we are a Christian our response should probably be that “I am a sinner, that is depending on Jesus.”

I have a lot to learn from Soka. He is humble example of Christ lived out in daily life.

Another man that I want to tell you about is Jimmy. Jimmy’s father died some years ago. Since then he has been the head of the house. His mother and grandmother and younger brothers and sisters all live at the same home. He has not yet married, but he is leading a congregation in a near by village. His family will provide food every single time there is a training and the training is held outside of his house in Naigobia. He led his brother to faith in Jesus and his brother Saulo has brought many of the young men in his area to Christ. Now the group numbers about 10. They are pastors and leaders of three churches in the area. Jimmy is soft spoken, but even as a man in his twenties, but Jimmy carries an air of respect.

Pray for Soka and Jimmy the hosts of the training in Uganda!

Thanks for joining us in the ministry to the rural pastors of Uganda.

Kevin

Kevin Olson Traveling

Rev. Kevin Olson, developer of Ambassador Institute is traveling in Uganda and India.  His purpose for traveling is to encourage the Ambassador Institute’s distance education program for pastors and leaders.  He will be testing the students in both Uganda and India.  He will be in Uganda until September 29th.  Kevin will then travel to India and will return home on October 16th.  Please remember Kevin in prayer while he travels and his family while he is absent.

Nate Jores

Thanks for praying for us while we've been on the road since the beginning of August! It's been wonderful to meet so many of you that have been a part of our prayer team for the past few years. We've been encouraged and refreshed in your homes and in your churches. Thanks for housing us, feeding us, listening to us, and sharing your lives with us. It's been so good to be "home".

In August we traveled to a few churches in Minnesota, as well as Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Michigan. Nate enjoyed taking part in the Summer Institute of Theology at AFLTS and he was even able to get away for a few days with my brothers to the Boundary Waters. We spent a day with Nate's brother and family in West Virginia, which was a sweet time for our family. We hadn't seen them for close to 5 years! This month we've traveled to Iowa and South Dakota already, and will soon be visiting Illinois again, as well as Wisconsin and a few more churches in MN.

It's been a full schedule and we are tired, but I think we'll get a little break next month when things slow down a bit. Thankfully we've stayed healthy and the World Missions vehicle we're driving has been running well.

The kids have enjoyed making many, many new friends along the way. They really are good travelers, but get worn out like we do. A few times on the road Jude has said, "I think it's time to go back to Grandpa and Grandma's now." :)

A huge blessing for us has been to see the excitement that people have in hearing about what God is doing in Uganda, and to hear so many of you say that you are praying for us and for the work we are doing. What a gift that is! We've said it many times, but we'll say it again - we need your prayers. There are many challenges that lay ahead of us upon our return in January. Please pray for the conversion of souls through the hearing of the Word of God and that the plans of the Evil One will be thwarted.

We would also appreciate prayer for our upcoming meeting with the AFLC World Missions Committee next Monday. There are some important decisions to be made that will determine the future direction of our work in Uganda. Please pray that the Lord would make His will known to each one of us involved and that there will be great unity in the decision-making process.

Your emails are encouraging to us. Please don't hesitate to write and please let us know how we can pray for you as well! We praise God for each of you.

Blessings,

Rhoda for Nate, Elijah, Judah and Hannah

Ingrid Giles Prayer Letter

Though I’ve been back from vacation for a couple of weeks now, I was surprised to realize that September is half over.  Yesterday was Mexican Independence Day!  ¡Viva México!  I've been having trouble for a few days sending this prayer letter; I hope it works this time.

God knew I needed a vacation.  I am so thankful to Him for planning it.  I’d been saving up all year to take a linguistics course in July.  It wasn’t easy to do -- some months I had to take from my savings to supplement my income -- but overall I was able to put away a bit here and there.  I wore out my shoes walking to the cheap grocery store on the edge of town, but I enjoyed the exercise and fresh air.  (And guess what God gave me just when I needed it?  A knew pair of shoes!)  I was really looking forward to the class.

Imagine my disappointment when the University called me to say that the class was cancelled!  But that was all part of God’s timing... Later that same day, my cousin invited me to spend two weeks in Europe with her!  At first I automatically thought, “I can’t.”  I mean, going to Europe is something that rich people do.  Then I realized that I already had the time and a significant part of the money set aside... and it turns out, it doesn’t have to be outrageously expensive.  My disappointment was replaced with excitement!

I know people were praying for me on this trip, and I thank you.  I saw God’s provision in many ways.  We began and ended our trip in a hostel where all the staff are Christian, and we could feel the presence of God there.  It was nice to talk to some fellow missionaries in a totally different sort of field.  God also blessed me with remarkable health -- I felt better than usual every single day!  (Even when I was tired and footsore.)

I’ll share a story of God’s specific guidance/protection.  After staying with a friend of hers for a few days, my cousin and I arrived in Paris in the late evening.  It was already dusk, and we didn’t have a place to stay.  (We had searched online, but not seen anything in my price range.)  So my cousin waited at the train station guarding the luggage while I set out to find somewhere.  I had absolutely no idea what I was doing!  I speak only a few words of French, and it was dark, and I didn’t even know what part of the city I was in.  I simply walked out onto the street with the vague idea of “finding us a place.”  (That’s my kind of adventure!)  I figured that God had made this vacation possible in the first place, so He must have a place in mind.  I asked Him to guide my steps, and I started walking.

Before long, I felt sort of an impediment that kept me from going further, so I turned left.  (On another day, we walked through the area where I would have gone, and it turned out to be sort of a mini red-light district.)  I came to a hotel and asked about the prices.  The receptionist -- who spoke perfect English -- did drop his price by quite a lot for me, but laughed and said that I would never find the price that I wanted.  I bargained in five or six hotels with similar luck.  Then I turned onto a quiet residential street and saw a sign that said “hotel.”  There, the receptionist spoke absolutely no English at all -- but he dropped his price to a surprisingly affordable amount.  It seemed too good to be true, so he lent me a key to go check out the room before closing the deal.  I approved!  It was on the fifth story, had a window with wooden shutters overlooking a street where real people lived, and we even had our own bathroom -- and towels!  For us, the fact that no one spoke English added to the experience.

I was so thankful that God led me away from a “less desirable” neighborhood to a clean, safe, affordable hotel where we seemed to be the only foreigners, and yet within walking distance of all the tourist attractions.  It was perfect!

Now for an update on previous prayer requests:  My friend Joanie, who had the infection from the hip replacement, is doing much better.  She walks around with a cane and looks like her old self again.  I love my office; it’s so nice to be able to come into a space that has no dirty dishes to be washed or unorganized spice shelf to put in order, and just sit down to work!  Please continue to pray for us all and the security situation.  Along those lines, I could share another story of God’s protection, but that would make this long letter even longer.  Suffice it to say that He has been keeping the promises that we’ve claimed from Psalm 91.

Here is my prayer list:

Please (requests):

• Pray for my health and that of my brother and his family.  (I brought an awful flu with me when I came back, and we’ve all been struggling with it.  The doctor confirmed yesterday that it is not swine flu.)
• Ask God to continue to provide Dan and Marcela’s financial needs and also mine. 
• Please continue to pray for Claudia Gamboa and her kids, for Abril and Cesar and their baby David, and for Oscar.
• Pray for Nena and Fernando and their family, especially for full forgiveness and restoration.
• Pray for Omar’s family.  They haven’t come to church for a while.
• 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.
• Ask God to guide me in small and large decisions, and to help me spend my time wisely.

Thank you (praise):

• I got to go on a wonderful vacation, and I came back refreshed, with a renewed love for my work and for Mexico (even though when it was over, I didn’t want to come home)!  God blessed every single part of the vacation in many ways.
• I didn’t have to have oral surgery, and may not ever have to for this particular problem.  (Basically two different doctors said that the best thing is just to live with it -- and it’s not at all intolerable.)
• I have wonderful loving friends and family and I get to spend time with my nieces every day!
• God is continuing to provide our needs.
• I got new glasses in time for vacation, and I have new walking shoes!
• God has continued to protect Lois and all the rest of us from the “bad guys.”
• Joanie’s hip infection is gone and she seems like herself again.

Sincerely,

Ingrid Giles

Gabriel Mercado

Dear friends and brothers in Christ Jesus,

I write these words to personally give thanks for your financial and spiritual support and I also give thanks to God for everyone of you.

In a previous letter I shared about the mechanical problems of the pick up truck. During the months of May and June I could not use the pick-up, this time the problem was the differential. Once again in His providential care God supplied the funds to be able purchase a used one for $300.00. Thanks be to God who is able to meet our needs.

In the month of April we had visitors (5 people) from Partners in Missions who came to do some repair work on the church building. They were not able to do all that was needed to do and accomplished about 50%. There is still some work left to do but thanks be to God for these dear brothers and sisters who came and did what they were able to do in that short period of time.

In the spiritual life we continue doing all we can that is necessary: preaching every day, teaching from God's Word, sharing the Gospel in the community and praying for those in need. Please pray for us especially for my wife's health she is not doing so well but continues going forward with her labor of love for her Lord. My health is okay but my eyes are not so good for I have glaucoma and every day I have to put drops in the morning and evening.

I write this letter as we prepare to leave soon from Nogales to Obregon and I ask you to pray for us, for the work of the Lord in and around Obregon. I always thank God for your encouragement in the Lord's work in Mexico.

Your Brother and Sister in Christ, 

Gabriel and Virginia Mercado

1 Cor.9:16

Translated by Pastor Ted Kennedy

Justo Pillman’s Newsletter

We went down to the coast, were in the mountains, and were also able to fly into the jungle. I went with Kim and a group of youth from the church to share a video with a jungle tribe.

We spent the night in the jungle, shared the video, and shared the
gospel. It was a memorable experience for each of us, and though it
was not all easy, I know each on the team will never be the same. As
part of the time, we were able to go swimming in the Curaray river. This
is the same river where the missionaries were martyred close to 60 years
ago . . .

Click here to read Justo’s newsletter.

Paul Abel’s Newsletter

God has always gone out of His way to find individuals who didn’t look as though they would amount to much.

God can use us as surely and as powerfully as He used the first disciples.

To read the newsletter click here.

Dan and Marcela Giles

We thank you so much for your continuing support.

We praise the Lord because we were able to register our baby boy, Roberto Emanuel, which included getting his American Passport at the American Consulate in Monterrey.  While we were there, we also renewed my Passport since it was going to expire soon. Everything went very well.  God gave us grace on the eyes of the workers there and He also provided all the money that we needed for the trip. He is faithful and He is good.

Next month ( Oct. 4th ) we will have Roberto's baptism.  My parents, Dan and Debbie Giles, will be here for the occasion.  We are looking forward to seeing them again.

Also next month, I have to leave Mexico due that my Visa will expire the 7th of October. Please pray that God will provide the money for that trip.  We are trusting completely in Him for the means for this trip to the border.

Please pray for our family's health.  We have been struggling with first a bad respiratory infection then with fevers and then what appears to be a stomach flu.  The three kids and also ourselves are dealing with it.  We don't seem to get any better and this is after medication and visiting the doctor once.

Also, pray for our financial situation.  Last week I went to the ATM machine to get money out and to my dismay got nothing instead.  I entered the amount of money I wanted to withdraw and I could hear the machine counting the money and then stop. The ATM then asked me if I wanted "to make another transaction" and I pressed no, and surprisingly it gave me NO money and NO receipt.  Rather concerned, I went home and checked online with my bank and, sure enough, it was registered as if I had taken money out.  I went back to the bank to discuss the matter and they did not want to help me at all.  They said, "Since it's an American card and account, you have to deal with your bank and not us."  I then called my bank in the states and they said that they will register it as a claim and investigate the situation.  Hopefully they will let me know later what the happened.  So only God knows what happened to our money, and we are trusting that the Lord will provide all our needs. He always has!!!   Please pray that this whole situation can be resolved soon and quickly.  We know that God is in control of our lives and everything that happens to us.
Again, we thank you so much for your prayer support.   We really appreciate it.  God bless.

In His Service,

Giles Family

Kvale’s Current Newsletter

Prayer is the only key between intercessors and the Bibleless people that will open the door so the Word of God may be carried through it. We think of what Paul wrote to the Church at Colossae, Colossians 4:2-3a (NASB),
“Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word….”

Steve Kvale’s latest newsletter is now available.  To read it click here.

Darwin Jackson’s

"There are two ways of getting out of a trial. One is to simply try to get rid of the trial. One is to simply try to recognize the trial as a challenge from God to claim a larger blessing than we have ever had, and to hail it with delight as an opportunity of obtaining a larger measure of divine grace." A. B. Simpson

Had a great week the week before last with the opportunity to preach seven times in seven days, all in different places. On Sunday I felt pretty sick but was able to finish our preaching and visitations.

We praise the Lord for Geraldo, who was sitting behind the counter at the pharmacy when we gave him a Gospel tract. He was open to talk so I took the opportunity to share the Gospel with him. A couple of weeks later when I met him, he said he became a believer and had been going to an evangelical congregation with his wife. Praise God!

Pray for Florecia who has been leading the Sabbath School out in Mascarenas. She has been staying in Nogales working five days a week, leaving her kids in Mascarenas, but she has gotten a job offer that would pay more, and she would only work Friday through Sunday, allowing her to be with her family all week. Pray with her over this decision.  

After that Sunday (two Sundays ago) I got sicker, was a little better by Tuesday, my fuel pump went out on my little pickup, I pulled the tank out to install the new pump until 8:00 pm. Was sicker than a dog the next day, and have been the same since... almost two weeks!

Thank you for helping us take up "the challenge" for more blessing, more grace. Grace to you all,

Darwin, Mary Ann, Gracie, Laura, Cesar and Sykari.

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

Paul Abel’s Update

Hi Everyone! 

Another month has swiftly flown by!  Our Youth Camp last weekend at the ARCA was a blessing!  The weather was perfect.  We had a small group of 50 people. Many teens from Bateias (from low income families) were able to participate because of Bible Camp Scholarships given by the Salem Free Lutheran women in Freeman, SD.  Our heartfelt thanks for the help! Two of the girls are pictured with Paul and Yara.  The theme of the weekend helped campers reflect about the things they needed to renounce or give up in order to let Jesus have first place in their lives. Pastor Joel was used by God to develop the theme verse - “If any man come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.”  Matt. 16:24.  Pray for these teens who are now back in the reality of the secular world surrounded by temptations and non-Christian values.  May the Holy Spirit strengthen them to live for Jesus and choose to walk the narrow path that leads to life.

August will be remembered as the H1N1 month.  Schools and colleges were closed down for two to three weeks, many large churches cancelled all their services, and even some shopping centers closed down.  The scare has somewhat subsided now after several days of sunny weather, but there is still a deep concern.  Young and old alike are washing their hands more than ever before and the stores cannot keep up to the demand for alcohol gel.   We do not know anyone personally who has died from the flu but many families have been touched by this sadness in southern Brazil.  The repercussions for us have been the cancellations of all camps at the ARCA (except for ours) for the past 5 weeks which has put a great financial strain on our operation here. Here again we add a note of thanks to God’s special people who sent in donations for the ARCA ministry at this crucial time.

Paul has had his turn at being sick this month.  It started with a cold and resulted in laryngitis which has persisted now for three weeks.  We are thankful for the men of God who have filled the pulpit for him while he has been without a voice.  Tomorrow he has an appointment with an ENT specialist to see if there is some other treatment he needs to pursue. Please pray for complete recovery for him as we are scheduled to be in Campo Mourão Sept. 14-18 to present a course on Christian courting to the young people from the churches there. 

We look forward to many special events in September. We are planning an outreach in Campo Largo again for Sunday, Sept. 13, preceded by door-to-door invitations on the 12th.  We have had improved attendance these past few weeks which has been an encouragement to us.  There is also a Talent night planned and a Film night scheduled in an attempt to reach out to the community.  Next week we anticipate the arrival of Jon Nelson and Nathan Olson as short-term assistants.  They are still waiting for their visas, so this is another prayer request.  The boys hope to spend a year here helping out in various ministries. We are also excited that my parents plan to arrive on Sept. 23 to spend three weeks with us. 

Two weekends ago we had the joy of hosting Jesse Long for a quick visit.  Although he was only here for parts of three days, Jesse was very willing to share in three of our churches about his ministry in Tanzania.  We are thankful for his great example and for the friendships he has maintained with people here over the years. May the Lord continue to bless him as he sacrificially serves the Lord in Africa.  That same weekend I had a wedding shower for Karla, Edival’s fiancée, as she came from Campo Mourão to visit family members and friends.

Every week we have opportunities to teach the Word of God and minister to peoples’ lives.  It is a joy to be involved in the work of the Lord, yet at times it is very hard to know how to deal with certain situations.  The state of our churches and national workers is a constant concern. The president of the Association of churches here in Brazil, Pastor Nilson, recently resigned.  The director of our Bible School, Pastor Natanael, had a motorcycle accident and almost died.  He will not be able to do any physical exertion for the next six months, but we are so thankful that the Lord has preserved his life. Other pastors have serious concerns that we need to address. We also would like to ask you to pray for our dear fellow worker, Yara.  She has not been “herself” for awhile now and seems to be battling with some depression issues.  We pray that the Lord will restore her joy and love for the work God has called her to do.  No one promised that our calling would be an easy one.  Yet, we know in Whom we have believed and we trust in Him who has called us. May He empower us and use us for His glory. Can you take a moment to pray for us and for the people with whom we work?  

We realize that you, too, are busy and involved in relationships of your own.  May our limitless God grant unto each of us the wisdom and patience and vision necessary to live out our lives for His glory. We count it a privilege to open our lives and ministry to you and in this way involve you in the work in Brazil. 

In His service, Paul and Becky

Family Corner – Silvio is busy with his work at the city hall and always makes time to play basketball as a means of evangelizing and discipling young men.  He and Joanna are looking for new partners as they forge ahead with future plans for the Christian school. She is an amazing school director, teacher, mom, singer, writer, cook – you name it!  Daniel works 90 hours a week doing his medical residency so we do not see much of him. Besides her work at the English school, Christina decided to take a one-year course for being an instrumentalist so that she can help her husband Daniel in performing orthopedic surgeries.  Andrew is back at Northwestern College studying Electronic Media and volunteering on the media team of the Missions group there.  Matthew returns to AFLBS this weekend for another year of Bible School.  The brothers had a great summer on the farm in between many vacation adventures!  Even though we do not have the joy of working directly with our children anymore, we praise the Lord for our extended ministry through them.

Chmiels Update

We can’t believe another school year is starting just this week. Please pray for us as we are trying to finish up all preparations... New curriculum, new Bible-reading assignments, new memory verses, new incentive system etc... We have been super busy with that because we had thought that we would have a full-time Ukrainian-speaking (national) helper so we planned accordingly -- leaving all the things that we are not able to do in Ukrainian for him to do. Well, at the very last minute it did not work out and this young man will not be able to work with us this year :( Last year it was the two of us working full time plus we had this young man volunteering couple hours a week which was a huge help, especially with the language side of our preparations. This year we not only have Hannah (which obviously means that we cannot both be working as much as last year) and we are also losing this Ukrainian-speaking volunteer. So please pray for us as we are trying to figure out where else to find some help with the language and also that we would have the wisdom to know what to do and what not to do this school year now that it is obvious that we will not be able to do everything the way we had originally planned it (counting on one more full-time worker).

Having said that, we will keep this update short so that we can get back to work and get everything ready for this coming Sunday.
You can also pray for the fall retreat we told you about in our June update.  As we mentioned earlier we believe that this could be a wonderful opportunity for our Lviv youth to grow closer to the Lord or for some of them to get to know Jesus as their Savior for the first time in their lives. Please pray that everyone whom God wants to be there would be able to make it. We believe that we are dealing with spiritual warfare when we start specifically praying for someone to accept Christ at the retreat and right after that, that person starts saying that he/she is not sure if he/she will be able to go.

Thank you again for your friendship and your support.
Blessings,
Tomasz, Miriam and Hannah Chmiel

PS: We also wanted to thank all of you who sent cards and gifts for our Hannah. We sent out thank-you notes for every gift we received so unless you sent your gift just this past week or so, you should have gotten a thank-you note from us. But some people already told us that they did not receive our letters even though we sent them a long time ago :( So we wanted to say that if you sent something to us and did not receive a thank-you, please let us know. 

Darwin Pacchas Update

Darwin is a recent graduate from AFLTS.  He and his wife Kirsten are serving the Lord in Cuenca, Ecuador.

Queridos Familia y Amigos,
It is hard to believe we have been here for a month!!

Kirsten’s Welcome to . . . or Initiation to Ecuador?
Two weeks after we arrived in Ecuador and the day before our 2nd anniversary, Kirsten woke up with a terrible pain in her right side. She had a similar pain in March and went to the hospital in the U.S., but the only diagnosis she received was the probability of a cyst that had burst or would burst soon. This time, in Ecuador, the pain was more intense and even a shot of pain medication from a doctor did not help. So, we went to the hospital around 8 am in the morning on August 3rd. The next 8 hours were spent doing many tests and waiting for all the results. Finally, after a clear ultrasound, the doctors saw that her right ovary was much larger than it should be, but they were not able to see why unless they did ‘exploratory’ type surgery with a camera. They prepared Kirsten for surgery, and Darwin waited with his parents and niece for 45 minutes in the waiting room. The doctors discovered a large cyst had strangled Kirsten’s right ovary. They proceeded to remove both the cyst
and ovary. The doctor said we should still be able to have children. I (Kirsten) was so happy when I woke up and the pain in my side was finally gone! Since the surgery was done with a small camera, Kirsten only had small incisions, and her recovery has been excellent. Praise God! She has to avoid carrying heavy objects, any type of ‘hard labor,’ and exercise for 3 months. We praise God for His timing. One doctor, who had worked in the U.S. before, told Darwin the approximate cost of a surgery like this in the U.S., and we would not have been able to afford it. Thankfully, we were able to pay for the surgery in Ecuador. Another praise is that Kirsten had about a whole month to recover before classes would start at the Bilingüe High School.

Our New Niece
Five days after I had my surgery, Johanna (Darwin’s sister-in-law) went in for a C-section to have their 2nd child. They had a healthy 8 lb. baby girl named Rebeca Elizabeth. Her brother Mateo spent the day (August 8th) at our house playing lots of games.

Driving School
Darwin started going to driving school on the 21st. In order to get your driver’s license in Ecuador, you have to attend classes for 15 days and then take a written and driving exam. He goes each afternoon to drive with an instructor for 1 hour and then attends lectures for 1 hour. Even though it is a little frustrating that he cannot transfer his driver’s license from Minnesota, he is thankful we had a manual car in the U.S. since he has to drive a manual for classes. Again, God knows how to prepare us for everything even though we cannot see ahead to all the little details.  We do not have a car, but since we will be busy once school starts, we thought it would be best if Darwin could get his classes out of the way now.

Bilingûe and Church

We will have meetings at the Bilingüe during the last week of August before classes start September 7th. We look forward to starting our ministry there with students and also other professors as we get to know them. At church Darwin has been asked to lead a Bible study group once a week, help with visitations, preach about every two months, and lead the youth worship team. Kirsten will also be part of the youth worship team and attend the Bible study group with Darwin. We are excited to be welcomed back into the church so quickly and be involved in activities in order to get to know and to serve more people there. Kirsten was also invited to join an English Bible study with a group of ladies. She is excited to get to know ladies in that group, too, and have a place to speak English!

Prayer
PRAISES:

• Successful Surgery, many great doctors, and external healing
• Healthy new niece, Rebeca Paccha
• Healthy stomachs after one month
• Paz de Dios church that received us so well

PRAY FOR:

• Continued internal healing for Kirsten
• Health: for food adjustments and colds during the colder season
• Good communication and relationship between Darwin & Kirsten and Staff at the Bilingüe
• Continued, successful progress with Kirsten’s paperwork
• The means to buy a car which would come handy for our ministry here
• Safety as we go to different places (traveling, house, thieves, etc.)
• Thank you for your prayers. We have really seen God working in our lives (even in the surprises ☺).

God’s blessings as you serve Him daily in your work or studies.
In Christ,
Darwin and Kirsten

Darwin Jackson’s Update

"Prayer girds human weakness with divine strength, turns human folly into heavenly wisdom, and gives to troubled mortals the peace of God. We know not what prayer can do.”

Charles H. Spurgeon

Things are getting pretty tight around here in Nogales (both sides of the boarder). I talked to a brother after I shared at the chapel service at the Crossroads Mission on Thursday and he said that he's going back to Mexico to look for work, he was working at the Salvation Army thrift store, but they closed up and so he's been out of work for a couple of months (see Fox video).

I now have two learning the guitar with me to be able to lead the services in Buenos Aires, Fernando is the latest. He has been studying with Pastor Antonio, and Edgar. Pray that these two young men will be equipped to serve in Gospel ministry as well.

One one those we won to the Lord some time ago has been away in Sinaloa with her mother (93) who needed a hernia operation. The doctors didn't believe she would survive such an operation, but Claudia assured them that God answers prayer, and she believed God would see her through. They did the operation, and it was so successful, that she didn't even need blood. Claudia said the doctor literally jumped for joy. Claudia shared the testimony in Church and everyone gave a round of applause to the Lord. Praise God!

One the home front, MaryAnn continues to serve at the Crossroads rescue mission (and loves it!). Laura has started ninth grade at the High school and we have enrolled Gracie, Cesar and Sykari in a new Christian school at a local Baptist Church. They start classes on the 25th.

Thank you all for praying in the midst of weakness, folly and trouble that we might enjoy the Lord's divine strength, heavenly wisdom and peace.   

Darwin, Mary Ann and Gracie Jackson

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

Update on Nata Camargo

Pastor Nata Camargo, Brazil Seminary Dean, had surgery again last night.  He had infection in his lungs and they reopened his stitches and cleaned the out the infection.  His surgery went well.

There is now concern about him getting further infection or other complications that would complicate his health.  The hospitals in that area have many patients with swine flu.  The next 30 days will be critical, if he does well during that time, he will be over the hill.

Nata Camargo now in Critical Condition

Please pray for Pastor Nata Camargo who had a motorcycle accident  a week ago.  He has taken a turn for the worse and now has pneumonia.  He is now in critical condition.   Nata was transported from Campo Mourao to the hospital in Maringa. 

Pastor Nata is the dean of our seminary and Bible school in Brazil.  His is also the pastor at Central Lutheran Church in Campo Mourao.  Pastor Nata’s daughter Sabrine has attended AFLBS the last two years.  She graduated this spring.  Thank you for praying.

Kid’s Club by Rachel Schierkolk

It was Thursday night Kid’s Club, and I had just read my students the age-old story that we’ve all heard a million times about Jesus dying on the cross.

For the review, I read through some questions, trying to coax answers out of them as quickly as possible so they could get to the coloring, but the last one grabbed my attention. “How can we get into heaven?” Marisol wasted no time piping up confidently, “By doing good things.”

“But what about all the bad things we do?” I pressed. “Can we really do enough good things to make up for them?” Their faces were angelically blank. It was time for an illustration.

“If I only do one bad thing every day, that’s not really too bad is it?” They shook their heads obediently. “And I suppose, if there are seven days in a week and I do seven bad things, then it still isn’t too terrible. But if I do one bad thing every day for a whole year, how many bad things is that?” I noticed two little boys exchange nervous glances. “That makes 365 bad things. And do you guys know how many years I have been alive?”

They were hanging on my words by now. “I have been alive seventeen years. So if I have done 365 bad things every year for the last seventeen years of my life, that means 6,205 bad things,” I announced. They stared at me open-mouthed. “How can God possibly let me into heaven if I have done so many bad things?” I prompted. But all they could process at the moment was that poor Maestra was going to hell! “That is exactly why God sent His Son for us,” I explained.

In that moment, I realized how often we think just as Marisol. We tend to think of Jesus’ death as being a precautionary measure “just in case” we mess up. But even the “best” of us can never deserve what He did. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves; it is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

As I hugged my students goodbye that night, I was painfully aware of all the times I had wronged my Savior, but at the same time immensely grateful for the reminder He had given me.

Update on Pastor Nata

Jonathan Abel sends this update on Pastor Nata Camargo.

On Friday night at 5:30 pm Pastor Nata was going to the SETELL (our seminary).  At a speed bump he slid on some dust and hit the bump causing him to fall.  He hit his stomach very hard on it, busting his spleen. Though he didn't have many scrapes and bruises, he was bleeding internally a lot.

He was rushed to the hospital, but they were unable to only able to operate on him until five hours later, since there were so many emergencies that night. The operation took four hours.  They removed his spleen and they were able to close up all the blood vessels. 

He's recovering quite well. On Monday he already walked and now he is home. He still needs more blood. He had to be supplied with 12 pints of blood. He was sent home early because two cases of swine flu came into the hospital today.

Pastor Nata is the dean of our seminary and Bible school in Brazil.  His is also the pastor at Central Lutheran Church in Campo Mourao.  Pastor Nata’s daughter Sabrine has attended AFLBS the last two years.  She graduated this spring.  Thank you for praying.

Pray for Kirsten Paccha

Kirsten (Olson) Paccha who was hospitalized with a painful cyst and had an ovary removed.  Please pray for a good, quick recovery. Darwin and Kirsten (Olson) Paccha recently moved to Ecuador.  Darwin graduated from AFLTS this spring, and he and Kirsten are seeking to serve the Lord at work in Ecuador. 

Glenda Kvale’s Father Passes

Thank you for all the prayers and encouragement in Glenda's Father's last days after the prayer letter went out.  Her father went to be with the Lord, Sunday August 2^nd.  Your continued prayers will uphold us with God’s strength and comfort. 

Wednesday, August 5^th, 5:00 - 7:00 pm visitation,  6:30 prayer service, Starbuck funeral home in Starbuck MN. 

Thursday, August 6^th, 1:00 pm visitation, 2:00 funeral service, Minnewaska Free Lutheran Church, Starbuck, MN. 

Steve & Glenda Kvale

Thanks for Praying

We wanted to thank you so much for praying for today’s service and Tomasz’s sermon. Everything went well, people seemed to understand Tomasz’s Ukrainian, we felt God’s blessing on the whole service and even a guy who ALWAYS sleeps in church stayed awake for the whole sermon today

Tomasz preached on letting our lights shine ("Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven”) and after the service a young guy, about 25 years old, came to Tomasz and said that the sermon was about him (that he is hiding his light instead of letting it shine, for example at work). And this guy also wants to start meeting with Tomasz to talk about some of his life struggles and he also wants Tomasz to help him study the Bible. We are praising God for these opportunities and we are praying that God would work in mighty ways in this young man’s life.

Thanks so much for praying! You are such wonderful support to us!!!

Tomasz and Miriam Chmiel

PS: The picture was taken after the service. Hannah was so good during church! That too we count as a blessing since worship services and youth meetings are such a big part of our ministry here in Lviv and it’s great when all three of us can still be there.

Pray for Nata Camargo

Pastor Nata Camargo in Brazil had an accident on his motorcycle on Friday.  He hit a speed bump at the wrong angle and was thrown from the bike.  He injured his hip and had considerable internal bleeding.

Pastor Nata is the dean of our seminary and Bible school in Brazil.  His is also the pastor at Central Lutheran Church in Campo Mourao.  Pastor Nata’s daughter Sabrine has attended AFLBS the last two years.  She graduated this spring.

Pray for Tomasz

Dear friends,

We just wanted to ask for your prayers for tomorrow’s worship service here in Lviv. Pastor Bendus is gone this weekend so he asked Tomasz to preach. This will be the first time Tomasz will preach in Ukrainian without a translator. Please pray that God guides him during the final preparations and gives him the right words to share tomorrow. Pray that God would be glorified through this opportunity. The sermon text is Matthew 5:14-16.

It would be great if people would also pray during the time of the service but we realize that for those of you living in the States, the time would not be very convenient. The church service here in Lviv starts at 11am Ukrainian time which will be:

Sunday  8/2/2009  1:15 am  PDT

Sunday  8/2/2009  2:15 am  MDT

Sunday  8/2/2009  3:15 am  CDT

Sunday  8/2/2009  4:15 am  EDT

So unless you work a night shift or can’t sleep, we don’t think that you will be able to pray at that exact time. But if it just happens that you are up for some reason we wanted to share the times with you so that you’d know.

Thank you so much for standing behind us in prayer! You mean a lot to us!!!

Tomasz, Miriam and Hannah

Jore’s Hitting the Road

Dear friends,

We’ve been back in the U.S. for 2 ½ weeks now & our time has been full but so good. It’s so nice to be near our families again! Elijah and Judah have become instant best friends with their cousins. They are adjusting so well and enjoying the perks of life here. It’s been fun to watch their reactions to so many “firsts” in their lives: visiting a nearby park (no public parks in Uganda), enjoying cones at McDonalds (couldn’t finish them though… they’re not used to so much sugar in one sitting), driving on the freeway (“Daddy, are we going faster than we do in Jinja?” “Yes, son…” by about 50 mph), shopping at Target (a bit over stimulating for them to see so many lights, colors and white people in one place… they didn’t really know how to handle it so they just got really hyper and loud and ran in circles), and many more things.

We’ve dealt with a bit of sickness since coming back, but we are currently healthy. Nate was sick with reoccurring fevers and overall weakness for a week, so we finally put him on malaria medicine that we brought back with us and he got better. We didn’t take a blood test, but we are pretty sure that he came down with malaria again. He’s lost a significant amount of weight, so we’ll be working on filling him out again which shouldn’t be too hard.

We are soon to start visiting churches to share about the work in Uganda. We are looking forward to visiting so many of you in the coming months!

Here is our schedule for the next couple of months.

• Jore Furlough Schedule

August

2^nd: Kasson/Dexter, MN

3^rd-7^th: Nate will attend the Summer Institute of Theology at AFLTS

9^th: Newark, IL

16^th: Bethel Park, PA

19^th: Montgomery, IL

23^rd: Ottawa, IL (am) / DeKalb, IL (pm)

30^th: Ishpeming, MI (am) / Ontonagan, MI (pm)

September

2^nd: Radcliffe, IA

6^th: Sunburg, MN

9^th: Eagan, MN

12^th: Webster, SD (WMF Rally)

13^th: Sioux Falls, SD (Abiding Savior – am, Living Word – pm)

20^th: Mission Festival in Milford, IL

22^nd: Onalaska, WI

23^rd: Wilson, WI

26^th: Spicer, MN (WMF Rally)

30^th: Brooklyn Park, MN

We would appreciate prayers for our family during these busy months.

Please pray for:

- Safety on the roads

- Health and strength for all of us

- Happy and content kids

- Good communication and unity for Nate and I

- Wisdom as we share about the work in Uganda with many different people in many different settings

- Our daily lives to be Spirit-filled and led

We would also appreciate prayer for 3 Ugandan families who our lives are entwined with who have each lost a child in the last few weeks – Tracy & Jacob (Blessed – 2 ½), Martin & Scovia (Sam – 1 ½) and Chris & Sarah (Christine – 1 ½). We don't have a picture of Christine, but these are pictures of Blessed and Sam.

Thank you so much.

Rhoda and family