AFLC World Missions Director, Del Palmer is having back surgery on Wednesday, April 9. He will be in the hospital for 5-7 days and will be out of the office for an extended time. Please remember Pastor Palmer in prayer at this time.
If you have a missions need Wanda Jacobson in the World Missions office can help you.
Dear friends,
After sending my last update (March 22nd), I realized that I hadn’t so much as mentioned Easter!! I pray it was a special day for each one of you as you reflected on the victory that is ours through Jesus’ resurrection. I was blessed to be able to attend the international church in Arusha and enjoy singing familiar, English hymns with a couple hundred other expatriates. While in Arusha, I was also very blessed with opportunities to visit several of the friends we have made in that city.
On Friday (March 28th), Ben arrived safely back in Arusha from visiting his brother in Uganda. Praise God for His blessing on Ben’s time with family, as well as for his safe travel, and the refreshment he was able to get. The day after his return, we made the trip back to Mbulu and to our home at Waama Bible College. This is also a huge item for praise as there had been several good days of rain and we were concerned about the condition of the roads we had to cover. As it was, apart from a few places with water over the roadway and some sloppiness toward the end of the trip, there were no real problems.
The following Monday (March 31st), was third-semester reporting day for the students. A few showed up, anyway. J On Tuesday, we had our teachers’ meeting for the semester to determine who was teaching what. Fortunately, as Ben and I were hoping, we were both assigned many of the same courses we taught last year. In addition, however, we did pick up a couple more music classes (“Rhythm” and “Music History”). This was because the regular music teacher needed some relief as he pursues some continuing education. Classes formally started up for the semester that Wednesday, April 2nd.
So, life is back in full swing. We appreciate your prayers so much as we face a significant amount of class periods each week and especially as we will once again spend most of our weekends this semester doing village outreach events. Pray especially for the students as they wrap up this year of study. Pray that they would finish well and be well-equipped for the work they will face upon completion. There is no doubt that the devil will do anything he can to disrupt the good things that are happening. In fact, I regret to report that there are a couple students who, due to some recently exposed moral failure, will not be back for this third semester. Again, what is needed is prayer. Thank you for your part. Please also continue to pray for the diocese here as a whole. With Waama being THEIR school, we have seen their increased support to be a huge need ever since we first arrived in Tanzania. It seems progress is being made in that direction and we are very encouraged…but don’t stop praying yet!
For those that have not visited our blog recently (http://benandjesse.blogspot.com), I did post some new pictures while I was in Arusha. Thank you so much for your patience. Unfortunately, posting from here in Mbulu is usually somewhere between difficult and impossible due to the poor internet connection but we will continue update as we are able. Thank you again for your interest, prayers, and support. Sorry to those of you whose correspondence from me is limited to these generic updates. Please know that my thoughts and prayers for you all are much more frequent than even these update emails. Personal notes from that direction are always welcome, too, but I know life is busy for all of us. So, until next time, God richly bless you all!
In Him,
Jesse Long
Mbulu, Tanzania
Dear praying friends,
Its already April but since many of you still have snow on the ground and since I lost the pictures I had developed from Christmas I thought I'd let you know how well our Christmas outreach went. By-the-way, since I despaired at finding the pictures because I had looked in every conceivable place for them, I finally did what Christians do when they are in despair . . . I prayed. Then I began to look in impossible places and lo and behold there they were. They had fallen out of the top drawer of my desk down behind the bottom drawer. Thank you Lord!
Thank you to all of you who were praying for us during the Christmas season. The outreach program at the church went very well. Dan's message was well-received, Danny and Marcela had the youth group helping distribute quilts, Barb and Ingrid led the Sunday school program, and the rest of us were pitching in however we could to make everything go.
Please also pray for Dan and Debbie as they are currently in Arizona caring for Dan's 90-year-old father.
In Christ,
Todd and Barb Schierkolk
Last December missionaries Dan and Debbie Giles requested time away from the work to spend in Phoenix with Dan's father. His father is now in his nineties and has been suffering with health problems. The World Missions Committee granted the Giles a two month leave of absence and they traveled to Phoenix in January.
Through prayer and considering the condition of Dan's aging parents the Lord impressed upon Dan and Debbie that He would have them stay in Phoenix and care for Dan's father. Therefore, after a lifetime of mission work the Giles decided to resign as AFLC Missionaries. Dan and Debbie have been missionaries with the AFLC since 1985 and will be dearly missed.
The work in Jerez, Mexico will be carried on by Todd and Barb Schierkolk as well as the children of Dan and Debbie Giles. Their daughter Ingrid and their son's family, Danny and Mercela, remain in Jerez ministering as well. The Giles children are Short Term Mission Assistants and are supported by free will offerings sent through the AFLC World Missions Department.
Greetings from Uganda where the rainy season has just begun and people are busy planting their fields. We are doing well and are eagerly waiting for the arrival of our third child later this month! Rhoda has certainly had her exhausted moments, but today she reported having a new burst of "nesting" energy. She really has been amazing and is the picture of health and beauty. We are planning to deliver in the city of Kampala which is about a 2 hour drive, depending on traffic. We have the option of going early and staying in a guest house to await the time when Rhoda goes into labor, but we are playing it by ear. We would appreciate your prayers for a healthy, natural delivery. Judah, our 2nd born, was lying transverse (sideways) near the end of Rhoda's pregnancy last time, resulting in a c-section, but we are really hoping for a natural delivery this time. The baby is currently still quite mobile and seems to be flipping around freely in the womb. We are praying that at the right time the baby will settle into a head-down position. We would appreciate your prayers for this as well.
Visitors
We got to spend Easter with my brother Ben who came up for two weeks from Tanzania. It was a great joy to have him here with us. It was a blessing to teach a one-day seminar in Butagaya village to a group of 17 pastors from many denominations. He also was in Buwenge village on Easter Sunday to witness my first sermon in Lusoga! I had written it out before hand and practiced reading it many times. I also decided it would be prudent of me as his older brother to let him beat me in golf because it was his birthday... (Yes, we do have a golf course in Jinja, and no, I don't like losing to my little brother at anything :).
We are very much looking forward to the arrival of Rhoda's Mom and sister Naomi who will be with us for the birth of our baby. They arrive on the 18th.
Ministry
In the last update I had told you about one of our pastors who had gotten into some trouble. I am happy to report that the discipline he was given has led to repentance and he has joined us again for our pastor's meetings.
I should also report on Richard as I know many of you have been praying for him. He has not been around much as he got a new job in a different location. I was encouraged for a while after visiting with him a month ago. He seemed to be doing well and looked a lot more healthy. He told me at that time that he had given up drinking and smoking. I have since heard from another friend who talked to him that he has been avoiding coming around because he has fallen back into drinking. Please continue to pray for him.
The main reason we have come to Uganda is to train leaders who will train others in the ways of God. We have embarked on a very large and exciting task of developing a curriculum to use in this training. I am working with the local pastors as we develop this curriculum. Please pray for great wisdom and perseverance for us.
We love you all and pray that you are well and that God is meeting your every need.
May God bless you all,
Nate, Rhoda, Elijah, Judah, and baby
Dear friends,
We wanted to ask you to pray for our Lviv pastor (Pastor Bendus) and his wife. We learned that Pastor Bendus suffered a major heart attack this week. We talked to some people from our Ukrainian church yesterday and we also talked to Pastor’s wife today and it sounds like it was really serious. She said that yesterday he was in really bad condition. Today he seemed to be doing better. Doctors think that he should be able to get out of this without any major complications but of course they cannot tell for sure. So please pray for Pastor Bendus and his wife during this difficult time.
And we also wanted to ask you to pray for us. If Pastor Bendus does not recover enough to be able to take back all his responsibilities at the church, to some people Tomasz might seem to be the logical replacement. As you know we came to Ukraine to be mainly ministering to young people and to be investing in them to be the future leaders. But at the same time we want to be flexible to whatever God might want us to do. But we also have to remember that we still have seven more months of language study ahead of us because we had to take a break with all the health problems Miriam has been having. So please pray for guidance and wisdom for us.
And THANK YOU SO MUCH for praying for Pavlik, Mrs. Tanya, her daughter Lyuda and our massage therapist Serhiy. This Sunday Pavlik was in church again after a long time. He said he had not been coming because his father (with whom he is living now) wanted him to go to soccer games every Sunday instead of church. But recently his father broke his leg so there will be no more soccer for a while and Pavlik said that he would again like to come to church. Please continue praying for Pavlik! We still do not have his home phone number and when we call his cell phone it says it has been disconnected.
As for us, we have very much enjoyed being here in Minnesota for the AFLBS (Association Free Lutheran Bible School) alumni reunion weekend. Too bad Miriam was not healthy enough to play basketball for the girls alumni team :) But it was fun to see many of our former Bible School classmates and we were very much blessed by the celebration service and Pastor Haugen’s message on the word “Behold.” It was funny that during the sermon we both wrote down a note saying that we need to look up the word “behold” in Ukrainian. Yes, Ukraine is on our minds a lot even when we are not there.
In our last update we asked you to pray about when we should go back to Ukraine. Right now our plane tickets are booked for April 28. We were not able to leave this week because Miriam is still not doing well enough and our doctor here felt like it was not a good idea for us to leave just yet. And actually we were surprised to have a lot of our Ukrainian friends tell us to stay longer and not come back to Lviv until Miriam is 100% well.
Since we are staying a month longer than we expected, we would like to invite all of you to these two opportunities to be with us:
Sunday, April 20th at 5:30 pm – A special meeting for all of you who would like to see us, who would like to hear more about our life in Ukraine and also an opportunity for you to meet a Ukrainian pastor – Pastor Alexander Gross. Pastor Gross is in charge of youth ministry in the German Lutheran church in Ukraine and he is also the person who stood behind us coming to live and work in Ukraine. Where? Chapel building (basement) -- Association Free Lutheran Bible School (3120 E. Medicine Lake Blvd., Plymouth, MN). Coffee and desert will be served. RSVP would be greatly appreciated. We will try to send one more invitation to you this coming week.
Friday, April 25th at 6:00 pm – East European Missions Network banquet. Where? Heritage Hall -- Association Free Lutheran Bible School (3134 E. Medicine Lake Blvd., Plymouth, MN)
Thank you again for praying for us and we hope to see many of you soon.
Tomasz and Miriam
Missionary Connely Dyrud is available to speak in churches for Sunday services, missions festivals or any type of missions meetings. Pastor Dyrud served on the mission field in Brazil most of his life. He has also taught in India and at AFLC Schools.
To schedule Pastor Dyrud contact the AFLC World Missions Office or Pastor Dyrud directly at 763-742-4211.
Dear Friends,
We are survivors! After “killing a giant” a day for many months we have made it through the big events and are alive to tell the story. Praise God for another successful year of our Passion Play outreach! Although we had to cancel Friday’s presentation due to rain we were happy to be able to present to about 700 people on Saturday and Sunday. The beautiful natural stage outside the ARCA is a perfect backdrop for portraying the events of Jesus life, death and resurrection. Now we are in the “clean-up” mode, taking down sets and washing costumes, etc. Our niece Melissa and nephew Jonathan enjoyed being a part of the cast this year. They are pictured on either side of me in front of the empty tomb with two other girls from Bateias.
Although the play was the big event of the month we were involved in several other activities as well. We enjoyed a quick visit from our Missions director, Del Palmer, and the Vice-President of the AFLC, Dick Gunderson. They came to see the work and share the vision of the World Missions Committee with us. They also took part in meetings with key leaders here to discuss the future of the ministries in Brazil. We are thankful for their encouragement and for the assurance that we share the same vision for ministry.
During March Paul’s folks held an evangelism campaign in the new church plant in Borda do Campo. Although rains kept attendance down, there were several decisions for Christ during the 10-day outreach. My trip with the ladies to Iguaçu Falls turned out to be a wonderful weekend. The gals from the churches there had done a spectacular job of planning an uplifting and encouraging day for the ladies. We also had a chance to see the awesome Falls before returning to Curitiba.
We had a wedding for a couple from our church two weeks ago and are involved in pre-marital counseling with two other couples. Our Bateias church has started a seminary extension course once a month – nine hours on a Saturday. The first block of classes was on Conflict Resolution. Pastor Joel is also implanting a discipleship program, training key people to disciple others.
Adriano, Janicleia and Edival are in their last year at seminary in Campo Mourão. They are all hard workers and have weathered the storms through the years as they have let the Lord shape their lives and prepare them for future ministry. Kleber from Bateias is in northeastern Brazil at a YWAM training school. Augusto, a family man from the São Braz church, has sensed God calling him into the pastorate. He has taken on several responsibilities of preaching and teaching in his congregation and is looking into further pastoral training. He graduated from our Bible School almost 20 years ago.
Our Matthew is in China right now on a short-term mission experience. We pray this will be one more opportunity for him to share Christ. As soon as he returns from China he will be on his way to Mexico with other Hillcrest seniors for a mission outreach there. His fluency in Spanish will be an asset to the group. Andrew will also be traveling in April with the Concert Choir from AFLBS. They plan to travel and presents concerts from MN to WA during spring break (April 4-20).
Life is full of choices. Choices change the course of our life. God has a plan to bless our lives, but we will only experience that blessing as we walk in His ways and obey His commands. Pray that the people with whom we work will continue to choose life, choose God, choose obedience. God has chosen us, chosen to love us and forgive us and use us for His glory. What great blessings are ours in Him!
Thankful for His faithfulness,
Paul and Becky
Dear friends,
Once again, I can’t believe it has already been three weeks since I last sent out an update. At the same time, I am guessing that most of you have enjoyed the peace and quite. J I must apologize, however, for not having put any more pictures on the blog like I said I would during this time…I hope you can forgive me. I have been on vacation. (Ok…lame excuse.)
Let me catch you up a little. The day I sent my last update, we received 15 guests at Waama. It was a group of people from a small Bible school in Norway including 2 teachers and 13 students. Their goal was to see/experience life at a Bible school in Tanzania for a period of about 3 days. It was such a great time. I think it was a little shocking for the students in particular as they stayed with our students in the dorm, had to use the primitive hole-in-the-ground outhouses, and eat a lot of unfamiliar and pretty bland food. All in all, however, more than the other sights they were able to see, and experiences they were able to have during their 2 weeks here in Tanzania, many said that the time at Waama touched them the most. It was certainly a blessing for our students, as well.
For their last night at Waama, Ben and I invited them over to our place for some familiar treats (popcorn, cookies, etc) and the opportunity to relax a little. When it came time for them to head to the dorms, three of the guys who Ben and I had spent the most time talking to, said that they were seriously considering adding another week to their time in Tanzania and would really like to see Zanzibar if at all possible. I told them it was very possible, explained the approximate budget they would need to have, and told them I would be more than happy to be their “tour guide”!! So, our Easter plans were set: Ben would go to Uganda and visit his brother and family, and I would be going to Zanzibar. This was decided on Wednesday, March 5th. The following Friday to Sunday we had a couple village film showings and a baptism service and on Monday second-semester finals began to be administered. By Wednesday, March 12th, Ben and I had given all our finals, corrected and returned them to the students, and turned in our overall grade summaries to the school office. We were on our way to Arusha…
At 9:30 the next morning (Thursday), I was on the bus to Dar Es Salaam with Per, Henrik, and Anders; and by 5:00 that evening, Ben was on the bus to Uganda. It has truly been refreshing to have this break. (I will include a picture of the four of us.) Zanzibar weather is always perfect, the scenery is flawless, and my sunburns were actually pretty well controlled. (Others in the group were not so fortunate.) It was amazing how many Norwegians were on the beach! We even met a couple grandchildren of some of the people who helped start Waama years ago!! It really is a small world.
In other news…
So, that is some of what is going on. I want to thank you all again for your interest in this work and for your continual investment through prayers, encouragement, and financial support. I have to admit that there are times when I am ready to take a new assignment but it always seems that at those same times, God reminds us of what is being accomplished and what still needs to be done. I am grateful for God’s direction and on-going provision in this work. It is truly an honor to represent you all in this part of the world. God richly bless you!
In His service,
Jesse Long
Mbulu, Tanzania
Thank you so much to all of you who wrote back after our last email. It means a lot to us to see how many of you care and how many of you are praying for us. Thank you!
We are still in Minnesota. We can’t believe it’s been already 17 days since we came. We are enjoying our wonderful temporary home—it is great to have our own place where we can relax when we are not feeling well and where we can have people over when we do feel well. It has been encouraging to see some of our friends again. This week we were also blessed by the opportunity to meet with the East European Missions Network Board of Directors and their spouses. We appreciated all their prayers and their insights.
We really praise God for all the spiritual encouragement we are receiving while here in the States. Living on a Bible School and Seminary campus gives us an opportunity to be surrounded by many Christians. Tomasz loves to be “back in seminary.” He especially enjoys the Greek classes. It almost feels unreal to be with so many Christians again. So different from what it is like for us in Ukraine!!!
As you probably know we have our return tickets booked for March 25. We would still love to be able to return to Ukraine at the end of this month. But things have not been going exactly the way we planned them. We thought we would do some doctor check-ups here and then we would have about three weeks to rest and regain strength before going back. But we are in our third week here and we are still doing a lot of doctoring instead of resting. Actually Miriam had another cyst that seems to have burst on Wednesday. Miriam was in a lot of pain for about six hours on Wednesday so that again set her back a little in trying to get stronger.
Please pray that we know exactly what to do. Some of the EEMN board members and some of our other friends feel that we should probably postpone our departure until we know for sure that Miriam is well and that we have enough strength to get back to our work in Ukraine. We also still cannot get the exact right amount of Coumadin (blood thinner) figured out for Miriam. One week her blood test result is too low, the other it is too high… And that is another thing we would like to have under control before we leave for Ukraine. So please pray again for God’s guidance for us. It feels like lately things never work the way we plan them. But God’s been faithful to always show us what to do. Even though a lot of times (in our human eyes) it has felt kind of “last minute”.
Even though we are here in the States now, a lot of the Ukrainian people are daily on our hearts and minds. It is kind of hard that the only thing we can do for many of them right now is pray. But prayer is powerful! Would you mind joining us in praying for these Ukrainian friends of ours?
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul." --Psalm 23:1-2
At the end of January we moved (yes, again) to WMPL's duplex in St. Paul. The house is bigger, warmer and overall better for our family. We praise the Lord! Our permanent address will still be in Eden Prairie, but if you would like to contact us from now until June, you may do so to the following address:
1555 Arkwright St.
St. Paul, MN 55130
Our phone number is 651-776-2472
We have been busy with doctor visits, tests and preparing our presentation and scheduling with churches. About two weeks ago, a lady from our church presented us with a most generous gift. She came over and stocked us up on supplements and power-food and with many recommendations to boost our immune system, energy, etc. I have followed her advice and the Lord has used it all to restore my health! About the same time, I also went to a prayer for healing service where I believe the Lord touched me also. I didn't remember what it was to feel healthy anymore...We have been bursting with praise to our Lord!
We found out also that our little Gracie is suffering from a neurological dysfunction called SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder). Her case is mild but still she will be needing some occupational therapy so she is not affected as she starts school. Since we are home schooling, Tom and I will have to learn a home program to administer such therapy to her in Mexico. Please pray for us to find the best help possible and for God to provide for us.
Cristina continues to grow in and love her home schooling process. She is reading better and better, writing and doing math. I introduced some drawing exercises to her and she is absolutely loving it. Yesterday we spent 2 1/2 hours just drawing different things from scratch. We may have an artist in the making here.
Tom continues to study and practice his Spanish as regularly as he can. We have not yet been able to locate a Spanish congregation where he could share. Hopefully now that I am better He will be freer to do some more looking. He works one day a week at WMPL helping with property management and is on the "snow removal team." We have been helping with the cleaning of the offices as well once a week.
Last Tuesday we had the opportunity to speak at AFBLS chapel service. What a blessing that was! Please keep in prayer the following dates, would you?
Our blog has finally been updated. It is one long update but there are a bunch of pictures and stories there. When you have a chance take a look at
Thank you very much for your support and prayers. We couldn't do this without you!
In His hand,
To m, Lidia, Cristina and Gracie
The Steve Kvale's latest newsletter is now available. The Kvales are AFLC World Missionaries on loan to Wycliffe Bible Translators. You can view the newsletter by, clicking here or on the graphic.
Greetings from winter Minnesota! :) Yes, we made it safely all the way back to the Twin Cities and we thank God very much for this provision. Miriam was not feeling the greatest when we traveled but otherwise the long flight went without any problems. Our dear friends prepared a great apartment for us here, loaded up our fridge and cupboards with groceries, prepared wonderful welcome gifts and notes, have been bringing us meals… Words cannot express how blessed we are to have friends like this. What a blessing to be part of God’s family!
We are also very thankful for our doctor here who has been very efficient in helping us get things checked, get appointments with specialists etc… She is also trying to get Miriam on the exact right dose of Coumadin (blood thinner). In Ukraine they were not that detailed and “close enough” was usually good enough :) So we are glad that this too will hopefully soon be under control.
But we have to say that it feels a little strange being part of two completely different worlds. They are so different but in a way they are both supposed to feel normal. For example now we are getting professional US medical care where the doctor gives you a long lecture about how careful you have to be and how dangerous blood clots are and how when you are taking blood thinners your blood has to be checked often etc etc… But in a month or so we will again be seeing our Ukrainian doctors who will again say “don’t worry, it’s nothing” to most everything we tell them… And even in many other areas we realize how as a missionary you live in two completely different worlds where not only the languages are different but also many things are done differently, many values are different and different things are considered “normal.”
This morning Tomasz called a couple of our Ukrainian friends. It was great to hear them again. One lady said that her daughter is worried that we will not come back to L’viv any more (because of the medical problems we had there etc). So we ensured her that we are very much planning to come back to L’viv because L’viv is our home now. She was very glad to hear that :) But right now we are thankful that we can be back with our home church here in the Twin Cities, with our Minnesota friends, Tomasz is encouraged by having a chance to sit in on some seminary classes… And we are also very grateful that besides having a lot of different doctor’s appointments we are finally able to rest! That is what we both really need right now. Thank you so much to all of you who made this month of recuperation possible for us!
Some of you asked about our mailing address while in the States (we should be at this address until March 25):
Tomasz and Miriam Chmiel
3136 East Medicine Lake Blvd, Unit A
Plymouth, MN 55441
Our phone number here is (763) 746-3092.
Thank you again for all your prayers!
Tomasz and Miriam
It never ceases to amaze me how the weeks pass! Since my last update, in addition to our normal work of teaching here at Waama, we had the privilege of hosting a couple friends who came to visit us from Arusha! One was our friend who I told you in my last correspondence had taken us on a motorbike safari. He is here in Tanzania for a year working with a ministry called Scripture Mission. He came to visit us together with another mutual friend who we know through the international church we often attend when we are in Arusha. He is a retired cop from Minnesota whose wife is here working for the U.N. Anyway, those two came for a weekend…each on their own motorcycle and it made for a fun weekend of guy-recreation. I have to say, there is also something refreshing about spending time with like-minded, Christian expatriates. I don’t completely understand it, but there is no doubt that constantly interacting in a foreign culture and language gets tiring after a while.
In short, it ended up being a good weekend for them to come because there were some special meetings happening here at the school which had kept us from being able to schedule any weekend ministry. So, among other places, we took them out to go swimming at those waterfalls which are about 45 minutes from our place. I am pretty sure it was the first time most of the natives around here had seen a motorcycle gang. (Pictures will soon be posted at http://benandjesse.blogspot.com)
Another good opportunity we recently had was teaching a couple sessions that were part of a course put on by the Iraqw Language and Culture Trust (ILCT). Several months ago, I told you about the Norwegian lady here who has dedicated the last 50+ years of her life to translating the Bible into the mother-tongue of the people in this region – Iraqw. Well, her current work, to a large degree, is literacy training and, more specifically, training local teachers who will then be equipped to offer much needed literacy courses in their villages. Ben and I were invited as guest speakers on two separate days to teach pretty much anything we wanted with the goal of simply giving these literacy students a change in pace from their otherwise constant linguistic study. Ben taught an introduction to world history from a Biblical perspective and I gave a basic course on Biblical psychology. It put a little more work on our plates but was a very enjoyable experience.
Interestingly, months ago, we offered to reserve the weekend of February 29-March 2 to go with the people from ILCT to the village of their choosing so that they could see an Iraqw film showing for themselves. So, God once again proves that He is a better ministry coordinator than any of us could ever be. Unfortunately, while Ben went out for the weekend with the ILCT teachers and students, I had to stay home due to an embarrassing little incident that took place on Friday only hours before we were scheduled to leave.
Explanation: We have had a bunch of bees residing in our unused chimney for the past several months. For the most part, they don’t bother us but a couple people have been stung and we know people whose relatives have died from swarms of this types of bees attacking them. So, we decided that maybe we should try to fix this problem…by smoking them out…then burning a bunch of cardboard in the fireplace below…then spraying insect killer up the chimney. It wasn’t that bad of an idea…we just should have put the fire out first. So, when it blew up, my right arm took a pretty good portion of the hit. I was hoping to still go on the weekend ministry trip but finally decided that it would be easier to take care of myself and manage the pain here at home than in the village…and I didn’t really feel like being exhibit #1 in some sort of weekend village freak show. In any case, I am especially thankful for God’s protection of my face through the incident. Furthermore, it has been a good reminder that God can use anything – even bad things – to bring about good. For example, I had all kinds of time that I wouldn’t normally have had this weekend to write my second semester finals (to be administered March 10-12) and get ahead on a whole bunch of projects…like typing up this email for instance. Poor Ben…
As I write this (March 1st), we are still not completely sure of our plans for Easter. It is most likely that we will go to Uganda to visit Ben’s brother in Jinja. In any case, we are certainly looking forward to some down time. For those that have not yet heard, I DO have my tentative date set for returning to the States this summer. As it currently stands, I will be landing at SEA-TAC on the 4th of July. If I do end up returning to Tanzania for another year (as it appears I will be) my stay in the States will last through early September. During that time, I will be taking care of some necessary dental and medical check-ups as well as trying to see as many of you as possible!! Again, I will continue to plan as if I will be coming back here for a third year unless God decides to throw something unexpected in my path in the next couple months.
Thank you once again for your continuing part in my life and ministry. God bless you all.
In Him,
Jesse Long
World Mission Director Del Palmer and Committee member Dick Gunderson left Minneapolis March 5 on a trip the the AFLC mission works in Mexico and Brazil. They will be discussing the current work with those on the field and making plans for future work. Pray for Pastor's Palmer and Gunderson as they travel, especially Pastor Palmer who is has back problems and will be having surgery when he returns.
Wow! Where do I begin? I certainly could write a book about the last three months (don’t worry I don’t have the time or energy to do so). One day blends into the next as we tackle the task at hand for each moment. The days have been filled with activities, ministry, blessings and lots of people. With the people come joys and sadnesses, ups and downs, moments of rejoicing and times of stress. Missionary life is certainly NOT what some believe to be “an easy life.” Pressures surround us daily as we carry out ministry, make plans for the future, and work on problem-solving. Why do I mention all this? Because we need your prayers. Perhaps you don’t know how to pray for us – that’s nothing new. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:26 that we do not know how to pray as we ought. But that should not stop us from praying because the Holy Spirit intercedes for us in accordance with God’s will. Thank you to those of you who take time to pray for us. And for the rest of you, perhaps you would consider adding us to your prayer list. “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” James 5:16
Christmas was a joyful time shared with family and church members. The choirs and theater groups did a great job presenting at the churches and we enjoyed special meals and fellowship times with several groups of people. It was a special blessing to have Matthew home with us for three weeks. We took a couple of days at the beach between Christmas and New Years to relax after all the Christmas rush and to prepare for the next stage of ministry.
A group of five Canadians arrive the first days of January to spend the month with us. They blessed us with their presence and labors and gifts. It was fun for them to participate in our Children’s Camp at the ARCA. Our theme this year was about prayer and missions. The following week we hosted the Annual Conference at the ARCA. And the next week we geared up for our youth camp. The Lord worked in our lives as we learned about discipleship and how to prepare for the Great Olympics of Life. Our son-in-law, Silvio, was the morning speaker for camp and he did a great job! Camps are always such a blessed experience and spiritual motivation for our youth and all involved. This year over half of the 130 campers were over the age of 18.
At the end of January our family grew to include three more young people – Paul’s niece Melissa and nephew Jonathan from Arizona and Ryan, a college student from Minnesota who will be teaching at the English School for six months. So, those of you who were feeling sorry for me experiencing the “empty nest” can be assured that I haven’t had to go through that challenge yet. We are also happy to have Paul’s folks with us for about three months. Plus, my two neighbor girls spend quite a bit of time here and eat with us three times a week. I’m glad to have young people in the house because there is always something fun happening. I must admit, though, that I do get more tired out than I used to with all the constant activity.
Joanna is miraculously juggling her responsibilities as mother of two darling little girls, director of the Lighthouse School, English teacher , and choir director and cell group leader at church. Silvio is just as busy at work, school, church, home and play. I worry about them being too busy, but I can’t say much J Christina and Daniel are nearing their first year anniversary and seem to really enjoy married life. Daniel is in his last year of medical school and Christina is in her last year doing internships and working on her senior project. Andrew is happy at Bible School. He was chosen to be the leader of the Ambassador team from AFLBS so he will be traveling and ministering all summer throughout the US. Matthew has raised a good part of his support for mission trips to China and Mexico and plans to leave on March 19. Besides all his other activities he is now working on his part as Bert in the musical “Mary Poppins” to be presented at the end of the year.
The big push now is getting ready for the Passion Play. Easter is very early this year, so we are pressed for time. The next weeks will be filled with practices and preparations. Pray that it will be a wonderful evangelistic impact. I am also going on a trip with the ladies for a Women’s get-together in Iguacu Falls for the International Women’s Day March 7-9. We all have to get yellow fever shots because that terrible disease has become a threat in several places in Brazil. During this month we are expecting three more visitors from the States – Del Palmer, Dick Gunderson and Lester Hill.
I have not even begun to scratch the surface of the real “stress” factors in our life. As if having all this activity weren’t enough, we’ve been going through many difficult times with relationship difficulties between people in our church (very emotionally draining) - moral failure on the part of some key people, marital separations, etc. Pastor Jaime is separated from his wife at this time and therefore has stepped down from his responsibilities as president of the AFLC and pastor of the local congregation. Paul is taking over some of the preaching and teaching in his place. Pastor Nilson is taking on more responsibility in the Campo Largo church to help us out there. We have meetings and counseling galore. So, I just want to ask again in closing that you remember us in prayer. I hope to get a regular newsletter out soon with pictures for you to enjoy. One thing is for sure, the one thing we can count on, the one thing that never changes – God is in control and He is faithful. May we all be found at rest in Him. Thank you for your continued support. Sustained by grace, Paul and Becky
We wanted to update you regarding the pastor who had been arrested. He was released from the police station last Saturday but has been required to report back this past week. It seems he was indeed guilty of the charge of forgery. He had gotten in with a group of people who had been committing such crimes and thankfully he was caught on his first try. Please pray for a spirit of genuine repentance for him and wisdom in restoring him as a minister of the Gospel.
We forgot to thank you in our last update for praying for our time with Del Palmer and Kevin Olson. We had a delightful time with them and they encouraged our family a great deal. We also had several meetings with the pastors and church leadership here in Jinja as well as several trips to the surrounding villages. Del came to see the work and encouraged the local leadership. He also shared with them the AFLC World Mission's vision and purpose. Kevin's main purpose for being here was to help us plan for the training program we hope to begin late this year. He also blessed us with his handy-man skills in helping to fix our dryer, fridge, car, and lights! Much progress was made and we were very much encouraged by their time here.
Life is going well and we have been healthy. We will be traveling to Kampala tomorrow for an ultrasound and checkup for Rhoda. We are just two months away from the due date! We have recently updated our blog (www.jorenews.blogspot.com) so be sure to check out the new pictures! God bless you all and thanks for your involvement in the ministry here.
Nate, Rhoda, boys, and baby
Steve and Glenda Kvale are AFLC Missionaries on loan to Wycliffe Bible Translators. They have a web site at:
http://www.translatetheword.org/pages/
Take a look at their site and find out more about their ministry.
In the last few months, the World Missions Committee has seen that prayer and the preparation of our children are necessary priorities for our mission work in the AFLC. We have a good picture of the importance of our prayers and of our kids to world missions in the story of Hannah in I Samuel 1-3. Hannah is best known for two things: her prayers and her son, Samuel. In fact, if not for the effect she had on others through them, we wouldn’t know her at all! Faced with a difficult family situation, she prayed, and the Lord answered her wi th a son who had a great impact on the world, including US!
The Impact of Her Prayers
First, they had an impact on her! I recently heard that O. Hallesby compared prayer to a person in a boat throwing an anchor to the “shore” (God) and then pulling on the rope. Is the person pulling the shore closer to the boat?...Or is he pulling the boat closer to the shore? I believe the Lord wanted Hannah to pray so that He could “draw” her to Himself. He wanted to give her a son, but He had great plans for that son, and she had to prepare him rightly for God to use. As she prayed and offered him back to the Lord for His service, God eased the burden He had given her for the new life of a child. “Her face was no longer sad.” (I Sam. 1:18) And, then, He answered her: “the Lord remembered her. And…she gave birth to a son.” (I Sam. 1:19-20)
Second, Hannah’s prayers had an impact on Eli, the priest. They were a testimony and an encouragement to him as he observed her earnest prayers and then saw God’s answer to her and actually became entrusted with that answer: Samuel!
Third, her prayers had an impact on Samuel. Every time, someone called his name, he was reminded that “God hears”. He, himself, was the answer to his mother’s prayers! Hannah told him why she gave him up to the Lord: he belonged to the Lord because of her promise to give him back as His servant. Because of her great example, he also became a man of prayer. Ps. 99 tells us: “Samuel was among those who called on His name: They called upon the LORD, and He answered them.”
How can WE have an impact on the world by OUR prayers? Like Hannah, we need to be dissatisfied with the way things are (our “comfort zone”) and take on God’s burden for new life in others. Recently, I realized that I had misplaced some very important records necessary to figure my taxes. For 2 weeks, I looked everywhere! I became desperate to find that which was lost! I prayed earnestly, knowing that the Lord knew where they were. Then, when I had no more hope, the Lord brought them to light! The joy and relief I experienced when they were found gave me a taste of what the Lord feels when a lost, eternal, soul is found! Will we let the Lord draw us near to Him in prayer so that we can feel His burden for the “lost” and become URGENT in finding them?
The Impact of Her Child
First, Samuel, her son, had a great impact on Hannah! He, as God’s answer to her prayers, showed her God’s love and power in her life in the most personal way. What she did with Samuel opened the door for the Lord to give her more children. (I Sam. 2:20-21)
Second, Samuel had an impact on Eli, God’s disobedient “servant”. Samuel became God’s “mouthpiece” to him, warning him of God’s judgment and giving him an opportunity to repent!
Third, Samuel had an impact on the world, leading God’s people to victory and setting up their 1st two kings. Ps. 99 puts him on an equal par with Moses, the giver of God’s law, and Aaron, the father of the priests for God’s people. Samuel was a great prophet and the only king-maker for Israel!
How can OUR children have an impact on the world like Samuel did?...By our giving them godly and sacrificial examples, a concern for pleasing God, and most of all, by surrendering them to the LORD to do with as He pleases, as Hannah did. Are we willing to let the LORD have OUR OWN CHILDREN as missionaries?
By Craig Wentzel
Can you picture Jesus sitting on a hillside teaching his twelve disciples? Can you picture a Ugandan pastor teaching the Word of God to a small group gathered under a mango tree? Teaching is at the core of the Great Commission and is the primary reason we have come to Uganda. Paul instructed Timothy to take what he had been taught and to entrust it to reliable men who were qualified to teach others (2 Tim 2:2). Our goal in Uganda is to equip reliable men who will train others to follow Jesus.
Pastor Kevin Olson, former AFLC Youth Director, has begun a training program called the Ambassador Institute designed to provide training in overseas settings. He came to see the work here in Uganda for two weeks in January with the goal of helping us to begin the training of church leaders. While he was here, he had the opportunity to discuss the different aspects of training with the local pastors, and to interact with two groups of potential students in the village. He and I also discussed at length the different training needs that exist and the different possibilities for meeting those needs. A three-phase system was suggested in which phase one would be geared towards training lay leaders and phases two and three would be more advanced training for pastoral ministry.
We are currently planning phase one of the training program. The main challenges in ensuring a successful beginning are to have godly teachers that are trained and prepared to teach and to have all the logistics worked out (location, meals, transportation, materials, etc.). Our goal is to provide training that is affordable, self-sustainable, reproducible and effective. If we succeed in these endeavors, the training will be able to grow and expand quickly, resulting in the training of many people at the grass-roots level. We are making an intentional effort to keep phase one from being dependent on outside funding. If it can be locally sustained, then it can grow and expand rapidly as teachers are called and more students desire to be trained. At this point, it looks like phase one will take place in village locations that are accessible by bicycle to the students who will attend, thus eliminating the cost of transportation for the students. If the training were to be held in the city, it would drastically reduce the number of students who could afford to attend. The training will take place on Saturdays, thus allowing students and working adults to participate. We are looking at a two-year program that will be divided into three terms per year. The plans I have mentioned here are still tentative as we are still considering the best options.
The most crucial aspect of training is finding the right curriculum that will be taught. We have been considering different methods and styles of teaching with Pastor Kevin Olson, as well as looking at existing materials that others are using. Our main concern is that the training will connect with the students in their cultural context and answer the questions that they have. We are planning to have training in the local language even though most of the students are quite familiar with English as it is Uganda’s national language. This will bring the training closer to home and will not exclude those who are not confident in English. The main teachers will be the local pastors with whom I have been meeting and planning for the past year.
Thank you for your prayers for this new training program which we are hoping to begin yet this year. May God bless the spreading of His Word, that it may produce faith in those who hear.
My surgery went very well on Friday afternoon. It was a couple of hours later than planned because one of the surgeons was delayed with a patient in Zacatecas. They let me out of the hospital on Saturday night and I am now recovering at home. Today (Monday) I am feeling much better -- I even got dressed!
I'm still a little sore, and I'll be on a very restricted diet for several weeks. Already, the surgery seems to have done its job. My recovery seems to be going quite well. Please pray that I don't lose too much weight!
Thank you all for your prayers, and thank you for the encouraging notes that some of you have sent. It makes me feel good to know that people are thinking of me and praying for me -- besides the fact that prayer works!
Ingrid
THANK YOU so much for your prayers! Yes, the Lord answered your prayers and we are flying to the Czech Republic tomorrow. We consulted two different doctors (Friday and Saturday) and they both said that Miriam should be ok traveling. Of course they both said that they cannot guarantee that nothing bad will happen but at the same time they both thought that it was likely that the flights should not be a problem. But they also suggested that it would be better for us to first travel to the Czech Republic and only when we see that Miriam is doing fine, only after that we should continue to the States. So that is the plan right now. We are leaving Ukraine tomorrow morning; we should be in Prague tomorrow afternoon. We will probably spend about a week or 10 days in the Czech Republic and then we are planning to continue to the States (Minneapolis, MN).
We are hoping to see some doctors in the Czech Republic too. But the only doctor we know (a specialist) was not able to get us an appointment in February. So we will just go see a general practitioner close to where we will be staying and we will hope and pray that the doctors she will refer us to will be good, knowledgeable, helpful and nice. :)
If you would like to see some more new pictures, you can always go to http://www.chmiels.com/gallery.
Thank you so much for all your prayers. We definitely feel them!!! And even though we still do not exactly know what is going to happen next, God has proven Himself faithful in always showing us the next step at exactly the right time!
Blessings,
Tomasz and Miriam
It has been a bit of a long week here, but God has shown Himself faithful. Many have been asking about Richard of whom we wrote about last update. I talked to him last week and he said that he has quit smoking and drinking completely and that he is happy. He came to church the first Sunday and has come to Bible study twice. He just found a temporary job in a different location making cement blocks which means that we don't see him around here every day as before. The job also has him working long hours seven days a week, so he has not been attending Bible study and church services. My main concern is that he have the spiritual encouragement that he needs for his young Christian life. His two teenage sons are Christians and have been a great encouragement to him. Please don't stop praying for him.
The Lord has been doing some purifying around here. He has been purifying us through different hardships that we have faced recently which have caused us to draw near to Him and to each other. I was particularly discouraged on Friday, and that evening I received three phone calls, two from the US and one from my brother Ben in Tanzania, all aimed at encouraging me. None of the three callers had any idea of the rough week we had had.
The Lord has been purifying in our church as well. Without a lot of details, I had to ask one of the pastors to stop attending our Saturday pastors' meetings because of his divisive spirit and lack of godly character. Another one of the pastors is being held at the police station on charges of forgery. I went to try to release him on Friday, believing him innocent, only to find out that he is guilty. His friends were asking me to pay a hefty bribe to release him which I could not do. The outcome of the situation is still uncertain at this time of writing, but I believe I did the right thing before God. The remaining pastors really encouraged me at our meeting today that I had done the right thing. Forgery is a felony in Uganda with a maximum sentence of 14 years. He could get anything from 0-14 years at this point, but we shall see. (The legal system in Uganda seems to have a lot of loop holes for those who have money to bribe).
So, how was your week? I must say that it is amazing how much peace there was in the midst of the stretching experiences this week. God is always faithful and your prayer cover for our family is a HUGE blessing to us. As you pray for us, please remember to cover us with a spiritual shield from the attacks of the Evil One. It is not uncommon here for an individual to go to the witch doctor to put a curse on the one they are angry with. We do not need to fear such a thing as we are covered by the blood of Christ, but we do need to be alert to the devil's schemes. This kind of opposition is expected when God is at work. Despite the heaviness of this week, we feel an undercurrent of excitement to see what God will do. We are in a crucial stage of planning for the training program that we hope to begin, Lord willing, this year.
Rhoda and the boys are doing well. Our little one is due to come in just 2 months now, for which we are all eager.
Thank you, friends, for standing with us in prayer. You are a tremendous support and encouragement to us.
Many blessings,
Nate and family
Dear friends,
We had a very refreshing and productive ti me in Arusha from February 8-12. We had a lot to do which made the time pass very quickly but just having a change in pace was good. On Sunday afternoon, we had the opportunity to go out motorbiking with one of our friends there who also has a bike. He took us to see some amazing areas. We climbed hills, chased gazelles (I almost caught one…I felt like a lion!), passed solitary Massai dwellings, explored dry river beds, etc. It was amazing.
Another exciting opportunity we had during that weekend was to visit with a fellow missionary who recently returned from the States with a piece of equipment we are considering promoting here in the future. It is called the Acclaimer and it is put out by Faith Comes by Hearing Ministries. It is a self-contained DVD/video projector/sound system. (You can check it out at the following website: http://www.faithcomesbyhearing.com/acclaimer-portable-video-player) The beautiful thing is that it can be run on AC, DC, or solar power. Our goal is to find a sustainable way to equip the local people here to carry on the film ministry that we have been involved with over this past year and a half. The fact of the matter is that even if we're to give some evangelist all of our equipment, the cost of a vehicle to transport it all to the various village locations would not be manageable. With the Acclaimer, however, the whole unit weighs less than 50 pounds and could easily be transported by bicycle, donkey, or even on someone’s back. We are still in the planning stages of how all the details would work of helping the people here acquire equipment like this. We covet your prayers.
On a slightly different note, I want to share a letter with you that we recently received:
February 3, 2008
Ben and Jesse,
Subject: Thanks for the gift you brought on January 20, 2008
Greetings in Christ Jesus:
As stated above, the Christians of the church here at Barakta village would like to thank you for the gift of Bibles that you brought when you visited our church. We are so grateful and pray that God richly bless you. Also, we want you to know that we have already done as you directed and have distributed the Bibles to those Christians who do not have the ability to buy one on their own. Furthermore, those who received the Bibles send their sincere thanks. May you continue in the heart that you have shown!
Thank you.
Yours,
Evangelist of Barakta Village
I share this letter because I honestly feel that many of you deserve this thanks as much, if not more, than we do. Without a doubt it is your prayers and support that make it possible for us to be here and do the things we do. God is working in this part of the world, not just through our availability, but also through the generosity of you who have partnered with us to make this work possible. The truth is, if it were not for you, we could not be here much less be the recipients of a letter like this. Thank you so much for your prayers and on-going support. More pictures have made it onto our blog in recent weeks. Check them out at http://benandjesse.blogspot.com. God richly bless you all.
In Christ,
Jesse Long
Mbulu, Tanzania
PS – Ben took the attached picture without telling me he was taking it. I didn’t think it turned out too bad so I thought I would send it out so you all can have a recent picture of me and can rest assured that I am alive and doing well. It is me in front of the church we visited this past weekend.
Since we know many of you are praying for us (and we appreciate it VERY MUCH!!!!) we would like you to know the latest updates…
Our good news is that Miriam’s blood clot is gone. There are still some leftover problems and our doctor said that she will have to be on blood thinners for at least four more months. But after that she should be fine. The only problem is that her blood should be checked often and they are not very good at doing that here in Ukraine. We do not know why but so many times the doctors here seem not to worry about any “potential” problems. Somehow they are not interested in preventing problems; they only deal with them when they come… But still, it’s great that the blood clot has dissolved!!!! Praise the Lord for that!!!
Our bad news is that Miriam had an ultrasound done on her remaining ovary today and there is a big cyst again!!!! :( Not only is it disappointing (we were somehow not emotionally prepared for this news) but now there is also a big question mark on whether Miriam can travel or not. You probably understand that we are trying to be super careful since she already lost one ovary recently. Her left ovary also had cysts and it twisted and then had to be removed even though Miriam did everything she could to prevent it… She was really careful, she was mostly at home resting etc… We had been told that if she does those things, it would not happen, but it did… So now, since she only has one ovary left, we are really thinking about what to do because we want to do everything possible to prevent any more problems.
But at the same time we really want to leave Ukraine ASAP. After all our bad experience we do not really trust the system here anymore. All the doctors and nurses are all really nice and we really like them as people but they have given us so much wrong advice plus they are very limited in what they can do equipment-wise, lab-wise etc… that we just feel like we need to seek medical help somewhere else…
On Saturday we are going to see a different doctor (who is supposedly very good) and hopefully he is going to help us decide whether it is safe for Miriam to travel right now or not. We were supposed to fly to the Czech Republic on Saturday but that will have to be postponed now.
When you are praying for us, please pray that we know what to do next!!!! First we need to know if Miriam can travel… but if she can travel, we need to know where to go… At first we hoped to take care of all our medical problems in the Czech Republic. But then couple different things fell through… couple different accommodation options in Prague did not work out… a doctor we wanted to see gave us the earliest appointment for March 13 etc etc… So when we learned that Samaritan Ministries (we are members) would cover our medical expenses if we came to the States, we were considering coming back to Minnesota for a month or so. In fact many things seemed to fall in place much easier with the option of coming back to Minnesota than going to Prague… There would be a place for us to stay, our clinic confirmed that they would be able to take care of both the ovary problem and the blood thinning problems, Miriam would be able to see a very nice Christian doctor etc… Our only concern was that if for some reason our medical bills got really high, we need to be 100% sure that Samaritan Ministries will really cover them all. But Tomasz called them again today and they again said that they will cover everything related to the cysts, the surgery and the blood clot problems…
So please pray for wisdom and very special God’s guidance for us. At this point we are really exhausted and feel really helpless. It feels like whenever things finally seem to be getting better or we finally feel like we know what we are doing, something happens and we are back to square one…
We appreciate you all very much!!! Happy Valentine’s Day! :)
Tomasz and Miriam
I am going to have an operation tomorrow (Friday, February 15th). I had expected to schedule it for early next week, but it just so happens that the surgeon who comes in from the city to do it was going to be here tomorrow, so my doctor suggested doing it tomorrow.
It is a laparoscopic partial fundoplication. They are going to take the top part of my stomach and wrap it part of the way around the bottom of my esophagus. I won't be able to eat real food for three or four weeks -- I'll be on liquids first and then soft foods.
I'll go into the hospital around 10am and they'll begin to do surgery around 3pm, and then I'll spend the night and come home on Saturday, if all goes well. Marcela and Danny will take care of me. :-)
Please pray for me! Thanks!
Ingrid
AFLC World Missions has accepted two new missionary families and placed them on loan to other organizations
The Lumppios are members of Grace Free Lutheran Church in Maple Grove, MN. They are both graduates of the Ministry Training Institute at the Association Free Lutheran Bible School. Tom and Lidia and their family have been serving with World Mission Prayer League in Mexico. They are home in the United States at this time on a short furlough before returning to Mexico.
Steve and Glenda are missionaries on loan to Wycliffe Bible Translators. They will be stationed in Florida where Steve will be working as a computer specialist. The Kvales are members of Christ the King Free Lutheran Church in Pipestone, MN. Glenda graduated from the Association Free Lutheran Bible School in 1987.
Information about all our missionaries can be obtained by clicking on the AFLC World Missions link to in the right hand column.
"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." Luke 23:46
"I am in God's hand and happily take each day as His good gift, leaving tomorrow free of all personal claims, to come or not to come, as our Father sees best. I have strength and can work hard and have the refreshing joy of salvation like a band concert going on inside. So I praise the Lord!"
Paul Lindell (Former WMPL Director less than nine months before he died of cancer)
Thank you all for praying while I was in Sinaloa again. To be honest I didn't really feel ready to go because I had only been in Nogales for three days before that, and I had heard some disturbing news about what has been going on down there since we left. And being a worry wort, I guess I was bracing for the worst even though I was excited about showing the Jacobson's around as they consider serving with us in Mexico.
I had heard that the church in la Cruz was closed because pastor Jose couldn't do it any more. But instead one of Jose's sons is leading the congregation, and doing a great job! Pray for Elias to continue strong and that God would raise up other helpers there.
Ismael is still faithfully pastoring the congregation in Ceuta.
I was really worried about the work in el Rosario. When I asked our pastor in Mazatlan about it, he said with one of those ear to ear grins, "your going to be surprised." Sure enough when we got there we found out that Luis Manuel, the young brother who had been drawn to the Apostolic church (Ones Pentecostal) years ago had come back to us. After all the effort to win him back doctrinally, the Lord won him by grace. He said he just realized that they were motivated and driven by law, and that he loves Jesus for what He'd done and that's why he wants to serve Him. Praise God! He is battling with guilt now. He doesn't feel worthy to be a leader in the Church because of having left, but who is? Pray for him brothers and sisters. I believe God's going to do a great work through him.
Continue to pray:
Let the concert play as we pray and trust God to lead us in His work, your fellow workers,
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
Dear Friends,
The weather this week is very nice -- still cool, but not too cold.
In the weekly women's Bible Study, we are learning about "How to have Mary's heart in Martha's world," using material that my mom prepared several months ago when she was a speaker for the women at a retreat for pastors and their wives. Not many women come, but those who do have said that they don't want to miss a single session!
Claudia Gamboa, for whom you have been praying, is opening her own taekwondo school. She works all day, and now two or three evenings a week she takes her children over to the school and teaches. She is hoping that one day the school will make enough money that she will be able to work fewer hours during the day. I admire her for coming alone to church with her four children (two toddlers) every Sunday, and sometimes walking if they miss the bus. They are rarely even late! I think it's very good for the children to grow up seeing the importance that she places on her Christian walk.
Oscar, the teenage boy for whom you've been praying, is maturing into quite the young man. He has started mentoring his younger cousin and brings him to church now. The boy is named Benigno ("Nino" for short) and is in my Sunday School class. He is quite eager to do all the work and memorize the verse every week!
Dan and Marcela recently took the youth group to the city of Aguascalientes for an outing. It sounds like they all had fun.
I am contemplating having an operation soon. I'm not sick and it isn't any sort of emergency, but basically the doctor says it's a good idea to do it soon, and now that I've done my own research I'm convinced he's right. Also, if I'm going to adopt a baby, I'd like to have this out of the way first. It turns out that the reason my stomach acid goes into my lungs is because my lower esophogeal sphincter (also known as the cardiac sphincter) has apparently been open all my life, and also I have a hiatal hernia. They want to fix those things. The only thing I still need to know in order to decide is the price (I don't have insurance), and they can't tell me the price until they do some more tests.
Here is my prayer list:
Please (requests):
Thank you (praise):
Sincerely,
Ingrid Giles
Dear friends,
We just wanted to thank all of you so much for your prayers!!!! We feel your praying and we are encouraged by your many emails (even when we do not write back)!!!
Tomasz’s sermon went well on Sunday. From how people responded and what they said to him after church, it seemed like God really used both him and his translator, Edgar (a young Ukrainian guy from a different church) to encourage those who were there on Sunday. So praise God for that! And thanks for praying. It was really hard to be focused on the sermon preparation after we found out about the blood clot and with everything else that was going on last week…
Miriam is doing ok… It’s all a little bit of a roller-coaster (both physically and emotionally) but she is feeling better. She has to stay in bed to prevent the blood clot from dislodging but her leg does not really hurt when she is not walking. It is now a little bit of a battle between what is good for her leg/the blood clot and what is good for the rest of her body. For example last week our doctor told us that it would be risky not to put Miriam on certain hormones that would give her remaining ovary a break and some time to heal before it would be forced to “work for two.” But this week he had to take her off those hormones because they were adding to the blood clot problem. Also with all those blood thinners they are giving her, they have to try to help her leg but they have to do it without causing any extra bleeding along the way etc etc…
We are still hoping to be able to travel to Czech some time soon to get everything checked by Czech doctors but right now we cannot really plan much as Miriam needs to be in bed with her leg up.
But we are really blessed to have Miriam’s Mom here with us now. She came on Sunday and it is such a BIG help to have her here!!!! Especially since Tomasz came down with some kind of a stomach bug this morning so right now we are both in bed and Miriam’s Mom taking care of both of us. :)
Thank you again for your prayers and keep in touch. We appreciate all of you VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!
Tomasz and Miriam
PS: The picture is for you to see that Miriam really is feeling better :) The Steele girls (Abby and Beka) came to cheer her up on Sunday.
Greetings to all,
We hope that you all are doing great. We are having lots of fun watching our two daughters grow, and the youth group growing spiritually and emotionally.
Last Saturday we took the youth group to the city park in Aguascalientes, and they all loved it. The had time to get to know each other better, it was a great experience for them and us as well.
Please pray for the youth group. Jerez is full of drugs, and explicit underground. It is very hard for them to follow Christ with so many bad influences. Danny is providing a fun alternative to the boys, they come to play video games and hang out with Danny. Danny is also helping Guillermo(Memo) Perez to learn english because he is excited to go the Bible School in Minneapolis in two years.
We had a great opportunity to share the gospel in a very interesting setting here in Jerez. It happened January 16th. We went to a coffee house and had a chance to talk about Jesus. We basically told the people there that without Jesus they were lost. It is quite a long story, but if you want to know the whole story you can check it in our family blog.
We are still looking for a house in which to live, we really would like to live in a house that is across from Dan and Debbie's. The owner came to us and showed us the house. Unfortunately, the house is not empty. There is a man who rents the house, but he really doesn't really live there. His lease ran out last December so the owner really want us to move in there, and we think it is absolutely perfect for us. Please pray that either he will find a new place to live or that we can find another place of our own.
Pray for the safety of our family. Jerez has become one of the head quarters of one the biggest drug cartels in Mexico. A month ago there was a shooting that resulted in seven local and federal police man dead, and nobody knows how many more. We know that God is more powerful than any power in this world and that nothing will happen to us if He doesn't allow it.
Prayer requests
-Health and safety for our two little daughters and us.
-Our own house.
-That the Lord will supply our financial needs.
-Pray for Danny as he teaches the youth group every Bible studies and sunday school.
-Pray for next Saturday, Feb. 9th, we are showing the movie "Like a Thief in the Night" at church. May souls, hearts, and lives be changed.
Praises
-We praise the Lord for you, thank you for your payers and support.
-For our daughters, Ariadna and Andrea, who fill our lives with joy.
-Because He has been faithful to His promises to us in every single way.
-For the youth group, they all come to church on Sundays now, when before they were not allowed.
-Because we have been able to learn from our parents, Dan and Debbie, they are great examples to follow.
-We love being close to our sister, she is a great blessing to us.
GOD BLESS YOU GREATLY!
In Him,
Daniel, Marcela, Ariadna, and Andrea Giles
