Missions Devotional

The following devotional was written by Scott Erickson:

Romans 3:10,11 “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who seek for God.”

Growing up in a loving Christian home we had family devotions regularly. A death of a classmate (9 year old) and his uncle made a big impact in our community and many families. We made some life important changes. Bible camps, bible schools, special meetings, and many more gatherings became of much more importance. I really didn’t grasp it at the time, but as the next few years came and as I grew older more was revealed. One year at bible camp a summer team from the Bible School was doing a skit about Jesus hanging on the Cross. Different individuals would come up and mock Him. It was at this time I truly realized--‘That was me!--doing this to my Lord and Savior.

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

I always had thought highly of myself and seemed to be a very good person. It came easy to justify myself when I could point out others faults and shortcomings. God grabbed a hold of me by using my parents and examples of young believers to point out where I stood. It isn’t about me. It’s all about Him. No more trying to impress others, but instead laying down my sins at His feet and allowing Him to work in my life so He could be seen.

Romans 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through or Lord Jesus Christ.”

The road became narrow and much more difficult. Satan doesn’t like it when someone comes to have a personal relationship with Jesus. Knowing God is in charge is a wonderful thing. He is faithful to be with us through tough and easy times. He keeps His promises in His Word even when I am not faithful. The daily battle can only be victorious when we have a strong personal relationship with Him.

One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 40:31 “Yet those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

Emergency in East Africa–World Relief

World Relief is the aid agency that the AFLC works with.  Donations can be made through AFLC World Missions or directly to World Relief. 

If you’re donating online with the button at the left be indicate that it is for “Africa Emergency-WR.”

Foreigners

I Corinthians 14:11   “If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker and he is a foreigner to me.”

This verse took on a literal meaning when we traveled to Czech Republic this summer. The hotel we stayed at was within five blocks of the country of Poland. We enjoyed taking walks on each side of the river. Crossing the bridge meant you were entering a different country, each with its own currency and language. Whether in Czech Republic or Poland, the languages were foreign to us and that created some interesting challenges with simple tasks such as ordering a meal. Picture menus are priceless!

As we traveled, we found most of the younger generation could speak some English and we found relief in that as I have not yet begun to comprehend the foreign languages I encounter. I had been invited to speak at the annual youth conference in Smilovice, Czech Republic.

Tuesday morning Sherry and I participated in a breakout session presented by a pastor from Sweden. It was one of very few times

Schierkolk August Newsletter

 Editor’s note:  Adri is the woman in the middle of the photo.

This past February Adri was diagnosed with cancer.  Originally from Venezuela, she’d had a hard life full of sad circumstances, bad decisions and their tragic
consequences. In God’s love and providence the next two months following the diagnosis served to force her to confront some of the faith and life issues that she had been content to let linger. As the possibility of death grew more real, the reality of who her Savior was and what He had done for her grew more precious.

Throughout those months we had many special times of prayer and reading from God's word with Adri and her girls before we left for our time of deputation. It was very hard to say good-bye. The news that I received just two weeks after arriving in the United States was not good and yet God was still doing good things. There had been many things we'd heard from the doctors, some very hopeful and some very bad. We had been forcefully keeping our eyes on Jesus remembering that even if the doctors are right in their diagnosis, God always has the last word and that if He has the power to raise a dead man from his tomb (Lazarus) he also has the power to cleanse a body
from cancer no matter how bad it looks. Then we
received the news that Adri's cancer had spread into her lungs. She had been in great pain. She made it through two chemotherapy sessions but one doctor said there really wasn’t any point in attempting a third. By that point Adri just wanted to go to heaven.

To read how Adri’s story ends, please click here to read the entire story!

Video of Cassie Nash in Haiti

Short Term Missionary Cassie Nash

Short term missions assistant Cassie Nash has been working in Haiti.  She has been in the US for the Summer.  Right now she is back in Haiti for a short time of planning.  Please be in prayer for Cassie.

Jonni’s August Newsletter

Last month I presented Adriana and Deborah to you; lovely girls who have had far too many hurtful experiences in their young lives. It isn’t surprising that these experiences have shaped the way the girls see the world and their behavior. One of Adriana’s struggles is that she has a very poor moral standard. That is pretty common when girls are abused as children. They don’t see them-selves as valuable and don’t see why they shouldn’t give themselves away. It has been a challenge to minister truth into Adriana’s life and at the same time to protect the boys that are in the house from her advances. This means that we spend a lot of time talking and praying with both the boys and the girls and watching all the time for signs of trouble.

This last week-end the Free Lutheran Church had a youth retreat. 80 young people from 13 to 20 participated,
coming from 4 cities and 6 churches. It was wonderful! The three oldest Miriam Home kids (Josivaldo, Adriana and Maria) took part and it was so exciting to see God move. The theme was “Warm my Heart, Lord” and the subject that was taught was purity! Pastor Antonio, the Free Lutheran pastor from a neighboring city, was the speaker and he was both very direct and very challenging, helping all of these young people understand their personal value, the importance of walking in purity in a sex crazed world and that God has the power to support us if we are willing to walk with Him!

I was so blessed by what I saw as God’s provision specifically for one wounded child. Pr Antonio spoke over and over to Adriana’s situation, giving examples that came right from her life, though he had no way of knowing. When he declared that God could bring healing to lives of young people who had already lost their purity, Adriana was blessed with hope this week-end. In so many ways we have seen changes and growth in Adriana life and we are very excited to see God’s victory in this area also!

There is much more to read about in Jonni’s newsletter, so click here to read all about it!

Update on Uganda Struggles

This is an update on the young girl, Talitha, who was demon-possessed.  If you have not read the first part of her story, check out the Jore’s blog here.

From an August 4th post:  This past Monday, six days after Jowali and his family professed their faith in Christ, Talitha became demon-possessed again. It was a blow to all of us. How could this happen? Was she not now under Christ’s protection? Was her faith not genuine? We couldn’t make sense of it.

The demons first attacked Talitha at her school two weeks ago. When she was re-possessed, it also happened at her school, along with 4 other students. Tuesday, Wednesday and today there were more students attacked at the school. Tomorrow we will be going to the school with a group of intercessors we have organized from here in Jinja to pray over the school.

From an August 6th post:  Thank you all who have been in prayer for us during the past couple of days.  We have seen the Lord at work. I’d like to update you on our trip to the village yesterday.

We gathered a team of intercessors who would come with us to pray over the school.  There were thirteen in total.  Among them was a man named Gerald.  When I met him and thanked him for his willingness to come, he simply said, “This is what I am called to do.”  Praise the Lord! Another in the group was Jeremiah, a converted witchdoctor.  He said that as a former witchdoctor he specializes in finding and burning witchcraft.

Early in the morning we set off for the village in a van.  Jowali, Talitha’s father, had requested that we begin at his home and then go to the school afterwards.  When we arrived, Talitha was inside the house.  We gathered chairs in a circle and a mat in the middle.

As she was brought out of the house, she was crying loudly, hitting, kicking and gnawing her tongue. The demons were attacking her again.  Her suffering touched me deeply.  The team immediately started praying over her as they held her on the mat.  I observed that one of the team members, Pastor Joseph, did not join in the praying immediately, but stood back and observed.

After about ten minutes of praying, he stood up and told everyone to stop. He said, “There is a reason the demon is not going.  It has authority to remain.”

To read the rest of the story…and it is an amazing story, please check out the Jores’ blog post here.

Greetings from the Ukraine

Since we last wrote after our arrival, we have been getting settled in our new home, an apartment in downtown Odessa. It has been fun to do some exploring around town and to try out our Russian. We have managed to find some neat markets and grocery stores, and were able to bike together on a few excursions.

The children seem to be adjusting well, covered by His grace. Thank you all for your prayers for them. While they miss friends and family at times, they are enjoying the new adventures and are making a few new friends. I guess the same is true for Andy and I! We are so thankful for the relationships being built here and the ways God so visibly has cared for us. There have been countless answers to prayer. Thank you for holding us up!

We joined EEMN's short-term team for the English Bible Camp for our first two weeks. Andy and Ann, my cousin, co-taught a class of 6-7 year olds. It was an excellent week of ministry- check out our blog for the full update. Following that, we hosted a team of four short-term missionaries for a week. It was a joy to have them, and they were a big blessing as they cared for the kids while Andy and I were able to go out.

We just returned from attending an 8-day family camp with the Lutheran Church, which was a wonderful time to get to know our co-workers and the broader ministry of the Youth Center. Check out our blog update for the full report. The camp was located on the shore of the Black Sea, which was so beautiful! Though it was a hot week, it was a good time for our family.

As we look forward to the month ahead, we are eager to get into new routines at home. We are thankful for new doors opening for: language study, a preschool/kindergarten program for Moriah and Isaiah, and ministry opportunities to help us acclimate and practice our Russian. Later this month, after the youth camps end, Andy will be joining with others in planning some of the fall ministry events and Bible School planning.

We hope this finds you doing well, and we pray God's abundant grace to meet you in each day in the month ahead.

Prayer Needed for Struggles in Uganda

There have been spiritual struggles in Uganda recently.  You can read about them on Nate Jore’s and Han’s Tanner/Micah Berger’s blog.

Click here for:

Nate Jore’s Blog

Han’s Tanner/Micah Berger’s Blog

Cassie Nash is back in Osakis-but not for long

The following is an article that was in the Osakis Review written by Jenna Galstad on July 27.  We have included it in it’s entirety because it is such a good article!  May you be blessed:

Only being home for one month, Cassie Nash reflected on her time spent in Haiti and is looking forward to returning, saying she feels humbled and blessed to be serving God in this way. “I fell in love with missions and different cultures. I love to see how God is working in different countries. My faith has been growing for many years. I knew for a long time I wanted to go into ministry,” Nash told the Osakis Review.

Nash returned in June, having spent four months away from her hometown of Osakis. Her last four months were spent in Haiti, working in an area called Canaan Christian Community. The small community of Canaan, population about 100, is equipped with a church, clinic, school and an orphanage. Nash said she has countless memories from her time spent in Haiti, but her most memorable ones were meeting the people and building strong friendships and relationships. Nash said, “We only had electricity for four hours a day, so we got to spend a lot of time together.” Possibly her most memorable friendship is with a woman she met the first day she arrived – Sanite. Nash and Sanite met three times each week, teaching each other their native languages – Nash taught Sanite English and Sanite taught Nash Haitian Creole. Nash explained how helpful this was in learning Creole, and she looked forward to meeting with Sanite. Together they read scripture – Nash read in Creole while Sanite read in English. They would help each other with reading and pronunciation. Sanite told Nash she could see Jesus in her eyes; that confirmed the reason why Nash said she was serving in Haiti.

The biggest adventure Nash experienced in Haiti was when she took five different “taptaps” with some of her friends from Montrouis to the south part of Port au Prince. Nash explained, “A taptap can be a variety of things.  It can be a pickup truck with benches built in and a top over the bed, a bus type thing, or a Mack truck with people standing or sitting in the back.” She even called one taptap the “always room for one more” because the driver kept picking people up, even when there wasn’t any room. The trip took about three hours, and she got to experience a variety of people from different walks of life.

When asked what the biggest shock was being in Haiti, Nash didn’t have a typical response like “the culture” or “the food.” Instead, she said, “How they live doesn’t shock me. I’ve been to so many different countries, how they live seems normal to me.” In fact, Nash said when she is back in Minnesota she misses the lack of electricity, movie theaters and coffee shops. “I miss spending time with the people. The relationships in Haiti are deeper than they are here.” Nash said, “The biggest shock was just thinking ‘I live in Haiti.’ I was used to going on short term mission trips for just a couple of weeks, so actually being able to be part of a community was the biggest shock to me.” As for the food, Nash said, “I love Haitian food! I want to learn how to cook it.” She said they usually ate spaghetti with hot sauce, peppers and onions for breakfast, along with a hard-boiled egg and a banana. Lunch in Haiti consisted of seasoned rice, beans and fried plantains. Supper was the meal Nash talked most fondly of. The main dish is labui, which Nash explained is like a hot cereal. She said it’s a soupy mixture of flour, potato, or plantain, with ginger or other spices mixed in. “It’s really sweet. I like it a lot. If I could, I always requested labui.”

While in Haiti, Nash said she discovered things she wasn’t expecting. “Expect the unexpected. I was able to sing in Haiti. When I was leaving, one of the little girls told me she was going to miss me when she sang.” She also discovered that she’s a morning person, and she enjoyed waking up early to blog, listen to music, and read scripture. “It’s when I found the most joy.” Nash lived with five other missionaries – none of which were part of her same organization. Nash said one of the missionaries she lived with worked in a malnutrition clinic, and she had the opportunity to go along and weigh, measure, and ask kids their age to see if they qualified for a program called Mamba. Nash explained that Mamba means “peanut butter,” which is what the program is all about. The peanut butter is energy dense and has specific proteins and nutrients that help malnourished children age 4 and younger gain needed weight and get on the right track to a healthy life.

A typical day in Haiti A normal day for Nash consisted of showing the kids love and helping them in school. She said it took the kids a while to warm up to her, because they would distance people until they realized they would be around. Nash was the “English” person and taught the kids how to write, read and speak English. Because it was an English school, the kids weren’t allowed to speak Creole in school – but that didn’t always stop them. They even gave Nash a new name, changing it from Cassie (which means sour in Creole) to Ca-dous (which means sweet). “I felt loved by the kids for giving me a new nickname. I’m glad they think of me as sweet.” While Nash was working in the school, an idea went around to take kids that needed more help into an extra classroom and let them work on their lessons in a way that worked for them. Each day Nash was able to take five kids into the extra classroom, where she saw them flourish. Nash told of an 8-year-old boy named Sanders who didn’t learn well in a normal classroom setting because he was so active. She was able to take him to the extra classroom and saw that, “He is a genius. He would dance and multi task and then he would get his work done.”

Nash’s future plans in Haiti Nash will be returning to Haiti in September for a new, year-long adventure. “It’s going to be an amazing, challenging time. Next year is about learning the ropes.” Originally, Nash wanted to open a transition home for kids who didn’t have anywhere to go after they left an orphanage, but now her plans have changed. Instead, she will be living in Petion-ville and working in Haiti Christian Orphanage. Petion-ville isn’t as developed as Canaan Christian Community – it has a church but no clinic or school. The orphanage Nash will be working in has all boys, ranging in age from 6 to early 20s. Nash said, “My heart is for helping older children transition into society seamlessly. I want to help train up leaders and get them grounded in their faith.” Nash explained that if you don’t have a family in Haiti, you don’t have much help. She wants to help children who don’t have a family still have a God-centered home and support system to fall back on. “It’s not an overnight fix. It’s going to take a long time.” Ideally, Nash said, she wants to have a trade school so the boys can learn needed skills that will help them make it on their own. Nash said she is excited to be going back to Haiti and face new challenges, but she knows there isn’t a challenge that is too big. “God is bigger than any problem I could ever encounter. I’m not afraid. My goal is to stay in one place and be a light.”

If you want to follow Cassie Nash on her journey, visit her blog, here.

Paul and Becky Abel-July Update

The following are some “snapshots” from the Abels’ newsletter:

 ARCA retreats:  The ARCA is used regularly to bless lives. The months of June and July were so busy with camp rentals that we ended up scheduling our Youth Camp for the very end of July. Pray with us this coming weekend when about 100 youth will gather for fellowship around the theme "One for all and all for One."

  Ministry with children:  Becky continues to invest in the lives of children teaching Sunday School and planning special services and events involving the children in the churches in Bateias and Curitiba. Paul also takes time regularly to have devotions and spend time with the young boys. We believe in the importance of modeling true Christianity in everyday situations and planting seeds of faith in the hearts of children and young people. We pray that faith in Jesus will be their joy now and their anchor for the future.

For the rest of their news, click here.  Please continue to keep the Abels in your prayers!

Update about Alfonso in Mexico

This e-mail was sent to us on July 14…due to computer problems we are just getting this up now…please continue praying:

This is just a quick note. My brother, fellow worker, and friend Alfonso has been in and out of the hospital all week with a bad headache in the back of his head, in his chest, and he's having trouble breathing. I'm going to take him in today to see if we can't get him an oxygen tank to take home. He is looking pale as well. To me it doesn't look like he's got much more time with us. I told him I'd get a call out for prayer for him. He's pretty discouraged. The government will not give him an earlier apt with a specialist to look at his heart/pace maker until November.

Thanks for your prayers, Darwin
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

Darwin Jackson–Pray for VBS

"Nevertheless, I am continually with thee." Psalm 73:23 

If you get a chance to read Spurgeon's meditations for today on this text it is very inspiring for prayer. Perhaps this verse is the other side of the coin of "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world." Mat 28:20

Today we begin Vacation Bible School in Buenos Aires. Everything is in place, the teachers, songs, lessons, snacks, games, etc. Now, as if Jesus was reminding us in the Great Commission, we need prayer to remind us of His presence with us as we bring the Gospel to these kids, teaching them to "obey all things Jesus taught us." Pray Jesus power and presence with us these next three days.

Your fellow workers,

Darwin, Mary Ann, Gracie, Cesar, Gabe, Rachael and Melina

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

News from Curitiba

This is an update and some prayer requests from Erlend Straume, an AFLTS graduate and missions volunteer in Brazil:

Language study is going forward. I have finished my first semester of Basic 1 Portuguese and am now half way through an intensive 3 weeks Basic 2 class. I feel that I am a slow language learner, but I understand more and more, and am able to speak more with the locals, so I seem to be  going in the right direction.

I have now started looking for job opportunities for next year that may be combined with ministry here. I have contacted the Norwegian oil company Statoil. They have a position in Stavanger, Norway where they may be interested in hiring me. This could open for a transfer to their Rio de Janeiro office in a few years. I have also been in contact with "Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná" (UTFPR) here in Curitiba, and they seems to be very interested in my competence.

Prayer requests:
Language study-Pray for patience and progress in the studies.

Job opportunities-Pray that I get a job offer that can be combined with ministry here and that will make me a candidate for permanent visa. Also pray that I make the right desertions if I get several offers.
 
My family in Norway-My father who is 82 years old had a light stroke earlier this year and has some problems with short term memory after this. My mother who is 77 also has some problems with short term memory. Pray that my parents will be able to continue living in their own house and pray for salvation for my father. Also pray for my siblings that they will have understanding for the choices I have made by moving to Curitiba.

John 15:5: "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."

In Christ,
Erlend Straume

Update on Long-Time AFLC Missionary George Knapp

The following is an e-mail update on George Knapp from his daughter, Carol:

Thought I'd let you know what is going on with dad. He is slowly making progress. Today the speech therapist checked his vision, and he read well. So it would seem that his vision is okay. He was able feed himself supper last night and breakfast this morning without any major problems swallowing. He is speaking, and able to make some responses; he made choices on his noon meal to the dietary aid this morning. Karen took his razor in this morning, per OT request so she could work on shaving with him. Well, dad took the razor and proceeded to shave himself without any prompting and did a great job.

The biggest all around concern is his inability to move his right side. We pray that he will gain strength in the coming days/weeks and regain his mobility and ability to care for his daily activities. More than likely he will be going from the hospital to nursing home for rehab. He was to have a carotid endarterectomy on Monday, July 18th. The doctor is still considering having that done (to clean out the clogged carotid artery the goes up to the brain).

Thank you to everyone for you e-mails, prayers and love. It is wonderful to have this family in Christ to reach out to.

We have our annual family gathering this week-end here at home. This morning Karen was quite insistent that no matter where dad is (hospital or nursing home), he will be brought home for a few hours to be with family. Which I'm sure he will enjoy.

Mom is doing well with this whole situation. We all know that dad's life is in God's hands, no matter what happens.

Til next time...thanks and God Bless,
Carol

July 2011 Missions Devotional

I recently finished a book entitled, Movements That Change the World. It is an easy read and you would find it very encouraging. Steve Addison, the author has a track record as a church planter and writes out of that experience and what he has studied about movements historically and in contemporary times. This is not a book review but I thought it would be good to share his, Five Keys to Spreading the Gospel, “plus one,” for our personal lives and corporate lives. I can strongly recommend that you would read it.

The author begins by talking about a, White-Hot Faith. I guess another way of describing what he stresses, is to have, “a fire in the gut!” I am not talking about eating too much Mexican food but a Holy Spirit Got-to-do-it drive that needs to go and tell. It is that dynamic which we read about in Acts 1:8 and what was moving the early believers to talk to other people about Jesus and salvation in Him. I have to ask myself as I ask you, “Do we have a “White-Hot Faith?” We need revival! Movements happened when there is a spiritual movement in the hearts and lives of people!

Secondly, and this is the “plus-one,” – A vital prayer life. Sloth in prayer is the formula for spiritual sloth. It is so easy to let our private and public prayer time slip away from our daily lives. Prayer less churches are powerless churches. I am saddened and deeply concerned about how few AFLC congregations have prayer meetings and also, how few attend. We in the AFLC are in need of spiritual revival so that prayer is not a matter of convenience but necessity!

Thirdly, the author talks of a “Commitment of a Cause.” He points to Jesus commitment to the Father’s cause to save the world. Quoting Addison, “Jesus expected the same unwavering commitment from his disciples. … Only those willing to take up their cross and follow him could be his disciples.” Once again, convenience has superseded what Jesus spoke of and a commitment to a cause does not fit our comfort zones. I really believe that we are spot-on theologically within our AFLC but being doctrinally correct must follow being spiritually fervent. Addison says, “Committed people make history by living in alignment with their deeply held beliefs.”

Fourth, he talks about Contagious Relationships. He points out that movements are not so much about some sort of program but the result of saved people maintaining viable relationship outside of their spiritual huddle groups called the church. It is a great chapter giving principles of contagious relationships but to me it really boils down to this, to be real people to real people coming out of that ‘white-hot faith.”

The fifth is the Rapid Mobilization and I am not going to say much about this point except to mention that Addison is correct in his emphasis on the difference between sterility by external control verses turning the new believer free to do what God has called him to do – Go! Tell! To again quote Addison, “Christianity has flourished when it is not longer dependent on foreign leadership, funding and control.” That is another a good focus for us.

Lastly, Adaptive Methods. I agree with the author that too many times we have been caught up with conforming people to programs or fads rather than to let God move people. That is a true movement – God at work in the hearts and lives of deeply burdened souls that just needs to express themselves.

This book has helped me to keep in balance the great need for spiritual life and fervor as well as living free in obedience to the work of the Holy Spirit. We have great opportunities in AFLC World Mission Committee to listen, catch the vision, counsel, prayerfully support and sent those whom God has called. Let’s be a movement!

by Dick Gunderson

Jonni Sliver’s July Newsletter

Here is a sneak peak at Jonni’s July newsletter.  Read the rest of it here.

They aren’t singing and there isn’t much choreography, but the Miriam Home does have new kids on the block. I am pleased to introduce Adriana (16 years old) and her little sister Deborah (11 years old). Middle children in a family of 11 children, the girls come from a family that has already experienced great difficulties. Adriana and Deborah have siblings with physical handicaps and though our young ladies are healthy both have moderate learning disabilities. Sadly, it wasn’t issues of education or even physical handicaps that brought these young people to the Miriam Home - they came because they have been exposed to long term abuse, having been used by their oldest brother.

Adriana and Deborah have only been with us a short time (about three weeks), they have started school, gotten involved with the Free Lutheran Church in Lar Parana and are starting to settle in. A quick look says they are doing pretty good. A closer look shows a world of hurt that only God can heal…

Jacksons Head to FLY in Estes Park, CO

Dear E-mail Prayer Partners:

"Your prayer life denotes how much you depend on your own ability, and how much you really believe in your heart when you sing, "Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling..." The more self-confidence you have, the less you pray. The less self-confidence you have, the more you have to pray." Lars Widerberg.

Well, this is it. Today we pull out for Estes Park Colorado for the FLY convention. I will have a full van of seven kids and myself. We will meet our brethren at Abiding Savior up in Tucson, then we will travel in a convoy of three vehicles.

As you can imagine our kids are all exited about this trip. But our confidence is that Jesus will do more than we could ask or think on this trip. Pray that each participant, every teen and child would receive all that God would have for them in the grace of our Lord Jesus.

Let not our confidence be in ourselves, but in the One who raised Jesus up from the dead that our confidence might be in Him. Pray also for our families and congregations that we leave behind.

Your fellow workers,
Darwin, Mary Ann, Gracie, Gabe, Rachael and little Melina

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

Read more at our blog spot.

Coyle’s Arrive Safely in the Ukraine

       

Hello from Odessa! We are so thankful to God for countless answers to prayer in the past day. The travels went well and we arrived safely with all of our luggage. God is so good! The kids were excellent travelers and even slept on the long flight. An added bonus was that we were able to get the wall-mounted cradle for Josiah during the long flight.

We are now getting settled in our apartment and are so glad to have a place to call home. Tomorrow we will join the EEMN short-term team as we prepare for the English Bible Camp next week. We are hitting the ground running! It is nice to have the EEMN crew here and to be able to get to know a lot of co-workers with the ministry.

THANK YOU for your prayers. God is using you! Have a blessed day and know how much you are appreciated.

Standing in His Grace,
Andy & Monica, Moriah, Isaiah & Josiah

Short Term Assistants Leave for Uganda

Hans Tanner and Micah Berger left for Uganda on Monday, June 20th.   They will be working with Nate Jore for the next year learning and teaching Ambassador Institute curriculum.

WMF Day and Missions Festival

The 2011 Annual Conference in beautiful Sioux Falls is in full swing!  The women of the World Mission Federation (WMF) enjoyed a full day of worship, Bible study, encouragement, yes, and even business as well as wonderful workshop speakers who exhorted us to Trust in, Delight in,  and Commit our ways to God who will give us the desire of our hearts. (Psalm 37:3-6)  We heard greetings from Tamba Abel, who along with her husband, Jonathon and family are here for a 1-year furlough, and from Todd and Barb Schierkolk, who left Mexico earlier than expected and will have a longer furlough as they wait for the violence in Mexico to subside.  They found it very hard to leave their ministry before they were ready.  The WMF day finished in a big way as Christie Ballman did a chalk talk with us, drawing a picture of an island and telling us the story of Missionary Darlene Diebler Rose who was imprisoned by the Japanese during World War II but lived to tell of her experience in her autobiography:  Evidence Not Seen.

Tuesday night, the WMF hosted the annual Missions Festival with Pastor Jonathan Abel speaking.  Our new missionaries,  Andy and Monica Coyle;  Justo and Patricia Pillman, were commissioned at the end of the service.  What a special time it was when members of the missions committee and Director Del Palmer laid hands on them to send them out in the power of the Holy Spirit, just as Barnabas and Saul were commissioned in the early church. (Acts 13:1-3)

Pastor Abel preached from Matthew 28:19-20, verses that most of us know as the “Great Commission”.  The command to preach the Gospel (go and make disciples) is for each of us individually, for the local church, and for the church worldwide.  We need to think about Acts 1:8 which commands us to go out to be witnesses in the power of the Holy Spirit to “our Jerusalem (the culture we know around us), Judea (the unchurched community around us), Samaria (people/cultures different from ourselves in the US), and the ends of the earth (other cultures in other countries).”

The WMF day and the Missions Festival have indeed fulfilled the purpose of the annual conference in providing spiritual refreshment and power for all attendees.

Envision Brazil

Just out, the new video about Brazil by Andrew Abel.

Missionary Greetings

We send greetings from our missionaries.

Daniel and the Stolen Beans

Dear Friends,

The rains have returned and the villagers are busy planting.

I'd like to tell you a story that has been unfolding over the past year or so. I have a garden in the village of Butagaya, near the original Bible class that I began teaching. Last year at this time, I was going there every Monday to teach. Following the training each week, I would go to the garden and work before coming back to town.    

One day a neighbor near the garden asked if he could do some work for me during the week and get paid on Monday when I came to the garden. I hired him. His name was Daniel. I was happy with what he'd accomplished during the week, so I kept him on. As time passed, I began to notice that produce was disappearing from the garden. A pineapple, several acorn squash. One day when I came to work all the coffee had been harvested. Several avocado trees I had transplanted also went missing. One Monday I transplanted two pomegranate trees. Daniel was there at the time and I explained to him the kind of fruit that they give (it was new to him). The following week the two trees were gone. There are many people around the area of the garden, so I could not be sure who was stealing, but I was fairly certain it was Daniel.

I eventually decided to address the issue of stealing with him. I spoke in general terms about how God views a thief. I quoted from 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 which says that the thieves will not inherit the kingdom of God. I told him that the garden had been given to God and that anyone who stole from it would have to deal with Him. After listening, Daniel assured me that he was not a thief and we went on with our work of planting beans. When the work for the day was done, I gave Daniel a ride to the nearby trading center. As Daniel opened the car door and climbed out of the car, the side of his pants slid against the edge of the seat and beans came spraying out of his pocket in full view of everyone in the car. They were the same beans that we had planted just minutes before. He muttered something hastily about having been planting the same beans in his garden that morning and took off.

Do you believe in miracles? I bet you could climb out of a car one thousand times with beans in your pocket and never lose one, but on that day, the beans that Daniel had stolen in secret were exposed for everyone to see. I'm sure that Daniel was awed by the power of God. I had just told him that morning how God views stealing and he had decided to steal anyway. More than six months have passed now, and nothing has gone missing from the garden.

Daniel no longer works in my garden, but I continue to see him from time to time. This past Saturday I passed his place and I noticed that his tomato plants were dried and withered. It had not rained in the area for 3 weeks. I told him that I was praying for rain. On Monday I was on the way to my garden when Daniel saw me and came running through his garden. "God heard your prayers!" It had rained heavily the night before.

God wants Daniel. He is calling him to Himself. Will you pray that Daniel will respond?

The training is continuing well. The new classes have just completed their first term of studies and have covered the stories from Creation through the Exodus from Egypt and the Golden Calf.  Term 2 will begin next week. We would appreciate your prayers for continued spiritual growth and hunger for the Lord amongst the students.

We are excited to have two young men join the work here beginning the end of June.  Hans Tanner and Micah Berger will be coming to join us, and they plan to stay for a year.  We are really looking forward to their partnership.  Please be in prayer for them as they make preparations to come.

We are grateful for your prayers and your partnership.

All because of Him,

Nate Jore and family

Jonni Sliver’s June 2011 Newsletter

Here are some excerpts from Jonni’s newest newsletter.  To read the entire newsletter, please click here!

A fact of life: everything changes. That was one of my mother’s biggest pet peeves, the continual changes of life. The hard part of change is that we often feel of balance, unsure of the next step. The positive side (or sides) is that boredom isn’t a threat (or is shouldn’t be!) and that we are often pushed into dependence on the one unchanging facet in our lives; The
Living God!

Changes occur in the Miriam Home pretty quickly! The most frequent change is, of course, who lives here. I told you last week that twin babies who had been here for a year are now back with their mom. Just one week ago the “babe in arms” role was filled by a precious young thing named Flavia. She is 14 months old and very healthy indeed! She actually weighs quite a bit more than Altieires and Thavildy combined. She arrived accompanied by her sister, Taina (4 years) and brother Richard (7 years). They are a close knit little group, and they have had to be. Their mother would leave them for hours and days at a time; sometimes a neighbor would watch over them, many times they watched out for themselves. Taina sees her-self as mom over her siblings. She can make a baby bottle, change a diaper, fold laundry and sweep the floor. She decides when she needs a nap—and when Richard does! It will take time for this little lady to learn to become a child again, and for all three to learn to rely on grown ups.

Check out Jonni’s blog for regular updates!

Ambassador Institute 2011 Summer Inquiry

The following is just a sneak peak into this quarter’s Inquiry.  Please click here to read the entire newsletter.

It is a great blessing to be a part of the ministry that the Lord has called us to in the Ambassador Institute! People are being trained in God’s Word and lives are being changed as they study and share what they have learned.  This Inquiry is a prayer list made up of the people that the Lord has brought together to carry out the ministry of the Ambassador Institute. Be encouraged and pray for these people in your own role as a part of the support team that makes this work possible.

Pastor Kevin, has been traveling nationally to visit the churches of the AFLC and to cast the vision of the Ambassador Institute for international
discipleship. International trips happen twice a year, with regular phone
and e-mail conversations with the international partners. Networking and
coordination would describe two important aspects of this work that now
is spanning six countries and six languages.

Nathan Olson has been serving as a Short-Term Assistant in the office and has been working on the compellation of the Oral Curriculum in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. He also assists with web management, which we would encourage you to check out here as well as by finding us on Facebook!

Abel's on Furlough

Dear Friends in Christ,

We have just returned home for furlough.  We want to thank you for all your prayers and support over these years  and are looking forward to seeing many of you at our Conferences, Rallies, and Churches during this year.  

We would like to ask you to keep us in your prayers as we plan our schedule and travel the many miles.    Also, we would like to request prayers for the work in Brazil in our absence that the brethren there would stay encouraged and that God would pour out His blessings upon them.

“A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” Proverbs 16:9

We are looking forward to seeing how the Lord leads and directs.

Yours in Christ,
Jonathan & Tamba Abel

Our God Moves Mountains

Here is a teaser from  Steve and Glenda Kvale’s quarterly newsletter:  Kvale Connection. 

This quarter’s prayer letter is opened with a word of praise to God who moves mountains. As you prayed with us concerning Steve’s computer project when our last letter was printed, we knew God was at work through the sleepless nights, extra hours of work on the project and the unity that grew in the team as communication increased to the benefit of the project. We needed to practice patience, understanding and cooperation to persevere in a project that seemed to be bombarded by the enemy with roadblocks. Victory is His as we persevere in trials. Steve felt stretched in this project for the Kingdom. We can say that through times like this, more equipping takes place to be even more effective for Him. Though we wish we could say the project was completed, it’s an even bigger answer to prayer at this point to say that the mountainous roadblocks to completing this project have been removed!  For this we praise God above! This project is in a vital restructuring mode with the team in Dallas, TX, for the time being.

Click here to read the rest of this informative letter.

Dear friends and prayer partners,

Twenty-one years ago, Dorothy began praying for an unreached people group in West Africa through the Bibleless Peoples Prayer Project (BPPP).  During what seemed like years of  silence from God, she persevered.  In 1993, one man (we call Dalmar) from the people group accepted Christ.  He began working with Wycliffe Bible translators.  His cousin accepted Christ and soon two more members of the community became believers.  In August 2010, twenty-one years after Dorothy began praying, the complete book of Genesis has been distributed.   After reading it, a man who used to persecute Dalmar for his faith has come to recognize the truth of God’s Word.  Through twenty-one years of prayer, Dalmars neighbors are finally reading the Scriptures-words that are introducing them to their Savior. 

You play a key role as you pray for us in support roles for the Lord with Wycliffe Bible Translators and for Bibleless peoples of the world.  Thank you for your prayers and financial gifts as together we work to reach the least, the last, and the lost with God’s Word.

Serving Him with you,

Steve & Glenda Kvale Family
AFLC Missionaries on loan to Wycliffe Bible Translators

Check out these links:  Translate the Word and  Wycliffe Bible Translators

Palmers Traveling to India and Uganda

We are leaving to oversee and encourage the work in India and Uganda.  Would you pray for us as we travel?  Especially pray for our heath and that God would use us as He sees fit. 

We leave May 23 and will return on June 7, a few days before the AFLC Annual Conference.

Keep up with us and other AFLC World Missions happenings by becoming friends of AFLC World Missions.  Follow the link below.

Prayer Update from Darwin Jackson

"Lord Jesus, thou art the way, the truth, and the life; hear us as we pray for the truth that shall make us free. Teach us that liberty is not only to be loved, but also to be lived. Liberty is too precious a thing to be buried in books. It costs too much to be horded. Help us to see that our liberty is not the right to do as we please, but the opportunity to do what is right." Peter Marshall before the Senate.

On Sunday Alfonso and I went looking for Marcos again. He came to church on Sunday so we wanted to repay the visit and try to share the Gospel with him to lead him to Jesus. Instead we found Baja, a man from Jordan who has only been in Nogales Sonora Mexico for about three months. He says he came here looking for work, but that he doesn't like it because of all of the violence. Plus, he's really struggling with Spanish (speaks Arabic and English). He asked me what I was doing in Nogales visiting the homes, which of course lead us to talk about the differences between what Islam teaches about forgiveness and eternal life, and what Jesus in the Bible teaches. Pray we can visit him again soon, and that the Lord will open his heart and mind to the Gospel.

Alfonso is still asking for prayer for his appointment in Obregon to have his pacemaker and heart looked at. The doctors here say the pacemaker isn't working anymore (11 years old!). He's been waiting for over a month for the appointment.

Brother Jose out in Mascareñas is in pretty bad condition. We went to their house to hold a meeting as usual and there were a couple of doctors there treating him. It seems he has had herpes so he has a huge gaping sore on his back and shoulder. He has fallen a couple of times recently, and on one of them he either broke, or dislocated his shoulder. Which is giving him a lot of pain. They say they can't treat the bones in the shoulder until the sore is healed up some. Pray for this dear couple, poor Chui his wife says the whole village can hear him at night. He moans, even wails because of the pain.

It looks like our little Malina might be going to a family member soon. They have found a great aunt who is going through the hoops to try to adopt her. That is bitter sweet news. We have really gotten to love this little gal. We've had her for about five months now, since she was sixteen days old.

Thank you all so much for all of your prayers. They are deeply felt and appreciated. Your fellow workers in the liberty with which Christ has set us free, 

Darwin, Mary Ann, Gracie, Cesar, Racheal, Gabe, and little Melina

Jonni Sliver’s May 2011 Newsletter

I went to church last night and saw something I haven’t since the furnace went out at Emmaus in November - people sitting in the pews wrapped in scarves, wearing mittens. Winter is coming to Campo Mourão! No, it really doesn’t compare with the winter that was in the Upper Midwest but the cool nights in an unheated room makes me very grateful for many things - the lovely, cozy apartment that was prepared for me here at the Miriam Home and Bible School; the electric blanket that I inherited from Connely Dyrud; a cup of really good coffee on cold mornings. I am settling in to life in Brazil.

Lucas is 11 years old and his stay in the Miriam Home was a short one; he was only with us for a few weeks. Lucas is a happy young man who plays with exuberance and is
helpful around the house. He is a smart young man and is doing really well in the fifth grade. All of this is a little surprising for a few reasons, first because he has been going through a rough patch recently.

To read more about Lucas and Jonni’s ministry, click here for the PDF version of the newsletter.

Christ for the Nations

Rachael Ballman recently wrote an essay for Global Encounters website.  here is just a small part of it.  Read it in its entirety here.

Missions is the very heart of God! It is the central theme of the Bible and gives Christian people purpose and meaning. Jesus sent out the first missionaries uttering the Gospel imperative, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…”(Matthew 28:19‐20a). Missions, then, is fulfilling the command of Jesus to make disciples of ALL nations!

Greetings from Darwin Jackson

"Trouble is one of God's great servants because it reminds us how much we continually need the Lord." Jim Cymbala

We had a great conference in Nogales Sonora last weekend with brethren from Puebla, Sinaloa and of course here in Sonora. The theme of the conference was "United in the Spirit." I took Gracie for a couple of days so that she could experience the joy of it all. She knew several of the brother and sisters, some hadn't seen Gracie since she was four or five years old. (see pictures on our blog) Brother Juan Fernandez came all the way from Bolivia to participate and help us to partner with other Latin American Lutheran bodies and the World Mission Prayer League in praying and sending Latin Americans out into the mission field. It is very exiting to see, hear and envision what God it doing today and how we can be co-workers with Him.

On Sunday Alfonso and I encourage a 17 yr old teen to come to church with us, and he did. So, we'll visit him again this weekend, pray for Marcos. Also, one of the Dad's of a couple of our Sunday school kids came to one of our house meetings. But our brother Jose is not doing good in that home. He just had his eightieth birthday, it seems he's going fast. We were able to serve him communion. But he's not able to walk. Pray for his wife Chui as she tries to care for him.

Thank you all for praying with us, your fellow workers.

Darwin, Mary Ann, Gracie, Cesar, Gabe, Rachael and little Melina

Pillmans Accept Call to AFLC World Missions

Justo and Patricia Pillman have accepted a call to be missionaries with AFLC World Missions.  The Pillmans will be commissioned at the WMF Missions Festival at AFLC Annual Conference in Sioux Falls, SD, June 14-17.

Justo and Patricia will be assigned to Ecuador after the details are worked out with the national church.  Before they were married, Justo worked as a Short Term Mission Assistant with the national church in Ecuador.  They will begin deputation in the coming year.

Refreshment in HARD Places–May Devotional

As I was thinking about Psalm 84 recently, and looking at verses 5-7 which describe those who believe in the Lord, I realized that v. 6 describes a unique way of doing the work of missions:

“Passing through the valley of Baca they make it a spring;  The early rain also covers it with blessings.”

The “valley of Baca” is the valley of “weeping”, or the valley of “suffering”. It is a HARD place. We, as Jesus’ people, are intended to bring “refreshment” to HARD places.

According to Christian radio, May 1^st was to be observed as “Holocaust Remembrance Day”, in order to remember the 6 million Jews (and others) who were put to death during World War II, by the Nazis in their concentration camps, etc. The Holocaust experience was definitely a “place of weeping”, a HARD place.

When I think of that time, I always think of Corrie ten Boom (see photo on right) and her family who were sent to the concentration camps because they had hidden Jews from the Nazis in order to save their lives. On our return from India, a couple of years ago, Pastor Bob W. Lee and I had the opportunity to visit the Corrie ten Boom museum in Haarlem in the Amsterdam area. We were able to see the secret “Hiding Place” in their home where the Jews were hidden. When the ten Booms were arrested for their “illegal” activities, the hiding place was not discovered and the Jews hiding there were later let out by friendly Dutch policemen. The ten Booms were practicing this unusual missionary work of bringing “refreshment” to HARD places in their hiding of the Jews. They continued to fulfill Ps. 84:6 as they were sent to the concentration camps. Corrie writes in her “Tramp For The Lord”:

“When I was in a prison camp in Holland during the war, I often prayed, ‘Lord, never let the enemy put me in a German concentration camp.’ God answered no to that prayer. Yet in the German camp, with all its horror, I found many prisoners who had never heard of Jesus Christ. If God had not used my sister Betsie and me to bring them to Him, they would never have heard of Him. Many died, or were killed, but many died with the Name of Jesus on their lips. They were well worth all our suffering.

They fulfilled both parts of this verse:

1) they made it a place of “springs”, a place of unexpected refreshment, like a spring of pure water bubbling up from the ground. A week after her sister died in Ravensbruck (see photo at left),  Corrie and the other thousands of prisoners in the camp were gathered in the cold morning wind for roll call. Corrie was called to stand apart and she wondered why? Was it for punishment?...or freedom?…or execution?...or to be sent to another camp? A young girl was called to stand beside her. The girl thought they were to receive the death sentence. Corrie prayed for the Lord to give her all the love and wisdom she needed for Him to use her to make use of this last chance to bring someone to Him before she arrived in heaven. She introduced herself to the girl and asked if she read the Bible and if she believed in God. When the girl wanted to know more, Corrie told her about Jesus who died on the cross for them and is always with them even in their suffering and who took away all her hatred and bitterness for her enemies. For the 3 hours that the roll call lasted, she explained many things about Jesus with the prisoners behind them listening. She told her how to ask Jesus into her heart and the girl did. The siren sounded and the prisoners left for work. Corrie was left standing alone and released to freedom due to an administrative blunder.

2) the early rain covered it with blessings. As they came to this HARD place, trusting in the Lord, He acted in their situation, answering their prayers, and bringing them a “SHOWER” of blessings. When they first came to Ravensbruck, Corrie was carrying a Bible, hidden in a bag on a string between her shoulder blades. They needed to take off all their clothes and walk naked past the guards. But they asked to use the toilets and were let into the shower room and they were able to hide the Bible in a pile of benches and retrieve it later. But then it made a bulge under her prison dress, so Corrie prayed the Lord to send His angels to surround them and be “untransparent”. The woman behind her and her sister after her were both searched, but they didn’t touch or even look at Corrie. They went through another examination line, but when Corrie slowed down for it, they moved her along. As a result they had God’s Word and held Bible studies in their barracks which became known as “the crazy place, where they hope.”

WE are also called to bring unexpected “refreshment” to HARD places, the valleys of our own sufferings, and the valleys of other’s sufferings. Are you refreshing, and being refreshed, by Jesus, today?

Editor’s note:  If you want to see a live interview with Corrie ten Boom on YouTube, please click here.

Craig Wentzel

“Pass It On”–Paul Abels Newsletter

"We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power and the wonders He has done." Psalm 78:4

We took over 70 youth and adults from the Curitiba area to Carnaval Camp in Campo Mourão in March. We were happy to have 280 campers with representatives from all the Free Lutheran churches in Brazil for 4 days of spiritual fellowship. Paul translated for Pastor Mark Olson from MN who did a great job as our evening speaker! The theme "A Generation in the Hands of the Potter" was the basis for lots of great personal ministry in the lives of the campers.

We've enjoyed having lots of company in March. The day after camp we headed to Campo Grande to spend time with our friends from the Mission Committee who spent three weeks in Brazil observing and encouraging the ministry efforts here.

Glenn Mork, Del and Karen Palmer, and  Bonnie and Paul Handsaker.

This is just the highlights from the Abels’ newsletter.  Please click here to read the entire document and know how to pray for the Abels.