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World Mission News
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World Mission News
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Focus Ministry |
This past month during our annual Seattle trip we once again were reminded of God’s faithfulness and quick answers to prayer. This is my fifth year with the International Student ministry and my fifth trip to Seattle with three busloads of students and Focus volunteers. For the past five years, the weather forecast for our Seattle trip was for wind and rain. Each year we prayed for good weather and for the past five years God had given us clear and dry days. Over a 120 students and volunteers were blessed with beautiful weather when the local media predicted rain. We also had another small miracle happen during our particular side trip. I spent most of the day with two of the students from Pakistan (the ones that I’ve shared about in previous newsletters) and another Focus associate. Somewhere during a ferry trip to Bainbridge Island, my fellow associate lost his cell phone. We spent about two hours at the ferry terminal trying to find the phone or getting someone to help us contact the ferry to see if someone turned in the lost phone. We even tried calling the cell phone to see if someone would pick it up and answer it. My fellow associate went to the trouble of disabling the phone service and almost gave up hope of seeing the phone again. We were soon joined by a couple of our Focus students and other associates. When we told them about the lost cell phone, one of the other associates suggested that we say a quick prayer. Four or five of us gathered together and said a quick prayer. About 10 minutes later, God answered that prayer. Somebody found the lost phone and turned it into the security station. They quickly notified us and we got the phone back. Some people might say the two events about the weather and the lost and recovered phone were not a big deal. However, for several of us, including some of the non-Christian students, saw how quickly God answers simple prayers. It was a good reminder that God answers both big and small prayer requests for all of His children. |
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News from the Dominican Republic |
Danelle Putnam, missionary in the Dominican Republic shares the following new: "Give thanks to God for how He is working. Ricardo, in Santiago, has started studying with Pastor Ries to become a pastor. Please pray that this study time will be used by the Spirit to deepen Ricardo's knowledge and faith, and his commitment to this goal. Also, please pray that Ramon's job situation will allow him to continue his studies for the pastoral ministry. "I continue to work on getting the deaconess program in place. Please pray that all involved in this program will help it move forward according to the Lord's will. Also, pray that the Lord would be preparing the hearts of the women He knows would be a blessing in this ministry. I've started a women's Bible study and prayer group in Palmar Arriba. Most people in this community are poor and work long hours, six days a week. (They are thankful that they have a job-the unemployment rate is about 33 percent in the Dominican Republic.) So, finding time to meet is a challenge, but as relationships have been built, the women desire to come. Thank the Lord for those attending, asked that they will be blessed, and will also invite other friends and neighbors." |
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News from Macau |
Long-term missionary Josh Lange writes, "Last Friday, I took the ferry over to Macau and spent the day at the Concordia English Center. John and Doris Bowerman had asked me to help them put together a video for their presentations in the U.S. next month, so I interviewed them and took footage of activities around the center. They're very excited about the trip, in large part because they've arranged for one of their students, Jane, to go with them. We thought it was a good idea to include Jane's story in the video, so after Bible study that night at the local Chinese church, she agreed to sit down with me for a short interview. Jane had become a Christian and was baptized while studying in Taiwan, but upon returning home, she found that being a Christian in Macau was much more difficult. She didn't have any Christian friends, and her family was not supportive of her new beliefs. "I turned off the camera as she fought back tears to tell me about her mother, who, upon learning of her baptism, had become furious and told Jane that she wasn't welcome at home anymore. Later, back in Macau, her mother found Jane's Bible and ripped it up into pieces. Chinese culture holds that after death, a person's soul needs to be nurtured by their living family members. It is traditionally the responsibility of the eldest child to care for the souls of their parents through regular offerings of food and incense. Being the oldest child, Jane's Christian faith represents abandonment in her mother's eyes-she is afraid that her soul will be doomed to wander the earth in search of a home. That night, I took time to thank God for the blessing of being brought up in a Christian family." |
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News from Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea |
Delano and Linda Meyer serve as agricultural missionaries. They share the following new: "The partner churches of the LCMS in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea are blessed with pastors, evangelists, teachers, and members who tell others about Jesus. They witness in an environment that is animist in its worldview. We are thankful for each dedicated Jesus-follower who witnesses to the Truth. We are blessed to have the CCTS (Coordinating Center for Theological Studies) which is our Lutheran training center located near Jembe, Sierra Leone. This center serves English speakers of our church in West Africa. Missionaries founded the CCTS for the training and equipping of men who would carry out the great commission. As an integral part of that development, one of the founding missionaries mentored Rev. Enoch Glaybo from Liberia to serve as the director of the CCTS. As a result, the harvest of souls continues in West Africa under national leadership, in fellowship with LCMS World Mission. Praise the Lord!" |
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Prayers |
We ask prayers for the following:
In the Name of Christ, Herb Tretzen |