PR- April 18, 2011

BRIEF update from the first few months of this year:

New life:

Praise the Lord, we are happy to report that since the beginning of the year there have been more than a hundred and fifty people who have heard the gospel. From these a few dozen have professed faith upon Jesus Christ, and from these 10 new brothers and sisters have not only believed but also been baptized! Praise the Lord with us for these new lives! Pray to the Lord of the harvest that more and more of our PB people will hear and believe.

Medical ministry:

One of our national partners has began a medical ministry to help those with medical problems. From this need, lots of people have not only been helped medically but also they are hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Please pray for this ministry, for the national partners that run it, and for more and more of the "patients" to hear, believe, and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. 

National partners:

Please remember our national partners as they follow up people who have recently had the gospel shared with them or have recently believed upon Jesus Christ.  Pray for wisdom, godliness, perseverance, faith, and boldness for our national partners as they encounter a dark world in our PB land.  

Jan 30, 2011 - Bibi update

We received news this morning that Bibi has passed away. Please pray for Billy and his family during this time. One of Billy's brothers has threatened to kill Billy if Bibi passed away. More persecution.  Please take time right now to pray for Billy and the possible persecution he may soon endure. Please join us in praising the Lord that it was not too late for Bibi but that he believed in the Lord Jesus and is now enjoying worshipping our God in Heaven.

PR - January 25, 2010

Update on Billy:
Thank you for your prayers for this dear friend. Please continue to lift him up before the Lord. Billy continues to actively share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Recently he went out with two of our other national believers where they shared with several throughout the day. The Lord used these three men to usher four souls to the kingdom of God. Praise the Lord with us as He is adding to His Kingdom from our PB peoples.  Please pray for Billy and our other national partners as they continue to go out and share their faith and the life changing story of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 




Bibi:
Please pray for Bibi. Bibi is Billy's oldest brother who has recently believed in Christ as well. His family responded much the same as Billy's, very upset about the man turning from Islam to belief and faith in Jesus Christ.  Upon talking with Bibi's wife and children about his new faith, one of his children, a son, verbally argued with Bibi. It was a heated discussion which seems to have sent Bibi into a coma about two weeks ago. His has opened his eyes but his speech is slurred. Please  pray for complete healing for Bibi. Please pray for Bibi's family as they deal with this new faith their father holds.

Update on Mrs. Amelia:

Mrs. Amelia is such a neat woman.  As reported in the last update the Lord has redeemed her and is changing her daily.  Mrs. Amelia continues to actively share her faith. I have sat with Mrs Amelia in a Sunday School class before and it was a joy to sit with her and talk and study the Bible along side her. Mrs Amelia doesn't know all the church answers, she doesn't know when to do this or that in the traditional church setting but this she does know: God sent Jesus to die for sinners such as us - to redeem us for His glory.  She has been so radically saved. And she shares often about this. Recently as she was sharing this, the Lord used her to lead a woman and the woman's child to Him.  Please pray for Mrs. Amelia as she continues to share the Gospel with those around her.  Please pray for these new believers that they will be baptized, discipled, and be obedient to God's Word. 

PR - December 7, 2010

Merry Christmas! He has come, Christ Jesus has come! As we reflect on the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ during Christmas time, be encouraged the Light of the World IS reaching the darkest places. The PB team and national partners wish you a Christ filled Christmas! May God bless you!

Marine
A Muslim, college student at our english club. She has made some interesting statements about life after death. Our Saturday, your Friday night, a PB teammate will be meeting with her and sharing about life after death and the salvation found in Jesus Christ. Pray for N as she shares. Pray that the Lord will give her clarity of speech and most importantly that the Holy Spirit will open Marine's heart and remove the blindfold from her eyes, ears, and heart.

Update on Billy
Billy has believed in the Lord Jesus, been baptized, and is being discipled.  His family has not responded well. His family is conservative Muslim, perhaps some would go so far to say that are fanatical Muslims. His wife has divorced him. They have four small children. She has told Billy that he is not allowed to see them again. His parents and siblings have said that he is never to talk to them again. It has not been an easy walk of faith so far for Billy, but it seems that the seed has fallen on good soil and he wants to continue to follow Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord. Pray for strength, perseverance, grace, and understanding of the Scriptures as he asks many deep questions and longs to understand the Christian faith.  Pray for those discipling him. Pray for his family to come to faith in Christ.

So (Billy's cousin)
Billy has a cousin that lives nearby. His cousin is also a Muslim.  This cousin however is still open and accepting to Billy. And although he tried to convince Billy not to convert to Christianity, he did not reject Billy after he became a follower of Christ.  This cousin has even been to some Christmas events at a local church with Billy. Please pray that God will save So.

Mrs. Amelia
A recent believer (as of a few weeks or even a month or so) in the Lord Jesus Christ. She also has already been baptized.  As is written in the Scriptures about a new believer, Mrs. Amelia says it is evident that she is a "new man". She says the desires of her heart have changed. Her countenance has changed. She is slow to anger and quicker to love and be patient and forgiving. Praise the Lord. Pray for Mrs. Amelia as she is being taught the Scriptures. She is actively sharing the Gospel with others in her family and community. As God has changed her life so, she longs to share the love of God with others.

This Christmas season
Pray for the believers here in PB land that as we celebrate the birth of Jesus that we will have MANY opportunities to share the Gospel with our Muslim neighbors.

Merry Christmas dear friend. Praise God with us that His Son, the best gift of Christmas has come, and that He is working in the darkness. Oh Lord save our PB people. 

PR - November 13, 2010

Dear prayer partners, 
          Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel. May God receive ALL glory and honor. And may we make His Name GREAT among the PB peoples. These next several days please pray for the following requests:

Amy:
   A college age student who attends our English club. And she is not a follower of Jesus. Please pray for her salvation and for those who invest time in her life planting seeds and glorifying God by their lives of faith revealed in word and deed. Please spend time this day before the Father interceding for Amy. Please ask God to do a powerful, life-changing work in her life.

Billy:
   A young businessman who has either recently converted to becoming a follower of Jesus or is on the verge. PRAISE THE LORD.  Billy is asking questions on how to pray, more explanations on the trinity, and how to study the Bible. Please take time now and pray for Billy for God to reveal Himself to Billy in great ways.

Mr. West:
   A pastor who is being discipled in having a heart for the nations, Gospel sharing in ways that reach the nations, holding God's Word as ultimate authority, and simply being obedient to God's commands and Jesus' example.  Please pray that Mr. West would "catch it" and truly become sold out for our Lord and have a strong impact on our PB peoples.

A Job Study (as in book of the Bible - Job):
   Please pray for a study on the book of Job that happens around your early morning hours on Wednesdays. There are a handful of students that attend and are interested in discussing Job. Pray for this study that it will provide more and more opportunities for Gospel truth sharing.

I always love it when i have specific things to write to you about. It is exciting to me to see all that God is doing in and around our PB peoples. 

Oh Lord rain down on the PB peoples... bring your salvation quickly and powerfully. 

PR - October 18, 2010

New projects and ministry among the PB peoples....
Please be in prayer for new areas of work and ministry among our PB peoples.  One new work in particular is being opened up in order to give our national partners a new area to live and serve in. Please pray for those working to open up this new work project.  Pray for wisdom and grace. Please pray that God will draw in MORE national partners to work with our new projects. God has blessed us with some precious national partners but they already have their plates full, and we are praying to God for more partners to go into these new areas.  Please join us in praying as we expectantly wait to see what God will do.

Last week at the English club...
From their assignments, the students were to present about the city, province, history, specific foods, different people groups, dance, etc that are represented in PB province.  It was fascinating. And another very interesting thing is that from the students present at the club, at least half of them were from our PB peoples. The others present at the club were from other UPG (unreached people group)'s on the island. Wow. What a wonderful access God has given us to reach these UPG's. Pray for those on the PB team that volunteer/work there. Please pray that God will help us to continually be salt and light so that the students would be thirsty and desperate for Him.

In our existing ministries and national partners....
please pray for our national partners as they are currently focusing on discipling new believers well.  Seed has been planted. It appears it has fallen on good soil. Pray for the Lord to work in their lives, and pray for the national partners to be faithful to disciple and share God's truths with these new believers.

May God receive all glory and honor from what is happening among the PB peoples!

PR - September 22, 2010

Pray for Mr. Jo

Mr. Jo lives in the heart of one of our PB peoples. For several months he professed faith in Christ.  In the past few months he has been baptized and now says that he is sharing with Muslims in his city. Praise the Lord for this new follower of Jesus! Join us in praying that God will mightily work in this man's life, family, and city.

 Pray for the English club

I regularly post this because this club has much interaction with university students from our PB peoples. Pray that God would give boldness, wisdom, and a love for the PB peoples to those who volunteer time there.  Students for you to pray for by name: Ferd, Amel, Sep, Echo.  Pray for these four by name and the MANY others we have contact with. Pray that God will open their hearts to Him. Pray for the chains of Islam to fall.  May God receive the glory.

Pray for Mr. Haji & the Lembox village

At Idul Fitri my family went to visit a local PB people, namely the Lembox, for their holiday.  While there we visited Mr. Haji, a man who had within the last several months returned from Mecca. He had taken his elderly father on the pilgrimage to Mecca that Muslims are supposed to take at least one time in their life.  Mr. Haji was very excited in telling us about his trip. He even told us about an "attraction" there in Mecca... The Prophet Adam's bicycle. Upon hearing this, we almost gasped.  I tell you this story not to belittle Mr. Haji but to share with you how blinded Muslims are and can be. In the Islamic holy city, Mecca, they sell tickets to see Adam's bicycle. (Yes Adam. You know Adam and Eve?)  Muslims are taught NOT to question anything that their spiritual leaders teach, so if that was Adam's bicycle, then that was Adam's bicycle. I am not making this up. And please hear me, instead of laughing (which we too have done) at this farce, let it bring us to our knees in prayer and brokenness for Muslims who follow such lies and are taught to never question nor doubt their religion, while they are dying and going to Hell.    - Oh Lord God, please break into the Lembox, the Rujohn, the Paycall, and our other PB peoples. Please save our people Lord God.

PR - September 2, 2010

Update on Ms. Maria

God has truly been healing Maria. She has even returned to work this week. Amazing. Praise God for this amazing work and gift in Maria's life. Thank you friends for your prayers. Thank YOU God for this healing.

Update on Mr. So-so

This week, a national partner met with So-so. Mr. J (national partner) asked Mr. So-so if he was serious about his new belief in Christ. To which So-so answered, "yes I am ready to go deeper in my faith." Praise God for this new follower of Jesus. Pray for him as he is discipled. Pray that as he learns God's truths that So-so will quickly begin sharing them with others.

Our national partners

Some of our national partners just returned from a retreat. Please pray that God will continue to grow them in their faith and challenge them in their obedience to God and His Truths.  Pray that God will use them boldly to preach the Good News to all those they encounter.

Mr. Driver

Please pray for Mr. Driver. He has been shared with a few times over the last few days. Please pray that He will come to faith in Christ Jesus.

Pray for the local church

Please pray for the local church. Many local churches are so caught in tradition that they have difficulty looking outside the church building walls to see a dying, lost Muslim community surrounding them.  Please pray for God to grow them, challenge them, deepen them in their faith, and embolden them to be gospel-preaching, deeply-routed, followers of Jesus Christ to our 13 lost PB peoples.

PR - August 16, 2010

Update on Ms. Maria,

Thank you so much for your prayers for Maria. She is BEGINNING to get better. It has been a scary process but it actually seems that since coming home from the hospital, she is actually doing better than when she was admitted in the hospital.  And what I mean by that is that it appears she was being given too much medication so she was overdosing on meds.  This was contributing to her unstable mental condition. While it is unfortunate that she was overdosed, we are praising the Lord that it seems as if she is mentally returning back to her previous precious self.  Please continue to pray for Maria as she is still sore and really just beginning to walk around since the accident.  Please pray for complete healing in Maria's life and that this experience will only contribute to her story of God's Faithfulness in her life.

Mr. So-so

Mr. So-so is an 80 year old man that has very recently became a follower of Jesus Christ. So-so's father was an Islamic cleric. Therefore So-so grew up in a very Islamic environment. So-so recently came to our farm to learn some agriculture techniques. While he was here, at least one of our national partners shared chronological Bible stories with So-so. At the end of hearing the stories, So-so said "this is what I have waited all my life to hear." And he believed and is now a follower of Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord for this new follower.  So-so has lived in PB land almost his entire life, however ethnically comes from another people group. So-so lives among the RuJohn people and has an influence in his community. Pray that God will use So-so as a bright light in the RuJohn community. Pray that many RuJohn will come to faith in Christ because of God's great work in So-so's life.

English club

Please pray for our English club as it enables us to have great interaction from several of our PB peoples.   Just the other night, some young men were speaking in RuJohn after the club was over.  RuJohn people are just one of the PB groups represented at our English club. Please pray that God will use the club to reach many for His Glory and His Kingdom.

urgent prayer request

Please pray for a friend of the PB team. Her name is Maria. Maria basically manages the ins and outs of the English club. Earlier today Maria had a motorcycle accident on her way from church.  Currently she is unconscious in the general hospital here in town.  From a CT scan, it appears that Maria is bleeding on the brain.  Maria's husband died almost two years ago in a motorcycle accident. They also have a 3 year old son, Dell. Please pray for this family. I will try to update you when I hear more on her condition.