I'm going to combine all the prayer requests involving these different topics that I've been posting on (i.e. our upcoming furlough, team life, the believers and baby churches on the river, whooping cough, health...etc.). So here we go!
1) Whooping cough outbreak:
- we are praising the Lord for the progress in Azalea's recovery! We are beyond thankful for His protection over her little body, and we are praying that she will become a great warrior for Him as she gets older.
- continue to pray for the existing cases of Whooping cough in the village and for the families that are grieving the loss of their infants
- pray for the Lord to use this outbreak for His glory, that He will show His power and love to the people
- pray for the Lord to end this outbreak, that He will protect the population, and that it will die out
2) Team life:
- We are praising the Lord for our new teammate, Ruth! We now have 4 units on our team!! (2 couples and 2 singles) This is a direct answer to years of prayer! We are so thankful that the Lord has provided and blessed us with wonderful like-minded friends and teammates to continue the work on the river.
- We are also praying for another potential teammate that is finishing language school and is seriously considering joining our team the first of the year. Can you pray for her that the Lord will guide her to where He wants her to be, that the Lord will put her on the team that He has for her, and that if He is providing another teammate for our river, that He will give her a peace and confirmation on that.
- Pray for 3 of our teammates who are currently on the river, getting settled and studying the language! That they will learn the language quickly, that they will be an encouragement to the existing believers on the river, and that the Lord will use them to share with those who aren't believers yet. (Col 4:6)
- Would you pray for the situation I mentioned in the last blog post about the leader who is associated with our team and the believers on the river who is being accused of being unfaithful to his late wife?? We are sure that that isn't the case, but the accusation is coming from his family, and they are dragging the ministry through the muck since we are all associated with this guy. Pray that this leader will be able to restore his relationship with his family, that they will be able to accept his new wife, and that the gossip they have spread (and continues to spread on its on now) will come to be recognized for what it is - a lie. Pray for forgiveness and restoration in a lot of relationships around this family.
- Pray that we will be united in heart, mission, and methods as a team! a) Heart - that as a multi-cultural team (American, Australia, and Peruvian), we will love one another well, that we will have constant, open and clear communication and conflict resolution, so that we, as a team, will represent the unity and love of Christ in our own relationships (Rom 15:5). b) Mission - that we will be of one mind in what the Lord is calling us to do on the river (Isaiah 48:17). c) Methods - that we will be united in how to complete our mission on the river using all the gifts, passions, and abilities of our teammates (Prov 3:5-6). d) Also that we will be united in prayer (Acts 6:4) and that we will all maintain a close relationship with the Lord to be able to sense what He is calling us to do as a team, even amid the busy-ness of ministry and stresses of living in cross-cultural situations (pray that we will cling closely to the Vine =John 15:5).
3) The growing church on the river:
- Continue to pray for the believers and growing churches on the river (2 Thess 3:1), that they will be united in the truth of God Word (Rom 15:5), that they will not be divided or distracted by false doctrine (2 Tim 1:13-14), that they will love and correct one another in love and not fall into attitudes of superiority between believers or believers towards unbelievers (2 Cor 10:17), that their passion for the Lord and seeking Him will continue and grow, that they will be effective in reaching their people for Christ, .
- Continue to pray for us as we seek to understand how best to contextualize/explain the gospel in the context where we are serving. This is a never-ending prayer request! Ephesians 6:19 & 2 Timothy 2:15
- Pray for the Lord to continue to work in the hearts of the people and leaders in our area- that they will be open to God's Word (Colossians 4:2-3), that the enemy who seeks to destroy what we are doing and confuse the people will not be allowed to stop the growth of the church, that the growing church will be such a testimony in their communities that unbelievers around them will not be able to come up with reasons to be against them. 2 Thess 3:2.
4) Furlough:
- We are praising the Lord for allowing for us to be on the field as a married couple, and for His timely financial provision this last year with Nemo's Master's scholarship that covered over half of our financial needs. That scholarship allowed Nemo and I to be on the river while Nemo studied the culture to fulfill both his Master's requirements and also our team needs on understanding the culture better - it ended up taking on a "tent-making" style for some of our support. We are so thankful!
- We have a lot of pressure on us during this furlough. We now need to double our support, since as a single, I had been on a minimum support level up to this point, just scrapping by, and now Nemo's Masters studies are coming to an end. To continue as a married couple on the mission field, we need the Lord to provide quite a bit financially. Would you pray for the Lord to open all kinds of doors October-February during our furlough?
- Would you pray with us about how short our furlough is? It sounds weird I know, but with all the support raising pressure we are under, having to attend 3 weeks of trainings with our mission, and needing to be back in Peru the end of February because of needs on the field from ministry, legal, and team situations, we aren't sure how in the world we are going to get everything done in time! It's a lot of stress, pressure, and very little time with constant traveling.
- So in summary: would you pray that the Lord gives us rest and strength for whats coming ahead (Matt 11:28-30 & Mark 6:31).
5) Personal prayer requests:
- Over the last year, Nemo has been my rock and is one of the main reasons I have been able to emotionally, spiritually, and mentally make it another year on the field. I've been in Peru going on 5 years and during that time I haven't had the opportunity to live in the same place (on average) for more than a month or two- I've lived in tents, in friends houses in the city, in friends and strangers' homes in the village, in different mission houses or apartments...etc. and I'm really feeling the need for us to have a place of our own that allows us to come out of the village and be at "home." A place that allows us not to have to pack everything up constantly. Would you pray that the Lord provides us with a place of our own? Also that He will allow us to have the resources to purchase that place? (Phil 4:6-7)
- Pray for Nemo as he is finishing up the last bit of his thesis. He's been absolutely amazing, juggling ministry, traveling, and his masters' responsibilities. The Lord couldn't have blessed me with a more amazing guy! Hope you all get to meet him soon!
1) Whooping cough outbreak:
- we are praising the Lord for the progress in Azalea's recovery! We are beyond thankful for His protection over her little body, and we are praying that she will become a great warrior for Him as she gets older.
- continue to pray for the existing cases of Whooping cough in the village and for the families that are grieving the loss of their infants
- pray for the Lord to use this outbreak for His glory, that He will show His power and love to the people
- pray for the Lord to end this outbreak, that He will protect the population, and that it will die out
2) Team life:
- We are praising the Lord for our new teammate, Ruth! We now have 4 units on our team!! (2 couples and 2 singles) This is a direct answer to years of prayer! We are so thankful that the Lord has provided and blessed us with wonderful like-minded friends and teammates to continue the work on the river.
- We are also praying for another potential teammate that is finishing language school and is seriously considering joining our team the first of the year. Can you pray for her that the Lord will guide her to where He wants her to be, that the Lord will put her on the team that He has for her, and that if He is providing another teammate for our river, that He will give her a peace and confirmation on that.
- Pray for 3 of our teammates who are currently on the river, getting settled and studying the language! That they will learn the language quickly, that they will be an encouragement to the existing believers on the river, and that the Lord will use them to share with those who aren't believers yet. (Col 4:6)
- Would you pray for the situation I mentioned in the last blog post about the leader who is associated with our team and the believers on the river who is being accused of being unfaithful to his late wife?? We are sure that that isn't the case, but the accusation is coming from his family, and they are dragging the ministry through the muck since we are all associated with this guy. Pray that this leader will be able to restore his relationship with his family, that they will be able to accept his new wife, and that the gossip they have spread (and continues to spread on its on now) will come to be recognized for what it is - a lie. Pray for forgiveness and restoration in a lot of relationships around this family.
- Pray that we will be united in heart, mission, and methods as a team! a) Heart - that as a multi-cultural team (American, Australia, and Peruvian), we will love one another well, that we will have constant, open and clear communication and conflict resolution, so that we, as a team, will represent the unity and love of Christ in our own relationships (Rom 15:5). b) Mission - that we will be of one mind in what the Lord is calling us to do on the river (Isaiah 48:17). c) Methods - that we will be united in how to complete our mission on the river using all the gifts, passions, and abilities of our teammates (Prov 3:5-6). d) Also that we will be united in prayer (Acts 6:4) and that we will all maintain a close relationship with the Lord to be able to sense what He is calling us to do as a team, even amid the busy-ness of ministry and stresses of living in cross-cultural situations (pray that we will cling closely to the Vine =John 15:5).
3) The growing church on the river:
- Continue to pray for the believers and growing churches on the river (2 Thess 3:1), that they will be united in the truth of God Word (Rom 15:5), that they will not be divided or distracted by false doctrine (2 Tim 1:13-14), that they will love and correct one another in love and not fall into attitudes of superiority between believers or believers towards unbelievers (2 Cor 10:17), that their passion for the Lord and seeking Him will continue and grow, that they will be effective in reaching their people for Christ, .
- Continue to pray for us as we seek to understand how best to contextualize/explain the gospel in the context where we are serving. This is a never-ending prayer request! Ephesians 6:19 & 2 Timothy 2:15
- Pray for the Lord to continue to work in the hearts of the people and leaders in our area- that they will be open to God's Word (Colossians 4:2-3), that the enemy who seeks to destroy what we are doing and confuse the people will not be allowed to stop the growth of the church, that the growing church will be such a testimony in their communities that unbelievers around them will not be able to come up with reasons to be against them. 2 Thess 3:2.
4) Furlough:
- We are praising the Lord for allowing for us to be on the field as a married couple, and for His timely financial provision this last year with Nemo's Master's scholarship that covered over half of our financial needs. That scholarship allowed Nemo and I to be on the river while Nemo studied the culture to fulfill both his Master's requirements and also our team needs on understanding the culture better - it ended up taking on a "tent-making" style for some of our support. We are so thankful!
- We have a lot of pressure on us during this furlough. We now need to double our support, since as a single, I had been on a minimum support level up to this point, just scrapping by, and now Nemo's Masters studies are coming to an end. To continue as a married couple on the mission field, we need the Lord to provide quite a bit financially. Would you pray for the Lord to open all kinds of doors October-February during our furlough?
- Would you pray with us about how short our furlough is? It sounds weird I know, but with all the support raising pressure we are under, having to attend 3 weeks of trainings with our mission, and needing to be back in Peru the end of February because of needs on the field from ministry, legal, and team situations, we aren't sure how in the world we are going to get everything done in time! It's a lot of stress, pressure, and very little time with constant traveling.
- So in summary: would you pray that the Lord gives us rest and strength for whats coming ahead (Matt 11:28-30 & Mark 6:31).
5) Personal prayer requests:
- Over the last year, Nemo has been my rock and is one of the main reasons I have been able to emotionally, spiritually, and mentally make it another year on the field. I've been in Peru going on 5 years and during that time I haven't had the opportunity to live in the same place (on average) for more than a month or two- I've lived in tents, in friends houses in the city, in friends and strangers' homes in the village, in different mission houses or apartments...etc. and I'm really feeling the need for us to have a place of our own that allows us to come out of the village and be at "home." A place that allows us not to have to pack everything up constantly. Would you pray that the Lord provides us with a place of our own? Also that He will allow us to have the resources to purchase that place? (Phil 4:6-7)
- Pray for Nemo as he is finishing up the last bit of his thesis. He's been absolutely amazing, juggling ministry, traveling, and his masters' responsibilities. The Lord couldn't have blessed me with a more amazing guy! Hope you all get to meet him soon!