January 2008 - Posts

• 30 Years of God's Faithfulness

  Dan attended the wedding of a longtime Senegalese believer. This wedding was a celebration of God’s goodness. Dan knew this man as a teenager when Dan was growing up in Senegal. At that time there were few, if any, Christian Senegalese women for Christian men to marry. Today, not only has the Lord provided this Senegalese believer with a wonderful believing wife, but he is an elder in a thriving church which, when planted by Dan’s parents in 1980, had only seven members! In the last decade, this now vibrant Senegalese church not only meets in its own multi-story building in the center of town, it has planted four daughter churches, founded a private Christian school and established a private Christian hospital. It was a thrilling reminder of how God is quietly building His Kingdom. Another blessing is that over a four-week period, one evangelical Christian wedding has taken place somewhere in Senegal each week. What a difference 30 years has made! Posted Jan 18 2008, 03:53 AM by Transformed

• My Hope Evangelistic Campaign

  Eighty percent of all the evangelical churches in Uruguay participated in the "My Hope" evangelistic campaign effort. Although most are very small, 1,600 churches participated, approximately 6,905 believers opened their homes to watch the three TV broadcasts, 50,000 family members and friends attended the meetings. An estimated 16,000 people made a profession of faith and 10,000 recommitted their lives to the Lord. One woman who worked in the national call center for three nights shared the story of one man who called from a public phone booth. He had no phone in his home so he walked to the public hospital and called from there. He prayed to receive Christ on the pay phone. He also asked for special prayer for his new life, since in his neighborhood there is a lot of influence from spiritism. What a blessing for the seed planted in this community. Posted Jan 18 2008, 02:30 AM by Transformed

• Blessing Youth with the Gospel

  Romania is experiencing many economical and social changes since their acceptance into the European Union. With high levels of unemployment and the ability to travel and work outside the country without a visa, many Romanians are seeking jobs out of the country. Their children, kindergarten through elementary age, are left in the care of grandparents. Adolescents or high school age children are left to care for themselves. Our ministry to children and youth focuses on issues related to these circumstances. The vacation Bible school and camps are becoming more than just a place for fun. Since most children only receive Bible teaching outside the home, VBS and camps provide a platform for discipleship and spiritual growth. By God's grace many youth have come to know Christ and some have already been baptized. It was especially exciting to see youth come from non-believing homes, accept Christ and then at their baptism celebration, have their whole family and relatives come to witness the event. We rejoiced as Christian youth repented of their sins, sought forgiveness, and made commitments to have a closer walk with the Lord. The youth programs have opened the door for many to sincerely share their problems and seek counseling. Posted Jan 18 2008, 02:01 AM by Transformed

• Dave & Nancy Greenman

  Evangelistic Efforts Produce Fruit During 2007 more than 90 came to the Lord for salvation through evangelistic efforts in our Jujuy province. After 13 years and hundreds of hours of use, the antique, 50-pound video projector decided to retire itself. We praise the Lord for the new one He provided through friends at a supporting church in Ohio. The new one weighs only six pounds. Pray for our upcoming evangelistic efforts that the Lord will bring many to Himself. Posted Jan 14 2008, 06:20 AM by WorldVenture Prayer Connection

• Brent & Chris Ralston

  Church Partnership Evangelism What a tremendous blessing to see eight churches from our area of responsibility officially accepted into the membership of the Conservative Baptist Association of the Philippines. We have never had more than three churches accepted in any previous three-year period. All of these churches were started by Filipinos. Our part revolved around training, coaching, encouraging and cheerleading. Three of the churches were started as a result of Church Partnership Evangelism campaigns where teams from the States come over for two weeks to partner in relational evangelism. It is a great joy to multiply ourselves through our Filipino co-workers. We give praise to God! We now have 24 churches in our region of the country and our goal is to plant nine more churches by the end of 2009. Posted Jan 14 2008, 05:47 AM by WorldVenture Prayer Connection

• David & Jerrine Berkey

  40 Days of Purpose Our church is gearing up to begin the 40 Days of Purpose campaign in February. We are asking families to open their homes and host a small group that will study The Purpose Driven Life book together. Our Sunday services will also focus on what we are learning in the study. Our prayer is for 10 groups. Please pray that people will be excited and respond, and that we will see many transformed lives as a result of the outreach. Posted Jan 14 2008, 05:35 AM by WorldVenture Prayer Connection

• Steve & Marlene Estes

  New Believers We saw people in Argentina come to know the Lord in 2007. They know very little about the Christian life. Pray that these new believers will become involved in Bible-believing churches and grow in their walk with God. Posted Jan 14 2008, 05:30 AM by WorldVenture Prayer Connection

• Sandy Eckelberry

  Choosing Obedience In a country where animistic background has deep roots, I see the struggle in the women I disciple in my cell group at church. Please pray that they continue to choose obedience to the Lord over the temporary pleasures that the Enemy throws in our paths. Posted Jan 12 2008, 04:01 AM by WorldVenture Prayer Connection

• Glenn & Linn Boese

  Ministry to Widows Praise God for a new ministry for widows that allows them to make a living by manufacturing pure shea butter, an “oily substance” that is used as a traditional body oil (also edible) that is made from nuts of the shea tree and is becoming increasingly profitable on the international market. Pray for the “Widow’s Jar” as these women step out in faith, working hard and trusting God to care for them. Posted Jan 12 2008, 03:55 AM by WorldVenture Prayer Connection

• Dave & Denise McCarthy

  Missionary Children Serve Together A group of 30 students and staff from a missionary children's school in Spain joined 100 Dakar Academy students and staff in Senegal on an outreach event in a village named Sass. The medical team treated 157 people, the drama team was able to share the gospel through music, skits, mime and puppet with about 1,200 people in 13 different villages, the vacation Bible school team was able to minister to over 800 children, the building teams roofed the pastor’s home, laid the foundation of the church in Sass, finished painting a church in an outlying village, built 14 benches and repaired five more, as well as made a pulpit and dug the hole for the septic system. In the evening evangelism campaigns which took place in three different villages, there was a combined total of 1,200 people who heard the gospel, with about 180-200 people who prayed for salvation. Posted Jan 12 2008, 03:54 AM by WorldVenture Prayer Connection

• Glenn & Kathy Kendall

  Medical Missions Praise God that last year the Medical Missions Team of WorldVenture and ministries they supervise at the Baptist Hospital, combined to help 97,020 people in surgery, treatment, training or aid. They saw 123 people come to faith in Christ. The hospital provides jobs for over 100 people. Posted Jan 12 2008, 03:51 AM by WorldVenture Prayer Connection

• Diane Eliason

  AIDS Program Pray for the AIDS program at the Baptist Hospital that has been functioning since mid-July. They are able to provide low cost AIDS medications (anti-retrovirals) for $2 per month. Pray that the Lord would work in the hearts of the AIDS patients so that they may have hope and eternal life in Him and for the staff as they support them emotionally and spiritually. Posted Jan 12 2008, 03:46 AM by WorldVenture Prayer Connection

• Genises Tapes

  A village elder continues to listen to the audio tapes of Genesis in his heart language of Maninka. He spends his days in a chair in front of his hut since he is in poor health. Others villagers join him from time to time. Each week I spend time visiting with him as he is my host father in his village where I am learning the Maninka language. This man regulates disputes between neighbors and is regarded highly by his village. May he one day be filled with wisdom from God. Posted Jan 07 2008, 08:37 PM by Transformed