Grace Prayer Bulletin # 81

Grace Prayer Bulletin # 81
November 7, 1999

This is a request to keep a Door open, even if it is a prison one.
Mike and Lynne Paasch - Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico

As we went, Tues. (2 weeks ago), for our regular meeting with the girls at
the prison, we found the doors were closed to us. They would not permit us
to pass! They said that the girls were all being "punished", and none were
permitted to
meet with us. We asked if they had canceled all the meetings for that day
(knowing that the Catholic priests come and the nuns to administer the
Catholic communion). The guard hesitated and then said "si", not meeting
our eyes. It seemed very suspicious, so we did some investigating and found
out yesterday that indeed, it was only the Christians that they would not
permit to pass.
The meetings have been very fruitful with these young girls. A core of them
are really interested in the gospel and have been seeking to learn more
about the Lord. Apparently, according to an insider there, this is what
happened: the Catholic nuns came to give them communion, and two of the
girls there, who we have seen a great change in, refused to go to it! Not
only did they refuse, they also told everyone else not to go, saying that
the Christians had conviction to what they were saying, and the Catholics
only had empty rituals! Some time back, we had given everyone there a Bible,
and so these two have been reading it and telling all the others about it!
Everything is Catholic here, including this institution. (They only let us
in once a week to speak to the girls.) So, this did not sit well with the
"powers-that-be"!
They have now agreed to let us in next time - but will only let us speak to
4 of the girls. Please pray for these girls that want to learn about
Christ, and who have taken a stand for what they are seeing now is the
truth, and if it be God's will, that the doors will remain open to us in the
future! The four that will be permitted to meet with us are: Carolina,
Judith, Gloriela, and Patricia. These girls have all had very difficult
lives, and have lived on the street, etc...The crimes they meant for evil,
God meant for good; in that, they are now in a position to hear the gospel

Peter Law - Amman, Jordan

The Hashemi church has been encouraging, with clear growth in people's
lives, and generally more commitment to each other and the church. Two
particular areas for prayer:
a) It is hard for many to put obedience to Christ above the desire for their
own material well-being and earthly advancement. Pray for a clear sense of
priority, that their might be true godliness and not worldliness;
b) A couple of key people in the fellowship will be leaving at the end of
the year. It will leave holes in the Sunday School and ladies work in
particular. Pray for some of the younger believers to be willing to take up
more responsibility.
Teaching at the seminary has been great fun (and profitable I trust!) over
the past year. I taught "Introduction to Theology" to a large class in the
spring semester. In July I translated for an American teaching "Introduction
to the Social Sciences". Over the past three weeks I taught the Introduction
to Theology course again, as an intensive course, to a smaller group, mostly
those beginning their studies. I enjoy the teaching, and it certainly helps
my Arabic, and is also a spur for me to keep reading and studying. The
largest group of students are from Iraq, with quite a few Sudanese, and then
a number from various other Arab countries.
Partly as a result of contact with students at the seminary, I invited more
regularly to teach/preach at other churches. A couple of other churches in
particular have asked me to help them develop their own teaching and
training. Pray for the Lord's paths of fruitfulness.
Personally I'm keeping well, and looking forward to the visit of a friend
from the UK next week. (Visits are always welcome!). Perhaps the greatest
need is more discipline in getting down to the correspondence studies that
I'm doing. I sometimes end up preaching five or six times a week, and other
things can get squeezed out.
Plans: I've decided to go on my first real holiday for some years! I'm
taking November off, and will stay with friends in Michigan in the US for
two weeks. I'll then visit my sister in Connecticut for four days, and from
Nov 20th to 30th I'll be in the UK.

From Mike and Patti Fite
Asuncion, Paraguay
(see bold print in letter concerning furlough information)
There are encouraging signs of an awakening evangelical community. Just
today (October 26) a Paraguayan family with five children left for the
country of Nepal as missionaries, the climax to a very inspiring and
challenging missions
conference, organized by the Paraguayans themselves. This is a quantum leap
for believers here who have been too preoccupied with internal problems to
be thinking about reaching outward to other cultures. So the Kingdom
advances---but not without great struggles. Less than 2% of the city of
Asuncion is classified as evangelical, in the broadest sense of the word.
The last several months have been a time of blessing as well as intense
spiritual warfare for us. Our youth ministry continues to be our strongest
as far as fruitfulness.
One of the participants at the men's retreat was Mr. Bai, a Korean
businessman whose two adolescent sons have recently accepted Christ. They
are friends of an American/Korean couple with who have been supportive of
our ministry during the last few months. We took along a translator as he
speaks very little English or Spanish. We communicated the best we could,
slowly speaking a little of both languages (his sons are fluent in English,
Spanish and Korean). Please pray for the salvation
of Mr. Bai and his wife as well as the spiritual growth of their sons Sang
Won and Sang Tae. We should be baptizing them soon. There are another
three individuals who are scheduled for baptism this coming weekend.
On a not so positive note, after 6 months of pastoring the Fellowship
Center Baptist Church, it became evident that I would not be able to
continue on with them. The church seemed to be doing well, however, I began
to meet resistance from part of the leadership committee. In few words, a
small but vocal segment joined together to insist that I conform to a
ministry philosophy that I could not accept. Therefore, we decided to go
our separate ways.
Although it was a painful and difficult chapter, we are confident that
God placed us there with a purpose. We saw growth in believers, people were
saved and relationships were established that we feel will open more doors
of ministry in the future.

Grace Prayer Bulletin is a ministry of The King's Chapel in West Chester, OH
to be done for the glory of God. Editors: Rob and Jenny Gerard who attend
The King's Chapel with Pastors: Tom Wells and Newton Bush. Please free to
forward the bulletin for God's Glory. You may contact us:
robjenny@netzero.net

---

WebSpawner Page Machine

Grace Prayer Ministry Homepage

Past Grace Prayer Bulletins