I believe prayer is important.  I believe it impacts ministries, changes lives and is an essential part of our relationship with God.

We frequently post and update praises and prayer requests on our website.  Here are all of our pending prayer requests for this year.  Would you invest in our lives and ministries by bringing these requests to the Lord on our behalf?

September 29, 2008

• Pray for us as we travel home tomorrow
• Pray for us as we will be traveling a great deal the next two weeks
• Pray for us as we apply for entry visas for Ghana.  We are to fly there the second week of October
• Pray for our 2009 calendar project.  There is a paper shortage in Guinea that may create printing problems.
• There is also a cooking gas and toilet paper shortage in Guinea.  Pray that the needs for these items will be met.

September 25, 2008

• Pray that we will return home from vacation rested and ready to face the 5 month journey ahead of us before returning to the States in March for our home assignment.

August 30, 2008

• Pray for the Muslim world as Ramadan begins on Monday, September 1
• Pray for the safety of our house and car when we travel

July 16, 2008

• Pray for our financial support level as we will lose a large financial supporter this fall

July 10, 2008

• Pray for David as he works on a translation project.
• Pray for our neighbors who come in contact with Billie through our garden.

June 27, 2008

• Pray for language learning
• Pray for a neighbor girl who is thought to be demon possessed
• Pray for God to reveal His role for us in reaching the Fulbe for Christ
• Pray for unity and a passion for evangelism among local believers
• Pray for extra time and energy to complete administrative and personal tasks

June 9, 2008

• Pray for Georgia as she continues French language studies in the US

May 26, 2008

• Pray for our language study
• Pray for the Holy Spirit to be upon our lives and our ministries

April 29, 2008

• Pray against further theft of items in our home and car. Last week someone broke into our compound at night, during a rain storm, cut the fuel line on our car and tried to steal gas.
• Pray for Georgia as she has still not recovered from a fall on ice before she left the States
• Pray for David as he sets up all the solar/electrical equipment for our homes and office

April 6, 2008

• Pray for energy to complete all that we have to do each day

March 26, 2008

• Pray that we would be energetic and productive in language study and ministry.
• Pray for God to send more long-term team members to join our team.
• Pray for the ongoing translation work of Scripture and Bible lessons into Pular.

February 8, 2008

• Pray for opportunities to share despite growing opposition to our message
• Pray against the escalating spiritual attacks on us and our colleagues

January 16, 2008

• Pray as we continue to learn Pular
• Pray for us as we seek opportunities to share Bible stories with Mr. B. We plan to share the story of the Wise Men with him this week.
• Pray for wisdom and discernment as we live and work in this spiritually oppressed place

This Monday, September 1st, marks the start of Ramadan.  It is for the duration of this month that Muslims around the globe are called to observe one of the 5 pillars of their faith by fasting from sunup to sundown as a means of tipping the scales of judgment towards favor with God.  Most Muslims believe that it was during the month of Ramadan that the Torah, the Psalms, the Gospels, and the Qur’an were all sent from heaven.  Though the exact day of the month is disputed, most Muslims believe that the anniversary of the night during which the Prophet Muhammad began to receive the Qur’an from the angel Gabriel is a night of special power.  The Prophet Muhammad taught that Ramadan is a season during which the gates of heaven are open and the gates of hell closed.

Historians tell us that the Christians with whom Muhammad had contact prayed 6 times a day.  It is believed that this practice so profoundly impacted the Prophet Muhammad that he prescribed daily prayer as essential for all followers of Allah.  Pray that our lives might once again be ‘prayer-shaped’ enough to change the destiny of Muslims around the world!

Our latest quarterly newsletter has been posted.  Click on the Newsletters link to the right to read it.  You will need to know the password to access the newsletters.  If you do not know the password, you may request one by visiting the Latest News link above, and scrolling down to the password request form.  Thanks for your prayers!

sharing the story of Adam and Eve

We returned last week to the village of Mountain.  We strengthened relationships there and shared Bible stories with the children.  Please keep the village of Mountain in your prayers.

“And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19

After 48 hours of travel, Karilyn landed in Conakry on July 13.  Her first week in Guinea was enough to cause sensory overload!  She explained in her blog, “Well, I finally truly know what is meant by the term ‘culture shock’.   Nothing could have prepared me for Guinea….I really do not know where to begin.  I have only been here a few days & I have already seen and experienced enough to write a book!”

Pray for energy and good rest for Karilyn as she acclimates to life in Labe.  Daily activities such as cooking, cleaning and language study take a lot longer to accomplish here than they would in North America.

Pray that Karilyn will have an eternal impact on the hearts and lives of therapy patients she will work with during her internship.  She has already begun to meet with Neenee, an elderly stroke patient, and has toured three hospitals to pray about opportunities to serve there.  Emotionally, serving in hospitals in a developing nation can be taxing.  Karilyn explained, “To actually see a malnourished child in real life is a heartbreaking experience… While I was at the hospital, a mother whose child had passed away recently came by.  (Our colleague) had nothing left to offer her but love, yet that is what she came back for.  To continue believing this basic principle and not become quickly discouraged by the sights I have already seen has proven to be a very difficult thing.  I have no idea what God has in store for my time in Guinea.  I do already know one thing for sure though, if you ever want to know what it means to have to become completely reliant on God, come visit Guinea.”

If you want to track Karilyn’s travels and trials throughout her internship, contact us for her blog site.

Tonight, we will be heading to the airport to pick up our newest team member.  Karilyn will be visiting for the next seven weeks as part of a missions exposure program.  Please pray that she will arrive safely.  Pray as well that God will give her a good experience here and show her how she fits into his plan to reach the nations.

About noon, Wednesday, we along with our team piled into the truck to head out to the village.  After about forty minutes of driving, we reached the end of the road and unloaded the truck.  We had still not arrived at our destination, but we had to make the rest of the journey up the mountain on foot.  Each of us grabbed some of our baggage, and we began hiking the rest of the way.  At points the trail was steep, and our load seemed to grow heavier with each step.  Finally, just ahead, we could see the gate to the village.

We entered the village and were greeted by the villagers.  They were happy to see us and guided us to the room where we would be spending the night.  They brought us oranges to eat, and we spent the afternoon visiting.  At one point, we took the opportunity to have a story time for the children.  They heard the story of the creation and Adam and Eve.

As the sun began to go down, we set up our video projection equipment outdoors.  We hung a sheet to serve as a screen.  However, we nervously eyed the foreboding clouds in the distance.  When our host told us the rains were on the way, we hurriedly took down all the equipment we had just set up and moved it indoors into the largest room we could find in the village.  We used a generator for power.  We tested the equipment and were grateful that it all worked properly.  Then, we had a quick meal of rice and meat and then waited for the people to arrive.

Little by little the room filled up.  The children sat on the floor in the front and the adults sat in the rear on chairs and stools.  Before long, the rooms was packed full and a crowd was gathered around the doorway and in the hallway.  We counted over seventy-five people in that one little room that probably measured about 15 x 20 feet.  It was time to start the film.

A national believer gave a brief introduction and we started the film called “Jesus”.  It was dubbed into the Pular language.  It is a retelling of the life of Jesus, mostly drawn from the Gospel of Luke.  The people watched very attentively.  I watched the film and the people both.  When the nails were driven into Jesus hands, the older women cringed.  I could tell, the story of Jesus was greatly affecting them.

When the film was over, it was very late.  The people quickly cleared out to head home to go to bed.  We, too, went back to our host home to sleep.

The next morning, we arose early.  We had breakfast and then headed to a neighboring village for a baby-naming ceremony.  We carried in our backpacks copies of Scripture portions in the Pular language.  When we arrived at the village, we greeted the people there.  There were many people gathered for the celebration.

At an opportune time, we announced ourselves as teachers of The Book and offered Scripture for sale.  We had copies of Genesis 1 to 4 and the Gospel of Matthew.  People began to buy up what we had.  Little boys came to us and took the Scripture we had around to the crowds and sold more of it.  Before long, we sold all we had brought.  Yet, the people still wanted more.  We hope to return to the area before long with more Scripture.

After a while, we headed back to the first village and had lunch.  We said goodbye and thank you to our gracious hosts.  We packed up our things and headed back down the mountain.  This time, the village children helped us carry all our baggage.  One strong young man carried our fifty pound generator on his head all the way down the mountain, an impressive feat since he himself probably weighed no more than a hundred pounds.

By God’s grace, he has opened a door for us in this village.  We intend to follow up that open door until we see people put their faith in Jesus the Messiah.