Answers to Prayer in Maine

Jake, Naomi and Laurel have all carried a burden for the Holdeman Mennonites in the area.  There are things which are concerning as believing that they are the one true church and not believing that Jesus came in the flesh.  As you can guess, it is difficult for a family to break away from a group like this because of the resulting disapproval of the church and the belief they have left the one true church.  Well, this past week, there have been two couples who have left.  They have made contact with Jake's group and at least one couple will be with them on Sunday.  Praise the Lord for answering this prayer, and we'll keep believing for more changes in this area.

GTO Board Accepts Jacob and Naomi

This week Jacob was notified that their family has been accepted to go to L. with Global Tribes Outreach http://www.globaltribesoutreach.org/.  They are praising the Lord for this answer to prayer.  In April, they will go to a month long training in New York City.  There also may be an exploratory trip to the area coming up too.  Of course, they will need continued prayer and support.

Visit from Grandparents

Here's some pictures Grandma took when she was here. The girl is my roommate. She's studied German, so she and Grandpa had a blast talking with each other! Her name is Karen Olson, and she's super sweet! God definitely blessed me when He put us together. :) And yes, that's my dorm room.

While they were here, Grandpa also got into a divine appointment with one of the Korean students. He shared with her about walking in the Spirit.

Prayer for Moves

Continue to pray for Don and I as well as Jordan's family as we both, ironically, are endeavoring to move at the same to a place closer to our place of ministry.  Jordan's family has a home they are moving into.  We still need to sell and buy a place.  Both families feel the 'engaging in battle' that happens when one discerns God's will and endeavors to follow it.  That is mainly where we need prayer.

Wrapping it Up in Guyana

Guyana Report

Swinging in hammocks, enjoying the warm tropics, and eating unusual but delicious food
definitely are physical things we’ve enjoyed on this trip, but the spiritual blessings have been so
much greater!! We are very thankful for the Lord’s working in hearts. It’s hard to believe our
time here is almost gone.

In the last couple of days, we’ve continued visiting schools, conducting children’s crusades, and
holding regular evening crusades. In all, we’ve visited 8 schools, have led children’s crusades
in 7 churches, and the men have preached in 16 churches. There were 8 students in the Prison
Epistles class.

We’ve loved seeing the school children run to us, surround us, and give hugs and cheery
greetings. Nick Armstrong has shared his testimony in some of the schools, and the children
have enjoyed meeting Eddie, the monkey, who taught them very important lessons. We also told
the story of Daniel, and how his relationship with God was more important than death itself, and
the story of the unforgiving servant, illustrating how crucial it is to forgive and to be forgiven.
We’ve also had tons of fun playing various review games with the children, such as Zonk,
Memory Pays, and Random Points, and we can tell that they’ve picked up a lot from the stories
they were taught.

One series of children’s crusades was held in the neighborhood where we’ve been staying. We
began showing Voice of the Martyrs DVDs on different heroes of the faith – William Booth,
Perpetua, Amy Carmichael, and Richard Wurmbrand. The numbers grew, and most of the nights
we had between 40-50 children! It was so exciting to share these true-life stories with the kids,
and then challenge them to go all out for God like the people they had just watched.

Another place members of the team were able to minister at was Cange – a ghetto area where the
church has been struggling recently and needed some encouragement. The team fell in love with
the children, and children with the team. The pastor there is a young man named Balram. He was
the only willing person to take the church, and has only been pastoring there four months.

In the Bloomfield church, Andrew preached a very pointed message at the youth, exhorting
them to have a purpose worth living and dying for – serving Jesus Christ! Hearts were being
convicted, and several expressed their need for more commitment to Christ. The young people
here in Guyana definitely need our prayers, because worldliness is rampant, and complacency
dominates most of their lives. One youth that stands out against the others is Jo-el, whom Grace
mentioned in the last newsletter. He is Balram’s younger brother, and wants to be a pastor
himself. Please pray for both Balram and Jo-el, that they will hold strong and continue to grow in
the Lord.

Thank you so much to those who have prayed for physical healing – almost everyone is back
up to speed and doing great. Grace has her voice back, and others have recovered from their

fevers. Justice is the only one with an eye infection left, and we have medicine for him, which is
helping.

Our time here has been very fulfilling, and I hope we have been able to communicate to you a
little bit of what the Lord has done. Today is our last day in Guyana, and we’ll be flying out of
Georgetown at 6am tomorrow. We really appreciate everyone’s support through prayer! Thank
you so much.

God working....

Short story: 

• 11 people saved or reclaimed in the last 3 weeks
• New girls  in bonfire
• God helps “Mary” at court
• Humbling. Board of Education paying public school teachers to train at Coda
• Coda going into the public schools in afterschool program to target at risk kids
• Coda summer camps being promoted in public schools
• Pray for laborers

Hard to explain the last three weeks:

Paul Contin saved:  A confession meeting broke out at one of our services.  Two weeks later Paul Contin got gloriously saved at age 69.  He has been at almost every prayermeeting and service and even testified to all the “who’s who” people in semi-formals at his 70^th birthday party at the theater, “Two weeks ago I became a Christian!  And Robert and Esther are mentoring me!”

 In the past 30 years, almost every time we had a confession service souls would be saved shortly afterwards. 

Mary’s mom saved:  Disaster struck at one of our student’s home.  Lets call her Mary.  Her dad may be going to jail.  Her mom, crushed beyond words, gave her heart to Jesus in my van and went from weeping and despair to laughing.  She has been in church and reaching out for God’s help since.  She will need much strength and nurturing because of her past and has to fight for every step, but that does not take away the marvel of that conversion experience.  Ann and I have never seen anything like it. 

Jane saved:  A few days later, “Jane” a troubled, rebellious girl who has gotten into serious trouble already and been hurt by the world, who has just started at TLC, got saved at school and testified openly to the lower school and then to the youth group.  In these few weeks she has gone from a rude, stubborn gal, to one that openly shows affection and expresses a desire to be a woman of God. 

Bonfire:  Yesterday we had a bonfire at my house during school.  Four of our new girls from difficult backgrounds burned things in the fire.  One burned her diary a few pages at a time, confessing the darkness and pain on those pages and then burning them saying each time, “I don’t want that anymore.  No.”  One girl burned some immodest jeans with gaping holes and wept over the temptations this kind of clothing causes men.  There was such laughter and tears and appreciation and supporting of each other.  It was glorious and so gutsy real!

Mary’s sister saved:  Last night Mary’s unsaved sister was in bed began praying to the Lord about her anger issues (temper tantrums) asking God to help her treat her brother and family right.  She came into TLC this morning and said to Ann, “I got saved last night!”

Five more saved:  At the end of the school day, Ann had all the lower school kids sit down before leaving.  Unprompted, Mikah stood up and said, “Miss Ann, I want to get saved.”  She said, “Oh…ok….why don’t you go pray with Robert.”  Then another kid said, “I want to get saved too!”  Then another and another.  Five in all.  Totally uninitiated by adults…with no piano music or preaching….

Victory at court:  This morning Mary was in court (not her fault).  She was battling anger and self-pity and slipping into dark thoughts.  I said to her, “Look in my eyes Mary.  Don’t go where you are going.  Don’t go into anger and self-pity.  Fight with the big guns.  Fight with love and faith.  Believe.”  Somehow she heard me.  Before it was over, she was inviting the social workers to our church, telling them Robert wasn’t like ordinary preachers.  Then she demonstrated by re-preaching some of Robert’s sermon Sunday to the social workers, complete with standing up and imitating his hand motions and voice at times , and telling them about her studies at TLC in Marine biology and history.  She would say things like, “I know everything in that biology book.”  “We are learning about the intercontinental railroad and the carriages that were supposed to float and sometimes didn’t….”  She was utterly failing school a year ago.

The social workers jaws were almost on the floor.  They hadn’t been trained for this.  Then she went before the judge and his comment was, “I’ve never heard a 13 year old say the things you are saying.  You don’t need counseling.  You are strong.”

One social worker said she was going to come to our church.

And to think, to God’s glory, that just over a year ago “Mary” was gothic, a fighter and had been suspended from school for fighting and insubordination five times in less than a year.

Celebrate Recovery:  Robert is starting Celebrate Recovery step study for people from both of these families and their friends to be able to attend.

These new kids are attending youth group and bringing friends.

Coda:  Coda Mountain Academy has been allowed to be promoted in four counties’ public schools and with two younger orchestras in Charleston.  Pray for Coda’s whirlwind tour in February.  It looks like the Board of Education will be paying teacher’s to train/teach with us at Coda Kidz so they can use those techniques in the public school.  So. Very. Humbling.  Only God.  Only God!  Coda has been written into a Board of Education grant and will be teaching kids music at Fayetteville High School 2 afternoons a week the Lord helping starting this fall. We will be targeting at risk kids.

Pray:  The battle is not over.  The devil is fighting hard but God is working beyond words.  I have mixed feelings about sharing this.  Without sharing, you will not know how to pray specifically nor will you be able to receive encouragement and understanding of where we are right now.  By sharing, I risk increasing the fight or altering the situation by sharing too soon.

Please make it worth my while by praying much for us.  We really need it.

Pray for laborers for the public school work, TLC and the church. 

Soli Deo Gloria

Guyana Report #2

Thursday, January 10

Guyana lives up to its description – a land of adventure. We’ve had rough times, but we’ve also
had very good times – encouraging, strengthening, and fulfilling times. It’s surprising to me the
range of emotions one can feel in 24 hours! In the capitol, Georgetown, we stopped at Pastor
Mike’s house, the man who owns the house we are staying in while here. While swinging in his
hammock with the warm breeze blowing over me, I thought, “Wow, it is SO good to be back in
Guyana.” Later that evening, I was wondering if it had all been worth the effort. The trip here, a
total of about 27 hours, was very tiring, but we all survived. J After a couple hours in the house
where we’ve been staying, we were again on the road to a little church about 45 min. away,
down a road where the potholes are so big you go at a snail’s pace. Andrew preached there that
night and the next morning.

I’ve been able to go to two schools with our team and do a program. I’ve also helped out/taught
a couple children’s crusades, and tonight was the first night that we had three children’s teams
going at the same time, as well as three evangelists preaching (Andrew, his dad, and Nick
Armstrong).

On Tuesday we pushed out into the Corentyne River for a 2 ½ hour boat ride to Orealla, an
Amerindian village that is only accessible by water. Andrew’s dad mentioned that Orealla is like
the rest of Guyana was when he first started ministering there 20 years ago. We got there late (as
you do for about any appointment) and Andrew and I had 30 min. to spruce up for the marriage
seminar, held in their open-air, thatch-roof tabernacle. This is my second marriage seminar to
teach in Guyana, and both times I’ve felt very undeserving of the role, seeing that most or all of
the couples I’m talking to have been married for longer than I have. However, I have to remind
myself that there are timeless truths that aptly apply to those married 3 years or those married
40 years. The seminar went great, and feedback was good. I really enjoyed teaching it, as I think
the marriage relationship is so fun to talk about. J That night was pretty miserable, camping out
on two mattresses on the platform of their un-air-conditioned, non-fan chapel, with two children
who weren’t nearly as tired as their parents. However, after everyone fell asleep we had a good
rest. After visiting their school, the trip home was a lot better than the trip there, and Andrew and
I actually got to ride on a jet-ski together part of the way back.

I was travelling with Andrew some in the evenings, but we decided (much to my relief) that I
would stay here at the house with Justice and conduct a children’s time here. We had our first
one tonight, showing the dvd of William Booth to the kids, and then doing activities afterwards.
It turned out great, and I’m looking forward to future nights.

That’s what our schedule kind of looks like. Amos has loved it here, and Justice is doing fine.
Having the boys here with us has definitely been much more of a challenge than coming alone,
but it’s been a good learning experience. I’m so thankful for all the help from each member of
our team.

Sickness has been a trial for many on the team – Andrew has been putting up with a fever the
past two days, and others had it before him. Grace McIntosh lost her voice last night, and has
been having to talk in a whisper for most of the day today. Justice has gotten the eye infection
that Amos had before we left. Everyone has been amazing at pressing through their physical
conditions and ministering anyway – it’s been an inspiration. Please pray with us that this will all
clear up very soon.

I’ve enjoyed getting to know a young woman who’s our neighbor – Zaleena. She has only
been a Christian for about six months. Her family is Muslim, and she and her husband decided
last summer that they wanted to have an official wedding, so they asked the pastor of a nearby
church to conduct the ceremony. He invited them to church, and she said, “I never stopped. It
just gets sweeter and sweeter, and I just keep growing and growing.” She goes to every service
she can, and she has been so helpful with the ministry we’ve done in the neighborhood. Joel is
another amazing young man – he’s 14, and has the desire to be a preacher. He is so sweet and
so eager to attend everything he can. He has been taking the class on the Prison Epistles from
Andrew’s dad, and has also travelled long distances to be in services with the team. He’s coming
this weekend to stay with us for a few nights to get more time in together.

We do believe some have accepted Christ as their Savior while we’ve been here, and we are
very thankful for that! The responses at the crusades have been very free, as people have come
forward to commit or re-commit to a deeper walk with Christ. The most fulfilling times for me
have been teaching about Christ and how He works in our lives, and spending time with my
boys.

All for now – hopefully I will be able to post one more report before we come back.

NY

I received a letter from New York yesterday, and am now accepted into the final round of another national competition. If God supplies the money, we're off to New York this spring!

Naomi's Tests

Jake's Naomi has had debilitating back pain during both labors.  So,  they decided to start  checking things out.  The verdict from the doctor is that she has osteoarthritis in the lower back.  Apparently, when the baby moves through the birth canal, it causes enough pressure to be a problem.
Thankfully, Naomi and her mother are very good at looking at natural remedies to things.  And Naomi has already started doing exercises to strengthen the muscles in her core to support the backbone.  Laurel has had some experience with osteoarthritis as well.
Keep praying for healing and wisdom.

A Report from Guyana

Greetings!

We have been without net access for the past several days. The flights went fairly well. Amos had a bad coughing spell in the middle of the red-eye flight that took some “getting through.” His eye infection is clearing up – now it’s trying to work into Justice. We have some leftover antibiotics that we’re giving to Justice. Morgan has had her hands full with the boys, but there has been a lot of help.

I started to get the leftovers from the stomach bug that was going around. It went away and I was able to preach twice, and teach a Sunday School. We are now headed to the interior in just afew minutes to a place called Orealla. Morgan and I get to host a marriage enrichment seminar this afternoon. I have to chuckle at the thought, but at least Paul was still single when he wrote Eph 5.

The McIntosh girls are doing very well and have been a great blessing. Hannah’s eye infection has cleared up. Grace got a touch of the stomach bug, but seems to be doing much better. We’re working them through some sore throats with zinc and echinacia.

I will be a hot boat ride to Orealla – hopefully it won’t turn into the six-hour ride it was a year-and-a-half ago (there are no roads to Orealla).

The boys have been doing well, as far as their attitudes go. Justice seems to be a lot more free to be held by these dark-skinned people than the white people he’s used to seeing in the states. Amos is all about “go.” He woke up this morning and his first words were “I wanna ride the boat!”

Gotta help others with their connections.

Have a great day!

Blessings,

Andrew, Morgan, Amos and Justice

Jordan's New Home

Jordan and Naomi are moving closer to their church.  They just rented this home and will be moving this month.  They will need prayer for strength and to have all the help they need.  Although they will be closer to their  church and Jordan's school, it will be further from Naomi's mother.

http://www.propertypartners.cc/7-cloverdale-blackskull-dromore/217955

Lifting off for Guyana!

In two days we'll be starting on another adventure - another missions trip to Guyana! This time all four of us are going, and we'll be gone for about two weeks (Jan. 4-17). We are very excited, but also apprehensive about taking the boys. It will be good practice for taking them to India! Amos loves airplanes, and we are really looking forward to taking him on his first plane on Friday. Andrew will be teaching discipleship seminars and helping with children's Bible Clubs. Morgan will be teaching in the Bible Clubs as well, and we will both be doing a marriage seminar one day too. We are very excited to be taking a couple friends, Grace and Hannah McIntosh, with us. Andrew's Dad and sister, Amber Rose, and two KMBC college students will make up the rest of the team. Guyana is the only country in South America that speaks English, and the majority of the people that live there are either East Indian or African. The public schools are still open to letting people teach about Jesus during school hours, so we will have the privilege of teaching the Bible Clubs both in the schools and in the churches. Andrew's Dad will be teaching a class on the Prison Epistles to pastors who are endeavoring to get ordained.