Be praying for a missionary couple we work with in East Asia. The wife went to a large city in Asia for a check up and the baby is having organ development complications. She was there by herself and the doctors want her to stay. They are trying to decide what they need to do since they will not have help with the kids if they pack up and go to be with her. She still has a couple months to go before delivery.

Pray for the couple to have wisdom in the decisions they make.  Pray for the doctors as they try to help this unborn child.  Pray for peace for the family in this situation and allow them to know that you are there helping.  Pray for physical development of this child.

Be praying for Pastor Jason today as preaches on understanding what it means to fear God and how that fear enables us to fear nothing else except God.   Pray the Lord will use Pastor Jason in a powerful way.

Also, be in prayer for the church’s Back Yard Bible Club Block Party tonight at 6pm around the connection center.

From Amber Shacklette, working with Sojourn Church in Fargo, ND.

It has really been amazing to see how much more open people are with me than last summer. I have really gotten to talk to the neighbors a lot about Christ and why I am here!!! I also seem to really been able to share why I am here with a couple of my co-workers! Leslee and I are also really helping John out with this new church plant that he is starting. We have begun to play a very active role in helping him with that! And, I absolutely love it! Sojourn fargo is going through some changes! They are in the process of moving to a new location. They also are baptizing two people in 2 weeks who have been going to Sojourn for a long time, but have never followed in believers baptism or as Abby put it the other day, they haven’t been baptized on this side of salvation.

From James Weakley serving with Campus Crusade for Christ

I think one of the coolest things about being here has been just the opportunity to share my faith with so many people. I’ve been blessed to share the Gospel with lots of students and have some really cool conversations. What has been amazing is that I’ve had tons of people who have told me, after I asked, that no one had ever explained Jesus Christ or Christianity like that to them before. all of them saying that they had Christian friends. I am so blessed to get to share the Gospel with someone for the first time and be involved in such a vital part of their spiritual journey!

We’ve also held weekly meetings and bible studys on the campus that were open for students.

The whole trip has been very encouraging to me. It has been very helpful in reminding me of the ways and opportunities I have to share my faith in my relationships on campus.

From the Acts 1:8 KBC collegiate team in Ecuador with our Daniel Wilhoyte

Have you ever wondered where you are going?  What the future holds?  What will you do when…(fill in the blank)…?  Or the different decisions you may have to make?  For the past week, I’ve really struggled with these kinds of questions.  My mind has been in the future, wondering what I will do when I get back home and go back to school.  What should I apply in my life that I’ve learned thus far on this trip with thirteen other college students?  And not only that, but how should I apply these lessons?  Thoughts and feelings have flown through my head so quickly I couldn’t even keep up with them.

It was only yesterday that I realized that I wasn’t focusing on the here and now.  I was so busy trying to figure out what God was wanting me to do in the future, that I was missing opportunities for the Lord to work in my life in the present.  I was reflecting so much that I wouldn’t spend time in God’s Word.  Also, my reflection time was just filling me with unneeded worries and anxieties.  When Jesus was preaching “The Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew 6: 25-34 He tells us not to be worried about what we are going to wear or eat or about our life in the future.  Then in verses 32-34, Jesus says, “For after all these things the Gentiles seek.  For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”  God wants to use me today, and I was preventing myself from being a willing vessel for the honor and glory of God.  I wasn’t focusing on the people around me or the open doors that God was placing in my path.

So with this in mind, I’ve been reminded that I need to be present in the present and not in the future.  The future is good.  Planning is good.  But thinking about “what ifs” when they haven’t happened or decisions that can’t be dealt with at the moment are not part of God’s plan.  That’s when I have to continue living day-by-day with faith and trusting in God’s promise that He has great plans to prosper me and not to harm me (Jeremiah 29:11).

From Alex Jane

As school has let out for the summer, our plans have changed a little bit. Instead of see the kids everyday at school and even after school we are having to go out and find them, which is somewhat of an adventure. This past Friday our team along with Mark went out and did “Street Work.” We walked around the streets of Calderwood searching for kids hanging about on the streets. While we were out searching, Marks family was back at his flat in prayer. There was so much comfort knowing that we were looking for kids to share the love of Jesus with that there was a family sitting at home praying over us and the “Street Work” operation. This is a rather new form of outreach for Mark, and Calderwood, but it is definitely something that they are passionate about and feeling a calling to pursue. So please be in prayer for the team as the continue to walk to streets looking and praying for any opportunity to share the love of Christ with those who don’t know him. Also be in prayer for their safety and that they would be bold and confident in the fact the God is in control.

We also got the opportunity this week to go and visit The Faith Mission in Edinburgh. The Faith Mission has many different centers all over Great Britain and Ireland. This mission is financed on the “faith principle” and has no guarantee from churches or other means. Its motto is, “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” Faith Mission is also a bible college that has equipping men and women in different areas of Christian ministries for over 110 years and have graduated students serving in places all over Britain and Ireland. Faith Mission also puts on four different conferences each year in different cities. It is for ages 14 and up. The day would begin in the morning with a scripture reading and then have different seminars throughout the day and end with a worship service at night. This was such a great opportunity for us to be rejuvenated and to be just filled with the Holy Spirit as we heard from some very passionate speakers. It was so refreshing after weeks of pouring out to kids of the community to just be fed in this way. During this weekend we got to set in with John as he taught lessons to a group of about 25-30 youth aged kids teaching the book of Hebrews. Just pray for this organization that they would continue to grow and that there financial needs would continue to be provided as they are educating people to spread the word of God throughout.

I am aware that this week the church family has been praying for this team and I am so thankful, because your prayers could not have came at a better time. There are battles that are being fought amongst us daily, and I have found the only way to win is to be disciplined in prayer and to lean on the truth of the word. It seems to me that the devil is well aware of what is going on here in Scotland and the harvest that is being planted and he is fearful. He knows that God is going to prevail and that His name is going to be glorified in the end and church the devil does not want us here doing the Lords work. So thank you for your prayers and be joyful in the fact that it is evident that we are here making a difference and being used as tools in Gods work. I also must say that you church have been on my heart this week as well. I have found that since I am over here I am beginning to view the cross in a very different light. I have grown up knowing that the when Jesus was crucified on the cross that it was my sins that were forgiven. However, not only was it my sins that were forgiven that day but it was also my sins that drove the nails into the hands of feet into my Savior. I think that we so often look the cross as a point of rescue, which it very much is, but the cross is also somewhat of a murder site as it was Christ who took the blame in our place.It was His blood that bought us and it was also His blood that bought the cross. Once we have made a commitment to follow Christ everyday of our life we have also joined a different church. The Church of Jesus Christ. As I am studying more and more of the cross I have also developed an even deeper feeling of mourning of those who have not experienced the rescue side of the cross. However, my heart is not only mourning for those here who do not know him, but for those sitting at home knowing who Christ is and do nothing about it. For those who sit in the pews of the church being perfectly comfortable in the life that they live, but the thing is dear friends we are not called to be comfortable because this is a foreign land that we live in. So my heart mourns also for those who sit and proclaim to know Christ and are doing nothing about it. Who choose to remain in the comfort of their own homes where nothing can touch them and their faith cannot be tested. Where is our sense of urgency brothers and sisters and our eagerness to return home. We are not a perfect people, which means that we do not make up a perfect church but the beauty is that in Christ alone we reach perfection. In Christ alone we make up a perfect church. So church as you continue your day please don’t forget that you have been placed here for a propose and when the day comes that you stand before our Lord, I pray that your life will not be considered a safe life, but a life in which you have taking risk and hung on by faith to our Savior who is in ultimate control. Don’t go on wasting your life. Please pray for those amongst you who do not know Christ because the fact of the matter is that there are plenty of people sitting beside you in church, school, and work that don’t know Him. Be on mission every day for Christ and pray to be made uncomfortable.

Here is a recent newsletter from a missionary family (Jason and Kerby Harpst) the church supports in Costa Rica.  Jason used to be a member here at Living Hope. They work with Project Abraham.

Family

As you all know, the month of June marked our 1 year anniversary of serving as missionaries in Costa Rica. We are blessed in how God has provided for our needs and helped us adjust to life in another culture. June also has brought with it, a lot of time in the Children’s Homes filling in for the house parents, tutoring the kids in their schoolwork, and Kerby has begun volunteering teaching English at the Project for adults and teens. It is great to know Spanish enough to start getting involved more with our ministry not only with the children but also the adults. We have truly enjoyed getting to know the construction workers on a personal level and other adults within the church family here. It is feeling more like home to us everyday. Ministry The last update in April about the Project included an update about the fence. Well, the new playground now has a roof as well. After hours of making the trusses for the playground roof, it is now installed in place. It is a beautiful place for the kids and they are very blessed to have a place to play during the rainy season. Thank you to everyone that helped make this happen. We also are up to nine interns now. They all come from different parts of the US and it is great to have them here. For their helping hand and also their friendship.

Praises and Requests

– We have a Facebook Page.Please visit and “like” it! (Toda La Gente Ministries)

– The community with our fellow Americans here

– Time spent with fellow Tico workers outside of the work and the children

– The 6 siblings we mentioned in April. It looks like they will be going to their grandparents early…in the next few weeks, and the fear is that the parents will just take them back.

-Minor and Jenny—There are 2 families interested and we pray that God is preparing both sides as the adoption process progresses.

– Pray for continued financial support as we operate completely on a volunteer basis here in Costa Rica and we have lost some monthly supporters.

– Pray for our adoption eligibility and what our options are here in CR

– Pray for our Spiritual, Physical, and Emotional strength.

– Pray for the children of the Abraham Project. For the children that have been adopted, the children that are currently at the Abraham Project, and for those that will be at the Abraham Project in the future.

– Pray for the Lighthouse Community Church and their vision for the surrounding neighborhoods.

– Pray for the Costa Rican workers and their families.

Email: todalagentecr@gmail.com

todalagentecr.blogspot.com

Facebook: Toda La Gente Ministries

From Erin

I don’t have much time to write, but I thought I should send a quick update from the other side of the world!

God has blessed us in so many ways over the past week or so, concerning sharing the Gospel with the Songhai. Since we don’t have the language capabilities yet, Emily and I have been playing recorded cassettes with the Gospel message in Zarma for groups of women. Some of them seem interested, so please pray that as we finish our time here we are able to communicate clearly with these particular women and find out exactly what their thoughts are! Thankfully, we’ll be having our translator back with us for a couple of days, so she’ll be a HUGE help in communicating with them! We’re SO excited for the opportunity to have more in-depth conversations about Jesus!!!

I’m struggling with mixed feelings about our time here coming to an end. I wish with all my heart that I could stay, but the responsibilities waiting for me back in the States are constantly in the back of my mind. Please pray for me, that I will use the rest of my time here wisely, and that I will be able to begin to adjust to the idea of coming back to a life in the U.S.

Before I go, here are a couple more names of some women that you can be in prayer for:
~Mariama 1, Alima, and Alima’s Mom (neighbors of the Foxes)
~Mariama 2, her sister, their Mom, Baby Luke, Fati, and the rest of their compound (neighbors of the believer)
~Mariama 3, her children, and her compound (more neighbors of the Foxes)

(Yeah, I know, everyone here is named Mariama…I’M even named Mariama!! Haha!)

Thanks once again for all your prayers and support! We love you all! Kala Tonton!

Please be in pray for Pastor Jason this Sunday.  He will be preaching Nehemiah 4:1-23.  Today’s message will be talking about overcoming obstacles and opponents.  Pray that Jason will be open to delivering the message that God has placed upon his heart.

The youth group has spent the past week in Superior, Colorado.  There the group participated in service ministry through Cool River Church to the community.  Kevin Colon, the pastor, used to be apart of Living Hope.  Superior is very different than Bowling Green.  In this city, you cannot have a Back Yard Bible Club.  There are laws about how one shares his faith.  Therefore, our team had to minister through service.

The city overseer said this about how the team worked, “I cannot pay someone to work this hard.”  He asked how a group of youth could be so efficient and hard working.  Will Burnham’s response, “We are working for the Lord.  Our efforts are glorifying him.”  This conversation allowed Will to share with this non-believer about Christ.

Please be in prayer for our team as they travel back today.  Also, be praying for Kevin Colon as he minsters in an area of our country that is very closed to the Gospel.