Life-Changing Lessons at Pusdim
Jesse Walker teaches at Pusdim, a four-year missionary training center in Asia Pacific. Pray for students finishing their time at the training center with a nine-week practicum — a chance for them to live in a remote village and experience some of the realities of church planting. Pray for the other students as they study through the book of Romans. Pray they would understand more clearly “what it means to be accepted by the God who created them.” Pray they would “walk through this life the way God intended for them to walk it” rather than depending upon their good works in order to be accepted by God.
Baptisms in Wantakia
Bill and Karen Michaud work with national church leaders in Papua New Guinea in the area of church development. Among the Wantakia people group, one church recently had their first “solo” baptism service. “[T]hey have had many baptisms there, but this is the first time that they have had one that was all their own initiative without any missionary involvement. It was a joy for us missionaries to stand back as witnesses of God’s faithfulness and watch the local men be faithful with the precious gospel message that they received for the first time themselves in 2020.” Praise God for this milestone in the Wantakia church. Praise God for the two men and five women who have put their faith in Christ and have publicly testified to that through baptism.
From the archives: Read this article from a 2019 issue of the Ethnos360 magazine to learn how the church planting work began among the Wantakia people in 2015.
Rainy Season and New Laborers for the Harvest
Dan and Judy Burke minster among the Chimane people of Bolivia. Pray for them as they spend rainy season in the city working on preparing new materials for upcoming discipleship courses and a commentary on the book of John — a challenge because of the way the original translator stuck to a more “meaning-based” translation rather than a literal translation.
Praise God that “potential future co-workers” — a single woman and two couples with children, all Bolivian nationals — are preparing to study the Chimane culture and language. “Since we joined the Chimane team in 1996, these are the first new missionary entries. Please pray for these families!”
Give so more national partners can be trained for gospel ministry: Training National Partners - Ethnos360
Reducing Security Risks and Refining Curriculum
Jonathan and Rachel Willcock, who live in the UK, serve itinerantly. They consult with various Global Partners* teams and ask for prayer for upcoming meetings in March. Pray as the International Security Team meets. “With so many dangers in many parts of the world, we help missionaries work out how to continue ministry while facing risks and how to reduce those risks as much as possible.” Pray too for the teams that oversee our missionary training programs in Latin America and the USA as they meet to evaluate and make improvements to their curriculum. Pray that all these meetings will improve our effectiveness and longevity as we plant churches among the unreached.
*Reminder: “Global Partners” is the ministry umbrella under which Ethnos360 falls. It refers to a group of entities partnered together in purpose and core values to see a thriving church among every people.
Sad News from Las Moras, Mexico
Katie Moore, Rachel Chapman and Ryan and Kirsten Kurvits (and their children) lived and served among the Nahuatl people of Las Moras, Mexico, but are currently serving from Chihuahua, working on things like Bible translation and Bible lesson development. If you’ll remember, the team had to leave Las Moras because of unrest in the area. They have heard news that their houses in Las Moras have been looted, and the Nahuatl are being mistreated. Pray for our Nahuatl brothers and sisters to stand strong and take comfort in the Lord. “Our team asks for your prayers as we seek to make wise decisions about the future while serving in the interim. Pray also for our hearts and testimonies in this difficult process.”
