Pray

Scott and Natasha Flaugher minister among the Elsengg people of Asia Pacific. “Thank you for praying for the Elsengg Bible translation check! Praise the Lord we had no issues with the internet or electrical power, so [our co-worker] Carolyn was able to be remotely connected! Both Hendrik and his older brother, Serfo, came for all four days of the check, and it was a huge benefit to have them both there. Our translation consultant, Stephen, was a blessing as he fit this check into an already full schedule. We were all greatly encouraged by how well the check went. It was exciting to hear the men clearly understanding the meaning of the Scripture portions that we checked. There were a few places where that wasn’t the case at first; a couple of the passages that we had to work extra hard on were addressing faith and the promised Deliverer, but by the time we finished the check, those were also clearly communicating the right message. As our consultant mentioned, clear understanding of these things is not going to come without a fight. Praise the Lord for granting wisdom and providing the tools to work through those language and mental obstacles so that His Word could go forward in the Elsengg language. Hendrik shared that it gives him a sense of pride to have God’s Word in Elsengg, a language that [is on the brink of] extinction but is still the heart language of this small group of people. Keep praying for their salvation, brothers and sisters! Pray that Hendrik will work with me on the Bible lessons in the next couple of weeks prior to my trip interior and that those checks will go well also.”

Jason and Nisae Williamson minister among the Iski people of Papua New Guinea, but a new area of ministry is with Ramu Valley Academy. “RVA plans to add a grade each year. They’ve been putting up new houses for teachers (most of whom have come from the USA for a short period to volunteer) and have just started on a new class building. We love seeing the school and staff grow! If you’re interested in what it might take to volunteer as a teacher at some point in the future (opportunities anywhere from six weeks to a year), please reach out to us! RVA also offers an internship for college students majoring in ESL. And if you’re interested in helping fund the ongoing construction projects for the school, here is a link to do so: ethnos360.org/projects/ramu-valley-academy. The students are also all sponsored by people like you. It takes $500/year from sponsors to complete each child’s school fee. If you’re interested in sponsoring an RVA student for a year, you can give at the link above and specify ‘for sponsorship.’ We hope it blesses you to be able to partner in what the Lord is doing across the world, not only in Iski but now also with Ramu Valley Academy!”

Benjamin and Missy Hatton minister among the Amdu people of Papua New Guinea. Their home assignment is coming to an end. “We know that leaving … will be very difficult. We are going to experience first-hand what our own parents have had to endure each time we say goodbye. But we go rejoicing as we think about the reason we are leaving.

“In the year that we have been gone, our co-workers Bart and Emily Allen have been discipling the Amdu Church. One of the key ways they did this was to teach the believers through the book of Romans.

“They recently sent us a video including testimony from some of our friends talking about what they have learned during their time studying Romans. Hearing what they had to say made our hearts sing and gives us the purpose we need to return, rejoicing.” Watch the video.

Ron and Tami James minister as Ethnos360 Aviation director of safety and guest hostess here in the USA. “Thank you so much for praying for the second R66 helicopter that the Lord provided for His work in Papua New Guinea; [it did] arrive safely at its destination. There were some issues, so we invite you to read all about it on the Ethnos360 Aviation website.

Delwyn and Arielle minister among the J people of West Africa. “What a joy to reconnect with friends in the village, seeing the surprise on people’s faces, and also the stories of others who thought we were never coming back. It is true we were gone from the village for a whole year. We praise God to be back and to continue building these friendships in the village. Pray that God uses these friendships to help people hear God’s Word in their language.

“Only after a week of being back in the village with bags all over the house, Arielle graciously let me (Del) start with checking translation work that has already been done. This means translating verses from J back into English to give the translation consultant an idea of what is going on in the translations before she arrives for the translation comprehension check down the road. Over the last four weeks, each day ranged from translating 8-26 verses per day. I have now done 284, not that anyone is counting. This was mentally exhausting and also hard on Arielle because she had been doing everything else in the house. I think we have all the back translation done for now, which is exciting. We will have clearer answers after the comprehension check at the beginning of September. Arielle has graciously unpacked all our bags and unpacked most of our storage. I’m thankful for her help that has enabled me to get so much done. Pray for strength, endurance and discipline to tackle the next stage of ministry.”

Terry and Rosie Banman minister with Ethnos360 Canada. “Right at the end of [a] missionary's prayer letter, it said, ‘Pray for more laborers. A neighboring people group (Maia) has brought six letters in the last few months requesting missionaries. Who’s going to go to them?’ I could understand one letter, or two, but six? They must be pretty serious. These missionaries have lived among the Kuyu people group of Papua New Guinea for less than a year, and a neighboring language group has brought these letters to them requesting for our organization to send them missionaries. The first people group in that part of PNG where missionaries moved in was called Pal. Then a neighboring language group called Kovol also wanted missionaries, and three families moved in and are in there learning language Lastly missionaries moved into the Kuyu language group, and still more groups are asking!

“When will they hear? How long will they have to wait? In the remote terrain of Papua New Guinea, there are people groups who have asked for missionaries to come and live among them. Over the last 70 years, these requests have been coming to our mission, and they haven’t stopped. Some people have heard these pleas and have responded. Would you pray and ask God to raise up people for this generation to know Christ? Our hearts ache for those who have not had a chance to hear the gospel.”

Jason and Nisae Williamson minister among the Iski people of Papua New Guinea. “What all does it take to see an indigenous church established? How do we equip the next generation to be able to give back to their communities and bring positive and sustainable change? How do we ensure that future generations have the tools they need to facilitate growth and multiplication in their local churches? In recent years we have come to realize the importance of answering these questions as we further equip the Iski church.

“One of the additional exciting aspects of our ministry in PNG over this last year has been our involvement in Ramu Valley Academy. RVA is located at the center where we live and was founded in 2019 by our friends, Bill and Kelley Housley. It is a private school for PNG students in grades 7-12 that supports locally planted NTM (Ethnos360) churches (like Iski!) to bring the next generation into a higher level of educational understanding and spiritual maturity. The school is taught in English by qualified volunteers and many of the students board right on the center, living close to us so that we can mentor them around the clock, helping them to apply to their lives what they are learning in class. Last year I was asked to be part of the RVA teaching team and enjoyed teaching a class for the 7th and 8th graders. I’ve also enjoyed spending time with the girls outside of the classroom, playing volleyball and teaching them some skills in the kitchen. Jason has dusted off his drumsticks from back in the day and has had the opportunity to give the boys drum lessons as an in-road to discipleship. It’s been such a blessing for us to support the church by pouring into the youth while we are out in town!”

Ned and Linn Beall minister among the Tigak people of Papua New Guinea. “I had a fun errand this week! We have had several friends who have visited the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., [that have] let us know that the Tigak Bible is not in their IllumiNations room. We were given a contact email and found out the people who put Bibles in the museum have their office between our house and my parents’ house in Dallas/Fort Worth! I asked if I could hand deliver one to their office. The day I dropped off the Bible, I was told two of their guys were getting on a plane that afternoon to DC and would deliver it to the museum. SOOOOO – if any of you visit the museum, please let us know if you see the copy of the Tigak Bible on display. We will have to make a trip up there one day.” Praise the Lord for the finished copy and that it is on display in our nation’s capital.

Jevon and Danica Rich minister among the people of Brazil. “Praise God with us for the constant opportunities we’ve had to be with M Christians and friends. Pray that we would be able to keep going deeper with them as our understanding of the language grows, that we would understand them more deeply as we listen and that they would understand God’s Word more deeply as we speak. Pray that our friendships would serve as bridges for them to the most important friendship of all: friendship with God.

“This language-learning journey has been long. It is demanding more and more humility and perseverance. It has sifted my heart and motives as well. I thought I was dependent on God, but He wanted me to be more so. I thought I was persevering, but I didn’t really know what that meant yet. I think my motives are right, because I want to master this language in order to love people and glorify God, but what if they are mixed and impure, because I’m also tired of looking and sounding stupid? So, I pray that God will be purifying our motives as we go but not stop moving us forward. I’ve started praying, ‘God, if I will always sound like a fumbling idiot while I’m making small talk, so be it. But when I’m trying to understand a friend sharing her heart, when I’m trying to share Your Word with her, when I’m trying to pray with her, then please help me communicate well.’”

Jeremiah and April Markley minister among the Dinangat people of Papua New Guinea. “Remember a couple of months ago how we told you that our co-workers, Ralf and Elli, had finished translating the book of 2 Corinthians and it was ready to print for Dinangat? In June, Jeremiah had the privilege of going in and handing out the printed copies to the believers. The buzz in the air and the looks on their faces were priceless. They knew they were holding treasure in their hands! What a joy and privilege it is to be a small part of people reading God's Word in their heart language for the first time! Through your prayer and the many ways that you encourage and support this work, you are a part of this epic event as well.

“Now that they have this book in their hands, it will become the Bible teachers' responsibility to write lessons and teach through it to the believers. But first, it would need to be taught to the teachers in a three-day-long workshop. Contrary to popular belief, all missionaries do not come pre-packaged with the gift of and love of teaching. Jeremiah felt deeply the weight of this responsibility (aka, stress!), and to be honest, I really struggled with balancing this workshop with prep for the translation projects he'd also need to work on while in the bush. Praise the Lord for the amazing work He did as His Word went forward among this group of teachers. They all (including Jeremiah!) marveled at the truth of His grace being sufficient in weakness, and being weak was something each one of them could identify with.

There were so many other truths they discovered and delighted in through this intense workshop, and we praise the Lord for the work He did in each of them to better equip them for walking with Him and for teaching the believers. Please pray for the Dinangat teachers that they continue to seek His face in their daily lives and to serve the church well.”

Caleb and Emily Arnold minister among the Tepehuan people of Mexico. “The Bible study went well Sunday. It is a bilingual study in both Tepehuan and Spanish. One of Caleb’s friends has shown an interest in developing lessons with Caleb and in helping facilitate the Bible study. I [teach] Sunday school class with them in Spanish. The dynamic is challenging with 11 kids; the oldest is eight, and the rest are six years old and younger. We have been blessed with the arrival of JJ and Whitney and their two kids (Caleb’s brother and his family). They have jumped right in with the Bible studies, and Whitney has been helping me with the children’s ministry part.

“Caleb and I have been able to make new Tepehuan friends and dive a little more into language study. It is a challenging dynamic doing family and ministry well, and we cherish your prayers as we continue to learn how to do both of them well. We will be starting to homeschool soon which we hope will provide a good routine for the kids and for us as well. Pray that our minds would grasp Tepehuan well and that we would be able to make more inroads to the other Tepehuan neighborhoods here in Chihuahua City.

“Pray for the spiritual growth of the Tepehuan believers both in Chihuahua and BG and that our minds would grasp the Tepehuan language. Pray also for open doors with new Tepehuan connections (and courage to step through those doors!) And pray that God would raise up spiritual leaders among their own nation.”

Greg and Kadie Reid minister among the Taliabo people of Asia Pacific. “Being able to read the Scriptures for yourself in your heart language is essential for a healthy church. The original literacy program developed decades ago has fallen out of use. The Taliabo believers vary quite widely in their ability to read in Taliabo. In October, we will be hosting a literacy workshop in the city in order to revamp the whole program. Our team, several Taliabo believers and outside consultants will all be meeting together for three weeks in the city to get this done. Pray as we work to get all the preparations for this done ahead of time and that it will be a productive time.”

Greg and Kadie Reid minister among the Taliabo people of Asia Pacific. “In our last update, I told you how the [in-country missionary training center] had sent several of their students to the village as part of their final practicum for their missionary training. Those students had a lot of interaction with many of our Taliabo young adults, to the point that many Taliabo people expressed a desire to also attend the missionary training.

“Well, it is several months later now, and the semester has started. There are now 13 Taliabo young adults at the missionary training center. There are four married couples and five singles that have taken a step of faith and decided to pursue God in this way. The training program is a four-year program. The first two years focus on Bible study, and the second two years focus on missions and linguistics.

“Pray for our Taliabo friends that have stepped out in faith. There are many challenges they face. Life in the city is very different from village life. Although all of those that have gone to study speak [the language] well, the academic level … can be a challenge. It is also a challenge for them financially, as they are far from their sources of income, and they must buy all their food instead of growing it. Pray that they will endure through the challenges. Pray that they will grow and thrive and become great assets to the growth and maturing of the Taliabo church.”

Alexander (Sasch) and Charissa Schwendich minister in Asia Pacific. “Translation is going well. Sasch has made steady progress in drafting, and Julie (our co-worker) has been working on comprehension checks. Sasch has also started helping out with checking for the time being. The goal is to draft and check at least through chapter 10 of Mark by September, at which time they will have another round of final checks with a translation consultant. Please pray for good progress and completion of goals through the next few months.”

Matt and Debi Zook minister among the Lolo people of Mozambique. “The literacy program run by our local church began on April 10 and has run through the first week of July. We are having a short break now, and then we will continue. There are six literacy classes a day Monday to Friday. There are also two post-literacy Bible study classes. Some of the classes should be finishing the end of (July), others the end of August and maybe into September. As usual, there have been a variety of difficulties, but it never ceases to amaze us and bring us joy to see how willing the children are to learn and how successful they are. This year, besides the small morning classes, the afternoon classes peaked at over 160 children a day. Right now, we are running around 50 children in the afternoon classes which is a good sustainable number for the teachers. Please keep this in your prayers. It’s always great to pull out the Bibles once they are about 65% of the way through the program and start reading through the book of Mark.”

Paul and Tina McDole minister among the Buru people of Asia Pacific. “I’m working on a devotional for ‘unsaved Christians’ in the national language. Many Christians are still trying to earn salvation through religion and their own good deeds. They are culturally Christian and often faithfully go to church but have never understood the way of salvation. How tragic for those who will hear the Savior say, ‘I never knew you’ (Matthew 7:23). We are sending this devotional in text to around 30 people, mostly Tina’s family. Fira, Tina’s niece, checks to make sure the devotionals do not have errors in grammar and spelling. These devotionals are similar to the evangelism lessons we use in our mission and among the Buru people, starting at the beginning with who God is, His creation, sin, the penalty of death and the promised Redeemer and going in order through the Bible to Christ’s resurrection in the 111th devotional. I’d still like to cover salvation verses in the epistles and some from Revelation, so there may be around 150 when done. We hope it will be a help to show the Truth of Christ’s finished work of redemption. Please pray for clarity in the presentation of the gospel. Pray that God will use it to bring some, who think of themselves as Christians, to truly know our Savior and King.”

Albert and Lynne Castelijn minister among the Banwaon people of the Philippines. “The official translation check of Matthew’s Gospel is underway! We are grateful for clear weather so JJ, our international consultant, could fly in. Work began that afternoon. This is the second to last book of the New Testament to be completed. Yahoo … we’re almost there! We have a fantastic Banwaon team who are helping, praying and cheering us on. Please pray especially for K and J as they help with the check this week. The days are long and hot. The work is intense.

“Pray for clarity of mind and focus. Pray that what needs to be adjusted or changed for a better translation will be revealed through the check. [Pray, too,] for great spiritual blessing and encouragement for the team as they work through Matthew phrase by phrase, verse by verse, chapter by chapter.

“A translation check like this is expensive. We help with JJ’s travel expenses, there are extra flights, we pay the ladies who help, etc. BUT … we serve Jehovah Jireh, and we’re so grateful for how He provided, once again, ‘out of the blue,’ through a beautiful Christian assembly in Australia. Rejoice with us!”

Misael and Celia Rodríguez minister among the Baniwa people of Brazil. “We made a supply run, and it was a very difficult trip due to the rain. We had a hard time trying to find the channel for the boat as visibility was very poor, but we had a sick Baniwa with us and wanted to get him to a doctor. We were very thankful to arrive safely. Now we’re back concentrating on developing friendships with the people here as we continue to immerse ourselves as much as possible in learning their culture and language. Celia has been able to spend more time with the women than I have with the men, but they’re all still very reticent about including us in activities. We continually need prayer in this area. Progress seems so slow, and we’ve been discouraged a lot.

“Despite the difficulties and setbacks, we know God brought us here and that He will keep us here for as long as He has planned. We’re here out of love for these people so that they can know God and be saved. Remembering these truths encourages us and helps us to continue steadfast in these trials. We feel that we’re making progress in the language and culture, but it’s very slow. Some of the sounds in the language are difficult to reproduce because they’re unfamiliar to us.” Pray for Misael and Celia as they continue to learn and grow with the Baniwa.

Colin and Megan Rogers minister among the Nukak people of Colombia. “We continue plugging away here in Colombia. A major focus these last few months was the orthography (writing system) testing program we mentioned in our last update. We have been happy with how the orthography performed, and we are quite confident that we have a writing system which will serve the Nukak people well. With Megan's parents, we have also been involved in preparing materials for a more complete literacy program, including stories and health pamphlets so the readers have something to read! Though we are no longer focused on testing the orthography, we continue to read with our Nukak friends when we have the opportunity. We want to encourage them to continue developing that ability.

“During the testing project, we read with everyone we could find in the nearby Nukak community who were at least partially literate as well as with folks from several other communities. The experience taught us a lot about what to expect in future literacy courses and helped us identify people who might be especially qualified to help with future projects. Pray that our Nukak friends would have a hunger for learning to read and write so that they can read God's Word in their language someday!”

Ed and Jeanne Casteel minister among the Wana people of Asia Pacific. “I want you to meet one of our young Wana disciples, Arpen. The Lord has placed this young man into my life and in so doing gave me a real blessing. Arpen has a real desire to learn and to serve the Lord. He recently made a trip to our newest outreach in the CW village. He came back all excited and couldn’t wait to tell me all about his experience.

“It is exciting to work with young people like Arpen. He calls at all sorts of weird times and loves to talk about what the Lord is doing and how he wants to serve the Lord with his life. He was so excited that he could go along with this team of other men and help with the teaching at CW. This outreach is just a few months old, so no believers yet, but many are studying with our men -- starting in Genesis and slowly making their way through key Bible stories which unfold the gospel story to them. Pray for our evangelists as they challenge the old worldview of these people and present to them God’s worldview Pray that many will come to know the Lord as Savior through this outreach.”