Pray

Martha Beitzel serves in the Philippines and is learning the Bisaya language and culture. At a recent church service, “the pastor laid out a very clear gospel of grace … [and] asked who was thankful for what Jesus had done.” One lady “slowly slid her hand up, copying the motion of the people around her. My heart broke as I realized that she'd heard the gospel but hadn't understood a word!” This was a motivator to Martha to persevere in her learning to “grow closer to being able to communicate God's Word in a way that people like this lady can understand. … Please ask the Lord to use me to communicate His truth and love to the people around me, even when my language and culture abilities are lacking!”

David and Anna Hartman minister among the Y people of Brazil. “On Thursdays, we meet for a time of singing, prayer and teaching for anyone who is interested. There is an enormous hunger for God's Word, and we have heard from many that although not meeting formally in the village, the believers are talking about the Lord among themselves and to others.” Praise God for this hunger for His Word. Pray that the believers would grow in the Lord. Pray for the salvation of Y couple Daniel and Carmelita. Pray for physical protection for the Y people amidst a dangerous conflict.

Jacob and Charis Doerr are part of a new church planting team en route to live among the Mian people of Papua New Guinea. They had plans to begin milling lumber to build their houses in the village, but “it became evident that it is not possible for us to carry out that plan at this time. This sets all house building progress back several months. … Pray for all the moving parts… [like the] airplane, helicopter and boat needed to get into the village. It all feels like an immovable mountain, but we know our God moves mountains.”

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Jason and Nisae Williamson minister among the Iski people of Papua New Guinea. This summer we prayed for the M church, an Iski church, as they taught literacy to the S village in preparation for an upcoming outreach. “There [were] some initial concerns that people would feel pressure not to come to the teaching from the local religious group in the area. Initially the Bible teachers and I talked about whether we should postpone the teaching or look for another area.” They decided to move forward with the teaching. S people are showing up, and attendance is increasing. “Despite the outside pressures, God is faithfully drawing in people. Please continue to pray.”

Joe and Kandi Depue minister among the Baniwa people of Brazil. Pray for Baniwa believers as they learn how to teach God’s Word to their own people. Pray specifically that the women would learn how to teach the teen girls and that young moms would be involved in teaching the young children. Praise God for those who have already stepped up to teach. As Erasto, the Depues’ first Baniwa co-worker, taught from God’s Word one Sunday, he shared, “I was born in a culture that is full of gods, just like the Egyptians. But now I see I need to trust in the Only God.”

Lance and Laura Ostman serve itinerantly and minister to the Higaunon people of the Philippines. The Higaunon church has outreaches in different villages, and the Ostmans recently received news from one of these outreach villages. Earlier this month, 26 new believers from this village were baptized. Pray that these new believers will continue to grow in the Lord. Praise God for the way He is working through these outreaches. Pray for Lance and his co-worker Ron as they continue to translate the Bible for the Higaunon people.

The Ethnos360 Member Care team is tasked with the important work of caring for missionaries’ mental, emotional and spiritual needs. Member Care missionaries often meet individually with other missionaries to pray for them and encourage them during some of the biggest challenges of their lives — challenges such as death of loved ones, chronic illnesses, conflict with co-workers, cancer, traumatic experiences and culture shock, to name a few. Pray that the Member Care team would not get overwhelmed, discouraged or burnt out as they deal with these difficult issues. Pray that God would be glorified through the Member Care ministry.

Brent and Jodi Ristau minister among an indigenous people group in northwest Canada. The community has experienced a lot of tragedy in the past few months. “It seems that each passing death in the community becomes more personal to us as we know and love these people more and more.” Pray for the Ristaus as they build relationships. Jodi has started a homeschool co-op with families in their community, including some families from the local First Nation. Brent has befriended “Big T,” a man who struggles with addictions and is beginning to show interest in God’s Word. Pray that God would use the Ristaus to “be a light to the community.”

Ryan and Cathren minister among the D people of West Africa. “In January we will be hosting our literacy workshop. This is a big deal. We will spend three weeks with a group of language helpers and a consultant, working out the curriculum that we hope to use to begin teaching D people how to read and write their language. It’s going to be a lot of work. Pray for our consultant as she prepares. Pray for us as we prepare and try to have everything straight and in order for the workshop to be a success.”

Nathaly Copa teaches at the Missionary Bible Center in Bolivia. The third-year students are learning about the “value and privilege of attending church and using their gifts … for the benefit of the body of Christ.” Nathaly says that many of the believers are like sunbathing turtles. “They just sit [in church] soaking up what they’re hearing, but [they] aren’t using their gifts to help anyone and quickly disappear after the service is over.” Pray for the students as they learn not to be “turtles.”

Nine families graduated on November 22. “Please continue to pray for the families who will finish this year and will be going out to do ministry on their own. … Let’s pray that they don’t become discouraged or forget that God is with them.”

Summer Zimmer shares news from the North Wahgi church of Papua New Guinea (PNG). “Five hundred North Wahgi New Testaments [have arrived in PNG]! Praise the Lord with us for the completion of this thirteen-year translation project and pray for the impact He will have through it.” The church will celebrate on Christmas, and “the official New Testament dedication with the wider community will be January 4, 2025.” Pray that the dedication will “open up other gospel opportunities in the area.”

“Please join us in praying that the people of North Wahgi will not be just receivers of God's Word, but will read, meditate on and study His truth so that generations will be impacted and transformed by the glorious message of the gospel.”

Adam and Julie Martin, currently serving from the USA, are Bible translators for the Akolet people of Papua New Guinea. “[Earlier this fall], two different small groups of Akolet people who were hearing the evangelistic teaching … have heard the gospel and have placed their faith in Christ’s finished work on their behalf. Please rejoice with us!” Pray that these new Akolet believers would continue to study and learn from God’s Word.

In October, the Martins tragically lost their home in a house fire. Pray that God would meet their needs. Praise God that their hard drive with the “vast majority of our Bible translation work” was restored.

Bobby and Sandy Jank minister among the Yanomamö people of Latin America. This summer we prayed for the Yanomamö people who “were experiencing an unusual lack of available food.” In August, a national pilot flew in food and gardening tools. “I want to let you all know that the situation is now pretty much back to normal as the gardens are again producing the usual crops. … Thank you all for your prayers and the financial support to make [the urgent supply trip] happen! It was a surprise, an encouragement and a Christian example to the Yanomamö that it affected.” Praise God for His faithfulness. Pray that the Yanomamö people would continue to grow in their walks with the Lord.

Cam and Emily McLean serve in Mexico. “[November 2] was Mexican Day of the Dead. … For students of Mexican culture, watching how our neighbors celebrate … the Day of the Dead give[s] us important insights into their way of seeing the world.” This time was a reminder to the McLeans and their fellow believers of the “dark spiritual undertones” of many aspects of this culture.

As the McLeans learn more of the language and culture, pray that they would be well prepared to join an existing church planting team in Mexico. “[Pray] for guidance as we continue to consider potential future ministry opportunities and ministry co-workers.”

Dan and Judy Burke minister among the Chimane people of Bolivia. In discipleship Class 3, the men recently studied the book of Matthew. They didn’t grasp the significance of the “teaching of building your house upon a rock [because] … there are no naturally occurring rocks here!” The Chimanes also have no concept of taking an oath, so Dan had to adapt the lessons for understandability. “It is important to know the people’s language and culture when you are teaching even what seem like simple truths from God’s Word.” Pray that Dan and Judy would be able to teach the Chimane men and women with clarity. Pray that the Chimane believers would understand the teaching and grow in their walks with the Lord.

Rachel Lewis serves in Mozambique. She spent a month “visiting … church planting works in Mozambique. [It was] a great time to prepare for future church planting, help out in various ways, see how God is building His church in these people groups and fellowship with coworkers in person! … [Pray] for the spiritual needs and hunger of the Mozambicans and for more laborers to serve. (Praise the Lord, a few new people are in the works, but more are urgently needed!) [Pray] for wisdom and courage in how to work with the challenges and opportunities at hand and patience not to get overwhelmed by all the possibilities and open doors.”

Kathryn Kreiger ministers among the B people of Asia Pacific. Kathryn and her co-workers are learning the B language and culture. “[Pray] for diligence, humility and perseverance as we press on in the daily grind of language study.” Pray for unity as the team works together to understand the B culture and “make the final revisions on the B orthography (alphabet). … Pray for our friends’ hearts to be soft and receptive to the gospel in the future. Pray for us to have insight and courage to plant seeds of truth even now, as we talk and interact with our friends on a daily basis.”

Albert and Lynne Castelijn minister among the Banwaon people of the Philippines. The Castelijns and 45 Banwaon people recently worked on audio recordings of the Banwaon New Testament. They had a few of the “most intense” weeks they have experienced in their work among the Banwaon as they worked “recording, re-recording, encouraging, checking, editing and checking again. … [W]e knew without a doubt the only reason we were all getting through this was because of God’s help.” Praise God that the Banwaon New Testament audio recording is now complete! “The audio recording of the Banwaon New Testament is a major step forward as we head towards publishing the completed translation early in 2025.”

The team in West Africa has just launched a new Bible and missions training program. “We are very excited to have around 20-30 West African believers already signed up and more who are interested in our training program. Pray for those who are still undecided and those out there whom we still need to connect with! … Pray for the technical side of things to work smoothly without glitches as students start to access their courses online. Pray for unity as a team, good communication and flexibility as we know we are all learning and trying new things. Pray for each of us who will be discipling different students, for good connections [and for] insight and wisdom as to how to serve each of them well.”