Stephen and Ginger Jordan minister among the Agutaynen people of the Philippines. “With only … weeks in the village before heading to the USA for our delayed Home Assignment, we are striving to finish strong. Ginger has worked hard over the last few weeks preparing materials for the teen girls to use as Bible study material for the next few years during their Saturday Bible study. And now [she] has turned her focus toward revamping [the] curriculum to be used next year for Kid’s Bible Club, house to house. Together we have been working on a three-week Bible lesson for teen girls concerning purity. Last Sunday we met with the mothers of the girls to discuss the importance of this class. They all seemed excited for this opportunity. This class will begin this Saturday, and we are encouraging the mothers to also attend with their daughters. … Stephen has spent many months working with the believers to develop a curriculum for 1 Corinthians and hopes to finish this project in March. Once completed, [it will be taught] on Sunday mornings for the duration of our time in the States. Pray as we give it all we can as we stretch for the finish line.” Read more.

Jerry and Joyce McDaniels minister as International Literacy Coordinators. “Last week Joyce had the joy of doing another Bible study on Zoom with the Kuna ladies in Panama. The study went on for more than two hours as no one wanted the time to end! How thankful we are for these ways to reach out and strengthen the church, ways that we might not have considered before, and the Kuna churches are using all the resources to reach out too. One of the ladies in the Zoom study is calling friends in other Kuna villages. Her Bible study messages have reached a Kuna village that was resistant to the gospel for decades, and a group there is growing in the faith. So, as we are working away at our desks, making the most of many opportunities until travel is once again possible, God’s Word continues to go out. We have meetings this week with our leadership team to make plans on the literacy training videos (a huge project that was postponed last year because of restrictions). We are also working on the Literacy Manual revision and the images that teams use for literacy and Bible study materials. Please pray for God’s wisdom and creativity in each of these.”

Andy and Chrissy Shaub minister among the Awa people of Ecuador. “As we planned for our year’s goals and objectives with our co-workers, Kevin and Kathy Bruce, one item that stood out again was raising up leaders in the Awa church. Our church attendance is made up of many children, some teens and a mix of adults. As a team, we would like to start a teaching and discipleship program for men who would be interested in becoming church leaders. In other contexts, this would sound like an easy thing: stand up in church, announce the start of a new study, and begin. Well, not so easy here. So, we discussed small steps in order to reach the point where we might get a few of our young guys interested in doing a deeper study of God’s Word in preparation for teaching others. It will be God who makes this happen. In light of our focus on training teachers, we are starting up again visiting G who has a desire to teach the children in her community. She counts on us coming every Saturday, and we sit down with the Scriptures and lesson so that she can teach the Sunday school lesson the next morning. Often there are many distractions: howling grandkids, animals fluttering in and out, extra company popping in and the like. But week in and week out, she shows her commitment to this desire of ministry by graciously receiving us and sitting down to go over the lesson. This is a real gift for us to regularly meet with her! We are trying out different formats for the lessons to see what is most helpful for her. Pray for the Awa who are contemplating baptism, for true understanding and faith in God, and for men to desire God and to serve the church as leaders.”

Dan and Judy Burke minister among the Chimane people of Bolivia. “Dan and I have been working on preparing materials that we will teach eventually in future discipleship courses. Dan is continuing to write his Bible commentary in the Chimane language; right now, he is studying Colossians. I have been working on lessons on the life of Joseph for the ladies in the discipleship courses. Even though we are not out with the Chimanes during this time, [the] elders are doing a great job of getting out and encouraging and teaching others. They have been holding small Bible courses in various villages, and there is always a lot of interest. We are thankful for these faithful Chimane believers and are looking forward to starting up discipleship courses again in March.”

Wilfredo and Elizabeth (Ely) Copa minister at the missionary training center in Bolivia. “Ely is doing well but is very tired from caring for her mother, as well as getting the student housing ready for the new school year. Classes will be starting February 8, so there’s a lot to do to get ready before then. Furniture needs to be moved from one room to another; some needs moving from upstairs to downstairs or vice versa or from one end of the campus to the other. Few realize how exhausting this work is. During December and January my focus has been on developing a Plan of Activity for the year 2021. This has helped me be more goal-oriented and will help me be more accountable. We continue to learn to use more virtual tools since it’s not easy to travel, visit and encourage our fellow missionaries who are in other ministry locations. I’ve also been preparing my lessons to teach a six-week module of two hours each day from Monday to Thursday. Pray for wisdom for me in developing and improving the ministry of the mission and for the new school year here at the missionary training center.”

Auro and Benita Vibanco minister as support workers in Bolivia. “I, Auro, was also able to make a trip to the border of Bolivia and Paraguay with a group of Bolivian Ayoré men who were delivering 1720 copies of the newly revised and printed Ayoré Bibles to the Ayoré churches in Paraguay. This has been the highlight of my year so far. We’ve been waiting for almost a year to be able to take these Bibles, but the border has been closed all this time due to the COVID-19 restrictions. What a joy and blessing it was to see how delighted the Paraguayan Ayoré leaders were to receive the Bibles! They held a praise service right there in the middle of the road after we handed the Bibles over to them. And this picture of an Ayoré lady receiving her new Bible later made me realize how much we take for granted having so many different versions of the Bible readily available to us in our own language. This is the only Bible these people have.”

Josiah and Rachel Van Der Decker minister among the Anem people of Papua New Guinea. “’The road of before wasn't true," Komo says emphatically. ‘It was just skin. Not like this road -- this road is true.’ We're sitting cross-legged on the back porch at his house, listening to him explain what he's been hearing in the first week of the Creation to Christ Bible teaching. Our ears and brains are trying hard to keep up with his fast, animated speech that's slowed only by the tapioca and coconut he's trying to eat at the same time. Komo and the others are hearing the Bible taught in a mix of Pidgin with some explanation in Anem. His earnestness and ready smile are contagious. Trying to keep up with him in a conversation on a spiritual level is a challenge that only fans the flame of our burning desire to learn the Anem language and culture well. Well enough to talk about God, His Word and His redemptive work throughout history in the language that the Anem know best. Having Scripture in their heart language is imperative if they're to be grounded and growing in the Truth. It's conversations like this that give us continued motivation as we labor long hours in language learning. Our brains ache from the constant influx of new information and the ceaseless reviewing of the old. A year of plugging away on the road of culture and language acquisition has shown progress, but the finish line is still far off. Pray with us for God to give us the Anem language and culture so that one day Komo and many others can read God's Word in their own language.” Discover the importance of heart language ministry.

Christopher and Lilli Meyer minister among the Kaje people of Papua New Guinea. Lilli wrote, “We have about six months left [before] going on home assignment, and there is still a lot to do. I am still busy with learning the Kaje language and culture. Christopher and I both had a culture and language evaluation a few weeks ago and were very encouraged. Christopher reached the level that is required [in order] to start taking on other ministries, and I am only one level behind. Right now, we work on Discourse Analysis together as much as possible. When that is done, Christopher would like to get started on Bible translation. And I hope to get another evaluation before we go on home assignment and maybe reach the same level as Christopher. So, there’s a big prayer point right there. On top of that, Christopher is also going to oversee the next literacy class and maybe be involved with teaching. It would be cool if the next class could start in March. We had another baptism day with 13 people getting baptized in January. Not long after that we got to have our first communion with the Kaje believers. It was awesome. Different to how we know it from back home, but the meaning was the same.” Pray for this busy schedule in the Meyers’ lives.

Barbara Lee ministers as Education Consultant in Asia Pacific. “Please join me in praying for the Dem people who are being taught chronologically through the Bible in their own language! A team of four missionary families has been working in the tribe for many years learning the language and culture, building relationships, and translating the lessons and Scripture portions. And now, for the first time ever, the Dem people have the opportunity to hear God's Word in their own heart language! There are 77 lessons, so the teaching will take about four months. It has been a good turnout (about 500 people each day) for the first three weeks of lessons. Please continue to pray with me for the Dem people as they listen and respond to God's Word.”

Larry and Sarah Richardson minister among the Puinave people of Colombia. “We are hearing mixed reports from our Puinave translation co-workers. One of them has been downriver recently, where his relatives live. Praise the Lord, he called yesterday with a very positive report of people there being enthused about the translation. Pray for him as he visits one or more additional communities down that way. We mentioned before that our co-translator Misael and his family have really been hit hard with sickness. We are thankful that we’ve been able to communicate with him fairly often. However, his wife is diabetic so has had severe complications ever since contracting COVID-19; please pray for her. Our main co-translator, Isaías, is in his home village upriver and reports that things are going well. He is teaching from the Word and also working on literacy. He has asked us to pass on a special prayer request. You might remember that quite some time ago the team’s boat was stolen. He says they really need a replacement for it so they can again get out to the more remote villages to promote both literacy and the use of the translated Scriptures. So, we would also appreciate prayer for that.”

Bart and Emily Allen minister among the Amdu people of Papua New Guinea. “2020 was an unforgettable year for reasons unique to each of us. For us, the most memorable thing about 2020 was that it was the year that a group of our Amdu friends, tucked away here in the jungle, heard and understood God’s message of salvation for the first time! In some respects, 2020 saw the culmination of what we have been working toward for the past 10+ years: true followers of Jesus among a previously unreached people group. But on the other hand, that culmination is really just the beginning of a new phase. Just as parents do not leave their newborn to fend for himself, we now have new believers to feed and disciple on to maturity. It is a weighty privilege. 2021 began with continued gathering with our believers for more foundational Bible teaching. As they hear truth from God’s Word, it is encouraging to watch them soak it up and hunger for more. Our Bible teaching moves into the book of Acts as the story of Jesus continues after His ascension to the beginning of this new group of believers that would come to be called Christians. Pray for our new believers as they hear God’s Word and as it impacts their daily lives and relationships. Pray for their testimony among the rest of the community.”

Paul and Bella Gervasi minister among the Sekadau people of Asia-Pacific. “We have been anticipating the ordination of two men from the church here to become elders. … In this process we have gotten a great deal of help from some of the church leaders from the Semandang. Well, the ordination took place on the 9th of January. It didn’t happen at all like we expected it to. There were many things that took us by surprise and even disappointed us. But in the end, the two men were ordained, and the deacons were appointed.” Pray for the newly appointed elders.

Bruce and Cynthia Higham minister as translation consultants in South America and as the main translator for another people group. “The translation check we are working on with a different … group has been going well. There are several things that make this check have unique complications, but things are going well. We are currently working on the most complicated material and were able to make a good start on that and would appreciate prayer. Over the next couple of days, we will be working on sections of Proverbs, and the proverb genre can be quite complicated in any language. So far, we are on schedule to finish on time and for me to head out to the border town on Tuesday.” UPDATE: They finished checking Proverbs, and although Bruce was unable to stay for as long as planned where he is main translator because of COVID-19 restrictions, they were able to work on the translation check for a week.

David and Vanessa Maynard minister among the Isnag people of the Philippines. “It's been six months that we've been back in the States. Normally, we would be gearing up to head back to the Philippines and our ‘normal’ life. But life has been anything but normal lately, so here we still are. Although our hearts have missed the Philippines, God has been blessing us with many opportunities to be with our family, friends and church. Sadly, we haven't been able to hear too much about what is happening in the Isnag church. Our co-worker, Vicky, flew out of the village when the pilot left, and our other co-workers, the Bamfords, are currently still in the States, also awaiting the travel ban lift. Please continue to pray for our Christian Isnag brothers and sisters. Pray that they stay encouraged and invested in God's Word. We're thankful that they have some resources (like translated Bible portions in Isnag) to study on their own. We know that their spiritual growth is not dependent upon us, so we look forward to seeing how the Holy Spirit has worked among them in our absence. Our hearts are sad to be gone for so long, but hopefully we'll be able to return soon.”

Albert and Lynne Castelijn minister among the Banwaon people of the Philippines. “While we were in town over the Christmas break, exciting things were happening here among the Banwaon. In mid-January we flew back to the village and went straight into home quarantine. The first afternoon we were back, the Bible teachers couldn’t resist coming up to the house to update us on things. Standing several meters away, with big grins on their faces, they told us how in December there was a big baptism while we were away. As more folk in the main churches and various outreaches were taught through the chronological gospel lessons this year and came to put their faith in Christ, they were later taught, among other things, about baptism. We knew a baptism was planned sometime. We didn’t realize ninety-nine people would be baptized! So thankful that, despite turmoil and disturbing news around the globe, there is much to encourage us. God is still at work in people’s lives, building His church.” Pray for these new believers that were baptized.

Adam and Julie Martin minister among the Akolet people of Papua New Guinea. “We appreciate your prayers over this next month as we have the goal of teaching the Bible teachers through the book of Revelation so they can in turn continue teaching the rest of the Akolet believers. Pray for the brand new Akolet believers to keep growing in their faith and for the unbelievers currently hearing the teaching from Creation to Christ to be saved. Pray for continued progress in translating the book of Matthew and for endurance and fortitude as COVID measures continue to place restrictions on travel and daily life.”

Paul and Tina McDole minister among the Buru people of Asia Pacific. “2020 was a great year for the Buru believers! Church services were held in homes for much of the year. Leaders gained experience in leading worship that they would not have had if we had met together. Many people heard the gospel in their homes. Kace, one of the teachers reported, ‘Everyone who wants to hear the Good News in this village has heard it now.’ New believers and older ones decided to get baptized — over 40 people. Young people from the village are now hearing the Good News in the towns where they attend school. Two young people from the village, Roki and Fatia, attended Bible school. They are now teaching youth in the village for 10 weeks before they return for further training. Then we ordained Sony, Kace, Jani, and Lipus as our first church elders.”

Randy and Laurie Steel minister as culture and language consultant and guest house hostess in Paraguay. “Last March plans were made for three members of each Ayoré church to bring the 1,700 Ayoré Bibles (85 boxes) from Bolivia to Paraguay. They hired four small buses to make the trip, but that next day the borders were closed because of COVID-19, and [they] have been waiting for the borders to reopen since. After many delays and a long wait, the Ayoré Bibles were finally able to be transported to the waiting church in Paraguay on January 8, 2021. Here’s an update from Bruce Higham, our co-worker working with the Ayoré in Paraguay: ‘In spite of rain, mud, and a broken-down vehicle, the Bolivian and Paraguayan vehicles made it to the border. After a little talking with the Bolivian officials, the Ayoré men were allowed to come to us with the Bibles. It was a joyous time. Manai, one of the pastors of our church, told me later that “this must be what Heaven is like!” We had an uneventful trip home, apart from some wet roads. None of the Ayoré guys had slept the night before (due to the excitement), and I had only had about three hours of sleep, so we were all exhausted. We got to the church at about three in the afternoon. It seemed like the whole village was there, and lots of hand shaking, singing, and rejoicing [took place] as the Bibles were unloaded and put into the church building. We know that it was the hand of the Lord guiding us to make this a reality.’ We want to thank each one who has prayed with us faithfully during this long year that we have been waiting to see the Bibles. – TO GOD BE THE GLORY! A Bible dedication [was] planned for Saturday, January 16, 2021.” Pray for the believers and those who’ve yet to hear the gospel.

Kevin and Wendy Case are retired after ministering among the Tepehuan people of Mexico. “We are still amazed at God’s timing in the dedication of the New Testament. There are more copies being passed out, and people are in the Word. Kevin has been in communication with the organization that will record the New Testament for us. As travel becomes safer, we are trusting the Lord to allow us to move forward with that project in 2021. Pray about a time Kevin can travel to Mexico and line up some of the details with believers in BG. We don’t want to force it, but [we want to] see God open the doors in His time. Pray for the Lord to prepare Tepehuan people who will be willing to make the sacrifice to spend a couple weeks away from home to see this project completed. Pray it will be a time of blessing and encouragement to them.”

Gene and Carol Trudeau minister among the Manubu' people of The Philippines. “The first great news is that Mahan, a Manubu' man who has been a Bible teacher for about 25 years, has started teaching three families the evangelistic phase of the chronological teaching program. There are 42 lessons. The Lord sent those families to live in Mahan’s village in the foothills because of peace and order issues that developed where they lived in the mountains. And more great news, two other Manubu' Bible teachers from Mahan's village have started teaching the evangelistic phase at a village which is about 10 kilometers down the road from their village. We have prayed for many years that the people there would want to listen to the teaching. Through a marriage that recently took place, the Lord has opened the door. Please pray for these two new groups being taught — that they will listen to all the lessons, understand, believe and go on with the Lord.”