VBS Catchup

Hello from beautiful England.

VBS has been going well.  On the second day we had nine new kids attend VBS.  Our age group ranges from 3 to 15.  Our team has been doing Bible Study, Missions, and filling in as kids leaders as necessary.  Sara and Chris had started bonding with the kids and are the first people they ask about upon arriving each night.  At the end of the evening we were asked to lead the Opening Rally the next day as Diana (she is a wonderful volunteer from the Chapel) had another commitment.  

Day Three – lots of prayer for today as we would be introducing the children to Jesus and doing the Opening Rally.  Jo Sue suggested we go to Ely Cathedral and pray and that turned out to be one of the best things we could have done.  It was so serene and praying under the “Way of Life” Cross which symbolizes that life has it’s ups and downs but the end (Salvation) is always worth the journey gave us new momentum and perspective.  We realized the truly important part of VBS wasn’t how many kids came or who was responsible for what but, that the kids were shown the Love of Christ and  that Jesus was offering them Salvation.  This journey really solidified our team.  Sara and Chris did a great job of leading the Worship Rally and preparing the kids for meeting the greatest hero of all “Jesus”.  The kids were pumped up and remained that way for the rest of the night.  During the evening three of the older kids indicated they were ready to accept Christ as their personal savior. 

Day Four – God really is great!  We so love these kids.  Chris and Sara in particular have built special relationships them.  They have been key members of the team as they have been able to build relationships with the kids that would take us adults a long time if ever to do.  Sara and Chris are there to greet them and to see them off and the little kids are all over them.  The older kids have opened up around them and are really sharing their life with them.  Chris has helped out by impersonating several people from the bible and the little kids have come to call him “John the Baptist”, everyday they stop by the bible study room to see if John is coming in to visit with them. 

We were saying tonight that is doesn’t feel like we should be getting near the end of our mission and we are not ready to leave.  We feel like God has definitely moved here but it is just the beginning.  Sara was saying she would like to include Chris Tomlin’s song “God of This City”in the Family day on Friday.  We think it would be perfect as there are “Greater things have yet to come Great things are still to be done
In this city” and that is our heart for the kids, their families, and churches in the area.  I know the members of Grace Fellowship and the other volunteers believe it too.

God Bless

Diane

HBC/VBS Day ONe

Hello everyone,

Justed wanted to give you an update on our first night of VBS.  We had 16 children and 32 youth and adult volunteers. About half of the children who came also attended VBS last year.  The team thinks the night went well.  There was some last minute schedule shifting but as Diana (Worship Rally Leader) said “flexibility” is our middle name.

Please continue to lift us up in prayer as well as the children of The Stukeleys and Alconbury.  Pray that we will be able to share God’s word and the salvation offered by Jesus to all that do not know of it.

At the end of HBC a memorial was played for Carrie and it was said that all of the mission offerings this year will go to the British Cancer Society in honor of her.  JoSue did a fantastic job of sharing to the kids about Carrie and her passion for Christ.  It was a moving tribute.  

As soon as I figure out how to add AVI files I will upload videos.

God Bless

Diane Phillips

Stukeley Calling We Have Arrived

The Team arrived at Grace Fellowship yesterday afternoon and immediately began to help the other volunteers setup for the Game Day Holiday Bible Club (HBC).  We finished decorating, outside preparation, and meeting on the Worship Rally today.  After another good nites rest we will attend Sunday service at Grace Fellowship lead by Pastor Paul and then wrap up last minute preparations before HBC kicks off at 5:30.  Keep the prayers coming for everything to come together and for kids to show with open hearts and minds and a desire to know more about Jesus.

God Bless

Diane Phillips

July News from Niamey, 2008

On July 7^th my Mother went home to the Lord. She had suffered many years with ill health. She is no longer suffering but in the arms of Jesus. For this I am grateful. It is so hard to see your mom struggle and not be able to help. I praise the Lord for my Step- Father, Joe, who took such loving care of my mom for many years. I also thank the Lord for my two sisters who were able to travel to be with her in her many times of illness. Please pray for my Step-father, Joe in this time of grieving and for all of my family.

 

When I returned from my vacation I was blessed with 4 new English students. I now have 2 different classes in the morning and 2 in the evenings. God continues to bring the Word to these men and I am so thankful. Please continue to pray for their Salvation. One of my students has asked for prayer because his family does not want him to come to class. They want him to work at night as well as in the day time. Please pray this situation will change and he can continue to come to class.

 

 It is the rainy season here in Niamey. Since we are a desert region, we do not get much rain fall and then only at certain times of the year. We have had several storms with high winds and a great deal of rain. I have managed to maneuver down the muddy roads and have not gotten stuck. For this I am very thankful. A few of the trees are now missing from the front of the house due to high winds. Oh well, I guess the goats will have to find their next meal somewhere else! I thank the Lord for each rain we have so it will produce the needed food crops for the people. Please pray for the rains to be plentiful and the crops to be abundant.

 

Well, I love to travel but there are occasionally slight mishaps. I went to take a picture of this awesome storm today only to discover my camera no longer works. I guess it was dropped and bounced around in my luggage one too many times. So unless I can borrow a camera, I will not be able to send any new photos in my news letters, sorry.

 

Thanks to all of you for supporting me in prayer. The Lord is awesome and I am getting to join Him in His work here in Niger. I am blessed.

 

Bonnie

News from Feijo

Received the following text from Rhonda late Wednesday evening, “Hey, we planted a house church in Feijo!”.

13-15 July-Brazil 2008

Sorry for the delay in updating the blog.  We have been involved in a lot of activities and ministry and internet access has been limited.

Sunday morning at FBC Tarauaca included a good discussion with two small group leaders and six leaders-to-be!  The questions they asked and the challenges they face in fostering community among believers are very similar to what we encounter in the US.  They wanted to know our structure/method and though we shared the various ways we do small group we emphasized that we don´t expect a US approach to be better than what they are led to do by the Holy Spirit.  We are very deliberate in what we say as we don´t want to pass US-isms to the interior–we are stressing that they strive to practice what the Bible says about small groups/house churches. 

Dennis and Brandi planned to observe the children´s Sunday school activities but their presense resulted in the teachers deferring to them instead of leading.  Since we have encountered numerus unplanned events, they were prepared with material and were able to respond.  What they encountered is too typical and makes our desire to`observe without influencing very difficult.

We arose early Monday for our trip to Feijo.  We concluded our stay at the hotel with a prayer over the hotel and our hosts.  Then a quick trip to Pastor Edinaldo´s home for a final goodbye where we learned they plan to join us in Feijo on Tuesday.  Our last activity in Tarauca was pick up Duane Howe (the missionary from Crueiro do Sul) and locate 20 liter water bottles.  We found Duane at his hotel and the water bottles on our third stop..suprised they were so rare.  We have been using them to refill smaller bottles.  This approach has decreased the expense of safe drinking water for the team, along with food, this is a critical issue.

Upon arrival at Feijo, we dropped Duane at his hotel and then went to ours where we met a friend of Alcynaia´s.  She had arranged a visit to one of the local schools in hopes we could get access later in the week.  We planned an afternoon visit as well as a time conducting children´s activities at a park downtown.  The visit to the school went well and included an invitation to another school nearby.  We agreed to return Tuesday morning and then headed for the park downtown.  For the prayerwalking we broke into teams and departed in different directions from the park praying for open heavens…hearts…homes…highways…hands.  We also prayed for the local government and places of commerce…education…religion…community–for all to glorify God.  It was a huge experience to move along the streets and pray for this city in expectation of what God will do.  One of our interpreters conveyed this was a new experience for him and that he felt he was actually making a difference in the future of Feijo–He was!

We returned to the park and found it easy to take some balls, frisbees, and an American presence to initate a spontaneous activity time which provided us an opportunity to share Bible stories and to share the Good News with older spectators.

Duane brought three little girls he had encountered and invited to the park.  Later several of us walked them home to one of the local neighborhoods that ended up being several miles away…not far to those kids but notable for us.  We had a chance to share the gospel with the family, where a sister accepted Christ.  We also learned enough about the local area to discern this neighborhood might be a good area to focus on.  We walked some more and located a public park which would make a good location for activities.   We returned to the downtown park, located the rest of the team, and had a meal before returning to our hotel after dark–it had been a good day.

Tuesday morning found us at the school before 900am.  The teachers gathered all the children for songs and a story about Joseph´s coat of many colors.  This was followed by an activity of tearing up and glueing colored paper to a picture of Joseph and his coat.  It was very cool to see our whole team-Americans and Brazilians-as well as the teachers all on the floor working with the children. 

Pastor Edinaldo and his wife Carole joined us before we finished and introduced us to Silas, a young man who is part of the lay leadership of FBC Feijo.  This church is currently without a pastor and Silas agreed to join us later in the afternoon for our activities.

We departed the school for our targeted neighborhood-Esperanca-for some prayerwalking and children activites.  All went very well, except it was very hot, even for the locals.  We continue to believe this is the area we should focus on during this visit to Feijo.

I have spent my time giving you insight into some of our activities.  I trust you recognize we are spending some long days in ministry but it is not about the activity.  There are many spiritual aspects that I have not included but will as time permits.  I have to go now as we are moving from downtown to Esperanca and I would like to ride in the van versus walk.  But here is one nugget for you that is rich for us…Esperanca in Portuguese means HOPE.

Joe sends.

June 2008 News letter from Niamey

Thanks to all of you for your prayers. My time in the States was so good. My flights were good. I made all my connections and when I returned to Niamey all my luggage arrived with me on the same plane!! That was surely answered prayer!

As with all grandparents, I will take a second to brag. I was able to see not only 4 of my grand children but also spend time with my great grandson. I was so blessed to see my oldest grandson play baseball and also my great grandson play wee-ball. What a blessing to watch these two fine athletic boys as they had fun at what they love to do. I was blessed by my oldest grand daughter by the fact that she is a prayer warrior and I was blessed to spend quality time with her in prayer. My youngest grandson, 15 and granddaughter, she is 5 years old, are both very smart. She loves to sing, he loves to play the guitar. They made a good pair. My sons and daughters are all well and now that I have spent time with them I miss them all the more now that I am back in Niger. Isn’t that how it always is? I thank the Lord for having such special children and grandchildren.  OK, so I took more than a second to brag!! God gave me time with good friends and an added blessing to see my twin sister for a weekend. It was great and I am blessed.

When I returned I received a phone call from one of my students to welcome me home. I was so blessed. His English was much improved and I could understand him over the phone. These students have been faithful to attend English class since June of 2007. We had a celebration meal together and they turned in the home work I had given them before I left. I was so blessed by them completing their assignments. It was not easy and they all did very well. The Lord has given me a great group of men to work with.

I went to visit Fatti and her family. She is well and the baby is growing. We had time to sing “This is the day the Lord has made” together and she remembered every word. She also has been listening to the Bible on tape. What a joy to see her growing in the Lord.

Please continue to pray for the salvation of my students. Since they learn English using the book of Mark, they will read the plan of salvation eventually. I pray they will understand and receive in the Lord’s time.

 

 God bless all, Bonnie

 

Saturday, July 12

The team went to the community along the river today.  Dennis, Brandi, and Joanderson were on a sandbar at the river.  The rest of the team spread out on the elevated boardwalks inviting children to come down to the river and play games and hear stories–instant backyard Bible club.  Had a large group of kids playing ball, throwing frsbees, and a huge game of duck-duck-chicken!  Anticipate we will be doing same thing in the Feijo park area and along the river.

Sunday Pastor Edinaldo’s church will celebrate their 4-year anniversary.  Along with regular services, there will be a bike race and a party to follow.  It is of particular interest that at the time Pastor Edinaldo was beginning to shepherd the church at Tarauaca, Emmanuel began their partnership with the state of Acre in Brazil.  Connect the dots…

Have arrived in Tarauaca

The team arrived in Tarauaca late Thursday night – bad roads.  They are on their way now to visit in the school.  Plans are for a 3:00pm Back Yard Bible club with the children and a 5:00pm meet with the youth.  As always, pray, and then pray some more!

Traveling to Tarauaca-The Interior Adventure Begins

We launch via van o/a 800EST.  The team is prepared and ready to go-bug spray, dictionaries, water, and road food.

We have been told the road is in good shape though some local rains have been occurring.  We have a driver who is familiar with the trip and who will be facilitating our movements for the next 8 days–pray for our travel needs in and out of the interior.

Pastor Edinaldo and the church are excited and anticipating our arrival.  We plan on arriving o/a 5pm and will be having dinner with our Tarauaca family.  It will be a huge celebration tonight and busy times through Sunday.  Pray for our time with local pastors, the children´s ministry, street evangelism, and for us to be sensitive to where God is at work.  We anticipate that plans will change and we remain flexible and ready to jon Him. 

New plans for Feijo are underway as changes to original plans have occurred.  We know God is at work in Feijo.  We are totally sure of God and His soverignty and recognize our toal dependence upon Him in the midst of our current uncertainties. 

Pray and then pray more…for the team, for the work, for God to be worshiped throughout Acre.  Your partnership through prayer is essential. 

Posturing for the Harvest.  Joe