BAMFORD PRAYER AND PRAISE (April 25, 2008)
• We are very thankful for the good results from our translation check of 16 from Genesis.
• We are thankful for our partners Robbie and Vicky and pray that they will have the strength and safety needed to carry on when we leave for furlough.
• We are thankful that we were able purchase round trip tickets.
• We are thankful for the provision of a house and vehicles for our half year furlough.
• We are thankful for the blessing the staff at Faith Academy has been to our family
• We are praying for many opportunities to encourage folks back home and we already have several engagements on the calendar including a week of being the guest speaker at a high school camp. This will be a new experience for us.
• Pray that we will do a good job of wrapping up things in the village which includes getting lesson materials printed, a couple of community development projects, and getting things set up for our partners.
• Pray that Charles and James will finish their school year well.
• Thanks for praying for us.
MARCH 2008 PRAYER & PRAISE (March 18, 2008)
• Pray that the 16 chapters in Genesis that we have translated will pass their final check and that if there are any errors, they would be caught and fixed.
• Pray for safety for the many visitors who will be flying in to spend time with us during the next two months. Pray they will be encouraged as many of them have had a part in our ministry there.
• Pray that we will be able to strengthen and encourage the Isnag believers and that they will desire to continue to serve God together.
• Praise the Lord that we have been able to purchase round trip tickets for our furlough. The tickets were the most expensive thing we have ever bought in our lives and we are really thankful that God blessed us with the funds necessary.
• Pray for our children as they finish up their school years and as they adapt to life in the Unites States. Charles and James hope to get jobs and Carrie would like to get babysitting jobs.
• Pray for Robbie and Vicky as they continue on in the village without us. Pray that God will give them safety and good health.
• Pray for Wanad and the other believers at the upstream village. Pray that the Holy Spirit will guide them as they study the Bible and that they will live fruitful lives.
JANUARY 2008 (January 13, 2008)
We are excited about all the events that are planned for 2008 and would appreciate your prayers for us as we seek God’s will for each of the following items:
• Translating as many chapters as possible into S. Isnag before our furlough in May and getting them checked by a translation consultant.
• Charles and James completing their second year at boarding school and Charles’s graduation
• Heidi completing the teaching of grade 8 and 6 for Carrie and Thomas.
• Leading survey trips to other villages in northern Luzon for new missionaries looking for possible allocations.
• Teaching the truths of 1st Corinthians to the believers in our village.
• Preparing Wanad and possibly another fellow to continue on with leading Bible studies while I’m gone.
• Hosting a few families which are desiring to see the Isnag ministry.
NOVEMBER 2007 PRAYER REQUESTS (November 21, 2007)
-We are now in rainy season. Pray for safety for the pilot when he flies for us. -Pray that God will give us wisdom as we encourage the Isnag Christians to be strong in their faith -Pray for Charles and James who are at boarding school in Manila -Pray for good progress on the Bible translation project before the scheduled check in April -Praise the Lord that Wanad has been faithfully teaching the believers in Daggi -Praise the Lord for his faithfulness in providing for our needs, our good health, and encouragement as we see Isnag believers growing in their relationships with Him.
PHILIPPINES (July 23, 2007)
Praise the Lord that he provided safe trips in and out of the village for us and for all of our guests this summer.
Pray that the Lord will use the things the visitors experienced here to encourage them and lead them to serve him faithfully.
Praise the Lord for the good family times we have had with Charles and James this summer.
Praise the Lord that interest in the Bible teaching has been good. We have been having between 150 and 200 attend the meeting in the main village and 40-60 in the upper village. I have been teaching through the book of Ephesians. Heidi has been teaching a small group of ladies daily. She has enjoyed seeing them discover the joy of daily Bible reading.
Please pray for God’s will regarding future partners. There is a lot we would like to see accomplished here, but we can’t do it by ourselves. On the other hand, there are many other places which would benefit by having a missionary family live in their village. Pray that God will guide the new missionaries to the place he wants them to serve.
Please pray for our co-workers. One missionary family is in Canada right now, the wife being treated for cancer. One family just returned to Vancouver, Canada, their infant son has been having seizures, for reasons yet unknown. Another family has had to leave their area due to rebel activity in their place. One family in language study had a close call when the wife had a near fatal brush with blood poisoning last week. Another has been experiencing low grade fevers since January, for reasons yet unknown.
In August we plan to take Charles and James back to Manila. Please pray they will have a good year with the teachers and dorm parents at Faith Academy
Jonathan is planning to take two of the new men on a survey trip through northern Isnag territory. Please pray for safety as they travel and for guidance as to where the new missionaries should locate.
We are in our fourth year here now and are starting to look forward to June 2008 when we will get a chance to visit our friends and family back home. Please pray we will be able to accomplish a lot for the Lord in the next 10 months.
PHILIPPINES - Southern Isnag tribe (June 15, 2007)
• That we can have Charles and James with us for the summer. That we will enjoy good family times together.
• That we will be a blessing to the Isnag and to our visitors.
• That Wanad has been faithful with keeping the Bible teaching going upstream.
• For Vicky and Robbie, our partners, that they will have God’s grace and strength to continue their ministries here.
• That we will have wisdom as we look for a college for Charles. He will graduate from high school in May 2008.
• Praise the Lord for bringing along another Isnag person to help me with a part of the translation process where help was lacking.
• For Carrie as she interacts with the teachers and students at the local school every day for Tagalog class.
APRIL 2007 PRAYER REQUESTS & PRAISES FROM THE BAMFORDS
(March 29, 2007)
• We are thankful that Wanad has been gathering a small group of people upstream for Bible studies.
• We are thankful that James recovered from a flu that kept him out of school for more than a week and that we were able to be with him at the right time to help him catch up on his school work.
• We are thankful for the week we spent with Charles and James during their school break and that God is blessing them at Faith Academy in many ways.
• Please pray that God would provide new co-workers for us that would help us with the teaching ministry here so that Jonathan could devote more time to translation.
• Please pray that God would help and guide Jonathan as he translates, writes lessons, and teaches.
• Please pray that God would give Robbie and Vicky health and strength to continue their ministries here; especially for Robbie who has been experiencing BP fluctuations.
• Please pray for Heidi as she home schools Carrie and Thomas, leads a ladies Bible study, and attends to various village needs.
PHILIPPINES - Isnag tribe (January 11, 2007)
Charles and James finished a great first semester at school and have started into the second semester. We are really thankful that they have great dorm parents.
In mid January we will be going back into the village and bringing a Bible translation consultant with us. Please pray we will be able to discern the best way to meet the need for God’s Word among the Southern Isnag people.
We are thanking the Lord for a good field conference this year. We were encouraged by the speakers and enjoyed getting to know the new families.
Please pray for safety for us as we head back in the village.
Please pray as Carrie and Thomas jump back in to village life and home schooling. They have had a good break, catching up with old friends here on the field and being with their older brothers again.
NOVEMBER PRAYER REQUESTS (October 30, 2006)
Praise:
- For Charles and James's adjustment to living in a boarding home and schooling in Manila
- For the boarding and teaching staff at Faith Academy, and the excellent job they are doing
- For God's provision of a good time with our kids while they were on a break from school
- For improved health of the babies in the village. We were quite busy, providing health care for many babies with severe respiratory infections for most of September
- For wonderful partners, Robbie and Vicky, who give so much of their time and energy to meet the medical needs of the people
Pray:
- Our satellite internet system was struck by lightning so our email is out of commission
- November and December are months when many people are in the village. Their field work is done, and the monsoon rains have set in, making travel difficult. Jonathan plans to use this time to review the teaching from the book of Acts that he has done this year.
- Our translation consultant plans to come in the end of January to check the translation samples we have done. She plans to do comprehension checking on the existing translations that have been done in related dialects, and compare them with the work we have done in our language, to see if a new translation is necessary.
- Pray for Isnag men to be burdened to teach Bible to the young church here.
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