SEPTEMBER PRAISE AND PRAY (September 5, 2008)
Guanano Church Planting Team: Lindy and Carol Drake, Barry and Denise Spor September 2008
Praise
We successfully completed a 3 week course on Discourse Analysis along with many of our Brazilian coworkers. Why is this important? We want to tell God's stories in the same way they tell their fishing and hunting stories. How do they differentiate between background information and the main point? How do they keep track of who's doing what to whom? How do they keep the story moving forward without getting bogged down in unnecessary detail? How much new information can you introduce in each sentence without overloading? We have studied these things in the past. But this subject is so complex, we can always learn new things which will make us better Guanano storytellers.
Because of this course, we have been in Manaus since early August. This made it possible for us to meet the boat which brought 500 Guanano New Testaments which had been printed in Colombia. These New Testaments are a revision of the first version printed in 1987 and a result of the lifetime commitment and hard work of Nate and Carolyn Waltz of Wycliffe Bible Translators. We were able to pick up 30 boxes and move them immediately to another boat which will carry them upriver to São Gabriel. What a blessing these New Testaments will be to the Guanano church! What a tool God has put in Guanano hands to read and learn more about the wonderful God who loves them and gave Himself for them!
Pray
I wish we could live on the mountain top without ever coming down, but God's people also walk in sad and lonely places. This past month, Delfina gave birth to a stillborn baby girl. They buried her right next to Paula, their 8 year old daughter who drowned last year. Moses and Delfina are struggling. They had resisted the advice of friends and neighbors to chant and blow tobacco smoke over the mother and baby to hide the birth from dangerous fish and animal spirits. Instead, they depended on the Lord, the Giver and Sustainer of Life. Now they will hear the harsh criticism that comes from the heart of Satan himself, "You killed your baby. It's your fault. You should have chanted." We don't know why the Lord would allow such a thing to happen. We have asked the Lord to show his awesome goodness and power to His Guanano people so that their faith (confidence in Him) is strengthened, and their roots grow down deep into his love. He has put Moses and Delfina on a platform for all the Guanano world to see. How will they respond? Will they cling to the Lord in faith in the midst of great pain and suffering? Will they demonstrate before all that they are following the Lord, not because of the good things they get out of it, but because He is God? How would you respond? Please pray for them.
 The second act of this story is about to unfold. Mario and Nilsa are about to have their first baby. Nilsa is 15 and unsaved. Her entire family is unsaved. They are certainly expecting Nilsa to seek their help in carrying out the customary chanting and rituals during this time of childbirth. Mario is encouraging his wife to trust the Lord alone. What must they be thinking now? It certainly seems as if the Lord has undercut Mario's position and made it impossible to defend. What will they do? Please pray for them.
We are heading home tomorrow. Lord willing, we will be with the believers on Sunday morning. We want to encourage them and strengthen them to stand firm against this onslaught of discouragement and unbelief. Please pray for us.
Thank you for your participation in the Guanano work through prayer.
JULY PRAISE AND PRAY (August 12, 2008)
Praise: Barry had a phone conversation with Gustavo. He gave us a very positive report concerning the work of God among the Guananos where we used to live in Colombia. Gustavo is now village leader, and he has encouraged the entire village, believers and unbelievers, to give up weekend drinking parties which are so deeply ingrained in Guanano culture. He says the village has been dry since December, and there are fewer inter-family quarrels since they started living this way. He is using the NTM From Creation to Christ curriculum in a Bible study for unbelievers. They are currently in the story of Joseph at the end of Genesis. Pray: I can imagine how this change of lifestyle has impacted nearby Guanano villages and beyond. This has never been done before in a Guanano village. Everyone is certainly watching to see if this change is a good one or a bad one, whether it will last, or crash and burn. If the Lord saves more village members, and they join the small group of believers who are taking this kind of stand, then their position will certainly be strengthened against the weight of tradition and culture. Please pray that the Lord would protect this small band of Christ followers and help them to win and to hold new ground against the spiritual darkness.
Praise: We are teaching the book of Titus. The believers are growing. There has been progress in their understanding of how important it is to live the Gospel, not just believe it. Pray: Soon we will be teaching 1 and 2 Thessalonians and then Revelation. God wants us to know what he has in store for us in the future and how his salvation story ends. He hasn't taken all the mystery out of it. We can still study Revelation and scratch our heads and wonder, "What does that mean?" But the big issues are clear. Satan loses. We win, because we belong to Jesus. Pray that the believers will be encouraged in the midst of their daily struggles here. "Look up! Your redemption is near at hand!"
Pray: This past month was party month in this Brazilian town as many saints are honored on their special day. Delfina has two young teenage daughters, Maggy 13 and Irley 14. In school, all of their friends were super excited about getting out of school and going to a party with their boyfriends. One told Maggy, "It's fun to drink with the others. It doesn't matter if I get pregnant, my Mom will take care of the baby." Of course, Maggy and Irley received many invitations from their friends to get in on the fun. Tempting, but they came straight home. They talked with Delfina about what their friends were saying and doing. It was an opportunity for Delfina to reinforce for them what they already knew. She told her girls: "God has made a great difference in our lives. For many years we lived however we wanted and we suffered terrible consequences for it. Now we belong to God and he has filled our hearts with joy and purpose. The path your friends have chosen may look like fun, but it will only lead to disaster and painful memories. Let's be strong and walk in the light!"
Thank you for your participation in the Guanano work through prayer.
JUNE PRAISE AND PRAY (August 12, 2008)
 Praise: We have made good progress on Old Testament translation, mostly in Exodus with portions from Leviticus thru Judges. I am especially grateful for Mario's daily help. He continues to develop a translator's mind for detail. I would be lost without him.
Praise: We have completed teaching 1 Timothy. This month we will teach Titus. The emphasis continues to be on the leadership in the church: how leaders are chosen, what qualifications they need, how to honor them, how to discipline them when necessary. Pray: Please pray that God may engift various ones in the church to lead. We will need his help in leadership training. There is much to do in this area before we can call our work complete.
Pray: This past week I asked Mario to help me teach the book of Titus. We sat down for 3 hours, read through the book, and went over how we would teach chapter 1. Then he politely informed me that he would be glad to help me teach the unsaved, but he is learning these things for believers for the very first time, along with everyone else. He didn't feel he could stand in front of everyone and act as if he knew this material well. Fair enough. It has been my experience in ministry that when the Lord puts his hand on someone to teach, he fills that man's heart with His message and a burning desire to deliver it. We have yet to observe this kind of desire in anyone other than Gustavo. We need God's help to identify the men he is preparing to lead the Guanano church in the future.
Pray: We continue to need God's wisdom for a possible trip back to Colombia. The believers there are in great need of consistent teaching and discipleship. It seems that there is more liberty to travel in Colombia than there has been for many years. We certainly want to take advantage of this window of opportunity.
Thank you for your participation in the Guanano work through prayer.
AUGUST PRAISE AND PRAY (August 12, 2008)
Praise: A year has passed since Moses and Delfina's 8 year old daughter Paula drowned while taking a bath in the river in front of our house. It was a horrible day for all of us, but especially for her parents. In church, Delfina gave this testimony: "As I stood by Paula's grave, many thoughts came to mind. Sometimes I get angry with God for letting such a thing happen to us. We worship him, we try to do what he says, he is our heavenly Father, how come this happened to us? But then I remember his words to Adam. 'Don't eat the fruit of that tree. The day you eat it you will die.' They disobeyed God, and just as he said, they died. Because of their disobedience, we sin, we get sick, we die today. It is happening just like God said. God doesn't lie. In this world there is much suffering. And then I think of how God sent his son Jesus to rescue us from the suffering. The innocent one, bearing our sin, suffered so much himself. He was beaten, whipped, insulted, nailed to a cross, and as he hung there, they screamed at him, "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross." He could have come down, but he didn't. He suffered like that to rescue us from this world of sin and suffering, and to take us to a land where there is no pain, no hurt, no crying. When I think of that, my joy returns." Pray: Delfina is about to give birth again. They don't know if it will be a boy or girl. How nice it would be to have a little girl. Her two oldest are young ladies now, followed by 4 little boys. Please pray for a safe delivery.
Praise: Barry has been teaching 1 Thessalonians. According to the record in Acts, Paul was only in Thessalonica 3 weeks before riots forced him to move on to other cities. And yet Paul praises them in this letter, that despite severe persecution, their faith was real. Their witness of the Gospel was having an impact, not only in their city but in the entire region of Macedonia and Achaia where they lived. They had turned from their idols of wood and stone to serve a living God in the power of the Holy Spirit, and everyone was talking about it! The impact of their lives and testimony continues today, even on the Guanano church. The believers keep saying, "They accomplished all that, and they only had three weeks teaching? Certainly we can do more." Pray: The Guanano believers have suffered little for their faith, other than some nasty comments from their relatives and friends. Even so, that has been sufficient for the most part to keep them quiet about what they believe. Please pray that they may be moved by faith and love for others, produced by the Holy Spirit, to become a dynamic witness for Christ in this town.
Praise: We sat down with some of the military commanders here to hear what their perspective might be regarding our return to Colombia. They were kind, professional and very helpful. They assured us they had no information which would make such a trip unreasonable. We have received similar news from friends who have interviewed Colombian military leaders as well. We are looking at an open door the Lord has set before us. Pray: We aren't quite sure how to organize a visit to Colombia while we are working full time in teaching and Bible translation here. We will need a larger boat and motor to carry the gas and a month's worth of food and supplies. We will need to take others with us who know the river and how to get through the dangerous rapids. Who? What? When? How? We need the Lord's help.
Praise: We have received word that the revision of the Guanano New Testament, done by Nate and Carolyn Waltz of SIL, has been printed and is ready for shipping from Bogota to Brazil. Pray: The shipping process is a little complicated. Please pray that these new Bibles will be in Guanano hands soon.
Thank you for your participation in the Guanano work through prayer.
FEBRUARY PRAISE AND PRAY (February 6, 2008)
NTM Guanano Church Planting Team, Brazil Lindy and Carol Drake, Barry and Denise Spor
February 2008
Praise
We are back among the Guanano people. It felt so good to unpack after 3 1/2 months of living out of a suitcase. So that's where I put that pair of green socks!
Our houses were in good shape, and initial reports from Moses and Delfina concerning church life while we were gone have been positive as well. Moses took the leadership responsibility seriously and met with several believers personally to encourage them in their walk with the Lord and participation in church life.
Barry and Denise arrived on Sunday after a brief trip to visit family in the United States. It is always an encouragement to be together in the work.
Pray
We need to sit down with the Spors and think through what we hope to accomplish in the Guanano work this year. We continue to work towards the publication of Genesis in Guanano. We are finishing up teaching the book of 1 Corinthians and will soon begin teaching 1 Timothy and Titus. We will focus our efforts on developing Guanano leadership for the church. But we need to organize our thoughts and work together with the Lord to see these things happen.
Mario got married while we were away. His wife Nilsa is an unsaved girl he has liked for a long time. Like a lot of unsaved young ladies in town she likes the dance clubs and partying. The other night she came home drunk. Mario gave this testimony before the church: "Before I was saved, I would have hit my wife for disobeying me like that. But after studying Ephesians, I know my responsibility before the Lord is to love my wife and be the spiritual leader in our home. When my wife gets drunk like that, I think, 'What a stupid thing to do.' But for such a long time Lindy and Barry have been fighting the same battle with me. After struggling with Nilsa, I'm finally seeing it is a stupid thing to do.' You may ask, "Why didn't Mario marry a Christian girl like we all know we are supposed to?" They may be out there. But personally I don't know any. There are certainly Guanano Christian girls, but Guanano young men have to marry outside their own tribe. Please pray for Nilsa's salvation. She is attending church with Mario.
Cell Phone:
011-55-97-8113-0915
E-mail:
lindy_drake@ntm.org |
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