Lindy and Carol Drake your connection to tribal missions 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.
