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June 2010

CHURCH PLANTING

Donggang:

Pray for those who have been trained in Bible storying to catch the vision and be sharing them widely in Donggang and Kanding (where Christine Dillon recently trained 20 church leaders). Pray that some will have the courage to turn to Jesus and that their transformed lives will influence others. People are 'counting the cost' and Satan tries to convince them that the cost is too high. The big issue is always fear of rejection by their families and this very seldom happens in Taiwan!

Hengchun:

The son of an elderly church member was baptized recently. Pray for wisdom and stamina for the church leaders in discipling several new believers in the church.

Wanhua:

Janet and Randy Adams need wisdom to help their co-workers, Liok-Keng and Charissa Mak continue ministering to the little group that meets under the trees in Fumin when they go on their 6 month HA in July. Wisdom is also needed in training the ladies who attend the Wanhua Hospital Bible study to take turns leading.

Charissa Mak asks for wisdom for decisions about what ministries to focus on in the next few months while the Adams are away. Pray that she will be able to continue meeting with Liok-Keng to encourage her in her faith and pray for the residents of Fumin and at Wanhua hospital. Pray that Sophie, who has been coming to the hospital Bible study will see Jesus as the true God and Saviour, and put her faith in Him. Pray for Charissa's continued progress in language & fluency to facilitate relationship building & sharing the message of the gospel.

Shopworkers Church:

Elisabeth Weinmann asks prayer for a big outing on July 1 for shopworkers and their children. For many it will be the first time they join a Christian activity. A short-term team from Singapore will join them in July. They are planning a camp for single-parent families and youth with them on July 6-9. The team will also serve the youth for some more time. Pray for the Lord's help and wisdom in organizing all these things.

Taiping:

Robb & Holly Branch are moving house into Taiping. Pray for a smooth process and for wisdom on how to reach people in the new environment. Pray also for protection against the evil one harming the ministry and for physical and spiritual health.

YOUTH & STUDENT MINISTRIES

Melanie Bister will attend the vocational school annual Gospel Camp on 2-5 July. They hope to see around 150 students attend from across the island. Pray for the planning team as they work together on the program. A student team will be visiting fellowship groups to promote the event and invite them to register. Pray many non-Christians will attend, that God will prepare their hearts and that the camp will bear fruit in the students’ lives. There are many other things competing for their attention during the summer. Some continue to study to prepare for additional tests; others are attending cram school classes or working part-time.

Birgit Glaw praises God for all the kids that are coming to the park outreach every Saturday. Some of them are really starting to listen to the Bible stories. Pray for Cheng-ruei. He is runs away as soon as the story starts. May God touch the kids’ lives.

Nearly all the youth at the Chiayi Center are finished with school. Pray that if they find jobs during the summer, that they still make time to meet to read the Bible. Birgit will soon be preparing to go on HA and needs to help Angie Piau get to know her contacts and build up new ones.

Linda McFerran leaves for HA July 1 and also will leave Bethany Children's Home. Pray for the children as they make this big adjustment. Seven other staff members will also leave by the end of June. This will be hard on the children. Pray for the Lord's peace and continued working in this situation.

There are eight students in the English tutoring class in Fumin (Wanhua). During each lesson the teachers also share Bible stories with them and they have many good talks about Jesus. Pray for Tim Ho and Veronika Rieben as they reach out to them and for the students and their families to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

The team are thankful a short-term team will come to Wanhua in July. They will help with a camp in Dali Elementary School and another one in the Fumin community. Pray for creativity and good ideas as they prepare the small group and English lessons and other activities. Tim Ho will lead the team. Pray for God to also prepare the hearts of the team members and the people that they will reach.

Tim Ho asks prayer for Jing Yao, a middle school student that he met during prayer walk. He lives with a Buddhist family but had some exposure to Christianity. Tim explained the gospel using the 5-colored gospel beads. Jing Yao is hungry to learn more about and wants to leave Buddhism behind. Pray that he would come to know Jesus and for opportunities to follow-up and disciple Jing Yao.

This is the final semester before David & Judy Newquist retire from the university world in which they have lived for 29 years. May the Lord enable them to finish well. They ask prayer for university students facing the end of second semester. Final exams are a heavy pressure for most students. Graduating students face the next stage of their lives, with many options and choices. Others must choose how to use their summer vacation time, whether constructively or not. Christian students choose whether to keep up their relationship with the Lord and service for Him, or to wander from Him.

CHURCH & LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Many of Anne Alexander’s plans for Bible storying workshops in October are still unsettled, but promotion deadlines are urgent. Pray for finalized arrangements and teams in each of 4 cities to take responsibility. Anne is taking classes this summer and attending to family matters overseas, and is overwhelmingly grateful for your prayers for all kinds of support and grace.

Clara Cheng is going to HK for deputation for a month. She has little time to organize it. May the Lord lead her in meeting groups and individual partners. She will be one of the speakers at an OMF mobilization camp. She will also preach in a supporting church. May the Lord anoint her preparation & the delivery of the messages. She will then take a week of vacation and asks prayer for refreshment from a very stressful semester.

Andrew & Ruth Butler ask prayer for the graduates leaving China Evangelical Seminary on June 26th, that they will minister faithfully in the churches and Christian organizations that they represent across Asia, and for those planning to go into ministry further afield, outside their own country or culture.

David & Ruth Ullstrom have a short term team coming in July to help run a 2 week youth outreach. Pray for the preparations this month and that many youth will sign up to come in July. May God give boldness to our church youth to invite and encourage their friends to come.

Andy & Mei-ling Wilson prepare for a 6 month HA beginning in July. The Church Mission Training Course students are also preparing to move out. They will join a couple from the staff in planting a new pastoral district of Banner Church Taichung in Dali a satellite township with a more grassroots population. Most of them will then accompany the same couple and other church members to plant a congregation in Tainan (coached by the Senior Pastor’s wife) before forming part of a core team for an overseas church plant in the middle future. After the Wilson’s return in December they will continue to help them through distance mentoring as well as beginning to work with a new cohort of trainees.

LANGUAGE STUDY

David & Sigrun Jansen give thanks for growth in relationships with their neighbors; for OMFers in Taiwan, empowering them to do ministry here; for the TLC Chinese language center (The teachers are wonderful Christian servants who make Chinese learning a joy!); for contact with family and friends; for OMF recently seeing some Taiwanese people coming to Christ; for great marital/family relations.

They ask prayer for spiritual strongholds to be brought down; for revival in Taiwan and conversion of the not-yet-Christians; for fruit from missionaries working here for many years; for salvation for their neighbors Tony, Grace, Duff, their families, and the kindergarten staff; for healing for David’s sisters (Christine suffers MS, Lauren is recovering from injuries to her back); for ability to remember all of the Chinese they have learned so far.

Stephen & Susana Gribble enjoyed taking a break from language study to see the other parts of the island. They also got to meet some interesting Taiwanese people during their travels and were refreshed by the time off. Susana is really enjoying interaction with the Seniors at local church activities, their enthusiasm in participation has given Susana much joy as well as language practice. Thank God that Susana's father no longer needed the major knee operation which his doctor originally thought was necessary. Pray for perseverance and good memory for Stephen as he digests the increasing amount of Christian vocabulary which are in his lessons.

Jennifer Rawlings will finish language study at the end of May, and move to Wanhua to join with the ministries there. Pray that she can make the most of the time she has left in language study and that she can settle in to a new place and new ministries.

Allan & Bronwyn Lihou give thanks for the work God has done on their language over their first year, and for growing relationships as their language develops. June is the summer vacation season with many foreigners returning home, children at home with no school, and humid heat. Pray for them that despite the go-slow atmosphere and the persistent heat, they will be conscientious and diligent in language. Pray too for Mike and Matt who are doing some extra language that this will be both encouraging and profitable. Pray for Johanna as she continues her HSC courses and prepares for her trials in August. Pray for the hearts of the Taiwanese to be yearning for peace that only Jesus can bring.

Audrey Lin praises God for a fruitful ministry trip to Wanhua. The trip brought greater clarity about her role. Praise God for the encouragement of seeing His grace working through in the ministries. Pray: 1) For guidance & grace in the details of moving to Taipei in August. 2) For making the most of the last months of full-time study. She will soon begin studying Mandarin on top of strengthening her Taiwanese. 3) For relatives & friends to hear the gospel clearly with open hearts as she moves away from friends in Taichung to Taipei, where most of her relatives live. 4) For her uncle who is very sick. Pray the love of Jesus would deeply reach his heart & the whole family. 4) For strength & courage through God’s promises – Joshua 1:1-9.

Thomas & Jennifer McIntyre give thanks that Kevin, a factory-worker whom God has been working in for a long time, recently prayed to accept Christ when he came over to their house. Pray for them and their good friends, the Phoas, as they follow him up. Pray that he will get plugged into a good Christian community. Pray also for them and the Phoas as they continue to work out where God wants them to be after language school. Pray that Thomas will have more opportunities to practice his Taiwanese among people his own age, and for the continued health of their baby. They should find out his/her gender in a few weeks!

The Nobles hosted the last OMF KOFFEE KLUB for the school year mid May. Thank you for praying for the MKs who attend – lots of fun was had by all! The new schedule needs to be worked out according to Bible Studies and meetings. Pray this can be done ASAP after school resumes in August. Stephen asks for prayer for language study. Megan has finished this semester of study and will be going back to Australia next month for her last practicum. Megan and the children have now completed one year at Morrison Academy and are looking forward to the next. Pray that Stephen and Megan can make an impact on the lives of the MKs studying there. The Noble children are having intense language learning this month, please pray for improvement and enjoyment and their teacher!

OTHER MATTERS

Pray for the teams coming to help in 3 ministries as well as a few individual short-termers. There will be a Singapore team for the shopworkers' ministry; an International team for the at-risk kids work and a team from the US working with the Jia Cheng church in Dashe. Pray for each member's preparation and the orientation which all the teams will participate in beginning June 29. Pray God will work through them & in them.