Anytime people come to faith in Christ I am encouraged. Jesus is certainly building His church, often, it seems, in spite of our efforts ;-). But there are many people He's called and equipped for the ministry. People like our missionaries serving in Colombian and the believers there with whom they participate in reaching people for Christ. Please take a moment today away from scanning the latest news on Facebook, Twitter, or CNN, and pray. Give God the glory, and lift up the requests of our brothers and sisters in Colombia.
CAFE (ColombiA's Forgotten Ethnos) PEOPLES (cah-FAY) - Team CAFE writes: "D and R are a couple who have been coming to the indigenous student center for several years. They have two young children and live in the student residence halls. When we first met them, they were not believers but came faithfully to all the events at the student center. One day D overheard a conversation in which some believing students were talking about going to church. D asked if she could come and added, 'Are they all like you?' She began participating in an evangelistic Bible study with an IMB missionary and soon accepted Jesus as her Savior and Lord. She continued in a discipleship program and was able to work through her difficult past. D and R got legally married a short time later. Please pray for R to accept the Lord as well. He has been open and sympathetic to the Gospel, but has not yet made a decision. Recently D and R asked to meet with the same missionary to begin a couple's counseling time, with the expressed desire to put their relationship on a better track. The counseling time includes biblical principles and will include a specific Gospel call to R. Please pray that God will lead in this process and that not only will their marriage grow and be healed, but R will make a decision to accept Christ. Pray that they will become a solid Christian couple that is able to have a tremendous impact on the indigenous student ministry."
PA OF COLOMBIA (pah) - Steeped in tradition and the syncretistic religious beliefs of Catholicism and animism, the Pa people have had little exposure to the Gospel message. This people group of more than 50,000 has had no solid Christian churches or evangelistic outreach. National missionaries H and D have lived among the Pa people for two years. There are now eight house churches, and several new evangelistic Bible studies have started. The ministry is growing very quickly. Because of the impact of the Gospel, lives are being changed. Believers are leaving behind the practices of their traditional religious beliefs and embracing the Gospel message and the freedom it brings. This, in turn, is having an impact on the community. Believers are helping each other, sharing their possessions in times of need, fellowshipping, and living in a unity that they have never before experienced. They are also suffering the negative impact of persecution. They are having their crops, animals and possessions stolen and their animals poisoned. H and D were recently made aware of a group of people in one village who are trying to incite the people of that village to run them out and not let them return. Pray that God will protect His church, the national missionaries, and the believers among the Pa people. Ask Him to confuse and hinder those who are trying to prohibit the advancement of the Gospel message among the Pa people.
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