Colombia Prayer Request: H People

God calls us to pray, not only for ourselves and for people and things that are of our immediate concern, but also for things that will advance His kingdom and show His glory. Specifically, we can pray for mission work taking the gospel to new places and new people, some of whom have never heard it before. With that in mind, I´d like to share a prayer request coming from southern Colombia: 

---

WUPG Southern Colombia Team-Please join Ed and Pam Engle in praying for the H people. Specifically, pray that their efforts to get materials in the H language will be successful. Also, pray that God would give them contacts among this people group enabling them to plant the Word of God among the H people with these materials.

TWO Prayers for Colombia

I have two prayer requests today from Colombia, both having to do with unreached people groups.

I’m currently working on learning Greek, and this kind of coursework is very difficult at times. But I have the benefit of video lectures, a work book, and other printed and internet resources to help me along. Imagine trying to learn a language without any of those benefits. Please pray for the missionaries working to learn the language spoken by the Ar people.

Also, be in prayer for the Lord to send out workers to the Cha and Ta people, who are currently suffering a lack of missionary presence.

AR OF COLOMBIA (ahr). National missionaries J and A are praising the Lord that a full-time language helper has just arrived to live in their home! Pray that the relationship between this Ar girl and the national missionaries will be of mutual blessing. Pray for the ability of J and A to learn the language, and ask that learning it will be a testimony that will open the door to the sharing of the Gospel with this people group.

CHA AND TA OF COLOMBIA (chah; tah). Give thanks to the Lord there are missionaries interested in these people groups. Pray that God will lead the decision-making process of those interested and bring the family whom He desires to reach the Cha and Ta people.

Prayer Request: ¿Te Gusta CAFE?

I have another prayer request coming in from Colombia. One of the ways missionaries are trying to reach some of the unreached people groups is through ministering to students who come to the big city. College goes by so quickly, and time is of the essence. Pray for the missionaries, both national and foreign, who serve day after day to reach these students.

CAFE (ColombiA's Forgotten Ethnos) PEOPLES. In the midst of the long nights of study, projects and papers, several students began to show an interest in spiritual things at the very end of last semester. Please pray that these students will be open to the Gospel message as it is shared this semester. Pray that those students who made decisions at the end of the semester to follow the Lord will continue to grow through the Bible storying times and personal discipleship opportunities.

Reaching the Nu

Missionaries with the IMB are blessed in that they don’t have to go around seeking financial support from multiple churches. Southern Baptist Churches give money to the IMB through various channels, not to individual missionaries, so we know that our missionaries are being taken care of so that “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.” (2 Cor. 8:15)

Few churches have that kind of cooperation for missions and many missionaries have to raise funds from multiple churches. Praise God that some Colombian missionaries were able to raise the support they needed to reach and spend several weeks with the Nu people.

NU OF COLOMBIA (noo). National missionaries L and J and their two girls were able to return in December and spend several weeks with the Nu people who live in a village two hours up-river from the CK community. Praise God, who provided all the resources for this trip through their national churches and supporters.

Prayer: Reaching the Lost Around Us

Sometimes I learn a little about myself and my responsibilities from the prayer requests made for others. Today we’re called to pray for the Colombian Baptist Denomination. They are having an annual meeting in January, and the prayer is that they would feel a sense of urgency to reach the unreached people groups of their own country.

Do I have a sense of urgency to share the gospel with the unreached here in the U.S.? People from all over the world live right here in our backyard, but do we feel a sense of urgency? And does it matter whether a group is technically reached or not if they are within our capacity to reach them?

Pray for Colombia. Pray also for us, that we would not forget the people living amongst us without a Savior.

COLOMBIA. On several occasions, you have prayed for the Colombian Baptist Denomination, asking that their eyes and hearts will be open to the need to reach out to the indigenous of the country and to be obedient to God's call for laborers. Please continue to pray, asking that at the annual Baptist Assembly in January, churches and pastors will gather with hearts willing to hear and respond to God's call. Pray that there will be a new and compelling sense of urgency to share the Gospel with the unengaged unreached people groups of Colombia. Pray also that the leadership of the Colombian Baptist Denomination will be united in vision, purpose, and obedience to God's command to preach the Gospel to all nations.

Update on the Nu and other Missions Stories

National missionaries can sometimes gain access to people and places that foreign missionaries can’t. In Colombia, some of the most unreached peoples are located in areas where rebel groups and drug traffickers have control. It’s dangerous for Colombian nationals to venture there. It’s even more challenging for foreigners, especially Americans.

Some Colombian nationals have answered the call to reach out in these difficult areas. After battling malaria and a skin fungus, the national missionaries who had hoped to share the gospel with a new clan of Nu people were forced to return to a larger city for medical help. Please pray for the missionaries, both foreign and national, who are seeking to reach the lost with the precious gospel of peace.

NU OF COLOMBIA (noo). Last month you were asked to pray that Colombian missionaries L and J would be able to share Gospel stories with a new clan of Nu people before returning to their home in the city. That planned visit did not take place during this trip to the Nu communities. The national missionaries and their children were very sick with malaria and a skin fungus upon leaving the village, and were unable to travel. They returned to the city to get medical help. Please pray that their health will be restored and that they will have another opportunity to share with this new clan of Nu people.

---

See also:

Missionary Eric Reese’s interview with a Brazilian “Godfather”.

Donate to the Baptist Global Response relief fund.

Learn about the World Hunger Fund’s impact on the famine in the Horn of Africa.

The Time is Short: University Missions

University missions is tough. You only have a few short years to reach people before they leave your circle of influence and are gone. People who live and minister with other demographics can easily take for granted the amount of time they have to influence people for Christ, but the reality that time is short is always there for university missions.

Team CAFE in Colombia seeks to reach neglected people groups represented in the big cities. They may come due to violence in rural areas or because of economic factors. Others come for continuing education. Such is the case of J. Please pray for J that she would embrace the good news about Jesus. Pray also for the people ministering in the big cities with the “forgotten peoples”.

CAFE (ColombiA's Forgotten Ethnos) PEOPLES (cah-FAY). J is a freshman this semester. She is in a big city for the first time and is living far away from her family. The city is big and noisy and hard to navigate. College is big and noisy, and the academics are so much higher than she is used to. She has few resources and struggles to make ends meet. She doesn't know who to trust and who to believe, as so many are telling her different things.

Team CAFE writes: “This past week, J was invited by the Christian young women in the student center to join us in a new Bible study beginning on Tuesday mornings. She came, and as we went around the circle sharing who we were, what we were studying, etc., big tears began to stream down her cheeks. She could hardly talk but haltingly shared that she was feeling very alone. The Christian young women in the group embraced her.

She is finding a second home in the student center—and people who care. Pray for J and the new students in the student center. They are all in need of friends and a place to belong. Pray that they will find it in the student center and that they will be open to the Gospel and let God be the answer to the needs that they have.”

Fleeing Violence, Finding Christ

There are millions of internally displaced people in Colombia. This is largely due to armed drug traffickers and paramilitaries that control rural areas of the country. In recent years the Colombian government, with aid from American military and intelligence workers, has been able to curb some of the violence.

The effects of these armed groups, while slowed, still loom large over the country. According to one website on internally displaced persons, anywhere from 3.6 to 5.2 million Colombians are internally displaced, having had to flee their homes due to the violence.[1] I’ve read somewhere that around 1 million people in Bogotá alone are displaced.

Since these armed groups take refuge in the jungle, many native groups have been pulled into the conflict, threatened by the armed groups if they don’t grow drugs on their land for them. Some of them have left their villages to seek refuge in the city. That’s where the prayer request comes in today.

CHA AND TA OF COLOMBIA (chah; tah). There is an IMB family that has made contact with a group of Cha people in a major city who have been displaced because of the violence in the area where they lived. These Cha people came to the city hoping to find a new life, a job, food for their family, and rest from the violence. What awaited them however was more violence, poverty, hunger and a city that is cold and forbidding to them. Pray as these missionaries build relationships and share the Gospel with them. Pray that these Cha people will find the peace that only God can give. Pray that even though they now say they will never return to their communities, God will call some of them to take the Gospel back to their people.

It is hard to imagine something similar happening in America. But we should try to imagine it if only to soften our hearts to identify with these people, the hurt and rejected. Without Christ they face an even bleaker eternity than their present reality.

Through your prayers, you can make a difference. And the IMB is trying to connect churches in the U.S. with unreached and unengaged people groups around the world. If your church isn’t prepared to take that kind of step, you can still support the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, 100% of which goes directly to the field, not administrative costs. It isn’t for nothing that the International Mission Board has the lowest overall cost per missionary of any mission agency.[2]

---

[1] http://www.internal-displacement.org/countries/colombia

[2] $46,700 a year (average). Reported April 2011. Support includes housing, salary, children’s education, medical expenses, retirement and more. http://www.imb.org/main/give/page.asp?StoryID=5523&LanguageID=1709

"Embrace" an Unreached People Group

Did you know that there are still thousands of people groups that have yet to hear the gospel? Did you know that not all of those groups are in Africa or Asia? Did you know that you can get involved in the effort to share the gospel with people who’ve never heard?

The International Mission Board has begun a program called “Embrace” to equip churches in the U.S. to pray for and engage unreached peoples with the gospel. The prayer request today highlights a very important opportunity for you to get involved.

If you are interested in the Embrace program, click the link above (or click here).

COLOMBIA. In August, a group of missionaries in Colombia met to identify the different unreached people groups (UPGs) and unengaged unreached people groups (UUPGs) in the country and to consider how these different groups could be engaged and come to know the God of the Bible. As a result of this meeting, eight different indigenous tribes were identified as priority people groups for the sending of missionaries and/or to become a part of IMB's "Embrace" emphasis: that every unengaged people group will have a local fellowship (churches in the United States and/or churches in Colombia) lifting them up to the Father, learning, strategizing and giving, with the ultimate goal of being on the ground among them to share the Good News.



(click for larger image)

A missionary couple arrived in the United States in September and will be there through January 2012. They hope to have many opportunities to present these eight indigenous people groups in churches and other meetings and challenge and invite U.S. churches, Sunday School groups, etc. to "embrace" one of these groups. Thank God for each of these people groups and for His desire that they come to know Him. Pray that God will go ahead and prepare the way so that this couple will have many opportunities to share His vision for each of these indigenous groups. Pray that those churches, groups and individuals that God is calling will hear and will accept the challenge to embrace the nations, and the one nation (indigenous people group) in particular, as He leads.

If you are interested in having the missionary couple speak at your church, make an inquiry here.

Another Prayer Update?

Another update from the AR of Colombia. If I don't act fast I'll have to change my blog name to ColombiaOutlook! In reality I did post an article in Spanish on my other site, sanoeintachable, which means something like "sound and blameless". The article is about women pastors, and in light of some recent events, I'm planning on publishing it in English soon. For now, I ask you to continue to pray for the Ar of Colombia and the missionaries working tirelessly to reach them with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

AR OF COLOMBIA (ahr). Thank you for praying for the different visits/home Bible studies of the Colombian missionaries serving among the Ar of Colombia. During the month of June, the group in one area suggested that they might begin a weekly worship service to include those who participate in that particular Bible study group as well as friends and neighbors. Pray that God will plant His vision in the heart of each participant of this Bible study. Pray that missionaries J and A will be sensitive and obedient to God's direction as they seek to expand His witness in this village among the Ar people. Please continue to pray for safety and for open doors as these missionaries travel to different areas where the Ar of Colombia live.

A New Nu Missionary

I’m really enjoying the updates from the missionaries working with the Nu people of Colombia. We’ve previously been praying for J and L working in the C community (identities were removed to protect those involved). Now there’s a young woman, S, who’s getting involved and feels a calling into mission work.

Let us continue to pray for J and L who have precious little time to be with the Nu, and S as she works through the specifics of her calling.

NU OF COLOMBIA (noo). Thank you for your prayers for the Colombian missionaries to the Nu people as they spend three months deep in the jungle of Colombia, working with the first group of Nu believers. S is a young professional who feels that God is calling her into full-time missions. She has received permission to take a month off from work so that she can accompany the Colombian missionaries during a portion of their time in the jungle. She will help with the education of the missionaries' two daughters, as well as with programs of literacy and health. Pray that God will bless her time on this mission trip and that she will be confirmed in her understanding of God's call to her. Pray for health, safety, and the overcoming of some fears that she has.

This and many more prayer requests are available online at the International Mission Board’s Today’s Prayer page.

Reaching People in Dangerous Places

Yay! Here's an update from the International Mission Board in Colombia. Two national missionaries (J and L) had planned to travel to the C community for the summer. They were planning on meeting with some eight new families that had not yet heard the gospel. Now it seems they're planning on going to another community to share the gospel as well. This is exciting stuff.

Please be praying for these missionaries. Even though the Colombian government had made great strides in the fight against the paramilitaries and drug traffickers, it is still very dangerous in many rural areas. The conflict we read about in Mexico all the time is really just a transplant of the conflict Colombia has had with these guerrillas since the sixties. Praise God that, conflict or no, He's bringing people into saving faith.

NU OF COLOMBIA (noo). Last month, you were asked to pray for the Colombian national missionaries who work with this people group as they spend the summer months deep in the jungle in the C community where the first group of Nu believers lives. While there, they hope to be able to visit another community of the Nu people, which is located a two-days' walk from the C community. Pray that God will open the door for this visit to a new Nu community. Ask Him to go before them and prepare the ears and hearts of the people of this community to hear, understand, and receive the Good News of Christ. Please continue to pray for God's protection of this faithful missionary family as they serve Him in a very isolated and often dangerous part of Colombia.

Unreached People Groups

I remember not too long ago that my pastor mentioned to me he'd like our church to adopt an unreached people group. He specifically wished we could do so in Peru, but, he said, "There aren't any unreached people groups in Peru."

A few clicks later I e-mailed him a list of unreached people groups (less than 2% Christian) in Peru. A lot of people think unreached exists in the Hymalayas or the African interior. In truth, many groups of people have had little to no access to the gospel.

I wonder how many others are unaware of the lostness around them and in places like South America. Thanks to the internet and Christians around the wolrd, these "forgotten peoples" are being remembered. That's why I like what a missionary team in Colombia is doing. Here's the most recent prayer update from Team CAFE:

CAFE (ColombiA's Forgotten Ethnos) PEOPLES (cah-FAY). Thank you for your prayers for the two indigenous students, G and D, who have been leading chronological Bible storying times twice a week with a group of 10 non-Christian indigenous students. In May the Gospel was clearly presented, as the story of the crucifixion of Christ was shared with this group. Please pray for the students to reflect on all that they heard and respond with clarity and certainty to the Good News.

By the way, our church is planning on adopting one of those people groups in Peru, to commit to pray and reach them with the gospel. What is your church doing?

Pray for More Workers in the Harvest

This marks the second post about the Cha and Ta of Colombia (see the first here). The national missionaries we've been praying for have decided to move into pastoral ministry. This will definitely leave a void in the outreach to the Cha and Ta. Ask God to send workers into the harvest fields amongst the Cha and Ta and other people groups in Colombia who've not given their lives to Christ.

 

CHA AND TA OF COLOMBIA (chah; tah). JM and C, Colombian national missionaries to the Cha and Ta people groups, have come to the decision that their calling is not towards missions work with indigenous peoples, but toward the pastoral ministry. They have resigned from the local missions-sending organization and will be transitioning to church planting. Pray for the transition of this couple and their two young sons, asking that God will indeed confirm His call through His provision for their family and for His work in all ways. Pray that God will raise up someone with vision who is willing and able to take the Gospel message to these people groups.

Ar of Colombia (Prayer Request)

I saw in my feed reader today that there is another prayer request coming out of Colombia. Today's Prayer

is for national and Southern Baptist missionaries seeking to reach the Ar people of Colombia. Many tribes in South America have had little to no contact with Westerners, much less with the truth about Christ.

 

AR OF COLOMBIA (ahr). Thank you for praying for the national missionaries who work with the Ar people of Colombia, asking that they would move forward in their language learning and in their contacts with members of this people group. Thank the Lord for a missionary from a Great Commission Christian group who specializes in language learning who was willing and able to visit with J and A for a week of intensive study on how to learn a new language. Pray that they will be able to put into practice what they have learned, that God will provide a member of the Ar people group to continue to help them in their language acquisition, and that they will learn quickly and be able to communicate effectively with the Ar people. Pray for God's Word to be heard, understood and responded to by V, her family, and other members of the Ar community as the Lord leads.

I recently watched a documentary describing the Colombian tribe that was used in the filming of The Mission. It reminds me of the urgency of this and other requests for tribes, tongues, and nations that have not heard the gospel.