CHURCH partners

This past week we had the pleasure of hosting Pastor Edison for a few days as he visited church partners in Georgia and Nebraska. Despite the challenges of COVID and several brothers and sisters being personally affected by the loss of family members, the church remains strong by the grace of God.

They've begun a young adult ministry, which is being led by Juan Camilo and Camila (a couple that recently got engaged and who you may have met if you went on the Generations Colombia trip!). This group has been meeting every couple weeks and continues to grow.

Sadly, Edison recently had his motorcycle stolen, which was his only form of transportation. This made it especially difficult to get his daughter Sofía to her appointments for her medical condition. But praise God, another believer heard about the situation and gave her car to Edison's family!

The church continues ministering to children and their families in the community through the foundation. Kids used to come every day, but they've had to change it to an alternating schedule with smaller numbers because of COVID. They continue giving out food and hygienic supplies to families in need. Because of changes in how Compassion International supports the center, the church now has to bear more of the load of finding funding, which has been very stressful. Please pray that the Lord would provide for the needs of this ministry.

Lastly, the church is currently prayerfully considering starting a second service on Sundays. Colombia has restrictions on the number of people that can meet at one time due to COVID, so this would allow more brothers and sisters to worship together on a Sunday. Please pray for God to give them wisdom and to continue strengthening the church in Santa Marta and causing it to flourish!

Colombia continues to deal with constantly changing restrictions depending on the number of COVID cases in the country, but the church is healthy and doing well. They're currently doing two services on Sundays, with 40 people coming to the first service and about 30 coming to the second. Things are going well overall, but the daily grind of ministry and helping brothers and sisters in the congregation with their needs weighs upon Pastor Edison.

Please pray for Calvary's upcoming leadership retreat on March 25-26. Several church leaders and their families will be taking some time away so that they can pray together, enjoy a time of fellowship together, and get some well-deserved rest. Please pray that this time would be refreshing and energizing for them, so that they can continue giving themselves fully to the work of the Lord in Santa Marta without growing weary.

1. I ask you all to pray for my family's health. My son Evans has had a fever for 4 days, and my wife Meredith and I have flu-like symptoms.
2. I ask for prayer for spiritual wisdom to shepherd the church together with the other elders.
3. I ask for prayer for financial provision for the families of the church.

Blessings.

Rescue Mission Church has produced a 2021 update document full of pictures and stories of all that's going on in Barranquilla at the church and the seminary. Click here to check it out!

Below are the prayer requests mentioned in the update:

• We are looking for a larger place to move because the owners of the house where the church and Bible Institute currently operate decided to terminate the current lease with us, giving us until January 15, 2022 to move. In this regard, we need approximately US$120,000 for this project, of which we already have US$72,000.
• Funds to be able to pay Pastor Moises´salary
• For the Bible Institute classes on the church plantation in Puerto Colombia
• For a possible new church planting in Santo Tomas.

Things to pray for:

To find a new place where we can gather, also for one of the pastors whom is praying about coming aboard in fulltime ministry. Also for finances to support the work we are doing here.

Ministry Story:

Due to the generosity of our church partners, even as 2020 was by far the most difficult year financially speaking, our local church felt compelled to support another small church serving in a poor area of the city. So as pastors, we just were able to witness the beautiful picture shown in the New Testament, giving to others, not according to what we lack but to what we have!

Please pray for spiritual growing up and for wisdom to navigate this season! we have seen a huge increase of online students at the seminary, before covid we had nearly 200 virtual students, now we have nearly 650!! and our desire of planting a church in a town called Saint Thomas, is intact.

Over here things are still hard but we believe are going better little by little. We have been able to gather again for the last 8 weeks, people are coming back to church full of hope in the everlasting life, also, new people have come to join us.

Last month, Eduardo and his family got to take a much needed vacation in the US. One of their stops was at Generations, where we got to host them and spend time together for a few days. During their time here, we got the chance to interview Eduardo on the Weekday Worship podcast, which you can listen to here.

While Eduardo was here, we became aware of the fact that his fellow pastor Andres Aguilar (also at Vida en Su Palabra Christian Church) had similarly gone many years without having taken any time off. Thanks to your generous giving, we were able to pay for a vacation for him, his wife Yuli, and their children Samuel and Abbie, which was a tremendous blessing and time of rest for their family. Andres will also be undergoing an Acts 29 assessment in August, so be praying for that!

This month of April has brought some challenges, we are at a difficult point of the pandemic, there is a high occupancy of hospitals and clinics, relatives of our members who have passed away. And there is a strong sense of anguish and fear, we are again with many restrictions, for example we had curfew for the whole weekend.

We appreciate your prayers for our city and our church, and for those who have experienced the absence of their loved ones, may the Lord help us as pastors to accompany and comfort the brethren, and may we soon be able to return to face-to-face meetings again.

As a church it is difficult to keep up with the normal rhythm of our activities in the face of changing restrictions. Help us to pray then for healing, for protection and that we can soon overcome this point of the pandemic.

After a difficult year, the church is doing well. One of the most challenging decisions we made after a hard year was for the church to support one of the pastors full time. So my fellow pastor, Andres, starting this month will be providing to his family only through the church. He quit his job as a teacher as it was time-consuming and we weren't able to care for the church properly, so our prayer is for us as a church to be able to cover his salary. Please join us in praying for that, and may the Lord add more of his people to the church.

I entrust to you some subjects of prayers, because we feel in our ministry the effects of your prayers.

Prayer requests:

• Pray for the 17 babies of the orphanage. Each has a touching story.
• For the upcoming missionary seminar: March or April (it's been 4 years since we've held one of these seminars).
• Pray for the motorbike need of the president of the mission area and two other pastors.
• Pray for the continuation of the construction work of the Sunday school. In these rainy times, it is difficult to bring the children together for a teaching class.
• Pray for the revitalization and spiritual awakening of young people in the missionary region.
• Always pray for Christians and pastors displaced by terrorism.

Today, July 25, we have installed Pastor Gedeon Kambou at the new church that we have built in the Korona neighborhood (pictures here). Several brothers came to assist. Several children too. Pray for this church planting work. Greetings to Pastor James and to the brothers and sisters of the church.

Here the work is progressing. Babies do well in the orphanage. The orphanage is a holistic ministry that we do to manifest the love of God and to draw souls to the Lord. We have 13 babies and 10 girls who are learning trades. We have built some buildings which are necessary for this ministry. Please pray with us and be with us in this ministry for the glory of our Lord.

The mission is moving forward with the construction of a church in the town of Banfora Korona neighborhood. Pray that we have a missionary for this church. Thank you for the partnership in the work. May God bless your work for the King of glory!

We have several prayer topics: Maintain the vision and mission that God has entrusted to the church. The numerical and spiritual growth of the Church.

Church projects: The construction of churches and the construction of a school in the courtyard of the church. Pray for our student at Bible school. Motorcycles for the servants of God.

Our student is a Turka (people group in Burkina Faso) from Bodadjougou named Adama Siri. He is in second year. I personally contributed for the first year but it remains the second year and the third year. He will be an instrument for reaching the Turka people.

Pray for the construction of the missionary center and the realization of the vision of formation of evangelists and missionaries. Pray for the orphanage. We have 12 babies. pray for their health, their future, their support. Pray for workers to work with love.

Pray that God bless all donors. Those who support the orphanage. Pray for the other buildings that remain to be built: administration, health center, nursery, guest house.

Finally pray for my family: Schalom our son because he can't walk. Praying for our health as a family, my wife and I. Pray for the future of my children Maximine and Kevin. Pray that God will continue to equip us spiritually for his work. Pray that we have a good pastor to work at the church in Banfora. Because we have a lot of work. Finally pray for the completion of our family home.