Prayer Archives - Page 3 of 5 - Mission to the Americas

Praying for a Car

January 11, 2009 by ecoach 1 Comment

Now that we have been here for a year, we are looking to obtain a car so that we can increase our reach and availability to churches.

Our transportation situation limits our opportunities and puts a transportation burden on the churches that what to have us come.

Up to now, we have been using a variety of means.

That means buses and taxis, or rental cars, or walking.

Diablo Rojos – Red Devils

We now have a deep appreciation for what a majority of Panamanians use to get around town.

Buses run .25 and sometimes complete a route.

There have been times when the bus driver asks the passengers if they can “cut out a loop” and take a short cut.

Here is a picture from the local newspaper about the crowds at bus terminals:

Sometimes buses have refused to stop and pick up passengers.

Just this week, four buses refused to stop to pick us up. We jumped on the 4th one when it was trapped at a traffic light.

We can certainly tell stories of the inconveniences, dangers, and journey lengths, but in print it would sound too much like complaining, rather than a description.

Simply put, our reliance on buses have limited our mobility, wasted hours of our time, and thus our availability to fulfill our calling.

Panama Taxis

Some taxis are nice, like the one pictured. Others are dangerous and falling apart.

However, many times they don’t want to take you places and if they do, we’ve been gouged a few too many times.

Rates are unpredictable, even though there is a chart, but who cares about the rules.

The largest challenge with taxis is that drivers are in control. If they don’t want to take you where you are going, they will reject you. Once you put your groceries in the trunk, they’ll charge you extra.

Try getting a taxi in a rain storm around 4.30pm. Doesn’t happen.

Rental Cars

We have rented cars when we need them for 3-4 days at a time, when we go to conferences and need to transport our gear. AVIS is our primary rental agency here and we use them as needed. It’s not cheap, but it allows us the freedom to go.

How can you pray?

We continue to praying for a car. Join us in prayer for the funds for a car.

Amazing Opportunities Before Us

December 31, 2008 by ecoach Leave a Comment

We have amazing opportunities in our ministry to teach on evangelism and the work of the Holy Spirit.

Requests for evangelism and pastor training events have come from multiple nations: Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Panama and the United States.

Through our partnership with PRMI, we can assemble teams of trained teachers to help fulfill and respond to this international demand.

We can focus on regional and local leaders who can continue the vision of igniting the church in the power of the Holy Spirit to passionately reach their corner of the world.

One person shared with me: “I kept thinking of the question you posed to us in the workshop: What if discussing your faith was a normal, everyday thing?”

We know you desire to be effective in your own faith sharing and for your church to be effective in reaching its neighbors.

Imagine that desire multiplied by thousands of pastors in all 17 countries of Latin America, who want their churches passionate about God’s call to reach the nations.

Imagine church leaders that see evangelism as a normal everyday lifestyle and can train others to see it the same way.

But this dream is beyond the reach of ordinary means. The demand for training is beyond anything we can handle alone.

Our ministry needs to grow in funding and support staff to reach this goal. Most of our travel is paid for by the organization that invites us, but not all the time. At some events, we receive generous love offerings to further our vision, but other love offerings don’t cover our expenses.

We also rely on the ongoing regular support of God’s people to fulfill this dream.

We need your help.

We need intercessory prayer. People who pray for us regularly, at least weekly. This is a vision that can only be fulfilled prayerfully as we seek God’s direction for the growth of this ministry. Join our Intercessors List if you feel led to pray for us regularly and consistently.
We need your financial support. Regular gifts of $10, $25, $100, and $500 a month through PRMI go a long way towards fulfilling this dream. You can donate online now at Support our Work. Automatic monthly contributions can be setup on your credit card. Any gift will further advance our ministry.
Donate airline Miles. We can use these to travel back to the US as needed for personal and family visits.

Prayerfully consider how you might participate in our dream to train pastors and church leaders in Latin America. We know that times are tough in the US economy, but we believe that God can use you to further our calling.

We are excited about the opportunities in front of us and are grateful for your investment in this work.

Prayer for our Time in Nicaragua

December 16, 2008 by ecoach Leave a Comment

Here is how you can pray for our time in Nicaragua:

Pray for the teachers as we finalize the teaching schedule — that we focus on what the Nicaraguans need; that we are guided in making handouts, that the technology works.
Pray for safe travel for all, and for Susan & Lydia staying alone in Managua the first night. Pray for us to be able to sleep at night and to feel the presence of Jesus there.
Pray for us to really connect with all the new North American Young Life staff as well as renew our love & connections with the Nicaraguans.
Pray for our physical health prior to & during the trip, especially Chris with his allergies.
Pray for unity among our team; that we model team ministry in a way that delights Jesus and that we can offer this as a gift to them. This was one of the big ways we impacted them before and I pray that any attempted attacks of the enemy on our love & unity would not even be allowed to get close.
Pray for the Nicaraguans to be open to learning a new style of prayer/healing ministry; that there will be no offense. The PRMI style is very different from what they may be used to.
Finally, pray for God to heal people in significant, measurable and powerful ways!!

Children’s Evangelism Workshop December

December 3, 2008 by ecoach 1 Comment

: Training Childrens Workers

December 13, we will be conducting a Children’s Evangelism Workshop in Panama, in the Las Cumbres area north of the city.

Brenda will be doing work on more crafts, which will be put up on her website, and I will be giving a lecture on Child Evangelism.

UPDATE:

Brenda will be doing a training for Sunday school workers who work among high–risk kids — defined as abandoned, abused, or parents who are addicted.

I will be doing a workshop in Spanish about the vision for evangelism and missions for kids. 90 minutes in Spanish is still intimidating to me, but I’ve got about 15 days to prepare.

As we listened to stories of the social problems that plague this neighborhood from crime, poverty, and broken family systems, our hearts break, in the same way Paul was distressed walking the streets of Athens. “We don’t have resources” and “We don’t have enough training” is what we kept hearing during our meeting this week.

We hear (as well as see in our own experience) that the greatest hindrance to ministry to children is leaders who don’t or can’t prepare. Brenda’s workshop is to cast a vision — you prepare because you want to reach children — not babysit. It is also to provide a practical skill — how to create crafts from household recyclables.

We heard of pastors who don’t have a vision for reaching children because they can’t give an offering, and one desired result of our training will be pastors catch the vision for evangelizing children.

Brenda and I have worked in some housing projects in Richmond. Those are good places compared to what we are likely walking into. Those places have pastors who lead churches that care about children. Those places have children’s workers who want to reach kids. Those are places where churches have resources to invest.

We’ve been given a giant task, as well as responsibility, to cast vision and call people to evangelize and disciple children, to call the church to a higher level of calling and commitment. 14 churches are sending their pastors and children’s workers to this event. Please pray.

It is also our hope that Brenda and I will be able to prepare a DVD of teaching ahead of time that we can sell as a take away. Pray that we can get the filming and editing done next week.

Pray for:

Preparation Time.
We’d be obedient to the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
Anointing to teach and cast that vision
Provision to cover the rental car we need to get there.
Personal Safety in the area.
Anointing in Spanish for me and Brenda.

Growing A Small Group

November 1, 2008 by ecoach Leave a Comment

We’ve recently gotten connected with a local small group. It meets in a living room home, about a 15 minute walk from our house. Most of the attendees are from Panama or Venezuela. It is in Spanish.

Our host is the Vargas/Sifontes Family, church planters from Venezuela pictured.

The blessing to us after the first year here is that it is a place where we are connecting with people, slowly.

It’s still a little chaotic with the people coming only 1 time to check it out, but those that remain are beginning to connect.

Each week thus far has been on self-care, using excellent Bible passages. It is an honest and accurate mix of psychology and Scripture and each group ends with a practical application.

I also like that each ending is focused on who will I be inviting next week?

So, who am I iniviting?

I’m inviting the security guard who works in front of our building. We’ve been talking in recent days and he seems to be awakening in his faith. When he first started working here he was self-described as far from God.

However, he’s recently asked me for devotional books in Spanish.

I shared with him a monthly devotional that I use, which he has been reading in his own time. It has Bible verses, a meditation, and questions about the text. It also has directions for prayer.

He wants more, so I invited him to join our Bible Study.

Pray for our security guard. He has already invited his teenage daughter to come with him to the study.

Diablo Rojos – Red Devils

Panama Taxis

Rental Cars

How can you pray?

So, who am I iniviting?

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