November Update

Return From India

Trip to India

Kicking Off Another Season

Kona September Update

August Update and the Foreseeable Future

Kona Update 8-12-14

Kona July Update

Kona June Update 6/29/14

Kona Update 6-11-14

Kona Update 5-8-14

Nagaland Team Update 4

Hello from Nagaland,

Last week was a great week once again.

Some highlights of the week:

-Spending three evenings with a group of college girls and guys teaching them the Bible Overview over two days and acting out the book of Esther.

-Saturday doing an all day seminar with a church of young people teaching them how to study the Bible inductively through the book of Philemon. It was so cool to get to spend some in depth time with them and watch them get excited over studying the Bible themselves as we did workshops with them!

-On Sunday we got the opportunity to attend a seminar hosted by a local church featuring a speaker from Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. It was refreshing to get to be in the audience rather than teaching and we got to learn a lot about Nagaland through the time.

-As well this week we have done a few house visits and had opportunity encourage and pray for people in their homes.

-Monday marked the half-way point of our time here. We took some time as a team to look back at our first half and look forward to the second half. We feel that God has shown us so much blessing in our time here and are looking forward to what He has planned yet.

Prayer Requests:

-Continued good health and endurance

-Continued focus and dependence on God

-For the people here that the Word of God would grow in their hearts

Thanks so much for all of your continued prayers!

Love and Prayers,

Nagaland Team

Nagaland Team Update 3

We have continued to be busy with teachings here. During the week many of the places that we go give us three or four days in a row so that we have been able to do Bible Overview and Inductive Bible Study with them or a topical series. We have been spending the majority of our time with youth and young adults teaching in college hostels (dorms), at schools and last week at a teacher’s college. On Saturday, we were able to spend all day at a small church doing the Bible Overview and an evening preaching with them. Sundays are usually spent teaching in Sunday Schools and in the evenings at church services or fellowships.

We are continuing to enjoy building relationships with the people we meet here which has been such a blessing. It is so encouraging to see how hungry they are to know God and how they are growing in their love for the Bible. Christer has been spending time with our friend Michael teaching him more about studying the Bible inductively and encouraging him as a leader of his peers. As well, we have been hanging out with our contact Mego, his sister Tiku, and our cook Alwen a lot as well as others that we have met through our time here.  Yesterday, on our off day we went on a hike up Mount Pulibate. The view of Kohima from the top was incredible and we had a lot of fun just being with them without an agenda. We are continually being blessed by the hospitality and warm welcome of the people here and we’re so excited for how God is working here!

Praises and Prayer Request:

-Prayer: Last week some of our team and contacts were fighting colds, so pray for good rest and health!

-Praise: We continually are seeing God bless and provide for all our needs through the generosity of people here and sometimes through just an early night so we can get more sleep when we’re about to run out of energy

-Praise: Junell has been here for almost two weeks now and it’s been awesome to have our whole team together

-Prayer: Continued good communication with our contacts and wisdom in our scheduling teachings

-Prayer: That God would continue to speak to the people here and use His Word to call them into deeper, committed personal relationship with Him. And that people would be willing to say “yes” to following Him completely.

Nagaland Team Update 2

Nagaland Team Update #2

3.12.2014

            It has now been one and a half weeks since we have been in Nagaland. It seems like longer as our days have been long and full. We are enjoying getting to know the city of Kohima and the people who live here on a more personal level. Researching and talking to people before we came gave us a great sketch of Nagaland, but being here is like adding full color. There are just some things about a place and a people that cannot be described until you experience it firsthand.

            This past week our average schedule was two speaking engagements a day. We started our first week of Bible Study with Kohima Baptist Mission Church which we will be continuing throughout our time here three days a week.

We got to spend two days with a group of kids who are all the children of police officers. The families of police here live in community together, much like the military. The range of kids was from under 10 to 20 years old. We were blessed by the heart of those leading this youth group to take the time to disciple and invest in these kids’ lives when they could so easily be living under less desirable influences. We saw such a heart for God that was being developed in them.

            This weekend we spent three days at the Kohima Bible College and got to know the students there. The people of this college have a focus on missions and really have hearts that are seeking to know the heart of God personally. In an area that is struggling with a lot of complacency in their Christianity it was good to see that God is actively raising up young people passionate about him. Getting to spend time worshiping and talking with the students was a big blessing of refreshment for our team!

            Our favorite part so far has been getting to build relationships with the people here. They are very welcoming and love to talk! Often, after teaching engagements we had tea and get to spend time talking. We have been finding that teachers, especially foreigners, are given a high amount of respect and often their word is taken as truth without question. We’re realizing how much of an influence we have just through our words and the way we live. As well, how important it is for us to be using the teachings about studying the Bible to encourage them to study and know God for themselves, rather than just taking other people’s word as truth.            

Praises and Prayer Requests:

·      Praise - After a lot of waiting, Junell is joining our team today!!

·      Pray – That we could break the barrier between the people and their perception of us as teachers.

·      Pray – That we would be able to continue to build relationships with those we have met and be an encouragement to them

·      Pray – That the people of Nagaland would grow in personal relationship with God and realize that he is worthy of their lives. That they would be inspired to not just believe this for themselves, but also to take it into the world.

Nagaland Team Update 1

Nagaland Team Update

3.4.2014

Hello Everyone,

We arrived safely in Nagaland on Sunday afternoon. Our trip was long, but smooth without any major problems. We had a two hour drive from the airport in Dimipur to Kohima in the mountains. The road was in pretty rough conditions in some places, but we had an excellent driver.

We spent Sunday evening with our host MC and his wife Atsu and their three kids getting a little more oriented with the culture. MC and Atsu are part of YWAM Nagaland ministering here in Kohima. 

Their main focus is working with the churches here and running a week long course on the Fatherheart of God. They would also like to get a three month Bible Core Course started up in the future. They see both of these programs bringing the truth of God as Father and personally knowing the Bible as key to bringing new life into the nominal Christian atmosphere of Nagaland.

On Monday we went out and saw the town and got our food supplies for the week with Mego, their one other YWAM staff and our cook Gugu. Kohima is a lot bigger than we expected and very well supplied. The best way to describe it would be bustling with people and traffic. There are a lot of local vegetable and butcher stands mixed with clothing and imported goods stores.

This morning, Tuesday, we started our 5am Bible Study at Baptist Mission Church where we will be teaching every Tuesday through Thursday throughout most of our stay here. This week Jane is teaching Bible Overview and then we will be taking turns working through some books of the Bible. We’re looking forward to building relationships with them.

On a relationship note, we’re finding that connecting with the people is going to be great fun. Nagaland is very community oriented. Today the guys are checking out a local city wrestling match with Mego and tomorrow we’ve been invited to attend a wedding.

Prayer Requests and Praises:

·      Junell’s visa and passport are approved and mailed to Taiwan!! Pray that a good plane ticket can be found and she can get here as soon as possible. As well, that she would have safe traveling here.

·      For our teaching schedule (which is quite busy) and good time management.

·      For the people of Nagaland that they would encounter Jesus personally and discover the joy of relationship with God and freedom from legalism.

·      That our team would continue to grow together and be able to spread God’s love through our actions and attitudes as well as our words.

Titus Update

Brief Kona Update

2014: New Year, New Plans