This is a letter that my mom got from Sharon Roelke:
Lindy, greetings from Kenya. We arrived safe and have had a very
interesting but long journey. We went to church today. We need to
learn a few things from them about worship. It was only a three hour
service. This afternoon we helped with feeding the street children.
They enjoyed interacting with all of us, we are certainly an anomaly.
They were very interested in my braces. The weather is great. Keep
praying for us, we will be doing devotions, helping teach the women and
beginning a goat house. Sharon
Monday, June 30, 2008
Kenya Prayer Calendar
Sunday school teachers and presidents,
On Wednesday June 25th seven of us will be leaving for
Please pray for us as we travel, this is an especially long trip. We will leave
“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21
|
| | | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | ||
| 25-Jun | 26-Jun | 27-Jun | 28-Jun | |||||
| | | | Leaving | Arrival in | Travel to Meru. | First day of mission work. | ||
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | ||
| 29-Jun | 30-Jun | 1-Jul | 2-Jul | 3-Jul | 4-Jul | 5-Jul | ||
| Church & street children feeding | | Street children feeding | | Street children feeding | Tour Samburu National Reserve | Travel to | ||
| Sunday | Team members: Philip Green, Joseph McWilliams, Mike & Leah Patzig, Dave, Sharon and KJ Roelke. | | | | | | ||
| 6-Jul | | | | | | | ||
| Arrive Home! | | | | | | |
General requests: Pray that we will bring fresh energy, willing hands and encouragement to the ministry. That we would be encouraged and grow by stepping out of our comfort zones. For our experience of community as a team and with the larger body of believers there. That we would be able to share the gospel through our words, actions and willingness to go.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Update from the Orths
Guatemala, April 25, 2008
Dear Friends at First United Methodist Church,
We send greetings to you from a warming and trembling Guatemala. Tremors mark the change of seasons from cold and dry to warm and then later on the rains will begin.
Stan often writes these letters but I am insisting on writing this one becuase I think you should know of the impact he continues to have at the Central American Theological Seminary. This is an encouragement to him to know God is still using him to teach the Word. And I believe it can be an encouragement to you who have been with us in this ministry through so many years. You are a great blessing to us.
At the end of the first quarter of the academic year, the Dean's office used a new procedure for student evaluations of each course. A detailed questionnaire is used with a statistical analysis following it. Stan regularly receives high points, but his course, "Principles of Spiritual Formation," received special recognition at a breakfast for the faculty (34 profs) because it earned the highest evaluation of all the classes taught. He thoroughly enjoyed working with the group of 19 students, the largest grad course this quarter. Grad courses meet all morning once a week. He dedicates long hours to preparation and writing notes and the 4 hours of class almost wear him out. Knowing that what he teaches is changing lives and preparing men and women for ministry makes the hard work a joy. These are some of the comments from the students.
"The class helped me to evaluate in a serious way my own spiritual life and take action in
order to grow more in the image of Christ."
"A great class."
"Excellent material"
"Thank you, Dr. Orth, for continuing to bless my life. God has used you to speak to my
heart."
Personally the life and teachings of Dr. Orth have been a blessing and challenge in my
life. For the Seminary it is an honor to have him as a teacher."
As I finish this letter, I need to change the subject. We are very grateful to the Lord that for 10 years we have not needed to write about support needs. However, for several years now we have seen contributions diminishing because some of our friends have retired and others are with the Lord. A church is in financial distress. For this reason we are considerably behind in our ministry account which provides for travel, teaching materials, hospitality for Bible study groups, student retreats, secretarial help and many other details. Would you please pray for this need?
"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing." John 15:5 NASB
Dear Friends at First United Methodist Church,
We send greetings to you from a warming and trembling Guatemala. Tremors mark the change of seasons from cold and dry to warm and then later on the rains will begin.
Stan often writes these letters but I am insisting on writing this one becuase I think you should know of the impact he continues to have at the Central American Theological Seminary. This is an encouragement to him to know God is still using him to teach the Word. And I believe it can be an encouragement to you who have been with us in this ministry through so many years. You are a great blessing to us.
At the end of the first quarter of the academic year, the Dean's office used a new procedure for student evaluations of each course. A detailed questionnaire is used with a statistical analysis following it. Stan regularly receives high points, but his course, "Principles of Spiritual Formation," received special recognition at a breakfast for the faculty (34 profs) because it earned the highest evaluation of all the classes taught. He thoroughly enjoyed working with the group of 19 students, the largest grad course this quarter. Grad courses meet all morning once a week. He dedicates long hours to preparation and writing notes and the 4 hours of class almost wear him out. Knowing that what he teaches is changing lives and preparing men and women for ministry makes the hard work a joy. These are some of the comments from the students.
"The class helped me to evaluate in a serious way my own spiritual life and take action in
order to grow more in the image of Christ."
"A great class."
"Excellent material"
"Thank you, Dr. Orth, for continuing to bless my life. God has used you to speak to my
heart."
Personally the life and teachings of Dr. Orth have been a blessing and challenge in my
life. For the Seminary it is an honor to have him as a teacher."
As I finish this letter, I need to change the subject. We are very grateful to the Lord that for 10 years we have not needed to write about support needs. However, for several years now we have seen contributions diminishing because some of our friends have retired and others are with the Lord. A church is in financial distress. For this reason we are considerably behind in our ministry account which provides for travel, teaching materials, hospitality for Bible study groups, student retreats, secretarial help and many other details. Would you please pray for this need?
"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing." John 15:5 NASB
Gratefully;
Barbara Orth
Thursday, June 12, 2008
A Bit Longer Update From Charles and Becky Jackson...
Becky and I are currently ministering in Brazil and will be here until the end of June. We have been traveling since the first of the year (India, Florida, California, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Virginia). One of the areas of our work here (Niterói) is with the people who live in the Nova Mexico and Santa Barbara slums. It has been a real joy to see how the Lord has moved in the lives of these people over the past 5 years. At the present time we are not able to enter the Nova Mexico slum (visitation and participation in the cell church meetings) as there is literally "war" between the police and the drug gangs. The police enter without warning and begin shooting. This is something that we have experienced first hand. In addition to this, the drug gangs are at war with each other! Please pray for this situation and the families that are going through this daily nightmare. The devaluation of the $ , the rise in the cost of the price of food (in some cases 100%) has also added to the misery of these people. At the present time we are providing a "food" basket for 27 families ($1,100) per month. Please pray for the Lord's touch on the world´s economies.
We are also ministering in the Santa Barbara Methodist Church and have known many of its members since the early 90's. On sunday, June 15th we will participate in the dedication of the second phase of construction of their new worship center. This is truly a miracle! From June 9th until the 18th we will be hosting a short term mission team from Good Shepherd UMC, Cypress, TX. The team will focus on ministering to the children and youth (VBS for the children and several days with the youth) as well as helping with some minor construction at the church. We will also have a service for the "food" basket families (distribution of the baskets, dinner and a worship service).
In August and September we plan to return to India and continue ministering to the loan group recipients as well as sharing with the pastors, evangelists and visiting door to door in several villages and two large slums in Hyderabad. From the middle of October until the middle of November we hope to return to Brazil.
Please let everyone there know how much we appreciate their prayer and financial support. It is a real pleasure and privilege to share the goodness of our Lord and Savior with the people in these countries. We pray His continual anointing on all that you do in His name.
Only By His Grace,
Charles and Becky Jackson
We are also ministering in the Santa Barbara Methodist Church and have known many of its members since the early 90's. On sunday, June 15th we will participate in the dedication of the second phase of construction of their new worship center. This is truly a miracle! From June 9th until the 18th we will be hosting a short term mission team from Good Shepherd UMC, Cypress, TX. The team will focus on ministering to the children and youth (VBS for the children and several days with the youth) as well as helping with some minor construction at the church. We will also have a service for the "food" basket families (distribution of the baskets, dinner and a worship service).
In August and September we plan to return to India and continue ministering to the loan group recipients as well as sharing with the pastors, evangelists and visiting door to door in several villages and two large slums in Hyderabad. From the middle of October until the middle of November we hope to return to Brazil.
Please let everyone there know how much we appreciate their prayer and financial support. It is a real pleasure and privilege to share the goodness of our Lord and Savior with the people in these countries. We pray His continual anointing on all that you do in His name.
Only By His Grace,
Charles and Becky Jackson
Friday, June 6, 2008
Short Update from Charles and Becky Jackson
Along with a prayer request. This was sent in a personal email, but for those of you praying for them, please keep it in mind.
"We are in Brazil and will be here for a month. We have been traveling since Jan. and are looking forward to being home in July. We have a great team coming from Cypress to work with us for 10 days. Sadly, the slum where we work is in a war currently ( drug lords and police). Please pray for us and for the safety of our brazilian friends who live there.
Becky"
"We are in Brazil and will be here for a month. We have been traveling since Jan. and are looking forward to being home in July. We have a great team coming from Cypress to work with us for 10 days. Sadly, the slum where we work is in a war currently ( drug lords and police). Please pray for us and for the safety of our brazilian friends who live there.
Becky"
Update from Colombianita
For those of you who don't know what's going on, check out Adrienne's tag on the right side of the screen for the story. Adrienne just sent out an email with this update:
"hey folks,
if you are receiving this email it is because i am assuming that you know about the situation within colombianita (the little recycling community where most of our kids come from). the government has been saying for months that they are going to tear it down and send it´s inhabitants to pre-constructed homes in the south of bogota to a place called ciudad bolivar. this has been a huge concern since the moment it was mentioned as a possibility. selfishly, i prayed that it would be postponed until i returned to colombia from my month in the united states. i have now been back since friday and the kids have been here. it was absolutely incredible to see them all again. smiles and hugs have never meant so much. unfortunately the time finally came, they are being forced to leave tomorrow. when we dropped the kids off today for the last time, they had already begun destroying parts of their homes. i write this email to ask for your prayers. prayers for the kids and their families. the government has not followed through on their promise to send them to homes in the most dangerous part of bogota (ciudad bolivar) and as a result they are scattering to all parts of bogota, some with no where to go. there has been a great deal of violence already between the police and the families within colombianita because the people of colombianita do not want to leave. pray especially for the kids. pray that somehow the seeds that have been sown continue to grow and that more will continue to teach them about the love of God. pray for their safety especially during this potentially very violent time.
thank you all for being the family that you are to me.
most sincerely,
adrienne"
"hey folks,
if you are receiving this email it is because i am assuming that you know about the situation within colombianita (the little recycling community where most of our kids come from). the government has been saying for months that they are going to tear it down and send it´s inhabitants to pre-constructed homes in the south of bogota to a place called ciudad bolivar. this has been a huge concern since the moment it was mentioned as a possibility. selfishly, i prayed that it would be postponed until i returned to colombia from my month in the united states. i have now been back since friday and the kids have been here. it was absolutely incredible to see them all again. smiles and hugs have never meant so much. unfortunately the time finally came, they are being forced to leave tomorrow. when we dropped the kids off today for the last time, they had already begun destroying parts of their homes. i write this email to ask for your prayers. prayers for the kids and their families. the government has not followed through on their promise to send them to homes in the most dangerous part of bogota (ciudad bolivar) and as a result they are scattering to all parts of bogota, some with no where to go. there has been a great deal of violence already between the police and the families within colombianita because the people of colombianita do not want to leave. pray especially for the kids. pray that somehow the seeds that have been sown continue to grow and that more will continue to teach them about the love of God. pray for their safety especially during this potentially very violent time.
thank you all for being the family that you are to me.
most sincerely,
adrienne"
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