Prayer
and Praise - January 2004
Special Thanks
Thank God with us for people like you that remember to pray for BGFM
missionaries and ministries. Your helping by prayer was so important
to all of us in 2003 (II Cor. 1:11). Over 850 prayer bulletins go out
by mail and e-mail. We thank God for your ministry in prayer.
Chris
& Jana Disler
Pray for our neighbors and friends that we have contact with here
in Brazil that they will trust Christ as their Savior. Pray that we
would have a good testimony before them and have many opportunities
to share Christ.
Jim
& Lydia Johnson
Pray for Erasmo as he comes to Quixere to continue the new work in
this city. Pray for Raimundo as he begins to lead the Limoeiro church.
Pray for Juliano, a 19 year old who is very sick with leukemia, and
unable to do treatments due to heart problems. He is about nine months
old in the Lord and the only Christian in his community.
Priscila
School
Praise that we have found a good location to hold the Fortaleza session
of Priscila School on January 19-23. We are praying for at least 50
students.
David
& Connie Johnson - Leave of Absence
Pray for God's wisdom as we make plans and present them to the mission
board. Pray that Darlene will make better progress as she studies,
so she can get her GED diploma. Pray for Jeff's needs. Pray for spiritual
growth as a family. Praise the Lord for strength, grace, and wisdom
to deal with difficult issues. Praise the Lord that our son, Douglas
could visit us at Thanksgiving time.
Sitio
Boata Bible Church
Pray for Pastor Luis Ivan and family at the Sitio Boata Bible Church.
It is good to see more believers involved in the work of the Lord.
Pray that the AWANA program will continue reaching more new families.
Pray for a solution to the small space available, which limits growth.
Ken
& Lori Stucky
January is a break for ALPHA students but a full month for ALPHA staff.
Please pray for enrollment to go smoothly and for the hiring of several
new staffers. In June, we plan to do ground breaking on the permanent
campus for the ALPHA School. Pray for sponsors for the 5000 square
feet of this first stage of construction.
SIBIMA
Seminary
Praise that Pastor Adil who worked with us over three years ago has
sensed God's leading to return and become Dean of Students. This is
a step of faith on his part and the seminary. Pray for God's provision
of additional supporters for the general fund of SIBIMA. Pray for
more students increasing their hours. Pray that we can expand and
see this ministry become more dynamic, impacting church planting in
Brazil and around the world.
Al
& Nadine Pierschbacher
Praise the Lord for the salvation of Ann Alice, a University student
from our Monday night home Bible study. Praise for the salvation decision
of Lilia. Lilia is a lawyer and her husband, Regis, is a plastic surgeon.
Pray for Regis' salvation and Lilia's discipleship and spiritual growth.
Praise for Lance's safe arrival for Christmas with us and pray for
a better job and his return to college in 2004. Pray with us for the
expansion of the Retreat Center and church planting in the town of
Pacoti where Renata, a 14 year old new believer, is growing and sharing
her faith with friends and family.
Roger
& Crystal Johansen
Praise the Lord for Eliel's salvation! Praise also for new believers
sharing their faith. Pray for us as we seek wisdom and funds for new
works and more church plant ministries. Pray for safety for our family
as well as our co-workers.
Jonathan
& Chima Nichols - Furlough
Pastor Mendonca has been transferred from Sobral to Crateus and desires
to plant a church there together with another national pastor. Pray
that God would work out the details. Pray for Mendonca's safety, as
he is subcommander of the newly upgraded police headquarters in Crateus
and was responsible for the arrest of a number of gangsters who were
immediately released from jail by local lawyers.
Jerry
& Bev Lehrman
We praise the Lord for the opportunity to be working at the Antioch
Bible institute. Pray for returning students and the large group of
new students we have coming at the end of this month. There is a lot
to be prepared before their arrival - lessons for next semester as
well as housing. Pray that we as teachers can be faithful in equipping
these students, so that they can go out and be effective workers in
our churches in the coming years.
Dale
& Carol Johnson
Praise the Lord for expected opportunities of ministry afforded us
and the strength "to keep on keeping on". Praise God for
the enthusiasm of various Brazilian pastors in the radio ministry.
Pray that more pastors will catch the vision of putting the gospel
on radio waves as doors open before them.
Matthew
9:37-38
"Then saith he unto His disciples,
the havest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; Pray ye therefore
the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth laborers into His
harvest".
Nancy
Lieb
Praise for Vandyrene who has volunteered her time to work on getting
the lessons organized in the Audio Visuals Department at SIBIMA. Pray
that as we offer these lessons to the churches they may be a blessing.
Joe
& Jeanie Stucky
Pray for Evaristo who is battling lung cancer. He is getting weaker
and the pain is becoming more intense. Pray that he may remain firm
in the Lord. Pray that his wife would be able to keep her eyes on
the Lord rather than the circumstances at this difficult time. Pray
for his children who have made professions of salvation but are not
walking with the Lord.
Ellie
Driesenga
Praise the Lord for His provision of a house near the church where
I will be ministering. Please pray as the Timbo Bible Church takes
this month of school vacation to do some extra training of teachers
and other activities. Pray that it will be an effective time edifying
this body of young Christians.
National
Pastors & Churches
Pray for eight pastors in our group of churches that are moving at
this time. Pray that the Lord will direct them in new fields of service
and for wisdom in their new ministries. Pray also for the churches
as they seek the Lord's direction in new leadership.
Wendell
& Florence Ann Hayden - Furlough
We praise the Lord for a year of blessed ministry in 2003. It was
a very full year with big changes in our lives as we closed our ministry
on the field and settled into life here in the states. We thank the
Lord for His leading in several important decisions, including the
purchase of a house. Also for His provision for furnishings for our
new home. We thank Him, too, for visits to many of our supporters
during the past year. Thank you for your prayers for us.
Ron
& Nancy Johnson
Praise for four good months in Fortaleza with opportunities to serve
at the guest house and in various other ministries. Pray for wisdom
and grace as we try to help in several difficult situations. Pray
for the Jereisatti Bible Church as it seeks to work through some ongoing
problems in the church.
Bruce
& Lee Ann Nichols
Pray for Enoch and Vanalda as they start married life together and
as he looks for a job. Pray that they will honor the Lord in their
relationship. On the 24th and 25th, Bruce and Lee Ann will be involved
in a family conference in Caninde where we served the Lord several
years ago. Pray that the Lord would use us to equip families for His
glory.
Philip
& Rachel Stucky
We praise the Lord for a smooth leadership transition at SIBIMIA Seminary.
Pray for wisdom for Pastor Jenuan as he begins his responsibilities
as Seminary president this month.
Dan
& Linda Anderson
We are thankful for Pastor Eriomar, the Brazilian pastor that God
has provided for our church. With this provision brings much change
for the Brazilian believers as well as the missionaries. Pray that
each person will be obedient to God's direction for his life.
Gerald
& Amy Bergen - Retired
Praise the Lord that Gerald's cataract surgery went well. He can already
see better than he has ever seen with his right eye. Pray for Gerald,
as he is chairman of the search committee that will direct us to the
right pastor for our church. Praise God for our interim Pastor, Brian
Jones.
Harold
& Ruth Green
May the Lord be praised for His faithfulness over the affairs of our
mission during the past year, especially the financial interests of
our mission and its missionaries. Looking into this new year, our
prayer is that we will be found as noble stewards of all that the
Lord sends us to manage for His glory. We would appreciate your prayers
as we travel to Spokane, WA in February for a time with family and
supporters.
Larry
& Ruth Lipka
Thank God with us for many opportunities we have had to share God's
Word and our hearts for missions in 2003. Thank God for His safety
in traveling thousands of miles by car and plane. Praise God with
us for His goodness to us, His servants.
Lucy
Lieb
Pray for my ministry with Nova Metropole. This year my goal is to
work in planning and training rather than teaching a class. Our attendance
has been slowly slipping down, and my goal is to see this turn around.
Pray as I organize the student workers for SIBIMA.
Dave
& Sue Eldert
As field coordinator, Dave was able to visit most of our missionaries
and see their ministries during twelve days of traveling. Sue's mom
is back home from a month's stay in a nursing home and seems to be
recuperating. Pray for our preparations at Antioch Bible Institute
for housing, courses, and eight new students coming January.
Brian
& Cindy Peplow
We praise the Lord for ninety children from a neighboring slum that
are hearing the gospel weekly. Several have trusted Christ. Planalto
church would like to start a daughter work in this slum within the
next six months. Please pray that God will put together the church-planting
team He desires. Pray for Cindy as she has just begun to study the
Gospel of John with Brenia. She is the fiance of a recent convert,
Sandro, who Brian has been discipling.
Ron
& Ranelle Stucky
Alpha Christian School starts a new school year January 29th. Pray
for new teachers, new and returning students, funds for new computers,
sponsors for students and wisdom in many decisions and plans that
need to be made.
Home
Office Staff
Pray for the home office staff as we minister during this new year.
