Prayer and Praise - April 2006
Bill & Sandi Graf - Missionaries at Large
Praise the Lord for a recent message from a young Brazilian whose parents were from Fortaleza. They were missionaries in Bolivia, but with error in some doctrinal areas. The young man's heart was changed during his years of study at Rio Grande Bible Institute and he is now serving the Lord in a Spanish-speaking church in Wisconsin. Praise God that we can still have a part in the sending out of trained leaders from Brazil, as well as other places.
Chris & Jana Disler
Pray for the new church planting work in Morada Nova. Praise the Lord for the addition of a Brazilian pastor/missionary who began helping in this work in March. Pray for our evangelistic Bible studies and that we would be able to begin church services in the next month or two.
Ron & Ranelle Stucky
Praise the Lord for a good start to the Adolescent ministry in our home. Pray for us to effectively challenge them to grow in Christ.
Roger & Crystal Johansen
We are thankful for Philip and Rachel Stucky who have moved to Maceio to minister with all of us. Pray for Crystal and our baby daughter as she travels to the U.S. She will be there for six weeks to be with a close family member who is fighting cancer.
Jonathan & Chima Nichols
Praise that Humberto, my electronic editor, has asked to study the Bible with me. Pray for his salvation. Pray for wisdom as I begin to prepare Gervasio to teach in my place June through September while we are in the U.S. Praise for the good results as I counsel with the leaders of Sobral Bible Church and a former leader.
Harold & Ruth Green - Finance Director BGFM
We are grateful to the Lord for a special time of fellowship with our furloughing missionaries and board members during our Annual Business Meeting and Banquet last month. Pray for wisdom for Ruth as she applies herself to the day to day office tasks and for Harold in the management of the accounting department.
Bruce & LeeAnn Nichols
We thank the Lord for the gift of one thousand books entitled "Your quest for God" we received as a gift from a church in Pennsylvania. Pray for wisdom from God as we distribute them and that people will read it and God will give them understanding of the gospel. Pray that people will come to God repentant of sin and with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Pray for the growth of His church in Caucaia. Pray that the Lord will daily give Bruce wisdom from above as chairman of the field council in making business decisions and leading our missionaries in serving the Lord.
Satellite School for Pastors & Laymen
Pray for the Santa Quiteria satellite school serving six interior churches. Pastors and laymen not able to attend Bible School, have it monthly brought to them. Pray for the teachers as they prepare, travel and teach. Praise for the thirteen new students attending the school. Others wanted to join, but were not able to for lack of transportation or because of job schedule conflicts. Pray that they will yet be able to work out a solution.
Joe & Jeanie Stucky
Pray that as achurch body we will honor God with our giving and that we will get excited about working on our church property to provide covered facilities for our Sunday school classes and services. Pray also for each of us to faithfully witness to our unsaved friends and acquaintances.
Jim & Lydia Johnson
We praise the Lord for the opportunities of the Easter season. Pray as we work towards beginning public meetings in Morada Nova. We have found a good number of illiterates in Morada Nova, and request prayer as we readjust our Bible studies to reach these people.
National Pastor
Pastor Luis Ivan is thankful to the Lord that his daughter, Lisandra, who dove into water which was more shallow than she realized, only bruised her face and needed to have stitches on her lip and didn't have more serious injuries.
Philip & Rachel Stucky
We are now settled into our new home in the city of Maceio and would ask that you pray for us as we begin planting a new church in the suburb of Village Campestre. Pray for wisdom as we train Jackson and Beto to lead the congregation there. Daniel and Tatiana are the first fruits of this new work; praise the Lord for their decision to place their faith in Christ and pray that they would grow daily in the Lord.
Gerald & Amy Bergen - Retired
We praise the Lord for the tremendous opportunity we have in teaching and having input into the lives of 25 students committed to ministry for the Lord. We thank the Lord for each one. Added to this we have had the opportunity of ministering in nine different churches. Gerald also attended two national pastor's fellowships. Please continue to pray for the national pastors.
Al & Nadine Pierschbacher
Praise the Lord for the new church start. Our first services had 80 and 50 in attendance. Pray for the right servants to join us in this effort and that they will come in with an attitude to serve. We had a great time with some of our core leadership people over the holidays at the Retreat Center. Pray for the construction of the new kitchen, dining hall and reception. The floor is done and we will soon start on the walls. Pray for the salvation of Joe Airton, his wife Val and Tiago.
Priscilla School - Teacher Training for Women
Pray for wisdom as we work on plans for the Priscilla School at the Silver Lake Bible Camp in July. Due to the lower dollar exchange we need to raise our rates. Pray that we will still have a good number of students. We would like to have at least thirty students.
Jerry & Bev Lehrman
It was great to have Gerald and Amy Bergen here the past two months to teach at the Bible Institute. The students benefitted from their experience and expertise, and we enjoyed fellowship with them also. For the rest of the semester we have Al Pierschbacher, Bruce Nichols and one of our national pastors, Aguiar, who will each be coming several times in the next two months to help with the teaching. God is so good to provide people to help teach our future church leaders.
Ellie Driesenga - Furlough
Please continue to pray as I study at Calvary Bible College and share in churches on the weekend. This is the last month to finish all assignments and tests before graduation. Pray that I would be able to complete my assignments on time.
Paul & Elaine Syers
Please pray for Armenia and Evonildes, two pastors' wives who are doing a great job teaching at Antioch Bible Institute this year and Aguiar, a pastor who will begin in April to give Monday mornings to teaching. All three have many other responsibilities in their home churches but spend much time in preparation in order to do a good job. Evonildes, her husband and Aguiar leave home very early on their motorcycles, often in the rain now that it is rainy season. Armenia lives nearby but has three boys to get off to school before her class.
Dan & Linda Anderson
Maria's decision to trust Christ less than a year ago was a shock. But the shock of her transformed life has been greater still. Praise the Lord with us for this transformed life. Two of her granddaughters have trusted Christ. Pray for Maria's testimony as she has to work in her husband's bar. Pray also for her husband, Cicero and her grown son, Sandro to trust Christ.
National Pastors
April 20th through the 22nd pastors, leaders and their families will gather at our camp located on an island for instruction and fellowship. Please pray God's blessings on them.
Ed & Jane Lieb - Retired
Pray for Ed as he prepares lessons on Corinthians to teach at Antioch Bible Institute. Pray for the Lord's guidance in purchasing passage, and all the decisions for the trip. Pray that the Lord will continue to use us here for His glory.
David & Connie Johnson
Praise for many open doors for friendship evangelism, and evangelistic home Bible studies. Praise for a good number at regular services held at three homes. Pray for a good location to rent for meetings. Pray for wisdom for weekly marriages counseling seesions with two couples: Flavio & Rejane, and Bob & Valdelucia. Pray for Bob's salvation.
Larry & Ruth Lipka - Executive Director BGFM
MK's or missionary along with their parents find April to be a time of challenge because the school year is ending. Some are pushing to complete home schooling and others face the semester ending activites with extra programs, activities and graduation. College MK's need work for the summer and sometimes a place to live. Pray for God's strength and provision for each one during this extra busy month.
Short Term Ministries
Several young people have made application for short term ministries on our BGFM fields. There is always the process of financial support, passage, passports and visas and other preparations to complete. Pray that this would not be a time of anxiety for them but a precious time of growing in the Lord. Pray that their time in Brazil would be very profitable in their lives and in the areas where they minister.
1 Corinthians 15:34
“Awake to righteousness, and sin not, for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.”
Ask God to help us together to be faithful in sharing our knowledge of God.
ALPHA Christian School
The school ministry brings with it various daily challenges. Please pray that our teaching staff will teach with creativity and confidence. Pray also for effectiveness in reaching out to our students and their families, applying Biblical solutions to their hurts and struggles.
National Pastor - Pastor Raimundo
Pastor Raimundo and his family joined Jim & Lydia Johnson and Chris & Jana Disler in reaching the town of Morada Nova for Christ. Pray for this team as together they make goals and implement their ministries. Pray for a beginning step that of handing out tracts to all of the school children in the town. Also several Bible studies are in progress. Pray for God's blessing upon His Word as it goes forth.
National Pastor - Pastor Jose Henrique
Pray for Pastor Jose and the new church plant in Ibicua. God is blessing this ministry with about one hudred in attendance. Procuring property for a church has been difficult since the owners don't want to sell to believers. Pray that God would bless and in due time they could purchase the land.
National Pastor - Pastor Vicente
Pray for Pastor Vicente and his family as they minister in the mountain town of Butija. Praise that Ivonte was saved a couple of months ago and pray for her to grow in her walk with the Lord. Pray also for the salvation nof her husband, Laerti.
Brazilians Preaching and Teaching
On a daily basis BGFM missionaries along with faithful, capable Brazilians are preaching and teaching the Word of God. Many Brazilians still need to hear and understand the message of salvation and others to grow as believers for service and victorious daily living. Pray that the Word of God would be "living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword" in the lives of each hearer.
