Missions Praises/Prayers
Daren and Jodi Beck—ACTION International (Cambodia)
Praise:
Blessed by the fruitful ministry the Lord continues to grant us in Cambodia. Pray for ongoing favor with the government and authorities. o Grateful for healthy and productive meetings in Calgary with our ACTION leadership team last week. The complexities of missions around the globe are real; pray for ongoing wisdom and discernment in the midst of Gospel opportunities/
Prayer:
Pray for our colleagues in South Asia and the Middle East who face persecution. o Blessed to celebrate 34 years of marriage. He is faithful. o Your prayers were appreciated for our youngest son Drew. He has struggled with his health the last several months. We are grateful he got a clear diagnosis...his gallbladder was removed last week and he seems to be on the mend.
Frank Erb—Capitol Commission (USA)
Praise:
o My daughter Hannah's emergency surgery in December went smoothly and she and the baby seem fine. o God unexpectedly granted me special access to the Oath-of-Office Ceremony for our California State Senate. As a result I was able to speak personally with a number of our Statewide Leaders, who can be very difficult to get access to due to our state's large population, and request meetings with them to discuss the Lord which they agreed to do in the new year. Please pray God guides in this. o I met with some newly elected State Senators and Assembly Members who express a strong faith in Jesus. One was saying that it is a miracle that God enabled him to be elected against all odds. I look forward to getting to know each of them better when a new two-year Legislative session begins in January.
Prayer:
I will be reaching out to all our State Senators and Assembly Members in the new year (1/3 are new) to request personal meetings with each of them and invite them to attend the weekly Legislators Bible Studies I teach for them at the Capitol. The same also for the many hundreds of staff and the weekly Staff and Lobbyists Bible Studies I teach. My main competition is the literally thousands of lobbyists who will be requesting meetings and inviting them to daily and nightly events, so please pray many legislators and staff respond favorably to my requests and God guides in great ways. o Meeting Room: I am still not sure where our Legislators Bible Studies will meet in the new year. Last spring, for the first time in over 15 years (and preceding me for decades, probably forever), the State Senate and Assembly changed their policy and prohibited legislators from reserving rooms for any non-government purpose. As a result, we met for the rest of the year in a Senators office. Staff met in a public seating area in the Capitol. However, this Senator is now deciding if he is able to let us use his office again going forward due to his busy office and schedule. Please pray God guides and provides.
Henry and Grace Banda—YOLEDS (Youth Leadership Development in Sport) (Malawi)•
Praise:
• Praise: o Thanking God for the ending year and the successful year. This year God gave us favor and wisdom. o Thank God for my medical check-up, which I attended in November. The results were very impressive. Thank you for your prayers and financial support.
Prayer:
Pray for our Sports Ministry. Our target is to reach many people with the word of God through sports ministry. The objective of the sports ministry is to work with local churches through sports outreach. Pray for our annual vision, which this year will be based on “Can sports give you identity?”,
which will be shared deeply through the Bible.
Jay Devers—Dynamic Church Planting International (Worldwide)
Jay Devers—Dynamic Church Planting International (Worldwide)
Praise:
House preparation for moving in April is going well. o Wonderful time with family face to face or by FaceTime during Thanksgiving and Christmas. • Prayer: o I will be training Churches Planting Churches in Oceanside, Ca January 28, 29, and 30. o I will be attending a large conference in the Mediterranean February 28 to March 4. Around 400 Christian leaders reaching out to Muslim majority nations of North Africa and the Mediterranean. We hope to open a new country. We will have several from DCPI Europe there.
Karen Devers— Ripe for Harvest (Global)
Praise:
I've strengthened my walk of freedom in Christ these past 4 months through two Bible studies on freedom in Christ and writing my own healing stories. I've found a new boldness that's opening up more opportunities to share the Gospel and encourage others both intentionally and informally. o God is opening doors for Emily Froehlich, missionary and Olympic athlete, to speak to youth groups and is connecting her with more athletes to share her testimony and point them to Jesus. In December she spoke at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) event in Vermont, the state where she trained for two years. She saw 3 come to the Lord with God encouraging many as they prayed for one another. God is opening doors for her at gyms, stores and churches! Warren, the pastor in Paris, said 100 countries were influenced through the Olympic service Emily attended in July. Praise the Good Lord! • Prayer: o The new year will begin with me mentoring 2 new women: Maud Hansen, a missionary from France with a heart for Muslims, intercession and church planting. Nicole Pillod, a missionary in Indonesia, has a school for special needs children while leading the way educating the Indonesian school system about this need. We've begun to meet together remotely twice a month. Pray that God would lead us to focus on those things closest to His heart so they can run the race God's put before them. o God has opened the door for two speaking engagements in January (11th and 18th) with women's groups. These are wonderful opportunities for me as Jay and I close up our time in Northern California before moving to Michigan in late Spring. May God speak powerfully and gently through me as I talk about 'Jesus the Champion – the True Olympian'. I long for women to want to admire Jesus, seek Him and trust Him because He has proven Himself over and over.
Kennedy and Emily Salano—316 Transformational Sports Ministry (East Africa))
Praise:
Thanks to God for granting us the opportunity to finish the year on a high note. We concluded with a kids camp and a Christmas party. In total we reached over 400 with love of God this Christmas. o Grateful to God for healing Emily and also granting us journey mercies that we did in 2024. Pray for the Zambia and Zimbabwe mission this month.
Pray:
Pray that as we go for the 21 days of prayers and fasting in January the Lord will direct our steps on how to serve His way. o Pray for the new sports ministry facility that we are developing on the Kenya Tanzania border. We intend to use it as a model for doing church sports ministry in our EAST Africa region. Pray for a sense of direction and provision.
Lincoln Christian Academy (formerly Community Christian School), Lincoln, CA (USA)•
Praise:
We are thankful for our supportive school Community and the connections that have already been reestablished in the first three weeks of school. o We have finalized our new WHY: To live for Christ so that others will love, grow, discern and bear fruit to glorify God.
Prayer:
Our main classroom building AC isn't functioning and our window units are not a long-term solution. Please pray that the company the church has hired to complete the AC installation of the new system schedules the work quickly. o Please pray for protection over our staff and their families. Everything from personal health issues to family challenges is prevalent and affecting staff morale.
Michael and Irina—Slavic Gospel Association (Asia)
Praise:
God gave us a wonderful time during our summer visit to Turkey and the U.S. and a safe return home. o For my wife, Irina, and our two girls, Jane and Elizabeth. They are both doing well in school despite a slight challenge with the language. Irina has been a huge help for the girls.
Prayer:
Planning to visit a new village (Mago) with no believers. Pray for open doors to share Christ. Wisdom in preparing for winter Christmas programs in the villages.
Moses
Praise God for all the ministries that could happen without any disruption - Children's Home, Widows monthly food provision program for 900 widows in 17 villages, the young women self-help and empowerment program, the building of small houses for poor widows, monthly food supplies for 50 disabled persons in the villages, and monthly supplies for 85Tribal families from the villages. Praise God for enabling us to complete the first phase of our new multipurpose building.
Prayer:
Please pray for the changing political situation in India. Please pray for the new projects in Sangita – After school tuition for village kids. Please pray for the new projects of helping with school fees for new kids from the villages to help them in their studies
Ruth Veltkamp—Set Free Ministries (Nigeria)
Praise:
Thank God for the unity among the IMANI church leaders. God has empowered them to pray together, to ask each other for forgiveness when there is an offense, and to reconcile—a miracle for those coming out of Islam. One of the IMANI leaders has become very interested in reading a copy of Perspectives on the World Christian Movement that I gave him. He called the book “a university” and wants to share what he is learning in an upcoming meeting of IMANI leaders.
Prayer:
A former federal minister of Nigeria, a strong Muslim, has recently become open to learning more about the Christian faith. Pray for god to enlighten his heart and mind and lead him in all truth. In mid-January two IMANI leaders plan to travel to the heart of the Middle East to strengthen new believers and to answer the questions of seekers. May they and those they speak with experience Jesus the Messiah as Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace.
Steve and Dawn Liberti—NAB Conference/Proclaim Ministries (Germany/Global)
We praise God for a wonderful time together with our family during Thanksgiving and Christmas. Dawn and I were able to meet our oldest daughter Bianca and her husband Dylan in Johnson City, Tennessee, along with our youngest daughter Sofia who came from Indianapolis, Indiana. It was a precious time of fun, food, laughter and praising God together for His provision of time together. Priceless! Praising God for a recent opportunity to mentor a young man locally, who is struggling with addiction. Steve, as some of you may know, was delivered from the bondage of alcohol addiction almost 22 years ago. It is a huge part of Steve's testimony that brings a level of educated empathy and compassion to be able to come alongside others who are struggling with addictive behavior. Praise God! (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)
Prayer:
Please pray for the upcoming season of ministry for Steve. This is the time of year when we are dedicating time towards recruitment, specifically to create opportunities for young people at Christian Universities. Steve will be traveling in January to universities in Tennessee, Indiana, and South Carolina. Please pray for great connections as we encourage young people to join us for internships during the summer months and to get out on mission. o Please pray for an opportunity emerging for Steve to lead a team to Macedonia this coming summer. As the church knows, our heart and focus for lost people is in the Balkan countries. Steve will be partnering with his Croatian colleague to recruit a team of people to go in support of under resourced and needy churches in Macedonia. Pray for God's provision of people, finances and the mountain of logistical details to be organized.
Sacramento Valley Teen Challenge (USA)
Praise for out 2024 Christmas Party! Every year, Teen Challenge hosts a Christmas party where students, staff and interns from all our centers come together for food, fun, fellowship and presents. Our leaders work hard each year to choose gifts for their students and the students children to help make the holidays a happy time. Our students and their children were incredibly blessed and had a wonderful time. We are thankful that our Twin Rivers and Alpha Henson students were able to attend the Michael W. Smith concert earlier this month. It was an opportunity for them to hear inspiring Christian music and enjoy fellowship with each other.
Prayers:
For the Lord's blessing upon our outreaches and church services coming up in January and February. We are so thankful for those churches and organizations that invite us to come and minister in testimony and song. For our Graduation Service coming up in February. That the Lord would go before every student that graduates into their transition back to their families and their life in Christ. That they would stay close to Him when life is good, but more importantly that they would lean on Him when walking through life's trials and hardships.
Ring Dilbung—East India
Praise God that the Orphanage Home has been inaugurated on 12-07-24 in the presence of various Church elders. We had a wonderful time of sharing Testimonies. We thank each and every member at LCC for partnering with us through thick and thin. We name it “Angel Home”. Around 50 people attended the inaugural ceremony. Praising God that all my children passed their final exam with good grades and all of them are healthy throughout the year. Thank you for your prayers.
Prayers:
We need prayers for new children who will be joining the home. We have started praying for the children and their support. Per child annually is Rs.26,500 (300.00 U.S. Dollars) and monthly per child is Rs 5000 (50.00 U.S. Dollars). The Home has a capacity for 25 children. Please pray for the Bible Study women's team for our Mission to reach out to the maximum non-believers in 2025. God Bless LCC mightily.