June 2008: Grace Ministries Around the World


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Comings and Goings - At this time of the year we have a number of our missionaries coming back to the States to begin their home assignments and others returning to their ministries upon completion of their home assignments. PTL that Steve and Barb Sherman and their children, Trevor and Stefanie, returned to Tanzania on May 11 and are safely back at Mumba. Bill and Sue Vinton had interrupted their home assignment in January so they could return to Congo for three months. They are now back in the States until August. Jeff and Sally Roth and Rachel and Brianna arrived in Grand Rapids from Zambia on May 16 for a 7-month home assignment. Pray especially for Jeff who will be working during these months on his master’s degree at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. Jerry and DeAnna Olson and Danae and Aubrey will begin their year’s home assignment from Bolivia on June 15. Please pray for all our missionaries.

Container Problems in Tanzania - Please pray for Chad Zuber as he works with port authorities regarding the container he shipped to Tanzania last fall. He is trying to untangle the reason why all the items in the container were unpacked and placed in a port warehouse. In the process, it looks as though many items disappeared.

News from Bolivia - Talo Vergara asks for prayer as he teaches a course to our students who are attending the Evangelical University in Santa Cruz. He is also teaching in the high school. Pray that he will manage his time wisely as he prepares for his classes and keeps his other ministries going, which includes two youth groups. Jerry Olson reports that last month he visited a small community outside of La Paz, the capital city. Just over a year ago, Pastor Anselmo and his wife started a church in that community, holding services in their home. Now they have stepped out in faith, without any real resources to speak of, and have started to build a two-story church. Pray for Anselmo and his wife as they daily trust the Lord to provide.

Setting Goals in Congo - During Bill and Sue Vinton's three months in Congo this year, Bill made four trips by plane into the interior of Congo where he visited many of our leaders and spoke at six churches, held two seminars for pastors, and taught four courses at the Kindu Bible College. Bill and Sue were also able to sit down with different departments of the church and help them redefine their mission and vision and come up with strategies that will help accomplish them. Please pray that the vision of the Christian Education department of reaching 1,000 students for Christ in our 244 elementary and high schools during the next 12 months will be attained. With over 35,000 students in these schools there is a desperate need for Bibles and teaching materials. Please pray for salvation of students and funds needed to provide suitable Bible materials for the teachers.

WCGB-Puerto Rico - Barbara Trumbower writes: "WCGB's morning hour-long live "Faith & Crisis" program (Tuesday-Friday) with Pastor Pereira has had a baby! Pastor Pereira now records a special 15-minute version which jump-starts the evening Spanish section (Monday-Friday) on all three stations."

Teaching in Tanzania - Please pray for Pastor Craig Apel (Berean Church of Muskegon) and Kevin Rigg who arrived in Tanzania on May 16 and will be conducting seminars for our Tanzanian pastors. PTL that Chad Zuber’s father was also able to go to Tanzania to visit family and ministries for the first time. His wife, Rosalie, who went to be with the Lord last year, had made several trips to Tanzania where she trained Tanzanian high school teachers.

Puerto Rico Update - John Cox reports that three new adults are faithfully attending the church. None of them knows the Lord. Two of the families are attending partly because of the influence of work crews from the States who worked on their houses. Please pray that John will have special wisdom as he deals with a situation among two of the youth in the church. Praise the Lord for all the projects that have been accomplished in such a short time by work teams. Please pray for Mike and Megin Stearns as they work with the many teams going to Puerto Rico this summer.

Australia - Pray for Andy and Jeneane Hollier as they continue to nurture and grow their home group into a future church.

Women's Retreat in Uruguay - PTL for this report from Ricki Anne Zanella: "We had a fabulous women's retreat May 2-4! God really blessed with good weather, transportation, good food, an excellent time in the Word as we discussed being women of discretion, and a really special time of fellowship sharing and laughing together. I believe we all walked away with a deeper appreciation for each other because we know each other better."

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