“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.”

Isaiah 55:8 NKJV

Hello our friends and family,

It’s been a few months since our last update and we are very grateful for each of you who pray for us, encourage us or financially partner with us as we continue to be faithful and obedient to our Father! So many privileges and opportunities have been placed in our path and God continues to show us it’s not about our ways, but His ways! It’s definitely been a humbling experience but by God’s grace, we are blessed to be a part of His plan. His Will. 

Tim finished teaching the book of Matthew to the students at the Bible college in S. Asia. They spent several months going through this glorious gospel and mining out the beautiful and powerful truths that are there. It was a great time for Tim and the students. We are grateful that even when we can’t physically be there. Technology allows us to continue to pour into these young future church planters who are passionate for the furtherance of the gospel and the work of the ministry in some of the most persecuted and difficult places in the world.

In March, one of our dear friends Merry, went home to be with the Lord. Her husband of 46 years rejoices that she is present with the Lord, but still struggles through much grief as you could imagine. We are grateful to be here for him and with him. Tim was able to have a role in the funeral and the celebration of life. That meant so much to him and his dear friend John. Please be praying for John as he tries to figure out how to navigate life here without his bride by his side. We are fortunate to have had him at our house often and he has joined Tim in a men’s small group that meets every Friday.

Wedding Bells

Life certainly has its ups and downs, new beginnings and sudden endings but through it all, it’s clear that God is in complete control. 100% sovereign. What a fun time we had at the wedding of a couple of our past students.  We are grateful, humbled, and somewhat baffled that these youngsters not only want us in their lives, but consider us near and dear to them. It was such a privilege for us to walk them through this pivotal event in their lives and for Tim to be able to conduct their wedding. 

Jenn got to use her God-given gift of hospitality and host a bridal shower for an MTS student moving to S. Asia who just married one of the National Pastors serving with SGWM. Jenn especially enjoyed cooking the Indian Dishes from scratch. She said, “the tikka masala and chaat dip turned out so yummy. Chaat dip is a layered dip and tikka Masala is a delicious sauce with chicken. Typically it is very spicy but I didn’t make it spicy. Now I know how to make food for our nationals when they come on furlough!”

If you would like to join us for dinner and eat National food together, please let us know.  I truly enjoy hosting, it’s such a blessing to bless others. 

There are definitely no shortages of care needed on the mission field. In these past months, Jenn has counseled women struggling with many difficult things. Spiritual depletion, spiritual warfare, deception, grief, loss, as well as marriage counseling. Also positive stuff too, encouragement with the calling on the field, rejoicing with them for God’s faithfulness and provisions, and building them up through the Word of God and prayer. 

What an amazing opportunity it was to serve at the Voice of Refugees a Ministry here in Orange County. They host a yearly event to help women who have fled from persecuted and dangerous countries for safety. These women have been through a lot of trauma, at times fearing for their lives . VOR is the hands and feet of Jesus, transforming lives through God’s love.  They provide assistance with many resources from English classes to housing and much more. 

Last month our church hosted a woman’s spring brunch where Jenn was asked to lead up this event along with an awesome opportunity to share her testimony and the the gospel to the women. The theme was, “New Life.”  We are a new creation in Christ. We played games and had crafts too!! The butterfly craft was a hit!! Over 80 women attended this event!! I truly love teaching and encouraging the women by the Word of God and by my testimony. It’s humbling and honoring to our Father! 

 Tim had a wonderful opportunity to teach the principles of biblical counseling in the missions training school. We believe Scripture is absolutely sufficient to guide us through all issues in our life. While the world’s approach to counseling may aim to “fix” people from the outside, biblical counseling’s goal is to lead individuals into the Word, allowing the Holy Spirit to transform them from the inside out. The emphasis is on heart change, realignment with God’s will, and internal transformation. This is something that Jenn and I are passionate about and seek to pass on to the next generation.  

Calvary School of Missions coming up around the corner. 

It’s hard to believe that we get to do this for the sixth year in a row, and we are expecting God to do great things. Time fails us to tell you of all the wonderful things that he has done in the past five years of this school, but we have seen the fruit of this ministry grow beyond what we ever thought it could. We have seven graduated students serving full-time in the Middle East, two in Japan, and two in South Asia. We’ve seen incredible spiritual and personal growth in the students, as well as in ourselves. So far we have 15 students who will be attending, with a few interviews still to conduct. There is much work left to do so we appreciate everyone’s prayers as we put the finishing touches on scheduling teachers, outreaches, transportation, housing, etc. One of the incredible things that we get to do this year is a return visit to the unreached people group in the mountains of Mexico that we visited last year. In our next newsletter we will speak more of that and of the unreached. 

We love you all so much and thank you for being behind us. Through your generous, financial support you have made this ministry possible for us and we want to let you know that this is the fruit of your labor as well.  If the Lord leads you to partner with us financially, or increase you’re already generous support, you can do so by clicking here to become a financial partner or mailing your support check to
Saving Grace World Missions

17451 Bastanchury Rd., Ste.203 Yorba Linda, CA 62886

*Note Pappas support in memo

All for His Glory, 

Tim and Jenn Pappas

After five weeks in America, we are thankful to be back home in Osaka. Thank you to everyone who blessed us in big and little ways while we were there. It was a packed trip and we wouldn’t have made it through the different legs if it wasn’t for the generosity of several of you.

At the beginning of May we attended the Calvary Chapel Japan conference in Tokyo. It was an amazing time meeting missionaries, worshiping with national believers, hearing wonderful teachings from some of the leaders. We even got to spend quality time with some friends who had traveled with us from Abide Osaka. It can often feel like you’re the only Christian here just like Elijah in 1 Kings 19, but these times where we all get together allow the Lord to show us that he has a remnant here that love and worship Him. It refreshes our souls and we look forward to other conferences this Fall and next Spring.

We left from the conference and flew straight to America. Our first week there we drove up to Canada to visit some of Alishia’s family. We then spent a week in Whitefish before heading to Helena for Alishia’s oath of allegiance ceremony where she received her American citizenship. After another week in Whitefish, meeting with people and reconnecting with the church, we flew down to California to spend time with our friends at Calvary Chapel Saving Grace. Our week in California was full of speaking opportunities and time spent with friends, before we drove up to Idaho. We spent a few days in Idaho with both of our families and we were able to see Daphne graduate from high school. Then it was back to Montana to spend one last week there before we flew back to Japan.

It was great seeing everyone, but we are thankful to be back serving the Lord in Osaka. We feel like we have our feet under us now and we should be able to hit the ground running. Please keep us in prayer as we start language classes and start up a couple of ministries this summer. One will be our young adults’ ministry at our house, and the other will be an evangelistic ministry that we will be starting with a couple of friends from the church.

We have some needs for monthly support as well as one-time gifts. We’ve been asked to attend the Calvary Asia Conference in September and then lead a short-term team to Japan at the conclusion of the conference. Please prayerfully consider partnering with us financially through the link below.

Prayer requests and praise reports:

• Our trip to the States went well and we were able to accomplish everything that we had hoped to accomplish.

• The church here in Osaka has been growing! Please pray that we can find ways to minister to those who have started to attend.

• We start official language classes this month. Please pray for our minds to be able to grasp Japanese.

• We have opportunities to attend conferences in September and November, as well as potential visits to bible schools in other parts of Asia. Please pray for wisdom and provision to go if it’s the Lord’s will for us.

May 2024 Update

“Train up a child in the way he should go,
Even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

-Proverbs 22:6 (NASB)

“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’” 

-Matthew 28:18–20

Legacy has been something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. It’s been a common and consistent theme preceding and following my arrival here in Trujillo. There is so much work before us, and the Lord has been equipping. We’ve been praying and the Lord has been answering. He is a constant help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1). The work that I’m doing now, what effect is it having and will it last? This last semester we taught from John 14 through John 16, and what powerful passages those are! Jesus is speaking with His disciples and preparing them for His departure. That He in His death would not only provide a means of atonement and reconciliation for our sins, but that He was going to prepare an eternal place for us. Even more than that, He was coming back for us. These are exceedingly great and precious promises (2 Pet. 1:1-3). In John 15 He says this: “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you,” (John 15:16). We have been called to be His, to bear fruit, and not just any fruit, but fruit that will remain or abide. Our works are to be exemplary of someone who has fully surrendered their lives to Jesus, but also to leave an impact that will last; a legacy. Man, I want my works to remain in Him, to be done in His time, His way, and with His heart and means. In that, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that, by His Spirit, I need to disciple and train people to take my place. That they would be ready when I’m gone, and that they would be equipped to carry on the work the Lord is doing. There’s much to learn, and there’s much work to do, but it’s absolutely worthy of my life—it’s His. 

Moyobamba

There’s been so much going on it’s been hard to remember what’s happened in basically a month! We were in Argentina in the beginning of April, and two weeks later we had a missions trip with the school to the jungle a little further north east in a place called Moyobamba. For those who came last May, it’s the Calvary Chapel that Pastor Andrew just planted at the end of last year. What a blast! It was such a beautiful area. The people were so kind and welcoming, and God is doing an amazing work! We did construction, we did outreach, we taught the Word, we worshipped, and we encouraged the Body there in the jungle of Perú. Many of the Christians there are first generation Christians and are very young in the faith, but they are learning a lot under Pastor Andrew’s stewardship. We got to be present for their first baptism and 15 people got baptized—praise the Lord! It was an amazing trip, and I hope to go back to help them again in the future. Getting to meet people whose lives have been changed by the Lord in such radical ways was an amazing thing to see. A man who had once been known by many for who he was in his past, at an older age, being saved, surrendering his life, and living for Jesus was such a cool thing. Getting to see him baptized was a blessing!

Life in the Month of May

Right after we got back, it was May! Time has flown by and the Lord has been doing a lot! As I write this, we have just under two weeks before our Summer Missions Internship! After we got back to Trujillo, we got back into the swing of things. Getting into our daily routines, doing administrative work, and construction. The students had two more classes. We had one of the first Calvary pastors in Peru come and teach one of the classes—Pastor Lucho. Then after that, Pastor Brent from Calvary Roma came and taught the last class for the students—it was a great time! I was working on accepting new students into the institute and getting things ready for graduation and even our next semester. Then we had graduation. It was a bittersweet time, but it’s so exciting to know that those finishing and being sent out not only have a heart to go, but to be faithful to the work the Lord has put them to. I’m going to miss those who are going to other places, but I’m excited to see what God is going to do in their lives! One thing that’s been amazing to see is how the Lord is blessing the deaf ministry that we have at Calvary Trujillo. It’s been growing quite a bit, and some have been surrendering their lives to Jesus. Please pray that the Lord would continue to provide avenues to minister to such an unreached community.

Right now I’m in charge of handling correspondence and applications regarding students and prospective students here at CBI Perú. In that, I’m seeking to come alongside students wherever I can to disciple the guys, and am getting ready to take on scheduling for service hours for the rest of the summer and the coming semester. The person who’s been in charge of admissions and correspondence is getting married and moving with her husband (one of our other campus administrators) to Brazil, and then they’re going to plant a church in the city of Concepción in Chilé. That being said, with her gone I will be doing a lot more of those things administratively. I’m excited to help where I can and do my best to keep things going smoothly. 

Prayer Requests and Needs:

Please pray for me and the team we have here at CC Trujillo. There’s a lot going on, a lot of work to do, and a lot of growth taking place in the staff, the school, and the church. It’s all exciting, but we certainly need the Lord’s wisdom and guidance for what’s next, for how to adapt and change well with the growth of our ministry, and to be faithful witness to the people of Perú here in Trujillo. 

• To draw closer and closer to the Lord

• To faithfully represent Him well

• To be faithful in new responsibilities 

• Eyes to see where I need to grow

• To have a teachable heart

• To disciple well

• To learn Spanish quickly

• To be able to disciple well and with the Lord’s heart

• To be well prepared for teaching the book of Acts for the Summer of Missions Internship (I’ll be teaching 2 or 3 days of 12).

• To continue to be a steward of my body by working out and eating well

• To be wise with the resources the Lord is providing

• The Lord’s wisdom, preparation, and guidance as to helping plant a new CBI

Needs:

• Many of our students from Latin and South America are here on scholarship

• The funds for the property for CBI Mendoza in Argentina. 

Thank you so much for your love, for your faithfulness in prayer and giving, and thank you for partnering with me to live out the Great Commission!

The Lord bless you, and keep you, and make His face to shine upon you…

Dios te bendiga!

-Jordon

Hi friends and family!!

Thank you for your love, support, and prayers through the years for our family.

It’s been a wonderful adventure being able to continually witnesses God’s faithfulness.

We pray you are all doing well when reading this update!!

The Mission for children / La Mision para niños

We keep serving at this wonderful ministry that God planted in our hearts since I was 19 years old, (26 years ago). In all these years we have experienced so many different seasons: fun ones, stressful ones, new-old families, single staff, groups, churches, etc. If you visit the Mission now, you will notice a big change in everything.

Before, “the Riveras” were the only Mexican family serving at the Mission. For the last 2 years, the Hulstrom family was the only American family serving at home together with other wonderful families we have serving here. The Ahumada family, Lopez family, Bastida family, and (most recently) the Darger family have been such a blessing to have here!! Just 2 weeks ago we said goodbye to the Hultroms, it was a wonderful blessing have them back at home. We are so thankful for their time here in obedience to our God like every family serving here. We’re so grateful for the friendship, their hearts, and the example in their service to everyone. We’re also so grateful for our amazing single staff: Blanca, Estefani, Yair, Karolina, Zimri, Davis, Ashley.

In the midst of so many changes, these things always remain: His love and faithfulness for these wonderful Mission kids and the different ways they bless us all every time we serve them. What a privilege and what an honor!!

AZAFF’S ADVENTURES

Our family adventures seem to never end. Our journey with our son Azaff started an the end of 2019 when he was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor on his brain. He received 2 surgeries within a week to remove the tumor. They were able to remove about 95%, but the rest was too dangerous to remove. Since then, he has been improving little by little to this day.

After almost 3 years of traveling to Tijuana 1-3 days a week for 1-5 different therapies, he finished successfully at every level. He has improved so much and has grown to a height of 176cm, when the doctors used to say, “He won’t grow, walk, talk, etc.” But I know who’s my Daddy!!! Abundantly merciful!! I keep asking myself, “how are those without Jesus??”

Azaff is losing his vision slowly so the doctor recommended for him to learn Braille and keep doing therapies for fine motor skills. He also needs to keep practicing rock climbing, that kind of eye-hands-and-feet therapy helps him a lot so we will continue going to San Diego once a week for that therapy.

Prayer Requests

1. Please pray for strength, wisdom, joy, and all the fruits of the spirit for me in homeschooling our kids. Azaff will be graduating 8th grade in July and Abdiel will be going into 8th grade.

2. Please pray for provisions for the medical treatment, traveling expenses, and rock climbing therapy expenses.

3. Strength and joy for our wonderful Mission kids, staff, and families.

Also, if you would love to bless our staff with snacks or anything, you can send packages to: La Mision Para Niños P. O. BOX 460 Tecate CA 91980

With so much love ,

The Rivera Family Miguel, Zurisadai, Conchita, Azaff, Abdiel.

having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

Ephesians 1:5-6

Dear Friends, Family, and Loved Ones,

This month was packed with exploring unknown territory! Though, with every new work of God, there is always the enemy ready to steal, kill, and destroy. May was no exception! From seeing demonic manifestations at an In-n-Out and prayer meeting, to randomly experiencing spirts of depression, the enemy has been using every tactic, obvious and subtle, to thwart God’s plans. Yet, God always wins! God ministered to me greatly through Luke 10:18-20, especially verse 19 which describes how God has given us authority over all spiritual wickedness. “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” But even greater, what the Lord has shown me in order to conquer attacks in my mind through depression, anxiety, fear, has been the reminder of my identity. One evening, after working hard all day and thinking through all my plans for the summer, and everything I had been doing recently, I felt lost in it all. I doubted whether God could use me and if I was really being led by Him. Finally, I just wrote down on a piece of paper, “who am I Lord?” Obviously, I knew the theological answer to that question. But I wanted to hear it from the Lord Himself. The next morning my devotional reading was Ephesians chapter 1, and I could just hear the voice of my heavenly Father as I read the words. I pray God ministers to you the same way as you go through this next month. No matter how far the enemy tries to separate you from God’s love, He is still your Father, and you have been accepted before Him. Go before your heavenly Father! He wants to be with you. He paid everything to be with you.

As I left off in my last newsletter, I spent the beginning of May still in Mexico! I visited two churches and Calvary Bible Institute Mexico. Although I wasn’t speaking at any of them, I got to assist Rob Douglass, who taught at Calvary Chapel Rosarito’s church planting school and their Wednesday night service. I also got to share about the Calvary School of Missions with people from the church, and help give counsel as they considered mission work. Then I took Marcelo, one of the Missions Training School students, to Ensenada, where he taught a morning class. Neither of us had been to Ensenada before. The same day we drove to Horizonte Ensenada church where he taught their church planting class, and also shared a quick testimony on Sunday. It was a very exciting trip, and let me tell you, God is moving Mexico for the unreached!

The purpose for this quick, week-long trip was to help light a match in Mexico for cross-cultural missions. Not many in the Mexican church know about the unreached, those who have no access to receive the gospel. Our goal was to spark a passion in the Mexican church for reaching the world with the gospel. Most people view Mexico as a place to send and do missions, but, for the vast majority of it, Mexico already has Christians, churches, and Bibles. So we went to share about those who have none of these things. The Lord has given us a great vision of Mexico being transformed into a sending hub to the unreached nations!

Being on the ground helping serve, talk with people, and pray, was an incredible experience personally. I could see the little sparks let off by the thought-provoking teachings caught onto people’s hearts. I also met many who already had a desire for missions, but little direction. Our goal for this was not to train missionaries, but to spark a desire, and as we do, we are praying that God will begin works where those called can be biblically trained in cross-cultural missions. I ask you to join us in prayer for this, as we have spoken with many who hear the call, but don’t have a place to prepare.

On a more humorous note, as Marcelo and I were driving to CBI Mexico, we got lost on a road out in the middle of nowhere. I drove up a steep dirt hill in the Civic until the road finally turned into massive rocks and dips. In the photo we were lost trying to figure out what to do, and Marcelo had to teach very soon. Yet, he still had a smile with a thumbs up. I’m pretty sure he could be kidnapped and he would still have a smile with his thumbs up. In the end, we found the right road (which still had a huge creek running through it) and made it to the class.

Later in the month, I got to spend time with one of Saving Grace World Mission’s Indian national missionaries. I picked him up from the airport, and went to dinner at a Nepali Restaurant with some friends. It was a blessing to get to know him. Another day, a bunch of the Mission Training Students went to J’s (one of our short-term India missionaries) house in order to help him get rid of 3 generations of stuff in his home. This will free him to spend more time doing missions and teaching at CBI India. I also got many opportunities to teach this month. First I taught and led my first time in Spanish during the Wednesday evening Spanish group at CC Saving Grace. That was challenging, but super fun! And I also got to teach the youth group on a Sunday. Please join me in praying about CBI Philippines! The director has been asking me to come teach for almost 2 years, and I haven’t felt called. But he asked again recently for the fall semester, and I feel the Lord may be leading me to take a short trip to the Philippines. It would be very costly trip, but the country is also very strategic in it’s placement. It is open to gospel work and would serve as a perfect sending hub and place of training for SGWM missionaries to all the nearby, unreached countries of Asia. I would love to go on a short trip to see what the Lord might do in the future and teach at the CBI.

Costa Rica

In August I will have been praying for a year about serving in Peru with Pastor Cory Kilgus to help lead in starting a safe home for kids rescued from sex trafficking and organ trafficking. The first step we will be taking is to visit an existing safe home in Costa Rica to learn how it functions. This trip will be July 29 – August 2. This will also be a sort-of vision tour, where we will be praying for confirmation of God’s call to begin this new work. If you would like to financially partner with me for this trip, you may give using the link at the bottom of the page.

Prayer Requests

• God to begin a work to train Spanish-speaking Mexicans who have a heart for cross-cultural missions
• Financial provision, wisdom, and spiritual/physical protection for the trip to Costa Rica in July
• Boldness as I continue preaching the gospel and discipling others where I am at currently
• Wisdom and peace about work; my boss will be moving to Northern Carolina, and taking the business with him.
• Guidance for possible trip to CBI Luzon, Philippines in the Fall

Praise Reports

• Successful trip stirring up the Mexican Church for the Great Commission
• All the different opportunities to serve and teach
• Revival and deliverance of people at CC Saving Grace and outside the church.
• The random gifts and blessings God has been giving me through all of you!

Dear Pastors, Leaders, Partners, and Church Family,

Greetings from our church! I thank God that He has taken care of me, my family and my parents. Despite the extreme heat, God has not let me get any major illness.

A few weeks ago when my father went out of the house for a morning walk, four people, including a doctor, threatened him. They said that if my father does not return to his old religion and stop spreading the Gospel, they will kill him.

We prayed a lot. We considered informing the police many times, but they do not listen to Christians. The police also will not do anything without a bribe. For these reasons, we did not inform the police and only prayed. By the grace of God, my father is safe until now.

I keep thanking God for your love, prayers and participation in the Gospel. Through the grace of God and your prayers, the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ is reaching places we couldn’t have even imagined. God is strengthening those who are listening to His Word through His miracles and signs.

We Went to a Place Where the Good News Had Not Yet Reached. The Temperature Was 43 Degrees Celsius (109 Degrees Fahrenheit)!

I always thank God that He has sent me to serve in a place where there is less than 1% Christians. Despite having many pastors in the city, there are many villages where the Good News has not yet reached. We got an invitation to fellowship in such a village which is about 30 kilometers from our house. We got the opportunity to go to this village through a believer of our church.

When we went to that village, they welcomed us very nicely. We told the Good News to the people of that village. Three women believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Due to the extreme heat, we became very restless. The food that they had lovingly prepared for us had a lot of hot chili peppers in it. Because of the spicy food, the heat felt twice as intense as it did before we ate. But God gave us peace. We got comfort in the heart from the fact that by our coming, God saved three souls. I thank God for the love and hospitality of these people, who did more for us than they were able to.

Our Lord Jesus Freed a Girl from an Evil Spirit.

I thank God that He shows signs and miracles to strengthen His Word! We have been having a fellowship in the mango garden of a certain village for about 12 years. Last week, during the fellowship there, a young girl was brought who was possessed by an evil spirit. The evil spirits troubled her a lot. It would throw her anywhere and start shouting and saying things.

While I and my father were worshiping, the girl started shouting loudly. We prayed and at that time the devil threw her and came out of her. Since then this girl is completely fine! The people of her family have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ and are coming to the village church.

The church in that village was started with a boy who I mentioned many times in my newsletter. He had very long nails and the skin of his hands and feet kept bleeding. I took him to many hospitals for treatment but there was nothing that the doctors could do for him. It was not possible to get him treated medically, but God healed him through prayer! Now, he has been baptized. His mother has also been baptized. She regularly comes to our church. We also go to their house once a week for fellowship. This boy’s name is S*. Before, he wanted to commit suicide because of his illness, but God healed him. Now he is completely fine! His family is looking for a girl for him to marry.

If You Believe, Your Family Will Be Saved!

This is a testimony of a person who was the first person in his family to believe. After his faith, gradually the whole family believed in Jesus. His name is U*. While I was in Bible College, he also came to Bible College with me for 6 months. After that, his father would not allow him to go back to Bible College again, but he did not give up his faith. He remained engrossed in learning the Word of God day and night.

To bring the people of his family to faith, he kept showing God’s love through prayer, sharing the Word and living a godly life. Initially, the people of his whole family were against him, but he showed God’s love to them through his life.

First of all, U* brought his wife to the Lord. After that, he brought his mother to the Lord. Whenever my father and I went to her house, his mother always used to scold us for converting her son. But he brought his mother to faith through love and sharing the Word.

After that U* went to the South in search of a job. He did not stop going to church. He lived with his elder brother who opposed it. Gradually he started taking his elder brother to church and his elder brother also believed and got baptized. His elder brother’s wife, who was a very quarrelsome woman, was very afraid of her husband believing in Jesus Christ. She used to scold U* a lot about getting her husband converted to Christianity. She was ready to fight every day, but U* would ignore her words. Whenever I and my father used to go to his house, we used to tell his sister-in-law about the Lord Jesus Christ. Whenever she came to church, she used to listen to the Gospel. Gradually she started come to know about the Lord Jesus Christ. Glory be to God! She also believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and got baptized last week. She is in the above photo.

Glory to the Lord!

• Glory to God! He protects me and my family from all kinds of sorrows and troubles.
• Glory to the Lord! The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ has reached a new village.
• Glory to the Lord! Three women have accepted the Lord.
• Glory to the Lord! A woman has been baptized.
• Glory to the Lord! My wife has been cured of her thyroid problem.
• Glory to God! He is providing all kinds of resources for His ministry.

Prayer Points:

• Please pray for the safety of my father and me. There are many people who talk badly about us, saying that we have changed our religion and that will keep planning to convert people.
• Please pray that we can reach more villages with the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ.
• Please pray for the youth that we want to be prepared to go to Bible college, so that in the coming days they also can participate in the Good News of the Lord.
• Please pray for my mother. Her bones are very weak, because of which she has to take injections every day. Her thyroid levels also have increased about 18 points. May God help control her thyroid as well.
• Please pray. My younger sister is getting married on May 16. May God fulfill all of our needs. It will be a Christian marriage. Pray that no Hindu fundamentalists oppose it.
• Please pray for the registration of our church. There are some obstacles to registering. May God remove those obstacles.
• Please pray for God to give us a child.

Thank you for your prayers, your love for Christ, and for your participation in the Gospel.

May God bless you all!

Pastor & Mrs. 11*

*Names and faces have been changed or omitted for security reasons.

It is always exiting to tell you about what God is doing in our country. Last month, we got the chance to go to a restricted area of the mountainous region. It is on the border. They are a tribal people who follow the Buddhist religion. There is not any church in this area. One pastor from the South and a team from another Calvary Chapel also came. All together, 20 of us went to share the Gospel in this area. We were the first people to share the Gospel there. Please keep praying that God will bring the people there into His kingdom. It is a place that can only be reached by walking. There are no roads there.

We believe God wants young people to serve Him. Keeping this in mind, I am serving in the mist of young people. I am going to different church’s youth groups to encourage them. I also talk to them about going to Bible college, so that they may give their lives to serving the LORD.

Prayer Requests:

• Pray for the people who heard the Gospel in the border region. May they believe.
• Pray for the young generation. May they seek God first and serve Him.
• Pray for our church’s believers to grow more in God’s Word.
• Pray for me as I lead this district’s youth group. May the Lord give me His wisdom and favor.

Thank you,

Milan 

Dear Ministry Partners,

Greetings to you all in the matchless name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

We are grateful to the Lord for His protection and provision in my family. We appreciate each one of you for your valuable prayers and financial aid for the expansion of God’s ministry. Because of your financial help, we could move forward with the Gospel of Christ Jesus to the unreached. As a family we have been praying for you, for your family, ministry, jobs and businesses. May the good God bless you with all good resources and good health.

In our family devotions we have been learning from Word of God and trying to follow the footsteps of Jesus in our daily walk.

For the past several months, we had been facing a lot of opposition from Hindu fanatical groups. Many churches had been shutdown. By God’s grace we got permission from the government to conduct our Sunday worship services. However, fanatical groups are still causing problems. It has become hard to go to the villages and share the Gospel. However, God is opening the door for us to go to individual houses and make friends and do personal evangelism. As a family, we visit families to testify about Lord and pray for them (above).

Last month, visitors came to our home. It was wonderful time to encourage each other and pray. They asked us to pray for their son, B*. He is married but he and his wife are not happy to stay together.

In the month of March we completed our fourth semester. Five of our CBI students graduated. Before the students left to their homes, we had a wonderful time of fellowship with them at our home.

And we had wonderful staff outing as well (above).

Prayer Requests:

• Kindly pray that God will open the eyes of the fanatical Hindu groups, that they may see God’s love and come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
• Please pray that God will stop such persecution.
• Kindly pray for the growth of our Church.
• Kindly pray for our graduates. May God use them effectively.
• Do pray for B* and his wife to understand each other.

Thank you very much for your prayers and support!!

In Him,

Pastor 3* and Family

*Names and faces have been changed or omitted for security reasons.

Praise the Lord!

Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Dear supporters and prayer partners, thank you for your prayers and financial support. We are praying for your family and your country. By the grace of God my family and I are doing well. God has kept us safe.

Last month, I got chance to lead the Sunday service in village. I had fellowship with them with the Word of God. I am teaching them from book of Ephesians.

Three new families called us to have home prayer meetings last month. We had fellowship with them. I also got an opportunity to preach at a birthday program last month.

Last month was very difficult time in our area. A radical group tried to stop the house churches. They shut down a few churches with the help of the government authority. The police know this group has the goal to close all of the churches in our district. Because of that, we visited the district collector. We submitted an application to him through the Christian form. By the grace of God, he accepted the application and allowed our churches to conduct prayer. There are still many churches in our area struggling with that.

Last month, in the mist of problem (of churches being attacked) we were able to conduct our graduation program. Five students graduated.

Prayer Requests:

• Please pray for my children to grow in the fear and knowledge of the Lord and for their final exam.
• Please pray that the Lord will intervene in the problem the world is facing.
• Please pray for the village ministry in our local area. Pray that the villagers may grow in Lord’s Word.
• Please pray for the new family to grow in Lord
• Please pray for the Christians of our state to stand in the Lord in the midst of persecution.

Blessings,

Pastor 16* and Family

* Names have been changed or omitted for security reasons.