June Prayer Letter

NICODEMUS PRAYER TEAM
JUNE 2010
In doing some re-vamping their website, the InJesus mailing group that sends out our prayer letter lost our complete mailing list. For that reason, our prayer letter did not go out last month. We have been working to reconstruct the list, but because for the past few years they were not sending us the drop/add list, we do not have a completely up-to-date list. If you know of any church or individuals who were on the list but don’t receive this letter, please ask them to communicate with us. If you do not wish to be on this list, just notify us and we will remove you. We are so thankful for our prayer support network and hate to lose any contacts that wish to be on the list.
Tuesday, June 1: Pray for Frank Johnson and others who are trying to figure out the best way to send out the prayer newsletter each month. Feel free to forward this on to your family and friends as Frank and others work to rebuild the mailing list. Praise God that there are people who have the knowledge, desire and ability to work out the computer problems.
Wednesday, June 2: The university team that was here to work with Carol Wilkinson had a truly great week. They were delayed in leaving because of the volcano and tropical storm but God in his sovereignty worked it all out. They traveled on Monday morning to El Salvador and they flew out of there on Tuesday arriving safely at their homes on Tuesday evening. Praise God for the many seeds that were planted while they were here.
Thursday, June 3: Richard Cook is in Honduras this week teaching seminary classes to students there. Pray for him as he has a busy week. Pray for his travels and his return to Guatemala on Saturday. Praise God for the desires that the students have to study God´s word more indepth.
Friday, June 4: David and Mayarí with their two boys finally were able to travel to the US May 24 where they will begin their church-planting ministry in Baton Rouge. Pray for them as they adjust to a new culture, learn English and begin to make contact with the Hispanic population. They have had a tremendous impact on the members of the two cell groups that meet at the Hardemans’ house. They even called on May 31 to greet the group and thank them for their support and prayer.
Saturday, June 5: Andrew Thomas is an MK who lives in the Coban area of Guatemala. Today he celebrates his high school graduation. He is preparing to leave in July to attend Union University. Today the mission family will gather together at the Hardeman house to celebrate with him. As he leaves his family will be excited for him but they will miss him. As his father says, the kids are “better” missionaries than their parents. Pray for Andrew as he returns to the US but as he misses his family, friends and life here in Guatemala.
Sunday, June 6: After several delays due to the volcano eruption and tropical storm, Sharon Cook was able to make it to Texas to visit her children and see her new grandbaby. Pray that she would have a restful and encouraging time with her family and friends. Pray for the grandbaby as he has had problems with an elevated bilirubin (the cause of the jaundice). Also the grandbaby´s dad will have to soon return to Afghanistan. Pray for mom and baby as he has to leave again.
Monday, June 7: Happy birthday Carol Wilkinson! As Carol celebrates her birthday today pray that she would be reminded of how much God loves her. Praise God for all the people who throughout the world who are praying for Carol today on her birthday.
Tuesday, June 8: The volcanic eruption last month caused the airport to be closed for a week which disrupted the travel plans of several missionaries and teams. Tropical storm Agatha washed out bridges and caused major landslides across the country halting travel within the country for several days and causing some power outages. A sinkhole in Guatemala City swallowed a three-story building. All of these things caused the missionaries inconveniences, but there are hundreds of Guatemalans who lost their homes, all their belongings, crops, etc. Over 100 people were killed. Pray for us as we try to respond in Christian love in the relief efforts.
Wednesday, June 9: The Lord is teaching us a lot about Himself and his plans for our lives. The Hardemans had another interesting experience last month as Helen’s cousin, her husband, and two of their adult children came to visit us. They were here a week when Phil had to go to the hospital because of high blood pressure. The day he came out, Hibby went in because of a small stroke. Phil and one daughter were able to return to the States, while Hibby and the other daughter stayed for another two weeks. Thank the Lord that they were both recovering when they left. Pray for continual healing and for their spiritual needs. Pray that the Holy Spirit would be able to lead them to a close personal relationship with the One who spared their lives.
Thursday, June 10: Rosa Aída from the Wednesday group has felt led to offer the Crown study to a group of her friends that meets together once a month. Pray that they will respond positively to her invitation and that the study will have a profound impact on her life. Pray for her husband, son and daughter that they will come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Friday, June 11: The World Cup (of soccer) begins today. Even though Guatemala´s team isn´t in the World Cup, there is still a great excitement among the people because they love soccer! A lot of places have added TV´s which will be used to show the games, people will watch it wherever they can, no matter what teams are playing. Pray that as Christians we would show the same amount of excitement about sharing God´s love with others.
Saturday, June 12: Praise God for the positive reaction that the university mission team received from an administrative person at del Valle University. Pray for Carol and others as they look to explore other options of bringing in more teams to minister to the students. Pray for “E” the administrative person at the university, pray that he would continue to have a welcoming spirit to Carol and others who wish to minister on campus.
Sunday, June 13: The week of the 13th George will be on a trip through Central America, meeting with the logistic coordinators whom he supervises. Pray for safety in travel and for no missed flights or luggage. Pray that he would be an encourager to the others. Pray that he will be able to help them as they implement the gifts the Lord has given to them.
Monday, June 14: Adam Hammonds had the opportunity to share the gospel with some fellow golfers during a rain delay. Pray for the salvation of the ones that he shared with recently. Pray that they would desire to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Tuesday, June 15: Carol Wilkinson will be leaving today to enjoy a vacation in North Carolina visiting family and friends. Pray for her in her travels. Pray that she will have a restful and enjoyable time.
Wednesday, June 16: While the teams of university students were here some of the girls and Carol hosted a Ladies lunch at Carol´s apartment. Hopefully some of these ladies along with others will begin a Crown Financial study with Helen leading and Carol assisting. Pray for the meeting time to be worked out and that God would form the group which He wants there. Pray especially for one lady who we´ll call Maria. One of the university students was able to share the gospel with her and she said it has never been explained that simply before.
Thursday, June 17: Today is Father´s Day in Guatemala. Pray that the Christian fathers would follow God´s leading and have a great love for their families.
Friday, June 18: It looks like Adam and Jennifer Hammonds and their family will have to move to another part of Guatemala City so that they will be closer to the school when Arabella begins kindergarten. Pray that they would find an affordable house in the San Cristobal area and pray that they would be able to continue the relationships that they have formed with their neighbors even though they will be in another part of town.
Saturday, June 19: Pray today for Manuel and Siomora and their leadership at Impacto Biblico Church. Pray that they would be encouraged and have wisdom and direction in God´s leadership. Pray for the stamina and strength of Manuel maintains a full time job in addition to the pastorate responsibilities. Pray that they would remember that they can do all things through Christ who strengthens them.
Sunday, June 20: Carol has been emailing several university students who the team from Florida made contact with. Pray that she would have God´s guidance about small groups to start and opportunities to visit one on one with the students. One of the students commented “you care enough about us to come here to campus to talk to us?”
Monday, June 21: The Monday Bible study group at the Hardemans’ is well into the Old Testament chronological stories. Besides seeing how God from the beginning had a plan for man’s redemption, we have also seen how God seeks to relate personally to man and He gives specific instructions as to how we are to worship Him. Help the group members to understand that man can’t just change the rules for his convenience since God is sovereign and won’t tolerate partial obedience.
Tuesday, June 22: Pray for the small group that meets at Manuel and Siomara´s house. The university team from Florida was able to share and lead in a worship service for some members of this group. Pray for their neighbors who were in attendance the night the students were there. Pray that they would come to know God´s love.
Wednesday, June 23: The Wednesday night group at the Hardemans is about to finish the Purpose-Driven Life study. Pray for wisdom as we seek the Lord’s will concerning the next study. As we talked about our mission, it was a blessing to hear each one share his/her testimony of the change that the Lord has worked in his/her life.
Thursday, June 24: One of the courses to be offered in the Master’s program at the Guatemala Baptist Seminary this cycle is on witnessing to Roman Catholics. Pray for Helen and others as they do the reading and preparation for the course to put into practice effective ways of guiding their friends to distinguish between Biblical teaching and tradition and leading them to a saving faith in Jesus Christ.
Friday, June 25: Please continue to pray for the sale of several properties owned by the IMB in Guatemala City. It is an added expense to take care of the upkeep, guards, etc. when the money needs to be spent for other things. Pray for wisdom for George as he has to deal with other emergencies such as a major leak under the mission guest house.
Saturday, June 26: Please continue to pray for 100 conversions among the Nicodemus People this year
Sunday, June 27: George will also be preaching the last Sunday of this month at the Bible Impact Church and again the first Sunday of July at Union Church. Pray for time to prepare the messages. Pray that he would listen to the Holy Spirit as he prepares them.
Monday, June 28: When Sharon returns from her trip to the states, she and Helen are inviting several interested people to her house to begin a Crown Bible Study group there. Pray for Judith as she invites some of her friends, for some of Sharon’s friends from the Curves gym and others to respond to the invitation and get hooked on Bible study. The plans are to have the initial meeting on June 29 to introduce the materials and set the schedule.
Tuesday, June 29: Richard Cook and students at the Baptist Seminary in Guatemala are preparing for the next week of intensive study which begins July 5. As professors prepare to travel in from the US and other countries and as Richard prepares to teach his classes, pray that they would have safe travels and that they would have time to adequately prepare for their classes.
Wednesday, June 30: Pray that God would be magnified according to Psalm 70:4 in all that we say and do as missionaries and as Christians. Thank you for your prayers even though the prayer letters have been delayed in getting to you!