October prayer letter

NICODEMUS PRAYER TEAM
OCTOBER 2010
Rains, tropical storms, washed out bridges, landslides, potholes and flooding are some of the problems that are being faced in Guatemala. As it has rained a lot lately I have been thinking about how fortunate I am to have a home where I may have a little water leakage depending on which way the rain is coming from. However there are many Guatemalans who have lost homes or lives due to flooding and landslides. Continue to pray for the people of Guatemala. Praise God for the protection He has given many people in Guatemala.
Friday, October 1: Judy and Ellis Leagans appreciate the prayer support for their daughter Andrea McCrary as she underwent a battery of tests related to severe head aches. Diagnosis is migraines for which they are grateful, as there was concern about something more serious. Please continue to pray that Andrea will be able to cope with the headaches and that she will respond well to the medications.
Saturday, Oct 2: 15th birthday celebrations are an important time for girls in the Guatemalan culture. Today the missionary ladies will gather together to celebrate the 15th birthday of an MK, Jessie Cadenhead. Pray for Jessie and her relationships at the Christian Academy where she goes to school and pray for her to continue to grow in her relationship with God.
Sunday, Oct 3: Richard Cook discovered firsthand some of the road problems as he traveled to Honduras last month. Join him in praising God for his safe travels. Also they had a good group of students for the seminary studies. Pray that they, as well as our students here in Guatemala (including those who travel from such places as the Houston area) be able to keep up with their course work. That has been particularly difficult for them because of full schedules that include jobs and church, as well as their seminary work; also the need for self-discipline in their studies outside the classroom is a challenge.

Monday, Oct 4: Pray for Rosa Aida who attends the Thursday Bible study group at the Hardemans’ and who is the leader of the new Crown group meeting on Saturdays. Her house was flooded during the last week of September as a result of the heavy rains that continue to fall in Guatemala. Pray that she won’t be discouraged by this. Pray for her and so many others like her who have suffered loss.

Tuesday, Oct 5: Pray for the salvation of Jose, Julio and Sergio. These are friends of Carol Wilkinson who she interacts with on a regular basis. They are all “good” people however they don’t understand his need to make a personal decision for Jesus Christ. For example, Sergio has said that he is a Christian because his parents were Christians. Pray that their eyes and heart would be open to God’s word.
Wednesday, Oct 6: George’s trip to Nicaragua last month went well as they tried to get several projects begun and decide what to do about others. He was also able to make the trip to Belize at the end of the month. Thank you for praying for both of those trips. In addition, the Hardemans were able to make the trip to Quetzaltenango to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of Luis and Bernada Poz in spite of the rain and bad roads. It was a wonderful celebration and an opportunity to reconnect with so many brothers and sisters in Christ that they hadn’t seen for years.

Thursday, Oct 7: Pray today for Pastor Jeronimo. He is a pastor who has been falsely accused of murder. Today a decision is to be made in the case. He has been in jail for several months awaiting the trial. He has been a tremendous witness while in jail. Pray for him and his family as they await the court’s decision. Praise God that in the midst of a bad situation he has proclaimed the word of God.

Friday, Oct 8: Joe and Yvonne Bruce will be in Guatemala this month for a conference and a church anniversary. They were missionaries for many years in Guatemala before the Lord called them to other places of ministry. Thank the Lord for the years of service they have invested in his work, and thank Him for the opportunity we have to have them back in Guatemala. Pray that the conference on church planting movements will encourage and challenge many people here.

Saturday, Oct 9: George’s mother was able to get into a nice assisted living center the end of September. Pray for her as she adjusts to the new living situation, and remember his father who has chosen to remain at the house for the time being. The five siblings also need your prayers as they adjust to her being there. She is hoping to regain her health and return home, but the Lord may have other plans.

Sunday, Oct 10: Continue to pray for Ellis Leagan’s mom and her transition to the assisted living. Pray for the workers in the assisted living homes, pray that they would have the strength, encouragement and stamina, which they need. Praise God for the workers who work the assisted living centers and who feel it is their ministry to do this.

Monday, Oct 11: As of this writing the IMB still hasn’t named a president. Continue to pray for the presidential search committee as they interview potential candidates. Pray that the person whom God has for this position will be open to accepting the position.

Tuesday, Oct 12: Today, Joe and Yvonne Bruce will be speaking at the Seminary on their experiences in Cuba. They will share what is happening with the churches and the accelerated reproduction taking place. They will also share principles that they see from the CPM there that could be effective in Guatemala.

Wednesday, Oct 13: Ellis Leagans has just had the role of Team Strategy Leader for Central America South (Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama) and Panama Urban Teams added to his responsibilities, so he appreciates your prayer support as he relates to these fellow missionaries and offers them leadership and encouragement.

Thursday, Oct 14: The IMB medical personnel who came to Guatemala last month were able to visit three hospital facilities, talk with the administrators of two of them and tour the facilities. They also had lunch with several doctors representing various specialties. They were very favorably impressed with the level of medical care avail to us in Guatemala. From here they went to Costa Rica to do the same there. Pray for these people and others like them in other parts of the world as they often have to help our missionaries deal with difficult decisions concerning health issues that could affect their ministries.

Friday, Oct 15: The Hammond family were able to enjoy a visit from family earlier this month. Join them in praising God for a good visit with family. Pray for them as they make preparations to leave on stateside assignment beginning in late November.

Saturday, Oct 16: Carol Wilkinson has been attending a Crown Financial study on Saturday mornings. Pray for the group as they meet this morning. The ladies have been friends for many years, since they met in elementary school. Most of the ladies have strong Catholic beliefs. Pray that they would be open to understanding having a personal relationship with God. Pray that Carol would be able to share the love of God with them.
Sunday, Oct 17: Praise God that Manuel had safe travels to and from Israel. He was able to experience and learn a lot while he was there. Pray for him as he gets caught up on office work and as he preaches today at Impacto Biblico Church.

Monday, Oct 18: Pray for Carol Wilkinson today as she goes to Valley University to interact with students. Pray that God would give her divine opportunities. Praise God for the contacts that He has worked out with Raphael and Ennio at Valley University.
Tuesday, Oct 19: George’s biggest challenge at the moment is the sale of properties in Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Belize. Pray that a lot of progress will be made in that area this month. Pray that he will be able to find a good appraiser in Guatemala to reappraise the properties. Pray that he will not have any major holdups transferring some final properties to the Baptist Convention.

Wednesday, Oct 20: Today Guatemala celebrates the overthrow of Dictator Jorge Ubico in 1944 and the beginning of 10 years of revolution government known as the "10 years of Spring". Pray for the president and leadership of Guatemala.
Thursday, Oct 21: There are usually nine or ten people attending the Bible study at the Hardemans’ on Monday night and between twelve and fifteen on Thursdays. The Gospel in the Rosary study has raised a lot of interest. Although we knew that Mary held a very key role for many Catholics, some of their statements have even surprised us. Some asked why the book didn’t include the last two mysteries concerning Mary’s ascension into heaven and her coronation as queen of heaven. We just explained that since we are basing our study on the gospels and neither of those are mentioned in them, they were left out. More than one has mentioned that Mary is our channel to Jesus. Pray that their eyes will be opened to see the truth from God’s word that Mary was God’s instrument to bring us Jesus and a wonderful example of obedience, faith, and submission; but that we have direct access to God through Jesus without needing His mother to influence Him.


Friday, Oct 22: Earning money for university students is an important thing even for students in the upper class universities. One way they do this is by playing poker on the internet. Of course sometimes they win and sometime they lose money. Pray for the students who are involved in this.

Saturday, Oct 23: Pray for Sharon Cook as her Wednesday night group continues to study Crown Financial study. Pray that the ladies will continue to come to the meetings and continue to be interested in the study as they have been.
Sunday, Oct 24: The Bible Impact Church is struggling. We have touched many lives and seen them changed by the Lord through our home Bible studies, but the Sunday morning church service isn’t growing. Pray with us that the Lord will show us His will. If He wants us to move to a smaller and less expensive place, pray that one will open up. If He wants us to do something else on Sunday mornings, pray that He will reveal His will to us.
Monday, Oct 25: Before Carol Wilkinson leave for stateside assignment in late November she needs to make preparations for teams that will be coming in March and May to work with her in the university ministry. Pray for her as she makes hotel, transportation and other ministry plans. Pray for the ones who will be on the teams. Thank God for the ones who want to come and work in the ministry.
Tuesday, Oct 26: As we reach the last quarter of the year, we missionaries will be evaluating our work goals and results as well as planning for next year. Pray for Mark Fricke and Ellis Leagans as they guide us in this. Pray that we will be led by the Holy Spirit as look over what we did this year and we make our plans for 2011. May God’s name be glorified and His Word go out as we share the Gospel, disciple believers and challenge them to be responsible for doing the same to those around them.


Wednesday, Oct 27: Besides preparing the study guides for the Gospel in the Rosary study, Helen has been working on the assignments for one of the Masters’ seminary courses. Then she realized that there is another course offered on Hebrews; so she is now working on those assignments. Pray for her that she will use her time wisely and be able to keep up with all she needs to do. The Hebrews course is of special interest because a friend that she saw recently in the grocery store told her that she’d done a study on Hebrews with a group of Catholics and at the end of the study, everyone had made a profession of faith as they realized that Jesus Christ is their high priest (pope) and he is the means of access to the Father, not the priests, Mary, sacraments, etc.

Thursday, Oct 28: “This is the day that the Lord has made I will rejoice and be glad in it”. Psalm 118:24. Pray for one another. Pray that today we would remember this verse as we go throughout our day. Why not sing the song on your way to work or school today?
Friday, Oct 29: Pray today for Manuel and Siomara and their leadership in Impacto Biblico Church. Pray that God would grant them wisdom in decisions of the church. Pray that they would experience a strong sense of God’s presence today as many people are praying for them.

Saturday, Oct 30: David and Mayari and the boys are adjusting well to life in Louisiana. The boys are enjoying their school and they are all improving their English. They have been enjoying the American life. Continue to pray for them as they make the transition from Guatemala to the USA and eventually to Spain. Pray for their families in Guatemala. Praise God for the way He has worked out their transition and for the many prayers He has answered.
Sunday, Oct 31: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 29:13-14. Pray today that the missionaries would seek God with all their heart. Pray that the Nicodemus people would seek God first as they are seeking many things in their life.