May 2011 prayer requests

THE NICODEMUS PROJECT, GUATEMALA CITY
MAY 2011

“We were fashioned for significance. We were created in the image of
God, and there's something in us, something deep in the human soul,
that needs to matter. If we don't make the discovery in truth, we will
twist off and find a way to be significant in some way that is unholy
and carnal and most likely deceptive in one form or another. That's
how much we need it. That's how much we yearn for it. All throughout
Scripture God gives us reminders that our significance is to be
sourced in our relationship to Him. When we seek it outside of Him, we
are doomed to disappointment. Finding it in Him, however, finally
provides us a permanent foundation.” Beth Moore

Sunday, May 1: There are many people here in Guatemala and throughout
the world that have great wealth and riches from a worldly
perspective; yet they are searching for the significance of their
lives. Pray that their search would begin and end with Jesus Christ.
We, as Christians, know that He is our source of significance, pray
that the Nicodemus people would find their satisfaction in Him.

Monday, May 2: George had a good meeting in Lima, Peru, last month,
but he wasn’t able to make the trip to Nicaragua. That trip has been
rescheduled for the first week of this month. Pray that he would be
able to finalize the sale of one property, update the paperwork on the
bank account, implement new procedures at the Mission office, check on
the sale of two other properties, and meet with several people. Pray
that he would be able to encourage Aura, the secretary, and Amy, a
missionary who is helping with the logistics.

Tuesday, May 3: Thanks for your prayer support for Judy Leagans as she
plans and coordinates the music for Impacto Bíblico services, and for
Judy and José as they play instruments in the services. Also give
thanks to God for the use of a church member’s house for the church
services. It is a great blessing to be able to meet in the house.

Wednesday, May 4: Richard Cook asks that you would pray that the Lord
give him wisdom and direction as he makes plans to travel to Honduras,
El Salvador, Panama, and the Dominican Republic this year and next, to
meet with leaders and work out ways he can help them to provide
theological education in those places.

Thursday, May 5: Judy Leagans gave devotional books with a short
devotional thought for each day of the year to several of the women at
Impacto Biblico Church. Myriam, who is from Uruguay, told Helen that
she has been sharing these devotional thoughts with Catholic friends
in Spain, Argentina, and Uruguay and that they are meeting via
Internet several times a week to talk about them and pray together.
Pray for Myriam as she shares with these friends that they will come
to know the truth of the gospel.

Friday, May 6: Carol will begin meeting with a few university students
who want to study the book, The Purpose Driven Life. Pray that the
students would have time to study the book amidst their busy class
requirements and that they would find their purpose in this life.

Saturday, May 7: Continue to pray for the small groups with which
Sharon Cook works with. Pray for the members of this group to
continue to have a desire to study and pray for Sharon as she plans
the studies for the group. Pray for God to give her wisdom and
direction in the areas of study.

Sunday, May 8: Your prayers were felt last month as George preached
several times. He will bring the message today on Mother’s Day at the
Impacto Biblico Church. Pray that the Lord will direct his
preparation and that there will be many visitors that morning.

Monday, May 9: Richard Cook asks the Lord to provide financial
resources for students and prospective students. Many times the lack
of finances puts a strain on students and their families, and even
keeps them from enrolling in Seminary classes.

Tuesday, May 10: Continue to pray for the health of Manuel, Siomara
and Samuel. They want to give thanks to God because their health is
improving. Pray especially for Siomara to have strength and wisdom
about the diet she is on for diabetes. Also pray that she would be
able to obtain the medical equipment that she needs such as a
glucometer.

Wednesday, May 11: Grant and Rebecca are in the midst of wedding plans
for August. Many things are falling into place, but there are a lot
of others that need attention. Pray for them as they make plans and
decisions. Pray for the Hardemans as they make their travel plans
that they will be able to get good tickets for the dates they need
them.

Thursday, May 12: The last week in April the Thursday group that meets
at the Hardemans’ finished the Gospel in the Rosary study. Helen has
begun writing a study guide for the book of Hebrews using, among other
things the guide that Sharon wrote when she lead the women’s study at
Union Church. We’re using as the theme “When you have the best, why
settle for less? Pray that these studies will continue to open their
eyes to ingrained doctrinal errors and bring them to a correct
understanding of Scripture.

Friday, May 13: Carol wants to have an activity at her house this
weekend for university students. Pray that she would have wisdom as
to what activity to have and pray that some of the students would come
to the event.

Saturday, May 14: Pray for a Ladies Tea at Impacto Biblico Church
today. It is an opportunity to learn about and pray for Muslim
ladies. Pray that the ladies of the church would come and bring their
friends.

Sunday, May 15: Ellis and Judy Leagans would appreciate your
continuing prayers for the June 11-17 OGM (Occasional General Meeting)
of IMB personnel from Central America, the Caribbean, and some from
Europe, as well as leadership from Peru and Chile. It will be held in
Guatemala. The meeting includes fellowship, worship, and numerous
sessions focusing on changes and restructuring that the IMB is going
through. Please continue to pray that Ellis and Judy, who are
coordinating the logistics for this, will do so effectively and that
the OGM will be a meaningful time for all 200 or so who will attend.

Monday, May 16: As we studied the return of Jesus in the Monday group,
one woman commented that she was going to have to pray and ask God’s
forgiveness for not believing in Jesus’ physical return and making fun
of a friend of hers that often mentions it. She said, “Until now, I
never realized that it was in the Bible.” That same night, another of
the women asked about purgatory. Helen told her that she had found no
mention of it or even suggestion of it anywhere in the Bible. The
lady’s husband spoke up and said, “It isn’t mentioned in the Catholic
Bible either.” That really surprised her. We talked a bit about the
thief on the cross and Jesus’ promise to him, Jesus’ blood being
sufficient to cleanse us of all sins, and Helen told her that in the
final lesson we would touch on this theme again. That group still
lacks about three more lessons to finish the series.

Tuesday, May 17: Pray by name for the members of the Tuesday night
group which meets at Manuel and Siomara’s house. Their names are as
follows: Annie, Angel, Junior, Ester, Glorimania, Juan Jose, Manuel y
Siomara. Give thanks to God because the group members are learning
through the studies and pray that they would continue to be attentive
to the Holy Spirit.

Wednesday, May 18: The members of Impacto Biblico Church want to start
a program which will allow them to interact with other members of the
church and also with friends of the members. The idea is that for
three months you have groups of three families that meet together to
get to know each other. Then after three months you rotate groups.
That way you are getting to know each other better and also growing
together spiritually. Pray for them as they begin this program and
pray that the members would invite their friends to join in the
activities.

Thursday, May 19: The members of Impacto Biblico Church want to have a
session on “Diabetes and pre Diabetes” for the members of their
church, neighbors in the area and friends. Pray for them as they
determine the best time to have the event. Pray that others outside
of the church would come.

Friday, May 20: Richard Cook asks for the Lord to call more nationals
to labor in his fields, and that they seek the theological education
and training for ministry that the Seminary has to offer. Pray that
those who have a desire for theological education would have the
finances and resources which they need to join the seminary-training
program.

Saturday, May 21: Manuel and Siomara want to give thanks to God for
the healing which He has done in Samuel’s life. They know that Samuel
is doing so well because of the prayers of many of you. Samuel’s good
health is a testimony of the work of God and God has given them
opportunities to share this testimony with others. Continue to pray
for them as they share this testimony and praise God for the
continuing good health for Samuel.

Sunday, May 22: Helen first met Mercedes a couple of years ago when
she came to the Crown study which she never finished because she had
to return to Bolivia for a visit. Last month she, her husband and
daughter began coming to Impacto Biblico. They are Christians but had
never found a church here that they felt comfortable in. Pray that we
will continue to reach new people, but that we will, also, target non-
Christians and be bold in inviting them and develop programs for
children and youth.

Monday, May 23: The next resident session of the Master’s Program at
the Guatemalan Baptist Theological Seminary will be held the weeks of
May 23 and May 30. Helen plans to take the second semester of Greek
and teach the Biblical Financial Principles class the first week.
Pray for her as she does her assignments and prepares for teaching the
class.

Tuesday, May 24: Two of the women who are in the Monday group have
said they would read through the study guide sheets to check for
errors, redundancy, etc. Dr. Sanchez, the author of the Gospel in the
Rosary, is planning to add the study guide as an appendix to the book
when they do a new printing. Ana has said she would like to compile
the prayers at the end of each study to share with her charismatic
group as they pray the rosary. Pray that this study guide will become
a valuable to tool to those using the book to lead them to a deeper
understanding of faith in Christ. Several missionaries in Central and
South America have expressed interest in using the books in their
groups.

Wednesday, May 25: The Wednesday Crown group which Carol and Helen
have been working with will soon be finishing up their study. Silvia
and her family will be gone for two months before returning to
Guatemala in August. Pray for the travels of her family. Also pray
for Carlos as he has just recently begun a new job that involves
travels to and from El Salvador. Pray that each one of them would be
open to opportunities, in which God allows them to start new groups.

Thursday, May 26: On the study of the Holy Spirit’s coming in the
Rosary series, one of the women, who is involved with the charismatic
Catholics, asked about speaking in tongues. We explained about how,
on the day of Pentecost, the disciples spoke in understandable
languages, and then went to passages about the gift of tongues where
there are very specific guidelines as to when and how tongues may be
practiced. As it turns out, she was very pleased to learn what the
Bible says as she doesn’t have the gift of tongues and didn’t feel
comfortable with the way it was used at times. Pray that each one
will be attentive to the Holy Spirit’s direction as He convicts and
convinces of truth.

Friday, May 27: Carol would like to thank you for your prayers last
month for the visit of her sister. They had a good (and safe) time
together and were able to do a lot of things. One of the highlights
was visiting the Compassion International girl who Carol’s sister has
been sponsoring for 10 years.

Saturday, May 28: Today the missionaries will gather together to
celebrate the high school graduation of Bethany Thomas. She and her
family (Jeff and Karen Thomas family) live in Coban. Pray that the
day would be a day to celebrate Bethany’s achievement. Pray for her
as she seeks God’s direction in her life. Praise God for a mission
family who wants to get together to celebrate this special day with
Bethany.

Sunday, May 29: The Thursday group studied about the meeting of the
Samaritan woman and Jesus. (Dr. Sanchez has added a few studies at the
end of the regular Rosary “mysteries.”) Toward the end of the lesson,
one of the women (a psychologist who at one time studied to be a nun)
said that she just wanted to say that the first four questions had
really made her angry because she felt like they were attacking the
Catholic Church. As we’d discussed the questions that related to
religious traditions, syncretism and superstition, Helen had tried to
pointed out examples she’d seen here in Guatemala in both the Catholic
and evangelical churches. Looking back over the questions, there
really doesn’t seem to be any direct reference to the Catholic Church,
which would make her feel “attacked” unless it was just the Holy
Spirit convicting. We just summed it up by saying that we all needed
to stay in Bible study and seek God’s guidance and direction in case
we’d strayed in any way from the truth. While our purpose in never to
offend, we must present the truth. Pray for hearts to be opened and
courageous enough to examine the scriptures and then to follow the
truth they find there.

Monday, May 30: Continue to pray for Sharon Cook and the opportunities
that she has to use her craft skills in outreach opportunities. Pray
for the ladies who she has contact with through these classes.

Tuesday, May 31: Once a month Carol attends a book club meeting. At
last month’s meeting she was able to share about her personal
relationship with Jesus Christ. Several of the women who attend have
New Age beliefs; they refer to their inner spirit, the universe
leading them and other phrases such as that. Carol had been looking
for an opportunity to share with the ladies and God provided that
opportunity. Continue to pray for her as she looks for more
opportunities to share with the ladies and pray that the ladies hearts
would be open to the love of God.

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