MARTIN, CHARLOTTE (Guelph, ON; Power to Change) PRAISE: All of our mission trips have finished. Each trip went well, there were no major crises and the student participants had great experiences. Early June I visited the Praxis Ottawa mission trip. I enjoyed participating in ministry activities, getting to know the students, and doing a retreat with them. I have two weeks of vacation this month to spend time with family and recharge. PRAY: Some of our mission trip staff teams struggled with conflict and others came home really tired. Pray for reconciliation between staff who struggled to work well together and pray for rest for our staff after busy mission trips. I am planning a global missions session at our staff conference in August. Pray that this session would be helpful and inspirational for staff. My team is seeking to diversify our mission trip offerings for next year. Pray for us as we explore some new opportunities.
J&R K - South Asia - July 2023
J&R (South Asia; Frontiers) PRAISE: Praise the Lord for a good finish to the end of the school year. What a blessing to see one of our standard 13 students get baptized on the last day of term! PRAY: Pray for rest as we finish off tasks in the next two weeks. Pray we’d have a refreshing break and for the new staff preparing to come in the new year. Pray for R* a widow lady in our study group battling breast cancer with almost no treatment as she cannot afford it. May Jesus be near and May the Spirit open her heart to the gospel.
Esther Frey - July 2023
FREY, ESTHER (Puerto Rico; Emmaus Correspondence) PRAISE: 25 Seniors took the physical evaluation. We had 21 staff from the university responsible to do the evaluations. Had opportunities to share testimonies. This last week in June we had the privilege of 24 people from a church in Florida doing scraping and painting at the chapel. My monthly eye injection has been extended to 6 weeks. PRAY: The first Sunday in July an ex-inmate Emmaus student is giving his testimony at the chapel. July 6 and 7 the university students will present the seminars on physical therapy for seniors. Brian will return July 7 from his trip to Malaysia. July 31 to August 4 will be a week for children on Healing the Wounded Heart. We desperately need young families, youth and children in our assembly.
Phil & Andrea - July 2023
BAUMAN, PHIL & ANDREA (Canada, International roles with SIM) PRAISE: For the strong affirmation of Phil's nomination as the next SIM International Director by the SIM Board of Governors as well as the global membership of SIM. For the International Director Search Committee that oversaw a very robust, confidential process that was immersed in prayer. For the support and encouragement of colleagues and close friends through the search and affirmation process. For a clear sense of peace knowing many challenges lie ahead. PRAY: That God would continue to guide us and grant us his peace as we prepare for this transition. That Phil can work effectively with Joshua and colleagues in the coming weeks and months to hand over responsibilities of his current role in preparation for sabbatical. For Andrea and her colleague as they hand over the responsibilities for the Middle East Personnel Coordinator role.
Gord Martin
Greetings to you all at Wallenstein!
Very much for the gift of $250 that you forwarded to VMC for our support!
Just this morning I was part of a prayer group on Zoom, we've been praying for Indy who has now been separated from his family in Winnipeg for three and a half years. He was stuck in Burma/Myanmar for about 3 years and now is in India.
He entered India illegally to avoid the very dangerous border crossing, it's now complicated for him to leave India since he "never entered". Nine of us have been praying for him every Friday morning for three years. We are praying that he will be able leave, within a week or so.
Last weekend I was with a group of Nigerians for their annual retreat. It was a very exciting time for them since two of the top leaders of their denomination in Nigeria came to be with them.
One of the leaders said several times over, that in the first 14 years of missionaries coming to Nigeria, starting 130 years ago, there were more missionary graves than converts. But today in Nigeria alone that denomination has 8,000 churches and 10 million members! (this large group of churches is just one "branch" that grew out of SIM, the organization Phil Bauman is serving)
They are so grateful to Canadians because it was from Toronto that those missionaries first went. It's something for us to be greatly encouraged about!
Again for your kindness,
Gord Martin