JD

Merry Christmas!

December 20, 2017 By JD Leave a Comment

Merry Christmas!!

Teresa and I, together with our children and grandchildren, want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas as you celebrate the riches of all that our Great God has done for us!! How blessed we all are because of this marvelous Story that began in eternity past!! A big hug for you from all of us. Know that we love you and truly thank God for your part in the work to see solid NT churches established among the P people.

Josh and Josie and their four children are still on medical leave from their country of service and we trust they will see improvements in the health of Josie, and their daughter Katrina, beforelong. Thanks for your prayers for them as they journey onward. We will miss them here in the North Land but thankful they can be together with family there in Wisconsin.

Jodi and Brent are here in Salmon Arm, BC to have their second child since medical services in their host country aren’t adequate. We are delighted to be able to hang with them this Christmas and get to know our newest little grandson Hudson! Jodi is due here shortly and your prayers for a safe delivery for mom and baby would be appreciated. And yes, thanks for your prayers for them too as they continue on in life and missions.

Here is an approximation of how some of the Christmas Story from Luke 1 sounds in the translation of the beloved P people:

When Elizabeth had been full with child for six moons, the true God sent his servant to the town of Nazareth. It’s true. He sent Gabriel to the town that was located in the land of Galilee. He sent him to a girl named Mary, to her who had never once slept with a man. For she was promise-given to Joseph who was a descendant of the deceased David. Precisely to him was she promise-given to become his wife. And Gabriel, arriving to where she was, said to her:
—Look woman, be joyful, for precisely the Lord sees you with great compassion. He is with you.
But when Mary heard these words, she really thought deeply wondering: But what is he saying to me? Why is this servant from heaven speaking to me like this?
But Gabriel said to her:
—Look Mary, don’t be afraid. For the true God sees you with truly much compassion. For you will remain pregnant and after a time has passed, you will give birth to a baby boy. You will name him Jesus. And he will be truly valuable / great. People will say to him that he is the Son of the surpassingly great God. And above and beyond that, he will live just as his deceased forefather did, sitting on a truly important seat / position. It’s true! By the Lord God causing it to happen, he will live as king just as his ancestor David did, becoming the king of the descendants of Israel. He will live forever as their king, being a ruler —he said to her.
But Mary asked the servant from heaven:
—But how will I give birth? For I have not ever slept with a man, not even once.
But the servant from heaven answered her:
—Look, the true Spirit will come upon you in such a way that you will be in the sphere of the surpassingly powerful God, in such a way that you will become pregnant. Therefore, the child that you will give birth to, well, he will be exceedingly holy, being one who will not mix with evil. And the people will say to him, “You are the Son of the true God.” However, when you hear these words that I’m telling you, you could think that you can’t really become pregnant like this, that it isn’t possible, but know that the true God is easily able to make this happen. And look, even your aunt has become pregnant not so long ago. It’s true! Six moons ago, Elizabeth also became pregnant. Even though she had become old, even when it didn’t seem like she could become pregnant, it happened by her husband, the true God having caused it. And the true God can cause the same to happen to you even though you have never slept with a man. For the true God easily does those things that seem like they can’t be done. Even when there is nothing one can do, the true God does precisely what is needed, for nothing is impossible with Him —the servant from heaven said to Mary.
And when Mary heard this she responded to the servant saying like this:
—I am the servant of the Lord. So may he do to me as you have said. May what you have told me become fulfilled in me.
And the servant from heaven left her.

Thanks again so very much for your partnering with us as we continue to provide resource materials for the P churches. And thanks so much too for your continued prayers for the P nation, for their spiritual growth, and for their homeland that is hurting so badly right now.

Rejoicing in the TRUTH of the Biblical record of what Christmas really is all about,
Merrill and Teresa

The Christmas Story from Matthew…and more!

December 6, 2017 By JD Leave a Comment

Five-Year Visas!!

Teresa and I are happy to report that our trip down to our host country was a great success! Everything went quite smoothly and there were no huge bumps in the road. Thanks so very much for praying!! Many of you were standing with us during this time and we thank God for your partnership. We got our paperwork all up to snuff and now have an additional five years of ministry opportunity down there. It would appear as if the angel Gabriel is camped out in the visa department!!

It was sad though to see the condition of this beloved country that continues to deteriorate on almost every level. We could never have imagined that things would become as they are now. However, our faith is in our great Sovereign Lord, and so we continue to rest in Him to accomplish his purposes, knowing that HE WILL BUILD HIS CHURCH in whatever political environment, AND THAT THE POWERS OF HELL WILL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST HIM!! Yes, how good it is to rest in Him and be still before him. How good to realize that He who shed His blood for the P nation will continue to open the needed windows and doors of opportunity so we can take the needed steps to cross the finish line.

Praise:

praise for all the updated paperwork
praise for God granting us a terrific trip down there. How very good it was to reconnect with so many different friends, coworkers, and fellow believers
praise for all that God continues to accomplish there, even in the midst of huge challenges
praise for the many nationals who are giving their lives to take the Gospel to Unreached People Groups
praise for how God enables us to continue to adjust our strategies in order to move forward in ever-changing contexts
praise for a great report from the Cornea Specialist regarding my new eye part, and that the other eye has not deteriorated further

Pray:

pray for continued open doors for the preaching of the Gospel
pray for the encouragement of the whole team as obstacles and barriers arise more than ever
pray for health and safety of the different teams as medical supplies and food are often hard to come by
pray that each of the P believers will continue to function with the gifts that the Spirit of God has given them
pray that God will be wonderfully meeting the needs of the P believers and that they will learn to depend on Him more and more
pray for God’s solution to be brought to bear on this beloved country

Jesus, beginning with the beginning words, shared with them in a big way regarding the message that God caused to be written down, right from what Moses wrote straight on through to what the prophets wrote. And all that which was written regarding himself he taught in an opening up sort of way, so that they would really get the stuff about him. – Luke 24:27

Thanking God for your partnership with us in this great work,

Merrill and Teresa

Trip for Renewed Visas, Team Meetings, to Host Country

October 14, 2017 By JD Leave a Comment

Heading South!!

The door has cracked open for us to return!

We are excited to report that our great Lord Owner Boss has cracked the door open so we can head south to take care of some important items in our country of ministry. We thank the Lord for this opportunity to go down there to renew our paperwork, meet with our team, and catch up with some other important partners. And as we think about going in a few short days, we reflect on God’s bigness and these truths:

Isaiah 45:5-7

“I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me that men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these.”

Isaiah 40:10

“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

Exodus 14:14

“The LORD will fight for you, and all you have to do is keep still.”

As many of you know, conditions in our country of service are far from normal. Things continue to deteriorate there and people across the land are suffering in so many sad ways. However, Almighty God continues to build His church there, and we praise Him that the very gates of Hell will not be able to prevail against what God has up His sleeve. And we sure want to continue to be a part of what God is doing there as long as doors remain open. So we are going in order to maintain our legal status in the country and also to have team meetings with our national coworkers. Things on the ground continue to change and so we will be spending a lot of time in prayer, seeking God’s direction as to how to continue working and encouraging this beloved people group.

Please Pray:

—for these many different believers, whose faces you see on the pictures, who represent the believers in the ten different village churches. Pray for strength, courage, and wisdom as they journey on in their lives as children of the Most High God
—for success in completing our paperwork so we can have many more years of ministry in this great country
—for profitable times together as a team as we seek God, talk strategy, and encourage one another in the Lord
—for continued open doors for the Gospel in this country
—for God to be hugely glorified in and thru our trip down there
—for the continued growth of the churches among the P people; that more would learn to read, that more women would rise to the task of teaching their children and encourage other ladies, and that they would learn to read well without any embarrassment
—for our many national coworkers that they would be courageous and continue to move forward in the work with great boldness and urgency
—we praise the Lord for a great report on my new Cornea transplant. I’m seeing much better!! The one eye that hasn’t received a transplant yet is holding it’s own and even a spec better. So thanks so much for your continued prayers for good eye health
—for our children, Josh and Josie and their four kids, who are home from the Asia Pacific region to deal with certain health problems. Some of them have been struggling with different ailments during the last two years on the field and though they have been to numerous doctors, they haven’t been able to see improvement there. So thanks so much for praying about this with us that they get back to feeling up to par.
—for Jodi and Brent who are heading to their home country the end of this month from their host country to have their second baby. Jodi is due at the end of December and so we are thrilled that we’ll be able to have them close for a time and just enjoy them along with the little descendants!!

Thanks again so very much for your partnering with us. We are indeed thankful for the ongoing opportunities to serve the P. believers by preparing additional resource material for them. Thanks again for all you do to keep us going!!

Evacuation

August 8, 2017 By JD Leave a Comment

In Daniel 2:21 we read: He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.

In recent days, we have learned that our few remaining coworkers in our Host Country have been evacuated. The government there has taken radical steps to gain complete power and so who knows what is coming next. We are grieved as we have been following the news, and yet our hearts are calm and at peace as we continue to lean heavily upon the King of kings, and Lord of lords. Yes, in spite of the difficulties and challenges for those who seek to work there and for our many beloved brethren who are experiencing it close and up front, we trust the great LORD OWNER BOSS JEHOVAH! It is as the P believers say, “Even when the situation doesn’t resemble a believing time, we will still believe in the ‘over and above’ God.” And so we wait upon Him, knowing that He truly is in control, and that He rules supreme, and that His purposes will be advanced, even through this whole fiasco.

Praise!

Praise God that He is all powerful, and that He is building His church and that the very powers of hell will not prevail
Praise God for all that He is accomplishing even in this strange and difficult context. We hear many good things of God’s great works!
Praise God that He is much more concerned about the building of His body than we are, and that we can confidently hang our hammocks in Him (trust Him) and relax.

Pray!

Pray for God’s Name to be gloriously honored through this whole situation and that the schemes of the enemy will be thwarted
Pray for the many different People Groups who have come to Christ in this country, that they will grow strong through this time of hardship and evangelize others
Pray for God’s wisdom for us in how to proceed with plans for the future regarding our visas and so much more. We were going to be heading down there to take care of some visa renewals but now we will wait and see how He leads
Pray for continued wisdom as we work on revising the Bible lessons, as well as the dictionary
Pray that the Lord of the Harvest would send forth many more career workers who will joyfully surrender their lives to His purposes and bring in some of that ripe harvest

Banking big on God’s sovereignty,

Merrill and Teresa

Graduation To Glory And An SOS

June 26, 2017 By JD Leave a Comment

Two Shamans, Two Village Chiefs, Two Sons of God!

From Death to Life!

When we first began teaching the message of the Bible to our dear friends, many from distant villages strongly opposed us. Many felt we had been sent by evil spirits and that whoever embraced this message also turn into evil spirits. And so several of the shamans went to work to sing their power songs to ward off all “evil” they believed was emanating from us, and to create protective barriers around their villages. One of those guys was a fellow we’ll call JP. He was both an influential village chief and spiritual leader. Well, as time passed, this dear fellow came to understand that we truly cared for him and his people, and that the message that we brought wasn’t one of death and destruction but rather one of of life and truth! What a beautiful thing it was to see this guy really take interest in the teaching and then put his faith in Jesus, and what He did as his Substitute on the cross. It was glorious indeed to watch! And now this dear brother is in Glory! It wasn’t so long ago that we heard that he had graduated, that he had been promoted, that he had put off the old dwelling and headed for divine turf! How we praise God for the bigness and greatness of the Gospel Message, for this dear brother arrived there with the very righteousness of Christ put to his account!!

Transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of Light!

Another shaman who was not too excited about the teaching when we first began was a guy we’ll call Monty. He was a wild man and always getting into trouble with his own people. He was also a village chief who believed very strongly in all that the ancestors had taught. I remember going to the village one time, and he was about to to lead an all-night singsong to communicate with the gods, the ancestors, and the good spirits. However, there was a vicious storm brewing close by that was threatening this out-door event and so Monty quickly pulled out a stingray barb from his palm satchel and pulled the sharp jagged edge across the front end of his tongue, ripping it wide open. Well the blood began to flow and he right away blew / spit this blood up toward the heavens to placate the god of thunder, in order that the storm might not be sent their way. Yes, Monty strongly believed in and acted upon the teachings of the ancestors.

As time passed however, this ardent believer in the old ways became a close friend and eventually began listening to the teaching and put his faith in the Payer Jesus who paid ‘interveningly’ with his blood and death to the Judge of the universe who was demanding the payment. And how sweet it was then to see him teach his own family the eternal truths of Scripture. And now this dear brother, well he too has moved on to better things. He has joined his Heavenly Dad, as well as his Older Brother Jesus, arriving there with no-condemnation status!!

SOS

We just heard that a malaria epidemic is sweeping across the state where the P people live, and that many are getting sick. And what is so sad is that there are no prevention meds available, nor the needed remedies. This is serious indeed!! Please be praying for God’s protection of the P. nation. We truly are needing our great Lord-Owner-Boss God to intervene here for His great Glory!
Please continue to pray for our Host Country as things continue to worsen. Many there have written saying they never ever imagined that they would see their country get so bad but they are living in that horrible reality right now. Many are fleeing the country and some of our coworkers are trying to leave as well to take their kids where they can secure jobs, and just to get a time of reprieve themselves. So thanks in advance for spending time in the Throne Room on behalf of the many Language Groups there, and for the whole country, that God’s solution be brought about.

Thanks again so very much for your partnering with us and for your prayers as we continue to revise the Bible lessons for the P. churches.