i195 closed 2011 with a New Year’s Eve party. Before the midnight hour, the party turned into a worship service with songs, prayer and a message; those stateside remembered fondly th eir loved ones who have counted the cost to serve Jesus in other nations.
Our Rock Ambassador teams continue faithfully to serve the Lord in the places where He has sent them, while persevering in the face of difficult situations that the adversary throws in their path. They understand that this is to be expected, and they are taking these “bumps in the road” as indications that their work is making the enemy very unhappy, while being very pleasing to the Lord.
In Haiti, 5 Bible study groups are meeting 3-4 times a week each, with a total of over 230 Haitians attending and growing in the knowledge of the Lord, not just in the accumulation of biblical facts. Some have shared with us that they were amazed to learn that Jesus is the Son of God, and the only one who can forgive sins. They had not heard that after many years of attending the local church and were terribly burdened with saying hundreds of rosaries each day without finding the peace their hearts so long had thirsted for. Tears of joy have flowed freely as they were led to the Savior in prayer, committing their lives to Him. One of our Rock Ambassadors in Jeremie has returned to the U.S. for medical reasons, to participate in a clinical study that will provide free treatment for a rare condition that would otherwise have cost over $100,000 to treat. We praise God for that rich provision. We also rejoice in the fact that He sent a new Ambassador to join the Haiti team just three weeks before that original member left, when we had no inkling that He was going to open the door for her participation in that clinical trial. Truly, our God is an awesome God!
In Africa, our Ambassadors spent a week in the capital city for another “just-in-time” training session, this one focusing on Church Planting. They continue to make progress in learning the languages of the unreached people groups (UPG) they went there to reach, and will soon be translating and recording Bible stories in these languages to bring the message of the gospel to people of unwritten languages who have never heard of Jesus.
In the Philippine Islands (PI) the original team of 2 Ambassadors has expanded to 7 with the 5 who stayed there at the end of the Impact International Trip (IIT) in December. The Lord continues to grant them great favor with the local population as they are invited to participate in various church services to share their testimonies, to lead worship, and to provide training for local believers. A dance class started last week with 9 children participating. They had such a great time that they all came back the next day! It is going to be a great open door for children’s ministry. Saturday Sports night at the basketball court is always crowded with both players and onlookers. This past Saturday, our team had the opportunity to close the night out in prayer with believers and unbelievers alike. The group circled up, held hands and on of our Ambassadors prayed for everyone. Some of the men walked away, but many stayed to pray with them. This has proven to be an awesome opportunity to build relationships with people simply by playing games together. Local policemen are really opening up to our team because of the weekly Bible study the team started for them. In order to develop deeper relationships with them, the team is planning to have them, with their wives, over for a dinner once our kitchen is finished being built. They say they are really looking forward to it. The women’s ministry is going well with 5 to 9 women coming every Saturday. They are memorizing scripture and opening up, which is not common for women out there. Pray that they will continue to develop trust with our team.
Our team of Rock Ambassadors in Asia continues the patient work of teaching English as a second language, making friends and seeking opportunities to share the message of salvation with students and their parents.
Our world changers will be preparing for their next series of short-term trips this April, and will be heading to southern Mexico, Turkey and India to bring pervasive hope. Join us for a week of prayer with and for them and our teams abroad Monday Feb 20th – the 24th, 6pm each night at i195, located at 3247 Mission Village Drive, San Diego, CA 92123.
www.i195.org
