The heartbeat that God has given us for the remainder of our term is disciplining and teaching in the village. There are eight people God has laid on our hearts to disciple this year. Eight that range from non-believers to solid believers. Below is a little about each of them and how you can pray.
Women (Mel)
Una- Una is the wife of Kenny who is the pastor at our church. She desires to grow in the Lord and stand strong in her faith. Pray for her as she is one the most scrutinized and criticized women in the village. Pray that God will grant her the desires of her heart, to grow in Him. Pray that the Lord will help her stand firm in the village.
Amanda- Amanda is the wife of Shannon, the associate pastor. She is about 18 years old and she is a wife and a new mother. She has such a sweet, forgiving spirit. She desires to grow in her walk with the Lord as well. Pray for Amanda as she cares for her small family. Pray that God will grant her wisdom and strength.
Shelly- Do you remember the salvation story of Shelly? It still brings tears to my eyes. She has needed discipleship for so long. Now, I am able to do it. She has slipped away slowly from church and the bible study. She desires to walk the way of the Lord but, has no idea how to do it. Pray for Shelly!
Nadine- Nadine became a Christian about a year ago through ladies bible study. Like Shelly, there has not yet been an opportunity for me to disciple her properly until now. Nadine has a wonderful friendly spirit and God has given her a strong voice for Him. Pray that she will grow in the Lord this year.
Men (John)
Kenny – Is our church pastor. I’ll be meeting with him to sharpen each other as iron sharpens iron. We’ll also continue to pray for our village and plan for the future of the church in our village. I’ll also hopefully be learning more Belizean Kriol from Kenny in an intentional attempt to become conversant in Kriol.
Shannon – our associate pastor/deacon. Will be especially focused on studying doctrine and working on organizing and preparing lessons and teaching.
Robert – Robert is not a Christian yet. He’s the “common law husband” of Nadine, mentioned above. He faithfully volunteers whenever we have a team building project and I’ve developed a bit of a connection with him that I haven’t with other men in the village. I truly think he is seeking something more and is curious about Christianity. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to draw Robert. I’ll be hanging out with him intentionally on a regular basis as a faithful witness.
Jay – Is a man who recently moved to the village with his wife Myrtle. His wife is from the village. Jay has been coming to many of the services and outreaches and has asked us to meet with him weekly to study the Bible. I’m not sure totally what he believes yet, but will be working through and discovering that throughout the next weeks.
We ask for your faithful prayer for this time of discipleship. We ask that you pray that nothing will stand in our way of our planned sessions with these beautiful friends of ours. Fight for them on the Throne of Grace with us.
Pray for John and I, that we will be faithful to the task that God has laid out for us. In addition to these ladies that I will be working with, there will also be three little ones looking to me for physical and spiritual care. Pray that I can be the godly mother they need. Pray that we will stand firm when opposition comes and that we will not be discouraged but encouraged by the Lord. Thank you Lord for this task! May we complete it with your grace and stand firm in faith in you!
Thanks Mel…..problem…..the list wouldn’t print for me 🙂
Oh boy…I am such a techie I copied and pasted into a word doc and put in a new ink cartridge and ir copied for me…..God please annoint and bless John and Mel’s ministry to these eight people. May their efforts bring forth much fruit to your praise and Glory. Amen
Mel and John,
We pray for you almost every day but will strengthen our prayers as you have requested for the all of the people that you have ask us to pray for, including the rest of the village. We would love to see pictures of your place at Gales Point.
I will be retiring on March 2nd and we will probably spend the remainder of the spring and summer here in Colorado and hopefully move to the cabin in Belize in the fall. I know that will be a challenge because of the rainy season but are hopefull that God will provide a way. Once we get settled in we can hopefully help at the village from time to time as well. If you can send a few pictures to our email address, we would love to see them. Our prayers and best wishes for you and the family.
Thanks for the list & explanation of each person to pray for. Did I share with you that you were on the BGC Prayer list this week? We pray it was a special day for you, Feb. 9.
Blessings in your service,
Darlene
Love the list and specifics too! XOXO