The Mien are
currently harvesting their rice. A few days ago I counted
the grains of rice on a single stalk of rice. One grain had
produced well over 100 grains, but in order for this to
happen it had had to fall into the ground and die. We long
to see Mien come from death to life. But it does not stop
there. We yearn to see them die to their own wants and
desires and be used of God to produce much fruit – fruit
that will remain for eternity.
- A
group of Mien believers have started cell
groups to reach Mien students in 3 universities in Chiang Mai.
Pray for a good spirit of unity in serving the Lord on
the team and also within the church as a whole. Pray
that many will be reached for Christ. Please pray too
that Pastor SZ’s leadership will be used and blessed by
the Lord.
- Praise the Lord for the new, revised Mien
hymnbook which is now on sale. It contains more than 530
songs. They have started practicing songs for recording
on CD Roms. The idea is to record one or two verses of
all the hymns and songs in the book so that Mien
Christians here and in creative access nations can learn
them. Pray that it will help them worship God. It is a
big undertaking. Pray for God’s wisdom and help as they
get ready for the recording – arranging choosing
different singers to provide variety and make it
attractive to listen to.
- Please pray that as the checkers’
comments in the New Testament are assessed that they
will be able to make speedy decisions that are wise and
accurate. Praise the Lord that the computers are now
functioning alright. Please pray that this will
continue
- Please pray
for Miss F, a Mien believer who has studied at a
government Bible School. She is gifted in evangelism
and is good at reaching out to non-Christian Mien. She
is in her late 20’s. Most Mien young ladies of her age
are married and her parents are putting pressure on her
to get married. She is in love with a non-Christian who
is a teacher and a member of the Party. Pray that she
will trust the Lord for His partner for her and obey
Him.
- Please pray that Miss MT, 22
years old, who has just graduated in accountancy, will
be able to get a job so that she can be part of her own
home church during the weekends. Another Mien, who has
just graduated, has a job. Pray that he will quickly
find a good church where he can be actively involved in
God’s service and grow spiritually.
-
Following the death of her youngest
son from AIDS, Granny L’s older sister is sleeping in
her house to keep her company at night. This can not
continue long term. Pray that Granny L will learn to
trust the Lord to keep her safe at night from the
evil spirits. The old spirit ways are so deeply
embedded in Granny L, that it is difficult to know
whether she has a real faith in Jesus.
- Mr F is experiencing disturbed
nights. He is having evil spirit dreams of his parents
wanting him to supply for their needs in the spirit
world. Although not yet truly born again Mr F is known
as a Christian. Please that he will not yield to
pressure from his relatives and friends to do spirit
worship and that he will realise that until he submits
to Jesus as Saviour and Lord, he can not be protected
by God from the evil spirits bothering him at night.
- The baptismal class is
dwindling in numbers. Three have had to leave the
village for work elsewhere. With one of these the
change in her life had been quite dramatic. She was so
disappointed that she would miss being baptised that the
Sun am before she left the church all went down to the
stream at the foot of the hill and she was baptised. In
the communion service that followed she gave a lovely
spontaneous testimony. Thank you for praying. There is
nothing quite like the joy of seeing the Lord change
lives. Two men are not attending regularly. Please
pray for the remaining 8 that each may really come
through to a strong faith and determination to follow
the Lord wholeheartedly.