Updates

Verse of the Day

Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don't be afraid or discouraged by the size of the task, for the Lord God is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.

(1 Chronicles 28:20)

On the 9th of Jan, I received this verse from a woman who sends daily verses from her computer to encourage missionaries.  The timing was perfect as I was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed with the task of moving the ministry out to the Villa.  I shared it the next day with the Jericho family and we were all touched by this promise of God to be with us!  The next verse, verse 21, speaks about God's provision of the skilled volunteers and helpers that He promised to provide for the building of the temple.  Before we even finished the devotional, Ann DeKraker from London, Ontario called me to say that she and her husband and a group of Dutch Canadian farmers wanted to come help us in February!  Since then several more groups have written to ask if they could come right away to help!  We are so thankful to God for the way He is encouraging our hearts in these days, through His Word and His body.

Newcomers

I am just too excited for words.....God is really moving in response to our prayers!  Please keep up the prayer heat!   Tutee, who I asked you to pray for, we now know as Mirna.  She has now been in the ministry for two weeks and brought her two little girls (6 and 8 years old and never before in school) who are now in our kindergarten.  Mirna is Indira's sister-in-law so Indira has totally taken Mirna under her wing and it is precious to behold.  This week both women decided to join us in our fast (we dedicate one week per month to fasting and prayer together and boy does God move in response) and by Wednesday, it became clear to us that Mirna had a huge burden for one of her older daughters who is involved in drugs and prostitution.  She is 16 years old.  We all prayed together for this young woman and today she came to the ministry after escaping from her pimp at 3am in the morning ....barefooted!  It is really cold here (for us) and so I could only just imagine her desperation.  She attended the children's chapel and then Elvia, Hae Young, and I met with her.  We had  an amazing time of prayer and deliverance.  Her face was radiant as she committed her life to Christ!   Please pray especially for protection for Mirna and her daughter whom God has chosen to rescue from the depths of darkness.  

Women's apartments

The Villa continues to progress and we are praying now that we will be able to finish everything (women's homes and all the details of the rehab center) by the middle of February.  The roofing is now completed on the women's apartments and we have been offered help from a local carpenter to paint and install the doors and windows.  Please continue to pray for God to provide what we need for the construction and for the bumpy road that needs some attention.  

Outreach to at-risk adolescents

The other exciting thing that happened is that Elvia and Indira went to visit Nancy to see how she and her children are doing.  Nancy was not there, but Elvia and Indira had a good visit with her children and while they were there, Indira had a vision for doing some kind of outreach to them on Saturday mornings.  Nancy's mother-in-law houses not only Nancy and her kids, but all of her other grandkids as well.  The moms are all involved in prostitution.  Indira got excited as she began to brainstorm about how to reach this next generation and we are excited to see how God has put His desires to reach the lost in her.  Please pray for us as we work with Indira to begin this Saturday morning ministry to those at risk for entering prostitution.  

Red Banner Moment

In early November one evening, I took Lety and Mari to a special workshop that was offered by a ballet troupe from the States for people who wanted to learn about worship dance.  Lety has taken ballet classes in the past and she was so excited!  I was excited, too, as you might imagine since God has been after me to worship him with my whole self.  We spent several hours being led in worship dance and then at the end, those leading the dance held up two long strips of red cloth and invited anyone who truly needed to know that Christ had died for their sins to come and pray under the red banners symbolizing His blood.  Lety was already crying by this point and told me she was going to go.  All those sure that Jesus' blood had covered their sins were instructed to pray and worship at the other end of the floor.  Soon it became clear that Lety was the only one who was headed for the red banners and she had to make a choice .....follow the Lord's leading and be singled out or blend once again into the crowd. I saw her waver for a moment and then head directly for the scarlet fabric being waved up and down by the dancers.  That's when I started weeping.  One of the dancers held her and ministered to her and then she came running back to hug me.  She told me that she had received Christ when she was little and that she felt God wanted her to make a public confession.  It was such a precious time.  Lety is twelve and she loves to dance ballet so it seemed very fitting that she would take this step with Jesus at a worship dance workshop.