January Ministry Update
Just before the calendar turned to 2013, Nathan left for a training trip in Vietnam. After a week in Vietnam and a 4 hour visit in the HK airport with us, he then left for a training trip in Nepal. This is the second time he has had a back-to-back training trip, and not the last time either. The back-to-back trips are quite exhausting, but it is just the way things keep lining up. Both the week in Vietnam and the week in Nepal were good, though in very different ways...
VIETNAM
Praise: The training in Vietnam went very smoothly. Twenty leaders were trained and all but two were returnees. Nathan and Cary have found a good rhythm in training and the students know exactly what is expected of them. There were lots of questions and interactions. Several men are starting to emerge as leaders in the group, as evidenced by their passion, vision, and skill.
Pray: After a week of SALT training, the 20 pastors that have been trained go back to their villages and train their local leadership, followed by their congregants. But then the training stops. The pastors are severely limited by terrain, government interference, and a lack of regional church leadership. Local authorities are very suspicious of anyone entering a village to train, even if that trainer is Hmong. In order to maximize the number of people who are able to receive the training that Nathan gives to the initial group, our Vietnamese co-workers are working to establish regional training centers at the open, government-approved churches. This would allow 40-50 local pastors to travel to their nearest big city to be trained by several of the pastors who received the initial SALT training. Pray that new channels of training are able to be established so that more pastors can receive this much needed Bible training!
Person: Pray for Pastor Mai. His first time at a SALT training was 2 trips ago, when he arrived in Hanoi to deliver something to someone at the church where the SALT training was taking place. He was just a lay leader at his Hmong church, but asked to stay for the training. Since then, his mentor and the Christian leader of his province passed away from liver cancer. Pastor Mai has taken his place and is now in charge of 20 churches. He makes ends meet by selling herbs that he finds in the woods around his house. He is a natural leader and has become a spokesperson in SALT trainings.
NEPAL
Praise: Logistically, nothing went right during this training trip in Nepal: flights were delayed and cancelled, there was major miscommunication with local leadership, and the opposite of what was expected is what happened. However, God was present and faithful to help adjust and correct plans. In the end, some very eager and excited students were trained and learned the material well.
Pray: Pray that students will truly engage with the material as they teach it to others. Pray that a training movement will begin in the region of Western Nepal.
Person: Pray for Pastor Debee. He became a Christian as a foreign worker in Kuwait. When he returned home to Western Nepal 5 years ago, he started a church because there were none that existed in his area. Today, his church has 250 members and 9 daughter churches. Pastor Debee is a voracious learner who has had no Biblical training up to this point. He traveled 6 hours by bus to attend the SALT training.
VIETNAM
Praise: The training in Vietnam went very smoothly. Twenty leaders were trained and all but two were returnees. Nathan and Cary have found a good rhythm in training and the students know exactly what is expected of them. There were lots of questions and interactions. Several men are starting to emerge as leaders in the group, as evidenced by their passion, vision, and skill.
Pray: After a week of SALT training, the 20 pastors that have been trained go back to their villages and train their local leadership, followed by their congregants. But then the training stops. The pastors are severely limited by terrain, government interference, and a lack of regional church leadership. Local authorities are very suspicious of anyone entering a village to train, even if that trainer is Hmong. In order to maximize the number of people who are able to receive the training that Nathan gives to the initial group, our Vietnamese co-workers are working to establish regional training centers at the open, government-approved churches. This would allow 40-50 local pastors to travel to their nearest big city to be trained by several of the pastors who received the initial SALT training. Pray that new channels of training are able to be established so that more pastors can receive this much needed Bible training!
Person: Pray for Pastor Mai. His first time at a SALT training was 2 trips ago, when he arrived in Hanoi to deliver something to someone at the church where the SALT training was taking place. He was just a lay leader at his Hmong church, but asked to stay for the training. Since then, his mentor and the Christian leader of his province passed away from liver cancer. Pastor Mai has taken his place and is now in charge of 20 churches. He makes ends meet by selling herbs that he finds in the woods around his house. He is a natural leader and has become a spokesperson in SALT trainings.
NEPAL
Praise: Logistically, nothing went right during this training trip in Nepal: flights were delayed and cancelled, there was major miscommunication with local leadership, and the opposite of what was expected is what happened. However, God was present and faithful to help adjust and correct plans. In the end, some very eager and excited students were trained and learned the material well.
Pray: Pray that students will truly engage with the material as they teach it to others. Pray that a training movement will begin in the region of Western Nepal.
Person: Pray for Pastor Debee. He became a Christian as a foreign worker in Kuwait. When he returned home to Western Nepal 5 years ago, he started a church because there were none that existed in his area. Today, his church has 250 members and 9 daughter churches. Pastor Debee is a voracious learner who has had no Biblical training up to this point. He traveled 6 hours by bus to attend the SALT training.
Thank you for praying!
It's so wonderful to hear/see what God is doing throughout the world! Thank you for being His hands and feet. I'm still trying to wrap my tiny brain around a pastor making ends meet by selling herbs he finds around his house...just to keep the Word of God moving in his country. Oh how sheltered I am!
ReplyDeletePraying for you guys!
Faith!