Pray

Linda Krieg is a retired Bible translator for the Siawi people of Papua New Guinea (PNG). “With the creep of ... ‘the outside world’ toward Siawi has come new communication opportunities.” Internet access has allowed the Siawi to keep in contact with their former missionaries. Amid a tuberculosis (TB) outbreak, Linda’s Siawi friend Joel (formerly a translation co-worker) has been able to keep Linda updated on the status of his daughter Sandra and her son who have TB.

“Please do be praying for your Siawi brothers and sisters as they face not only life-threatening illness and diseases with little medical care, but also the evils of this world that have ready access. ... I’ve been so thankful that God brought the gospel message to Siawi, along with His Word in their own language, before the doors really opened to the outside world.”

Andrew and Sara Royer minister to students through their various roles at Ethnos360 Bible Institute (EBI). Andrew serves as president of EBI. Praise the Lord that there has been an increase in student applicants for the fall semester and that the Royers have seen God working in the lives of each student at EBI.

“One of the larger projects [Andrew] is taking on this year is developing a capital campaign to revitalize the [EBI] campus. ... With rising costs and a 115-year-old building, we are seeing [this campaign] is necessary so that we don’t have to raise costs for students beyond what is affordable. This is a core value for EBI: to provide solid Bible foundation and discipleship with no debt so that missionary candidates can go to the field unhindered.” Pray that God would provide funding for the EBI revitalization campaign.

Give to the EBI campus revitalization campaign.

In this video, Andrew Royer describes the Ethnos360 Bible Institute revitalization campaign.

The Alliance for the Unreached has declared, “We refuse to stand idly by as people enter eternity without Christ when we can share the good news that transforms them through any means possible.” Please join us and the Alliance for the Unreached in observing the 2024 International Day for the Unreached on May 19. Leading up to the International Day for the Unreached, you can participate in a prayer campaign and join our brothers and sisters in praying for the third of the world who are denied access to the gospel.

Prayer Campaign

Misael and Celia Rodríguez minister among the Baniwa people of West Brazil. “We’re approaching our one-year anniversary in the Baniwa work. We thought by this time we would have established closer relationships with the people, but we don’t feel like that is happening. Please pray that God will give us wisdom as far as how to establish better friendships. [Pray that He would] provide us with language helpers who truly want to help us.”

Sadly, a young man from their village recently committed suicide. “When things like this happen, it leaves us with an even greater urgency to learn the language and culture in order to bring light and hope to those who still live in spiritual darkness.” Pray that God would continue to grant Misael and Celia strength to serve Him among the Baniwa people. Pray that God would work in the hearts of the Baniwa people.

Hans and Liliana Frank minister among the Korevaju people of Colombia and are currently in the culture and language acquisition (CLA) phase. Hans shared with the Korevaju about how the Lord cares for them and for all the nations. He encouraged them to go to other people groups to share the gospel. “But first I told them that they should be purchased by the Father through the blood of his Son, and I asked if anyone wanted to be bought. The grandfather of the community, sitting in the front row, answered, ‘Chu'u!’

“Already understanding some of the language, that moment was unforgettable for me. That simple word expressed by the grandfather had a great meaning in my life. What a joy to be able to understand a word in Korevaju and the deep meaning it had at that moment! The grandfather answered the question of who wants to be bought by saying: ‘Me!’”

Pray that God would establish a strong, mature church among the Korevaju. Pray for the Franks as they faithfully continue their CLA.

Aimee Hedrick, now living in the USA, ministered for nine years among the Tigak people of Papua New Guinea. She recently was able to speak with members of the Tigak church. The believers ask for prayer for leaders of the church, specifically Paska, Robin, Piulan and Terence. Pray that Tigak women would step up to lead the ladies of the church.

We ask that you join us in praying that more Tigaks would understand God’s Truth. An exciting thing happening is that the men of the church are teaching through God’s Word to a very interested group of their fellow villagers, and the believers are really excited about the opportunity.

Ryan and Cathren minister among the D people of West Africa. Pray for Ryan and Cathren as they continue culture and language acquisition, build relationships with their neighbors and work with their co-workers to prepare a literacy workshop. Pray that God would open doors and prepare hearts among the D people. “The sense of solidarity in this culture is overwhelming and impressive. It's beyond obvious that it requires a work of God for a church to be planted here. We are the vessels that serve as a means to this end, so we seek to find out how we can best situate ourselves to deliver [God's] Message.”

Colin and Megan Rogers minister among the Nukak people of Colombia. “Ethnos360 literacy consultants ... encouraged our team to begin development of literacy primers during the summer this year. The primers will form the basis for a course designed to teach completely illiterate Nukak people to read well. Lord willing, in June the consultants will return to guide us through this intensive primer development campaign. They say we could finish most or all of the necessary primers in the three weeks they will work with us!

“Please pray for foresight, creativity and stamina as we prepare to produce the primers. Please also pray for God's provision for this project.”

If you would like to give to this project, visit our give page. Scroll to “Give Where Most Needed” and designate the funds to the “Colombia -- Nukak Literacy Project.”

Andy and Chrissy Shaub minister among the Awa people of Ecuador. The Shaubs and their translation helper Sandra have begun a translation project for the Awa people. In the past, their former co-worker Doug Williams had drafted portions of the Old Testament, and 20 years ago, Wycliffe Bible translators had completed the New Testament. Now Andy will “translate 250 verses from scratch to go over with our Ethnos360 consultant.” Then the Shaubs and Sandra will check the drafts that Doug had done.

Praise the Lord that He provided a good translation helper for the Shaubs so they can begin their work. Pray for the translation team as they learn how to navigate the new translation software. Pray for the Awa believers to take more responsibility in church leadership.

Tom and Beth Carlton serve in field leadership in Mexico, teaching and equipping missionaries. The missionaries to the Tepehuan have recently started a “new ministry ... among the displaced Tepehuan people living on our city's outskirts. God is blessing this ministry, and a small Bible study has begun meeting together regularly! Our friends, Caleb and Emily ... [and] Kevin and Wendy, have diligently served this growing community through weekly meetings where they come together to hear teaching from the Word. It is truly incredible!”

At the beginning of this year, we prayed that Tepehuan outreach visitors would join the Sunday Bible study meetings regularly. We prayed that the Lord would grant wisdom for Caleb and Emily and the team as they determine “how to truly reach into each home.” Praise the Lord for answers to these prayers. Pray that the team in Mexico would continue to find ways to reach the Tepehuan people scattered throughout the city of Chihuahua and that this new Bible study group would grow in their understanding of the Word.

Payton and Grace Downing minister among the Taliabo people of Asia Pacific. “The church here in the village has started teaching the chronological Bible lessons on Tuesday and Friday mornings. There are three groups of rotating teachers. It will take the better part of three to four months to finish. Pray for people to come and listen and make the time to actually show up. Pray for grandmas who have already heard to be willing to watch babies so young moms can hear. Pray for people to invite friends and neighbors.

“This is a really busy time for us as well as the church here. We feel quite swamped trying to keep up with Sunday school lesson translation, language study, prep for our final eval and all the other details of daily life here. Pray for us to do well.”

Paul and Ellen Swenson minister among the Tanguat people of Papua New Guinea. In February we prayed that adults from A and M villages would come to an outreach literacy class and that the Lord would calm the students’ fears. Praise the Lord that “the adult students from A and M villages did indeed come to start learning to read in their heart language, ... and some have even spent some nights here even though many people in their villages are scared that our people could do sorcery on them. ... Be praying that God will continue to prepare the people from those two villages to hear His redemptive plan for mankind as we plan to teach them next year.

“Also, our Bible study for new church attendees here has finished. All 13 said they believed Jesus is their Savior. They understood what they had been taught to varying degrees. Pray that they remain faithful and grow in their understanding and love for Christ!”

Christina Canapp serves in the Philippines as field administrator in the mission’s main office. “Some of our missionaries are finishing up their language study and are getting ready to transition to their church planting ministry.” The plan was for the team to begin people group assessments (PGAs) in November 2023 to determine where to place the missionaries that would be the most strategic and effective in reaching unreached people groups. The PGAs were delayed for a few months, but Lord willing, they will be taking place this month.

“People are living in places that have never had the gospel and are living in spiritual darkness. There are very real challenges to reaching them, not just logistically, but (like Paul faced) spiritual opposition. Please be praying for our PGAs, for the men planning and going on these trips, for a fruitful time of gleaning information and for clear direction for allocating personnel.”

: Bill and Karen Michaud serve in Papua New Guinea. The Namaro church has recently started an outreach in the Namaro area. This outreach is “done outside of the church with a goal of reaching unbelievers in the community that will not associate with a church for various personal reasons. ... Please pray for the Namaro believers as they continue to teach truth to a large group in their community who won’t attend church but will openly meet in an old campaign house that is considered safe or neutral. We are trusting that many will come to a clear understanding and accept the gospel of grace.”

Jason and Nisae Williamson minister among the Iski people of Papua New Guinea (PNG). Recently Jason taught through the book of Revelation with the Iski church for the first time. “Praise God, the response to the teaching was huge.” Originally planned for just the church leaders, the response was so big that they allowed others to come to the teachings too. Despite rain and floods, almost the whole church attended.

When the teaching was over, many Iski believers shared their testimonies of how Revelation has encouraged them, given them clearer understanding and motivated them to share the Good News. Jon, one of the church elders, said, “Now we have heard and understand clearly the last book. What else do we need? What other book are you waiting for? We have everything we need to have strong faith. Now we just need to live it out.”

Praise God for this response to His Word. “Rejoice with me that the teaching of Revelation did its promised work of ‘blessing the hearers!’”

Aaron and Amy minister among the G people of West Africa. In mid-March we prayed for Aaron and Amy and the G people as the missionaries were ready to begin teaching God’s Word to them. The Lord answered prayers, and they had about 200 people show up to hear the introduction lesson. “We thank God for bringing us to this point where we can start teaching His Message to the G [and] for a great start and high attendance for the first few Bible lessons. Please pray that the people will continue to come to the teaching of God’s Message and will be interested in what they hear.” Pray that distractions and other factors will not interfere with the twice-weekly meetings. Pray for the team as they strive to develop clear, understandable lessons for the G people.

Eric and Judith Hedeen serve in Papua New Guinea (PNG). They are itinerant church planters with the Malaumanda and are currently serving at the PNG support center. “Several Malaumandans are in the midst of an outreach. ... They completed teaching on the death, burial and resurrection ... [and] have been asking questions to the 30-40 people who have been coming to the teaching. I heard ... that there are 37 new believers. Jim, [a Malaumandan pastor], was also really excited about how the Lord is using the other Malaumandan leaders who are serving together with him.

“Jim ... has also been describing to me that two other language groups in the area have been asking them to hear the teaching as well. One of these groups, the Paiyelans, have been very antagonistic in the past, so this is a big change. We will be praying for the Lord to raise up some more missionaries to be able to serve in these areas. And of course, we need to pray for the stability of the country so that we continue to have the ability to serve here.”

Wes Goddard ministers among the Paí people of Paraguay. Wes and two Paí co-workers recently had the opportunity to minister to believers at workshops in two different communities in Brazil. The workshops trained Bible teachers in teaching systemically through the Bible. Wes and his co-workers have also been invited to teach at a workshop for two churches among the Ava Guaraní people of Paraguay this month. “Your prayers are appreciated concerning those opportunities for key people to be trained to do solid Bible teaching. ... Please continue to pray that God would raise up more Paí people who would be faithful and skilled Bible teachers and [pray] for strong churches.”

Jonathan and Susan Kopf minister among the Hewa people of Papua New Guinea. The Kopfs and their team built a classroom for a Christian school in the village and a home for the teachers. “We have plenty of students in [kindergarten through sixth grade], but we are lacking good educators. We only have four teachers trying to cover these seven grades, which is obviously inadequate, so please ask the Lord to quickly bless us with three more qualified teachers who have a passion to disciple children to follow Jesus. We are confident in God, our Provider, and are waiting with expectation, knowing He loves to surprise us with how He can provide for our needs in wonderful ways.

“Please also pray for the five church elders/pastors as they try to shepherd their flock.” Satan is trying to “drag people under the trap of fear that used to control them,” but the church leaders are continuing to “speak truth from the Word.” Pray for encouragement, discernment and courage for these leaders.

Eric and Judith Hedeen serve in Papua New Guinea (PNG). They are itinerant church planters with the Malaumanda people and are currently serving at PNG’s main support center. “Praise [God] that the printing of the Malaumanda New Testament is done. Twenty-six copies have been delivered to my parents in Oregon. Pray for the shipment of about 1,700 copies of the Bible that are currently enroute to PNG. Pray for the details surrounding our plan for a [small-scale] Bible dedication in early June.”