Dear Praying friends,
We hope this finds you and yours resting in God’s hands, no matter what you’re going through as this summer begins. We are very thankful that we were able to have a couple weeks of R&R in South Africa with our family. Although it’s winter there, we had lovely weather most of the time and really enjoyed walking in nature and eating foods we don’t usually have access to!
Our return trip was challenging, and it seemed like the enemy was trying to take away the freshness we’d felt, but we arrived home without major difficulties (only two days late from cancelled flights, and squeezing through the border before it closed early due to political conflict between Congo and Rwanda).
So we share again these specific prayer requests with you, our dear brothers and sisters, and we are so grateful that you continue to lift us up in prayer.
- Please do pray for peace in this region. The political situation between Congo and Rwanda is tense, more so than it has ever been since we arrived in 2015. There are armed groups carrying out attacks relatively close to Goma, on the north end of the lake (Lake Kivu). Pray also for God’s protection, especially over people in Congo considered to be “Rwandan” by tribe/ethnicity, and the general population, as people use insecure times like these to exact revenge.
- Mark is preaching from Leviticus 2 (the grain offering) on July 3. Pray for God to guide him as he prepares and to work in people’s hearts as he preaches, and for Mark to help people see especially Christ through this teaching.
- I (Karen) had some good reflection about women’s ministry while we were on R&R. Please pray for God to continue to guide the vision and motivation for how we evangelize and disciple women in Bukavu. There’s an exciting opportunity for me to lead a discussion with a group of young women in a neighborhood where we have a church plant (Bagira) on July 2. We’ll be discussing the challenges of women in leadership in this context. Pray also for divine guidance and courage in this meeting.
- Please pray for God to raise up a leader for music at church on Sundays, as the current guy got another job, so a lot will fall back to Mark. It also puts stress on our family because Sunday mornings are hard for the girls.
- Pray for church Evangelization events in mid-July, that they would bear fruit, that people would hear of God’s great love for them and respond in faith!
- Update on the Frisbees: they’re still stuck in Kinshasa. A complaint with the police has been filed because the company has delayed so long with us. Pray that the situation would be resolved!
- Pray for wisdom for Pastor Nicolas in his many different endeavors, that God would guide him, make him into a blessing, and protect him from the enemy’s traps. Pray that for us too!
Again, thank you for your prayers for us.
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| Madeleine at 10 months |
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Clara with a penguin
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Happy Family in Cape Town
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