In our last update we talked about coming out of Amdu to enjoy our annual regional conference at our support center on the coast. We’re typically out for a week or two for this event but new Covid restrictions have kept us pinned down here. We’re praying that we’ll be able to return soon to our lives in Amdu.
During this hiatus our coworkers, Bart and Emily Allen, have been in Amdu doing life with the believers. The testimonies they are hearing have been encouraging and show us how much the Holy Spirit is working to establish these baby believers in their faith in Jesus Christ alone for their salvation. Thank you for continuing to pray for them. Here is a short video testimony from one couple who have eagerly drank in every word we have been teaching.
Bible Teaching
We’re excited to get back to these friends and the others who are hungry for God’s word. The next installment of the story they are going to hear is how God’s grace is manifested in the life of Saul of Tarsus. The conversion of Saul of Tarsus is such a powerful story. The Amdu believers have already seen in God’s story how no enemy of God is able to overcome Yahweh’s plan. In this episode, Yahweh not only conquers the enemy but convinces the enemy to change sides. Pray that the Amdu believers will see in Paul the example of the power of God’s grace that God made him to be.
As we teach through the story of the Holy Spirit’s work in the early church, we’re pressing the Amdu believers towards the all-important question, “How does this apply to us?” Once we have finished teaching through Acts, we are going to discuss this question at length. Pray that the Amdu believers will be convinced of their new identity in Christ and be willing to submit to his Spirit for all that he has for them. Pray that they will see the life of God’s children not as a list of practices they ought to perform, but instead a relationship of dependence on the One who is the source of Life and the producer of all good fruit.
Teaching & Literacy
We continue to work hard to provide the food that these baby believers need. The book of Romans is being translated by our coworker Bart Allen. Pray for him as he uses up the last weeks of his time in Amdu before going on home assignment to get more of that epistle translated. Missy is translating Ephesians and enjoying the in-depth study and challenge of the translating process. Pray that she’ll have wisdom and that the Amdu ladies she works with will be able to help her make good progress when we get back to the village.
One of our goals for this year is to see significant growth in the reading abilities of each hungry believer. We aren’t limiting our focus to just the believers. Anyone with interest can participate in our literacy program. Our desire, though, is for the believers to become better readers so that they can begin feeding themselves confidently from God’s word.
They already prize the portions of Scripture we have provided for them in their heart language. Pray that we can, with their help, produce more material for them to practice with to get them up to the level where they can take the Scripture and read it on their own proficiently. Click here or on the picture below to watch a short video and see how this lady is progressing.
Making Disciples
The Christian life is more than reading the Bible and studying it. Pray for us as we seek to model the Christian life in our every day interactions. We want to be the kind of examples that help our Amdu believing friends to catch what it is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Pray that we would remain in step with him.
Thank You
As always we feel so grateful to all of you who pray for us and enjoy hearing about all that God is doing here in Amdu. Many of you partner with us financially. It’s hard to express in words just how thankful we are for you. Thank you for entrusting us with this great responsibility.
Benjamin and Missy