Merry Christmas

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."     Romans 15:13

As you consider the great things God has done for you this year, we trust that you will be filled with joy and peace as you celebrate the birth of His Son, our Redeemer.

Today, South Sudan is in the midst of conflict.  Please join us in praying for peace. Reports coming out of South Sudan say the conflict is primarily between the Dinka and the Nuer people.   We know both Dinka and Nuer and we are very disappointed at this development.
ABC is reporting the uncovering of a mass grave by the UN in Bentiu, the capital of Unity State - 84 miles northwest of Leer where we stayed on our visit to Unity State during our months in South Sudan. They are saying that thousands have died thus far.
South Sudan is in a precarious situation; the infrastructure is little to non-existent, this conflict will have a great residual effect on the many who live a hand to mouth existence.

Do you remember meeting Matthew and his wife, Sarah on our visit to Unity State?  They are Nuer and live in Leer, very near the conflict. Please pray God's protection upon them. Pray that Matthew, the young men he is mentoring, and his church will allow the light of God's love and peace to shine through them to those around them in turmoil.
Click here to read the post about Leer and the Nuer people.

We do want to wish you a wonderful Christmas.  Share the love of Christ with someone today -- after all He is the reason we celebrate!

Merry Christmas.

A celebration of God's goodness -- a Sema leather story

Years ago, a young family, successfully involved in the business world, was led by God to bring their business knowledge and strategy to the mission field.  Unsure of how God would use them, they were obedient.

 It wasn't until today, many years later, the culmination of years of prayer and hard work have brought folks to the point of celebration and the beginnings of a small business venture confidently placed into national hands.

(An ongoing challenge on the third world mission field is the ability for a pastor to care for his family financially and pastor a church.  Most churches are small with the congregation not able to support their own families financially.  The concept of bi-vocational/tentmaker is one way to help in this area.)

As the missionary family prayed and researched different business avenues, God provided an answer for this particular business endeavor – leather goods.  With many Kenyan tribes being herdsmen, the raw materials would be available. A reliable source was found, craftsmen with ability in leather design were sourced to train leather craft apprentices, possible sales outlets were discovered, and the business plan was in place.

Now for the men who would be involved.  Talent in leatherwork was not a requirement.  The requirement was a heart for God.

Sema Leatherworks began in 2009.

The road has been rough; folks have come and gone within the project.  Yet still, people are learning a skill and are being blessed; but more importantly, many are hearing the Word of the Lord and God is being glorified through this business venture.

The model includes training in church planting, personal evangelism, storying, and discipleship along with leather-craft.  The leather workshop is open four days a week; the remaining three days these pastors go out leading Bible studies and storying groups, doing one to one evangelism, and preaching the Gospel.

Today is not the end of Sema Leatherworks, it is only the beginning…  One of the men involved in Sema from the beginning is in the process of buying the equipment and with the help of two other Sema colleagues, will continue running Sema leatherworks using the same business model. Additionally, four men who trained and worked at Sema have branched out starting their own businesses through the encouragement of Sema leatherworks.

Click here to read some fascinating stories about Sema Leatherworks.

God has certainly brought these faithful men through adversity to stand on the firm foundation of faith in Him.

Pray for the ongoing impact of the Gospel through the faithful witness of these men.

Pray for God to be glorified, keeping the hearts of these men faithful and true to Himself.

As people witness God's hand on these faithful businessmen, pray for doors to open for additional opportunities of sharing the Gospel of Christ in the community.

... a few words about the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering

“This, then, is how you ought to regard us; as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed.  Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.”  I Corinthians 4: 1-2

If you know us very well, you know that we do not ask for things.  We know that God will provide for our needs.  The wisdom behind the International Mission Board supported by Southern Baptist churches and people who are called to support the global spread of the Gospel is that we are not always asking… God often provides for us through your cooperative giving.

Globally, times are hard – in Africa the term  is challenge – so, the U.S. economic crisis is a challenge, it is a challenge to pay the rent, put food on the table, and pay the utilities (especially in light of all the weather challenges the U.S. has faced recently!).

Overseas the situation is the same; challenged with the budget, we pray about direction and write up future ministry plans, figure the cost and submit it.  Then as the Lottie Moon Offering and the money received from the cooperative effort of Southern Baptists is counted and divided out across the globe, we pray, reevaluate, and stretch, trying to make do as best we can with the money given.


Last year, your giving enabled us to live in South Sudan, teaching the truth of Christ to many who had never heard and finding out about people groups, large and small, still needing to hear the truth.


Your giving provided the heavy-duty truck and you fixed the air conditioner in it THANK YOU!  With temperatures of 110*+ -- well, Debbie would've been one cranky passenger!





Your giving bought new dry cell batteries for the solar panels and a new water pump all of which enabled us to get water from the well.  We were blessed by your giving – you made living life in the middle of nowhere a bit easier.  Thank you.

During December, there is a special emphasis on the Lottie Moon Christmas offering.  You can give through your church, designating the money for LMCO or you can give directing to the IMB using this link  Lottie Moon Christmas Offering

Here is a unique way to give extra, beyond your offering, and it will not cost you anything!  Amazon is donating 0.5% of any purchase to a non-profit organization. If you plan on using Amazon for purchases this Christmas, just click on the following link before you start shopping:  http://smile.amazon.com/ch/54-0213930   this takes you to a page enabling  you to donate the percentage to the International Mission Board.

Did we say thank you?  We are so grateful for God’s provision through you.  Your giving enables us to spread the truth of Christ, finding those people who have never heard.  We know how tight things are and we know the sacrifice some of you make to give to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, please know that we set a high accountability upon ourselves to use these resources wisely for the glory of God.

Week of Prayer for International Missions

This is a reminder that this week is a time set aside for concerted prayer for international missions.
Click here to go to our prayer page and pray for some of the unreached and unengaged people groups of East Africa.

Thank you for taking time to pray for the glory of the Lord to fill the earth as the waters cover the sea.  (Habakkuk 2:14)

Ngiri people of Democratic Republic of Congo

"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…"  
I Timothy 2:1,3-4

Once renowned warriors, the Ngbandi-Ngiri peoples today are looked down upon and discriminated against as “those forest people”.

Living in mud and thatch houses on the edge of the largest freshwater wetland area in all of Africa, the Ngbandi-Ngiri are a people living without the knowledge of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Historically, the Ngiri and other people groups of small population size are grouped together under the umbrella of Ngbandi people. (Groups living in northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo, northern Congo and southern Central African Republic) These people have their roots in South Sudan and their history linked with the Zande people.

Fronds from palm trees are woven
together for use as roofing material
and even walls for their houses.

They are farming people with the women growing cassava, maize (corn), groundnuts (peanuts), papaya, and pineapple while the men clear farmland, fish and hunt.

While some sources report that almost 70 percent of the Ngbandi people practice a form of Christian religious activity, this is only to say they reject non-Christian sects such as Buddhism or Islam.  The reality is that very few understand the Gospel, practicing a syncretistic form of religion that involves spiritualism and ancestor worship.


There is an ongoing New Testament Bible translation effort among these people, but until that is complete; no scripture is available in the Ngbandi-Ngiri heart language.

Pray for these “people of the forest” that God would place in their hearts a longing to know Him.

We do not know much about the Ngbandi-Ngiri people – more research needs to be done to help us understand their culture and worldview in order to make a viable plan to plant Gospel seeds among them.

Ask God to make a way to reach isolated villages in this vast and heavily forested area.