Friends Around the World Prayer Request

July 6, 2010

This is the place to find information about the Friends Around the World we support at Stockton Covenant Church. Click on the links below to go directly to the Friend you want to find out about or just scroll through all.

"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19 (NIV)

BUD & KARA LOCKE
(updated May 10, 2010)
Yesterday I preached at both services of Communidad Cristiana del Pacto El Shaddai. It is in the downtown area of Itagüí, a city just south of Medellín on the west side of the Medellín River. Itagüí is the largest of the southern suburbs of Medellín with about 250,000 people. El Shaddai is the largest of our Antioquia churches (the department of which Medellín is the capital). With about 800 people, El Shaddai is the second largest Covenant church in the country. They have two worship services and traditionally preach different sermons at each one. Usually the pastors switch who preaches when, but since I was there I preached two different sermons at the two services. I started with how God uses brokenness to bless us (Genesis 32:22...), then finished with how we need to embrace healing and the changes that go with it (John 5:2...). I will probably preach both of these at StoCo sometime in the fairly near future.

Kara and Kendra travel to California May 13th-18th. They will be looking at homes in Stockton, talking to the Lincoln School District, finalizing our home in Sacramento for listing, and connecting with a couple of friends. Kendra is going because she really needs a break from the terrible social dynamics of the school. It really hasn't been a healthy situation for her. While they are gone, Nick and I will probably live like two bachelors every night... playing video games!

We have purchased our return tickets to the U.S. It is amazing how much one-way tickets are! They're probably 80% of the cost of a round trip fare. Kara and the kids will arrive back in the U.S. June 19th. I will stay in Colombia to assist the mission with a group coming down from the Sacramento area. I will return to the U.S. on June 25th. I begin my time at Stockton Covenant on July 1st.

VILJOEN (HARLESS)
(updated July 6, 2010)
Prayer requests:
            1) Safe travels.
            2) Housing, school enrollment, and other details to fall into place.
            3) School goes well for these last few weeks (last day is June 17th).
            4) Good closure to our time in Colombia and a clarity of how to partner in the future.

Even though we are saddened in some ways about leaving Colombia after only one year, we firmly believe that God has guided this time and are excited about our future together. Since it seems like we've been in transition for over a year now, we are very anxious to have this transition over as soon as possible.

Praise:
1) That the Lord provided just over 80% of our support which was needed by the end of May 2010!
2) For a restful vacation from May 13-June 4.
4) For God’s blessing on the talks/preaching given this past month and the people with whom we have been able to interact and show the love of Christ.
5) For all our supporters - prayer and financial - around the world.
6) That Luke passed all his classes, including math!

Prayer:     Pray for Dale as he preaches at Bible Church on June 20, that the Lord would use him to encourage and challenge those who attend.

1) Our OMF Japan All-Field Conference (approximately 190 in attendance) will be held from June 21-25. Karen is in charge of arranging travel for those in the Hokkaido area, as well as leading the Thursday morning worship session. Please pray for all the planning to come together, as well as for our International Director, Patrick Fung, as he prepares messages for each day. May the Lord refresh us and renew our passion for ministry here in Japan.
2) Luke is on winter vacation in South Africa and has tickets to 4 World Cup soccer matches in which the Japan team is playing. All of these games are in different cities! So he recently bought a second-hand 1982 BMW 1000cc motorcycle that he plans to ride in the cold and rain some 10,000 km. Please pray for safety!
3) For Dale’s wedding ministry, that all who attend these weddings and hear Dale’s message about the love of Christ be drawn to Him.
4) For wisdom for Dale as he continues to serve as Board Chair for HIS. This is an important time for HIS matters.
5) May Karen experience God working to continue to deepen her relationships with the members at Bible Church. We need to have an important meeting with Pastor and Mrs. Iguchi of Bible Church (our previous meeting was postponed because of trouble with their son.)
6) Hospitalized stroke patient, Mrs T, is definitely a Christian. Pray that her husband may allow her to be baptized in hospital. We have a good connection with her husband. Pray for strength and salvation for Mr. T.
7) Karen’s beginners’ Bible study will begin again in July after the church took a 3-month break for a special combined class. Pray for wisdom and the Holy Spirit’s leading to prepare 6 half-hour lessons in Japanese. (She’ll only have 6 classes until we leave for a 2-1/2 month home assignment in South Africa this fall.)
8) For the Lord to provide 100% of our support needs.

LARRY & NINA THIEL
(updated July 6, 2010)
For June we are trying to work hard on our funding. We need an additional 5000 to come in this month and our long term goal is to raise 1500 in new monthly pledges. We appreciate your prayers.

KEITH & MARGIE BROWN
(updated July 6, 2010)
1) Pray for Marissa as the coming year will be filled with important decisions. One of the more recent options we are considering is possibly for her to attend Discipleship Training School with Youth with a Mission, as a gap year. Otherwise, we will be visiting colleges in October on the west coast.
2) May God continue to go before me as I look more at the trafficking issue in the area of Stara Zagora. I hope to raise up a prayer group for this issue, and develop strategies in prevention for the Roma young girls with whom we work.
3)During the summer, we ask that you pray for our work with children and young people, that lives are changed and young people come to Christ.
4) We ask for guidance in choices for camps for both Josiah and Marissa during the summer, as well as outreach opportunities for both of them.
Thank you for your prayers! My leg is healing, the pain is almost gone, and I am walking all of the city once again! I am so thankful for God's intervention through numerous prayers, and for the miracle of antibiotics!

STEVE & EMILYJUNE WONG
Come January, I will be going on a 6-month sabbatical with my family. A sabbatical is a time of ceasing from ones regular work in order to achieve something, be it rest, further education, or spiritual direction. In my case, it will be a combination of all three components. First, I am looking forward to spending some rich quality time with my wife and daughter. As a minister, I realize that my ministry not only affects me but my family as well. I would like to strengthen the foundations of my marriage and family as we enter into the next season of ministry. Second, while I have learned a tremendous deal from ministering to college students, there has been educational pursuits that I have laid aside in order to tend to my ministry duties more diligently. These educational pursuits lay primarily in the creative/artistic realms, where I have felt that God has gifted me in but have not purposefully explored yet. Lastly, I look forward to meeting with a Spiritual Director who will help me figure out what God has been doing in my life over the past nine years, and where He might be calling me to in the next season.

CHERYLL CLARK
(updated July 6, 2010)
Prayer requests for this month: In general for the Ecuadorian people that have been affected by the volcano Tungurahua. I don't believe any lives have been lost, but ash has "fallen down" all over the area -- crops and livestock have been covered. The intensity of the eruption has decreased, and the alert has changed, so people are heading back to their homes, but Tungurahua is still very active. (I only had to sweep the terrace and wash the car!).

The 25th St. Ev. Covenant Church celebrates its 37th anniversary on the 27th. Please pray that God blesses the preparations, and that He may be glorified.

Please continue to pray for protection for us. A couple of weeks ago, during the closing prayer of our service, someone ducked into the church because she was being followed. The thief stopped at the door but was able to reach and snatch her purse before he fled. Only by God's grace are we kept safe. Thanks for praying!

Thanks again, for keeping Moises and me in your prayers.

DON & LILLIAN DWIGHT
(updated May 10, 2010)
Please bring these requests before the Lord. Lillian and I are leaving for a year of home assignment this July. We are in the process of arranging for a coworker from the Philippines to come to Taiwan and pastor the Filipino Church while we are gone. Jun Bongenay was here in Taiwan for several years and has now finished Bible school in the Philippines and we would like him to come back for the coming year. His visa application is currently in the government office. Please pray that the paper work will go smoothly on that and he will be approved for a visa. Also pray for other details such as his housing and financial support. Our daughters, Megan and Olivia, are in their last month of high school. Megan is planning to attend Biola University. Olivia is planning to attend North Park University. Please pray for them as they deal with transition issues and say good bye to their friends and life long home.
Thank you for your prayers. We do appreciate it.

YOUTH FOR CHRIST
(updated July 6, 2010)
Thank you for your prayers!
• We are kicking of a summer Bible Study for any students who have been through our prevention classes. Any teenagers who have been through a class with us over the last year will be invited.
• We are praying for two potential grants that would give us opportunities to serve SUSD with substance abuse counseling and our Point Break Workshops.
• We are spending some of the summer re-evaluating curriculum for prevention courses and making adjustments. Continue to pray for the Juvenile Justice Ministries on Sunday afternoons which continues to have a strong impact.

GIANT STEP
(updated July 6, 2010)
Summer staff planning and training for next year.
Fundraising-things are getting very tight.
28 new students attended our Stockton club the last month of school, please pray that we are able to follow up with each of them and get them involved this next year.
Mike Areida has had some health issues that we are trying to get straightened out this summer. He was in the hospital due to a potassium imbalance - caused by medications he was taking. Is still on a low potassium diet. He has one swollen foot that they're trying to figure out why it's swelling. They've run quite a few tests. Please pray that they figure out what's going on with his foot, and that there's no longterm damage due to the potassium.

GOSPEL CENTER RESCUE MISSION
(updated March 19, 2010)
A few men and women are looking forward to their graduation on Sat. March 6th.It's a time of celebration of changed lives, God's healing touch within the clients and often family members and reconciliations.Please pray that each would receive God's guidance as to staying at the Mission or moving out.
Please pray for comfort for a single mother,Tamika and her 4 children and other family members because of the sudden passing of Tamika's mother, with whom she was scheduled to move out and move in .Although Cooley Funeral Home has waived about $1000 of the burial services, the family is short of the additional expenses.
Also pray for protection and return to the mission for Joseph,who recently relapsed while out on his own.
Wednesday night Richard, who shared his testimony on Sunday morning, did the same with the Emergency Lodge Men; so join us in praying those seeds planted would bring forth fruit.

ALASKA CHRISTIAN COLLEGE
ACC has reached its highest full-time equivalency in our history - 39.5 students up from 30 a year ago this time. More students are taking our second year full program of biblical and general studies and some are still taking courses at Kenai Peninsula College next door to us. We are grateful for that continued partnership. We are also excited to have two foreign students this year, one from Russia and one from Oman in the Middle East. Both bring a differing perspective and are teaching us much about their cultures. Pray our students continue to be faithful for the remaining nine weeks of the semester.

Faculty
God has provided us with a new chef - Mr. Daniel Galindo from Stockton, CA. He joins Helen Gulledge in the Food Services Department. Pray for Helen as she undergoes shoulder surgery and Daniel's need for volunteer support in her absence.

We continue to seek the Lord for a second Maintenance/Facilities person as the snow comes and work increases. One faithful worker in this department (Harvey Lundquist) cannot keep up with 13 buildings and roads once the snow comes! Do you know of anyone who might help us in this area for a few months or longer? Contact Linda@akcc.org for more information. This is our only current opening and we pray the Lord will fill it!

We also welcome Ted and Kate Mole and their family who have come to us from Wheaton Graduate School. Ted is an adjunct faculty member and serves as a master's level counselor at New Hope Counseling Center on our campus.

Facilities
Speaking of New Hope Counseling Center, we are 90% completed! Thanks to eight work teams and the financial backing of one our charter member churches, we opened the doors to both the community and our students/staff on Oct. 1st. We now have five total offices, a kitchen, storage, and a full basement (not finished). We are also $6,000 in deficit to finish this project before the winter comes. Would you consider a gift today? We are having an open house on Oct. 24th at 5pm at NHCC for all who wish to come. This is followed by our annual fundraising dinner on our campus to raise funds for the students so that they may receive free services. RSVP to DebHamilton1@aol.com if you can attend one or both events.

Finances
We also have the Ninth Annual ACC Fundraising Banquet in Eagle River at Community Covenant Church on Friday, Nov. 13th at 6pm. The Governor of Alaska has been invited, along with our student speakers, choir, Native dancing, and sharing what God is doing at ACC. You won't want to miss this incredible event! Table hosts are still needed (no financial obligation) and you may come yourself by rsvping to Jonathan@akcc.org. Last year, this event drew 250 guests and approximately $35,000 was given to support our ministry. If you cannot attend, but wish to participate financially, please go online to www.akcc.org, or make a gift by credit card over the phone (907-260-7422). Also, many churches across the country are participating in our Annual Christmas Ornament Scholarship Tree fundraiser. They will be displaying our student ornaments on their Christmas tree this year. This supports our scholarship program for all students who come and need support to graduate. Thanks in advance.

I love to tell the ACC story. Today I had the privilege once again to tell it to one of our supporting churches. If YOUR church would like to have me or one of our staff or students come to tell you the story, we would be honored to come. Just ask! Together we are seeing the Kingdom of God extended through lives impacted by Jesus Christ and the ministry of ACC.

MOEHL
(updated March 19, 2010)
As for Dorothy and me, we are grateful that Dorothy continues to regain her strength more every day. She says she is almost back to her former self, which is great news.

Our Grapeland church plant just had special meetings last weekend in which a number of lives were changed. Pray for this fruit to last and bring about more fruit.

They also have a congregational meeting on March 30 with some important issues to be decided, for which they need our prayer support.

The leadership of the church association will have their annual meeting at the end of this month also. One of the leaders wrote, asking for prayer as a new chairman, who is still young in years, is conducting this important meeting.

Pray for my progress on the website for church planters in Germany as I continue to provide resources through that for that ministry.

SORENSON
(updated March 19, 2010)
Praise God for His healing grace for Karyn regarding her recent cancer scare (Details of this are provided on our blog: eksorenson.blogspot.com and in our newsletter which will be sent this week).
· Pray for our college staff. We really don’t have adequate staff, faculty, or facilities to fully meet the needs of our students or program needs. Pray that God will send along more staff and new faculty members.
· Fundraising efforts for the college is at a fever pitch! Pray that our advancement team will find the people God is calling to give to PIU.
· Pray for Agana Heights Baptist Church here on Guam as they come closer to making a decision for a senior pastor.
Please ask God to furnish the necessary funds to allow us to continue in ministry
· here. When the church hires a new pastor, our financial viability will be in serious trouble. Pray that God’s leading will be crystal clear.
· Pray for additional seminary faculty in New Testament, theology, missiology, and counseling.
· For wisdom as administrators develop some new programs, some of which are outside the box for PIU!
· Pray for Voices of Micronesia (aka The Traveling Team, see page 4) as it continues to raise funds and finalize touring plans in the States this summer. Pray for travel plans, health, safety, etc.

NEED
Each weekend, the students at PIU look forward to playing volleyball and basketball on the outdoor court. Sadly, because of the harsh weather on Guam (rainy, humid, and blistering sun), sports equipment does not last long. Thus, there is a great need to replenish balls. If you are interested in making a special donation for this, please contact us at: sore4guam@gmail.com

SWENSON
(updated March 19, 2010)
Prayer and praise:
1. Thank you for praying for the Congo Team orientation event that we were responsible for in Feb. It was a very intense two weeks of training, but the response has been wonderful. The team grew to new levels of trust and commitment, created a behavioral covenant for their relationships with one another, and are more excited than ever that God has called them back to Congo.
2. Following the Congo Team event, we went on the Sankofa Journey. It was an intense, wonderful 4 days of work on racial righteousness issues. Outstanding experience.
3. We are preparing our sessions for the upcoming Euro-Retreat with the Covenant folks in Europe. We are going to be sharing with them in 3 or 4 sessions during the retreat. We will be in Europe, visiting missionaries in their places of service, for 2 1/2 weeks. Thanks for praying for wisdom about our sessions and health and energy as we travel.
4. Our house has been in remodel mode since April, 2009, and it is beginning to wear on us. We are scheduled to have the last inspection tomorrow and then will be able to move quickly ahead with getting the project (a massive one!) finished. It has been more expensive than we had anticipated (of course) but we thank God for his provision. Not having a place where we can do hospitality has been a drain on us over the last months. We have still had guests, but no kitchen has made even the most meager meals nearly impossible. I will be so grateful when it is done!
5. We are preparing a large number of missionaries for first time missionary service. It all takes time, wisdom and money. Thanks for praying for all of those things!
6. Pray for all of the Covenant missionaries and candidates who are presently raising support. It is a difficult process, especially in the present economy, but God is faithful and we are sending the largest number of missionaries out this year than have been sent in decades!

We thank God for you and your continued care and prayer for us. We are still your missionaries and would love for an opportunity to visit you when we are next in California.