We are in the midst of the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.  One hundred percent of the LMCO funds go directly to our Southern Baptist International Missions Board missionaries all over the world, which includes three couples from our congregation!  This year’s VGBC goal is $105,000.  Please pray about your part of this offering this season.  Your gifts to the LMCO should be made over and above your normal tithe.

Week of 5 Dec 2021

HOME MISSIONARIES

Emily Skinner: (COS) Emily’s sending organization is Mission Training International (MTI) where she is the Assistant Director for Compass CHIPs.  Compass is the pre-field training for missionaries destined for overseas work.  And the CHIPs portion (Children’s Pre-Field Program) is the training for the children of missionaries who will minister in overseas locations.  One could say that this area (CHIPs) is only glorified babysitting but you would be greatly missing the point.  The CHIPs program shapes and molds these little hearts into MKs (missionary kids) who have a better understanding what their mommies and daddies are doing to reach the lost for Christ.  This past semester MTI did not have any children for Emily to teach so she floated to other areas to help.  She attended the Conflict curriculum to learn how missionaries resolve problems and stay in healthy fellowship with colleagues.  For Christmas she will be visiting parents in North Carolina.  Please prayerfully consider becoming a prayer partner and also a financial supporter

Kent and Elizabeth Slack and Brooks Salgado: (COS) Pray for the Christian Challenge staff and students on the campus at UCCS.  Their leadership team has set evangelism goals to solidify their resolve to share Christ with students who need to know Jesus.

FOREIGN MISSIONARIES

Oswald and Amanda: The next few weeks their team has planned a medical outreach trip to the home village of many members of Oswald and Amanda’s local fellowship.  Several physicians are planning to see elderly residents of the village.  Pray the trip will go well and that there will be many opportunities to share Christ with these people. 

Herb and Celeste: One of their friends in the large country just notified Herb the police came to their service and took him and another friend to the police station.  Their Bibles were confiscated.  Their pastor will be taken in for questioning too.  Pray these believers will stay the course of Christ.  Pray they will respond in gracious love for their oppressive opponents.  Pray God’s love will open even more doors for them to share Christ with others.  We are in the midst of the week of prayer for our international missionaries.  You can find a prayer guide for our missionaries at Week of Prayer for International Missions 2021 – IMB at this link  Week of Prayer for International Missions 2021 – IMB . 

Mark and Lona: (Killarney, Ireland) The Webb family enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at the Rose Hotel.  The owners are American and so is the menu!  Pray for the man in their church who needs heart surgery.  Pray for the lady who spent several weeks in the hospital and is now home.  This woman still needs prayer for her health issues.  There are others at Grace Baptist who need healing.  Pray for Lona’s right knee to heal.

Ken and Barbie: Pray for Swirl believers as they endure more and more persecution.  Authorities have contacted more believer’s employers advising them to fire these employees.  Being a Christian in the big country is serious business – a believer can lose their job, jeopardize their education and turn entire families against their believing relatives.  Pray for these people who are losing or have lost their jobs.  Pray for Ken and Barbie’s new team members who are getting settled in their new communities and reaching out to their new people groups.  Many of these couples were deported from the big country, are fluent in their original ministry language and are now learning their new country’s language.  One new couple on the team has children and, because of all their moves in the past 2 years, are having a hard time adjusting to their new home.  Pray for these families, their children, and for their parents.

Robbyn Booker: (Africa/Middle East) Praise God for the work on the radio station in Ghana!  Last month we prayed for the rebuilding of this station because it burned to the ground.  It is the only Christian radio station in this heavily Muslim area.  The station has been rebuilt.  The Reach Beyond technician has been working for the last several months.  This past month the technician finished the wiring and connected the transmitter to the antenna and now the Gospel is going out ministering to hearts and lives in this area.  The final step is to install solar panels to ensure the station has a reliable source of power 24 hours a day.  Pray for the station, pray the Christian programming and that the listeners who need to hear will hear and ask the Lord into their lives.

VGBC will host Perspectives – a 15 week curriculum that will transform your view of the world from God’s perspective.  The meetings will be Tuesday evenings January 11^th through May 10^th from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM.  Enroll online at Perspectives.org – click on classes in the upper right corner, then click on Colorado on the map, and select Colorado Springs under Spring 2022.

Week of 28 Nov 2021

HOME MISSIONARIES

Life Network: (COS) Life Network recently received this note from someone the ministry has touched.  “This is part of a tithe from my mother’s estate.  She sometimes made baby items for and donated them to Life Network.  This is her final gift to His Kingdom work, giving the unborn a chance at life and helping new families thrive.”  Whether it’s having the hard conversation in the ultrasound room about abortion, addressing the heavy topic of teen suicide in a school classroom, or encouraging an overwhelmed new parent, Life Network is there to share Christ’s love with the community at large.  Pray the Life Network offices and staff will be faithful to share Jesus with the Colorado Springs community.

Mercy’s Gate: (COS) Mercy’s Gate offers relief for people in crisis and the hope of Jesus Christ.  This ministry offers Christian counseling, financial help and compassion to the working poor of this community.  One testimonial from a single mom says, “They helped me in the greatest time of need.  Thanks to them I was able to keep my electricity on.  They provided me food and rent during a financial hardship.  Thank you so much for all you did for me and my son.”  Pray for this ministry and staff that they will have many divine opportunities to share Christ with their constituents.  Please consider financially supporting this ministry and or volunteering your time to help those in need.

FOREIGN MISSIONARIES

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering:  The VGBC Lottie Moon Christmas Offering goal is $105,000!  One hundred percent of this special offering goes directly to funding our Southern Baptist International Mission Board missionaries.  Please pray these funds will come into the storehouse so these missionaries can stay on the field!

Herb and Celeste: Pray for the college senior who is being asked to renounce her Christian faith and being asked to pledge allegiance to the Communist Party in order to graduate.  How can one survive the harsh economic environment in her country without a college degree and her parent’s kind support?  After much prayer she has decided to stay faithful to the Lord.  Pray the Lord would soften her parent’s hearts – they wish to renounce her because of her faith.  Pray she will be able to finish her classes and graduate!  Pray her loyalty to her Savior will encourage other believing students.  Friends in the big country continue to faithfully “attend” their daily Bible study.  Pray their faith would be strengthened and grow.  Pray for the lady’s Bible study Celeste teaches each week via Zoom.  May these women share their faith with others!  Their creative team has created a 64-page volunteer trip opportunity book – check it out on-line at www.imb.org/asia-pacific-rim/volunteer-trips/.  Check out the above link to their volunteer trip booklet on how you can serve in the Asian Pacific Rim!

Mark and Lona: (Killarney, Ireland) Pray for Lona’s right knee to heal – there is ligament damage.  Pray for the students, staff and teachers at St Oliver’s National School where Grace Baptist Church meets.  The church meets at the school rent free – all the school asks is that the church prays for the school.

Ken and Barbie: Pray for the team of missionaries Ken and Barbie oversee.  Pray for their unity of spirit as they strategize to meet and engage the different people groups they are targeting.  Pray for their team’s health – spiritual and physical health!  Pray the Lord would encourage Swirl believers.  Pray they will be able to continue communicating God’s word to those who do not know Him.

Robbyn Booker: (Africa/Middle East) Here’s an update on her family.  Her broken pelvic bone has healed!  Her mother’s wound is completely healed.  Her mother’s physical therapist says she has done all she can for her.  Her mother’s doctor has referred her case to home health care to assist in getting her mother ready for bed each evening.  Please pray for her niece Stephanie.  Even though vaccinated, she got COVID and has been very sick.  She has been off work so long she may lose her job.  Doctors are concerned she may have permanent lung damage.

VGBC will host Perspectives – a 15 week curriculum that will transform your view of the world from God’s perspective.  The meetings will be Tuesday evenings January 11^th through May 10^th from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM.  Enroll online at Perspectives.org – click on classes in the upper right corner, then click on Colorado on the map, and select Colorado Springs under Spring 2022.

Week of 21 Nov 2021

HOME MISSIONARIES

Emily Skinner: (COS) The September Compass Program graduated fifty students who will be serving in twenty countries.  Emily taught five delightful youngsters who are bound for Malta, Tajikistan, Hungary, Ethiopia and Jordan.  Pray for these families as they share Christ in these countries.  After the Compass graduation, Emily traveled to see her parents in North Carolina and spoke to several churches about the MTI ministry.  During this time she shared about MTI’s role in God’s story.  Pray these churches and their members would reach out to support Emily financially and with their prayers.

Kent and Elizabeth Slack: (COS) Many of their students are involved in weekly discipleship activities.  Pray students who are looking for a core group will find a home at Christian Challenge.  Pray for the Tuesday evening Bible study on campus.  This past week (18 Nov) Christian Challenge students had an Operation Christmas Child packing party!  This was another opportunity for students to have spiritual conversations with new friends!  Students have been advised what summer missions opportunities are available here in the US and overseas.  Pray for these students to have clarity and willingness to obey

FOREIGN MISSIONARIES

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering:  The VGBC Lottie Moon Christmas Offering goal is $105,000!  One hundred percent of this special offering goes directly to funding our Southern Baptist International Mission Board missionaries.  Please pray these funds will come into the storehouse so these missionaries can stay on the field!

Dusty and Ashley Jackson: (Near Seoul, South Korea) Dusty’s cross country team is the largest he has ever coached.  Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, there were no track competitions between schools.  But, they had good competition among themselves allowing good conversations and improving their physical fitness.  November is the time of year when the music department participates in concerts and contributes to school bazaars and events.  Pray for them as they lead their students in end of semester special events.  Pray both Ashley and Dusty will exemplify the love of Christ to their students.  Pray for opportunities to share Christ with students and parents.

Oswald and Amanda: The planned hike into the mountains last month was cut short due to a landslide which damaged a part of their trail.  However, Oswald and his team were able to reach a local village church of a different minority group.  This area is primarily comprised of Buddhist culture.  They hope to continue to reach out to this congregation and vision cast with them how they can share Christ with others in the upper valley.  Pray for this small congregation – pray they will be encouraged by being faithful to share their faith with others around them.  Pray for O and A and their little family – health, friend building, opportunities to love others in Christ’s name!

Mark and Lona: (Killarney, Ireland) Lona’s MRI on her knee reveals partially torn ligaments.  The doctor advises to simply walk normal and it will heal over time.  Ian survived his first week of work and enjoyed it!  Pray for the man from their church who needs heart surgery.  Pray for the local pastor who is under a great deal of stress.

Ken and Barbie: Pray the Lord would give new hope to Swirl believers.  Pray they will be able to continue communicating God’s word to those who do not know Him.  Pray for K and B’s team – unity, cohesion, proper execution of the ministry.  Pray for K and B’s organizational skills.  Pray the Lord would give them confidence in their God-given abilities to lead and serve!

Robbyn Booker: (Africa/Middle East) Reach Beyond has been praying for the expansion of their team in Morocco.  Not only has God provided two new team members but two new Christians have recently accepted Christ.  Here’s the testimony of one young man who shares his journey to Christ.  “I am twenty years old and I grew up in a religious family.  I abandoned my inherited religion and turned to atheism.  But I became hungry to know God!  I had many questions – doctrinal questions.  I came to your Facebook page and got all my questions answered!  After they answered my questions I prayed and accepted Jesus into my life.”  Please pray for the Reach Beyond team in Morocco.

Herb and Celeste: While Herb and Celeste are in the US taking care of parents, they are also engaged with their creative team in four different time zones across the world.  This means some early mornings and late evening work and meetings with team members while also caring for aging parents in the Central Time Zone.  Praise the Lord for the technology which allows the team to connect real time around the world.  Their creative team has created a 64-page volunteer trip opportunity book – check it out on-line at https://www.imb.org/asia-pacific-rim/volunteer-trips/.  Their work and family responsibilities across the world has them sometimes feeling exhausted and overwhelmed.  Pray for H and C and their family and the creative team.  Pray for their health, their parent’s health and welfare and their team’s ability to fulfill their responsibilities.  Check out the above link to their volunteer trip booklet on how you can serve in the Asian Pacific Rim!

Week of 7 Nov 2021

HOME MISSIONARIES

Brooks Salgado: (COS) Praise the Lord for Christian Challenge’s 11 student leaders this semester!  And thank the Lord CC can now meet on campus and meet new students and make new contacts.  Pray for CC’s student participants and leadership as they all seek to share Christ on campus.  Pray for Brooks as he disciples four student leaders in the Foundations of Faith group that he leads.  Pray God would unite the leadership team, students and staff in the Gospel work they are involved in at UCCS.  Pray they would have holy boldness to share Christ and pray students would come to know Christ as Savior!

Kent and Elizabeth Slack: (COS) One of their international students was just baptized last month.  This student has been attending Christian Challenge events for several years.  When he first got involved in Christian Challenge he was an avowed atheist.  During his baptism testimony he let everyone know his chief reason for attending the Bible studies and other events was the free food.  But over time he saw God’s love displayed through so many caring people he realized that God loved him personally.  Praise God for his testimony and for the many people who contribute food to the Christian Challenge events each week!

FOREIGN MISSIONARIES

Dusty and Ashley Jackson: (Near Seoul, South Korea) Traditionally Spiritual Emphasis Week (SEW) at their school is a time set  aside for Bible lessons, crafts, games and chapels.  The Spiritual Emphasis Week for the elementary grades is scheduled for 24-26 Nov.  The theme will be “Knights Unite” the armor of God.  The upperclassmen will lead in the week.  Pray the upperclassmen will lead well.  Pray the elementary students will grow in the Lord or accept Jesus as Savior.

Oswald and Amanda: Praise the Lord during the month of October the virus restrictions were greatly loosened – now churches are meeting in person!  They have been attending a local fellowship made up of their target minority group.  The congregation is unique in that the majority of the people come from the Buddhist culture.  They have been greatly encouraged by worshipping with these brothers and sisters.  O and A already know several church members.  Several ladies in the jewelry business attend this church.  Pray O and A will have opportunities to serve this congregation and help the church see beyond their own congregation to invest in those who do not know Christ.

Mark and Lona: (Killarney, Ireland) God provided the Webbs a wonderful time of rest, renewal and encouragement while attending Crossworld’s European Conference.  They enjoyed renewing old friendships and making new friends.  Thank the Lord for the team of volunteers – musicians, children’s workers, counselors and support staff who made it a wonderful experience.  Madeleine passed her driver’s test!

Ken and Barbie: Pray the Lord would give guidance as to how to continue the Bible translation project.  Pray the Lord would give Swirl believers insight as to what those details should look like.  Pray for K and B’s team – unity, cohesion, proper execution of the ministry.  Pray for K and B’s organizational skills.  Pray the Lord would give them confidence in their God-given abilities to lead and serve!

Robbyn Booker: (Africa/Middle East) Wim is a Dutch man operating from the Reach Beyond office in Spain.  He is a community developer in third world areas.  Recently he and Alfred, a Ghanian technician, went to Benin (Sub-Saharan Africa) to train a team to dig wells.  In the first village they inaugurated a new well.  It was an opportunity to celebrate with the people and share the message of Living Water!  On Sunday they inspected a village well built in 2015.  When they arrived the church was packed and there was a worship service going on.  Naturally the two visitors were urged to come to the front of the church to speak.  It was a wonderful time to worship and share.  After the service the men inspected the well and found it in good working order providing clean water to the village.  One of Reach Beyond’s requirements to build a well is that there be a church or a pastor who preaches the Gospel to support the well.  In 2016 there were no believers in this area.  Now, after four wells have been built, there are 30 churches in the area, six have a building and the rest are house churches.  Also, one church is paying their pastor and another man is in seminary to become a pastor.  Pray for this region of Africa.  Pray for these people to grow in their understanding of the Gospel.  Pray more people will come to Christ as a result of these churches and their people.

Herb and Celeste: Herb and Celeste are in the US taking care of parents.  Pray the Lord would help them know how to best serve their parents.  Their creative team is across several time zones – 12-13 hours apart.  Pray the Lord would help them know how best to serve their team mates.  They are working on new communication strategies for the Asia Pacific Rim Peoples.  Pray the Lord would guide their methods of communication and provide His priorities and resources.

VGBC will host Perspectives – a 15 week Bible curriculum that will transform your view of the world from God’s perspective.  The meetings will be Tuesday evenings January 11^th through May 10^th from 6:00PM to 9:00 PM.  Enroll online at Perspectives.org – click on classes in the upper right corner, then click on Colorado on the map, select Colorado Springs under Spring 2022.

Week of 24 Oct 2021

HOME MISSIONARIES

Kevin Green: (COS) Pray for the Equip America event which took place on Oct 23^rd.   Kevin will be supporting the event in Jacksonville, Florida.  Churches involved in this event will also include Austin, Texas, Memphis, Tennessee, and Blairsville, Georgia.  Also pray for the upcoming Equip America event in Tampa, Florida on November 6^th.  Pray these events will not only give good instruction on sharing Christ but that whole churches will catch the vision of sharing Christ in their cities.  Pray the Lord would give these churches holy boldness to share!

Emily Skinner: (COS) Emily is the assistant director for the Children’s Intercultural Program or CHIPs at Mission Training International in Palmer Lake, Colorado.  She is visiting parents in North Carolina and speaking to groups about the MTI ministry.  She needs to raise additional financial support.  Pray she will secure more financial support for her work.  For the past couple years Emily has worked as a parent coach.  Parent coaching is a wonderful gift MTI provides their missionaries in training.  She has enjoyed this role but would like to be more confident.  Pray the Lord would build her confidence as she teaches parenting skills in a cross cultural environment.

Isaac and Becca Herold: (Greeley, CO) Isaac and Becca head the Christian Challenge ministry at the University of Northern Colorado.  They are continuing to see new students come to their Bible study and other events.  Their ministry could use some female leadership.  The male student leaders are doing a great job, a praise!  They have about 25 students attending various events.  Isaac had eye surgery on Oct 13^th.  Pray for him to recover from this surgery.  Pray for Isaac and Becca as they Foster parent “Little Dude.”  They are going through therapy to help them Foster this little boy and properly deal with his emotional issues

Jonathan Ferre: (COS) Jonathan pastors a Spanish speaking congregation, Iglesia Gracia y Verdad.  He has been gone for three months attending US Army Chaplain School.  Praise the Lord the church has continued to thrive during COVID-19 and his being in army training!  Another praise – the worship team they were training last year is now leading worship.  The church needs church leadership.  They wish to ordain two deacons soon.  Pray this leadership will come forward and be available to minister to this church.  Pray for their church to develop an outreach strategy during COVID-19.

FOREIGN MISSIONARIES

Mark and Lona Webb: (Killarney, Ireland) The Webbs have been attending the CrossWorld European Conference.  Pray they will meet old friends and make new ones.  Lona’s knee was dislocated a week ago.  Pray for her as they travel that she will receive mobility assistance in airports.  The conference is being held in a village on the side of a mountain so there will be a lot of uphill and downhill walking.  Pray she will be able to get ice on her knee as much as possible.  In spite of her knee pain, pray this event will be restful to them and a time of rejuvenation and recharging.

Herb and Celeste: Herb and Celeste are in the US taking care of family members.  Pray for them as they seek direction as to when to head back to their ministry area.  Thank the Lord they are able to work virtually to lead their creative team.  Pray for their team members as they seek visas to get into their ministry area.  A house church went on an outreach trip to and unreached people group.  Pray those who heard about Jesus for the first time will ask Jesus to take over their lives.  Herb and Celeste are speaking at several churches in the next several weeks.  Pray the Lord would use them as His ambassadors.

Robbyn Booker: (Africa/Middle East) Over ten years ago, Reach Beyond partnered with a local ministry to launch a Christian radio station in a remote area of Ghana.  This station made Gospel broadcasts available to a predominantly Muslim audience.  In April a fire completely destroyed the building.  The local ministry vowed to rebuild, hoping to start transmitting this summer.  This month a Reach Beyond technician installed wiring in the new studio.  The technician needs to make another visit to complete this work.  Please pray for the completion of the radio station studio so this beacon of hope and light can start retransmitting again.

Ken and Barbie: Weeks ago authorities interrupted a worship service in Swirland.  Several believers who attended were told they would be “sanctioned” and to stop believing in the One, True God!  Sanctions could include actions such as restricting an employee from getting a promotion on time.  If a person receives several “sanctions” they could lose their jobs.  Pray for the Saints under persecution where taking up their cross daily could be extremely costly.

Oswald and Amanda: Pray for Oswald and Amanda as they come alongside fellowships to help them grow and mature spiritually.  Pray for the outcome of the cross country camping/hiking trip Oswald and several brothers made into a remote area.

VGBC will host Perspectives – a 15 week Bible curriculum that will transform your view of the world from God’s perspective.  The meetings will be Tuesday evenings January 11^th through May 10^th from 6:00PM to 9:00 PM.  Enroll online at Perspectives.org – click on classes in the upper right corner, then click on Colorado on the map, select Colorado Springs under Spring 2022.

Perspectives is, in my experience, the single best discipleship course to mobilize the church to God’s mission.  Perspectives gives people their first crucial steps, opening their eyes to God’s work in the world and God’s call on their lives.”

– J. D Greear, The Summit Church of Raleigh-Durham

Week of 17 Oct 2021

HOME MISSIONARIES

Emily Skinner: (COS) Emily is the assistant director for the Children’s Intercultural Program or CHIPs at Mission Training International in Palmer Lake, Colorado.  She is visiting parents in North Carolina and speaking to groups about the MTI ministry.  Her financial support just barely meets her day to day living.  It would be wonderful to have a cushion and save for her retirement.  Pray she will secure more financial support for her work.  For the past couple years Emily has worked as a parent coach.  Parent coaching is a wonderful gift MTI provides their missionaries in training.  She has enjoyed this role but would like to be more confident.  Pray the Lord would continue to give her more confidence as she teaches parenting skills in a cross cultural environment.

Jonathan Ferre: (COS) Jonathan pastors a Spanish speaking congregation, Iglesia Gracia y Verdad.  He has been gone for three months attending US Army Chaplain School.  Praise the Lord the church has continued to thrive during COVID-19 and his being in army training!  Another praise – the worship team they were training last year is now leading worship.  The church needs church leadership.  They wish to ordain two deacons soon.  Pray this leadership will come forward and be available to minister to this church.  Pray for their church to develop an outreach strategy during COVID-19.

FOREIGN MISSIONARIES

Mark and Lona Webb: (Killarney, Ireland) This past week’s weekly from Mark indicates how grateful they are for our/your prayer and financial support.  It has been a long 10 year journey for the Webbs.  And they are now seeing the fruit of their labor – a new pastor and a new church start in another Irish town.  Pray for Ian and his job possibilities.  He is waiting to hear from a potential job application.  Pray also for Madeleine that she will remain calm during her retaking of a driving test next week.  Finally lift up Lona as her right knee has been bothering her.  This is the time of year when an additional gift or perhaps a renewed partnership with the Webbs might be in order.  By supporting the Webbs you are investing in the growth of the church in Ireland.

Herb and Celeste: Pray for the new organization known as the Asian Pacific Rim Peoples Group.  Pray for God’s wisdom for the leadership of this group.  Pray for clear expectations and direction for their Creative Communications Team.  Pray they will know how to meet the needs of those they are shepherding so they will thrive with the gifts God has given them.  Pray Herb and Celeste will know when it’s time to return to their ministry area.

Robbyn Booker: (Africa/Middle East) Bill Cheung, Regional Director for Reach Beyond’s North Africa and Middle East operations and his wife Emily are in Spain working on the Trash to Treasure recycling project.  They are both civil engineers and working on the recycling machine to make it as “low tech” as possible so it can be operated in refugee camps and remote areas where there is limited electricity.  Praise the Lord a couple in the US has underwritten this project.  Pray for someone to step forward who would be willing to oversee this project on the ground in Spain either as a short-term or a long-term missionary commitment.  One of Robbyn’s major donors recently passed away.  Pray for more supporters to come forward to help her raise much needed support.

Ken and Barbie: Pray for those under government persecution because they believe in Jesus Christ!  Two families in K and B’s area recently came to Christ!  The government has made it hard on them ever since.  Weeks ago authorities brought a pig and chicken into their homes and performed shaman rituals.  The government has threatened to take their lands and crops from them if they don’t renounce Christ.  Pray for these new believers faith in the One, True God!  Pray their faith would withstand this persecution and that it would be a testimony that they serve the only living God!

Oswald and Amanda: Currently Oswald, a colleague and two believers are cross country camping/hiking into a remote area to share Christ with villages in the area.  Ask the Lord for divine opportunities to share Christ with villagers.  Pray this small team will be safe and healthy during this camping trip.  Pray the families left behind in the city are also safe and ministering to the ladies in their area.

Week of 10 Oct 2021

HOME MISSIONARIES

Brooks Salgado: (COS) The Christian Challenge Fall retreat was last weekend.  Approximately 70 students heard the Gospel and were challenged in their walk with Christ.  Pray these students faith would be strengthened in the Lord.  During next Tuesday’s Bible study Brooks and Jaymee Collins will share their experiences from this past summer’s outreach in South Africa.  Pray their presentation will encourage students to share their faith wherever the Lord plants them.

Kevin Green: (COS) Pray for the Equip America day long simulcast to churches in Austin,Texas Jacksonville, Florida,  Memphis, Tennessee and in Blairsville, Georgia.  Kevin has begun an eight week Everyday Evangelism (EE) course at Radiant Church.  Pastor Ron O’Neil and their team of Doorbell Ringers hope to incorporate the EE method of sharing their faith with others when they knock on doors and visit with people.  Pray for this eight week class and that the Lord would use it to bring people to Christ.  Pray other churches that Kevin talks to will see the importance of personal evangelism and life witnessing.  

Life Network: (COS) The Abortion Pill Reversal has saved over 2,500 babies.  Recently Google removed Life Network’s and other pro-life organization’s Abortion Pill Reversal treatment ads from their search engine.  Now women experiencing regret over abortion will not be able to find help to save their pregnancy.  Pray Google will reverse their decision and leave Life Network’s ads on the Google search engine.

FOREIGN MISSIONARIES

Oswald and Amanda: One of the highlights of last month was a camping trip Oswald and a colleague had with seven young believers.  The mission was two-fold – go deeper in God’s word and to help them develop practical skills as professional trekking guides.  They used their time to discuss what the true signs of a disciple are and what it means to live intentionally as a Christian.  These young men really showed a denial of self and engaged with each other which really goes against their culture.  They showed great initiative in guide training.  Pray they will become great guides taking teams of people into the mountains and sharing Christ with them.

Herb and Celeste: The new affinity group has begun.  Pray the one thousand plus missionaries and their families affected by the recent reorganization will transition to their new duties smoothly or restart their previous responsibilities with zeal and passion.  Pray the Gospel will be proclaimed to the lost.

Robbyn Booker: (Africa/Middle East) Robbyn’s sending agency is Reach Beyond which sends the Gospel via radio and electronic media to the world.  Robbyn lives here in COS but she supports the Reach Beyond legal and financial needs for the ministry in the Middle East and Africa.  A partner station in the Middle East shared a message from a listener.  “Dear Radio employees, I have been listening to you about six months…I officially became a Christian about four months ago …your radio program has a big part of this.  Thank you for helping me move from darkness to light!  Please send me a Bible and books on Christianity.”  Churches are underground in this listener’s country.  Christian materials are nearly impossible to obtain in this country.  Pray for this new Christian to grow spiritually and for the radio station to continue to minister to believers in this area of the world.

Ken and Barbie: There is no religious freedom in Swirland!  Religious persecution is a normal part of life in this country.  Being a Christ follower in this part of the world can have devastating effects on an entire family, not just the offending believer.  If you plan to get a bachelor’s degree or if you aspire to get a certain level of employment if you run afoul of the government because you are a believer in the One, True God, you will be blacklisted by the government.  Pray for Swirl believers that their eyes would be fixed on Jesus.  Ask the Lord to guide Swirl believers as they determine next actions on the Bible translation project.

Mark and Lona Webb: (Killarney, Ireland) Grace Baptist had 36 people in attendance last Sunday.  Ian’s deferral from university has been approved.  He will look for a job in the immediate future and hopefully hold down a job and then resume school in about a year.  Pray for Madeleine’s upcoming driving test.  Mark, Lona and Ian will attend a conference comprised of European Crossworld missionaries.  Pray this will be a time of encouragement, refreshing and a time of renewed friendships.

Week of 3 Oct 2021

HOME MISSIONARIES

Kevin Green: (COS) This past weekend Kevin began an eight week Everyday Evangelism (EE) course at Radiant Church.  Pastor Ron O’Neil and their team of Doorbell Ringers hope to incorporate the EE method of sharing their faith with others when they knock on doors and visit with people.  Pray for this eight week class and that the Lord would use it to bring people to Christ.  Pray other churches that Kevin talks to will see the importance of personal evangelism and life witnessing.  

Kent and Elizabeth Slack: (COS) This past week the Slack family attended a Colorado-wide retreat for Southern Baptist missionaries.  They arrived back home Tuesday afternoon in time to lead Tuesday evening Bible study.  Pray the time away was encouraging and beneficial to the entire Christian Challenge staff.  Then this weekend (1 – 3 Oct) the statewide Fall retreat will take place.  Pray the students who need to attend will be able to come.  Pray God would use this time to create momentum for each of the campus ministries represented.

Life Network: (COS) Life Network is looking for two people to fill two positions.  The first position is the Church and Community Relations Assistant Director and the other is the Assistant Director, Family Thrift Store.  Pray for the right people to apply for these key roles.  You may read about these open positions and their qualifications at elifenetwork.com).

FOREIGN MISSIONARIES

Oswald and Amanda: O, A and their boys spend a lot of time at the restaurant across the street from their home.  They have developed a wonderful relationship with the owner.  The owner invited Oswald to play soccer with him and his friends.  Many of the young men are Oswald’s age and have families the ages of his children, so there are a lot of possibilities for relationship building and developing.  Many of the young men have worked as guides and have a common knowledge of the area’s mountains and their beauty.  There have been conversations about the creation of these wonders.  Amanda continues to work with the ladies and their jewelry business and meets them weekly.  She and their oldest son also participate in a homeschool co-op.  It has been fun and exciting.  Pray these relationships grow and lead to spiritual conversations leading non-believers to Christ.

Herb and Celeste: Pray for Herb and Celeste’s guidance as to when they should return to their ministry area.  Several believing friends on the mainland were arrested for religious activities and interrogated.  Pray they will know Father loves them.  Pray they will remain strong in their faith and continue serving the Lord as He directs.  House churches on the mainland will soon take the Gospel message to an unreached minority group.  Pray for their safety from authorities and for divine appointments.  Pray their time is fruitful making new connections and renewing old acquaintances they made previously.

Robbyn Booker: (Africa/Middle East) You will remember Robbyn asked for prayer for the shipment and safe arrival of the transmitter and solar batteries destined for Northern Sierra Leone.  The civil unrest in the country has delayed the transmitter and battery’s shipment.  Pray for the unrest to settle down and that the transmitter and batteries will arrive soon.

Ken and Barbie: The reorganization of work in Asia has led Ken and Barbie to wear two hats – leading a team of missionaries while also supervising the leadership of additional teams.  This means they will lead thirteen families in their field work.  Their geographical area will be more reasonable, but some of their former teammates will have to move to different teams.  Pray God would grant Ken and Barbie wisdom and pastoral hearts as they lead these families who have been through so much turmoil these last 24 months.  Pray for Ken, Barbie and these families as they learn new languages.

Mark and Lona Webb: (Killarney, Ireland) Mark preached at Tralee Baptist this past Sunday, while John Herrick (of Tralee Baptist) preached at Grace Baptist.  It was the Cork/Kerry Project Weekend where the churches shared prayer requests and some churches exchanged pastors.  Pray for the Cork/Kerry churches this week.  Thank the Lord for the people He has brought to Grace Baptist in the past 18 months.  Pray for Cork Baptist Church (established in 1640) the oldest Baptist Church in Ireland as they search for a pastor.  Pray for this church as they renew the street ministry in Cork City.

Please consider giving a special gift to the Colorado Baptist Missions Offering.  This year, the VGBC Colorado Nicy Murphy Missions Offering goal is $15,000.

Week of 26 Sep 2021

HOME MISSIONARIES

Brooks Salgado: (COS) Pray for the Christian Challenge ministry as the new semester is underway.  Praise the Lord this semester, CC will be able to meet for Bible studies on campus this semester.  This is a huge answer to prayer.  Pray more and more students will feel comfortable to attend Bible studies and other activities.  Pray for the CC leadership’s unity.  Pray for relationships to grow and develop between believers and non-believers.

Springs Rescue Missions: (COS) Praise the Lord for the six men and women who graduated from the Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) committing to sobriety, a relationship with the Lord and staying connected with the church community.  Pray for the present IOP class.  These men and women are struggling with addiction and are unable to commit to residential treatment.  Pray the Lord will use the Springs Rescue Mission to transform lives from homelessness, poverty and addiction providing hope and a relationship with Jesus Christ.

FOREIGN MISSIONARIES

Oswald and Amanda: A local fellowship leader passed away leaving his family and fellowship leaderless.  Pray for his family and congregation as they continue without him.  The lifting of pandemic restrictions has resulted in a busy August for Oswald and his family.  Recently, while having lunch at a local restaurant, another customer recognized Oswald from playing soccer the previous day and invited him to play with his friends.  This link has prompted more connections and spiritual conversations with many other families.  Pray these families will be receptive to having a relationship with a loving, personal Creator.

Herb and Celeste: Herb and Celeste are working from the US while taking care of family.  Pray the Lord would guide them when they should proceed back to their overseas home.  H and C lead a group of thirteen talented people who will become the Asian Pacific Rim Peoples Affinity.  Their team is entrusted with educating churches on the needs in Asia and how to support missionaries in this part of the world.  Are you aware that out of the 2.3 billion people in this area of the world, over 43,000 people die without Christ daily?  There are 3,346 people groups and 1,134 unreached people groups.  The need in Asia is huge.  Pray for team unity and shared vision for the work before them.

Dusty and Ashley Jackson: (near Seoul, South Korea) Dusty and Ashley Jackson are previous VGBC members and are school teachers at Gyeonggi Suwon International School.  One of Dusty’s students, Woobin, graduated last year and will attend university in Japan this year.  Only one percent of the Japanese population is Christian.  Pray for Woobin to stay steadfast in his faith in Jesus.

Robbyn Booker: (Africa/Middle East) Reach Beyond has shipped a transmitter to the Pioneer Christian Hospital in the heart of the Congo River Basin rainforest.  The hospital serves approximately 300,000 people.  Whenever possible, Reach Beyond tries to pair hands with voice.  When the transmitter arrives and is operational, the hospital radio station will make Christian programming available to the population.  Pray for the installation of the transmitter.  Pray people in the Congo will hear the Gospel and ask Christ into their lives.

Ken and Barbie: Weeks ago police raided a Vacation Bible School in a Swirl village.  Among the people who were jailed and questioned were a man and a woman.  The man was an experienced story teller, trained to share Bible stories with others.  Each day the man shared Bible stories with the men in his jail cell and he prayed with and for the men and their families.  When he was released he promised he would follow up with the men and their families.  The young Swirl woman shared her faith with eleven women in her jail cell – two women accepted Jesus as Lord.  Both have been released with threats not to share in religious activities.  Both have said they will continue to share Christ.  As a result of their incarceration, this man and woman have witnessed to twenty Swirl families for Christ.  Pray family members will come to faith in Christ!

Please consider giving a special gift to the Colorado Baptist Missions Offering.  This year, the VGBC Colorado Nicy Murphy Missions Offering goal is $15,000.  This offering funds evangelism outreaches throughout Colorado, church planting efforts, resort and leisure ministries at ski resorts, the Ponderosa Ranch ministry, disaster relief and seminary student scholarships.  Please find a pink envelope from the brochure rack in the church foyer and place it in the offering plate or mail to the church office!

Week of 19 Sep 2021

HOME MISSIONARIES

Emily Skinner: (COS) Emily works at Mission Training International (MTI) in Palmer Lake, Colorado as the Assistant Director for the Children’s Pre-Field Program.  She and her team prepare missionary children for living and thriving in a cross-cultural environment.  She is taking time away to be with her family and develop new donor/supporters in North Carolina.  Please consider a one-time gift or a recurring monthly gift to help her reach one hundred percent support.

Jonathan and Myrna Ferre: (COS) Jonathan is a bi-vocational church planter with the Pikes Peak Baptist Association and the North American Mission Board.  His Spanish-speaking congregation, Iglesia Gracia y Verdad, meets at Garden Ranch Baptist Church on Sunday mornings.  He is just back from Army Chaplains School as a reserve US Army Chaplain.  Pray for the Bible studies and outreaches they perform each week to minister to the Spanish-speaking community.  Pray the Lord would provide him a job that would allow him to handle his pastoral responsibilities while also providing for his family.  VGBC supports this couple with a monthly gift.  You may help this pastor and his family financially by giving to Garden Ranch Baptist Church designated for Jonathan Ferre.

Life Network: (COS) Here’s a testimony from an expecting mother who had an unplanned pregnancy and about her experience at one of the three Life Network clinics here in Colorado Springs.  “They were so welcoming and so helpful.  I never once felt judged.  I felt so comfortable and felt like I could talk to them about everything.  You can tell they have a heart for this type of work.  I am so grateful for having them there to help me as I am a first mom.”   VGBC, your financial and prayer support to Life Network gives families a safe place to learn about their options and empowers them to choose life for their baby.  Please pray for the staff at life Network as they share Christ with mothers and fathers who are thinking about abortion.

FOREIGN MISSIONARIES

Mark and Lona Webb: (Killarney, Ireland) Praise the Lord Ian received excellent scores on his final exams and has received offers from his favorite university. Now he is trying to make a decision whether to work his first year out of school or attend university.  Praise God for a sister church start in Skibbereen.  Mark has been mentoring Pastor Rob Attridge at Amazing Grace Church in Skibbereen and Grace Baptist Church has been prayerfully and financially supporting this church start.  Your investment in supporting Mark and Lona Webb is helping grow a sister church in a neighboring Irish town!

Herb and Celeste: Pray for Herb and Celeste to be able to minister to their own family while they are in the US.  Pray for their additional team members and their ability to get into their country.  Pray for the team’s unity in spirit and mission.

Dusty and Ashley Jackson: (near Seoul, South Korea) Dusty and Ashley Jackson are previous VGBC members and are school teachers at Gyeonggi Suwon International School.  Dusty is, again, the head coach for the high school cross country team.  Pray they will have opportunities to grow spiritually as they train for their sporting events.  Due to COVID-19, It is not known if they will be competing with other schools yet but pray for their fellowship and spiritual unity.

Robbyn Booker: (Africa/Middle East) Robbyn has requested prayer for the Trash to Treasure recycling project.  Please pray for Bill and Emily Cheung, Reach Beyond’s North Africa and Middle East, Regional Director and his wife as they travel to Spain mid-September to work on the recycling machine.  Their goal is to make the machine low tech enough that refugee groups can operate it to recycle plastic into useful items.  Converting discarded plastic into useable items could be a way for refugees and refugee camps to make money and clean up their areas.

Ken and Barbie: Pray Swirl believers will remain strong in their faith in spite of persecution.  Some believers have spent weeks in jail being questioned under harsh conditions.  The government wants to quash all genuine Christian activity and replace it with a government’s version of Christianity, which is not real Christianity.  Pray these saints will stay true to the Most, High God.  Barbie’s brother-in-law is now home after weeks in the hospital with COVID.  He is on oxygen and therapy.  Pray for his full recovery.  Pray for Ken and Barbie to have a clear understanding of their new team and mission.

Each September we emphasize the Colorado Baptist Nicy Murphy Missions Offering.  This special offering, just like the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, honors a woman who selflessly gave herself to spreading the Gospel.  In 1955 Nicy Elizabeth Murphy became a pioneer servant among Southern Baptists in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.  The Colorado General Convention was organized in 1956 and Nicy served as the first director of the Women’s Missionary Union.  She gave leadership to teaching new believers and young churches the value of being on mission where they lived and extending their influence all over the world.  This year, the VGBC Colorado Nicy Murphy Missions Offering goal is $15,000.  This offering funds evangelism outreaches throughout Colorado, church planting efforts, resort and leisure ministries at ski resorts, the Ponderosa Ranch ministry, disaster relief and seminary student scholarships.  Please prayerfully consider supporting this offering with a gift!

Week of 12 Sep 2021

HOME MISSIONARIES

Jonathan and Myrna Ferre: (COS) Jonathan is a church planter with the Pikes Peak Baptist Association and the North American Mission Board.  He pastors the Spanish-speaking congregation, Iglesia Gracia y Verdad.  He is just back from Army Chaplains School as a reserve US Army Chaplain.  Pray for Jonathan as he gathers his church back together on Sunday mornings.  Pray the Lord would provide him a job that would allow him to handle his pastoral responsibilities while also providing for his family.

Kevin Green: (COS) The Lord is using Evangelism Explosion’s Equip America events across the country to bring people to faith in Jesus!  Already this year 358 churches have participated in 26 cities in sharing their faith with 1135 people and 306 new believers are now our brothers and sisters in Christ!  This past August Evangelism Explosion held an Equip America event in Willmar, Minnesota.  During this event 33 churches and their teams went out with the express purpose of meeting people and sharing Christ with non-believers.  The result of this outreach was out of 64 people who heard the Gospel, 38 people asked Jesus into their hearts!  Continue to pray for Equip America events across the US.  Kevin will teach a Share Your Faith workshop at VGBC on September 11^th and an EV-2 class begins September 12^th.  Pray and consider being a part of these workshops.  Become equipped to share your faith!

FOREIGN MISSIONARIES

Herb and Celeste: Pray for believers in their former country as they navigate life in a difficult environment.  Sunshine is a believer who was asked by her church to serve as a counselor at a week-long summer camp.  By serving as a counselor at the camp she would give up her only income – a week’s income as an after school tutor.  After praying she felt the Lord was leading her to serve at the camp regardless of the loss of income.  She was responsible for five elementary girls – one little girl hung onto her arm from morning to evening each day.  Sunshine provided her girls an example of a Godly woman who loves others and lives for Jesus in the midst of a government which wants to dominate people’s beliefs and trust.

Dusty and Ashley Jackson: (near Seoul, South Korea) Dusty and Ashley Jackson are previous VGBC members and are school teachers at Gyeonggi Suwon International School.  A few weeks ago Dusty preached the chapel message about contentment.  After the service one of his students, a senior told him his message helped him with his perspective on the SAT test he was taking the next day.  Other students also shared they were more engaged in the worship service.  Please pray these students will find contentment in Jesus Christ!  Dusty is leading praise team for middle school and Ashley is leading praise team for upper elementary ages.  Pray for them as they disciple these young people to have hearts of service as they lead worship.

Robbyn Booker: (Africa/Middle East) Robbyn is a missionary with Reach Beyond, formerly HCJB.  She lives in Colorado Springs with her mother.  Her parents were long time missionaries with HCJB in Quito, Ecuador.  Robbyn is in charge of administration (legal and financial) for Reach Beyond ministries in Africa and the Middle East.  A Reach Beyond ministry partner sent books to a listener in a restricted access country.  Later the partner found out the resources helped the listener come out of a serious family problem.  Soon after this, the ministry partner had an opportunity to share the Gospel message with the man and his children.  The man knelt down with the ministry partner and asked Jesus to be His Lord!

Ken and Barbie: Pray for Ken and Barbie as they absorb, digest and organize their thoughts and plans about their fifth new assignment and responsibilities in the past three years.  They are learning a new language and feeling a little overwhelmed!  Pray the Lord would clarify and help their hearts understand how He will use them during this new ministry.  Pray II Timothy 1:7 over them!  Pray for Swirl believers as they are under great persecution.  Pray the Lord would give them holy boldness to share their faith in the face of such persecution.

This is the eleventh week of our Virtual Mission Conference.  This week we want to highlight Kent and Elizabeth Slack, Directors of Christian Challenge at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.  This fall starts their fourteenth year reaching students with the Gospel of Christ.  Their ministry consists of Bible studies and other outreach events where believers can go deeper in their faith.  Non-believers are also encouraged to attend events where they hear the Gospel.  Kent and Elizabeth have invested their lives into countless students who continue to share Christ as business professionals and as ministers of the Gospel.  Please watch and listen to their video this week on our missions web page at 2021 Missions Conference – Vista Grande Baptist Church (vgbc.org) vgbc.org/mc/ to learn about their work and how you can support them.

Week of 29 Aug 2021

HOME MISSIONARIES

Emily Skinner: (COS) The July/August Compass program proved to be a miraculous testimony of God’s great strength and provision for His children.  First – the 71 participants graduated and will take the Gospel message to 17 countries!  During this curriculum a COVID-19 case surfaced throwing the class into a 10-day quarantine.  Thanks be to the Lord asymptomatic and vaccinated staff members were able to come in to serve food and support the class curriculum.  After the 10-day quarantine Emily and the rest of staff were able to come back and resume in-person learning.  Please pray for the right people to apply to fill positions at Mission Training International.  The next Compass class begins September 6^th.  Pray for the staff to recover and rest during the break between classes.  Emily will be going home to North Carolina to develop partners.  VGBC supports Emily financially, but this amount is small.  Please consider becoming a financial and prayer partner with Emily.

Isaac and Becca Herold: (Greeley, CO) Isaac and Becca are in the midst of having people pray for the next 21 days for the Christian Challenge ministry at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley.  Please pray for the outcome of student outreach events – that students will have a desire to study God’s word and follow Jesus as Lord and Savior of their lives.  Here’s the link to their prayer requests for the 21 days before their semester begins…21_Days_of_Prayer_Fall_2021_2022.pdf (mcusercontent.com). 

Brooks Salgado: (COS) There will be eleven student leaders this year.  Also Matthew and Cassie Allan are new Christian Challenge staff members.  Pray for staff and student leadership unity as this semester begins.  Pray upcoming outreach events and Bible studies will be well attended and relationships are started.

Kent and Elizabeth Slack: (COS) Christian Challenge has had a strong attendance at their summer activities.  Pray these 30-40 students will continue to participate in semester Bible studies and outreach events.  Pray for those students who do not know Jesus as Savior.  Pray for students and the lessons learned during Tuesday evening Bible studies that started this past week.  Pray many new contacts are developed from the campus club fair on August 31^st and September 1^st. 

FOREIGN MISSIONARIES

Robbyn Booker: (Africa/Middle East) The Reach Beyond team in Southern Spain not only minister to the Middle East and Africa, but they minister to their immediate community in Spain.  This past July, three Reach Beyond staffers participated in a project to reach out to people who are out of work, the elderly, struggling young families and those who need encouragement.  The team packed bags of food for distribution and provided an English as a second language class to a Muslim woman.  There are migrant workers, refugees and the poor and needy who need the Love of Christ.  Pray for more opportunities to minister to the immediate area near the Reach Beyond headquarters. 

Ken and Barbie: Barb’s brother-in-law is showing gradual signs of improvement from the COVID-19 virus.  Please pray for his continual improvement.  Last week police raided a meeting in Swirl land.  Many people were taken in for questioning.  Pray the answers to interrogator’s questions reveal nothing.  Pray interrogators eyes and hears will be shielded from what God is doing in this area.  Pray for unity of spirit as members of their team arrive in country.  Pray for Ken and Barbie as they assist their team members with getting settled in their new home.

Mark and Lona Webb: (Killarney, Ireland) Pray for Mark’s walking club contacts and relationships.  Pray for the possibility of Mark and Lona having dinner with one of the club’s couples.  Pray for the new relationship with the young woman from South Africa.  Pray the Lord would use Mark and Lona to bring these people to Himself.  The principal and vice-principal at St. Oliver’s National School where Grace Baptist Church meets are leaving.  Grace Baptist gave them Bibles as gifts.  Both men have said they have explored the Bible.  One of them said it’s a work of art!  Mark reminded him it’s a book to be used to learn about God.  Please pray for these two men.  Praise the Lord, Ian has received his second vaccination.

This next week we want to high light Kevin Green and the Evangelism Explosion ministry.  Kevin is the Western Regional Coordinator for Evangelism Explosion.  This year he and the leadership at Evangelism Explosion are focused on Equip America!  These events across the country are designed to equip churches with the tools to share Christ with their communities and cities.  Please pray for Kevin as he works to equip churches not only here in Colorado but across the western US.  Please watch his video this week at our missions web page at 2021 Missions Conference – Vista Grande Baptist Church (vgbc.org) vgbc.org/mc/ to learn about their work and how you can support them.

Week of 22 Aug 2021

HOME MISSIONARIES

Kent and Elizabeth Slack: (COS) This past week Christian Challenge participated in helping new students move into their dorms!  Pray these initial events will lead to relationships where students will feel safe, loved and can grow in their faith.  And, for those who are not yet believers that they will trust in Jesus as their personal Savior.  Weekly Bible studies will begin Aug 24^th – pray these Bible studies can be on campus.  Pray these Bible studies will nurture students spiritually in their walk in the Lord.  Pray the Bible studies will prompt discussions for those who need to commit to Jesus!  Also pray for the campus club fairs scheduled for August 31^st and September 1^st.  These will be important events where Christian Challenge students can meet new students on campus.

Life Network (COS) The week August 22-31, Rich Bennett and the Life Network team will attend the Care Net conference in San Antonio, Texas.  This event is an evangelical Christian network of pregnancy centers operating across the US.  This event will be an opportunity for enhanced training and refreshment.  Pray for Rich as he leads a workshop and shares his expertise with pregnancy center leaders.  Pray for travel safety, for a time of connecting, team building and renewed excitement for the ministry!

FOREIGN MISSIONARIES

Oswald and Amanda: It is impossible to reach this people group without a team of like-minded people.  Pray Oswald and Amanda will be able to partner with like-minded people who have a heart for reaching their people group.  Amanda has been meeting regularly with women believers who have their own jewelry business.  With the lifting of some COVID-19 restrictions these ladies hope to start meeting others.  Amanda has been helping these ladies with accounting.  Pray these ladies will be able to serve and lead in their community.

Ken and Barbie: Barb’s brother-in-law in Tulsa has COVID-19 and just this week came off the ventilator and is breathing on his own.  Pray oxygen levels improve.  Pray for Barb’s Mom who is recuperating from knee surgery.  Pray for Ken and Barbie’s team responsibilities.

Mark and Lona Webb: (Killarney, Ireland) Praise – a young woman from South Africa has been attending Bible study, but due to her work schedule, cannot attend worship service on Sunday.  She is new in Killarney and proactively sought out the church.  Her father passed away last year due to the COVID-19 virus.  Pray for her as she seeks fellowship.  Madeleine did not pass her driving test.  Many people fail the first time.  She has an appointment for retaking the test.  Pray for Mark as he interacts with the walking group.  Pray for Lona as she provides a lady in the church a daily Bible study.

Robbyn Booker: (Africa/Middle East) Reach Beyond engineers recently installed upgrades at radio station Shalom Radio Kabala, Sierra Leone.  People who live many miles away from Kabala have called to confirm they are receiving Christian programming.  Reach Beyond is also installing upgrades in another station in Northern Sierra Leone.  Pray for the new transmitter that is being built for this station and for the solar power company who will provide power for this station.  Pray these stations will help reach the unreached for the kingdom of God in West Africa.  Pray for Robbyn and her mother, Imogene’s healing from several medical maladies.  Please consider becoming a one-time or recurring donor to keep Robbyn in her position supporting Reach Beyond projects in the Middle East and Africa.

Herb and Celeste: Pray for the animator, illustrator and writer who is considering being a part of their team.  Pray the Lord would reveal His truths to Herb and Celeste’s friends on the mainland.  Pray these Christians will have resolve to follow Christ in the face of government oppression.  Pray they will be able to continue to study God’s word.  Pray for Herb and Celeste as they minister to their family in Texas.

Week of 1 Aug 2021

HOME MISSIONARIES

Isaac and Becca Herold: (Greeley, Colorado) In one short year everything in Isaac and Becca’s lives has changed!  They live in a new town, new house, new child to take care of and nurture.  There is a new Christian Challenge (CC) staff, new friends, new students – the transition to new things brings stress and challenges.  Pray for Isaac and Becca as they begin their second school year this fall.  Pray for their marriage relationship.  Pray for the CC leadership selection process.  Pray for late summer events and Bible studies to help guide students to a closer relationship with Jesus.

Emily Skinner: (COS) Emily is the Assistant Director for the Compass CHIPs Program at Mission Training International in Palmer Lake, Colorado.  A few weeks ago MTI graduated another batch of missionaries destined to minister in 17 different countries.  Of the fifty-five people who received training, twenty-two of them were children who learned about Jesus and to love well.  MTI has several job vacancies.  Pray the Lord would send MTI the right people for these open positions and pray the positions would be filled soon.

Kent and Elizabeth Slack: (COS) They have been able to participate in a few student orientations this summer at UCCS.  Pray the contacts made with students result in students getting involved in Fall events and ultimately bringing students closer to following Jesus in their everyday walk with the Lord.  Pray the Lord would bring wisdom to the leadership selection process for the next school year.  Pray students will continue to attend late summer Bible studies and that there would be continued spiritual growth.

FOREIGN MISSIONARIES

Robbyn Booker: (Africa/Middle East) The Rohingya refugee camps have a much higher COVID-19 rate than ever before.  Reach Beyond’s missionary nurse, Hannah, has been working in this refugee camp.  Thank the Lord she is fully vaccinated.  But with the restrictions she can no longer reach the young expecting mothers she has been ministering to in the past.  Hannah feels she’s losing ground on the gains she has made in establishing relationships with these young mothers.  The government requires people who receive a positive test for COVID-19 to go into a quarantine center.  This experience, especially for a refugee, causes a great deal of fear and stress.

Oswald and Amanda: The COVID-19 restrictions have lifted and Oswald and family are now able to get out into the city and meet others.  They live near a temple which draws members of their target people group into their midst.  They love walking into town – their boys really draw a lot of attention to their family.  Pray this attention will result in new relationships and friend building with their target group.  Pray Oswald and Amanda will perfect the language they are learning to communicate with their people group.  Another like-minded couple is moving into their area at the end of this month (July).  Pray they will be diligent partners in meeting their people group.  Amanda and the wife of the other couple have already met and are planning ways to meet ladies in the area.  Oswald and the husband have played soccer with some of the target people group in order to build relationships.  Pray for relationships and divine appointments.

Herb and Celeste: They are on Stateside assignment visiting family.  Pray they would know how to best serve their parents while in the US.  Pray COVID-19 continues to subside so borders will reopen for missionaries and volunteers to return to their countries.  Pray for their Bible studies and mentorships that continue on-line.  Pray for possible new teammates who would be welcomed, added talent to the team.

Ken and Barbie: This past weekend Ken and Barbie were set free from their fifteen day hotel room stay and they set out for their real home.  They were able to hire a driver and made the 375 mile trek to their home in one day!  Pray for them to get settled.  Pray for the rest of their team as they are trying to enter the country as well.

This Sunday is week five of our virtual missions conference.  This week’s missionary and VGBC church member is Emily Skinner.  Emily is the Assistant Director for the Compass CHIPs program at Mission Training International in Palmer Lake, Colorado.  Compass is a program which prepares missionaries for long-term work in a cross-cultural environment.  Please take a moment to watch and listen to Emily’s video on our missions web page at 2021 Missions Conference – Vista Grande Baptist Church (vgbc.org).  If you’ve missed any of our previous missionary presentations you will find them all on this web page.

Week of 18 July 2021

HOME MISSIONARIES

Kevin Green: (COS) Pray for Evangelism Explosion’s Equip America plans to educate and equip churches throughout the US on sharing the Gospel message with those who need Jesus.  Pray for Kevin as he partners with more churches in the Colorado Springs/Pueblo area.  Also, as the Western Regional Coordinator, pray for Kevin as he encourages Evangelism Explosion volunteers in the Western US to partner with more churches so they can educate their church members on sharing the Gospel message.

Emily Skinner: (COS) Emily is the Assistant Director for the Compass CHIPs Program at Mission Training International in Palmer Lake, Colorado.  Pray for the staff as they work on sprucing up the MTI property.  Pray for Emily as she deals with back pain.  MTI has several job vacancies.  Pray for the leadership to hire the right people for those open positions and pray the positions would be filled soon.  Pray for Emily’s support raising.  Pray the Lord would give her holy boldness to ask people to help her raise financial support. 

FOREIGN MISSIONARIES

Ken and Barbie: They are back in their ministry country and have already completed their first week of a fifteen day quarantine.  Pray they stay well.  Their country is in full lockdown due to COVID-19 restrictions.  After their quarantine period is over, it is likely they will have to remain where they are at, because local transportation to other cities is frozen.  Pray they will be able to travel to their home city after the quarantine is over.  Pray other team members will be able to enter their country.

Mark and Lona Webb: (Killarney, Ireland) Praise the Lord for the 49 people who attended their church service on Sunday morning including the nine new visitors!  Also praise the Lord for wonderful conversations during recent walking club outings.  Pray the advertisement in the local magazine brings interested people to Grace Baptist Church.  Pray for the couple Mark and Lona are counseling. Pray for Grace Baptist’s Sunday school situation as they strive to cope with the COVID restrictions and keep a normal Sunday school routine. 

Robbyn Booker: (Africa/Middle East) Continue to pray for Robbyn’s mother, Imogene.  Pray new medications and therapies will have the desired effect on her Parkinson’s Disease.  Pray for Reach Beyond’s partners who are providing Christian Arabic radio programming in the Middle East and North Africa.  Pray the listening audience will understand who Jesus is and ask Him into their lives.

Week of 11 July 2021

HOME MISSIONARIES

Brooks Salgado and Matthew and Cassie Allan: (COS) Pray for Brooks and the Allans as they get ready for the 2021 fall semester at UCCS.  Pray they will have opportunities to help move students into the dorms as the semester begins.  Pray for lasting relationships between the Christian Challenge students and newly arriving students.  Pray the Allans will be able to raise financial support to allow them to work full time on the Christian Challenge ministry.

Kent and Elizabeth Slack: (COS) Kent and Elizabeth and their family will be in Texas visiting family and partnering churches for the next two weeks.  Pray new donors/supporters will step up to support the Slacks.  They have been able to participate in several new student orientation events this summer.  Pray contacts with these students will result in students getting involved with Christian Challenge.  Pray for the Christian Challenge leadership selection process and that the Lord would give them guidance in selecting the perfect team for the following school year.  Christian Challenge summer Bible studies have been well attended.  Thank the Lord and pray for continued growth among students.

FOREIGN MISSIONARIES

Mark and Lona Webb: (Killarney, Ireland) Praise the Lord – Grace Baptist Church continues to enjoy good attendance on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evening for Bible study.  Thank the Lord for being able to meet in person.  Pray for Luigi as he prepares to preach this next Sunday.  Pray for the couple Mark and Lona have been counseling and also the new believer Lona is discipling.

Herb and Celeste: Pray COVID-19 cases continue to decline and that travel restrictions are reduced.  Their teammates’ visas have been approved but they are still stuck in the US because of travel restrictions.  Pray Herb and Celeste will be used mightily while in the US.  There are organizational changes coming in the next several months. Pray for leadership wisdom as decisions are made.

Brooks Salgado and Jaymee Collins: (Johannesburg, South Africa) The team arrived back in the US on July 3^rd.  They will stay together and debrief their experiences before continuing home.  Pray they are well and remain so.  Pray for the lives they touched.  Pray the Lord would call some or all of these young people into ministry as it delights the Father. 

Robbyn Booker: (Africa/Middle East) Ceuta, Spain is a Spanish city in North Africa on the eastern portion of the peninsula which makes up the Strait of Gibraltar.  The area has been flooded with Moroccan immigrants.  Pastor Pedro recently opened his center to help the refugees.  Eighty percent of Ceuta is Muslim.  The streets are full of hundreds of teenagers and children who are homeless.  The pastor is seeking local officials’ permission to allow these children to sleep in his center. Please pray Pastor Pedro will find favor with government officials and for God’s provision!

This week begins the third week of our Virtual Missions Conference.  This week we high light a couple who has been ministering in Asia for the past ten years.  They have a new role in the International Missions Board (IMB) – that of reporting back what is going on in the trenches all over Asia and nurturing partnerships between churches and missionaries.  They are the IMB’s marketing specialists heading a team of creative professionals documenting how God is moving through IMB missionaries all over the Asian continent.  Please take time to watch Herb and Celeste’s video at …2021 Missions Conference – Vista Grande Baptist Church (vgbc.org). 

Also, if you missed any of the previous week’s missionaries, you may also catch up there as well.  Please plug in with your missionaries.  Send them a card or an e-mail encouraging them.

Week of 3 July 2021

HOME MISSIONARIES                

Kent and Elizabeth Slack: (COS) Kent and Elizabeth and their family will be in Texas visiting family and partnering churches for the next three weeks.  Pray new donors/supporters will step up to support the Slacks.  They have been able to participate in several new student orientation events this summer.  Pray contacts with these students will result in students getting involved with Christian Challenge.  Pray for the Christian Challenge leadership selection process and that the Lord would give them guidance in selecting the perfect team for the following school year.  Christian Challenge summer Bible studies have been well attended.  Thank the Lord and pray for continued growth among students

FOREIGN MISSIONARIES

Herb and Celeste: Herb and Celeste are in the US visiting family – pray for peaceful fellowship and renewal time with family and friends.  While in the US, pray the Lord will give them opportunities to serve and share this summer.  Pray the Lord will guide church leaders in their country how to navigate this new season of COVID ministry.  Pray the next virtual Zoom Room on July 13^th will go well and that more people will learn about the needs in Japan and other areas in Asia.

Brooks Salgado and Jaymee Collins: (Johannesburg, South Africa) The team has been in South Africa for four weeks.  Jaymee Collins reports of Bible studies in which they were able to talk about the parable of the man who built his house on the rock.  Brooks talks about being involved with a team who has been discipling three businessmen from downtown. He says they are very eager to grow in their faith and want to share the gospel.  Another team member talks about going to a nearby village and starting a soccer game between themselves and some children.  Before long over 30 children were playing soccer.  Halfway through the game they decided to take a break and share some Bible stories with these children. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and truth sharing!

Robbyn Booker: (Africa/Middle East) In the Middle East it is very difficult to hear about Jesus and Christianity.  But many people in Arabic countries are thirsting for the Gospel!  One ministry partner in an Arabic-speaking country forwarded this testimony.  An Egyptian camera technician reached out to the Christian radio station wanting to know more about Jesus and how to live with Him.  He wanted to know everything to know about Him and Christianity in detail.  Now He is grateful he was shown the road to salvation.  He reads and studies the materials sent to him from the radio partner.  Praise God for new brothers and sisters in these closed countries.  Pray the Lord will provide people to disciple and nurture these new Christians.  Pray these new Christians will share the Gospel with others thirsting for the truth.

Mark and Lona Webb: (Killarney, Ireland) Praise the Lord – there were 37 people attending last Sunday’s service and 7 children.  Grace Baptist is grateful for the relationship they have with Saint Oliver’s National School.  They’ve had good relationships with the principal and vice principal over the years.  Recently the principal took a new national position in the Catholic school system and the vice principal retired after 40 years in the school system.  Grace Baptist has purchased Bibles for them.  Pray these men and their families will follow Christ.  Pray for the new principal and vice principal and that Grace Baptist will be able to establish good relationships with the new leadership.  Praise – a lady who has experienced medical issues for the past 16 months has had some relief from pain.  Praise the Lord for a man who will soon start helping with Wednesday night Bible study and Sunday preaching!