September 2007

This summer, one of missions teams serving with MB Mission was engaged in a month-long trek through a secluded alpine valley. One day, as the team entered a part of the valley that was several days' walk from the nearest town, they encountered a nomadic family's tent. The team arrived just as the family was slaughtering a goat as a sacrifice for better rains, grass for their herds and health. The holy man who was sacrificing the goat invited the team to participate in the meal and later invited them to his family's tent higher in the mountains. Neither of these families had ever met Christians before.

The holy man introduced them to his father, the ranking holy man in the region. When this wise elder discovered they were Christians, he told the team he had found and read the Bible and would often tell others about Jesus. While he understood that Jesus was "the lamb that takes away the sins of the world", he also recognized that relationship with Jesus would affect his usefulness in arranging other sacrifices. Even so, the holy man said, "It is time for Jesus to visit this valley." He asked the team to return for another visit next summer when his family would again be grazing their herds in that valley. The team marked the GPS coordinates of that spot for a future return visit and prayed for the elder and his extended family.

There are "least reached" people groups who are saying that it is "time for Jesus to visit their valley." Jesus often visits these seekers through people, like you and me, who are filled with his presence. People who are followers of Jesus, whose GPS is oriented around the priorities of the Kingdom.

Thank you for praying for all of our summer teams! They coordinated their assignments in cities and regions with longer term teams engaged in "holistic church planting that transforms communities." We are a family on a mission that is bringing transformation!

Ministry Highlights

-The Zuluagas hosted an amazing family camp in Panama this July for 190 people from remote communities that brought incredible life change and new spiritual foundations to families.
-A number of short term mission alumni have returned for longer term mission training with us this fall.

Items for Prayer

-The recent earthquake in Peru is stretching our teams from Lima and Trujillo who have responded with immediate relief. Pray for God's direction for a longer term strategy.
-Last November, 12 Southeast Asian pastors were imprisoned for their faith. To date, 9 have been released. Continue to pray for the release of the remaining 3 pastors.

Randy Friesen