APC Hopefuls

Tracy Singleton resumed classes this month with 18 eager students at ACTION Pastors’ College (APC). He writes, “For the next six weeks a course on biblical exegesis, Veritas Module One, will be taught. After completing this course, we will select 15 of the 18 men to be enrolled in APC, which will begin in May. The students enter this course knowing that three will not make it. However, several men after class told me that even if they do not make the cut, they will be attending class anyway! These men are very determined and hungry for truth and biblical knowledge!

“Please be in prayer for these 18 men and for the 15 God has chosen to be APC students.”

Wood Tech Student

Gary and Melita Root are involved in vocational training and discipleship of young men who are from poor backgrounds in Manila, Philippines. Gary teaches Wood Technology as part of the program called Working Hands, which also offers Automotive Mechanics and Computer.

Melita writes, “There are two weeks of class left for Batch 20 of Working Hands. Gary is putting together a list of the things that he has been impressing on the young men. The main theme is that life here is very short. He wants the young men to live for eternity and to realize that what they do here will count for eternity. The second thing is to treasure Jesus above all else. The third is to be faithful in the little things.”

Graduation is February 25. Please pray that the young men will finish the year strong and continue to seek God every day.

C.R.O.S.S. Project Team

Derek and Kristin Dearth serve as C.R.O.S.S. Project Coordinators in Zambia. They write, “God has richly blessed us this first year of ministry in the C.R.O.S.S. Project. It has been very encouraging to see God at work in the lives of church leaders, care teams, and church bodies as they start making changes in their personal lives and in their churches to reach out with the hope and joy of a relationship with Jesus Christ to those suffering, stigmatized, and marginalized from HIV-AIDS in their churches and communities.”

Here are some prayer requests for the C.R.O.S.S. Project:

1. Pray for God to bring in the support needed to meet our monthly budget.
2. Pray for the three churches we are training this term: Streams of Living Water, Church of the Nazarene in John Lang, and Church of the Nazarene in Chaisa.
3. Pray that we would leave the C.R.O.S.S. Project leadership in a good spot for them to finish this term without us from April to early June as we have our baby in the United States.
4. Pray that God would awaken the hearts of those being trained to taste and see the beauty of God’s sovereign goodness, even in HIV-AIDS.

Malawian Children

A feeding program for needy people is one ministry of missionaries Chet and LeAnne Burns in Lilongwe, Malawi.

LeAnne writes, “Thanks to a new partnership with Children of the Nations, as well as many generous supporters, this year ACTION was able to sponsor four new feeding centers in addition to resuming our previous seven centers in Malawi. This means that 3300 meals are served each week!

“Three times a week a team at each center shares a Bible lesson, songs, memory verses, and prayers while a nutritious meal is served to some of the most needy and vulnerable people in their communities. All of the teaching and food preparation are handled by local churches at each center. ACTION’s role is to purchase, package, and deliver the food.  It is a joy to see children with full bellies singing praises to Jesus!”

New Family

Shalom Christian Birthing Home delivers hope among the neglected poor in Antipolo, Philippines, by providing a safe, affordable, and God-honoring birthing environment for impoverished and vulnerable women. Nearby churches work closely with Shalom’s staff; this results in many mothers and their families experiencing spiritual rebirth and becoming active in a local church.

Approximately 130 babies are currently born each month in two rooms of a small home. ACTION is building a much larger facility to not only provide better care, but also to allow for God’s Word to be spread further and deeper in the surrounding community.

About 80% of the new building is complete, but we need your help! Would you prayerfully consider a donation to provide the remaining funds needed to finish and furnish the new facility? We believe God wants to use this beautiful new building to save lives physically and spiritually.

A generous donor has offered a dollar-for-dollar matching grant (up to $50,000!) for donations given to the construction of Shalom Christian Birthing Home beginning now. Please click here for more information and to donate.

Child at Davis Lar

Mark and Paige Anderson moved to Fortaleza, Brazil, in 2000 to oversee the founding of Davis Lar Children’s Home. The orphanage focuses on reaching child victims of prostitution, drug trafficking, abuse, and abandonment, providing homes and restoring the children to spiritual, physical and emotional health while reaching out to their families and communities.

Paige shares about Davis Lar in the following video:

If Your Brother Sins

Each month missionary Wayne Mac Leod makes one of his e-books available free of charge. This month’s title is “If Your Brother Sins.” This is an 81-page study of Matthew 18:15-17 and deals with the issue of resolving conflicts in the church.

You can download the PDF version of this book at the following address:

http://www.ltmp.ca/ebooks/free-download.htm

An ACTION missionary since 2003, Wayne has been publishing a variety of Bible study books for distribution to Christian workers in over 40 countries.

Surrounding Desert

Jim and Kappy Robinette are missionaries in Kampala, Uganda. They recently took a trip to the Horn of Africa to assist with hunger relief.

Kappy writes, “We returned from ministry in the Horn of Africa. We are glad to report that God abundantly blessed the trip. For security reasons we cannot share the location of our work, but we served with an evangelical church in the famine area and enjoyed a blessed and fruitful time together. Three friends and ministers from Kampala accompanied Jim and have made plans to continue to minister to the church and its community in the future.

“We were blessed to deliver and distribute about ten tons of relief food including rice, vegetable oil, maize flour, and soap to over 500 families. Over 2500 individuals were served.

“We enjoyed a late Christmas party with about 400 kids in an area in which 1% of the population professes to know Christ. We evangelized, saw professions of faith in Christ made and preached, and taught and ministered to three groups of believers. We encouraged the formation of a fellowship and church plant in one of these places. Please regularly pray for the church and those we reached there. Pray for conversions, protection, strengthening of the church and ministry, and that this tribe will open more fully to the gospel.”

Patrick and Paul in Ecuador

ACTION’s Sustainable Church Multiplication (SCM) ministry, led by Patrick O’Connor, has made progress with new resources and new connections with on-the-field ACTION missionaries. Patrick and Paul Goodner recently returned from a 19-day trip to Ecuador and Colombia. There they led workshops on church planting for new chains of churches. They have been following up with ACTION missionaries Mark Summers, Phil Legal, and others.

Patrick and Paul’s next trip for SCM is to ACTION ministries in Uganda and Kenya. Please pray that the Lord will work out the details for the next trip and allow them to encourage missionaries and nationals in Africa.

Onel (center) with Friends

Carl and Lisa Loewen are involved with Honest Hands Discipleship Home ministry for former street boys, and school dropouts in Manila, Philippines. Onel is one of the boys currently enrolled at Honest Hands. He shared about his life in the Loewen’s recent newsletter.

Onel writes, “When I was still on the street I had big problems that I will not forget. My family is still struggling as there is a lot of fighting and bad stuff going on. Pray that they would get to know Jesus. At Honest Hands I really enjoy the sessions about Jesus. I have been learning what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, and what it means to be honest, especially by studying the characters in the Bible. I also like math and history tutorial sessions. Basketball is my favorite sport and I also like jogging to stay healthy. My dream in life is to become a businessman and help those in need. After my time at Honest Hands is over, I want to share what I have learned with others, especially my siblings. My favorite verse is 2 Corinthians 5:17.”

Please pray that Onel and the rest of the boys at Honest Hands will seek God wholeheartedly and serve Him with their lives.