Click here to read Jim’s latest Newsletter

Dear Family and Friends,
Attached is our Spring Newsletter with pictures and a description of our recent ministry in Russia and Europe. We truly thank you for your faithful prayer and financial support. I am already making plans for a missions assesment and planning trip next fall to Europe and Turkey. More information later…

We are now working hard training 25 people on 3 teams for this summer’s ministry in Czech Republic, Pskov and Saransk, Russia.

The current economic stagnation makes fundraising more difficult for all missions, including established programs like our Slavic Church Planting partnership.

Here is a status report of my fundraising to date:
Total needed for my summer ministry helping lead 3 teams – $5,426.
Amount raised so far: $1960.
Amount needed: $3466 (by June 15)

If you would like to invest in our ministry, please send a check made out to Encouragement International to 228 via del Caballo, Oak Park, CA 91377. Put “2012 summer team” on the memo line. Thank you!

Again, I really appreciate your prayer and financial help. Please pray with me that God would provide all necessary finances for my summer team leadership ministry and the needs of each team member as well. God is able!!!

Much love,
Jim

Click here to read the April 2012 update from The Steiger’s in the Czech Republic

Dear friends,

Thank you for your vital role in our ministry. We look forward so much to sending out these prayer updates, knowing that our praises & needs will be lifted up to the Lord through you all! Here is an update of the past month:

We started our formal language study and are still getting used to the program, managing our time, and preparing our lessons. We employ a language helper who comes to our house and does 2 hour sessions, twice per week with Jess and four times per week with Jared. In addition to those sessions, we also have planning time, participation out in the community, putting the information we’ve learned into our computer program, listening and reviewing audio files from our lessons, and practicing our language. All of that = a full time job! We enjoy learning Thai! There are ups and downs (as with everything) but overall it is going well. Please pray for wisdom in how to participate in the community and how to best use our time.

Amongst all the busy-ness we have been getting time with the Lord, but consistency is needed! This time has been so good for us. As you know, hard/uncomfortable times push us to a point where we can’t rely on ourselves any longer. We find ourselves leaning on the Lord. Please pray that we would continue to trust in the Lord and make time to learn and grow from the Word.

Update: Last month we asked for prayer about our attitudes, thanks to those who prayed! We see the Lord refining us in our parenting and have seen a good response from our kids. They aren’t perfect, but neither are we! Pray that we would show them the grace of God as we train them and take opportunities to share the Gospel with them.

Just this week Jared had to cancel a language session and be in bed most of the day because of back pain. We had lifted a couch the day before, I guess that wasn’t a good idea! Even so, he has bounced back and done well the rest of the week. Praise the Lord for sustaining us physically!

God is also sustaining us financially! In the past month we have gained the financial support of a new church, a few new individuals, and seen the support of another church increase. We are amazed at the things God does and at the proper time. Thank the Lord with us for these provisions. Please pray also, as we are adjusting to a cash based society! Credit cards are used sparingly here, which is something we are getting used to. We have started to budget using a envelope system and we could sure use your prayers. Please pray that we would be good stewards of what God has given us.

Since arriving in Thailand we have been borrowing a car from friends who are not here right now. It has been such a blessing to us to have our own transportation right away! Our friends now need to sell their vehicle and we need to purchase one. Pray for us as we shop for a car to fit our family’s needs. God has supplied money for our purchase through previous fundraisers, selling our car in the U.S., and a donation from our home church. Praise the Lord!

We’re still not completely sure about putting Boston in “day-care”. It isn’t really a school, more like a play group. We think this will be good for him to play with other kids (both English & Thai speaking). We’re waiting to hear back from them on what the cost will be for him to attend. Please pray for this decision, we would like him to have some time with other kids his age.

Last, but not least….Relationships. Please pray that we would develop deeper relationships with those we come into contact with: neighbors, church members, shop owners, etc. We are here to build relationships with people and we would love more opportunities to do so!

Thanks for reading & praying,
Jess, for the Young family

Click here to read the April 2012 report from The Payne’s in Panama.

Click here to read the May 2012 Church Newsletter

Dear Praying Friends,

Here is a ministry update from my friend, Ilya, ministering in Rome. I visited him in Naples last fall. Ilya was recruited by Gennady to plant a church in Rome and Naples. He lives in Fresno, CA and will relocate to Naples this summer with his family. I plan to lead an evangelism team to Italy in July 2013 to help him. Now, he is on a two month ministry trip to Italy. Please pray for his safety and for “kingdom connections” as Ilya begins breaking ground and sowing seeds.

Blessings,
Jim

Greetings from Italy!!!
Hello my brother Jim!
I am doing fine and blessed, now I am in Rome, helping church in Rome,because we started in March 2012 and they need help that’s why I spend more time in Rome but next few weeks I go back to Naples. Easter service in Rome was blessed and we had about 55-60 people.
Pray for this church in Rome also in Naples! Send you few pictures.
God bless all your family!
Your brother Ilya, Danilyuk
Rome, Italy

Click here to read the latest update from The Gomez’ in Guatemala

Click here to read the April 2012 update from The Laird’s going to Togo – West Africa

As you can see, we’ve been busy! We’re catching geckos, feeding elephants, and trying to stay cool!

We are doing well! Our family has settled into our home in Thailand and have spent the last couple of weeks in the “warm-up” phase of learning the Thai language. We have been able to go a couple of zoos, to the top of a mountain, inside the temple which is at the top of the mountain, go to our local outdoor markets, get our drivers licenses for car & motorbike, and the list goes on and on…

A few items for prayer:
~We are asking the Lord for some friends for Boston There doesn’t seem to be many kids around his age nearby, or they are all at school or something. We have looked into a school/day care for him that is super close to us. The term starts up again in June (right now is Summer break) so we have month or so to decide. We will have to pay for the whole term up front if we decide to enroll him there. Please pray for wisdom in this decision and for financial provisions if that is the right decision for Boston.

~We begin into real language learning this next week! We will be in “stage 1” with Jared spending 40 hrs and Jess spending 20 hrs per week in various activities. Please pray for our family as we adjust to this new schedule! We are excited and yet can easily get overwhelmed at all that needs to be done. Pray that we would rest in the Lord and look to Him for strength.

~We have noticed that since being here we have allowed our circumstances to affect our attitudes therefore have been impatient, grumpy, and irritable with each other and the kids. Please pray with us about our attitudes, that we would walk in the Spirit so that the fruit of the Spirit would be evident in our lives. Like anyone else, we need to look to the Lord daily to be transforming us and renewing our minds, Romans 12:1 (which includes our thinking and attitudes which produces our actions!)

Thank you for being part of our ministry here and standing with us in prayer. We can’t thank you enough!

~Jared & Jessica Young
(Boston & Jackson)

Click here to read the Brochure!
 When: June 9th – 13th; 2012
Where: Silver Spur Christian Camps – www.silverspur.com
Cost: $265
Theme: Making Disciples (We’re called in Matthew 28:19 to make disciples. Are we answering that call? If not, what’s stopping us?)
Speaker: Sean Higgins from Marysville, Washington – Bio: http://www.tohuvabohu.org/author/ (My Youth Group and Sean’s Youth Group did things together growing up and we also went to Liberty University together. He was our speaker back in 2009 as well.)
Band: In Pursuit (Grace Youth Band)

Summer Camp Theme Description:
The Christian life is simple. It’s hard, but not complex. Christians follow Jesus. Our single responsibility includes watching and learning from Jesus, loving and worshipping Him, then submitting to and obeying everything He’s commanded.
Many times, however, Jesus is not the center of our life but a tangent. We confuse our weekly church attendance with having a good relationship with Him. Ironically, many good things intended to help us follow Christ can potentially distract us from Him. When we miss the heart of the Christian life – growing in our relationship with Him – we miss the fact that part of that growing his sharing our life in Him with others.
We’re to work on His behalf, under His authority, and for His kingdom. And what has He commanded us to do? Make Disciples! Though difficult our assignment is clear! Making a disciple involves teaching, modeling, steering, leading, escorting, and guiding. It requires time, energy, and commitment.
Making disciples means following Jesus by helping others follow Jesus. So where do we start and where do we go? In order to follow Jesus more closely we have to know what it takes to truly Make Disciples.
This is what we hope to accomplish at Summer Camp 2012-The Call!

Thousands of years ago there was this group of people who were refugees. They had slavery and were ruled by a ruthless Pharaoh from Egypt. The only way they escaped such hardships from this Pharaoh was because the God of Abraham, their direct ancestor, intervened with some pretty outrageous plagues. These plagues were in direct contrast with the idols the Egyptians had come to serve and worship. Upon the final plague, the escape plan was underway and these people were led into a desert by a man named Moses.
These people, the Israelites, had survived ten plagues (because of God), had been brought out of slavery (by God), crossed a dry sea bed and rescued from pursuing attackers (by God), drank sweet water made from bitter water (by God), ate bread that rained from the sky in a wilderness (from God), drank water from a rock in the middle of nowhere that Moses hit with a stick (because of God). All the while they grumbled and complained about their situation, they complained to the point of even desiring to return to slavery. They were focused on themselves and not what God the Almighty had done for them. They even set up a golden calf to worship!

God then instituted what we know now as the Ten Commandments. The most interesting thing about this list is the qualifying verse just prior to the commandments being listed. The other unique points are the first two commandments.

Exodus 20:2 says, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Right off the bat God reminds them who He is, and who they were prior to their redemption. He sets the tone for the Ten Commandments with proper authority. The following verses (3-6) really touch on a tone set throughout the remainder of the Old Testament and continues into the New Testament. Idolatry.

Verses 3-6 says, “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. [emphasis added]”

Have you ever thought that you make God jealous when you worship something other than Him? I forget that sometimes when I worship my personal time. When my kids bother me when I’m checking Facebook or in the middle of working. These things that I tend to make God jealous with aren’t measurable, they’re not visible acts of bowing down, they’re pretty well hidden because a majority takes place in my thoughts and I can hide them easily. The outworking of my idol worship is anger, resentment and a bad attitude toward my family for interrupting my “me” time. Now that I am aware of one of my idols I am able to pray that God allows me to show grace and love to my kids when my time is taken away from what I was focused on.

Now what about you? What if those idols you worship invoke jealously from God the Almighty? Are they measurable? Are they visible? Are you bowing down to a carved image that represents something? Of course you’re thinking, “Me? I would never physically bow down and worship something like a golden statue, that’s preposterous!” So does that make you better than someone who does? Idolatry is defined as “extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone (other than God).” I fall into that definition when I consider it my time and not God’s time that He has allowed me to have.

There are numerous statements in the New Testament regarding idolatry and the impact it has on our relationship with God (before and after coming to Christ). In 1 Corinthians 10:1-22 Paul the apostle gives an entire discourse warning against idolatry. The key statement in that passage is the end of verse 14. It is three little words, “…flee from idolatry.”

Flee. Run. Escape. Take flight. Bolt. Vamoose. Skedaddle. Split. Scram. Get away from idols. You can only flee from idols if you have something to run to. And that has to be God the Creator. The Almighty. The Alpha & Omega.

The book, Disciple, by Bill Clem says, “the root of idolatry is pride.” Clem then says ”pride is detestable to God precisely because it steal from God’s glory and his preeminence. Pride is rebellion against God’s authority. Pride is self-centeredness rather than God-centeredness. A proud heart sees itself as central and God as the one who must find his place of orbit in the proud heart’s universe.” Do you find yourself in that description? I know I do at times. I am a glory stealer.

I would like to wrap up with another quote from Disciple. Clem is discussing how pleasure is a gateway drug for pride to seep into our lives. “Once my pleasure becomes the value giver, I am free to use them and consume them as commodities. If they fail to deliver self-gratifying experiences, I can replace, abandon, disown, or discredit them. Even if I am exposed to something as value-free as coffee, I am challenged to brand loyalty through other values such as fair trade, ecology, or punch-card discounts. It all boils down to what satisfies or gratifies me most. Do I want help, save, or enjoy? Does one of my desires trump the others, or does the company with the best alchemy of my values win my patronage?”

Is God the Lord of your life, or is He in your list of gods that make you feel good? Do you use God to ease your life? Does God exist to glorify you, or do you exist to glorify God? What are you worshipping other than God? Evaluate yourself, and ask God to reveal the areas in your life you might be blind to. Pride/idolatry is subtle and we may not see it all the time. This won’t be easy to do, and once those areas come to light, it will not be easy to release your grasp on them.

I challenge you this week to pray with humility that God will reveal areas in your life that are stealing time, glory, focus, love, etc. from Him. See what He reveals and how. Record somewhere, work on it and come back to it in a year and see how far God has grown you in that specific area.

*I would love to hear your comments/feedback on what I have written. Were you encouraged or offended? Has this area of pride/idolatry been a recurring stumbling block for you? Do others see this is as a problem area in your life? If so, why or why not?
–Jared

Hugo Gomez and Global CHE Enterprises thank you for your interest and involvement, and we welcome you to our new EmailNow service. We have partnered with Network for Good to provide a professional emailing service.
We will be updating our website more often and sending emails to keep you better informed of what is happening.

The current post (web site home page) has many pictures and a summary of the first months of 2012. Read about new converts, building a new church, God’s intervention providing a new learning environment, the Tucson Mission Conference, medical and dental clinics, and more.

Please visit our website; www.globalCHE.org for the rest of the story, to see the new blog post on the home page, and to check out the prayer tab – see our current prayer requests. If you have questions, comments, suggestions, use the “Contact Us” button (top right on our website) to email us.

We are also using the Network for Good “DonateNow” service. This makes it easy to give one time or monthly with you credit card, and also provides many choices to designate how you want your donation used. Check it out at http://www.globalche.org/donate – click on the “DonateNow through Network for Good” button

This new EmailNow service provides the ability to make corrections to your email address, invite others to join in being part of our network, opt out, and more (see below). Since this is the first time using an email system, we expect some information/addresses may need updating, and many wish to be added.
We are looking forward to keeping you updated on the many exciting programs planned for 2012.

Thanks for your interest and support.
GCE

Dear Mark (and all of Grace Comm. Church!),

Thank you so much for financially supporting our ministry! God is providing for all our needs through people like you. Our first month in Thailand has been so good. There have been the hard times: jet lag, getting settled into our house, getting lost driving at night with a tired and screaming baby, dealing with bad attitudes from ourselves and our kids, but there have been some really good and memorable times:
playing with neighbors at our local “playground”, bring invited over for dinner at our language helper’s house, seeing both our boys soaking in the bits of Thai language & culture they come across, breakfast at Lanna Cafe together.

We have just begun diving into what our ministry will look like here in Thailand. For the next few years we will be focused on studying the Thai language & culture until we are fluent and are able to read & write.
During that time we will also be getting involved with projects in our local community. The first of which will be teaching English once a week nearby.
Thank you for your prayers! We are blessed to have people like you all behind us!

Sincerely,
The Young Family
Jared, Jessica, Boston & Jackson

Click here to read the March 2012 update from The Payne’s in Panama

Dear Family and Friends,
We are finishing up our ministry in Zurich. Our goal was to find out how many Russian speakers are here and what is the ministry situation with them. When we arrived we had only one appointment and God blessed us with 3 more good ones today. We found out that there are around 50,000 Russian speakers here with one small Bible study group.
We met with the President of MEOS today which is a holistic ministry (social aid and evangelism) to over 50 language groups including Russian. They have been working here for 50 years. Presently, they are looking for a Russian who speaks German (language of the Swiss) and can coordinate their work among this group the outcome being a Russian speaking church. Gennady has some ideas as to the man who could do this ministry. This position fits well with our goals as well.
Tomorrow I fly to London alone. Pastor Gennady could not get a UK visa because he filled out his paperwork in the Czech language. This sounds strange but God must have a reason for this.
Thank you for your prayers. I really appreciate them and you!!!
Lots more to share…pray for my sleep problems…
Love to all,
Jim
_______________________
Praise the Lord for success with developing ministry connections in Zurich. Proclaim His everlasting glory.
Reconcile with the Lord, check in and check up; then be refreshed with His Spirit.
Ask again for personal guidance in all you do; and for safe travels for Jim and Gennady, sweet sleep for Jim, and good ministry planning in London.
Yearn for the sweet fellowship of the Holy Spirit and for our Lord’s blessing on the Slavic Church Planting Ministry being planned.

May you be richly blessed as you pray, and as you remember the sacrifice of Good Friday as we approach the day. How blessed are we? He could have called 12 legions of angels to battle His conspirators, but He gave Himself to them for our eternal benefit.

Slava Bogu !!
IHS,
Peter

Philippians 4:6-9

Philippians 4:2-7

Kingdom Minded

Philippians 3:17-4:1

Reaching To Christ

Philippians 3:8-16

Subject: LILJEGREN MISSION TRIP 3/31
Dear Family and Friends,
I arrived in snowy and cold Stockholm last night and was met by church planter Alexander Markov. He has been here about 3 years with good results. There are about 70-80,000 Russian speakers in Sweden. His Sunday afternoon worship gathering has about 20 regular Russian speaking people with an expanding leadership core. I met his leadership team at his home for a Bible study and prayer time last night. Very impressive group and they are totally committed to him and his vision which is very exciting!

After talking with him today, I found out he really needs a worship leader! They don’t have anyone right now who can do this. Also, he needs additional support of about $300 per month. His ministry is tied into New Life Free Church here in Stockholm but his monthly need is more than they can meet. Pray that God will meet this need and extend the reach and effectiveness of this fledgling church.

One of the purposes of my Stockholm trip was to connect with 19 year old Andres, who I led to Christ last summer at the Czech Family Camp. He has had struggles with bad influences since the camp and does not have the fortitude to say “no” to temptation. I didn’t really know if he would meet with me so I took a risk in coming here. But, we had a very nice dinner together tonight with Alexander. I learned that two of his best “friends” have left Sweden and I am thankful for that. We had a good heart to heart so please pray that he will start reading the Bible and going to Alexander’s church service and find new Christian friends. This is real spiritual warfare!!! Pray that Andres will trust God completely and submit joyfully to the discipline of the Spirit.

Tomorrow I fly to Prague and on to Zurich on Monday. Your prayers are really appreciated!!
Much love,
Jim (or yimmy)
___________________________________________________
Here is the remainder of Jim’s itinerary:
Sun. April 1 – Fly to Prague/Attend Pastor Gennady’s Russian speaking church
Mon. April 2 – Fly to Zurich with Pastor Gennady
Tues. April 3 – Zurich meeting with Russian speaking believers
Wed. April 4 – Fly to London with Pastor Gennady
Thurs. – Fri. April 5-6: London meeting with Russian ministry leader and believers in his small church
Sat. April 7 – Fly Home
Please continue to P.R.A.Y. for the logistics of this trip and for Spirit led planning and relationship building.
IHS,
Peter

Click here to read the March 2012 Update from Gil & Carol Harder

Madera County Men of Integrity Retreat
Guest Speaker: Rick Countryman, Big Valley Grace, Modesto, CA
May 4, 5, & 6, 2012
Camp Sugar Pine
Click here for more information
Click here for registration information!

1st Annual Madera Men’s Steak Night
Monday, May 7th, Grace Community Church
17755 Road 26, Madera, CA
5:30 Appetizers; 6:30 Dinner
$10, Guest Speaker: Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer
Click here for more information

Dear Family and Friends,
Monday morning Pastor Sasha Kurmaev, Andrey (the boy who fell off a rock last summer in a coma for 2 months), Cip (my interpreter) and I drove to Pskov. Andrey is doing much better now. Praise the Lord

We are now winding up our ministry here in Pskov, Russia after about 2 days. We met with Yuri, the Courtyard Director, twice to decide on the summer ministry location. Had dinner and fellowship with 6 guys at a local village Rehab center followed by a church service in the village “House of Prayer” (the one that burned down last year.) All of this on Monday afternoon and evening. Today, the church planter, Alexander Hubeev, and the 4 of us talked for several hours about the state of the ministry here and what our program should be for the summer team. Besides children’s ministry, building, and painting, we will dedicate several hours after lunch for a youth sports ministry outreach. Sasha Kurmaev will coordinate this. I am thrilled because he has led the sports ministry with great results in the past. Tonight we participated in the Tues Prayer Meeting at the Pskov Baptist church. It was great to see Masha, one of our interpreters, who came to Christ at the Extreme Youth Camp last year. I have been Skyping with her since November studying the basics of our faith. I gave her a Russian study Bible and she was very happy. Pray for her continued growth in Christ.

Thank you for your continued prayer support. Pray our our journey back to St. Pete on Wed.
Many blessings,
Jim
______________________________________________
Looking beyond the return trip to St. Petersburg:
•Please pray for the meeting with Eugene, the church planter from Petrozavodsk, on Thursday 29th that Jim, Sasha and Cip may encourage him and help him plan for the continued ministry there.
•Pray for safety and good connections as Jim flies to Stockholm and Ciprian flies back to Moldova.
•Thank our Lord for the continued spiritual and leadership growth for both Pastor Sasha and Ciprian, and their practical assistance for Jim as he travels and plans.
P.R.A.Y.ing with you and thanking God for your support for Jim and the team.
IHS,
Peter

Dear Family and Friends,
My interpreter (Ciprian) and I are now in St. Petersburg at the orphanage I normally stay at. Our last day in Saransk was great! We had 5 meetings the last of which was with a group of teens from several Russian cities. A couple of these teens from Saransk want to go to the Czech camp and Pskov this summer with our American teams. I hope it will work out. Of course, finances are always a challange for Russians. But, it would be a great boost to their spiritual life and be more motivation to be intentional evangelists.

In St. Pete Cip and I were met at the airport by Pastor Sasha Kurmaev of Camfort Baptist church. You might remember that Pastor Gennady and I spoke at the 10th anniversary of this church last Oct.
I will share at his church service tomorrow and Cip will speak at the youth gathering after church. Monday we drive to Pskov for 2 days of summer team planning. I already see the hand of God working in and thru Pastor Sasha. Such great vision and energy!!! Wish I were 30 again!
Thank you for your prayers. These meetings are uplifting and inspiring. Please pray for my energy and the ability to get a better nights sleep.
Blessed to be a blessing,
Jim
__________________________________________________________

What a joy it is to get a good report from a trip like this. So often we get to pray about logistics problems and physical illnesses, but today we get to P.R.A.Y. with thanksgiving and enthusiastic appreciation for our God’s journeying mercies and fruitful blessing of the work.

I’m excited in particular about the young people in Saransk wanting to participate in the summer missions activities. I certain this will be a boost for the pastors and churches in Saransk as these young saints get energized and trained to be evangelists in their own milieu. Pray for their continued commitment and success at raising the needed funds. Perhaps some of us could prime the pump by offering matching funds up to 50%. (return email me if you would like to participate)

May you be richly blessed by your time in prayer and Sunday worship today. Thank you again for your bended knee support and encouragement for Jim and the Slavic church planters.

IHS,
Peter

Click here to read the March 2012 update from the Steiger’s in Prague

Dear Praying Friends,

Sorry for the delay in gettting news to you all. The trip is going well so far.

First, the flight to Moscow and connection made completed better than expected:
Dear Family and Friends,
I arrived in Moscow at 11am today (your time in LA – midnight). Went to the passport control line and there was Ciprian, my Moldovan interpreter. I prayed that I would make immediate contact with him but didn’t know that God would bless in this way. We picked up Marina, our travel agent, along the way to Moscow and stopped at the Baptist Union to pick up some Russian Bibles.Saw Ruvim Voloshin, VP of Church Planting, and will have a meeting with him in St. Petersburg next Sat. Cip, Marina, and I in blinding snow and wind walked briskly thru Red Square since Cip has never been to Russia before. Extremely cold for my CA bones!!!
Now we are waiting for the 9:30 pm overnight train to Saransk. Your prayers are making a big difference already! Slava Bogu!
Much love to all,
Jeem
—————————————————————–
Second, the activities in Saransk are progressing well:
Dear Family and Friends,
We are having a very productive time here in Saransk with 10 appointments over the past 2 days with one day remaining. I have done counseling, mentoring, witnessing and planning for next summer’s Reunion Team. It was decided tonight that the Saransk summer team will participate in the 15th anniversary of New Life Church while the team is here. It is God’s timing that we will have these team members here with 3 out of the 7 on the first two teams back in 1996 and 1997. This will be great blessing, I believe! Tomorrow, 4 or 5 more appointments before we depart by train to Moscow. Our relationships here run deep and sweet! What a joy to reconnect!
Please pray for people we have shared the Lord with and for safe travel to Moscow and the flight to St. Petersburg.
Love to all,
Jim
——————————————————
As I write to you Jim and Ciprian should be getting ready to board the overnight train to Moscow. The near term itinerary is:
Fri, March 23 – Night train to Moscow
Sat. March 24 – Fly to St. Pete
Sun. March 25 – Attend Comfort Baptist Church, Pastor Sasha Kurmaev

Thank you all for your faithful P.R.A.Y.er support. Rejoice with us that God is blessing this trip and continue to pray for divine appointments as the team travels.

IHS,
Peter

Hello from the land of smiles. Many of you take time out of your busy day to pray for us; we thank you for that. Here are some specific prayer requests that you could be talking to God about on our behalf. As always we appreciate your prayers and support.

~Jared & Jessica Young

Dear friends,

We have now been in Chiang Mai for about 3 weeks. The time has gone quickly and yet I feel as though it’s been forever since we left California. We’re enjoying our new home and have seen the Lord providing what we’ve needed while we’ve been here, whether physical, emotional or spiritual.
There are a few things that we are thinking through and praying about that I wanted to share with you all. We hope that you will join us in prayer when you think of us.
Car: We are currently using a friend’s vehicle who is away for the time being. It has been such a blessing to be able to get around on our own! We will need to buy our own vehicle sometime in the next few months. One has just become available through a co-worker who is moving and we are praying about whether we should buy it or not. We would like a 4 door car with working seat belts At about 12 years old, the car we are looking at will cost about $7,700. Resell prices here are very high, but the good side of that is the vehicle is in excellent condition.
Kids: The boys are adjusting more and more each day. We are grateful that in the houses immediately surrounding us there are 2 kids around Jackson’s age. We’ve already played together and splashed in a neighbor’s kiddie pool a few times. There aren’t as many options for Boston. Recently I discovered that on the next street over in our neighborhood there is a nursery school/kindergarden which takes care of children up to age 6. We plan to check it out more with a Thai speaking friend. We’re praying about having the kids go there a few mornings a week to give them time with kids and also to give Jess time to study the Thai language.
Work: We ended up coming to Thailand through a foundation called Sure Foundations. We are still members of NTM, but we are functioning under this Thai foundation. During our time in this city, we will be studying the Thai language and culture and we will also be involved in projects as assigned by our foundation. Currently, we are going to be teaching English weekly at our local fellowship of believers. We are looking into opportunities to be involved in our city through other avenues and possibly other organizations. We are looking to the Lord for direction for what we should be getting involved in while we are studying language and culture.
Thank you for praying for us, we have seen God work in numerous ways already, continue in being vigilant about praying for us.

Click here to read the latest update from The Losch’s – The

We have officially moved to Thailand and are settling in. We moved into our today and are getting things like bedding, furniture, food, decorations, etc. to make it a home. The transition has been challenging because of the jet lag in us and our kids. Pray our tempers stay in check and that we stay focused on the Lord and make time to study His Word has our lives are becoming busy. Don’t forget to check us out on Facebook at www.facebook.com/theyoungsplace for the daily updates on our life in Thailand.

~Jared & Jessica Young

The Big Step
Mar 05, 2012 08:38 am
Ever move to Thailand with a family of four?
• As of today I can officially check that one off my bucket list.
Ever experience such a life changing event in life that caused you to step out in faith without knowing what God had next for you?
• About 14 hours into our flight, the finality of leaving home hit me and I sobbed nearly uncontrollably in the airplane lavatory. I don’t know if I wept because I left home, friends, and family. Or if it was Boston saying, “Daddy, I want to go home and be done with the plane.” Or if it was the absolute fear of God in me and my total disbelief that by God’s grace we actually left for Thailand. Or if it was the inevitable doubt of moving your family far from comfort that Satan casts on you when you are most vulnerable. Either way I sat in that tiny dimly lit, awkward smelling room and praised God. Prayed to God. Worshiped God. Because without Him, without His Son’s provision on the cross, without the indwelling of His Holy Spirit in me…none (I mean absolutely none) of this matters or could even be accomplished.
• In the midst of the snot and tears a simple song lyric came to my mind that gave me peace, rest and a big picture understanding. “Where You go I’ll go. Where You stay I’ll stay. When You move I’ll move. I will follow You.” That could only be of God, reassuring me in my role(s) that this is the right move, the right decision.
Prayer goes beyond what we can comprehend sometimes.
• Whoever prayed for us to have a smooth and completely easy check in, God answered your prayers. Whoever prayed for our kids to do great on the plane, God answered your prayers. Whoever prayed that my back would hold out through the trip, God answered your prayers. Whoever prayed that all of our stuff would arrive without blemish, God answered your prayers. Whoever prayed that they would have cologne in the restrooms on the airplane (you know who you are), God answered your prayers.
• Whoever prayed period, thank you. You have been instrumental in preparing the way for us to move to Thailand without hardly any hitches in the transition. It nearly brings me to tears (of joy) just thinking of the network God has allowed us to build over the last 20 months we were in Fresno/Clovis, CA (and some in Richardson, TX). We are so grateful for our team.
This entire period leading up to our departure has been truly in God’s timing. We were delayed last August because God was not done raising up supporters, friends, and other instrumental relationships that would not have been as deep, as developed or as existent as the ones He allowed us to have. Besides the relationship aspect, there is a housing and financial aspect that we hadn’t foreseen either.
• By God’s grace we are blessed with a wonderful house in Thailand. This house was able to be selected the week before we even arrived because of the strategic intentionality our co-workers in Thailand took to house hunt for us. We were sent three options to choose from and prayed about and landed on a gorgeous 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom house with a small front yard! See pictures in our gallery.
• From a financial side of things, we were at around 25% last August when we planned to leave. When we departed God had raised our consistent monthly support to 65%! And of course God isn’t done because He has called 4-7 more pledged financial supporters to start within the next month or two. Praise God for the continuous provisions He is constantly supplying us with to sustain us in Thailand so we can accomplish the work we are setting out to do. If you would like to be involved in our financial team visit our Give Page HERE.
From the bottom our hearts, thank you. Thank you for your support, for your prayers, for your encouragement, for reading and being involved in our lives and ministry. We would love to hear how your lives are going, from the extraordinary things God is doing to the seemingly mundane. There will be more updates soon once we get settled into our house and get our schedules maintained. Hope to hear from you soon.
–Jared

Click here to read the March update from the Hardeman’s in the Philippines

Click here to read the February Update from the Payne’s in Panama

Freed From the Flesh

Philippians 3:1-7

Philippians 2:19-30

Philippians 2:3-11

Click here to read the March 2012 Good News Guide

Click here to read the February 2012 update from The Steiger’s

Click here to read the February update from The Laird’s

Pastor “Jeem” and I agreed it was a good time to update you on the prayer requests we sent 24th January.

But before those updates, we want to invite all of you in the LA area to come to Agoura Bible Fellowship on Sunday, 4th March, to meet Pastor Igor Grytsyk from Czech Republic. Pastor Igor will be giving a ministry update Sunday, March 4th from 9-10am in room 203 (Multi-Purpose Building). Pastor Igor is a ministry partner with us as Co-Director of the annual Czech Family Camp that our summer teams help staff. Don’t miss this exciting media update and see what God is doing among Russian speaking people in the Czech Republic and other parts Europe!
____________________________________

Summer Missions Team Recruitment: Czech, Pskov and Saransk
Our Team Recruiting started slower than expected but we now have 20 people on 4 teams: Czech, Pskov, and Saransk (2 teams). Slava bogu! The first training for all teams is set for Saturday, 25th February and the materials are being printed now…all materials have been ordered.

Please pray for these needs:

All materials to be printed and ready for the training locations.
Our hearts to focus on being all that God wants us to be and to look for witnessing opportunities now.
The hearts of people that God wants us to talk to here and overseas.
Coordination of the travel logistics, visas, and ministry plans at each location
Many opportunities to tell the world about salvation in Jesus Christ, who is the only way to God!
____________________________________

Pastor Gennady Healing Progress

Regarding Pastor Gennady’s fingers being reattached, we have news that his left thumb is growing back well and function should be restored. He has lost the top portion of his pointer finger (left hand). Please continue to pray for healing and continued energy to encourage and lead the church planters in Czech and other Russian emigrant areas.
____________________________________
Darya Klueva, new mom in Czech Republic. Postpartum Psychosis healing progress

Darya’s mother has come from Kazakhstan to help care for the baby and now Darya is out of the hospital living with her mother. They are attending a Czech Baptist church in Prague but not believers yet. Darya is much better. Slava Bogu !!
____________________________________

Big need of Olga Balanovskaya
Sorry we do not have an update on Olga’s fight with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at this time.
____________________________________

Pastor Jeem Healing from Eye Surgery

Jim reports “My eyes…they are fantastic. Will get a new prescription this week. I see very well for distance but need glasses to read. No complaints!” Thank You Lord. Amen.
____________________________________

Now for some new requests:
Fund raising for Jim’s Spring Planning Trip

The estimated cost is $4500 and we have now received about $3600. We need all of the funds in by 15th March. Thank the Lord for his provision so far and ask that the full need be met.

Success in finding a new home for Jim and Barbara

The Lord blessed with the sale of their current home but as yet they have not found their new abode. Please pray that God will bring to the market a suitable place, of his choice, to the market within their price range.

Continued healing for Andrey in St. Petersburg

Andrey sustained a brain injury due to a rock climbing fall. He was in a coma for several months as we reported in earlier prayer requests. He is now out of the coma and is making slow progress to recover both brain and physical function. This month he has been sent to a special hospital for rehabilitation. Please pray that he recovers and can be fully functional in his faith and service to the Lord with youth at Comfort Baptist in St. Petersburg.
____________________________________

We are blessed to be cared for in prayer by this team. Please continue to beseech the Lord of the Harvest for faithful laborers and the resources they need to be where He wants them and to be equipped to share the Good News of Great Joy: Jesus our Redeemer.

Our life is an adventure. Our perspective on life and our choices will determine whether we enjoy that adventure or not. Recently we had the opportunity to put that choice into practice.

We had one final step in completing our paperwork for our move to Thailand. We had to go to the Thai Consulate in Los Angeles and get our passports stamped with our visas. The catch was, all four of us had to be there in person to verify we exist. So our plan was to drive down early on a Thursday morning, turn in our papers and essentially hang out until the next day when our passports would be ready to pick up.

We were thrown a curveball the day before we left. We were given the opportunity to go to Disneyland and enjoy some family time while we were in L.A. I accepted this gift and took the opportunity to exhaust my family with the enjoyment of being at Disney.

Once we finished at the Consulate, we drove to our hotel to see if we could get an early check-in. They did not have a room ready so we stowed our car in the parking garage, bought a tram ticket and jumped aboard a seatbelt-less van with our two boys and headed to the magical kingdom. We arrived with anticipation, had a great lunch in Tomorrowland, and started tackling the rides.

First, Boston and I shot down the aliens on the Buzz Lightyear ride. Then we went to the depths of the ocean on the Nemo ride. Then Jess and Boston, drove on the Autopia. Then Peter Pan. Then ice cream. Then borderline meltdown.

At this point I decided to take Jackson back to the hotel for a nap. On the way back to the tram, Jack fell asleep in the stroller. I found my way to Tram #7 to head back to hotel, get checked in and lay Jackson down. As the tram rolled up I was not allowed to bring the unfolded stroller aboard, so I had to get the sleeping baby out and fold down the stroller without help from the onlookers. Once I got on the bus it was a short ride back the hotel. The only problem was, we passed the hotel I was intending to stay in for the night. We passed it by about half of a city block. I was then informed I should have taken Tram #8, not #7. So, I trekked back to the hotel with sleepy, groggy, fussy baby and got checked in.

Now is where the calamity ensues. I get up to the room and throw my belongings on the table and head back down to get our stuff out of the car, so I can change Jackson and get him to sleep. I board the elevator and make it through the lobby and realized I DO NOT HAVE THE CAR KEYS. So I go back up to the room, defeated by my own exhaustion and ask Jess to make her way back to hotel so I can get Jack into a clean diaper. Sometime later she arrives to save the day. We turn around grab dinner and Jess and Boston then enjoy the evening at Disney for the parade and Rocket Ride.

The next day: We head to the consulate and grab our passports without any delay or frustration. Praise God that went so smoothly. I was high on excitement and headed around the corner to share the news with my family. Then Boston promptly trips on the sidewalk, scraping his ankle and dirtying his hands and knees. He is now hysterical.

Then we head to IKEA for lunch and to replace Jessica’s makeup bag she ruined a week before by accurately dropping our mexican food leftovers into. Another crazy story for another time. We got what we came for then get on the road to head home.

The trip home was fairly uneventful minus one tiny detail. A bloody eyebrow. The bloody eyebrow doesn’t carry that much weight unless I back up and tell you of the bloody lip from the night before. Right before we were headed out of the door for dinner, Jackson decided to attempt the Mt. Everest climb into the bathtub, slipped and bust his lip open. Then the tears, blood and cries ensued. I tell you that to tell you this; Jackson is wobbly.

At a rest stop to gas up, stretch our legs and hit the final stretch, Jackson wobbled again. I had both boys with me on this patch of grass that had a picnic table that was made of those rough-cut 2×6 pieces of lumber. Well Jackson rolled his ankle off of a rock and smacked his eye on the end of the bench where the sharpest wood lay waiting to cut a baby’s eyebrow open. Then the tears, blood, and cries ensued.

I scoop up Jackson, grab Boston by the wrist and head for the restroom to clean up the mess. Boston is limping (because of his ankle injury), and I’m attempting to keep Jackson from smearing blood from his eye onto my white shirt. Then we get to the bathroom and I have to use those brown paper towels that just spread liquid and don’t absorb. They are more like 1-ply cardboard than anything else. So I am inadvertently sponge-painting Jackson’s face and not stopping the bleeding. I finally get control of the situation with pressure and prayer. By God’s grace there are band-aids in the car we are borrowing and we jump back in the car and head home. All is well; the end.

God has a sense of humor, if you are willing to laugh. Even if that laughter is at yourself. Besides all the crazy stories from our weekend, we really enjoyed our time as a family at Disneyland. We are so grateful for all your prayers in terms of our paperwork going so incredibly smooth and no hang-ups whatsoever. God has been so incredibly faithful through this entire experience of leading us up to leaving for Thailand. There have been highs, there have been lows, but through it all God has not changed and is still leading our family to Thailand. We could have easily hated our time down in LA when our kids got hurt, and our exhaustion got the best of us, and our stress rose through the roof. But we chose to enjoy our family and rest in the fact that God has bigger plans for us than we can ever dream of.

Our lives are changing drastically in a week. Our Creator God will not. We rest in that fact to keep our hearts and minds at ease. Praise God we have such a solid foundation to place our faith in, because if our faith and hope were placed upon our emotions and circumstances then failure would be inevitable.

Let’s demonstrate kindness, meet needs and impact Madea with the love of Jesus! Love Madera is just around the corner! Go to www.lovemadera.com and sign up for a project.

Our goal is to demonstrate kindness, meet needs and impact Madera with the love of Jesus.

We have a lot of exciting news to share! Thank you for continuing to pray for our family and our move to Thailand. God has been preparing the way, please join us in praising Him for His timing!

Recap:
In January, we met with the missions team at Grace Community Church in Madera and were able to share about our ministry in Thailand. The team decided to begin supporting us financially! Praise the Lord for the 3 churches we now have behind us.

We were able to be introduced to the church members on Jan 29 at Grace. We explained for a few minutes about our family and ministry and then the elders of the church prayed over us. It was a very encouraging time!

Recent developments:
Our visas to enter the country of Thailand were taking too long (we applied Jan 2011!) so our leadership decided to have us enter the country through a foundation they have set up. We will be a part of this foundation, which will allow us to work in Thailand.

We received our letter of invitation from the foundation and now will be applying for visas in person at the Thai Consulate this week.

Our plane tickets are purchased! Once the visa change was made and our paperwork was sent, we were cleared to plan our departure. We are leaving for Thailand on Feb 28, 3 weeks away!

Next week we have our last planned ministry presentation. It is with another missions team from a local church, New Harvest. Please pray that we glorify the Lord, not to embellish, and to encourage this church in the ministry God has for them.

Philippians 1:27-2:2

Click here to read the February 2012 Good News Guide

Philippians 1:21-26

Click here to read the January update from The Laird’s who are headed to Togo, West Africa

Winning the Purity War – Conference
Dr. Jim Cecy – JARON Ministries
Be equipped to win the purity war from a thorough presentation of Scripture
Saturday, March 31st, 2012
8:30am to 4:30pm
$25 per person
Grace Community Church
17755 Road 26
Madera, CA
Please call 559-674-1172 for more information & to register…