Updated Thursday afternoon, November 20, 2008:
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Welcome to the Prayer Closet for my blog. Prayer is the base of one's relationship with God, and the fuel for my ministry and work at Viña Studios. I really appreciate those who visit this page and who lift up these requests for prayer, whether personal requests, requests for Viña or for Guatemala as a whole. Thank you very much and may the Lord bless your labor on behalf of His kingdom!
Good teaching resources on prayer:
“Prayer: The work of missions” by John Piper. A good article on adopting a wartime mentality, remembering God’s sovereignty and acknowledging and pleading for his purposes to be fulfilled.
“A Call to Prayer” by J.C. Ryle. According to the late British bishop, private prayer is the most neglected of all Christian duties. To stir his readers to the practice and privilege of private prayer. Ryle points out the blessings of prayer and grave dangers of prayerlessness. This excellent 32-page booklet is available from Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service for $1.50, plus postage.
Viña’s requests:
1. June 20: For Viña's staff, some requests regarding spiritual development and fruit (Gal. 5:22-23).Personal requests:
Holiness— that we may live as lights for the glory of Jesus Christ (Matt. 5:14-16; 6:22-23; Phil 2:15).
Unity — that we may not be divided (Eph. 4:3-6; Php. 2:1-13).
Righteousness — that we may not fall into temptation or worldliness (I John 2:15-17; Jude 4,11-13,16-19).
Love — that the love of Jesus Christ may rule our lives (I John 4:7-11; John 15:9-17).
Humility — that the sin of pride may have no place among us (James 4:4-10). Repentance & brokenness — that God would be our strength, nothing of ourselves (Psalm 51:16-17; Psalm 34:18).
Wisdom & discernment — that we would walk in the fear of the Lord, rightly understanding God's will, not living as fools (Eph. 5:17-20; II Tim. 2:15; Prov. 2:1-11)
Grace — that we would grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord (II Pet. 3:18)
2. Nov. 20. Viña's staff will be planning its goals and objectives for the coming year. Please be in prayer for each person to wisely evaluate their role and their hopes for their department. Ask God to use Viña's ministry tools and services to help the Guatemalan church grow and mature in the grace of Christ.
3. Nov. 20. Sarah and Marcia at Viña Studios ask prayer for wisdom and discernment as they prepare the Deditos finger-puppet scripts and Sunday school lessons that accompany each video. Please pray they would strike the right balance between teaching important biblical lessons and making them clear and understandable for children and easily tranferrable to Mayan cultures. Lord willing, the teaching videos will be translated and dubbed into Guatemala's 21 Mayan languages.
4. Nov. 20. Sarah asks prayer for a seminar she will give Jan. 7 in Oaxaca for indigenous Bible translators, interested in translating and dubbing the Deditos Bible story videos into some of Mexico's indigenous languages. A group of about eight or so have already expressed interest in attending.
5. Oct. 3: Audio Scripture promotion: Ten Sololá area radio stations now have the Kaqchikel audio New Testament. Praise God, they are following up on their promises to play them. Brother Isidro and I had a great day Saturday visiting stations, checking up on progress and deliver each station a printed Kaqchikel Bible as a sign of gratitude for their cooperation.
Please pray that God would work in the hearts of those who hear the Word, that it would provoke faith and deepen their understanding and love of God. Viña recorded the audio Scriptures in Western Kaqchikel more than 10 years ago, and many people don't even know it exists, nor that the New Testament has been translated into their own language and available in print since 1996.
6. Oct 3. Isidro and his wife could use prayers for their boy, Juanito. Juanito, who is about 18 or 20 months old, has been suffering convulsions off and on for a year or so. Isidro is a Kaqchikel recording technician here at Viña Studios; he has worked recording more than 20 New Testaments in Central America.
7. Updated Nov. 20: Renzo, our Viña Studios co-worker, who suffered a head injury in an April 19 bus accident, suffered a setback and could not return to work at the beginning of November as planned. Please pray for his improvement and possible return at the beginning of December.
Renzo had been regaining strength at home in the months since his April 19 accident aboard a bus. His girlfriend, Ema, had been helping him while she was here in Guatemala. She returned to Boston in August to resume her university studies.
Earlier, doctors in Guatemala City told Renzo that a gap remains in his skull where he suffered a terrible blow in the bus accident. Doctors plan to fill the gap, inserting a metal plate sometime in the future. His healing and recovery have taken much longer than he ever envisioned, attempting to return to work just three weeks after the accident.
Doctors have ordered Renzo to continue to rest and recuperate at home until he is ready to return. Please pray for the Lord’s hand on his life.
8. Development and funding for Viña’s finger-puppet videos, that they may bless and edify the children in Guatemala’s churches. We began filming a new episode, "Moses III — In the Desert," last month.
9. The families of two people who were lynched in May by community members here in Sololá. I’ve heard they feel a deep sense of sadness, shame, confusion and loss.
10. June 27: A neighbor of one of our staff members now finds herself widowed. Several days ago, a family from the coast hired her husband, a local truck driver, to move their belongings from the coast to a city about an hour from here in the mountains. What they didn't tell him is that they had received death threats. Criminals confronted them at some point and executed the driver and the family, minus the father who hid himself. The man's widow now must care for their two young daughters alone. Please pray for this broken family.
1. Nov. 20: Wisdom regarding the next steps I will take regarding a return to Guatemala. Lord willing, I'd love to return and continue working at Viña Studios, but quite a few things would have to fall in place to make that happen. With the U.S. economy recessing and napping, it'll be interesting to see how things come together.General requests for Guatemala:
2. Wisdom, discernment and discipline to know which job to tackle when and to see it through to completion in good order.
3. My project researching and writing a video script on the Reina-Valera Spanish Bible translation is coming along. Please pray for wisdom and that it would bless the church here in Guatemala.
1. Guatemala’s authorities (I Tim. 2:1-8): for courage, wisdom and to act with honor and justice.
2. Peace and tranquility for the people, confidence in authorities, an end to lynchings.
3. Growth in grace and knowledge of God in the Mayan body of Christ in Guatemala. One study found just 12 percent of Guatemalan evangelicals could be considered biblically Christian.
4. Societal transformation: An increase in godliness, righteous living, faith, dependence on God; an end to gangs, violence, lynchings, bribery.
5. Unity among the churches, a bond of love and an end to envy.
6. For the Gospel to be proclaimed with wisdom and boldness across Guatemala in the heart language of every person.
Praises and a look back ...
Oct. 18: Viña's Scripture recording team finished its work in Joyabáj, among the Kiché Mayan speakers. I was amazed they were able to finish as quickly as they did, considering all the difficulties. Thanks for praying!
Oct. 9: The relatives of two friends were kidnapped and released. Praise God they weren't badly injured. Unfortunately, I'm learning that many Guatemalans don't trust the police because crooks may have bribed one of them. Criminal networks are flourishing in the dark without authorities knowing or being involved in the response. Eventually, a community may rise up and say enough is enough as happened here earlier this year, when townspeople burned the homes of a criminal network.
September: The "inquiry" into what happened with Flavio’s bank account — examining how people managed to forge his signature on stolen checks and practically empty his bank account — has concluded with unfortunate results. Turns out the law protects banks who process forged checks. Hmmmm. Then why conduct an inquiry? Flavio has given up battling with his bank.
August 22: Rick McArthur’s tennis elbow has healed up. It had been bothering him for a couple of months, impeding his work. A doctor’s evaluation found carpel tunnel syndrome, resulting in new medication.
August 22: Isidro's boy, Juanito is doing better lately and continues to travel to a nearby town twice a week for therapy sessions. Isidro told me today that Juanito seems much more full of life lately, even attempting to stand up. Juanito is now about a year and a half old and has developmental issues with his hearing and vision as well. He was hospitalized July 2 with fevers and convulsions. Please pray for Juanito's continued improvement and good health.
The recent work team from a St. Louis church helped renovate and improve Isidro's and Carlos' homes. This really blessed and encouraged them.
Isidro's boy, Juanito, was hospitalized July 2 with fevers and convulsions. Please pray for Juanito's continued improvement and good health.
August 4: My trip to Guatemala City to fetch my passport and then to Mexico and back to renew my visa went fine, not hitches, no problems, praise God! I always feel a bit uneasy going to the Guatemalan capital with so much gang violence and so forth. And I hadn't been to Mexico by bus before, so that was very nice to have a quiet trip without "excitement." Thanks for praying.
July 18: The Viña employee whose sister suffers from epileptic seizures reports that she is home now and doing better, taking her medications. She feels some reluctance, however, to attend church where she may experience a seizure and suffer ridicule from others, especially young people. She began having a very difficult time around June 23. This sister suffered two traumatic events in the past; recently, she exhibited tremendous strength fighting off family members' efforts to restrain her. Thanks for remembering this young woman.
July 18: During the week from July 9 to 12 while hosting the St. Louis work team, I helped lead a group at Isidro's house. Although I was quite sick going into the week and during the week, the Lord blessed our efforts and our work went well. I felt much better by the end. Must have been the Mayan specialty, pulik, that they fed us for lunch! Thanks for praying!
June 25: This afternoon, Rick McArthur called a meeting with all of Viña's staff in which he imparted the vision for our work here, beginning with biblical, linguistic and anthropological history of the church and its spread. He noted how God has used different means at different times and how we are part of a larger work to reach a largely oral people through oral means in the language of their heart. He challenged us not to look at our work only as a "job" but part of a larger work, which God is doing. In one example, he shared a story from a ministry partner, Faith Comes By Hearing, also known as Hosanna, which sponsors Viña's audio Scripture recordings: In the beginning Hosanna only recorded the Scriptures in America, charging only one penny more than its production costs. Later, God used a variety of events to expand Hosanna's vision, expanding its vision to record the Scriptures in every language in the world. Several employees commented how much they appreciated the presentation.
June 17 Carmen, the sister of Flavio's girlfriend, passed away June 17 evening from injuries suffered in a hit-and-run accident. (Flavio is Viña’s videographer.) Please pray for the families involved to find peace and rest in Jesus.
June 17. My dad fell off a ladder June 13 while working on a volunteer project. He got a concussion when his head hit the ground. He has no memory of it, but hospital doctors said when they asked him who the president is, he answered, "Well, I know it's not Jimmy Carter." My mom said she was thinking as she drove to the hospital, "I'm not ready to be a widow yet." Praise God, he seems to be fine; please pray for no long-term ill effects.
June 11 request: Answer: Carlos and Isidro, Viña’s Scripture-recording tandem, were encountering problems with their work in Cobán recording the Q’eqchí New Testament, noting some differences between the printed Bible and the electronic Scripture text which actors read from. They finished their work there June 16, and returned with an encouraging story of the power of God's word to reach the heart of a key reader for the audio Scriptures.
May 30 request: Answer: Rick & Carol McArthur returned last weekend (of June 14, 15) to Guatemala after a quick trip home visiting family and friends, including Rick’s parents, Harry & Lucille McArthur, who translated the Mayan Aguateco New Testament. Rick is Viña’s chairman of the board of directors; he reports that their trip went well.
May 20 request: Answer: Police intervened, rescued man from crowd of 200. Urgent request: Within the last hour, radio news reported that townspeople down the hill in Panajachel have captured a Salvadorean man known to assault people. They are threatening to lynch him and repeat last week’s news.
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