Missionary Updates

Submitted by sell on Thu, 01/22/2009 - 13:36.

The Latest from the Chases 7/13/09
Guys and Gals,
God is doing awesome stuff in our support account, 8% growth since last month in our MONTHLY pledges alone. This means we are 63% of our needed monthly expenses to live and do ministry in Japan.
Also, in addition to this we have a ONE-TIME amount of $38,000 we have to raise. Last month it was around 86% and it just passed 100%! We are so thankful for all your prayers and financial pledges. There is still much to be done in order for us to leave by Sept 2009, since that is our target date.

WE ARE PRAYING THIS MONTH FOR 10 PEOPLE TO COMMIT TO $50 PER MONTH. Would you consider this if you are not already giving monthly? Maybe you can do more, or maybe a little less. Please pray, give sacrificially, and watch God do the rest. If you absolutely cannot give financially, PRAY for these 10 people to step forward!

Some prayer requests from our home:

1) Our VISAs and paperwork to get completed in time so we can leave for Japan in September, sometimes this takes a couple months but we were waiting on Carly's U.S. Citizenship which is now approved!

2) Our marriage and family life-Carly and I are sinners who need Christ daily in our lives and marriage. Pray for sweet times together to encourage one another. We are traveling a lot over the next month and it is easy to get worn out and discouraged, plus it is hard on the little dudes.

3) Our finances-We want to get to Japan by Sept 2009, and it has been a long road as we have been support raising for almost 2 years. I heard back from a few churches that are interested in supporting us, so pray they would be able to!

With much love and gratitude,

Matt, Carly, Liam, and Hudson

Cummings May update
Dear Friends and Family,

Most are probably wondering about the swine flu and the affects that it has had here in Mexico. Some of you may know that the President closed down all schools and public gathering places until May 6th. This was done as a precaution until the government could get a better idea of the exact nature of the flu. Other than the crazy headlines and hysterical reporters, things have been very calm here in Guadalajara. As far as we know, there have not been any reported cases here in our state. Services were cancelled at church on Sunday and our school has closed along with the others. We were due to have a six day weekend anyway as May 1st and 5th are national holidays. While it is necessary to take the normal precautions when going out in public, washing your hands, covering your mouth when you cough and sneeze, etc., it does not appear that anything more drastic is necessary. There are people that have been going around wearing facemasks, similar to what are worn by construction workers to keep out the dust, but it is only about 25% that are doing this. We found an interesting statistic in reading a very sensationalistic article that, at the end of the article, reported that in the United States 36,000 people die each year to flu related problems. Lord-willing, Guadalajara will be back to normal on May 6th. Thank you to all of you that have been especially praying for this situation.
Susanna is currently staying at her parent’s house in Virginia where she will be until May 27th. We were able to find a great deal on tickets and also had to come up for some family business. We have been having increasing serious difficulties with one of our foster daughters as well, so taking all that into consideration, we decided it was a good time for Susanna to go for a visit with Lily, Ian and Elijah. They are having a great time relaxing and resting in the mountains of Virginia. Susanna was able to meet with a group from Heritage PCA in Warrenton, VA, to fill them in on the project they will be working on in Camichines this summer. Lily is plugging away at her school, blazing away at Math and working hard on her reading. Ian loves playing with Lego’s at Nana and Papa’s and is enjoying the new set he got for his birthday. Elijah loves having the extra space outdoors to run around and play, even though there has been a bunch of rain. He is also really enjoying his new Sponge Bob Lego set!
At the beginning of April, Jon was working on finishing up construction details of the bathroom project. There are still some minor things to finish, but we are getting close. He also finished sealing the roof of the school so that, Lord-willing, we will have no water issues this year when the rainy season hits in June. We really enjoyed some time off around Easter and were able to do some fun things around Guadalajara with the kids. The last part of April, Jon spent working with Danny to finish all of the information for the website before Danny left. They were able to get the entire content put together and have almost completed the front page, which is the most difficult and time consuming part of a website. We recorded testimony from five different families about their experiences at the school and then dubbed over them in English as well. This will all become part of the completed website. We are hoping that this will be up and running in English by the end of May and that we can then translate it into Spanish and have that operational by the middle of July. If you would like to check out our work-in-progress, please visit the site at www.eireneenglish.wb.gs. Please remember that it is not complete. There are spelling and grammatical errors to correct and most of the content information has yet to be uploaded. We do have a testimony on the front page of the site for those that are interested.
ANSWERS TO PRAYER/THANKSGIVING:

This month we found out that God is blessing us with another BOY! We are planning on nameing him Asher (middle name to be determined). We are THRILLED!
For God’s blessing of safety amidst all of the health problems going on in Mexico.
For a safe trip to NJ and back for Jon and for the opportunity Susanna has to spend some time with her parents, and REST.
For Danny and all of his hard work on the website.
For Horte who graciously stayed with Hannah and Tessa while Jon was gone.
For two weeks off from school for the kids and the time that we could spend together as a family.
For God`s blessing of the work in Camichines with many different opportunities to minister.
For the baptism classes that Steve Robertson is having in Camichines with a few of the families that attend Chuy and Amy’s Bible study in their home. Praise God for the families that He has called to Himself in Camichines and for their desire to be part of the church!

PRAYER REQUESTS:

We have some very difficult decisions coming up in regards to the girls and their care. Please pray for wisdom and that God would show us His will.
Please pray for peace for our family and joy amidst the distance during the next month.
Please pray for much wisdom for Jon and Susanna as we have been having very difficult & serious behavioral & emotional issues with Tessa at home. She has some deep issues from her past, that are greatly affecting her attitudes and actions, that she needs to deal with and work through and she does not want to deal with them. She is very depressed, and angry, and we are trying to reach her. She is seeing a Psychologist & a Psychiatrist and we are still seeing no change whatsoever.
We have a brand new piece of dental equipment sitting at the border waiting for paperwork. Please pray that the notoriously slow government would process the paperwork so that we can better serve in Santa Ana and in other communities.
We are completing the paperwork for the foster care home in Camichines. Please pray that God would provide for all of the Acosta’s needs, especially for help with the four kids.
Chuy and Amy’s home is the only registered foster care option in the whole municipality, so the government wants to place more children. Please pray for wisdom for them and that God would provide the necessary finances to complete more rooms on the home.
Please pray for the churches that have begun to plan for their trips to come this summer.
Please pray for Danny as he finishes the website and the content to encourage people to be involved in the ministries and desire to support the work.
For strength and patience for Susanna as she home schools and that Lily would be attentive and responsive to her teaching.
For “Lilypad Jewelry”, that God would direct Susanna in every decision.
For Jon as he seeks to encourage more volunteer involvement from those in the church and from parents in the school through work days on the property.
For the raising up of members in the church to be part of the board of directors and spread out the work that is currently being done by three people.
For wisdom for Jon in dealing with difficult issues at work with personnel.
Please pray that God would begin to work in the hearts of a teacher who would be willing to come and direct an ESL school.
Please pray for continued healing within Jon’s family that only God can provide and that He would refine and use us for His glory.
That God would raise up the men of the church to be leaders, both in their homes and in the church.

Thank you so much for serving with us and being part of our ministry. It means a lot to know that you’re praying for us, and that we’re laboring together for the Lord. Thank you for your faithfulness to Him and to us!
Again, we’re praying for you, and may God bless you as you serve Him and proclaim His name – no matter where you are!
In Christ,
Jon, Susanna and our 5 little missionaries:
Tessa, Lily, Ian, Hannah & Elijah

From Linda Karner April 28, 2009
I had an awesome Bible time tonight. Emily, who is one of three students, was the only student tonight. The topic was Hagar in Galatians (Gal. 4: 22,23,28-31), a follow-up on the story from last week (Gen. 21: 8-14). Since the Galatians passage talks about children of the slave woman vs. children of the free woman, she wanted to know if Christians were the children of the free woman, and were the others children of the slave. I told her that yes, that was how the Bible looked at the people of the world, as either slaves or free. She allowed that she didn't want to think of herself as a slave, which I could understand, and then went on to say how much she was learning, but that if she became a Christian it would impact her whole family, her parents, who brought her up believing in Buddhist doctrines (she is apparently from a very ancient family, and she is the oldest daughter), and her husband who probably wouldn't stand for it and would divorce her. She was serious and I could tell this was a real fear in her life (and it was only as I was driving home, praying and thinking about it that I realized how this shows her slavery - she is a slave to her fear of her husband, fear of being divorced, fear of family.) I told her that I had heard of other believing women who had a similar fear, including one woman who was finishing up baptism class when the pastor discovered that she hadn't yet told her husband she believed (he wouldn't baptize her until she told him, with great fear and trepidation she told him and now she is baptized and they are still married. But back to Emily.) Added to this, she said, was the burden of the ancestors that she had to bear (more slavery).

So why am I so excited about this? After all, she hasn't confessed Christ - yet. But clearly she has been thinking about believing in Him, and has worked out the impact to the best of her limited understanding. She has been thinking about believing! It makes me think very strongly that God is at work in her heart!

Please pray for Emily especially - that she would not think of "believing in Christ" as a decision that she can make or not, but that she would realize that she does believe. Pray that she would come to understand her fear as pointing to her state of slavery, since she is serving that fear rather than receiving Christ. Finally, pray for our next Bible time, on May 12th (because of an intervening holiday) that will cover God asking Abraham to sacrifice his son, his only son, that he loves, the point being that God takes precedence over family. Pray that she will be there, and that the Holy Spirit will deliver these truths to her heart, while showing her her own heart, like the two-edged sword of the Word of God.

Waiting on God with you!

Request from the Farrants
Hey Dear Friends....We come asking for another special favor, hoping no one is offended by this gesture. If you haven't the time nor the inclination to fool with it, please just delete!

We were brainstorming with friends this weekend after losing yet another bid for a camper on ebay. Here's the thought: if our friends who are in many parts of the country were willing to check craigslist.com every now and then, it would save us lots of time in our search for a camper. If you see a camper in your area--either on craigslist.com or any other siting--just let us know and we'll follow up on the lead. Time is running out for us to find a camper before we head west this summer. Having a camper will not only save us money but would give us much greater flexibility as we travel.

Once again...we are looking for a lightweight, fiberglass shell camper.It has to be small and light for the Jeep to pull it. We need a 13 footer and these are made by Scamp, Casita, and Burro. We're not looking for a pop-up. Even if you haven't time to join us in a search, please pray with us that if God wills, we will be able to purchase a camper before summer. Seems our funds are too limited for the ebay bidding frenzy, but we'll keep checking that as well.

Thanks for any help you might be able to give us!! Blessings and love...always, Bruce and Linda

4/11/09 The lastest from the Cummings
Dear Friends and Family,

Happy Easter! “There in the ground His body lay, Light of the world by darkness slain; Then bursting forth in glorious day, Up from the grave He rose again! And as He stands in victory, Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me; For I am His and He is mine – Bought with the precious blood of Christ!”
This past month we had both of our computers shut down on us for various periods of time. In the end, we are getting rid of Windows Vista on both of them as it seems to be what is causing all of the problems. We hope that everything is fixed and we can keep up with you on a timely basis in the future.
The big event of this past month was having a group come down from Evergreen PCA, in Oregon, to help in the school and with construction of new bathrooms. They did a fabulous job of pitching in and helping with many different projects in the school. They made a backdrop and the two main props for the Easter program and also sewed almost 30 tunics for the children as well. They reorganized our storage area at the school so we can have a much better idea of what exactly we do have; they installed new flooring in the entryway of the school; they finished the last bathroom in the school itself; and they helped paint, install flooring and toilets in the new general bathrooms for the facility that serve both the school and the church. This past month, we also received news that some of Fernando’s hard work is starting to pay off. We submitted a project with a branch of the state government for matching funds to finish the kitchen and dining room this summer and were granted our request for $126,000 Pesos. This is a HUGE blessing as it will enable us to finally complete the demolition and reconstruction of the old building and get rid of all of the water issues that we have dealt with since the building was purchased.
The school put on its annual Easter program for the parents, which was very well done! The program was about the two doors that can be chosen, the door to Eternal Life or the door to Eternal Death. The children presented the different ways that people try to enter into each door, through good works, religion, idols and Christ. We pray that God will use this presentation in the lives of the parents and that the children themselves will understand and take to heart the message as well. After the program, Jon and Danny filmed five different families giving their testimonies about how they have been blessed by the ministry of the school and why they would recommend the school to others. It was really neat to hear parents express, in their own words, the changes that they have seen in their children and in their own lives as well. We hope to use these interviews on Eirene’s website.
In family news, April 1st marked the fifth birthday of Ian! Ian brings such delight to our family – he is adventurous, thoughtful, full of life, has an amazing laugh, and is oh-so-loveable! We had a great time celebrating with six of his friends at “Peter Piper Pizza” (similar to Chuck E Cheese). The kids all had a blast playing the different games there and then heading to our house for cake & of course, the piñata! Susanna has kept very busy with homeschooling Lily, filling in teaching Bible study, helping watch friends’ children, taking meals to various families and creating fun activities for the kids to do. The baby is growing inside her, and she recently has begun to feel him/her move, which is always so exciting! We’ve gone TWO times now to find out the sex, and the baby does not want to cooperate!! When we know for sure, we’ll let you all know!
Hannah and Ian both received awards for being the students with the highest average in their respective classes and Tessa received the award for being the best behaved student in her class. Lily keeps plugging away at her school work, excelling in math and working towards going to school next year at Cornerstone Academy. Elijah keeps us laughing all of the time. He loves to watch Madagascar 2, which he has renamed “Move it, Move it,” because of one of the theme songs. He tries all sorts of ploys to keep from having to go to bed. Recently, Jon had some friends over and he was taking Elijah upstairs to go to bed. Elijah began to cry for Jon’s friend, “Paco, Paco, Paco,” trying to get anyone to save him from having to leave the “party”!
As a reminder, please check out the ministry blog, www.eirenemexico.org/blog. Please check each month as we will be posting reports from the school, medical clinics, and construction progress, including pictures. Also, if you visit the website, check the links in the School section for a couple of the programs done by the students this past year.
ANSWERS TO PRAYER/THANKSGIVING:

For another year of life granted to Ian and the blessing of having him as our son!
For the great work that was done by the group from Evergreen and the progress that was made towards completing the new bathrooms!
For the safety that God provided while the group was here and for the work of José and Fermin on the bathrooms the last five weeks.
For Susanna and her dedication to our family and all of her hard work to carry the baby and continue to care for five other children!
For the testimonies that we could hear of how God has used the school to help bring about change in families and help them parents educate their children.
For the provision of a new board member. God has provided another member of the church who has agreed to help and volunteer his time as an architect to help out in Eirene.
For the fruit that we have begun to see from Fernando’s work and God’s provision for the funds to complete the kitchen and dining room this summer.
For Steve Robertson and his friendship. Jon has begun to get together with him once a week and it has been a real blessing and encouragement.
For God’s goodness to Matt and Esta in bringing them through their week with MTW and for their final approval that was received so they can now begin to raise support to come here!

PRAYER REQUESTS:

Please continue to pray for Susanna that this pregnancy would go smoothly and that she would have the strength that she needs as a wife, mother and friend.
Please pray for us for wisdom in the situation with Hannah and Tessa. We continue to have problems with the people who are supposed to be “helping” the mother. We are hoping and praying that our lawyer can secure us a meeting in front of a judge in May to present the situation and work towards getting the girls` birth certificates.
Please pray for much wisdom for Jon and Susanna as we have been having very difficult behavioral issues with Tessa at home. She has some deep issues from her past, that are greatly affecting her attitudes and actions, that she needs to deal with and work through and she does not want to deal with them. She is very depressed, and angry, and we are trying to reach her.
Please pray for the Acosta family as they now have custody of Laura and her three siblings – Luis, Javier & Pati. Please pray that God would protect this family from those in the community who speak wrongfully against them and that God would heal all of the hurt caused to these children. Please pray that God would provide the necessary support to build onto their home so that Chuy and Amy have adequate space for those they are caring for. Please pray for the Bible studies that are held in Camichines that God would break down barriers and soften many hearts.
Please pray that God would open many doors for Fernando as he works to raise support for Eirene that both Eirene and Fernando’s needs would be provided for through this. Please pray that God would open the ears of those that he speaks with and give them a heart for the ministries that are happening.
Please pray for the churches that have begun to plan for their trips to come this summer.
Please pray for Jon and Danny as they work to put together the website and the content to encourage people to be involved in the ministries and desire to support the work.
For strength and patience for Susanna as she home schools and that Lily would be attentive and responsive to her teaching.
For “Lilypad Jewelry”, that God would direct Susanna in every decision.
For Jon as he seeks to encourage more volunteer involvement from those in the church and from parents in the school through work days on the property.
For the raising up of members in the church to be part of the board of directors and spread out the work that is currently being done by three people.
For wisdom for Jon in dealing with difficult issues at work with personnel.
Please pray that God would begin to work in the hearts of a teacher who would be willing to come and direct an ESL school.
Please pray for continued healing within Jon’s family that only God can provide and that He would refine and use us for His glory.
That God would raise up the men of the church to be leaders, both in their homes and in the church.

3/17/09 An announcement from Matt and Carly Chase

Family and Friends,
On Friday, March 13 at 2:45pm we welcomed into our family, our second son, Hudson Paul Chase. He weighed 8lbs 10 oz, and was 17.5" long. He has been such a blessing to us from God; a continued reminder of God's goodness to us. We rejoice in this little guy, and pray that God would use him mightily for His kingdom, as He did Paul going to the gentiles, and Hudson Taylor going to the Chinese. Carly is doing very well, recovering quicker than her birth with Liam. We are excited that God has added to our number, the children that He will use to sanctify us, and proclaim His good news in Japan. Rejoice with us!

Matt, Carly, Liam, and Hudson

3/11/09 A note from Matt Chase: Giving as an act of Worship

I was touched this morning to read this article by Paul Kooistra, MTW’s director. This especially spoke to my heart as we support raise, and trust God to bring in the needed funds to leave for Japan. I hope you are blessed by it as well.

The Bible is God’s inerrant word. Therefore, we know that every word it contains is included for our edification. As our nation and the whole world, for that matter, goes through one of the most significant financial upheavals in recent memory, I believe God is speaking to His people out of the eighth chapter of 2 Corinthians. It is there that Paul holds up the Macedonian church as an example of Christian stewardship. He writes, “We want you to know about the grace of God given to the Macedonian churches. Out of great trail and extreme poverty they gave with overflowing joy in extra generosity.”

Clearly, Paul believes there is much we need to learn from the churches in Macedonia. First, that stewardship for the Christian is never first and foremost about how much money we have. Jesus taught the same thing when He contrasted the widow and her mite with the large contributions of the Pharisees. Giving is primarily an act of worship. It certainly was for the Macedonians. They had great needs and their giving out of this need was an expression of their faith.

Giving that grows out of faith produces praise and honor to God. It affirms that everything we have is a gift from God. It acknowledges that God’s care for us is perfect. Such faith declares that we lack nothing we need. Recently, a woman related how God provided for her to pay off a medical bill. She said, “I prayed, and when I received the money I simply broke down and cried for joy,” I thought this was a beautiful expression of gratitude and worship. Then I thought, “Should not all of God’s people experience such feelings almost daily? After all, God supplies what we need in the same fashion through our jobs, our health, the food we eat, His Word, and hundreds of ways that we don’t even recognize.”

Paul writes in his letter to the Philippian Christians that he has learned how to worship God when he has more than he needs and when he has less than he needs. He is able to do this through the strength he receives from his Savior (Phil 4:13). Paul teaches us something very important about giving. It is a gift of divine grace (Rom 12:8), but Paul tells us it is a cultivated gift. The gift of giving as an act of worhsip is, as he puts it, one that he “learned” (Phil 4:11). I believe that God uses the times when we have less far more than the times when we have plenty, to grow the gift of giving. He did it with the Macedonians and He will do it in us.

Paul then tells us that it is through the power of Christ in his life that he is able to give out of faith rather than simply out of surplus (Phil 4:13). Why is this important? Because, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matt 6:21). We give to honor and worship God. If this is true, and it is, then you can see how important it is to it right.

Cummings February Prayer letter

Dear Friends and Family,

Many thanks to all of you who have been praying over the last month! Susanna is feeling much better and is slowly getting back to being her normal self! She still doesn’t have as much energy as she would like, but the nausea has almost completely gone away. She was greatly surprised by her mom coming down to help out for a couple of weeks. It was both a big blessing and great encouragement to have her here. The children have fun “talking” to the baby and watching mommy’s belly grow. Even Elijah comes over to pat Susanna’s stomach, although he always says “hi babies!”…and we remind him that it’s just ONE in there!!
The last month has been very eventful both in ministry and in family life. We have seen God do many wonderful things and bring us and our friends through difficult times and out into green pastures.
We’ve been encouraged this month at the progress in the formation of our team at Eirene. We have begun to see, little by little, more people starting to support on a monthly basis, and others who have given one time support as a result of attending the dinner we held back in December. We have begun to send out a monthly update, on behalf of Eirene, to keep those that attended the dinner updated on Eirene’s ministries. We are working to build the database of those whom we are reaching and continue to encourage them to get more involved. Danny Mallinder and Jon have been working on developing a presentation for encouraging the participation of local businesses and are continuing to work on the new website. Lord-willing, we should have that up and running within the next month. Another blessing is that a friend of Jon’s, Fernando Mejia, has begun working to raise support for Eirene by visiting businesses and presenting them with ways they can be involved in reaching out within their own community. It is a HUGE blessing to have someone to do this work as there is much required in developing projects to present and making the many phone calls and visits before getting to the actual decision-maker. Also, God in His plan, opened the doors so that we now have an official foster care home in Camichines. Chuy and Amy have custody of four children, who were given them by the government to care for as the mother had neglected them. The mother caused many problems, even going to a newspaper writer who published a completely false story about Chuy and Eirene. Thankfully, God has used this to push through the paperwork that we have been looking to get for some time! Please pray for the Acosta family as there are many adjustments to be made and that God would protect them and these children from their mother and others who would seek to cause trouble.
Things also changed this month as due to emotional needs and learning struggles, we decided to put Tessa into school with Ian and Hannah in Santa Ana. God gave us peace for that difficult decision, and now she is really thriving in school! She seems to be doing very well and is adjusting to learning in Spanish. Her teacher says she has a glow in school, which is a delight to hear! Lily is happy for the extra attention that she gets and for the special time that she can have with Susanna cooking and having little dates. Our big adventure as a family this month was to go to see the Monarch Butterflies that migrate back to Mexico by the millions. It was one of the most amazing, beautiful sights that we have ever seen! Everyone kept saying they felt like they were in a dream! The kids, other than Elijah who was on Jon’s back, all managed to make the mile climb to the top of the mountain to see them. It was an absolutely incredible sight! Ian and Hannah were real troopers in hiking all the way to the top using their walking sticks. Thankfully, Susanna was also feeling well enough to make the climb. It was wonderful to get away for a couple of days to see the beauty of God’s creation and have some time together as a family.
As a reminder, please check out the ministry blog, www.eirenemexico.org/blog. Please check each month as we will be posting reports from the school, medical clinics, and construction progress, including pictures. Also, if you visit the website, check the links in the School section for a couple of the programs done by the students this past year.

ANSWERS TO PRAYER/THANKSGIVING:

1. For Susanna’s improvement in health!
2. For a great visit from Susanna’s mom and for her willingness to come down to help!
3. For the beginning of the demolition and reconstruction of the bathrooms in our facility.
4. For a great school to send our children to and for loving and caring staff who work hard to teach them and encourage them in the Lord.
5. For the addition of Fernando to our team and for the work he has already been able to accomplish.
6. For God’s faithfulness that we continue to see each day in keeping His promises to us and opening doors for serving Him.
7. For the beauty of God’s creation that we could enjoy!

PRAYER REQUESTS:

1. Please continue to pray for Susanna that this pregnancy would go smoothly and that she would have the strength that she needs as a wife, mother and friend.
2. Please pray for us for wisdom in the situation with Hannah and Tessa. We continue to have problems with the people who are supposed to be “helping” the mother. We are hoping and praying that our lawyer can secure us a meeting in front of a judge in May to present the situation and work towards getting the girl`s birth certificates.
3. Please pray for safety for José and Fermin who are working on the bathrooms for the next month and for the team from Oregon that will be coming to help them the last week in March.
4. Please pray for our dear friends Matt and Esta as they go through the last of their interviews with MTW, from March 9-13, and then move on to the support raising process in their journey to come down and serve here.
5. Please pray for the Acosta family as they now have custody of Laura and her three siblings – Luis, Javier & Pati. Please pray that God would protect this family from those in the community who speak wrongfully against them and that God would heal all of the hurt caused to these children.
6. Please pray that God would provide the necessary support to build onto their home so that Chuy and Amy have adequate space for those they are caring for.
7. Please pray for the Bible studies that are held in Camichines that God would break down barriers and soften many hearts.
8. Please pray that God would open many doors for Fernando as he works to raise support for Eirene that both Eirene and Fernando’s needs would be provided for through this.
9. Please pray that God would open the ears of those that he speaks with and give them a heart for the ministries that are happening.
10. Please pray for the churches that have begun to plan for their trips to come this summer.
11. Please pray for Jon and Danny as they work to put together the website and the content to encourage people to be involved in the ministries and desire to support the work.
12. For strength and patience for Susanna as she home schools and that Lily would be attentive and responsive to her teaching.
13. For “Lilypad Jewelry”, that God would direct Susanna in every decision.
14. For Jon as he seeks to encourage more volunteer involvement from those in the church and from parents in the school through work days on the property.
15. For the raising up of members in the church to be part of the board of directors and spread out the work that is currently being done by only two people.
16. For wisdom for Jon in dealing with difficult issues at work with personnel.
17. Please pray that God would begin to work in the hearts of a teacher who would be willing to come and direct an ESL school.
18. Please pray for continued healing within Jon’s family that only God can provide and that He would refine and use us for His glory.
19. That God would raise up the men of the church to be leaders, both in their homes and in the church.

More from Linda Karner 3/4/09

Tonight is the first jr. high girls' sleepover at the center in Kokubunjidai. We have about 12 girls coming, please pray for a good time, and for Yuko, a growing believer (who is helping me), who will be sharing her testimony with them. Right now it is raining steadily, and I have all my bedding, a rug and a lamp (to create homey atmosphere) to load into the car! It's all ready to go, the rain just won't stop.

Please also pray for safety, as I will be driving them to the public bath in a van that is not my own.

I never thought this would be my "age" but here we go. I hope that some of these girls will join my Jr. high English class (currently at 1 student).

From Linda Karner 2/25/09

Have you ever imagined yourself as one of the great crowd of witnesses in Heb 12? We had our monthly concert of prayer this morning, and as we usually do, we gave thanks corporately for all of you who support us and have supported us throughout the years, in thick and thin, in difficult times such as these. As I prayed I imagined a great crowd of our supporters surrounding our (comparatively) little prayer circle, holding us up in prayer, partnering with us as you do, rejoicing with us and feeling with us. It reminded me of that great crowd of witnesses in Hebrews. So, from my small perspective, you are part of that great crowd. Or at least part of my great crowd.

Thank you ever so much!!!

Update from Frrants 2/2/09

Hey Friends and Loved Ones...if you've visited our website lately, you may have discovered you couldn't get on or didn't recognize it if you did! Sorry about that! We've had to do some revisions and we're still in the process of completing that, but the site is up and running now. We have more reorganizing to do, but we don't want to wait any longer to have you meet Cindy Nally. Please click on the link below and it will take you to the spot where you can bring up her story. This young lady is serving on the Sandy Lake Indian Reservation in Sandy Lake, Ontario, Canada.
http://onechurchonetribe.com/?page_id=217

Also...be sure to mark you calendars for April 13th--that is the beginning of an exciting series coming to PBS called "We Shall Remain." It will be a blend of interview, documentary, and reenactment of the American Indian story. It will run each Tuesday night for 5 weeks. Don't miss it! Check it out:

We head out Thursday for Harrisburg, PA, where we'll have the joy of being a part of Trinity PC's missions conference. The following week we'll be interacting with young people at Ridge Haven, NC for the YOWAW weekend. We'd greatly appreciate your prayers for these events that God will challenge us all to "be about our Father's business" in these amazing times. We hope to have a post on our blog soon about our weekend in Douglasville, GA (Jan 23-25) where we were able to speak in the chapel service at Harvester Christian School, and then fellowship and share with the folks at Chapel Hill, PC--it was a huge blessing to us! We also were able to speak in chapel for two Thursdays at Maryville Christian School.

Thanks for your continued prayers for this growing ministry. We love hearing from you! It's been fun to connect with many of you on facebook and we invite you all to be our "friends" and join our One Church, One Tribe group there as well.

More to come...blessings and love...always, Bruce and Linda

Cumming's January Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family,

Happy New Year to all that we have not had the chance to say it to yet! We pray that God will bless each one of you in the coming year as you serve Him where He has placed you.
For us the New Year has brought an unexpected, yet pleasant surprise into our lives. Susanna was feeling sick for about 2 weeks and couldn’t shake the “flu”…until we found out that it wasn’t the flu after all!! A few weeks ago we learned that God is blessing our kids with a new brother or sister! We are very excited, but would really appreciate your prayers as well. While the news has been a blessing (the kids are REALLY excited about the baby!), Susanna has felt awful for the last four weeks and has spent the majority of that time in bed with terrible “morning sickness” that has lasted all day long. She has been throwing up around 5-6x a day, and cannot keep any food down. Susanna woke up the other day with extreme dizziness and weakness and we spent that day in the hospital where Susanna had to get an IV for 6 hours of fluids to help combat the dehydration, a vitamin solution IV and countless shots trying to combat the nausea and dizziness that she was experiencing. Please pray for strength for Susanna and that God would take away the nausea soon. It is really difficult to be laid up in bed that long! We had an appointment with the doctor about a week ago and the baby was doing well. Susanna is around 11 weeks along.
We were blessed with a visit from Caleb Elwell, a friend from our home church in NJ, who came down for two and a half weeks to help with construction projects in the school in Santa Ana. We finally sold our old office building towards the middle of December and had moved everything out just before Christmas break. With Caleb’s help, we now have our new offices up and running in the new building. We laid a new tile floor, installed electrical fixtures, moved a bunch of supplies out of the classrooms into the new storage room and completed other smaller projects in the school that had been needing attention for some time. Jon has also been doing a lot of work with Danny on developing a new website for Eirene. We are extremely thankful for all of the help Roy Costa provided the last two years in donating his time to put together the website that we are currently using. Lord-willing, our new site will be up and running by the end of February. Jon and Danny have also been working on strategies for bringing in more national support. Thankfully, we now have a friend who is working to raise support for Eirene and has begun to visit various businesses in the area seeking to get their support. We also have some work to do in meeting with the various contacts from the dinner that expressed interest in volunteering in Eirene or in supporting the ministry financially. This is also the time of year when all of the teams for the summer are hammered out as far as who is coming and when. We are looking to have six different teams come this summer and at least one that will be coming in March.
The kids all had a wonderful Christmas. For Elijah, his highlight was getting a bunch of plastic horses, which he promptly played with for the next hour! For Hannah, her highlight was the dress-up toys that she got (purses, jewelry, phones…). She takes after Lily in being a very girly-girl! For Ian, his highlight was the Batman gear. He immediately ran upstairs to get anything else black that he could find to wear with his cape and mask. For Lily, her highlight was the kitchen set that Jon made for the girls and the princess Barbie. And for Tessa, her highlight was the purple soccer ball and sports barbie. Thanks to all of you who sent gifts for the kids or sent money which made the kitchen set possible!
As a reminder, please check out the ministry blog, www.eirenemexico.org/blog, to see the construction progress. Jon has posted some before and after pictures, etc. Please also check each month as we will be posting reports from the school and medical clinics, including pictures. Also, if you visit the website, check the links in the School section for a couple of the programs done by the students this past year.

ANSWERS TO PRAYER/THANKSGIVING:

1. For the new baby coming into our family!!
2. For the completed sale of our old office building and for the new office space we have in the new building.
3. For Caleb Elwell coming down and being a HUGE help with construction!
4. For the beautiful, new mural that has been painted in the hallway at the school. Thankyou Jen!!
5. For the contacts that we made based on the dinner and the fruits of support that we are beginning to see through those contacts.
6. For the progress being made on the new website and for our friend, Fernando, who is helping to raise support for Eirene.
7. For Danny and all of his work and donated time towards strengthening the ministry here.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

1. Please pray for Susanna that God would work in her body and relieve her from her sickness, aches and pains. Please pray for patience and peace for Susanna as well as it is so difficult for her to have been in bed for so long. Please pray that she would not develop another blood clot from her extended rest time.
2. Please pray for us for patience as we have had some very difficult behavioral problems with Tessa especially of late. Please pray that we would have wisdom to know how to be patient and yet firm. Please pray that we would be understanding of her past and know how to talk to her about the change that Jesus can bring about in her life and heart.
3. Please pray for our dear friends Matt and Esta as they go through the last of their interviews with MTW in a couple of months and then move on to the support raising process in their journey to come down and serve here.
4. Please pray fo direction for the longterm care of Tessa & Hannah. The mother still wants nothing to do with adoption, and we have a lot of difficult decisions to make.
5. Please pray for the Acosta family as they now have custody of Laura and her three siblings – Luis, Javier & Pati. Please pray that God would protect this family from those in the community who speak wrongfully against them and that God would heal all of the hurt caused to these children.
6. Please pray for Fernando as he begins the work of support raising for Eirene. Please pray that God would open the ears of those that he speaks with and give them a heart for the ministries that are happening.
7. Please pray for the churches that have begun to plan for their trips to come this summer.
8. Please pray for the follow-up work from the dinner. For Jon as he meets with individuals and businesses to encourage support for Eirene and its ministries.
9. For strength and patience for Susanna as she homeschools, and that the girls would be attentive and responsive to her teaching.
10. For “Lilypad Jewelry”, that God would direct Susanna in every decision.
11. For Jon as he seeks to encourage more volunteer involvement from those in the church and from parents in the school through work days on the property.
12. For the raising up of members in the church to be part of the board of directors and spread out the work that is currently being done by only two people.
13. For wisdom for Jon in dealing with difficult issues at work with personnel.
14. For Susanna as she participates in the worship team. Please pray that God would use this ministry to assist the congregation in glorifying Him through music.
15. Please pray that God would begin to work in the hearts of a teacher who would be willing to come and direct an ESL school.
16. Please pray for continued healing within Jon’s family that only God can provide and that He would refine and use us for His glory.
17. That God would raise up the men of the church to be leaders, both in their homes and in the church.

The Chases are in Belgium 1/27/09

We are so excited to be here for our cross cultural training (Jan 13th-Feb 11th)! We had a safe flight over, even though it proved to be very hard for Liam. However, since we’ve been here he has adapted well, and was back on his regular schedule within a day! We are so excited to develop deep relationships with the other 13 missionaries and global training development staff here. Please pray that the gospel would saturate our hearts during our time here. We desperately want to come away from this time with a greater sense of calling to Japan, and deeper understanding of God’s grace for us. We praise God that he has called us to this wonderful task of bringing the gospel to the nations.

We’ve spent the last five days in intense Language training. The purpose of the language training isn’t to give us a crash course in Japanese, but rather to give us some basic tools in which to study the language effectively. It has been a very educational experience, as we’ve learned many different pronunciations. I am slightly fearful of my own language ability upon getting to Japan; there is much to learn!

Update from Matt and Carly Chase 1/6/09

Dearest Partners in the Gospel,
We are so thrilled to update you on what is going on in our lives. We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Years, rejoicing in the wonderful God we serve. So much has been going on in our lives in the past six months its hard to know where to start. In early December we moved in with my grandparents, about 20 minutes south of our previous home. This has been a huge blessing for us as we prepare for Japan.
Carly and I decided it would be best for me to leave my job (Jan 9th) at Nissan and start full-time support raising. It has been very difficult working 50 hours a week, and raising support on nights and weekends. This hasn't been any easy decision as the economy has been in a slump. We are both convinced that now is the best time to support raise, because God has continued to impress the needy country of Japan upon our hearts. Its so easy to forget that many other countries across the world are getting hit harder than America due to this global financial crisis. This has escalated the suicide rate for Japan, up 3% from last year (2007). This may in fact be one of the best time to reach people for Christ, as they are looking for answers amid the turmoil. Only the gospel of Christ can bring hope to the Japanese.
We recently spent a week at Living in Grace training by Mission to the World in the mountains of North Carolina. It was a very relaxing week to enjoy the fellowship of believers and deepen our understanding of the gospel. We are currently preparing to leave for a month-long cross cultural training in Brussels, Belgium on Jan. 13th. This will be our final training needed in order to leave for Japan, however, we are still at 50% of our needed support to leave. After we return from Belgium we will be full-time support raising until we leave for Japan in May 2009, Lord willing.
We are also eagerly awaiting the birth of our second child in late March. This will be an adjustment to say the least, as we will continue to raise support with Liam (18 months) and our newborn. We have been so encouraged by our team in Japan, who have been asking us when we are coming, and can't wait for us to arrive.

Please Pray:
1. Training in Belgium-for our jet lag, schedule adjustments, especially Liam. Update: Due to complications at the New Zealand Embassy Carly's Passport has not arrived yet, pray it would arrive before this Tuesday (Jan 13th)!

2. Baby Chase #2-for safe delivery for Carly and our new child
3. Financial Support Needed to get to Japan to come in quickly! Pray specifically for us to make the right connections with individuals and churches who want to be a part of God's work in Japan.
4. Continued personal growth in our relationship with Christ, and seek to mirror his love to those around us

We cannot thank you enough for your prayers and support. Please let us know how we can be praying for you as well!

For His Glory and Kingdom,
The Chases

Update from Linda Karner 12/31/08

I would like to wish all of you a Happy New Year from Japan. On New Year's Eve our team held our monthly concert of prayer, finishing with a message and communion. It was lovely among the holiday lights and candles and everyone brought an appetizer. We focused on the blessings (amid "thorns" the theme of our message) of 2008 and encouraged each other for the year to come. A wonderful way to ring in the New Year.

Outside our chapel, Japan was ringing in the New Year in a different way - the eerie gonging of large temple bells, sounding throughout the stillness about every minute or so. The Japanese believe there are 108 worldly sins and ringing the gong will release people from them (!) It was so quiet as I rode home, and I couldn't help but remember an earlier New Year's Eve, over 15 years ago, but well before we were culturally sensitive to their customs, when we had a similar concert of prayer in the same chapel, but at midnight we all went out on the porch banging pots and pans and making the noise that is associated with American New Year!

New Year's is a time to look to God for guidance, and I especially need His guidance now in a very personal way. Many of you know that my parents are very elderly, my father has been growing weaker for about 2 years now due to a blood disorder, and my mother is waiting to hear more about a diagnosis of cancer. I feel very impotent being so far away from them and am wrestling with how I can honor them at this time in their lives and bring glory to God. Please pray with me for God's clear leading.

Cumming's November/December Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

We were so glad to see many of you in November during our all too quick trip to the States. We had a wonderful time catching up with many of you and were sorry that we didn’t have more time to spend this trip. We were blessed to visit with five different churches, or representatives from churches, during our ten day visit. We left being encouraged and refreshed and SO happy to see our children again!!!
For Jon, the majority of the last month was spent working to firm up plans for the benefit and celebration dinner that we just had for Eirene on December 4th. We planned to have around 200 people from the church and community to come eat with us to celebrate the ten years of existence of Eirene and to encourage them to be part of the ministry through their financial support. We ended up having around 170 people come, which was a great encouragement! The dinner itself brought in some resources for Eirene, which are welcome, but more importantly we are looking to encourage national partners in the ministry and a more Mexican ownership of the ministry. Currently, all of the workers other than Jon are Mexican, but the majority of the financial support is still from the US. We are hoping to get the day to day operations mostly covered by nationals and use the funds we receive from the US for capital projects and growth. We are putting together a directory of contacts who expressed interest in the ministry from this dinner and will meet with or call them to encourage their ongoing support. There definitely are the resources here to make this happen, so please pray that God uses the contacts made through this dinner as a means to open the eyes of many to see the needs in the school, dental clinic and for the other ministries we would like to begin. Jon also began to meet with various individuals/business owners to try to get a head start on some of the support raising that needs to be done. So far, he has received some encouraging responses, but nothing concrete yet. Jon was able to get away from time to time during all of this to do some work painting the school to get things ready for putting down the tile floor. It looks as though we have finally sold our other building, so we will need to move everything out of there and either sell it or move it into our new facility.
Over the last couple of months, Chuy and Amy have been ministering to a family that moved to Camichines, and to their oldest girl in particular. Laura has now been living with them for over a month. The parents want very little if anything to do with her. They did come about a week ago to pick her up to take her back, so Chuy had to call DIF, the government department for the family, as there has been mistreatment of her and even selling her to neighbors where this family lived before. Thankfully, when the officials showed up, they looked at the papers we have for Eirene and told Chuy and Amy that they had custody of Laura! Please pray for Chuy and Amy as they minister to Laura and also minister to the three other children in the family. The government officials have asked them to keep an eye on the kids and let them know if they see anything out of line.
The kids are all doing very well. Settling into their school year both in homeschooling and going to the kinder in Santa Ana. Tessa and Lily have greatly enjoyed the activities that they have been able to do at their co-op, especially the field trips they have taken. Ian has promised to be the “English teacher” for his teacher at school. His teacher invited him to come over for lunch one day. Ian replied he would be happy to if he could have rice, chicken, ice cream and chocolate cake. Hannah is growing incredibly and is starting to speak more and more English. She brings many a smile to our faces with her pronunciation of English, one example being “I lub jew (I love you).” Elijah had an absolute blast on our trip to the States enjoying being the complete center of attention. He seems to have an incredible talent with a ball as he is already running up and kicking a rolling ball in stride. Who knows, maybe we have the next David Beckham?!!
Susanna really enjoyed her trip back to the US being able to connect with many friends. She had a great time showing the jewelry that she has been working on. She had an encouraging response with many being interested in purchasing her jewelry, and also some potential people to be contacts in the US to help sell the jewelry so Susanna can begin to employ some women from Santa Ana. She has been able to give work to 2 women already, not full time, but specific projects. She is getting ready for her first jewelry show next week, and she and the other 2 women are working hard to prepare! Susanna wrapped up her English Bible study for this year with a Thanksgiving dinner with the women. They will reconvene again in January studying “The Blazing Center” by John Piper. She also had the opportunity to speak at the mission church in Moctezuma to a group of women last month on “The Joy of Loving Your Children.” She is currently putting together the Christmas program for the co-op our kids are in, and is really enjoying that.
As a reminder, please check out the ministry blog, www.eirenemexico.org/blog, to see the construction progress. Jon has posted some before and after pictures, etc. Please also check each month as we will be posting reports from the school and medical clinics, including pictures. Also, if you visit the website, check the links in the School section for a couple of the programs done by the students this past year.
ANSWERS TO PRAYER/THANKSGIVING:

1. For the almost completed sale of our old building in Santa Ana and the extra funds it will provide to help us have some breathing room while we raise national support.
2. For the classes for parents that were given by the director of the school.
3. For a safe trip to the US and a wonderful time with family and friends.
4. For the joy of being able to teach our older two children at home and the extra time Susanna has with them.
5. For the blessing of celebrating the 10 years of what God has done through Eirene with 170 people!
6. For the arrival of Danny Mallinder, a friend who will be coming from New Zealand for six months to work as a volunteer helping in various ministries of Eirene.
7. For our great friends who took care of our children in our absence. We are truly blessed to be surrounded by a great group of believers here!
8. For the start of Susanna’s new business, “Lilypad Jewelry,” to give work to women in Santa Ana, and for all the encouragement given to her!

PRAYER REQUESTS:

1. Please pray that the director of the drug rehab center would keep his word and work with the mother of the girls to get the birth certificates so we can start the adoption process.
2. Please pray for Laura and the Acostas, and for the necessary resources to come in so we can start a formal foster care/orphanage ministry. There are SO many children in need!
3. Please pray that we would be able to complete the remainder of the construction work necessary to move out of our old office building and into offices at the school.
4. Please pray for the churches that have begun to plan for their trips to come this summer.
5. Please pray for the follow-up work from the dinner. For Jon as he meets with individuals and businesses to encourage support for Eirene and its ministries.
6. For Susanna as she will be leading the women’s Bible study again in January. Please pray for wisdom for her and the other leader, Paula, and for the ladies involved to grow in Christ and enjoy each other’s fellowship.
7. For strength and patience for Susanna as she homeschools, and that the girls would be attentive and responsive to her teaching.
8. For “Lilypad Jewelry”, that God would direct Susanna in every decision.
9. For Jon as he seeks to encourage more volunteer involvement from those in the church and from parents in the school through work days on the property.
10. Please pray that the parents take to heart what was said in the parental classes held at the Eirene school and apply it in their families.
11. For the final signing over of our old property and receiving of necessary resources for the various ministries of Eirene.
12. For the raising up of members in the church to be part of the board of directors and spread out the work that is currently being done by only two people.
13. For wisdom for Jon in dealing with difficult issues at work with personnel.
14. For the provision of the financial resources that we need to run the school.
15. For Susanna as she participates in the worship team. Please pray that God would use this ministry to assist the congregation in glorifying Him through music.
16. Please pray that God would begin to work in the hearts of a teacher who would be willing to come and direct an ESL school.
17. Please pray for continued healing within Jon’s family that only God can provide and that He would refine and use us for His glory.
18. That God would raise up the men of the church to be leaders, both in their homes and in the church

Member Login

Links

Missionary Updates