Greetings from the M family in Central Asia*!
It has been about five months since we arrived on the field and we are beginning to adjust to the culture and become more familiar with the language. We have been spending most of our time learning the language because we need to have a high level of proficiency in the language in order to have complex conversations about abstract concepts (think: Trinity, substitutionary atonement) in the heart language of the people here. Please continue with us in prayer that our Father would bless us with this ability. And praise Him that we have already had multiple opportunities to share the gospel with the people around us. In October, we will be moving to a new city. We had already planned to move to the new city, but this is faster than we originally thought. We are still looking for a new apartment and figuring out the details of the move and how it will impact our language learning. We would appreciate your prayers for this transition also.
There has been a lot of violence and political unrest in the country we are living in recently. The country has started fighting a war on two fronts, which has sparked an increase in terrorist attacks targeting nationals of this country as well as foreigners like us. Some of the Christians and churches have received death threats, and we know of one national brother who was killed by a bomb attack (although we did not know him personally). Please lift up our country to the Father. Ask that many people would be disillusioned with their false religion and turn to the one who is able to save them and restore all things. And pray for our safety and the safety of other brothers and sisters here. We came here knowing the risks and we trust that God will take care of us. He is worth everything that we have to give.
In other news, our company has been undergoing an extreme financial crisis. Since the recession of 2008, we have spent millions of dollars beyond the income received from donations. Since then, we have decreased the number of field personnel slowly from over 5000 to about 4200. However, that number needs to quickly decrease by an additional 600-800 by the end of the year to account for the lack of funds. For more information about this issue, see the open letter issued by our president to the denomination here.
In light of this, I am asking the whole church to join us in earnest prayer that the financial crisis would come to an end and the gospel would still go forth to the ends of the earth. In addition to this, more than ever it is urgent that the church gives sacrificially to this cause. If you are interested in contributing, you can follow this link. If you want to, you can give in our honor by just putting our names in the “In Honor Of” box (if you don’t know who we are, just ask Pastor Aaron).
If you are interested in getting more frequent updates and prayer requests, send an email to Pastor Aaron at aaron@redvillagechurch.org. He can help to get you added to our monthly newsletter. He also has access to specific prayer request Twitter and Facebook accounts that are for workers in this region of our country.
Above all else, in these uncertain times we must rest on the sovereignty of our Father and we must press on and make our lives count for the sake of getting the gospel out to all nations.
“Let the peoples praise you, God; let all the peoples praise You.” (Psalm 67:3)
*Names and exact locations are not mentioned online for security reasons.