John and Rebekah Miller

Here is an update for John and Rebekah Miller, who are working with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Papua New Guinea.





Dear friends and family,


We just got back to Ukarumpa from our first 8 weeks in the village, Kakimar. It was kinda like camping with a bunch of people who have huge gardens nearby. So we ate lots of soup full of "bush food." It is usually some combination of cabbage (or other greens), kaukau or taro (like potatoes), and onions. We usually supplied some type of tinned meat (tuna or chicken-unless someone had butchered a pig nearby, then we had pork) salt and pepper and any seasonings. This is all cooked in coconut milk and often served with rice. It is good and filling; however due to the heat and lots of walking, John lost 37 lbs. (We're not sure how that compares to the Subway diet.) However after 8 weeks of bush food at least 5 times a week, we are looking forward to western style meals.

We had a great time and are so excited that our first village stay as a family in our program was a success. In the middle of our stay there were some issues that surfaced that we thought might lead to us having to leave, but thanks to God and your prayers everything became peaceful again. We went through some times of sickness, and a bit of "unrest" in the village that lead to someone almost being arrested (but that's another story.) Through the few struggles we faced, we sincerely believe there to be spiritual opposition to our presence. Also we became convinced that the people we lived amongst need an understanding of the Gospel, and THEY NEED THE BIBLE in their heart language. With God's help we will help them get it.

We learned a little of the local language, and recorded some language data that will hopefully be helpful while we are in school back in the States. Abi can say a ton of things in the local language (Gora) but she doesn't always know what she is saying. Talitha will jump in her Johnny Jump up when we say "Solak, solak, yawa" (which means "jump").

Anyways, I (Rebekah) guess that I'm getting ready mentally for furlough. Almost every night in the village I "spent time" with friends from back home in my dreams. It was a nice treat. It was weird waking up in the village and thinking, "OK where am I? Oh yea, PNG in a house made of bamboo, in the village."

The best part about being back into "Western-style living" (besides hot showers) is having light at all hours of the day or night!!!

Thanks for praying for us!!


Blessings,


Rebekah (for John, Abi and Talitha)

A Place for You

Since her beginning, The Church at Sun Valley has had the privilege of serving Festival Ranch with positive results. In November of 2007, we hosted our first block party with a tremendous response of 90% of the neighborhood in attendance. On New Years Day, again, most of the families in Foothills attended our BBQ and family activities. Then, in January, Saturday morning Basketball began.

February was the advent of the ever popular Family Movie Night at the park as well as the Thursday play group for kids and moms.

March proved to be a busy and productive time with our Spring Break Sports Camp followed by the great Easter Egg hunt at Foothills Park. Our Easter service also formally launched our new church with a Grand Opening of 175 people in attendance! All the excitement continues through April with the newest activity for the community: 4-4 Flag Football. Each Sunday evening, many families come and play with their neighbors in this well organized league. It continues to prove to be a good time for visiting old friends and making new ones.

The Church at Sun Valley is a church Family doing our part to love God and love our neighbor. The fruit of our love is remarkable and compelling. Smiles and kindness continue to be our billboard. Because of this, it is not surprising when new families and neighbors, many who have not been to church in a while, make the decision to come to our church. It's good to know that we have never asked for money for any activity or event and people notice that. Rather, we consider ourselves part of a larger family, your other family, and we are here for you. May the Lord continue to grant us favor as we serve Him and each other.

Angela Baker Update

Hello Everyone,I hope this email finds you all well. I am doing well. Freezing at the moment, but well. Spring came to Moscow and decided to leave again- it is supposed to get down to 34'F tonight and has been windy and cold all day. This weekend will be the big holiday for May 9th. I will write more about it and post pictures on my site this weekend if you are interested.

It is unbelievable how time flies. I have been in Russia six months as of the end of April and it has just flown by. Things have really begun to pick up here and I have been busy with a several different areas of ministry.For one- I am now working with a ministry to street children called Metro. We go out on "patrols" weekly to meet with kids, build relationship, give them food and any assistance possible and to share Christ with them. With the Spring and Summer months arriving it is harder to find the kids.

Tonight we went out and were successful in being able to meet with Olessia- who has lived on at the train station with her mom since she was a little girl. Olessia agreed to meet us on the 11th to go into a city government shelter. She told us she is expecting her second child. We were unable to find some of the other kids we were looking for, but we did have a great success when we found Zhenya. We found Zhenya squatting down next to a trash can near a little store outside of the metro station. She seemed so tiny sitting there it was hard to believe she was 22. We sat and talked with her for a while. It was really pretty cold outside- about 45'F and windy. We were finally able to convince Zhenya that going to the shelter was better than staying the night out on the street and she agreed to go. Zhenya was in need of medical attention- which she will get at the shelter in addition to hopefully- the extra help she needs to move towards life off of the street. We will maintain contact with Zhenya, but as Metro does not have it's own facilities- getting kids to a city center is the best we can hope for at this time.

I have also been very excited about a new possibility we have learned to work in city day centers for children at risk. The government has many centers throughout the city which are to serve the needs of children at risk. The problem is that they have no one to actually work with the children. We have learned that certain centers are open to Christian groups coming in and working with the children if they are able to present a quality program. I have been talking with the mission Youth for Christ, who is already working in one center, about getting churches involved in other centers throughout the city. This is a wonderful opportunity for churches not only to minister to children at risk, but to their families as well. The children at these centers will be from very poor families, multi-children families, families where their is alcohol or drug addiction or where one parent or the child himself suffers from a disability.

I have also been talking with several other people about the problem of human trafficking in Russia. I have pulled together several key individuals and this month we will have our first meeting to begin to talk and pray through what God would have us do concerning this area. It is exciting to see God bringing His people together to share their hearts and burdens for this area of need that is still virtually unknown to the vast majority of Christians. I look forward to sharing with you what God will bring out of this meeting.

One of the exciting things that has been happening too is the CoMission newsletter. I know, it may sound strange to say that working on a newsletter has some exciting elements, but it does. I put together and send out the CoMission newsletter twice a month and send it to over 700 partners. It is really exciting when we get response from people that were able to find a book or resource they had been looking for or found out about a training or conference through the newsletter. We are helping people get the training and materials they need to better serve children at risk and that is exciting!

We are also busy planning conferences and seminars for the Fall. We are hoping to have one in St. Petersburg which will focus on Foster Care and Adoption by Russian Christian families. We are also hoping to have an "Encouragement Conference" this Fall for those ministering to children at risk in Moscow. In talking with people from various missions and churches- I realized that they were often struggling with the problem of burnout and discouragement. We are hoping that through the encouragement conference we will be able to bring people together to encourage one another.

I am also working on a video presentation to be used as an element in our Children at Risk Awareness campaign for churches. We are hoping to be able to share the needs of children at risk, challenge the church to act, and provide tangible ways to do so. I recently was able to speak at the Russian American Christian University in Moscow about orphans and street children in Russia. These Russians students were completely unaware of the degree of the problem in Russia. It was exciting to be able to share the need, help them realize that we- the church, are supposed to be acting and then challenge them to act.

One young man came up to me afterwards with ideas of how to use his musical ability to help orphans. That was wonderfully fulfilling and I look forward to be able to have have a full presentation available to be used in churches soon.

So as you can see- there are a lot of exciting things going on right now! I would appreciate your prayers in all of these areas. They are greatly needed. There is one additional prayer request I'd like to share before I go. The visa situation in Russia is still unclear. It is now looking as though the government is indeed going to be applying the 90 day out of 180 days restriction to religious affairs visas after saying they would not. Campus Crusade for Christ was granted permission to issue worker's visas (the only visas not affected by this restriction) but the Baptist Union was denied permission. Ultimately, I will need to obtain a worker's visa. Please pray for wisdom and understanding as far as the best option for me to pursue in terms of visas.

I hope you all have a blessed day. Thank you again so much for your support- without your financial and prayer support none of this would be possible. Together, God is using us to make a difference!

Serving Christ,

Angela

How God Builds a Great Church

Last Sunday was amazing! Nearly 100% of those who attended our service signed up to be a part of at least one ministry! I have never heard of such a high degree of participation in any church...ever! I am absolutly convinced that the Lord has placed a desire in each of our hearts to work together as a family to help grow our great church and wonderful community. The fact that God is enlarging the foundation of our church with so many doing their part can only mean one thing...He is about to enlarge our church family! Just as a family prepares room for a new family member, we too are preparing room for our growing church family. In the mean time, keep praying for the family members to come!

Hays Community Church

Dear First Euless,

There are not enough words to say thank you to you guys. You guys have faithfully supported our church plant financially these last several months, and recently the church sent a team down to help us canvas the area. The team that came down worked really hard. Because of their hard work, about 850 homes received invitations for our easter egg hunt.
Because of their diligence and perseverance, we were able to get contact info on about 40 prospects. We have followed up with them once and are following up with them again. Wow!!! Praise be to the Lord Most High.
First Euless has been a tremendous blessing to us. Since starting the church in our home in mid-november, many things have happened. We have named the church Hays Community Church. You can check us out on the web at www.hayscommunitychurch.org. We now have six families coming in addition to our family. Four of the six families coming were unchurched prior to coming to our church. Right before Christmas, one couple prayed to receive Christ and were baptized in January. We have a baptism planned in May where we will baptize one couple and two of their children. We have done multiple outreach events, and on April 2nd, we started a Kids' Beach Club at Kyle Elementary School. We have had about 30 to 35 kids come the last two weeks, and 15 to 20 of those kids are unchurched. God is doing great things here in Kyle, TX. Please know that we are partners in the work of building Christ's Church for the expansion of His kingdom.
Also, know that our labor is not in vain, and that in the proper time we will reap a harvest for His Kingdom. We thank God for you guys.

-Josh and Kelly Proctor and Family

Easter Weekend Reflections

Ray Strauss, Pastor of the Church at Sun Valley, sent us this update:

Joe, one of our greeters at church, said to me on Easter morning, "You look like a kid on Christmas." Well, I felt like a kid on Christmas! First of all, our mission team from Grace Place Baptist Church in Oklahoma did a great job with our children's sports camp all week. Then they canvassed nearly our entire neighborhood with door-hangers to invite as many people as they could to church on Easter. It reminded me of Jesus' parable about the Wedding Feast, "Go to the highways and byways and invite everyone...for there is still room!"
As if that was not impressive enough, the second course of the best week was our Saturday morning Easter Egg Hunt. Our wonderful friends at Grand Community Baptist Church filled 2000 eggs with Candy! When over 200 people showed up for the hunt, the WOW factor was in full effect. With four fields marked for each age group, every child had a basket full of eggs! Parents and Grand parents could not take enough pictures as the little ones scampered and raced toward the ripe harvest awaiting. We cannot thank GCBC enough for all they did to collect, organize and fill the 2000 eggs!
Some other note worthy moments were visiting with new families and hearing their stories. One family from Minnesota was stuck in our perfect weather until the snow could be cleared from the airport back home. Thanks God for the sunny and 78!
Now for the dessert. Easter has been the day set long ago as our church plant's official launch. It was our 10th week to meet in our school and up until this day, we have been more focused on discipling our small group to prepare for what we expected the Lord to do.
Then it happened. 9:30am, they started showing up. A few at first, but then they kept coming. Up until Easter, our highest attendance was 75. To be honest, I expected God to do something cool, amazing, HUGE. That is His style. To break 100 would be acceptable for our launch. Somehow, with the previous week’s activities, one would have to be blind to not see His fingerprints all over our church and community. He was up to something and it was going to be big!
I knew this for another reason. The spiritual warfare I was enduring that weekend was intense! God prevailed and that morning revealed why. At 10am, we had to add row upon row of chairs. I mean, the people kept coming! When we ran out of available seating, we needed inside the storage room to get more chairs, but it was locked! Pastor Daniel ran down the hall to get a teacher to unlock the room. When Daniel showed up with her, she could not have uttered more apt words as they walked into the gym. "Oh my!" Needless to say, she stayed for the service.
Alan, our incredible Worship Leader, and his buddy lead us in a great lineup. As people kept coming, a sense of spiritual community was building. The atmosphere was alluring. Usually, it is easy to spot the Easter only church goers. They are the fidgety ones. While they were still present, I could see them relax and become engaged as the service progressed.
Soon after the welcome and into the second song, it happened. The singing crowd softened and heads began to turn. First to the right, then down, and finally back. Junior had arrived! No, he’s not the rebel rouser finally coming to Jesus. Junior is a neighbor's Dachshund. Apparently The Church at Sun Valley is so "happening" that even our canine friends are showing up! The only thing more humorous than a weenie-dog sneaking in the door and running around the Easter service is the Senior Pastor chasing him down during the Easter service!
After Junior was excommunicated, the worship service continued with amazement. It was inspiring to watch the Lord bring 175 people to church that day. The gospel message was clearly shared and many hearts were committed to Jesus that day. To God be the glory! Easter was a great day!

If My People Pray

Paula Odom, Director of the MidCities Pregnancy Center, sent us this update:

Recently we had a 24 hour Prayer Vigil at the pregnancy center. The following week we saw God do many great things, especially confirming how He is going before us into Irving.

Two pastors from Irving churches came to tour the center. One of pastors asked us to come to his church to do a ministry presentation in April. He grew up in Irving and was excited that we were going to start a satellite office there. He said that he wanted to connect us with other churches in Irving as well. I asked him if there was a ministerial alliance there for pastors, and he said, “Funny you would ask that, I am putting one together right now.” He invited me to come and do a presentation about the new Irving center when they began meeting.

The other pastor brought in his wife to tour the center, and he brought baby bottles with donations from his church! He encouraged us in our plans for Irving because he noticed there was no center there and the need is great.

God did something else wonderful, through one of our staff members, Paulette Huff. Here is her story:

I went to see my doctor for my annual exam, and while I was there I made small talk with the medical technician, telling her about the work I did at the pregnancy center. While talking, I learned that the young lady had made one appointment to an abortion clinic and cancelled it, only to make another appointment. She saw abortion as her only solution. She and her boyfriend already had a year-old baby boy and he didn’t particularly want another baby. Money was very tight. As the conversation went on, I shared what I might have shared with her in a counseling room. The Lord was very present. A heart was softened and tears flowed easily. Two total strangers hugged.
A life was saved.

My last words to her were, "God sure does love you a lot to answer your prayers. You asked Him to tell you what to do and He sent me to you."

This story is not complete without mentioning a few more details. First, there was a nurse in the same practice who told this young lady that God had a purpose for her and her baby, and that she and her friends would be praying for her. Second, this young lady cancelled her second abortion appointment and never made another one. Finally, this doctor’s office is in Irving! God is confirming our move there, little by little. We may not have a pregnancy center in Irving yet, but we’ve got our first client—and she’s chosen life!

Needless to say, we have all been reminded of the importance of prayer as we serve the Lord, and we are planning to have a prayer vigil one day each month. We are so grateful to be part of the “Miracle” and for the first tiny life saved!