December 1999
er eyes were Christinas bright as she told me the story. Decem-
■ her in their culture was a time when neighbors and friends vis¬
ited one another, bringing little gifts of sweets, so each year this
missionary mom spent many days with her young children,
visiting different shops around their city gathering ingredients.
When they had everything they needed, she and her children
began baking little cakes and making visits, bearing not only
warm baked goods, but also warm blessings in Jesus' Name.
Finally, that year all the cakes were baked, all the visits made.
"Now," her little boy thought, "we can start thinking
about our Christmas."
Instead, Mom said, "Now let's go shopping again and get
everything we need to bake a big birthday cake for Jesus."
At this, the slightly exasperated little fellow said, "Mom,
you know we can't deliver it!"
Of course, he was right. We can't. But we can celebrate,
and a wonderful way to do that would be to buy the best
ingredients, bake your best cake, and then deliver it and the
Good News to someone this Christmas.
Merry Christmas,
Randy Sprinkle, Director
International Prayer Strategy Office
4
К'ЕКСНГ
OF GUATEMALA AND BELIZE.
I Join missionary Beth Bailey in giving thanks to God for the
couple that is coming to Guatemala to teach the MKs (missionary
kids) of the K'ekchi' Team. Retired missionaries Jim and Olive
Reppeto are scheduled to arrive in January to finish out the school
year, and their assistance will free parents to minister among the
K'ekchi' people.
SERBIA (eastern Europe). The Serb people are
still in a very unstable situation. Ask God to provide, protect and
bring true peace to that area and those hurting people. Pray for our
Baptist representatives as they seek ways to minister to the Serb
people, both spiritually and materially, in relief efforts that are des¬
perately needed.
2 GERMANY (central Europe). As you continue
to pray for Baptist representative Martha Moore, who is in
( ’anguage study, please ask the Lord to give her divine wisdom as
_ she seeks to use her time wisely during her remaining time in
Cloppenburg. She will be there only through January. Pray that
she will not do "good" things, but will do the "best" things — those
that have Kingdom impact. Pray for networking opportunities for
Martha so that she may learn from other Great Commission Chris¬
tians who are doing ministry among university students in Ger¬
many, in preparation for her ministry following language study.
3 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (island south¬
east of Cuba) . Pray with missionaries Frank and Chita
Drinkard for the Getsemani Church of Santo Domingo. The pastor
is seeking, through the Lord's guidance, to rebuild a congregation
that has deteriorated. Although people attend services and activi¬
ties of the church, very few have come forth to become a part of
the leadership. The church has initiated new works in El Barco and
Los Rios, but the crying needs there are also for leadership. Pray
that God will give clear direction to the pastor as he teaches and
preaches concerning the need for an ongoing Bible-teaching min¬
istry, biblical stewardship, spiritual gifts and a servant spirit
among the members.
4 BOLIVIA (west central South America).
Please be in prayer for a volunteer team of nine university stu¬
dents who will serve with the University Students/Professionals
Team in January of 2000. Ask God to care for their physical and
financial needs as they prepare for this mission trip to Bolivia.
They will do ministry and evangelism for three weeks in the city of
Santa Cruz. Pray that God will spiritually prepare the heart of each
team member and will use this as an opportunity to increase their
vision for missions.
5LUGURU OF TANZANIA. Missionary Carolyn
Dixon reports that a pastor and his wife who live in a Muslim
village have begun a kindergarten in the church. Fifty-three chil¬
dren are attending — some as old as 10 years — and they have never
been to school. The kindergarten opens with prayer every day and
has chapel once a week. Knowing this, the Muslim parents still
send their children, because they want them to be educated. Pray
that the pastor and his wife will be godly examples and that peo¬
ple will be drawn to the love of God through them.
6 ANGOLA (southwestern Africa). Missionary
Eddie Ray writes: "Life is difficult in Angola. Pray that all of
us (missionaries, national leadership, church leaders, Christians)
will have the necessary patience as we go about our day-to-day
activities and responsibilities. To accomplish anything here requires
time, money, knowing the right person and patience. Pray that we
will maintain the correct perspective and, thus, continue to discover
the opportunities of ministry that the Lord brings our way during
those days when we seem to be accomplishing little or nothing."
7HAKKA OF TAIWAN. Missionary Wes Thrush and
his wife, Danette, were awakened in the middle of the night.
Wes writes: "We went through the most profound satanic attack I
