Foreign Missions Update

Prayer Requests

From Kathy Crossley (Regional Prayer Coordinator, South America): Please continue praying for the missionaries and saints in Chile.

Aftershocks and threats of tsunamis continue in Chile. Thursday evening an earthquake took place in Northern Chile which the scientists say is not related to the major earthquake experience last Saturday in South Central Chile. As people get desperate the curfew hours have lengthened making it almost impossible to get supplies, get them organized and into the hands of the people. Missionary Dan Barkley in Santiago has been busy with the churches there trying to get supplies bought and transported to areas affected. A normal trip to Concepcion where the Hayes are takes 5 hours; because of traffic, damaged roads and danger of travel it is taking a full day to make the round trip.

We received an urgent request today that looters were trying to get into the church in Concepcion where Bro. Firmani pastors and burn it. We immediately went into prayer and a short time later we received a message from Bro. Hayes that the Firmanis and the church were safe and secure. Praise the Lord for His protection!

Please pray that Safe Travel Permits will be authorized providing our team there access to areas badly affected and extend possible hours of travel.

Below is an accounting by Bro. Shane Hayes of the recent weeks.

We are at ground zero of the 8.8 earthquake in Concepcion, Chile. My neighbor is a seismologist and says that it registered here a 8.9. I have never felt something so terrifying in my life. We literally couldn't walk or run to our children's rooms, so we crawled. We literally watched the walls and floor twist and turn. Everything was crashing around us, I thought we were dead. All of our dishes, glasses and appliances were flying around the house. The shaking was so bad, it threw my Jeep around like a Matchbox car and it CRACKED THE BATTERY! But God had us in His hands.

We have had tremors every 2-3 minutes, one Wednesday was a 6.3.

I have been into the various parts of the cities and seen the tragedies first hand. Here on Facebook, I have posted the pictures. I saw ships in the middle of the city from the tsunami that hit Talcahuano, sister city to Concepcion. I saw bodies being pulled out of buildings, fires, rubble, people homeless and without food. Lawlessness has reigned, people have been looting and rioting in the streets and carried it into the neighborhoods after they stole everything they could from the stores. Then to make it worse, after they would steal everything, they would then set the places on fire. Our neighborhood organized watches and I would stand guard with other men from 1am - 4am, with our street barricaded. We would hear the gunshots in nearby neighborhoods as they got closer and closer. Last night alone there were 13 gunshots fired in our neighborhood. But God had His hand on us and we feel at absolute peace.

The government here has been extremely slow to respond, if they would have put the military on the streets the first day like the mayor here requested, we wouldn't have had the problems with the aftermath. There is no food nor supplies. The trucks bringing in provisions are stuck on the sides of the road from Santiago to here waiting on authorization. The military finally arrived on the scene late Monday night and last night was my first time to sleep more than two hours.
Our neighborhood has really pulled together to help each other out. We have shared everything with everyone. Whatever one is lacking, someone has provided. We have had community meals and it has been a great opportunity for us to know our neighbors.

We have 5 days of food in our house and are trying to distribute food boxes to those in need.
Our electrical came on temporarily Monday night and then steadily Tuesday evening. The water came on Wednesday. I took the coldest shower in history, the first since Friday and was able to shave. It has also improved the sanitary conditions, as you can imagine. It's the little things that produce such joy. We are just waiting for our natural gas to be turned on so we can cook hot foods and take hot showers. But that is just a minor inconvenience. Many of the people in the city still have no services and we are doing what we can to assist them.

My fellow missionary, Dan Barkley has been a Godsend. He has made two trips from Santiago with provisions. His first trip on Monday was a blessing as we were down to our last liter of drinking water.

Tragically, we have lost at least one person in our local church. We are still looking for others that are missing. We have pastors and saints in this region who have lost everything, their homes, their church buildings, everything. They have been sleeping in tents and under tarps. We are trying to get to them to provide what little we can, but the 6pm - 12pm curfew makes traveling extremely difficult, although I know it is necessary. We spend 3+ hours in traffic alone just to get across the river into downtown. That’s not even including the return trip. We are organizing the ministers in unaffected areas to assist in this task as they have more freedom to travel.

These people need so much help, please consider giving, whether to Compassion Services International (www.compassionservices.com) or some other means. We are doing everything we can to help.

I was told that my family and I should be evacuated, to which I replied, "What kind of missionary would leave the people when they need them the most?" I tried to convince my wife to evacuate with our children, to which she replied, "We live together, we die together. God didn't call us here to let us die before we accomplished what we came to accomplish," to which I fully agree.

God has been so good to us. Please keep the nation of Chile in your prayers and the national board has asked me to convey their gratitude for the outpouring of support. God is in control!
Shane HayesMissionary - Chile

Prayer Focus for Friday, March 5, 2009: Robert and Sheri Moses (Russia)
Prayer Focus for Saturday, March 6, 2009: Steven and Jean Tir (Slovakia/Serbia)
Prayer Focus for Sunday, March 7, 2009: Edward and Mary Simmons (Thailand)
Prayer Focus for Monday, March 8, 2009: John and Sherri Hemus (United Kingdom)
Prayer Focus for Tuesday, March 9, 2009: John and Vonda Guidry (Spain)
Prayer Focus for Wednesday, March 10, 2009: Lee Young (New Zealand)
Prayer Focus for Thursday, March 11, 2009: Ray and Judi Nicholls (Poland)
Prayer Focus for Friday, March 12, 2009: Jack and Michiko Coolbaugh (Thailand)
Prayer Focus for Saturday, March 13, 2009: Amy Sawyer (Belize)
Prayer Focus for Sunday, March 14, 2009: Antonio and Jessica Marquez (Dominican Republic)
Prayer Focus for Monday, March 15, 2009: Lonnie J. and Damarys Burton (Venezuela)
Prayer Focus for Tuesday, March 16, 2009: Harry and Helen Scism (Retired)
Prayer Focus for Wednesday, March 17, 2009: Vic and Diana Votaw (Regional Evangelism, Asia)
Prayer Focus for Thursday, March 18, 2009: Joey and Cristina Bir (Paraguay)
Prayer Focus for Friday, March 19, 2009: Dan and Debbie Barkley (Chile)
Prayer Focus for Saturday, March 20, 2009: Dan and Sherry Davis (South Africa)

Update from the Hunley Family

Love from Louisiana

A big hello from the Louisiana District Campgrounds! We've just had a wonderful week of services in this area and are looking forward to what the next two weeks have in store for us in this great district!

All we need now is 23 churches or individuals to become $50 per month Partners in Missions with us before our return to the Middle East. We can't tell you how happy this makes us! Mama Maya is doing well with her pregnancy and is excited about entering her 2nd trimester at the end of this week. Your prayers are what keep us going... Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Praying through the Arabian Peninsula

Once every month this year, we are sending you information regarding various aspects and/or countries of the Arabian Peninsula (The Gulf States) along with prayer points. Let's get informed and get on our knees! God still answers prayer!

March: Yemen

Capital: Sanaa Population: 16,942,230 Religion: IslamArea-comparative: slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming

Muslim Background Believers: A few scattered believers

Yemen is The country was once part of the Kingdom of Sheba (the famed Spice Route) whose queen brought rare and costly gifts to King Solomon. When Islam was born in the seventh century, Yemen was one of the first countries to follow the new religion and is home to two of the oldest mosques in the world.

For a number of years Yemen was divided. South Yemen was the world's only Arab Marxist state. North Yemen was more traditional and tribal. After a brief civil war in 1994 the South was defeated and the country was united.

Yemen is by far the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula. Many Yemenis depend heavily on money earned by relatives working in other countries. During the Gulf War, those Yemenis working in Saudi Arabia were expelled, bringing an economic crisis. Today Yemen continues to struggle with poverty and under-development. Most Yemenis live on farms or in small villages.

Prayer Points

Monday - Pray for the children of Yemen. Almost 50% of this nation is under the age of 15! Pray that God grants his people wisdom to reach them.

Tuesday - Yemeni Christians (of any type) face loneliness and constant pressure from relatives and authorities to recant. Pray that they will have courage and wisdom.

Wednesday - Pray for the Gospel to penetrate into the illiterate majority and for the development of appropriate indigenous (story telling) audio and visual materials.

Thursday - Pray for the few Christian workers who are often discouraged due to the lack of responsiveness of the people. Pray for Christian workers to find sensitive, viable ways to gain access to the areas currently beyond reach of the Gospel.

Friday - Pray that God would give political stability to this troubled nation.

Saturday - Many Yemenis listen regularly to Christian radio broadcasts. Pray that the Holy Spirit will capture the hearts of many Yemeni people through the broadcasts.

Sunday - Most Yemenis are addicted to "qat", a mild narcotic, that depletes the people of their health and economic resources. Pray for healing from this addiction.