October 2012

We recently received this email from one of our representatives in Central Asia about a friend of his suffering persecution. Please join us in praying for this man and his family. "Dear Co-laborers in Christ,

I wanted to write you again about our friend whose fate is in question. He is a pastor from a country who suffered torture in prison there for his Christian faith. In 2007, he and his family fled their country and were granted refugee status by the UN. At that time he had the opportunity to relocate to the West, but declined in order to continue ministering the gospel to his people group living in a neighboring country.

During his time in his country, this very successful pastor has been routinely harassed and denied legal documents by the government. On September 5th, the country's police arrested him at the pressure of the government in violation of international law. He is currently in prison and we fear he will be deported at any point.

He is indeed a hero. Please be in prayer for him and his family and for the government's decision. This is a leading developing country in the region, so this will serve as a critical test-case which will have far-reaching implications on governments' treatment of religious freedom.

God bless you all!"

March 2012

In the southern part of Central Asia, our national sports ministry team organized conference for 50 representatives of two main faith-based networks of the country. On the first day, they discussed the opportunities and challenges in the country to work with children and youth. On the next day, the training was on how to use sports strategies effectively. On the third day, all participants were divided into 5 teams and went to 5 locations to practice the skills they learned during the conference...with 600 participants! Being encouraged by practical experience, on 4th day, those 5 teams wrote a plan of organizing conferences in 10 places within the next 3 months. For on- going coaching and support, the pair of mentors from the national team connected to each team to help them succeed in their plans. Please join us in praying for this part of the world!

August 2011

I have never felt such opposition in my life as I do now. Recently, when I returned from a trip, one coach who I deemed a colleague asked me why I returned. After some small talk, he asked me why I don’t coach in America. I felt that I should give an honest answer and so I told him that as a Christian, I believe the Lord has led me here to not only coach, but to help in telling others about Christ. With that, he reacted with outright hatred and anger.  His comments portrayed the sentiment I often detect in the culture at large. He told me that we and our God are not needed here. He stated that I serve the Hebrew God and that he serves his god – the people of R. This friend, with whom I’ve had many excellent friendly conversations, exploded with a vile sentiment with which even I was taken back. This experience, as well as the countless others, has really helped to remind me that my citizenship is not of this world and that we are truly laboring in enemy territory.  The areas in which our frontline reps are working are the enemy's strongholds.  It is a war.  Please pray for them, their families, and those with whom they share Truth and Light.

November 2010

A prayer request from a rep in Central Asia: "Please pray for me, as I seek the Lord's direction in my personal life as well. I've been really struggling with discouragement lately. I sometimes feel like nobody here wants to hear anything I have to say. I'm seeking the Lord and trying my best to obey Him and keep pure. In spite of this, I feel really despised by some here because of my faith perhaps. Realistically, I'm wondering if my time here may be coming to a close, but I don't want to bail out until I know for certain that the Lord is leading me somewhere else. I have learned that "home" is where the Lord is!!! America or any other place would be no better. I need to be walking with the Lord! Thomas asked Jesus, "Lord, we don't know where you are going. How can we know the way?"Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father, but by me." (John 14:5-6)"

Please join us in lifting up the needs of this rep. It is important to support them in prayer as they struggle to walk with the Lord while living the the enemy's strongholds.

September 2010

A testimony from a long term rep in Central Asia about a new believer in his area: "With dear believers like these, we must pray for strength, stability, and courage. And where possible, drink tea with them and encourage them as we receive encouragement. When drinking tea, we can help them process 'life' with deep questions like "what's been easy/hard for you these days?"; "what can we pray about for you as you approach these next days?"; and "can we work on a good local language spiritual song together that you can sing to yourself when you are all alone and not too happy?"

Please pray for continued discipleship and new fruit in the war torn countries of Central Asia.

June 2010

The following is an excerpt from an email we received from one of our US-based reps who was able to attend a meeting with several of our reps from the Middle East, Central Asia, and North Africa: "Please pass along my thanks to all who helped organize the meeting and make it an invaluable experience. What an amazing team (staff and reps). I am humbled and honored to be associated with you all. I sat among obedient, risk-taking GIANTS and was humbled. It is time to "get in the game" 100%."