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Last weekend, the RBC congregation was blessed to receive a missions report from Scott McManigle, a former RBC missionary who now serves as the associate missions pastor at Faith Bible Church. Scott, along with his wife Annette and their children, spent eighteen years in northern Thailand. Through their service, the Lord used them to plant a church among the Pwo Karen tribe in a village called Mae Phae.  Three Pwo Karen church leaders joined Scott last Sunday in praising the Lord for RBC’s support and involvement in sending the gospel of Christ to their tribe.

“Thank you for sending us a missionary. Thank you for sending the gospel. God has saved us from worshiping the spirits; He has saved us from the deceit of Satan through His son, Jesus.”

We praise God for the fruit He is bearing through the faithful proclamation of the gospel in Northern Thailand.   Since the McManigles left Thailand in 2006, the church in Mae Phae has continued to grow and the Pwo Karen believers are teaching the gospel in other tribes around their area.

Please continue to pray for gospel to go forth in the Mae Phae village and to other villages throughout the region. Pray that many  Pwo Karen tribesmen would come to saving faith in Jesus and that the church there would be a great light for the glory of God. To learn more about the church in Mae Phae and the Pwo Karen people, check out the video below.

(Video credit: Fellowship Bible Church)

After an extended furlough to take care of their daughter’s educational needs, the H. family has returned to the bush in Mozambique where they seek to make Christ known to the Mwinika tribe. When they left, many people in the village were convinced that the H.’s would never come back, so the Mwinika villagers were pleasantly surprised when they actually DID return! As is part of the culture, the villagers came with a little something to welcome them back home, and as soon as they arrived, there were LOTS of children to greet them. The Mwinikan boys were anxious to play soccer, but the soccer field had been overgrown with weeds and thorns in the H.’s absence. The morning after they returned, they woke up to find a whole crew of boys out in the field working away to clear up the field so that they could play. While in the U.S., the H.’s had received a bag full of clothes for the children in their area, and they were able to give each boy who helped a new shirt!

It was a great encouragement to their hearts to be back and to see the different groups of Mwinikan believers meeting together. Some are stronger than others in their faith, but the interest in spiritual things is still there.  One young couple was recently sent out from the main village to teach literacy and Bible lessons in a village far away from where they live.  This was an incredible step of faith for them. As well, many Mwinika ladies tell the H.’s they are ready to start learning to read and write and to study God’s word together! It is amazing to see God’s provision in these ways.

The H. family spent a profitable two-week time in the village, settling back into life there –  unpacking, reconnecting with friends, getting reacquainted with the language, and retaking their home back from the bugs.  But now they find themselves back on the road again.  The H.’s schedule for the next few weeks is very busy. This next week will be spent in Kenya where they will be dropping their daughter off at Rift Valley Academy for the upcoming school year, followed by a number of ministry meetings in South Africa.

Here are a few praises and prayer request from the H. family. Please take a moment now to pray for them and give thanks to God for all He is doing there.

• Praise the Lord  for His strength over the past few weeks and for the many things they were able to accomplish in such a short time.
• Praise Him also for the work He is doing in hearts and lives of the Mwinika people. Pray that their interest in the Lord will continue to grow and that the believers there will become more grounded in their faith.
• Pray for the H.’s as they say goodbye to their daughter and for her as she settles into school in Kenya.
• Upon return from Kenya, they will be traveling on to South Africa for several days of ministry meetings.  Pray for safety as they travel and for good and profitable results from the meetings.

This is Eduardo’s brother, Evandro. Eduardo led him to the Lord, and he is in our internship program preparing to go into full-time mission work with Open Arms. I love seeing how the Lord orchestrates things.

Eduardo is a Brazilian national supported by Reston Bible Church through the organization Open Arms Worldwide.  He and his wife Claudia work with at-risk children and youth in some very tough neighborhoods as well as in one of Brazil’s infamous youth detention facilities sharing the gospel and helping lead young people to the narrow path that leads to life.

Eduardo wasn’t always a missionary though.  When he first came to Open Arms as a volunteer at the age of 17, he had just finished serving a year-and-a-half prison sentence for assault, theft, and drug offenses.  Today, by God’s grace, he has planted four outreach programs for Open Arms and shared his testimony at youth camps and churches across Brazil.

Just like in the U.S., children in Brazil learn and build relationships through activities like sports, arts, and games.  Recently in response to a special request from Eduardo, Reston Bible Church allocated some extra funds for him to purchase new supplies for the ministry that include new educational/strategy games, art supplies, soccer balls (always in short supply), and other sporting equipment.  These items are great for getting a child to sit down and just talk with our missionaries or volunteers.

Below is a letter with prayer requests we recently received from Eduardo. Below that is a thank-you video from Open Arms to all who responded and gave to this request!

“I want to share with you some testimonies and also ask for more prayer for our work.  Before that though I want to tell you how much of a difference it has made to have the new material that Reston Bible Church blessed us with.  Please let them know how grateful we are and how blessed the children have been.

As you know, I have worked with the same group of girls in our soccer ministry in the same neighborhood now for the past 5 years.  I have seen girls who lost their way in lesbianism, others that have stopped playing because they have gotten pregnant, but thanks to God who strengthened me and the counsel that you gave me to never give up, today I am seeing many seeds that we have planted years ago begin to grow.  It is with a heart full of emotion that I am writing that four of our girls that have been with me from the beginning are going to be baptized.  We have been using the community center to do baptism classes with them and on June 29th at a special Sunday service for Open Arms they will be baptized.  At the same service there will be an exposition of art that our kids have produced.  In fact some of the funds that RBC provided were used to purchase canvasses.  Their projects came out beautifully and they will be taking the exposition to other churches as well.  Many of the children from our soccer program are now attending church with us on Sundays as well.  I was so blessed a few weeks back when I couldn’t pick them up for church they showed up on their own.  That’s a good sign.  Please keep up the prayers.”

PRAYER REQUESTS:

• Pray that God would protect the girls who are being baptized.  They have all been under attack spiritually since they made that decision.
• Pray that God would strengthen and encourage the kids who are going to worship services on foot now.
• Pray that our new outreach to the boys via soccer will be bear fruit as it has with the girls.
• Pray for me and Claudia, as you know we have only been married a short time and we are having a rough first year at home.  Pastor Tiago has been counseling us and it has been helping a lot.
• Pray for my college.  As you know I have an easy time understanding scripture but not so much with other books and I am having a tough time at school.  I remember that you told me not to memorize but to learn.  I am trying but since I skipped a lot of school as a child it is hard for me.
• Pray for our health, me and Claudia, because we are working hard and have little time for rest.
• Please pray for Emanoel.  I asked for prayer for him some time ago.  He was getting beat up inside.  Well he was released and we went to visit him at home.  He has a drug addiction.  He’s only 17.  We were able to get him a spot at CREMOS (a Christian drug rehab home) and we are able continue ministering to him there.