GO partners see God's blessing during pandemic
GO partners see God's blessing during pandemic
Eight of our partners joined us in prayer on Thursday and shared these updates from their ministries. We are constantly encouraged by the Kingdom work they do, but they need your prayers as they face many challenges.
Carlos Mayorga | Nicaragua
A new home for this family in a slum in Nicaragua
There are many difficulties with sickness and hunger. However, not everything is negative, and the Lord is doing many good works! In the problems, the Lord is visiting Nicaragua with a revival. Carlos said that the pandemic is like a demon that is attacking the church and trying to close its doors. But the church will never stop preaching. Many people are coming to the Lord and putting their faith in Him, and there is a call to repentance.
Carlos said that as a pastor there is a challenge to either face the Great Commission or hide from it. He is continuing to preach, feed children, and help build houses for many people. The Gospel is beyond words...it involves action. The prayers of others are helping him to go forward.
Carlos asks for prayers that the Lord will give bread so they can feed people and for faith and courage - like those a part of the early church in the book of Acts.
Wilma Grandez | Lima, Peru
Wilma is working in two districts in Lima. She is connecting to these communities through Zoom meetings on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, she leads prayer meetings on Zoom. She is meeting with community leaders and continues to feed the children from her school and needy families in the community.
Wilma and her family are healthy and doing well. The Lord has been speaking to Wilma through the story of Joshua. She is reminded that God’s word will never depart from you and everything you do will prosper. This has been her anchor as she continues to trust in the Lord.
Read more for a full update from Wilma.
Paul | South Asia
COVID cases and the effects of the pandemic are worsening in South Asia; however, Paul is not worried because of the opportunities God has given him to preach the Gospel.
August was a great month for ministry in his neighborhood though many people have been infected with the virus. His church is surrounded by about 15 homes that were infected with COVID, but God protected Paul and his family from it. The church was able to be a lighthouse for the community, and God brought people to their literal doorstep to minister to them.
Read more for a full update from Paul.
Ivan Gallindo Paz | Honduras
There continues to be many problems with people being hungry, not having jobs, and problems within families, but God has been merciful. They have been able to reach many people and families. Last week, 40 families were blessed with the distribution of food.
There are many families who have lost relatives and loved ones. Ivan and his church are trying to minister and encourage these people. Through this, God has opened up the doors to share the Gospel.
About two weeks ago, the church was reopened. Many people are reconciling to the Lord. During quarantine, the church prayed and fasted regularly.
Ivan’s family is doing well, and the pandemic has allowed them to spend more time together and study God’s word together. Ivan asked that we pray for Central America because Hurricane Nana is heading that way.
Adan Diaz | Peru
Quarantine is over in his region, but there is martial law Monday through Friday from 4 am to 10 pm. People are also not allowed to leave their homes on Sundays, but Adan and his ministry are still sharing the Gospel and assisting with people’s needs. A lot of people are receiving Jesus and are hungry for the Gospel. After individuals receive Jesus, they are given a book called “My Connection to God.” It’s based on Psalm 139 and teaches people how to pray and to talk to the Lord.
Adan reported that many people receive food with tears in their eyes. They tell people that the food is being given in the name of Jesus, not in any religion or denomination. Adan has services online at 8 pm on Thursdays and Sundays.
Everyone in his family is doing healthy and well. Pray for him as he is traveling to river communities next Wednesday, and it is very dangerous to go there. He also asked for prayer for a pastor in a village whose wife is sick.
Dr. Willyams Reynoso | Peru
Feeding families in Lima, Peru
There are a lot of people infected with COVID in Peru, and more than 29,000 people have died from it. They are the 5th nation with the most cases and 2nd in South America. About 2% of their population has been infected with it. Quarantine has been effective in some areas because there were many people infected in certain places. In the district of Olivos, some people had a party and as a result, 13 people lost their lives due to COVID.
Willyams said that as a church, we need to be working to preach the Gospel. When pastors go out to the streets to preach the Gospel, they are facing more obstacles.
Willayms and his church distributed food to more than 400 people recently and were able to make direct contact with about 25% of those people. They had planned to do an event to minister to people, but the government shut that down because of what happened in Olivos. Willyams said the enemy is trying to take advantage of what happened.
Every week, the church is working with women and children through services online with Zoom and WhatsApp. Joyfully, the church has not closed doors and continues to work for the Lord. They continue to help those that are in extreme poverty.
Willyams shared that the Lord has put a vision in his heart to extend the Gospel and help other nations, specifically Cuba. The country has been affected by poverty, government, COVID, and more. He is asking for prayers for this new challenge and vision that God has given him to help.
Willyams reported that 90% of the people they saw in the streets last week were from Venezuela. They were professionals in their home country but now in Peru, they have nothing. He was sad but happy to help them. The barriers of nations/language doesn’t matter - they are continuing to do God’s work.
Arturo Castaneda | Lima, Peru
In sharing about COVID, Arturo said that’s like seeing the angel of death walking the streets. However, God is a creative God, and He is giving them creative ways to share the Gospel with others. The local church is having services almost every day through Zoom.
They are helping many people in the neighborhood. Two times a month, they are helping needy people, especially those that are from Venezuela. These Venezuelans have no family here, but Arturo said that we are all the family of God, so he has welcomed them as family.
Next week, they plan to go out house to house sharing the Gospel through what’s called Kilogram of Love. They will give a kilo of rice and kilo of sugar to people. Arturo continues to do discipleship with people. God is raising up disciples to take out to different places. He will continue working for God’s glory. Arturo reminded us that the church is not a physical building - it continues on!
Joshua and Elizabeth Zubiandi | Venezuela
The Zubiandis shared these prayer requests with us as their internet connection is unreliable. Please pray that they will be able to join our times of fellowship and prayer with partners.
The dictatorial government said that the churches cannot have face-to-face services until September, but so far they haven't said anything new about being able to get together.
Cases of COVID continue to increase.Venezuela hasn't reached the peak yet.
We have received information of pastors contained in different cities of Venezuela. Also, three out of the 12 pastors we supervise are sick with COVID.
Several families of our church are sick and recovering at home with natural remedies as they cannot afford medicines sold in pharmacies.
We are giving away food to more than 90 families (not all at the same time) with different outreaches.
Good news: We are in the planning stages of a VBS online and offline according to the situation of connectivity of families. We have a team of precious leaders working from home on it. We will have a day of enrollment to find out how many children will participate, and then we will have parents going to the church in their communities in order to receive printed materials to be shared with their kids at 10 a.m every day along with 5 snacks (1 per day).