9/26/08

Praise

·      We praise the Lord that the surgery to remove Santiago Bereche’s gall bladder was successful.  Thank you for praying.

·      We are thankful for the volunteer missionaries that God has sent to serve in Ecuador.  Pray for Greg & Diane Hall as they begin their service for the next couple of months and for Al & Diane Wright as they return home today after four months of service.

Prayer Request

·      Please continue to pray for the family of Jason Wright.  He was taken off life support and died immediately.  Please remember his parents and his pregnant wife.

Continued Prayer Requests

The Howard family on Home Assignment until the end of December.

That Felix Vargas would receive a U.S. presidential pardon and be able to return to the U.S. one day.

That Vladimir Alulema will walk again and that his entire family will come back to the Lord.

NILI:  recruiting students and building relationships with partnering universities.

This school year for our Seminary and our extension programs in all three countries.

The leadership throughout Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela as they seek to do God’s will.

9/19/08

Praise

·      The NILI students are in Guayaquil working this week.  So far they’ve held three different Kids Club events with a total of 300 adults and children in attendance.  They also painted the front of one church and the classrooms in a second church.  Everyone is healthy and they even had cooler weather on the day they painted.  God is good!

·      God’s presence was evident throughout the Holiness Congress in Riobamba, Ecuador, in which the Church of the Nazarene celebrated our 100-year anniversary.  We are thankful to the planning team and many participants, which included Nazarenes from all over Ecuador.  The weekend included a parade that spread over 15 blocks with an estimated 2000 Nazarenes marching.

Prayer Requests

·      Please pray for Jason Wright who received a life-threatening brain injury in a car accident.  His family was told yesterday that Jason is brain dead.  He is on life support until the family makes a decision next week.  His wife is seven-months pregnant.  Al Wright says, “We are praying that God will restore Jason to health before that time, but will accept His will if that does not happen.”  Please remember the entire family in your prayers.

·      Pray for Rev. Freddy Guerrero, our Quito Seminary president, as he travels to Costa Rica for almost a week of meetings with other Nazarene Latin American Seminary Presidents.

Continued Prayer Requests

•  The Howard family on Home Assignment until the end of December.
  
• That Felix Vargas would receive a U.S. presidential pardon and be able to return to the U.S. one day.
  
•   That Vladimir Alulema will walk again and that his entire family will come back to the Lord.
  
• NILI:  recruiting students and building relationships with partnering universities.
  
• This school year for our Seminary and our extension programs in all three countries.
  
• The leadership throughout Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela as they seek to do God’s will.
  

9/12/08

A special word from the Zickefooses:

Dear NAF Prayer Partners,

Thank you for your prayers for our family and for Venezuela. We praise God for the opportunity to serve the Lord in South America for the last 24 years. He has been faithful as we journeyed in Peru, Ecuador, Haiti, and for the last 19 years, in Venezuela. We spent 15 years in Work & Witness and 9 in theological education and leadership development.  During the W&W years, the Lord helped us build 46 churches, 3 district centers, 4 missionary homes, and 12 buildings at the campground.  Between the two of us, we taught 107 classes in theological education as well as scores of workshops and sermons. The campground, a dream of Bill and Juanita Porter, is now complete and under the administration of a Foundation. The Lord helped us to establish the National Board in 1999, which received legal standing in 2008. God is good!

We began our mission career as volunteers.  We had the privilege of living in the home Larry and Addie Garmen in Peru as well as Louie and Ellen Bustle in Ecuador. We joined them in ministry, and in time, other joined us.  Over the years, more than 35 long-term volunteers came to live with us, as well as nearly 150 W&W teams.  Some of these volunteers became our partners in ministry: Jon and Shirley Fischer (15 years), Oscar Acosta (for 13 years), Jose David Acosta (7 years), and Kimberly Haddon (7 years).  We praise God for their fruitful ministries:  Fischers are serving in W&W in Ecuador, Oscar is serving as administrative assistant to the Area Director, Jose David as a Nazarene Missionary in Peru, and Kimberly Haddon as Student Life director of the NILI program in Ecuador. In addition, we are thankful for our close association with several Nazarene Universities.  Chief among them is NNU, who sent ministry teams yearly since 1995, as well as many professors who came to teach our ministers and leaders. They have had a great impact on the Wesleyan-Holiness heritage that Venezuela enjoys.

We came to South America not knowing anyone, and are leaving with hundreds of friends and family.  Now God is leading us down a new path.  We feel compelled “to get out of the boat and walk on water,” trusting God to lead us.  We resonate with Abram who believed God when He asked him to follow Him to “a land that I will show you.”  Pray that we will be sensitive to the place of ministry that God is preparing for us.  While we are waiting, we will enjoy sharing in the churches and spending time with our family.  Thank you again for the many, many prayers. -- Gail and Craig Zickefoose

Prayer Requests

·      This weekend, the Church of the Nazarene in Ecuador is holding its Congress of Holiness and will be celebrating “100 years of Shining in the World.”  Pray for God’s blessings and traveling mercies over the entire weekend’s events.

Continued Prayer Requests

·      The Howard family on Home Assignment until the end of December.

·      That Felix Vargas would receive a U.S. presidential pardon and be able to return to the U.S. one day.

·      That Vladimir Alulema will walk again and that his entire family will come back to the Lord.

·    NILI: recruiting students and building relationships with partnering universities.

·       The school year for our Seminary and our extension programs in all three countries.

·       The leadership throughout Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela as they seek to do God’s will.