Please Pray

Please remember to be in prayer for the work here in Mibu. There is still so much to do... much more than just this one family can do. Often times when it comes to missions, the goal stops at sharing the gospel message and seeing new people come to faith. It goes way beyond that though. What about the resulting church and their continued growth into a mature body of believers who are faithfully leading and teaching and taking the message to the next generation and to other places?

That's where we're at in the Mibu Ministry. We're trying to train and develop leaders who will continue to lead the church forward. Again though, it's so much more than just our family can handle and so we're constantly playing a juggling game... and, to be honest, feeling like we're dropping balls. This is where we need your continual prayers.

The Mibu church is at a critical stage of early growth right now. Leader types have emerged, but it's a constant struggle to see them encouraged and consistent in their roles, moving ahead with a strong vision and sacrificial love for the church. There's no magical formula that just makes it all happen. There's no perfect strategic plan which, if we'd just follow it perfectly, would give us the results we're after. We're working with very real people here with very real struggles and problems. We don't pretend that these instantly go away as soon as they become believers. It's a process of learning and growing and seeing faith worked out. The pool of dependable servant leaders tends to cycle, waxing and waning between around 15 and as low as just 2 or 3.

Here are just a few of the areas currently needing the most help and where we try to focus our attention.

Unity among the leaders and believers. It seems there is always a schism somewhere. It's no surprise that Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, makes a direct correlation between the issues of unity and the maturity of the church. It's a constant battle, and divisive attitudes emerge with so many different flavors.

Family life is another area needing much attention. The struggles many families face here are very real. Abuse, neglect, apathy, and even immorality... it all threatens the well being of the family. It also fails to reflect God's will for the family. Most emerging leaders struggle with family issues, sometimes having to withdraw from service so they can focus on the family. While the escape of divorce, while possible, is almost unheard of here, the settled nature of long standing unresolved relationships often permeates a family. Not only between husbands and wives, but between children and their parents.

Community life. Within the last year or so many children from other areas have been sent to Mibu to attend the school that was started here recently. This means there are more than double the amount of children here. Many of them come from non-believing families, and are now here without their parents. They stay here with a host family. There's been a huge increase, since their arrival, of theft and destruction of property which has caused a lot of bickering and heartache among the believing community here. It's important for them to recognize the need, if they're going to have a school here, that they're going to have to take on parental responsibility for the children they are hosting. Right now the visiting kids pretty much just roam free and can do whatever they want. This is a golden opportunity for these kids to learn about their need for a savior and to hear about God's provision for that need. Unfortunately the idea of taking responsibility for these children that are not theirs is taking a while to instill. But recognition of the need is being expressed more and more. We're starting to see the church leaders take action here.