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Missions Banner Presbyterian Missionary Union & Venture Guild International

1650 Love Road, Grand Island, New York 14072 Phone: 716-775-0442 Fax: 716-775-3405 Email: [email protected] Web: www.presbyterianmissions.org

FEBRUARY 2008, #225

“Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples!” Psalm 96:3

First VBS in New Sanctuary Keeps the Rain Off! “Thank you for your prayers. We have reached our goal of fifty or more children at our VBS, with fifty-four in attendance. Eleven accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior (bottom right picture). Pray for the spiritual growth of the following children: Tatiana Chambi 6, Ivet Alarcon

• Team Timothy USA Still Needs You!

“On Saturday the 19th, we rented a bus to go to Laikacota Park overlooking downtown La Paz, where the children played and also testified of

6, Daniela Ipieta 7, Evelyn Callisaya 8, Yordi Clavijo 9, Diana Huaynoca 11, Mariela Ipieta 11, Ruben Gutiérrez 12, Oscar Herrera 12, Sergio Paco 13, and Silvia Checa 13. Our memory verse: Psalm 96:3; our hymn: “I love to tell the Story.” Our volunteers to teach the Bible stories to the children were our brothers and sisters Timoteo, Paulo, Martin, Gonzaga, Lumy, Doris and my wife Gloria. Rafael and Abdias taught the piano. My wife Gloria implemented a plan to seek out and bring in the children which worked very well. “We started with two days of rain, Thanks to your prayers, our Lord was faithful with us because after this we had days without rain, especially during the VBS classes. The children learned a lot. They also worked with crafts. We are thankful for the materials of the past VBS organized by Team Timothy. We have used all these materials in our classes. Thanks to my Team Timothy friends!

News to Know

Christ. Inside the park we met in a place where the clowns usually act, and there we sung our hymn and Bible verse, and two teachers taught the story of The Lost Sheep. 250 tracts were distributed to the people in the park. The children and teachers were happy and grateful to the Lord for this beautiful opportunity.” Please be sure to view the photo journal of the construction project on PMU’s web site. We’ll also post all the photos from the La Paz VBS there. Team Timothy Bolivia members for this summer’s ministry need your financial support. Please call or write the office for more information on how you can help.

There is still room on our USA team for you or your family to come to Grand Island, NY, and help us get a jump start on reaching the whole island for Christ. And there is still just enough time for you to apply if you do so right away! The ministry dates are March 24-29. Please call the office for details. (More on p. 2!) • Miriam’s Work Keeps Progressing Due to tremendous pressures upon believers and ministries in her field, we won’t give many details about Miriam’s location. We can tell you that she is doing well, that the translation project of an excellent commentary on Proverbs is moving forward, and that her personal work among ladies there is bearing much fruit! Thanks for your prayers for her, and for your support. • New Team Timothy Bolivia Member Praise the Lord for our newest team member, Miss Liz Wann, from Lakeland, FL. Liz brings our team to 8 members, and rounds out our ability to do a lot of music and children’s ministry while we are there. She needs your support. Please pray for all our team members as they finish raising their support: their deadline is the end of February, and they need your help! Liz Wann, Lakeland BPC

Banner Photo above: VBS outreach in Laikacota Park, La Paz, Bolivia

Presbyterian Missionary Union is a non-profit missions agency associated with the Bible Presbyterian Church. Our purpose is to advance the cause of missions that are biblically based and practiced and to stand against any compromise of the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. PMU is directed by a Council of Christian leaders who volunteer their time to guide the ministry. To learn more about missions opportunities through PMU, or about the BPC, please contact us. The Missions Banner is published ten times a year for interested individuals and churches. It seeks to promote the clear stand of the BPC by providing a biblical perspective on issues, fads, and theories in missions and church development. Our Editor is Len Pine, and our Publisher is Morris McDonald.

Kima’s Ministry Expands in Myanmar The Kima’s ongoing work in the Golden Kingdom is truly astonishing. Be sure to visit our web site and download the 2007 photo journal that highlights many of the ministries in which the Kimas are involved. Pastor Kima reports that he has been able to carry out pastoral visitation to each family in the church on a regular basis, with attendance typically running in the mid– to upper-thirties on the Lord’s Day. He is also working toward holding two services a day in the Yangon church, one held in Burmese, and the other in the Mizo dialect. The Alpha and Omega kindergarten and the Mingala Children’s Home are seeing the Lord work wonderfully in the hearts of the children they care for and Rev. Kima (above left) leading a group out to Kay Lar Yap teach. In addition to the daily and weekly ministry of the church in Yangon, Rev. Kima did some follow up training with the believers at Namhu, in the Shan state, held a combined Christmas service at the village of Aungthapyi, where BPC members from the missions in Aungthapyi, Namhu, and Inlay gathered, did some missions work out at Kay Lar village on Inlay Lake (see photo), and is now preparing for the annual Summer Evangelistic Camp which will come up in March of this year. The Mingala Children’s Home in Aungthapyi is also doing very well. Many hands apply themselves to all these works, including the financial support of folks here in the US that helps keep all this going. Kima asks for prayer for believers at Thinglei village, who want to start BP church in this year. And, he is praising the Lord for seven churches in the northern Chin State, as they have joined with the BPC of Myanmar recently. There is much training and preparation to do to help these new congregations understand just what it means to be Presbyterians, and to keep good order in a rapidly growing national body. There is also great need for trained leadership, and Kima has worked hard to finish translating the complete BP constitution so that formal training can begin in earnest for elders and pastoral candidates. Pray for this work. We are hopeful that we can return later this year to assist in that work now that the translation is done. In the meantime, a ministry team from Dr. Paauwe’s church in Perth will visit and seek to be an encouragement towards the end of the month of March. Please keep the Kimas in prayer, and make their work a part of your missions budget. Thank you!

Baldwin Reports Blessings and Progress in Cambodia “God has blessed. I have had a good year and a nice Christmas. I had ‘Instant Message’ conversations with family and friends on Christmas day and enjoyed one of the last cool days of the cool season. Next months things should start warming back up towards 100+. Thankfully this has been a very ‘cold’ cool season. A few days it actually failed to make 80! I trust God has given you a blessed year and Christmas. I pray that God would bless you and his church in the year to come. “I stumbled across a little Christian shop on my walk this week and they had a copy of ‘My First Catechism’ in English and Khmer! I bought it immediately and hope to begin using it with Socheat (my Khmer tutor) soon. I think it'll be a great way to introduce some "Biblical" (above) Typical Phnom Penh vocabulary at a grammar level I can understand. I've started working on the Lord's Prayer from the chiltraffic dren's catechism. It's not as hard as I thought it would (below) Mark and a friend be though clearly some of the words are fairly sophisticated. I had Socheat record the Lord's Prayer said slowly "one-by-one" and at normal speed along with the questions for the Lord's Prayer. It should help me learn the words and memorize the Q&As. I'll put it on my Chinese ‘IPod’ so I can listen to it on my trip also. Please remember me, my labors, and my studies of the Khmer language in your prayers.” If you would like to read more about Mark’s work, please visit his personal web site at http://baldwin.gracebpc.org. You’ll also be able to learn how to make Cambodian Cheese, a local delicacy that you won’t want to miss trying!

Team Timothy USA Aims at Evangelism Training and Opportunities PMU is pleased to be able to work with local churches in the US who are aiming at reaching their communities with the gospel and providing training and opportunities to do so. This year, the Grand Island BPC in Grand Island, New York, is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary by launching a concerted effort to reach every home on the island with the gospel message. This will be done throughout the year, but the initial push will come the week of March 24-29, when folks from around the country will come and join with church members in going door to door with copies of John Blanchard’s Ultimate Questions booklet in an effort to present the gospel and invite islanders to church. So far, our Team Timothy members from other churches number five in all: we could use more, and the only real cost is whatever it takes to get here, as the church is happily supplying room and board. There will be training in the work as we start off the week, and then we hit the streets. Please call right away if you are interested in more information!