This Week’s Prayer Update

November 8, 2012

Part of the listener response (in Mandarin).

A week ago I was in China along with Nick and Mike Maynard and Wesley Wildmon. One night we met with a group of Christians in a hotel room. One man said that he had traveled 15 hours by bus to get there. All of them had heard our Keep Believing broadcast in Mandarin. Some heard it over the radio, some heard it via CD, and some heard it on their smartphones. 

All of them came to meet our team in person.

They gave us copies of their responses to the program, written in Mandarin. Two days ago we received the translation of some of their comments.

From a 23-year-old kindergarten teacher:

All of them came to meet our team in person.

They gave us copies of their responses to the program, written in Mandarin. Two days ago we received the translation of some of their comments.

From a 23-year-old kindergarten teacher:

In my hometown, my family are non-believers, and we never hear about the good news of Jesus. My kindergarten principal is a Christian. Sometimes he said that “You have to believe in Jesus”, but I don’t know who is Jesus, and I don’t know how to trust and believe in Him. Later, I met a teacher (Mr. Y), and he explained clearly to me the good news, and let me hear a part of this program (“Keep Believing”). Now I understand the good news, and decided to trust Jesus as my personal savior, I am a Christian now. Praise God!

From a 40-year-old homemaker who has been a Christian for 10 years:

I trusted the Lord for many years, but I don’t understand the message very well. Furthermore we don’t have good church ministers here, so I slowly got colder towards God, and I don’t feel like going to church. One day Brother Y brought some CDs to share with us. We listened and liked the program. So now we formed a gospel group, and we listen to these programs twice a week, and it had helped us very much.

From a 50-year-old man who has been a Christian for 3 years:

I thank God for this program, it has helped me in understanding my belief more. In the past I don’t attend church often because of my poor health, I don’t hear much of the preaching. Now, this is great, I can listen to this program, and it had helped my daily and spiritual life very much.

From a 27-year-old kindergarten teacher:

I don’t trust the Lord in the beginning, and I don’t understand the preaching that I heard. One day, Teacher Y shared the gospel with me, and I resisted it in the beginning. After that, he let me listen to this program, I feel comfortable listening to it. The speaker is very gentle, and very attractive. So I started to listen to this program, and I like it very much.

From the man who rode the bus 15 hours:

Praise be to God, when I received these CDs, I played them to 2 kindergarten teachers that very night. After they listened to it, they felt that this is a good program, and it helps fulfilling their needs, and are willing to make the sinners’ prayer. In the end, they said the sinners’ prayer very happily, and so truly trust God and became Christians.

We have another file of testimonies that we haven’t had translated yet. God is showing us the early fruit from our Keep Believing China broadcast.

Please pray for Mark and Vanessa who are in Taiyuan, China. After their week in South Korea, they spent several days with Peter Wang and his family in Dalian, China. Later they met with some young believers from all parts of China who hope to take the gospel to unreached nations. After meeting with them, Mark wrote this note to the KBM board:

Something of great encouragement happened after we showed them the KBM site in Mandarin with the broadcasts. The leader of the group told us how discouraged they often were because they are all far from home. As a result they don’t get fed like they used to when they were in their house churches. After listening to the sermons on the KBM China website, the leader excitedly said, “This is so great. Now we can receive the words of God and be encouraged!”

They all send their love to KBM and told us to remind you all that your love for them will not be forgotten by them. Really and truly a moving time.

Our team had a great trip, Mark and Vanessa are having a great trip, and Marlene is enjoying spending this week taking care of Eli in Dallas.

No news yet on the sale of our home in Tupelo, but we’ve had several people look at it recently. 

I will be in Chicago on Saturday for a KBM board meeting. Pray for wisdom as the board considers all the open doors God has placed before us. We want this ministry to do God’s will so that by all means possible we can equip and encourage people to keep believing in Jesus.

Thanks for your prayers and for your financial support. We love hearing from you. Please let us know how we can pray for you.

God bless you!

Ray and Marlene

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This Week’s Prayer Update

August 2, 2012

Dear Prayer Partners,

When Ray answered the phone, he heard a familiar voice.

His friend was calling from 8000 miles away to say hello and to check out some thoughts about a sermon he was preaching the next day. As they talked, Ray made one or two suggestions. It was clear that his friend had a good sense of what God was speaking to his heart. As they finished the conversation, the man who had called from so far away said, “I’m glad that you and I can talk like this.”

We’re glad too.

Nothing gives us more pleasure than helping younger leaders who are serving Christ around the world. A few sentences of encouragement may end up touching thousands of lives.

Such is the nature of an Internet-based ministry. You never know who is reading or listening on the other end. That thought was impressed on us when an email arrived from a man who pastors in another country. He told us that he learned about Keep Believing in an unusual way:

A few years ago I became a pastor at a church, and one day when struggling with what to share on, I asked the Lord,.."What do you want to share and how do I know where to go"? The Holy Spirit then told me about your website. (I’m sorry to say I had never heard of you before, so it was quite a surprise to find your website that way!) I don’t remember now what the teaching was that week, but after that week I began to realize this was another research tool the Lord was revealing to me in how best to serve the people here.

That’s an amazing story, isn’t it? He then added this note:

Your testimony and teachings have been a blessing to me. The Lord is using you to help grow and disciple people you have not yet met in many places.

Our thrice-weekly China broadcasts continue via radio, the Internet and smartphone apps. Here’s a bit of feedback we received from a listener in a large city in China:

Greetings! I often log on to the website ‘Keep Believing’ and gain lots of help from Pastor Ray. May I ask what help can I offer for ‘Ministry in China’? Lord be with you!

This month our partners at TWR will begin distributing flash drives with the Mandarin version of An Anchor for the Soul to Christian workers in China. Those receiving the flash drives will be encouraged to make their own copies to share with other Christian workers. Thus we hope to encourage a widespread distribution of this simple “gospel book” across China. Your gifts and prayers make this outreach possible.

On Saturday morning we leave for a week of ministry at Word of Life in Schroon Lake, New York. We will be there August 4-10. We’re delighted that Mark and Vanessa and Eli will be with us for the week. On August 12 Ray preaches at The Orchard in Arlington Heights, IL. Please pray for journey mercies, good health, profitable personal ministry, and for God to anoint the preaching of his Word with Holy Spirit power.

On a personal note, we are still waiting for the sale of our house in Tupelo so we can move to Dallas. Thank you for praying with us and for us.

We love hearing from you. Let us know how we can pray for you.

God bless you!

Ray and Marlene

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