"The San Francisco Bay area is truly a place where 'the world lives' in its great diversity," say missionaries Mariane and Ryan Engelland, who are working with the multicultural communities of the bay area. Mariane views herself as a catalyst to help start churches indigenous to their communities and lay-led by local leaders equipped and trained to minister among their people. A primary focus for the Engellands is to reach and help start churches among the Latino population of San Rafael, which is about 30 minutes north of San Francisco. "Our heart is to see people come to know Jesus as their Savior and for them to be encouraged and trained to share their faith within their circles of influence," say Mariane and Ryan. "Our hearts' desire is to see Latino and indigenous peoples living their lives together in community and fellowship with one another, meeting in homes and other places, and helping one another to live missional lives with purpose for the kingdom of God." o Pray for the Engellands as they plant churches among nonbelievers in multi-ethnic communities.
The Navajo Native Americans in New Mexico lack many of the simplest things-running water, electricity and even bars of soap. Every time MSC missionaries Bettye and Bill Roberts visit the Navajo reservation, they bring the women goody bags filled with hotel soap, shampoo and lotion to counteract the dry desert air. But the Roberts also bring with them stories that can change hearts. "You can always reach back into your memories and talk about something," Bettye says. She and Bill use their experiences as ways of sharing their faith and teaching biblical truth. The Roberts partner with a dozen or so churches to reach the reservation. They connect these churches with the three churches on the reservation and train volunteers to share the gospel using methods of storying. So while churches provide things like quilts and bicycles, they also can spread the gospel by talking about their lives. o Pray for the Roberts and their work to develop interest among churches in Navajo ministries. "We'd love to have six teams a year going to the reservation," Bettye says.
Donny and Dana Coulter use storying as a strategy to share the gospel with the Tikku Piikani First Nations tribe in Pincher Creek, Alberta. "This is a long process of relationships and relating Bible stories," Donny says. "When we tell a story, we let it speak for itself." Because native culture is based in narrative tradition, it's a natural way to communicate with them. Simply relating one of Christ's parables without commentary can be enough to help a native rethink his or her life, as Donny experienced relating the parable of the plow in Luke 9:62. A strategy of storying doesn't simply use narrative as a technique for better communication. It creates a foundation of belief in cultures accustomed to more narrative worldviews, including the postmodern culture. "We start with Adam and Eve and build a basis of belief," Donny says. o Pray for the Coulters as they seek to develop local leadership who can tell the stories to their own culture.
MSC missionary David Glover says he used to turn a blind eye to people with special needs until his own grandson Zach Emerson was born with cerebral palsy and blindness. At only 4 years old, Zach died from complications following surgeries to improve his condition. This is what opened David's eyes to start Zacharia's Way, a ministry through which David trains churches to care for special needs children and their families. As the body we have to have creative ways of ministering to these families," David says. "You only do that in the context of being friends. People don't want to be looked at as mission projects." o Pray that more churches would become aware of Zacharia's Way and would be open to a special needs ministry.