Greetings dear Family and Friends,
Trust your celebration of the Risen Jesus last Sunday was a joyous event. We celebrated with long time missionary friends from Senegal – the Ketchams and new found friends here in the Springs – the Teels.
I just received this report from the American and Rwandan missionary team we are coaching in Rwanda. This, dear friends, describes a community where the Spirit of God is truly moving through these folks as we are coaching them in the Discipling for Development process. This way of advancing the Gospel is “long term and long time”. So I see this letter as an encouragement from the Lord to our hearts.
We are hoping it encourages yours as well, for you share in these testimonies of God’s glory!
Blessings,
Merri Lee
Merri Lee Hipp, M.Div.
Discipling for Development-International Mentor
Mission: Moving Mountains - A Ministry of The Navigators
PO Box 6000
Colorado Springs, CO 80934
719-594-2726
merrilee.hipp@navigators.org
www.movingmountians.org
From: Brad and Chelsea Carpenter [mailto:bc.carpenter@yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, April 09, 2010 9:52 AM
To: brad-carpenter@strategicnetwork.org
Subject: A wonderful celebration!
Our Dear Prayer Partners,
We feel absolutely privileged to be able to partner with the Lord and each of you in building His Kingdom! Thank you so much for praying with us for this trip. As we visited the group in Kirambo Friends Church this past weekend, we were so encouraged by the practical and evident power of our Risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! We saw that God is in the process of transforming our friends in Kirambo in all areas of their lives!
Our friend and colleague Chriso went with Chelsea and I. On Friday we visited people in their homes and heard testimonies of what the Lord has been doing in their lives! On Saturday we met with the D for D leadership team for Kirambo and did some review of our vision and goals in D for D and heard from them how they feel like things are going and what the next steps will be. Then we taught 6 new lessons to them that they will teach to others in the church over the next month. We taught lessons on how to care for goats and lessons that give a Biblical foundation/worldview of farming. It is exciting to talk about these "everyday" things and recognize how intimately God desires to be involved in these parts of our lives!
Check out our blog http://bradchelseacarpenter.blogspot.com/ for more information on some of the individual stories we heard and saw in Kirambo!
The following verses are great for praying over our friends in Kirambo and also describe some of what we have already seen in these our friends. The Risen Christ is powerful and working in and through our friends!
Ephesians 1:15-23
"Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdomand insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself."
Ephesians 3: 20-21
"Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen."
This is the view from the front porch of one of the team members
(the small peninsula in the middle of the picture is Kumbya where
we have our annual missionary conference).
Can you sense the joy that these ladies have flowing out of them?
Love,
Brad & Chelsea
