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Mission Updates May, 2022

We praise God for Jonatan & Teresa Simons, who teach pastors in Medellin, Colombia!

Jonatan is the son of retired CWC Missionaries Bob & Esperanza Simons. After growing up in Colombia, he studied in the USA and Australia, and recently completed his PhD. He has now returned to Medellin to teach at one of the only Spanish-speaking, accredited seminaries in the world.

Jon teaches classes to the pastors. Jon and Teresa also serve the seminary by encouraging, supporting, and mentoring the single students. They are also actively teaching their three children, Norah, Caedmon, and Lina, and serving in the local church.

Please pray for:

  • Continued deep and rich relationships with God and with each other.
  • Deep insight and learning as Jon prepares and teaches lessons for the seminary students.
  • Wisdom in ministering to the singles at the seminary.
Juarez Car Clinic - 2022
Juarez Car Clinic - 2022

We praise God for the work he did in the Juarez Car Clinic team, as well as how they were able to minister to the local pastors on their trip last month!

Praises:

  • About a dozen cars were fixed and maintained. Having a working car cuts hours off each pastor's schedule every day, enabling him to reach more people and also faithfully serve his family.
  • In addition to car clinic days, the team was able to minister at a local migrant center, 2 rehab centers, and help dig a foundation for a new neighborhood church.
  • One team member commented that local pastors "...are doing a devotional on their feet." Praise God for the faithful men serving the local neighborhoods, rehab centers, and first responders!
  • Another said the secular rehab center they visited was full of men and women who are hungry for the Word of God! In spite of difficult circumstances, their struggle with addiction has led them to this place where Pastor Efrain faithfully serves up weekly lessons from the Bible to encourage and strengthen them. When our team arrived, they had their Bibles out and were ready to learn!
  • Other team members commented on the family dinners and small groups, and the fellowship & unity they experienced in spite of language and culture differences. Each man came back with a perspective shift and an eagerness to better use what he has to serve God!
VJ & Samantha Hernandez - Juarez, Mexico

Thank you for your generosity and encouragement for VJ & Samantha Hernandez! They continue to prepare for their training and relocation to Juarez, Mexico, to work with Nolan & Marie Schockey in the ministry to Mexican men serving as leaders and pastors in Juarez.

Please pray:

  • For the multitude of decisions and preparations that need to be made as they move into a 5th wheeler and move their family to El Paso.
  • For God's abundant provision for their first step, a missionary training program in Rosarito, Mexico.
  • For their hearts as they say "good-bye" to friends and family.

Please keep Matt & Noelle Harris and their ministry in Gulu, Uganda, in prayer!

Last week, a new group of pastors started the three-year "study through the Bible" program, where they will live and study one week a month at Terebinth Ministries. As the teaching team began training, Pastor Charles, pictured above, started his first day as a Student Leader. As they exercised during a study break, Pastor Charles collapsed. They were unable to revive him, and he saw Jesus face to face.

While they rejoice that Pastor Charles is home with Jesus, the team is grieving, especially his wife, Grace. They have 8 children, with the youngest around 8 years old. It is the start of rainy season and a very heavy work time for the local men and women, as well as the start of a new semester of school with school fees for all the children. Not only have they lost husband and father, they have lost their income in a very poor part of the world.

Please pray:

  • for Grace and her children to grieve well, and to know God's comfort and provision.
  • for Matt and Noelle and their team as they grieve and minister to the family and other pastors and church members.
Paris, France

Please continue to pray for Augustin, serving in Paris, France, as an evangelist and church planter. Pray for:

  • God to bring people into their activities to make new contacts, and that they can have a dozen participants in our English café. People come to learn English but stay and hear the Gospel!
  • Cedric: May he continue to engage more with the Lord and understand and walk in his new identity in Jesus Christ.
  • God to help Augustin to better manage his time, health, and ministry.
  • complete and stable financial support.
Janice Evans - Ukraine/Hungary

We thank God that Janice Evans has landed in Hungary after leaving Ukraine right before the war with Russia started. She is living in an apartment in Hungary and is preparing to welcome other refugees to that home. The house has has 3 separate apartments and the landlord has provided for refugees to live for 3 months for free.

Praises & Prayers:

  • a rent-free apartment for 3 months, and the ability to welcome other refugees in to a safe place. Please pray for God to continue to direct Janice's footsteps and give her peace. She is struggling as she hears of her friends and neighbors suffering in Ukraine, and at the same time, the home she left behind has stayed relatively safe.
  • God's provision of a used car. It has developed a few issues, probably due to water in the gas. Please pray for it to work well and for her to be able to use her new address to register it so she is able to use it to transport and minister to the refugees.
  • Her friend brought her to Hungary and helped her find a safe place to live, but the friend is experiencing serious marital issues. Please pray for Janice to know her role and for the friend to seek God in the matter.
His Safe Haven - Liberia

Praise God for His Safe Haven Village in Gbarnga, Liberia. Their ministry takes in children with various special needs, often saving their lives from neglect or worse.

Please pray:

  • for Rosie, the newest "precious gem." She was found abandoned on the roadside and then was brought to His Safe Haven. She is loved by all in the village and is thriving, learning, and growing each day!
  • Until last week, Liberia had not had rain since early December. Their main well recently went dry. Please pray for God's favor and provision as they dig another well.
  • Please pray for the poor and marginal in Liberia. Food prices have risen all over the world, and the poor in the poorest countries are usually those who suffer the worst.
Jeff & Naomi Cuozzo - Bath, England

Praise God for His hand at work behind the scenes in the lives of Jeff & Naomi Cuozzo, who minister through a Calvary Chapel church plant in Bath, England, Tikvah, a ministry to Israeli young adults & church leaders, and Naomi's new community bakery!

God orchestrated the meshing of Tikvah, Calvary Chapel Bath (England), and The Joshua Fund (TJF), Jeff's former employer. TJF recently asked Jeff to step into the role of Director of Special Projects in Israel. This means he will go to Israel every 1-3 months for a week of meeting with various Messianic Jewish and Arab Christian pastors. Many of these pastors and leaders are the same ones that will take the 4-5 hour trip to visit Jeff & Naomi in Bath, England, for a retreat and time of restoration. The Joshua Fund will help support Tikvah retreats for leaders and young adults leaving the Israeli military, as well as the church plant in Bath.

Praises –

• God created and orchestrated this new role with The Joshua Fund that will increase and enable Jeff & Naomi’s current ministry. All the strands of his past ministry in Israel and with TJF come together in this new role, and TJF feels he was created for the position they need to fill.

• Calvary Chapel Bath continues to see men and women growing in the Word of God. One local man has recently stepped up to take over leading the weekly small group, a sign that Jeff’s work “…to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…” (Ephesians 4:12) is bearing fruit.

Please pray:

• Jeff & Naomi dream of a Retreat Center that would house Calvary Chapel Bath, Tikvah retreats, and the bakery Naomi has been running out of their home. Their hope is to provide a place of rest and community. Pray for God to provide the right building at the right time for the right price, and for them to be faithful with what God has given them right now.

• Naomi’s bakery has been open on their front stoop one weekend a month for this year due to COVID restrictions. Please pray for greater community and connections for the gospel as they increase to opening every weekend later this month and through the summer.

• Pray for the transition and balance in all their different roles, and for peace in the family as Jeff increases his international travel.

Matt & Jonna - Central Asia

Thanks for praying for Matt & Jonna, who reach the lost through friendships and sports in a large city in Central Asia!

Praises & Prayers:

Thank you to all of you who have been praying for a young believer, "Anna", and her mom, Lena, who was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer. If you remember, Lina repented and was baptized just a couple of months ago. She died recently, and will have no more pain, no more tears, and no more suffering.

There have already been several opportunities for the Body to serve Anna and to be salt and light to the many lost relatives. Please continue to pray for Anna's faith to not fail. Please ask the the relatives would know that the Truth they are hearing from Anna's believing friends is "the very word of God" and that they would turn and be saved.

Many of you have also been praying for Raseem, a young boy suffering from cancer, and his grandmother who was caring for him. Raseem was finally able to have surgery to remove the tumor, and after surgery and 6 rounds of chemo, the doctors are optimistic. Please ask God to give Raseem and his grandma endurance and complete healing!

Finally, Matt & Jonna requested prayer for Matt's Dad, who is having surgery for kidney cancer, and then faces several other surgeries. Pray for healing, for his mom & dad as they walk through this tough season together, and for Matt & Jonna to have peace as they serve God on the other side of the world.

Starting Over on the Inside

Praise God for the many graduates of the Starting Over on the Inside program that ministers to men and women who are incarcerated in Colorado. Pray for abundant fruit that remains as they study and live out the character-based instruction, identity-based understanding, and aftercare. Help them to know and understand who God created them to be, and to be able to break free from old patterns and connections.

Pastor & Edith Karau - Kenya

Praise God for Pastor Karau's recent cataract surgeries. Please pray for continued recovery and health and that God will enable him to serve the people of Mathare Worship Centre in the Mathare Slum of Nairobi, Kenya, and also the teens and young adults of Hope's Promise - Sanctuary of Hope.

Praise God for the recent growth in the Hope's Promise Kuza Program, which ministers to children living in the slum with a relative or caregiver. Thank God for the selection of the newest children, and for a very successful 5-week program during the school break. During their time working with the church and the program, several of the children gave their lives to the Lord!

Please continue to pray for Christine, a single mom of one of the children in the program, Ruth. Christine has suffered from chronic illness in her lungs, and recently returned to the hospital for care. Pray for provision for all of their needs, and for healing and endurance for Christine. Pray for Ruth and her brother Junior to grow in the Lord through all their challenges.

Kenya has lifted all the COVID restrictions, but the economy has been hit hard. Many people are struggling more than ever before. Mathare Worship Centre recently held a food drive for one of their poorer sister churches, Kiambere, but please ask for wisdom on how they can help more.

Project Nuru, the church building fund, is on hold while Kenya heads into the general election in August. Elections often bring violence and unrest, especially in the slums, so please pray for peace and God's will in the leaders who are elected.

Ukraine

Please continue to pray for peace in Ukraine.

  • Ask God to redeem this situation by drawing many people to Himself. May Ukrainians (& Russians) discover that Jesus is the only true source of peace, safety, comfort, truth and freedom.
  • For the opening of corridors both for evacuation and humanitarian aid around cities under attack in Ukraine. Many people in these cities are without heat and electricity.
  • For many churches that opened their doors to neighbors offering food and shelter. For wisdom for those pastors, missionaries, and other leaders to know how best to minister in the midst of war.
  • For protection of many kids and parents who will spend another night in bomb shelters, metro stations or on the roads to safer places and all brave volunteers risking their lives to evacuate people.
CWC Missions

If you'd like to be more involved with missions at CWC, please contact us at kellyb@cwccs.org.

Credits:

Created with images by Luciano Mortula-LGM - "Eiffel tower, Paris." • Maksym Dragunov - "Ukrainian flag"