Nick Diaz

I just wanted to ask all of you to be praying for Nick Diaz, a Peruvian who completed this last training; throughout the 3 months he demonstrated a godly, obedient character and a strong call to missions.
Three years ago, before he was a believer, Nick was charged with a crime (of which we don’t know many details) and sent to jail for two years. At the end of that time he was absolved of all charges and released. But then at the end of training the charges were brought back up and he had to go to Lima to face the exact same charges he had already been released from. We have been staying in touch with him through his fiancée Karen here in Pucallpa and everything seemed to be going well, the prosecution did not have anything concrete to bring against him, his defense went well, etc. So it was a HUGE shock a few days ago when he was found guilty and sentenced to 30 years in prison. His fiancée Karen is absolutely devastated. Nick has 10 days to appeal the sentence, but even that process will most likely take 2 years again.
First of all, we want to praise the Lord for Nick’s strong faith and that he has taken this huge testing in his life and is using it to glorify God. Pray that he will be able to remain strong in his faith and the God will continue to be glorified in this situation.
Pray that if it is the Lord’s will, Nick will miraculously be released.
Pray also for Karen and her son Yeshua. She is a young believer and this is a very heavy testing of her faith.
Praise the Lord that through our office lawyer she was able to recommend a good Christian lawyer who is taking Nick’s case, he went down that same day to talk to Nick and prayed with him. Nick says that he is doing well, he is in good spirits, he has the basic things he needs which is a big praise since a lot of times prisoners have to pay other prisoners for basic things like a bed etc. Also, Nick has shared about 3 stories in the last few days and has found some other believers in jail as well. Please just keep Nick lifted up to the Father and pray. We`ll update whenever we hear something new.

A Time to Give Thanks to God

This time of the year it common to give thanks for things that have happened. One of the first things to give thanks for is the safe return of Amanda, Linzi, and Nadia from their trip of three months. During their time there, they were able to translate a story set. Pray that when Linzi and Nadia return in January the Lord will give them the correct words to share these stories to encourage and disciple the church. Many of the Yaminahua believers are very immature; pray that the story set will help them to become more mature in their faith. Please begin to lift up the next training of 7 women in Februaury; Amanda Brock, Megan Brewster, Amanda Dimperio, and volunteer Mary Lee will be leading it. Pray that the details of the training and practicum time will come together in God’s perfect timing. Pray for the SCs of the women´s team Christy, Leah, and Kelli as they are studying language in-depth for the next few months.
Another important thing we can praise God for is the birth of Bolivia SCs Trent and Kay´s baby boy yesterday! A new addition to the family is always exciting event. Please lift them up during the next few weeks as they become accustomed to having a new life in their family. The most recent training session finished a couple of weeks ago, and the Bolivia team is happy to have 2 new team members come. Christian is from Costa Rica, and Roberto is from Argentina. Roberto has gone back home to raise funds for his 2 years with us. Christian already has his funding in place, and will begin learning Quechua this week. Please lift both of them up in their different circumstances. This next one is actually a praise. It’s a blessing to be able to ask you to pray for the continued work in Qhochumi. A few weeks ago, they did not know if they would be able to stay. But God has provided the family of Santu Felipe, and they seem eager to learn Scripture. Pray for Graham and Efrain as they headed back out a couple of weeks ago. They will be in Qhochumi until December 20th.
Thank you for your prayers for Xtremers José and Enoc who have been on a three month trip with the Asheninka. We are so excited by what the Lord is doing in that group! The Lord used strong persecution from some community members to strengthen the Xtremers’ witness among those who had been listening to the stories José and Enoc have been sharing. One Sunday there were 4 baptisms in this community! Pray now that the Lord will strengthen these new believers and give our team wisdom in discipling them. There is a need now for a couple or women’s team to go work with the new believers, but so far José and Enoc have not felt the community would receive any North Americans. However, because of the doors that have been opened they think that now it would be a possibility for the Brewster family to come out in January for a few weeks. Pray that our path will be made very clear. Thank you for your prayers for Levi as he returned to Ecuador to request more funding to return to work among the Tigre Quichua. Praise the Lord that his church will support him for another year; pray for him and his IMB partner Jonathan Jackson as they will be going out in a trip in January. Lift up also José who has been working among the Asheninka as he will be returning to Ecuador over Christmas, and Enoc who will be returning to the Chayahuita as well to meet with their churches. Pray that it will be a time of encouragement and of casting a strong missionary vision.