First Baptist Church, San Luis Obispo

22 Oct 2010

Prayer request from Harvest India

Greetings in Jesus name!

We are fine here by God's grace and belive you and our brethren of First baptist church are well, and wonderful in God's mighty hands.

I wanted to ask you for prayer and also bring to your notice: I am in Delhi regarding an interview with an organization (seva bharat). It has churchplanting, children's ministry and adult literacy programmes. we had applied to these people for partnership in church planting. it is a one year church planting trainers programme, earlier it was 2 years programme. Today was the interview. It went good, they will let us know about the selected candidates in 7-10 days. One of the requirements for the partnering churches is that they should have accomodation for the training. That we have, we were doing bible school. Seva bharat will provide for the running cost of churh planters training and material for one year.

Please remember us in your prayers about this project.

--Vijay Emerson, director of Harvest India

28 Sep 2010

Prayer Request from Brandon Jernigan

Church family: please pray for the Campus Crusade ministry in El Salvador. Brandon sent us this note:
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Hello Friends,

I wanted to send out a quick note asking you to pray for the administrators at Matias University. I just spoke with one of the students in El Salvador who said that the administration, which has always been very supportive of our ministry, is starting to close some doors on campus. I don't have more information, but will pass it on as it comes.

Please pray that the Lord would leave these doors open and that the ministry would continue to thrive in the midst of these hardships.

Thank you for your prayers!

Solo Cristo,

Brandon

17 Aug 2010

Prayer request from Brandon in El Salvador

Hellos friends and family,

Unfortunately this email does not come with happy news. I would like to ask each of you to take a minute to pray for the students and staff in El Salvador, as over the weekend one of the students who has been involved in our ministry passed away. Linda had been struggling with several serious health problems for almost all her life and finally passed on to be with our Lord on Saturday.

Linda powerfully impacted many lives with her testimony of how the Lord had worked in her life through her health problems and will leave a lasting impact on many people in El Salvador. The Lord used her so much while she was on this earth and I know he will continue to impact people's lives through the lives of others she has touched.

And although this is a very sad time for our students we know that Linda is now with Christ and has finally been relieved of her struggles and pain. Please join with me in praying for Linda's family, the Salvadorian staff and students, that the Lord would comfort them during this time of grieving and that he would use Linda's life and testimony to continue to impact lives for eternity in El Salvador. Thank you for your prayers.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Brandon

29 Jul 2010

Update from Kim A. in Mexico

Hi everyone!!!

I am finally by a computer! Bravo! ;)

The first week has been amazing and yes my birthday was filled with such beauty from God. This is going to be cliff notes but just so you have the current update. Our flight went smooth. We landed tuesday morning. rested for 4 hours and then got to meet the Pastor and his family and then experience them feeding the children (called The Comodore). At least 60-70 kids arrived. It was amazing. Then we met as a team to prep for the camping trip for the children and their mothers. There is so much to tell of the history of how God began this ministry, the amazing fruit, the absolute pouring out of this Pastor and his family and what it meant for these kids to experience 3 days of play, God's word and worship. So many stories. God would reveal to me at the end of the camping that these children were the rejects of Jalisco (the scum) is what they are referred to. It moved me as I had only seen them as God's children and God allowed me to see how the world views humans vs how God sees us. As I type this two are playing right next to me. For three days, I hugged and hugged and hugged and held so many children. At the end of the camping trip: remind me later to share how God would bring the team together to worship HIm as our bus driver was 6 hours late and we were stranded and with literally no way to get the kids home. Our Amazing God delivered! :)

Currently, we are planning many events for the women and children. We are taking over all the church activies and bible studies etc as well as doing team builders for the church staff. God has me playing guitar (yes you heard that right), singing in spanish, and teaching the bible studies and the women's conference. So much to tell and share. But for now just know that God has me completely dependent on Him, with little time to prep before each event surrounded by these amazing children and mothers. The team is coming together. I am blessed and appreciate all your prayers.

What to pray for: Many of the team is getting sick. God is wanting such Spirit led trust. Pastor Brian is bascially teaching every day and sometimes 2X a day as well as our worship team (me, Yohanna and Chris Castro). I was teasing them that this was my first gig. We have called ourselves the Three Amigos. :) We have a women's conference on Saturday (Teaching the book of Ruth) and we are doing both Sunday/Friday Church services and 2 more bible studies. Please pray for the mothers. They are enjoying the attention on them. We are also going to be looking at finding Spanish Bibles to give to them at the retreat. And for me please pray that more of me dies: I am so out of my comfort zones in so many ways and have had to deep breathe many times. :)

Sorry if this is choppy. hurrying as I write this. God has shown up in amazing ways and is having me surrender to trusting in Him only.

Love each of you!!!!!

IN His Grace, Kim

15 Jul 2010

Update from Brandon in El Salvador!

Here's an update from Brandon Jernigan, who is working with college students in El Salvador! Be praying for him, and the team from Campus Crusade that will be there for the next six weeks!

Click here to download:

05-2010_May_Newsletter.pdf (92 KB)

(download)

18 Jun 2010

Prayer Needs

At FBCSLO, we believe God answers prayer. If you'd like to pray for any of the needs of the people in our church family, click below.

Read the rest of this post »

16 Jan 2010

Pray for the Qinghai people in China

content from the Joshua Project, www.joshuaproject.net

Kazakh Qinghai

Population: 3,400

Language: Kazakh

Main religion: Islam

Christian population: 0.00%

Although the Qinghai Kazaks are part of the official Kazak nationality in China, they now consider themselves to be a distinct people group. Their language has also become different from other Kazaks in Xinjiang. The Qinghai Kazaks have a common affinity and kinship for each other because of the horrendous events of their history.

The Kazaks have long desired to have their own independent state. In the 1940s a man named Osman led his fellow Kazaks in a rebellion. This rebellion gave them control of a large area of southwest Xinjiang. Several years later in 1951, Osman was captured and executed. In 1953, the Communists slaughtered 12,600 of the 15,000 Kazaks who attempted to flee China.

Although they claim to be Muslims, the Qinghai Kazaks are essentially animists. They also engage in ancestor worship. They are surrounded by Tibetan Buddhists on every side but have stubbornly refused to embrace their religion. The Qinghai Kazaks still admit to being Muslims; but without the Qur'an, teachers, or a mosque to worship in, their devotion has gradually eroded.

Prayer Points

The Qinghai are an entirely untouched people group—they have no knowledge of the Gospel or of Jesus Christ whatsoever.
There is not a complete Bible available in the Kazakh language. Pray for translators to finish the work.
Ask for God to send missionaries to build bridges into this community. There are none, currently.

19 Jul 2009

Praying for the Persecuted Church

LE THI CONG NHAN

Location: Vietnam

Arrested: March 2007

Days Imprisoned: 867

In May 2007, Le Thi Cong Nhan, a Vietnamese Christian and lawyer, was sentenced to four years in prison followed by three years of house arrest. Nhan was arrested and sentenced alongside Nguyen Van Dai, a Protestant church leader and lawyer. They are accused of a range of crimes; such as “conspiring with terrorists, in their efforts to promote human rights efforts, including religious rights and democracy.” They are also accused of compiling “evidence of Vietnam’s suppression of the Protestant religion and providing it to the U.S.-based Committee for Religious Freedom in Vietnam and the U.S. embassy.” The Vietnamese state news agency accused the lawyers of “posting information on the internet … [and] painting biased and distorted pictures of the country and its internal affairs.

You can pray for Le Thi Cong Nhan and write encouraging notes to her by visiting  www.prisoneralert.com

19 Jul 2009

Thinking Globally: Pray for the Bambari

Bambari

Population: 3,605,000

Language: Bamanankan

Main religion: Islam (Sunni)

Christian population: 1.13%

The Bambara are among the most powerful and influential groups in Mali. They are also the largest ethnic group in the country. The Bambara live in the middle valley of the Niger River. Bamana is widely spoken in Mali, especially in the realm of business and commerce. It is related to the Bantu language, which includes Swahili and Zulu.

During the 1700’s, there were two Bambara kingdoms: Segu and Karta. In the 1800’s, militant Muslim groups overthrew these kingdoms, leaving only a few anti-Muslim Bambara to resist their occupation. This lasted forty years, until the arrival of the French. Only 3% of the Bambara had converted to Islam by 1912.

After World War II, the number of Muslim converts grew due to their resistance to the French and their exposure to Muslim merchants. Today, the Bambara are 70% Muslim.

Many still follow their traditional beliefs such as ancestor worship (praying to deceased ancestors for guidance). The Bambara believe that the ancestral spirits may take on the forms of animals or even vegetables.

PRAYER POINTS

Pray for the effectiveness of the Jesus film among the Bambara.

Pray that the Holy Spirit will complete the work begun in the hearts of the Bambara believers through adequate discipleship.

Ask the Lord to raise strong local churches among the Bambara.