COSTA RICA: The M.O.V.E. construction team, led by Don Tietz, national MOVE director, and Dave Bethany, MOVE construction coordinator, will travel to Costa Rica on February 13 to build a church facility for the Open Bible church in San Jose, the capital city, pastored by Field Director Carlos Mora. International Ministries Director Paul Canfield and Vivian, his wife, will accompany the team and serve as interpreters. The team will return to the U.S. on February 28. Pray for safe travel, safe work, and the successful construction of this church building.
EASTERN EUROPE: Administrative Assistant Vince McCarty will travel on February 15 to Hungary for field planning with Field Director Michael Gulyas. He will be accompanied by Mike and Nancy Juntunen, pastors of the Open Bible Church in Austin, Minnesota. They will be reviewing the INSTE program progress, giving encouragement to the pastors, and assist in setting up plans for the future of Open Bible churches in Hungary. They will also travel to Ukraine to meet with Hungarian missionaries Laszlo and Judit Bakos and conduct field planning with the pastors and churches there, in addition to meeting with the INSTE students. They will also visit Romanian Field Director John Pop and the Romanian translation team of the INSTE program. Pray for safe travel and God’s blessings upon this trip.
CUBA: Field Director David Moreno shares that 20 churches in the area of Guantánamo are interested in affiliating with Open Bible. The national board will be going there to meet with this group of churches and interview them. Please pray that the Lord will give the national board in Cuba wisdom and understanding as they visit these churches. Presently there are 70 churches and 400 house churches in Cuba.
HUNGARY/UKRAINE: Missionary Tammy Swailes writes that the current number of INSTE students studying in Ukraine is 400. Praise the Lord!! She also praises the Lord for the very successful mentors’ training seminar for Level Two INSTE in Ukraine. Tammy will be moving her residence in Hungary from Budapest to Debrecen. Her main residence is in Ukraine, but she spends time also in Hungary. Pray for safe travel for her this month and that the move will go smoothly. Pray for Tammy as she continues to oversee the INSTE program in Europe. Pray also for the translation of INSTE into the Romanian language.
NIGERIA: Field Director Okon Obot requests prayer for the upcoming pastors’ retreat to be held February 15-17. Please pray the Lord will encourage and bless our Open Bible pastors in Nigeria. Presently there are 14 churches and 8 pastors. Pray also for God’s blessings upon the INSTE program; they desire to initiate Level Two in the near future.
KENYA: Field Director Patrick Okumu praises the Lord for the beginning of the rebuilding of the native-style church building in Makhuma. About 300 people attend this church. He is excited about the rebuilding of this church.
SURINAME: Trinidadian missionaries Amzad and Rosemary Mohammed report that the two churches started since they arrived in Suriname have been merged into one church, with about 80-90 people attending. A convention center that will seat 1,000 has been purchased and is being renovated. In addition to being used for their church, they plan to rent the building for special events to generate income for the church and the pastors. The first wedding was held in the building on January 28. The couple who serves as the janitors of the building (they had been living together for 13 years and have three children) was married on January 28. Pray for the Mohammeds as they continue with the renovation and reach out to their community in New Nickerie.
Please share the Hotline message with your congregation or with other interested individuals. Thank you for praying and caring. We’ll be in touch again next week on the International Ministries Hotline.
