Missionaries
St. Peter's has opportunities for parishioners to be long-term missionaries. If you would like to learn more, contact Jill Ashoo jill@saint-peters.net.
Ken and Kay Mayo
Ken and Kay Mayo serve with Wycliffe in the European, Mediterranean and Central Asian regions. Originally Kay was trained as a literacy specialist and Ken as a translator. Since the Mayo's first assignment to Mexico in 1979, they have served in administrative and training roles while living and working in numerous countries in the Americas, Africa, Europe and Asia. Over the past ten years they have focused on helping with strategic planning and specific leadership and team management training needs for those working directly in translation projects. Their specialties include Leadership, Organizational and Personal Development, Basic Management Skills, Team Building, Strategic Planning, Career and Vocational Counseling, Critical Incident Stress Management, Debriefings and Interpersonal Skills.
The Mayos have two children and six grandchildren. They are based from their home in Tallahassee. Look for them at the Veritas service.
Please keep Ken and Kay in your prayers.
Find out more about Wycliffe at http://www.wycliffe.org
Latest Update:
What Can One Person Do?
Making a difference for Bible translation
With a mission and vision as big as Bible translation for every people group on earth that needs it, what can one person do to make a difference?
A few months ago, Wycliffe’s Prayer Ministries Department received a visit from a very special guest, a man named Richard Smalley. On a trip to Orlando, Florida, Richard stopped by to see the headquarters of Wycliffe Bible Translators USA and visit a team of people that he had never met. In 1990, Richard came across a magazine with a Wycliffe ad on the back, promoting the Bibleless Peoples Prayer Project. It invited Christians to contact Wycliffe to receive the name of a Bibleless people group to pray for, and to stand as an intercessor until a Bible translation program began for that people group. Richard asked Wycliffe for a couple of names and began praying that year. Later, God led him to sign up for more. “God burdened my heart to pray for them,” Richard said. “They were in the jungles, and there was no other way to reach them.”
On average, prayer partners with the Bibleless Peoples Prayer Project pray for one to three language groups. Today, Richard Smalley—still a dedicated intercessor after more than 20 years—prays for about 700 people groups. A custodian from Harrison, New York, Richard spends two hours a day before work going through his list of Bibleless peoples asking God to “bring the translations forth.” He said, “Even before I start praying I begin with a special prayer…praising God and thanking God, asking Him to hear the prayers. It’s amazing what He can do.”
Over the years, Richard has seen many Bible translations finished for the people groups he consistently lifted up in prayer. He said, “There have been answers…some of them taken ten years. It feels really good getting the certificates of completion from Prayer Ministries as each project is finished, knowing that God is hearing the prayers.” But as translation programs began and the names dropped off the list, he contacted Prayer Ministries for more.
Finally getting the chance to meet Richard face-to-face, the Prayer Ministries team was blessed by his humbleness and his fervor for prayer on behalf of the people groups still waiting for God’s Word in their own language. When asked how he stays motivated to pray for so many people groups over a long period of time, Richard said, “I just keep praying. When it’s God’s time, it’ll just go through. I don’t get discouraged. I honestly believe that with God all things are possible. I’ve seen in my life what God can do, and for people who trust in Him.”
At 66, Richard seems content with his call to pray for people all over the world. His passion flows easily and quickly encourages others. “Stand fast and pray for them,” he said. “Your reward won’t be here, it’ll be in heaven. The most important thing is when God says, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.’”
If you are interested in the Bibleless People Prayer Project, please contact Wycliffe Prayer Ministries: prayer_usa@wycliffe.org.
Jerry Johnston
Jerry is working at Shukugawa Bible Church in Nishinomiya, Japan. Nishinomiya is a small city of about 500,000 between the major cities of Osaka and Kobe. During the week, Jerry teaches english classes that include a "bible time" in which he can share God's word with people who might otherwise never hear it. Japanese people are eager to learn english, so this ministry is a great chance to share the word. Less than 1% of Japan is Christian of any sort, and even fewer protestant/evangelical. Japan desperately needs the Gospel, even though they don't realize it yet. God is doing great things in this country, and the enemy is keen to do what he can to stop it. Japan is a really unique mission field in that it's not a developing country, so most of the traditional ideas about "missions" don't apply so well there. Jerry is learning more and more as he is there, and hehopes that God can use him as His tool to spread his Gospel.
Jerry spends a lot of time studying Japanese, and he just started studying koine greek (with the hope that he can understand the new testament more fully and on a deeper level).
Please keep Jerry in your constant prayers.
Update from Jerry:
November 2, 2011
Dear St. Peter's Family,
I can't believe it's already been more than two months since I was able to visit you and worship with you. Since I arrived back in Japan, we have been pretty busy non-stop with our English ministry and other church events. It's been a huge blessing and it continues to be! But I wish that I could have spent more time getting to know you individually, and spending more time in conversation with you. I pray that the Lord will enable me to visit you all again soon.
Our English ministry started a new semester of classes in September. The end of August and the end of March is when many Japanese companies move around their employees to different cities, and I was surprised that so many of my students moved away, or had other life changes that wouldn't let them continue (ie marriage, moving to a foreign country, etc). I have a few new students, though, and some of them have never read the Bible before. It's a good chance as we're studying the Bible every class and get a chance to share about the love of Christ with them.
At the end of September, Rev. Kenji Hata, the pastor of our church, suffered a pretty major heart attack. He had emergency surgery to put a stint into one of his valves (forgive me, I don't know much about medicine) and spent 2 weeks in the ICU and 2 weeks in the hospital before being released about two weeks ago. He is recovering well, but the heart attack was likely induced by a combination of things, including stress. We are currently trying to build a new church building as our current one is too small, and many small details have to be decided. Quite simply, our pastor was working too much and experiencing quite a bit of stress.
As a side result, a lot of the pastor's responsibilities have been delegated amongst church staff and lay members alike. It's been great to see the church come closer together in this time of difficulty instead of letting the hard times split them up. New leaders are emerging and it's wonderful to see how God is using the leadership of this church to make disciples who can then become leaders themselves.
I would greatly appreciate your prayers in a few areas. First, please pray for Rev. Hata's recovery. He was able to give the Sunday sermon last week, but it took a lot out of him. He really needs to rest and recover well. Also, please pray for the Assistant Pastor, Madoka Hata, and the church deacons to have wisdom. There is much that needs to be decided for the new building construction and church education. Please pray for my Japanese Missionary Visa renewal process. My current three-year visa expires in January, and I'm trying to organize and get all the necessary paperwork to extend my visa for another three years. It's time consuming and requires a lot of attention to detail. Pray for our events for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's a good time for our students to be able to come to church, some of them for the first time. They are then introduced to Japanese Christians and get a good chance to hear the Gospel in their own language. Many current church members became Christians after being introduced to the church like this. Please pray for my Japanese language studies. I'm taking the level 2 (second-highest level) of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test on December 4th. Please pray that I would have ample time and opportunity to study.
I miss you all very much, and I hope to keep in touch with you all. If you are interested to talk to me, please feel free to send an email to jerryjohnston@gmail.com. I greatly appreciate your prayers and support, and your encouraging words have meant so much to me. I pray that the Lord will continue to bless you, and keep you until we can meet again!
I love you all in our Lord Jesus Christ!
Jerry Johnston
Cuba: Justine Finely-Simonds
This summer I spent the month of August in Cuba. For the first 10 days, I traveled with a large group of other missionaries from St. Peter's, and for the last 20 days I traveled alone. The day that the group left for Miami, my emotional connection to home left with them. With my faith as my only defense, I immersed myself into what life in the little town of Cuatro Esquinas really is. I earned my daily shower by working on several farms in the area and helping to maintain relationships with several churches in surrounding towns. What happened to me spiritually in that time is hard to put into words, but I can at least say that I have never been surrounded by so many beautiful people who are true to a life of discipleship. The heart I came with and the heart I left with are utterly and perfectly irreconcilable. Just like Peter calls everyone to a life of holy living, I do not want to be conformed to the desires that I formerly had in ignorance. I have been shown a better example of servanthood through our brothers and sisters in Cuba and by the influence of the Holy Spirit in their lives and mine.
I feel called to these people in Cuba because of the striking simplicity of their happiness and the relevance of their lives to the Gospel. They are the poor. They are the oppressed. Yet, they still find food on their table to feed me. They are exactly who Jesus was talking about. You are also called to serve, and I pray that everyone at St. Peters can find a way to involve themselves in missions here. Go outside of your house, and let the door close behind you. You will be led to another person who has also found life in Christ and an opportunity to share that precious life with others. What you do every day is crucial because it is another day that God has blessed you with to do something good for his Kingdom. What are you going to do today?
(1 Peter 1:14)
Uganda: Mimi Burbank
|
We are saddened to report that "Mamma Mimi" Burbank died on November 28, 2010, in Kasese, Uganda, where she has served the people for the past several years. Her son, Charles Dean Burbank, wrote, "She passed away doing what she loved to do, in a place that she called her home." |
Uganda: Heather Williams
Heather Williams was in Uganda for 6 months:
I worked with the Children’s Ministry of South Rwenzori Diocese. My big thing was training the people who were working with children. We would have workshops in the different archdeaconries which sometimes lasted a couple of hours and sometimes a couple of days. There was one weekend that ended in a daylong local Sunday school competition, including football (soccer) games; that one was fun. Workshop weekends also included me preaching about the importance of children’s ministry and teaching a sunday school class on Sunday. On weekends when I didn’t have trainings, I would teach sunday school at the cathedral and go hang out at with the Compassion International kids at Kasese Child Development Center. At KCDC we mostly played games, colored and, on one special occasion after I received a package from my parents, decorated Burger King crowns. Spending time at KCDC was my favorite thing to do. Sure we were probably just playing Simon Says but goofing around and loving on those kids usually made my week. The other thing I did that was specifically "ministry" was speaking in schools during chapel. I would give my testimony or some other short devotional type talk. Besides that it was spending time with my Ugandan brothers and sisters, building relationships and strengthening the ties between the South Rwenzori Diocese and St Peter’s Church.
Uganda: Lindsey Thompson and Lisa Davis
Lindsey Thompson and Lisa Davis travelled to Uganda in May 2009 with Fr. John Wallace, Chris Risalvato, Angela Hobby, and Anna Masi. After the team left, they both stayed for 6 more weeks. Read their blogs!
Uganda: The Bowers and Evan Simington
John and Katherine Bowers
John and Katherine Bowers lived in Uganda for 7 months. Catch up on their adventures by reading their blog.
Evan Simington
Evan Simington was in Uganda for 3 months. Read his blog.
