Saturday, October 26, 2019

A New Day For The Village of July 6

A New Day For the Village of July 6
Mouth of the Nucuray River at dawn
              In my last newsletter I shared that I was able to make contact with a village named July 6 (villages often use dates as the name of their village) after being stuck at the mouth of the Nucuray River.  This was because the only boat going to Yurimaguas, where I live, did not stop to pick up more passengers as it passed on the other side of the river and so I was stuck there until the next morning. 

            Since I had all day long I decided to explore the rest of the river port and walked all the way down to the end and found a whole community of 58 families with no church or practicing Christians.  After talking with the village leaders I was given permission to do a children’s Bible lesson in the afternoon and show a movie on the life of Christ in the evening.

Children coloring a Bible picture after the lesson
             Both events worked out really well and the result was that many prayed to ask Jesus into their lives, including the children!  In the evening when I was showing the movie my Bluetooth speaker did not connect well to my projector and so we had a movie with almost no sound.  Fortunately, this did not bother the people because all of them stayed to the end and then prayed to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior!  Afterwards a couple of people asked if they could have a church in their village to which I strongly affirmed and said I would work closely with them to bring this about.

             I am so happy to report that on this last trip we did just that.  I brought enough Bibles to give one to each of the 18 families that participated in our meetings.  Then we did a lesson on how to use the Bible namely, the table of contents to be able to find the books, the Old and New Testaments and what they mean and the Bible helps in the back of the Bible.  From there we did our first Bible study by looking at the first three verses of Genesis 1 to tell what happened, who was named in the verses and what they learned about God from these verses.  We then continued using the same method for the next three verses in Genesis 1 followed by John 1:1-3 and finally ended with Matthew1:18-20.  This went very well considering not many of them have ever had a Bible let alone studied it.  

Sharon teaching how to study the Bible

Some of the families of July 6 listening to how to use the Bible
            Before leaving we coordinated a day and a time when they would meet together to continue with the Bible study until our next trip, which will be in December since I am coming to the States in November.  I was very happy to see the response of everyone that came and was encouraged to see such interest in meeting together.  Now it's just a matter of them actually doing it while I'm away.  

            Please pray with me for our new brothers and sisters in July 6 so that they will meet together on a regular basis to grow in their faith and in their relationship with the Lord.  This area does not have any churches and so for new believers it is very difficult if they don't join with each other to study the Word and pray.

             Maria and I will be going to visit the villages on the Shishinahua River from Tuesday to Friday to do the next Bible institute course and to disciple the young believers in the villages there.  Would you pray for us so that our travel will be safe and our time with the people will be very effective?  

              I want to thank you so very much for blessing this work with your prayers, encouragement and support in so many ways.  May the Lord richly bless you for blessing us and may He keep and protect you in all your ways as you follow Him.

Serving Our King Together,
Sharon Malcolm
Missionary with
Go To Nations since 1998




Saturday, October 12, 2019

Amazing Time in Brazil!

One of the speakers sharing the Word of God to a large Brazilian church
      I had the opportunity to join a team with a ministry called Global Awakening based on the East Coast that has been ministering in Brazil for several years.  We visited four Brazilian churches for the purpose of building up the local Body and praying for those in need of physical, emotional or spiritual healing.  The team was made up of four speakers, including the founder Randy Clark, and 112 people from the US, Australia, England, South Africa and Germany.  Our part was to pray for healing for whatever was needed after the speakers shared the Word and prayed a general prayer for the people.

       
Left to Right:  Team at church;  Team members praying for congregants;  Church and team in worship

    As a result we saw over 2,000 healings of various kinds among the four churches that we ministered in including 34 blind eyes opened, 36 deaf ears opened, 11 tumors disappeared, 11 lame people walking, and 47 people with some kind of metal in their bodies such as screws, plates or rods receive complete mobility in the area where they had them!  

     It was an incredible time and one that I felt strongly that I needed to experience in order to enhance the work that the Lord has called me to do among the indigenous tribes in Peru.  So many suffer from physical aliments with no relief and so their default is to go to the local witchdoctor for cure but unfortunately that is not all they get.

     Since my trip to Brazil Maria and I have gone to the Shishinahua River once again to continue with the Bible Institute courses and have prayed for four people who have had pain in their bodies for several years due to heavy lifting or stomach disorders.  After prayer I am happy to say that three of the four experience complete healing and one with an improvement.  This is extremely important to me because my prayer for so many years has been that the Gospel would go out with a demonstration of the Spirit's power as per 1 Corinthians 2:4.

     Another praise to the Lord is that one of the four people who needed prayer was a 19-year-old young man named Edward, who recently rededicated himself to the Lord, led his father and step-mother to the Lord and was now witnessing to his witchdoctor grandfather.  Because of his zeal he was being pushed away from his family until finally the grandfather gave him the ultimatum to leave his house or stop talking about the Lord.  Edward told Maria that he was vacillating back and forth as to whether to stay with the Lord or reject Him.  He knew what the Lord had done for him and could not reject him but the pressure from his family was quite strong and so he was unsure what to do.  Gloriously after we prayed for his upper back and he could feel the pain leaving he realized just how powerful God is and that there was no longer any question about what he should do.  His faith was solidified in this one healing experience!  That is the full Gospel in action!

     I am fully aware that salvation is not in any way contingent on physical healings however when there is a clear demonstration of Divine intervention such as this it clearly demonstrates the power and sovereignty of God in the life of the person needing healing.

     I am continually seeking the Lord on how to be a conduit of His love above and beyond all else in order to present the Gospel in a clear and accurate way.  I make no demands on people but am fervent in presenting what Christ did on the cross for them and how that can impact their lives.

     I want to thank each of you for all of your continued support in every way of this work.  The results have been amazing and nothing short of a miracle!  

     I will be going on the river again on Thursday until Tuesday or Wednesday to a different river called the Nucuray.  I wrote in a prior update that on my last trip to this area I was "stuck" at the mouth of the river because the boat that passes to go to Yurimaguas, where I live, did not stop and so I had to wait until the next day for another boat.  During that time the Lord put it on my heart to explore the port where I was and when I did I came upon a whole community who did not know the Lord.  I took the opportunity to share with them the Word of God and show a Christian film on the life of Christ.  As a result many of them came to ask Jesus to be the Lord of their lives!  This was truly a white field waiting to be harvested!  

     I will be going back to this community to do follow up and discipleship training (if they are willing).  Would you please join with me in praying for these prayer points:

1)  That the people will be open and committed to the discipleship lessons.
2)  That the Lord will move mightily upon them so that they will have a hunger for more of Him and will move toward Him through prayer and Bible study on their own when I am not there.
3)  That a leader can be raised up right away that will commit to holding Bible studies so that everyone can grow together.
4)   Safety as Maria and I travel to this river and minister to the other villages as well.

     The week after we get back from this trip we will be going back to the Shishnahua to do the next Bible institute course and visit the villages in this area as well.  That will be on Tuesday, October 29 to November 2.  Please keep us in prayer for this trip also so that the hearts of the people will be open to receive, prepared and solid in the things of God.

    May God richly bless you in all that you do and for all the ways you support this work.

Yours In Christ Forever,
Sharon Malcolm
Missionary with
Go To Nations since 1998 

Monday, June 24, 2019

2-Year Anniversary For The Church In San Francisco!

Congregation and visiting villages to celebrate 2-year anniversary with San Francisco
     The 2-year church anniversary of San Francisco proved to be quite an exciting event over the couple of days that it was held.  It was well attended by the congregation and neighboring villages but also by people that truly surprised us.
     There are only seven families in San Francisco and five of them make up most of the congregation of the church along with some families or family members from neighboring villages who consider this their spiritual home as well.  Since this is an Assembly of God church we invited the Regional Director and the Regional Secretary to join us in this very important occasion and they graciously agreed to come.  Both pastors shared messages during our time together and performed water baptisms for four new believers, baby dedications and finally, the church dedication.

One of four new Christians being baptized into Christ
     Of the seven families that make up the village of San Francisco only two families are not part of the church since they hold strongly to a different doctrine.  Even though these families are extended members of the other five there is now a very distinct doctrinal difference between them.  Five of the families have chosen to make Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior and two have not.  The distinctions, as observed by the mother of one of the two non-Christian families, was that the five Christian families do not drink, fight or have severe sickness among them.  
     As a result of a drastic life-style change since Jesus became Lord of their lives, the five families have repeatedly invited the other two to join them in the church services, prayer for personal needs or Bible discussions.  They have continued to love and communicate with them as much as possible and one by one the "ice" began to melt until some have also chosen to make Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior.  Unfortunately this was met by some resistance by those who still hold to their doctrinal beliefs.  
     One man in particular, Bartolome, had been very strongly against the Christians and when he heard that some of his extended family had become Christians and now wanted to get water baptized as such he was not in agreement with this.  However, during the last night of anniversary celebration once again some of his Christian extended family members invited him and his sister to join them in one of the church services and this time he accepted!  He came but only stood at the door and would not go in but after some coaxing he finally came in, sat down and listened to the pastor.  At the end of his message Pastor Nicolas gave an invitation for anyone who did not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to come up to pray and Bartolome went up and received Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior!!  This is an incredible answer to prayer by the five families that have been reaching out to the other two.  Gloriously God is moving on these hearts and lives, hallelujah!!

Four new believers having been water baptized into Christ Jesus
     The four people that were water baptized had accepted Jesus only a day or two before the anniversary celebration began.  The small man on the far right (blue tee-shirt) named Secundo Mauricio, and his wife (not pictured) had been very opposed to Christianity and followed the typical customs of a non-Christian life style which included regular drinking.  He is part of a neighboring village called New Jerusalem where a second church plant had begun but he chose not to be a part of it.  The Lord touched his heart mainly through visits from the Christians of San Francisco and now he is a brother in Christ! It was incredible for me to see this man at the church services because I've only ever seen him intoxicated in his home.  Now his attitude is completely changed and is experiencing a renewed life.
     The young man standing next to him named Jefferson, is the son of the village school teacher who was very sick during the celebration due to drinking most of his life.  Jefferson's parents were also of a different doctrine and initially when they came to San Francisco in March were quite guarded when they realized this was a Christian church and that Maria and I were missionaries.  Over time however, Jefferson wanted more of his understanding of God than what he knew at that point and made the bold decision to accept Jesus as Lord and be water baptized.
     
Jefferson's father sitting in the boat ready to be transported to a hospital
     In the meantime his father who had by now damaged his liver and kidneys due to excessive drinking had a protruded stomach and could barely walk.  He felt like he was dying.  Although he needed immediate medical attention he was refusing help.  Fortunately, he was visited at different times throughout the second day of the celebration by the two village pastors and Nilton, who is a pastor-in-training to speak to him about the Lord.  Later Nilton asked several of us to pray two times for healing and finally he agreed to pray and ask the Lord to forgive him of his sins followed by asking Him to be Lord of his life.  Even though I had the privilege of praying with him it is hard to tell if his heart was sincere.  That, of course, is up to the Lord to determine.  We had gotten word through Nilton that he was in stable condition and was in the Yurimaguas hospital.  Please pray with me that he will continue in his commitment to Christ.
     The last two of the four that were baptized are a married couple that the father's teenaged son led them to the Lord just days before.  His son Edúco, had been with the Lord but then fell away.  When he came back though it was full measure and has been on fire ever since.  He spoke to his father and step-mother about the Lord and they both accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior as well and wanted to be water baptized.
     This family lives with their extended family members who are not Christians and in fact, Edúco's grandfather is a witchdoctor.
     I am sharing the stories of all these people with you to encourage you in your prayer and intercession for us as we continue in this work but especially for the church of San Francisco whom God is using to reach family after family with His saving grace.  The fight is strong and there is a lot of resistance and temptations to go back to the world but the Lord is bigger than these and can shine brighter than any darkness.  One of the struggles is the lack of ability to read and understand the Biblical concepts and then have regular contact with Christians.  They have to make the effort to travel on the river to meet together and be encouraged and spiritually supported.  Fortunately they do not live far from each other but it is a matter of committing to do it.
     These are our new brothers and sisters and need our continued prayer for stability and growth in the Lord.  Please join with me to pray for their relationship with the Lord.  May the Lord bless you always in all you do and thank you so very much for standing with us.

Sharon Malcolm
Missionary with
Go To Nations since 1998


Saturday, June 1, 2019

Major Earthquake Shakes Peru

     At about 2:30 am on Sunday morning an 8.0 magnitude earthquake hit north-central Peru.  Yurimaguas, a population of about 62,000 people and the town that I live in, had considerable damage to several buildings and homes.  The quake struck 68 miles below the earth's surface according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) which thankfully, prevented more damage, injuries and deaths even though it was a major quake.

Severe damage done to several large buildings in Yurimaguas



     Fortunately, my house nor my dog Angelina, were not affected by the quake (although the house-sitter said she ran under the bed when it happened).  Maria and I were in a village community when it hit and were sleeping under mosquito nets in a house made of tree logs and a thatched roof.  Typically these village houses are not held together with nails but rather with twine taken from tree bark and usually do not have walls.  So when the quake hit everything shook and shook strongly for about 2 minutes.  Miraculously there was no major damage to most of these houses or to anyone in the houses except for one house that collapsed leaving no injuries.
     Our plan for this river trip was to visit four villages on the Nucuray River, which is about 16 hours by boat from Yurimaguas.  We wanted to encourage the believers in the only two churches on this river as well as present the Gospel to the non-believers in some of the other villages.  The quake gave us a wonderful opportunity to make the point that anything could happen at any time and that we all must be ready to meet our Lord at a moment's notice.  We were able to pray with several people to accept the Lord and several more to rededicate their lives to Him afresh.  It was a very encouraging trip and we were able to see the Lord move on many people to bring new life to their souls.

     While seeing the responses of the people was a huge blessing and an honor I feel I need to explain the struggles that many of these village churches experience.  For instance, the church in the village of Progreso, which is one of the only two churches on the Nucuray River, was said to be the stronger of the two.  However, over time one by one of the congregants fell away from the faith until finally Bartilome, the pastor, also fell away.  When this happened the few believers that were left felt betrayed and abandoned including one of elders of the church named Emerson, and so he also fell away.  Maria and I visited this village with the pastor of the other church to encourage both Bartilome and Emerson individually.
     We learned from Bartilome that there were so many rumors being spread about his conduct that were not true that he became overwhelmed and frustrated because he could not clear his name and therefore felt that he no longer wanted to be part of the church or in service to God.  Unfortunately, when he separated himself from the church he started drinking to cope with these struggles.
     By the time we met with him he had already received two visits from the senior pastor over him who encouraged him and set him on a path of recovery and accountability.  He shared with us that he could never leave his relationship with the Lord, just the relationship with His people.


The church in Progreso with Sharon sharing a message
     After sharing and encouraging both Bartilome and Emerson we had a church service in Bartilome's church and gloriously many people came out for it.  Even Bartilome himself!  The temporary pastor who was taking Bartilome's place, shared openly with the congregation how he too fell away from the faith but after prayer, repentance and encourgement was restored and was now asking the congregation for forgiveness.  It was done so humbly and sincerely that you couldn't help but just want to hug this young man for his vulnerability.  It set the tone for the message which led to a salvation call and an opportunity to rededicate one's life to the Lord.  Several people responded including Bartilome!  This was a huge step for him to demonstrate his own vulnerability to his congregation and I pray that they will fully receive him back with open arms.
     I share this with you to encourage you to please keep these village pastors and leaders in prayer for strength and wisdom so that when trials like this come they will use the resources available, namely other pastors or church leaders, to walk through it without falling.
     Malicious gossip is rampant in the villages and can destroy someone's character in an instant.  We just had a case like this in our first church plant of San Francisco where Nilton, the pastor-in-training was accused of sleeping with a 12-year-old girl.  The story soon lost its validity when the truth became known but not before causing much discussion among several neighboring villages.  Fortunately, Nilton held his ground and his faith and allowed the Lord to reveal the truth, which He did and was quickly resolved.
     I want to thank all of you so very much for standing with us in prayer for this work and for our protection at every level.  By God's grace we will finish the task He has given us to do and see His glory as a result of it.  I pray the Lord's blessing on each of you as you read this and encourage you in the faith to keep striving for the greater things of the Lord.  There are so many lives that still need to be reached for the Gospel let us seek the Lord together on how to do this in the most effective way.

Standing With You in Faith,
Sharon Malcolm
Missionary with 
Go To Nations since 1998

Saturday, May 18, 2019

Successful 3-Day Training


      The 3-day training for our Shawi Indian communities on prayer and worship went very well.  My sister Susan taught the afternoon sessions and the worship leader of my local church in Peru, Mark, taught the morning sessions.  Both presented their material in a way that was very appropriate and therefore everyone was receiving a much clearer understanding of what it is to worship and why.  The concepts were new for most who attended and so it stretched them to understand and accept what was being taught.
     While Mark taught on the practical concepts of what music is and how the notes can actually cause an emotional response from the hearer, positive or negative, Susan taught on how to worship using flags, veils and even sign language as a means of expression to honor and exalt our God.  She also taught on how to pray using Scripture, decrees and declarations within our God-given authority in Christ to intercede for others and for ourselves.
     It was a very rich time of instruction by two facilitators who are passionate about their areas of expertise and I am so very grateful that they both were able to share their hearts with our Shawis.  I want to thank all of you so very much for praying for this very important training!

Susan teaching sign language as a form of worship
Susan teaching about worship with Sharon translating

Mark, the worship leader at my local church, teaching on worship at 3-day training.
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Evangelistic Outreach in Progreso

Evangelistic outreach in the village of Progreso
     We had the opportunity to do an evangelistic outreach in the village of Progreso, which is at the mouth of the Shishinahua River where Maria and I go on a regular basis to minister to the Shawi Indians.  This is a Spanish village with no church and almost no understanding of who Jesus is or what He did for us on the cross.  We took the opportunity to explain salvation through the personal testimony of my sister Susan's conversion to Christianity, Maria's explanation of the fall of Adam and Eve and my explanation of the substitutionary work of the cross through Jesus Christ.  The glorious result was that everyone in the room prayed to ask Jesus to come into their lives as Lord and Savior!

Maria explaining the fall of Adam and Eve

Sharon explaining how Jesus took all of our sin on Himself
and in exchange gave us His holy and perfect life.




     The last picture above is the people of Progreso praying to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and we will continue our visits with them to disciple and train up leaders to minister to the new believers.  Once again I want to thank you so very much for standing with us in prayer for the salvation of these souls and for the transformed lives of the people that attended the 3-day training.  Together we are reaching the lost and training up the believers to be used mightily by the Lord!  May God richly bless you in all that you do for the Kingdom and for this work.

Forever In Christ,
Sharon Malcolm
Missionary with
Go To Nations since 1998

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Easter Outreach


Dear Intercessors,

            I am so happy to share with you that our Easter outreach to the four villages went very well.  The first answered prayer was that some of the women from San Francisco (our first church plant) came with us to the outreaches.  This is so important because the women must realize their part in reaching the lost for Christ.  Generally women do not talk to men (except possibly their husbands) about their personal issues but they will talk to other women.  This is why it is so vital for the Shawi believing women to reach out to the Shawi unbelieving women in these communities.  The more they make themselves available by spending time with them the more the women of the other communities will open up and have the chance to hear the Gospel.
            
            Our next answered prayer was that through the use of visual aids and the Jesus film the people gained a much clearer understanding of what Jesus did for them when He died on the cross and rose again on the third day.  In the village of San Pablo several of the people were hearing this for the first time.
         
Sharon explaining original sin and Lord's
redemptive work on the cross.
Sharon explaining Jesus taking our sin upon
Himself and giving us His life instead.
The goal in presenting the Gospel message in this way was also to show the people of San Francisco how to do it for the other villages we were to visit so that they are the ones who are doing the evangelism and not Maria and I.

Nilton and his brother-in-law Jilton ministering in worship
with Maria playing the guitar.  Both men did their part in the
presentation of the Gospel to the communities.
         
Nilton, pastor-in-training of San Francisco, presenting the Gospel
to the village of Esperanza.
            The results of these outreaches were the people of San Pablo hearing the Gospel for the first time, all of the people who heard the message in Esperanza rededicating their lives to Christ and the people of San Francisco fully participating in presenting the Gospel to their neighboring villages.                    These are very significant answers to prayer and I want to thank you all so very much for your part in bringing this about.  I feel confident that these villages will become established born-again believers in Christ just as San Francisco is.  Already Jilton and Nilton are going out to other villages when possible and are sharing their faith with those they are in contact with.  This is what our ministry among them is all about; training the village believers to be the evangelists, pastors and church-planters.  I am so very encouraged and very proud of the leaders of San Francisco for taking ownership of this event.
            May the Lord bless each of you mightily through the many ways you support this work.  I am so blessed to partner with you in this.

Sharon Malcolm
Missionary with
Go To Nations since 1998