May 11th prayer letter

My Dear Prayer Warriors,

About a year and a half ago we started three-day trainings once a quarter to bring in the Shawi Indians from the villages where we've been working to the town that I live in.  We wanted it to be a concentrated time in Word through discipleship and practical lessons on how to pray, praise and repent along with some other topics and it has proven to be very effective.

We will be continuing with these trainings throughout the year and our next one will be this weekend on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Would you stand with us in prayer for this very important time with our Shawi brothers and sisters?  Our goal for these trainings and for the Bible school that we just started in March is to train and equip the villagers to become the messengers, leaders and trainers that God will use to bring in and disciple a huge harvest of souls in their area.

Therefore, would you pray with us so that:

1. Every person will be open and receptive to all that the Lord wants to teach them with clarity and understanding of the Scriptures so that it will have a life-changing effect on them.
2.  They develop a passion for the Word and the things of God and will walk faithfully before Him forsaking every temptation to do otherwise.
3. Everyone who is supposed to attend will come without any hindrances whatsoever.
4. They will have safety on the river as they travel to and from Yurimaguas.
5. God will bless them mightily for their commitment to come and for their desire to know Him more.

I want to thank you so very much for your intercession for this very important event.  I am believing God for great things to happen during our time together and that people's lives will be dramatically impacted.  God bless you for your prayers.

Joined Together for the Harvest,

Sharon Malcolm

April prayer letter

Dear Prayer Warriors,

I want to thank you so much for keeping us in prayer for our recent trip to a new village called Nueva Nauta. The trip was quite challenging from the start and ended with a 10-hour walk through the jungle in order to get to the nearest village where we could get a car back to town.

In our time in the village we learned that there were several houses that were built but not always occupied.  It seems that the owners only stay there when they are hunting or fishing but the rest of the time they are away. Also, there are no churches or Christians in this village but witchdoctors have a very strong presence.

We spent our time with one family in particular who is the mother of a young woman named Florentina who's been traveling with us for the last three years or so. Florentina and her mother Saturdina lived in one of the villages that we minister in, Santa Clara, which is where I met them both originally. I had the privilege of leading them and the father to the Lord several years ago and then baptizing Saturdina and Florentina some time later. Unfortunately, the father passed away of a sickness about a year after he accepted the Lord. Since then Saturdina went to live with her son in Nueva Nauto, which is why we wanted to visit her.  She said it has been very difficult for her to maintain her relationship with the Lord since there is no Christian influence and her son and daughter-in-law both drink. Since the village is very difficult to get to we will be praying on how to proceed from here in order to minister to them.

We will be traveling to the three villages of Santa Clara, Santa Rosa and Yarina from this Saturday to Wednesday and Saturdina will be traveling with us. Would you keep us in prayer for our safety as we travel, guidance as we minister and sensitivity as we prayer for people? We will be doing a follow-up visit with the participants of last month's 3-week cycle of the Bible school and so we want to encourage and give them the opportunity to be used by the Lord to minister with us. Please pray that all that they learned will be used in working with their people in their community.

After we get back from this 5-day trip we will be leaving the next day at 6 am to take Saturdina back to her village, Nueva Nauta. Please keep us in prayer for this trip as well for strong protection from the Lord, wisdom and a quick return without any undue challenges. The dates for both trips are as follows:

April 25-29:  Shishinahua River to do a follow-up visit

April 30-May 1:  Nueva Nauta to take Saturdina back

I want to thank you so very much again for your prayers, love and encouragement in standing with us in this amazing work. God bless you all as you serve the Lord in this way.

Taking Ground Together,

Sharon Malcolm

April 2015 Newsletter

I am so pleased to be able to share with you the completion of our first 3-week cycle of our new Bible school for Shawis. It went incredibly well and I am praising God for all His wisdom, strength and guidance in putting this together. We started out with 14 students from 4 different villages and ended up with 11 completing the course since 3 had to leave for various reasons. God was so good in meeting everyone where they were and allowing them to learn as much as possible of the Word of God to share with others. We will be doing our second cycle in late June and we are expecting great things with this one too. 

God bless you as you read how the Lord moved.

Taking the Villages for the Kingdom,

Bible School Students Completed Their 1st Three Week Cycle!

11 Students from four different villages completed the first cycle of Bible School

All of us who participated in teaching the classes were so very proud of our students as they displayed their certificates for completing a very intense three week cycle of the new Bible school called Living for Christ Bible Institute.  Each participant left with a much clearer understanding of their faith and much a firmer foundation of their relationship with Christ.  They had so many opportunities to practice what they learned throughout our time together that it gave them several “first time” experiences.

     

New believers taking communion for the first time on one occasion and helping to baptize their fellow students on another.

in small groups for each other for the first time

Edinson (blue shirt) preaching for the first time

     

Adults reading and writing for the first time

 

Students participating in evangelistic outreach for the first time.

The Lord truly brought about so many changes in the lives of each person but not just in the students.  Each one of us who facilitated the classes were deeply moved as well as we were stretched, proved and used by the Lord in new ways to train His people in the Truth.  This was truly an awesome, unforgettable experience.  God bless each of you who stood with us in prayer, encouragement and love through this time to bring all this about.

We will be doing a follow-up visit to the villages later this month and a visit to a new village called Nueva Nauta this Monday and returning this Wednesday.  Would you keep us in prayer for this new village?

1. For safety as we travel and that we will be able to get in and out without too many challenges.  It will require a 45 minute car ride, a six hour boat ride and a one hour walk (hopefully not longer) through the jungle with all of our gear.
2. That the people receive the Gospel with open minds and hearts.
3. That the Lord give us discernment on how to minister to this community in the most effective way.

Thank you so very much for your faith in standing with us in prayer and for joining with us in reaching the lost for Christ.  Look what we are accomplishing together!

Breakthroughs, Breakthroughs, Breakthroughs!!

We have just completed our first week of the three week Bible school and so much has happened already. After such a short time our non-reading adults can now tell you how God created the world through the Bible story reading class, how Jesus was born through the Scripture reading class, what repentance is through the discipleship class and so much more. We are teaching literacy as well and so our non-readers are learning their alphabet and how to sound out the letters in order to read words for the first time! Our reading adults are excelling in their classes as well on how to study the Bible, Christian growth, scripture reading and several other classes.

I must admit that the schedule is a bit intense with six classes a day, 6 days a week but the results are amazing and the Lord is richly blessing all that we are doing. This could not have been done, my precious brothers and sisters without your faith and continued prayer support for this work. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your faithfulness and all that the Lord is doing as a result of it.

I also have the privilege of working with a team from Colorado to facilitate the classes and they have been absolutely incredible!  Through our combined effort our people are praying in public for the first time, memorizing Scripture, retaining the material taught and gaining more and more confidence in their relationship with the Lord.

Austin teaching the women

JJ teaching the non-reading men

Sharon teaching the women

Lisa teaching the reading men

We have a total of 14 students and they are divided into four groups:  reading and non-reading men, non-reading women and children. This provides enough camaraderie in each group to encourage stronger participation from everyone. Because the groups are smaller and on the same level our people are learning things they never thought they could and are showing much more assertiveness in their desire to know about the Lord. All of us that are teaching the classes are so impressed by how well the students are doing and it is truly a praise to God!

The last and very memorable event that took place this week was a water baptism for 12 of our students, including the hired mini truck driver who brought us to the river to hold the baptisms!  He apparently was so moved by the Lord that he also came down to the river to be baptized as a public expression of his re-dedication to the Lord!

JJ and Austin baptizing the driver who rededicated his life to the Lord at that moment.

(L) JJ and one of our new converts, Linser, helping to baptize a fellow student.

(R) Austin and Sharon baptizing the daughter of one of our students who was visiting that day.

I want to thank you so very much for your love, encouragement and prayer for this work and for all that the Lord is doing in the lives of our Shawi brothers and sisters. It is truly miraculous and we all have a wonderful part in it!  Would you please continue to keep us in prayer for the next two weeks that our lesson planning and delivery will go really well so that our people will continue to learn quickly and grow their faith and understanding of the Lord. Our classes finish on March 28. God bless you for standing with us and thank you so much again.

With Much Appreciation,

Sharon Malcolm

February 2015 Newsletter

I want to thank everyone who stood with us in prayer for the 5-day river trip last week. We just got back on Saturday and it proved to be a very blessed trip. Our purpose for going is always to minister the Word of God to the three villages that we are involved with, Santa Clara, Santa Rosa and Yarina. But we also went this time to also encourage the people to come to the Bible school that we will be starting on March 7. It will be a two-year course with 4 cycles a year, each cycle lasting 3 weeks. Our goal is train as many leaders as possible that will go back to their communities and teach what they learned at the school so that everyone will have the opportunity to learn about and grow in Christ.

The first village we visited was Santa Clara and during one of our Bible studies a woman from another village was visiting and decided to come to our meeting. The Lord so moved on her that at the end of the meeting she prayed with us to accept Jesus as the Lord of her life. Glory to God for His timing for her that she was at the right place at the right time to hear about God’s love and all that He did for her!

The second village we visited was Santa Rosa and a man named Francisco lives there with his wife and 10 children. Francisco has had some very painful stomach issues for quite some time and had been going to witch doctors for healing. Even though he believed in witch doctors he would still participate in some of our meetings over the years and even allowed us to pray with him for various needs. At one point he even prayed to renounce the worship of his idols and accept Jesus as his Lord. Although there was no distinct evidence of a changed life I believe the Lord was planting some very fertile seeds in his soul.                       

His recent stomach issues brought him back again to the witch doctors for healing but this time they wanted 500 Peruvian dollars to treat him. This was the last straw for Francisco because up to this point he had been paying smaller fees for their service but with no results. Now they were asking for a 6-month salary to “heal” him with no guarantee that they could. He firmly rejected their request and decided that witch doctors do not have any power to heal and that they are lying. He has now renewed his commitment to Christ and is very open to follow Him more seriously. I have seen over the years of working in this village that the Lord had been drawing Francisco little by little each time we were there and sometimes he would show great interest and desire to follow Jesus and then other times he would not want to have anything to do with Him. I know that God will continue to draw Francisco until he is completely in the Kingdom and will use him to be a spokesman for His glory. Please keep him and his family in prayer for God’s best for him.

In the village of Yarina, our last village-visit, a faithful couple had decided to come to our Bible school and bring three of their children. They have always been very open to the Lord and have expressed strong desire to grow in Him. After the school they want to build a church in the village so that we would have some place to meet instead of the half finished community room we have been meeting.

While in Yarina another wonderful thing happened and that was that I attended a 7^th Day Adventist church service. This small congregation has been meeting together for about 2 years and they have often come to our meetings but we have never gone to theirs (usually it’s because we were not there on a Friday or Saturday when they have their services). This time though we were there on a Friday and I asked if I could attend and they gladly welcomed me. It was a small gesture but I believe it bridged some unspoken gaps between us by affirming the acceptance of both of our doctrinal differences. I, of course, invited them to our Bible school as well so I will wait to see how many will be able to attend.

I want to thank you all so very much for your intercession and commitment to pray for this work and all that the Lord wants to do in the lives of the Shawi people. Please continue to pray for the Bible school which will run from March 7 to 28 that everyone will receive from the Lord all that He intends to give them so they are prepared to minister to their villages. God bless you all and thank you so much again.

Sharon Malcolm

February 2015 prayer letter

My Dear Faithful Prayer Warriors,

I again ask for your intercession on our next river trip. The dates are this Tuesday, Feb 16th to Saturday, Feb 20th. The purpose of the trip is to encourage and minister to the new believers in the three communities where we work but also to get a head count of how many will be coming to our Bible school that will start on March 7.

I would ask your prayer for:

• our safety as we travel on the river
• the Word of God to go out in power
• the movement of the Holy Spirit on everyone who is supposed to come to the Bible school so they make it a point to come.
• anything else that the Lord leads you to pray.

The Bible school that we are starting will run for 3 weeks, 4 times a year for 2 years. At the end of 2 years they will get a diploma signifying they are trained ministers of the Gospel. Our goal is to equip everyone, men, women, youth and children, in the work of the Lord so that they are confident in what they believe and secure enough to be able to proclaim and disciple their neighbors in the saving knowledge of Christ.

Would you stand in agreement with us for this request as well? We are praying for:

• A very positive response from the villages and that everyone who is able to come will attend without any hindrances.
• That the Holy Spirit will move mightily among all those who attend in a way that will be life-changing.
• That everyone will be satisfied with the accommodations and there will be no complaints.
• Every part of the training will be anointed by the Holy Spirit and will minister deeply to those attending.
• Safety as the American team arrives from the States to teach in the Bible school.
• Divine wisdom to hear from the Lord about how to effectively minister to all who will attend.

I want to thank you so very much for standing with us in prayer for these needs. I know together we will see great things happening and the Shawi people will be trained to be ministers of the Gospel. God bless you all and thank so much again for all of your intercession for this work.

With Much Gratitude and Appreciation,
Sharon Malcolm

Our First Evangelistic Outreach

Families from San Francisco gather for the evangelistic outreach

I want to thank all of you who prayed for us for the last river trip in November.  We had plenty of water to get in and out of the villages without any delays and it did not rain heavily during our travel so the Lord protected us yet again. Glory to God!

The trip was a short one but certainly a milestone event.  We went to invite our three villages to the upcoming conference that we were having for them in late November.  However, while with them we did an evangelistic outreach in a village nearby called San Francisco.  I had asked if anyone would like to join us in this outreach and three families from Santa Clara responded!  This is huge because it was the first time they had ever participated in something like this as a Christian worker and not as a participant.

Some members of Santa Clara helping San Francisco 

do an art project to reinforce Bible lesson

It was a great leap forward for us in that our fledgling believers were actively participating with us in the sharing of the Gospel.  I was thrilled beyond words!  We will continue to train them in the Word and in practical ways on how to share their faith as we hold our conferences and village visits.  Thank you all so very much for your prayer for these precious people.  God is truly moving among them and I know that very soon we will see evangelists and missionaries emerge out of these communities to bring the Truth to their own people.

3-Day Conference

7 Families from three different villages complete a 3-day conference in Yurimaguas

This was a tremendous event in that we had six families from a village besides the river that we normally work on attend the conference.  This was the first time they had joined us and my prayer is that they will continue to receive from the Lord all that He has for them through this training.  The purpose of the conference is always to build up the faith of the believers through the knowledge of the Word, prayer and practical experience of what they learned.

  
Pastor Roque teaching how to lay hands on the sick

Maria teaching the Word of God                     

Children’s ministry

Sharon teaching on how to share your faith

The conference was ended with people receiving the Lord, prayer and the Word of God.  This was truly a rich time and I want to thank all of you again so very much for standing with me in prayer for this event.  It is so significant in the lives of these new believers and is providing avenues for them to get trained to move forward in their faith to share the Gospel with their fellow Shawi Indians who are still living outside the Kingdom.  God bless each of you for your faithfulness to the things of God and may He bless you abundantly this Christmas season.

Joining With You in the Harvest,

Sharon Malcolm