Safe Passage Prayer letter

Dear Prayer Warriors,

I am writing again to ask you to stand with me for an upcoming issue that could temporarily thwart the work of the Lord.  A team from the States is coming to Peru on October 3 to make bio-sand water filters with me in the village of Varadero.  This is where we just got back from and where 20 people accepted the Lord.  Just recently though the state that I live in, Loreto, started feuding with a neighboring state called San Martin over a city that is part of Loreto.

San Martin wants this city to be part of their state and Loreto wants the city to stay with them. The city itself, called Pamper Hermosa, also wants to stay with Loreto and so to force the authorities to settle the issue Pamper Hermosa is going on strike.  The way they do this is to close part of the only road that goes to Tarapoto, which has the closest airport to where I live. This affects me and the team because I need to fly to Lima from this airport in order to meet the team when they arrive in Peru and then bring them back through this airport in order to get to the village to do the water filter project.

I will be talking to the chief of police and the president of the strike to ask for safe passage for us through the picket lines so that we can get in and out without any problems.  Usually these strikes are not dangerous but quite bothersome and could cause a lot of time to be wasted for our team.  Would you pray with me for enormous favor from both of them and an escort from the police or a strike representative through the check points.  Unfortunately, just their word is not good enough for the strikers.  We would need a physical presence of one of them in order to pass through.

I would also ask you to keep us in prayer during our time in the village since we want to complete 25 water filters and greatly minister to the people with the Word of God and prayer.  We will be working in three locations in this village to complete the project and hold church services in the evening as well as daytime activities as time permits.  Would you join with me in these prayer points?

1. Safe travel to and from the village.
2. Good health among the team from stomach issues or any other sickness that would hinder the work.
3. Strong bonding with the team and the people as we work with them and minister.
4. Wisdom and discernment on how to effectively present the Word of the Lord and pray with the mind of Christ.
5. That the people will be as open and receptive as they were on our first trip to the Gospel and receive all that the Lord has for them on this trip as well.

Thank you all so very much for your intercession and I will surely keep you posted on the outcome of our concerted prayer.  God bless you mightily in every way.

September Newletter

Maria’s sister’s-in-law mother with her grandchild

I want to thank everyone who stood in prayer for us as we completed this last river trip. I am happy to report that we were able to get in and out of the village with no problem even though the water was very low. The purpose of the trip was to deliver the water filter materials for the 25 recipients in the village of Varadero.

In meeting with each group of 10 families I was able to explain why we were doing the project and what both our parts would be in completing the filters. I also shared that the purpose of the project was not just to meet a physical need but a spiritual need as well.  This led to the opportunity to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all three groups which resulted in 20 salvations!  The woman pictured above is one of our new sisters in Christ.

Our safe travel, completion of delivering the material and, especially, the salvation of souls came as a result of our combined faith and intercession for the people of this village. I can’t thank you enough for taking this part of the ministry so seriously and faithfully. The outcome of our prayer far outweighs any sacrifice that we had to make in bringing this about. Our precious Heavenly Father had long ago prepared and planned for each one of these precious souls to be part of His eternal Kingdom and we had the privilege of being instruments in His hands as He brought that about. God bless each one of you for joining together with me in seeing this realized!

When we return to Varadero on October 6 with a team from the States to do the filters we will also have evening meetings to teach the Word and pray for everyone who like prayer. I am expecting great things to happen during this time together so I would ask you to please join with me again in seeing the full measure of the Holy Spirit poured out on the villagers and on the US team as we minister. Thank you so much again for all that you do for this work and may God continue to bless you mightily.

Faithfully Yours in Christ,

Sharon Malcolm

Maria’s brother Camilo, driving our fully loaded boat past a river port on the way to Varadero.

Maria in the front as the point person to help guide the boat

with her mother in the center with the yellow blouse.

September prayer letter

Dear Prayer Warriors,

I want to thank you so very much for keeping our travel and ministry to the villages in prayer all this time, I so appreciate it.  As a result the Lord has truly kept us and protected us while on the river and has opened many doors of evangelism in order to share the love of God with those who have never heard.

This Saturday we will have another opportunity to share God's love with those who do not know Him as we travel to three sub-communities in the greater community of Baradero.  These are smaller villages that we have never worked in before and are the families of Maria's cousin and sister-in-law as well as the families of five of her brothers.  Maria is the Shawi YWAM missionary that has been traveling with me to minister to the Shawi Indians for the last five years.

Our goal is that Maria's cousin Jonnie and sister-in-law Antonia will become the initiators of the follow up and discipleship of these communities so that they can grow in their new found faith as they accept Christ.  Would you stand with us for the following prayer points as you and I go forward to advance the Kingdom of God in this area?

1)   Safety on the river as we travel to and from the villages.

2)   That Maria's cousin Jonnie and Maria's sister-in-law Antonia will be burdened to work with their extended families in these villages in leading them to a strong walk with the Lord.

3)   That the villages will be very open and receptive to the Holy Spirit as He reveals the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them.

4)   That we be extremely sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit in knowing how and what to share about the love of God so that it is very clear to everyone.

5)   That each person will come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Thank you again so very much for keeping us in prayer and for joining with us to reach the lost for Christ.  It is truly my greatest privilege and joy to be able to stand in agreement with each of you as the Body of Christ to bring in a great harvest of souls!  God be with you and keep you in all that you do.

May Blessings Beyond Containment Be Yours!

Sharon Malcolm

August newsletter

Training Session for the men

Maria, Rufino and I rotated through each of the 5 sessions per day of the 3-day training teaching the men who could read, those that couldn't and the women so that each group received all that God had for them.

I want to thank you all so much for praying for us for our three day training this past weekend. It went very well and I am pleased to say that everyone seemed "full" by the time they left.

These trainings have proven to be very effective because when the villagers come they are completely relieved of all of their daily responsibilities of farm work, child care, food gathering and preparation and water collection. Since all of their meals are provided for and there is child care the only thing they have to concentrate on is the Word of God and all that God wants to do in them.

The goal of this training is to prepare and equip the believers with a firm foundation and how it applies to them so that they can share it with others. I have been encouraging them that they are the best ones to tell the people in their villages about the saving love and grace of Jesus Christ since they live right there and the people already know and trust them.

It is still quite intimidating for them to share their faith but little by little they are becoming more comfortable with it. In fact one man wants to build a church in his village,  so that we have a meeting place when we come and also to accommodate a neighboring village who does not have a church either. Already they are thinking outside of themselves and toward others, praise God!

Eloisa teaching 5, 6, and 7 year olds

Carola teaching 8 to 15 year olds

At the end of our time together I asked if everyone would like to have the training last for five days instead of three and they were in hearty agreement. We also planned to have a three week training in February when the children are on summer vacation so this was very encouraging. We want to do all that we can to give them all that we have so that they can be strong, viable Christians that will stand in the midst of any trial. I want to thank all of you that stood in the gap for this training and for every other activity that we have been engaged with in this ministry. It is because of this that the people have risen to this level of commitment and interest in the things of God. May the Lord richly bless each of you for your very vital part in this ministry.

Prayer for 3-day training

I want to thank you so very much for your faithfulness to intercede for this ministry. The Lord has moved mightily through our combined intercession in reaching the lost with the Gospel and discipling the new believers in the Word.

I would like to invite you again to stand with me in prayer for the upcoming event starting this Saturday. It is our quarterly 3-day training in the Word of God for the Shawi Indians that we work with

We will be bringing them in from their villages to participate in the classes for three days starting Saturday, August 1 and ending on Monday, August 3.  It will be an intense time of learning for them but one that is desperately needed to be able to stand against sin and compromise and grow in their faith and understanding of Who God is and what He's done for us. Therefore if you would please pray for us during this time so that:

1.  the Lord will open the minds and hearts of all who come so that they will make a decision to follow Him with all their hearts, souls, minds and strength.
2.  We, as the facilitators, will communicate clearly the content of the lessons and that everyone be able to grasp the meaning and application of what we are teaching.
3.  Everyone will be safe as they travel to and from their villages. We have people coming from two other rivers as well so we ask the Lord's blessing of protection on them as they travel.
4.  The child-care workers will be creative and articulate in presenting the Word of God so that all the children, no matter how young, will receive from the Lord.
5. Everyone will walk away satisfied with what they gained at the training so that they will come back when it is offered again.

Thank you again for your ministry of intercession for the Shawi Indians and may the Lord richly bless and keep you in all that you do.

Standing With You for God's People,

Sharon Malcolm

July Newsletter

Traveling the rivers to minister to the Shawi Indian communities

I want to thank all of you so very much who prayed for us during this last river trip. I am very happy to report that there were no mishaps, near accidents or low water that would have made travel more difficult. This was actually quite a relaxing 10 hour trip going up and an 8 hour trip coming back. Praise be to our God!  Although this river, called the Yanuyacu, has many curves and can be very difficult to navigate a 2-ton boat that is more than 30 feet long the boat drivers did an excellent job of getting us there and back safely and soundly.

Our 3-day training on the Authority of the Believer went very well also. The village where we ministered is called Nueva Papaplaya and it is mostly a Spanish village. It has a strong church and the pastor is a friend of mine and so we’ve done several projects of water filters and wood burning chimney stoves for his people. However, in this village there are also seven Shawi Indian families that we wanted to target along with ministering to the village church since not all of them speak Spanish and so cannot take advantage of the preaching of the Word. I asked Marcos, who is the leader of these families, to teach the material in the Shawi language which he was very glad to do so.

Marcos is a key person in working with these families because he not only speaks and reads Spanish and Shawi very well but also has a strong burden to see his people grow in their faith and understanding of the Word. I have been praying for more people like him that can lead their people into a strong, viable relationship with the Lord and so I am doing everything possible to train him, give him material to share with his families and opportunities to share in our trainings. The village church also allows them to have their own service each week on Wednesday nights where Marcos shares and of course the families are very welcomed to join in the rest of the services the church has during the week as well.

Marcos teaching on the Authority of the Believer to his people

We will be having another 3-day training in August for the villages that we work with on the Shishinahua River and, as before, I have invited Marcos and the other Shawi families to join us. He will be sharing the same material he did with his people but now he will also share it with all those who attend our training as well.

While I was with Shawis during this trip I had the chance to talk at length to Marcos and the rest about our call to fulfill the Great Commission and how they can do this starting from right where they are. I was encouraged to see Marcos’ interest and the others at least sincerely thinking about it. It is a new concept for most of them and so the how, when and where needs to be worked out but I believe we can do this very well and very soon. We also want to concentrate on the villages where Maria lives (she is the Shawi YWAM missionary that has been traveling with me for about 5 years) so that more and more people are mobilized to share the Gospel. When Maria is not traveling with me she helps pastor a church in her village. Her people have had much more exposure to the things of God and are very accustomed to “church”  therefore it should be much easier to explain the call of evangelism and help set up a strategy to reach out to those who have not yet heard.

We are continuing to work diligently to train and encourage our villages on the Shishinahua River to become advocates for the Gospel as well. This is a bit more challenging because most of them did not have any previous point of reference for the things of God and so do not yet understand the need to share about it. However, I have seen the Lord move so mightily in these villages to bring to clear light His Truth that in no time they will be evangelizing their neighboring villages as well.

I will be sharing more about this endeavor soon but in the meantime as the Lord lays these plans on your heart would you pray in agreement with us? I am becoming so very aware of urgency of the times and so it is vital that all of us move forward aggressively to complete what the Lord has given us to do on the earth. God bless you all and thank you so very much for joining with us in prayer by standing in the gap for our Shawi brothers and sisters.

Together With you in Christ,

Sharon Malcolm

July prayer letter

Dear Prayer Warriors,

I want to thank you so much again for your faithfulness in prayer for us as we travel the rivers to disciple and encourage the new believers.  It is because each of us are doing our part in this great work that the Holy Spirit is moving so mightily to bring people into a saving knowledge of Jesus and those that know Him into a deeper, richer relationship.

I am writing again to inform you that we will be traveling to minister to a village named Nuevo Papaplaya on the Yanuyacu River.  This is a village that is mostly Mestizo (Spanish decent) and has a strong church.  The pastor is a friend of mine and we have done several projects in his community in the past with the purpose of evangelizing and discipling his village.  We are going again, this time to do a 3-day teaching on the Authority of the Believer for his congregation.  We will be having 3 meetings a day; one in the morning for the Shawi Indians that do not speak Spanish or speak it well, one in the afternoon for the children although everyone is invited and one in the evening for everyone.  We will be praying for people as well at the end of the services for any needs that people may have.

Would you join with us in prayer so that these meetings will be powerfully effective in bringing down strongholds of ignorance and unbelief in the people?  As we present the material we are praying that everyone will understand the spiritual battle that we are engaged in and how to use the Word, prayer and praise to defeat the enemy at every turn.  The more we are educated in what is available to us the less the enemy has to work with to blind us from the Truth.

Our dates of travel are Thursday, July 9 to Monday, July 13.  Please agree with us in prayer for:

1)   Safety as we travel.  The river is low due to lack of rain and so there will be many fallen trees, branches and tree stumps in the water, some exposed and some underneath.  This river also has many curves so please keep us in prayer for wisdom for the boat drivers as they take these curves (we've already have two collisions in the past, one of which resulted in severe injury to a passenger in the oncoming boat) and so that they have clear vision to see the obstacles in the water to avoid them.

2)   The people to receive everything that the Lord wants to give them in every way.  Our goal is to equip them so that they can take the initiative and defeat the enemy on their own as well as join with others in prayer to see powerful victories in every areas of their lives.

3)   Each of us as we deliver the material so that it is strongly anointed and very clear to everyone who hears us so that it can be applied to their daily lives.

Thank you so much again for standing with us in prayer, I so appreciate your faith and commitment to all that the Lord is doing in these communities.  God bless you richly and in every way!

Sharon Malcolm