2-Day Training on the Nucuray River (June)

2-Day Training on the Nucuray River

L to R:  Kim, Alicia, Charis and Donna doing children’s ministry in the villages

A team of four young women from a supporting church and I went to the Nucuray River to do a 2-day training for the only two Christian churches on this river.  The purpose was to equip and encourage the believers to go out and reach their unsaved village neighbors with the love of Christ.

We also did evangelistic outreaches to two of the un-churched villages near them and they expressed a strong desire to have a church established in their communities as well.  We are diligently working toward bringing that about through training leaders in these villages that can lead a Bible study and initiate church meetings.  In the meantime we are encouraging the two Christian churches to visit these villages to help and guide them as they grow.

There is much work to be done on this river but step by step we are gaining ground and establishing the Kingdom of God in this area.  Please pray strongly with us to complete this task and see the Body of Christ firmly rooted on this river.  Truly the harvest is great but the workers are few.

Sharon training the village of Huancayo y Progreso

The One-Year Anniversary of the New Church plant (June)

L to R back row:  Kim, Charis, Sharon, Alicia, Donna

L to R kneeling:  Pastor Nicolas, Pastor Eduardo and Jiler, director of the Bible Institute

On June 14, 2018 we joined with the village of San Francisco to celebrate the one-year anniversary of their church.  This is the first church they’ve ever had since their inception 23 years ago and to my knowledge the first Christian church on the Shishinahua River.  This was truly a monumental event and we were graced to have two of the three district authorities of the Assembly of God Church with us as well as the Director of the AG Bible institute in Yurimaguas.

During our time together there were nine people that wanted to publically testify through water baptism that they had given their lives to Christ and were committed to following Him.  Pastor Eduardo, one of the AG pastors, and Nilton from San Francisco, who is training to be the pastor of the Assembly of God church in San Francisco, did the baptisms.  Nilton got the added blessing of baptizing his brother whom he and several others had been praying for salvation for a number of years.

Nilton and Pastor Eduardo baptizing Nilton’s brother Richard.

8 of the 9 people baptized being presented to the church by Pastor Nicolas, AG Regional Director.

March Newsletter

The Shishinahua River

Nilton, from the village of San Francisco, driving us to his village to do the next course in the Bible Institute. This will be the 8^th course out of 30 that we’ve completed and Nilton is preparing to be the pastor of the church village.

Houses in the village of Santa Clara on the Shishinahua River where we shared the Word of God. 

This trip to the Shishinahua River to continue with the Bible Institute in San Francisco was especially eventful because we combined our class time with visits to other villages as well. We did the course material in the morning and then visited the communities in the afternoon to share the Word of God.

Our plan was to do a children’s program followed by an adult service with a Christian film about the life of Christ. We did this in the villages of Nueva Esperanza (New Hope) and Santa Rosa and shared from the Word of God in Santa Clara. In each village there were open hearts and several people in Nueva Esperanza and Santa Rosa prayed to ask the Lord into their lives. We will do follow up in these villages as well as continue to visit Santa Clara to encourage and teach the Word of God. My prayer is that those who prayed will truly have a desire to follow the Lord and will experience a permanent life change.

Sharon doing a Bible story with some of the children of Santa Rosa

                       

We will also continue to do 3-day training in the village churches of Progreso and Huancayo on the Nucuray River. This is a new work for us and our goal is to help build up the believers in these communities to reach their neighbors for Christ. We will work with them to set up evangelistic outreaches to their neighboring villages and encourage them through training on how to follow up and disciple the new believers. Some of the unchurched communities on this river seem very open and willing to have a church in their village and so the Lord has already started working on their hearts.

We had planned on going to the Nurcuray River this Friday, March 16 but it was canceled. The pastor of the church village of Progreso, Pastor Bartolome (Bartholomew in English), is in quite a lengthy legal dispute concerning a contract he signed with a wood company which gave the company rights to extract hard wood from his community. The village was in full agreement with this contract because the company promised to give each family a certain sum of money in exchange for the wood. Unfortunately, the community does not have the right to sell the wood to anyone and so Pastor Bartolome, who is also a village leader is the one who signed the contract in behalf of the people and is now personally liable for about $120,000. This case has been going on for about two years now but I just learned about it when the pastor just recently told me that he had to cancel our trip because he had to go to the capital for legal dealings concerning this case. He said that we could come again in a few months and so we set it up to come the first week in June.

Please keep him in prayer to resolve this without him having to go to prison or having to be responsible for the money. Out of the only two churches on this river his church is the stronger of the two but still needs to be built up. This is a terrible interference in his life and ministry and especially to those who are willing and waiting to hear the Gospel. I am praying for divine wisdom for his lawyer and any other help he can get from his mayor or advocacy groups in his district. I can’t imagine the stress he and his family must be under and so I am praying more diligently for a quick and easy resolution that will satisfy everyone.

I am also praying for the village of Nueva Esperanza on the Shishinahua River since several people prayed to accept the Lord. They are in quite a bit of spiritual darkness partly due to their traditional belief system and the strong superstitions that are very typical in indigenous communities. The spiritual bondage of these must be broken over their lives so that they can fully appropriate all that Christ died to give them.

Please join with me in prayer for this as well and may the Lord continue to bless you in all that you do for the Kingdom.

Reaping the Harvest Together,

Sharon Malcolm

19 hours travel on the river

Pastor Bartolome driving us on the Nucuray River to his village of Progreso

After a very long 19-hour trip on two boats we finally reached the Condozi Indian village of Progreso where we held our first 3-day training on how to study the Bible and how to evangelize. The course went very well and I was so pleased to see such eagerness to learn the material and participate in the group activities.

    

Training participants in groups to practice an Inductive style Bible study

Role-play on how to evangelize

                               

This method of Bible study and evangelism is something that everyone can and must do especially in their situation since Progreso is only one of two churches on this river of 11 villages.

During our time together Maria shared her testimony and I showed a Christian film depicting the life of Christ and as a result 16 people rededicated their lives to Christ! This is very exciting because these village churches of Progreso and Huancayo are still in the developing stages and are new to doing evangelism and discipleship. I am praying for a full-blown revival in both of these villages that will ignite the members with an insatiable desire to evangelize and disciple their unsaved neighboring villages.

Our commitment to them is to go back and have 2 and 3-day trainings on a monthly basis until they are equipped enough to minister on their own. It is a wide open door to help these two village churches grow in their understanding of the Word and in their relationship with the Lord. It is also a wide open door for the Gospel to go forth to the other non-churched villages and so we will take every opportunity available to do both of these. Please pray with us that the two churches will learn quickly and that the Lord will pour out His Spirit on them in a powerful way.

Prayer Request

Please pray for us as we travel to the villages on the following dates:

• March 3-8: Shishinahua River to teach the next Bible institute course to the church leaders of the new church in San Francisco and do an evangelistic outreach to two non-Christian villages.
• March 15–22: Nucuray River to do the next 3-day training in Progreso and Huancayo and do an evangelistic outreach to the non-Christian villages on the river.
• March 30–April 5: Shishinahua River to do an Easter evangelistic outreach to the non-Christian villages and teach the next course in the Bible institute.

For these trips,

• Please pray for our safety as we travel. Boating accidents are not uncommon on these waters and so protection as we travel is essential.
• Please pray that the people will understand the material being taught and will be able to apply it to their lives through the power of the Holy Spirit working in them. The goal is a glorious transformation in each person and in the community as a whole.
• Please agree with me in prayer for a full revival in these two village churches on the Nucuray River so that the Lord can use them to draw the rest of the villages on the river to Him.

Thank you so very much for standing with us in prayer for these points and may the Lord bless you in all that you are doing for Him.

Together With You in Reaping the Harvest,

Sharon Malcolm

One More Course Finished - 27 More to Go!

Bible Institute students L to R:  Francisco, Jilton, Nilton, Francisco Jr., Maria

     Our Bible Institute is going very well with our new church plant in San Francisco as we have already completed 6 of the 33 courses just since September.  This is a very small community but are neighbors to villages very close by and so Nilton, who will be the main pastor, is already reaching out to them with the Gospel and inviting them to church.  Jilton, his brother-in-law, will be the Assistant Pastor and will help with teaching and evangelizing as well.  All of the students are showing strong interest in the course material and are very dedicated to complete the institute.

     The subject matter is very anointed and is already bringing a much clearer understanding of the Lord and their relationship with Him according to what the Bible says.  I am very excited to see these changes because with the knowledge of the Truth through the study of the Word they are empowered to seek God on their own, stand in faith and take strong initiative in prayer that they simply could not do before due to lack of experience in the Word.  This Institute is designed to equip church leaders to grow in their faith through the study of the Word and apply what they learn to their lives.

     I will be starting another Institute among the Ashenika Indians in April of next year to train them as well in their growth and development in the Lord but also to prepare them to reach the lost in their area with the Gospel.  Please keep these Institutes in prayer so that the participants will complete all the requirements and be able to fully absorb the content.

Bible Storying Conference

Sharon teaching at last year's Bible Storying Conference

          We will be having another Bible Storying Conference at the end of this month to teach those who don't read or don't read well the stories in the Bible.  This is a very important method of teaching the Word to the illiterate because it gives them full command of their growth and development in their relationship with the Lord.  As they memorize the stories that are taught the Holy Spirit can then begin to bring application to their lives personally.  

     We had great success last year especially among the Shawi Indian women since culturally they don't speak in public settings.  Through this format though they had the chance to listen to the story two or three times, answer questions and then break off into small groups to listen and repeat the story again.  We found that in the beginning most of the women did not speak in the small groups but by the end of the conference all of them were sharing confidently the details of the story they were learning.  One woman commented to us saying that normally Shawi women don't have a voice among the community but with this they are encouraged to speak and be heard.

     The conference is coordinated by an Assembly of God missionary and involves all of the American missionaries in Yurimaguas (there are about 8 of us) from three different mission organizations.  It is such a blessing to be able to work together and combine our ministries in this way to reach the Shawis that all of us are working with in the study of the Word.

     The dates of the conference are November 28 to December 2.  Would you join with us in prayer so that all of the participants will understand and retain everything that they are learning and have strong enthusiasm to share what they've learned with those back home?  We, as missionaries, cannot reach all of their communities but they can and with these stories they can reach the unreached much more quickly and effectively than we could.

Certificates of completion were given out at the close of the conference
during a church service specifically dedicated to this purpose

Conference participants with American missionaries

     Thank you so much for standing with me in prayer for this work and I pray that you can rejoice with me in all that the Lord is doing among the Shawi communities.  May the Lord bless you in every way as you enter this holiday season.

Forever in Him,

Sharon Malcolm

New Ministry Explored Among the Condosi Indians

Nine hours on the Nucuray River to visit two village churches and three non-Christian villages

     We made an exploratory trip to the Nucuray River to visit two Assembly of God village churches and three non-Christian villages in order to start a work in this area.  An American missionary, who is head of the Assembly of God in the state where I live, set up the trip through a contact he had that knew the river.  It was an exciting time as we ministered the Word of God in all five villages that were visited through children's programs and evening services.  Several people accepted Christ for the first time or rededicated their lives to Him.  All of the villages that we visited requested that we come back for more teaching of the Word and one village that we did not have time to visit requested a visit from us as well.

     Although drunkenness and strong superstition is very prevalent among the non-Christian villages the desire for the Word of God on a regular basis is what the majority of the people wanted.

River dock in the village Puerto Alegre, a non-Christian village

Sharon doing a children's program in Puerto Alegre.  Her clothing is still wet from the boat ride.

Waiting for people to arrive for the evening service at Nueva Arica.

     One community named Nueva Arica, had a strong desire to have a church started in their village and already has three men that were formally trained that can help start it.  Fortunately, most of the villages have heard of Jesus Christ and are familiar with what He did.  Now it is just a matter of helping them see why it's important to them.

     The harvest on this river is very ripe and there is great potential to reach many villages with the Gospel here.  In order to do this we will be starting the first of many 4-day training sessions in February with the two Assembly of God churches to help prepare them to take on the task of bringing in the harvest.  Since the three of us that made this trip live very far away from this area it is vital that the people in these churches understand their part in the Great Commission and get trained on how to study the Bible and how to evangelize and disciple this great harvest of souls.

     I will be doing these trainings as I have done with our Shawi Indians in the past and am believing that the Lord will use this material to open the minds and hearts of the people to be aggressive in reaching the lost for Christ.  Would you stand with me in prayer for this huge task in seeing the Body of Christ in this area rise up to their full potential?

     We will also be starting a Bible Institute among the Ashenika Indians in April to help equip them as well for the work of the Lord.  In the meantime we are continuing the Bible Institute among our Shawi Indians in the village of San Francisco to prepare the leadership of this new church to take on their role as pastors and deacons.  The Lord is truly at work in all these areas and is reaching the Christians and non-Christians alike with the power of His Word to transform individuals as well as whole communities.  May the Lord bless you in every way for your commitment to stand with us in prayer for these precious people and for this work.

Forever in Him,

Sharon Malcolm

Bible Institute Going Strong!

Bible Institute students L to R:  Francisco, Jilton, Nilton (he will be the
pastor of the village church) Francisco Jr. and Maria who travels with me. 

         In September we started the Bible Institute to train leaders and pastors for the new church that was officially planted in May of this year.  The village of San Francisco, where the church resides, is a very small village but has great influence with the villages around them.  Nilton, the man in the middle with the stripped shirt, will be ordained as pastor and Jilton, the man to the left in a blue shirt, will be the Assistant Pastor.  The other men will serve as church leaders.

     The woman in the group is Maria who has been serving with me for the last 7 years and she will continue to serve in her village church as one of the leaders.  Upon completion each participant will receive a Diploma of Theology and Nilton and Jilton will be officially ordained as Assembly of God pastors.  The other men will serve as church leaders for this village church.

     This is truly an exciting time for us since we've been working together for the last 10 years to bring this about.  It is an answer to prayer for me to see these precious people so willing and eager to be trained in the Word of God in order to lead and serve their people.

Nilton's house

Nilton's wife Paula preparing a river fish breakfast for us

Nilton and Paula's kitchen

Breakfast at Nilton and Paula's house - a very typical morning meal for Shawis

COMING UP

     I will be traveling this Monday with an American missionary and Peruvian team to visit some villages that do not know Christ yet.  These are the Condonsi Indians and we will be visiting several villages, two of which have churches but are very weak and others who may or may have not heard of Jesus Christ but are still not Christian.  Would you please stand with us in prayer for this trip so that every time the Word is shared it will impact the hearers and lives will be changed?  It is quite a long distance away and so repeat visits may be difficult although certainly not impossible.  The goal is always to prepare and equip the existing churches to go and minister to their people but due to illiteracy or very low comprehension the process is labored.

     I am also in contact with the pastors of the Ashenika villages who want to have a Bible Institute started in their area as well.  The whole purpose of the Institute and the 5-day trainings that we've had is to empower the people in the Word with understanding so that they can effectively and correctly reach their own people with the Gospel.  Please keep us in prayer as we push forward to accomplish this goal as quickly and effectively as possible.  Thank you so much for all you have done in this vital work.  Together we truly are making great strides in establishing the Kingdom of God in these areas.

Forever for Him,

Sharon Malcolm