June Newsletter

Why Your Prayers Mean So Much To Us

Rainy day in the village of Santa Rosa,

viewed from the house where we stayed.

Our last 5-day river trip was completed on June 9 and, as usual we did our dicipleship classes with the believers and then coordinated with them when our next 3-day Bible training would take place. We were very pleased to hear that there is strong interest among the villages for the training and so we planned it for August after they would have prepared their fields and planted their crops during the months of June and July.

This trip, like every other, was very important in bringing the Word of God and prayer to people who would otherwise not receive it. Every time we go out it is with the intention of planting more viable seeds of the Word into their hearts so that the harvest is 100 percent not just 30 or 60. We are looking for full growth and bountiful return on these souls so that they can be the advocates of the Gospel in their area. Our goal is to bring the people to a clear understanding of how much God loves them by what He did for them, who they are in Christ and how much they can do for Him when they are yeilded to His will.

The cost of completing this work however, is not without it’s challenges and dangers which is why I would like to share with you what happened on this trip so that you may know what you are praying for more specifically when I ask for protection as we travel.

The gas tank of our 13 horse-power motor holds one and half gallons of gas and allows us to travel about two hours before filling up again. Our two boat drivers, Tedy, who is Maria’s nephew (Maria is the Shawi YWAM missionary that has been working with me for about 5 years) and Edinson, who is a new believer that Maria led to the Lord filled the tank as usual by stopping the motor, filling up the tank and then starting the motor again. However, when we were about three hours from Yurimaguas, the town that I live in, they decided not to stop the motor this time and filled the tank while it was still running. I had seen them do this a couple of times before on prior trips but didn’t say anything thinking they knew better (I know, I know…big mistake!) so when I happened to glance back at them doing it again I thought I should say something this time but before I could a spark in the motor ignited the gas and in a second the whole tank burst into flames! It quickly spread to the rest of the motor engulfing the whole thing in a ball of fire. As the plastic parts of the motor burned it only fed the fire making it bigger and stronger. Instantly Maria and I jumped in the river on either side of the boat and prayed ernestly that the gas wouldn’t explode. Florentina, who has been traveling with us for about three years, stayed in the boat but moved toward the front farther away from danger.

The impact of the fire burst caused Tedy and Edinson to jump back and I was yelling to them from the water to jump in the river fearing the worst that the motor would explode. Maria urged them to move the tank reserve used to fill the motor out of the way so that it wouldn’t ignite as well. The men did as she said and when they could see that the flames were getting higher and bigger until it reached the plastic roof covering of the boat, which was now on fire, they moved closer to the motor to try to put the fire out. The whole boat is wood and everything in the boat was highly flamable so time was of the essence in controlling the fire.

By God’s incredible providence there just “happened” to be two or three other boats nearby that saw the whole thing and instantly rushed over to us to help put the fire out. We also just “happened” to be fairly close to shore when the fire started so that the men were able to get the boat to the river bank in order to unload the cargo.

Then, with four or five men working feverishly to put water and mud on the motor the fire was brought under control and finally put out. Just then a big passenger boat who also saw what happened slowly approached us and as they did the boat driver called out to me. “Sister Sharon, Sister Sharon...!” I couldn’t imagine who would possibly know me on this big river. I’ve traveled so many times on this river over the last eight years and I don’t ever remember anyone knowing me by name but sure enough this man did. He continued to call out to me until I could respond to him and he said, “You could use my motor to get back to Yurimaguas and I’ll pick it up from there when I get back!” Really?! I could not believe what I was hearing! For the life of me I could not remember who this man was but I was so incredibly grateful to him for his offer. Maria later reminded me that three or four years earlier we rented this man’s motor to do a river trip (it died on the way but that’s beside the point). Now here he was driving a big passenger boat traveling on same the river at the same time as we were to arrive at this exact moment to see what happened. More than that, he “just happened” to have this same motor with him in his boat so that he could lend it us (it didn’t die on the way this time)! Oh the mercy and providence of God.

The story ends with us getting back to Yurimaguas and everyone save and sound. Edinson suffered three burns on his leg that were much better by the time we got in. I treated it with antibiotic cream and then put a cold, wet cloth on top them to stop the burning. The rest of us recovered from the shock of what happened and were much calmer by the time we reached Yurimaguas.

I tell you this so that you know the power of your prayers. If we had been in the middle of the river when this happened I honestly don’t know if we would have made it through this. This is a very wide river and so it is not unusal to travel for quite a long time without ever seeing another boat near you and so for us to have been near the river bank when this happened and then to have other boats within reach of us was clearly the hand of God. Not to mention the incredible meeting of the man who lent us his motor.

The last great thing that happened was that when we got back to Yurimaguas Maria and the guys brought the motor to the store where we bought it (Maria and I went in on it) and it was covered under the warranty! How incredible is that? We only had to pay a small portion for parts and labor but the majority was covered.

This is only one example of God’s protection through your prayers. Others include protection from being severly injured or crushed by fallen trees or branches of low lying limbs when the water is low or by the boat itself as we had to manouver it to dislodge it from the sand bottom on the Shishinahua river, which is where our villages live. Snakes, small stingrays and other water animals are also an issue as we travel since we are in the water quite a bit to move the boat when the water is low.

I have learned that I cannot take any trip for granted and that each time we go out I must ask for prayer. I did not send out a prayer letter for this trip but after what happened I will not fail to do so in the future.

I know that there are many of you that committed to pray on a regular basis for this work and I am so very grateful to you. Please don’t stop! My sister, Sue Malcolm, who has served in ministry in various ways for over 25 years, five of which as a missionary with YWAM, has offered to coorindate specific times of prayer focuses for this ministry. If you would like to be a part of this intercession you can email her at hadassahsong1@yahoo.com. I will however, continue to send prayer letters to you in the same way I have in the past so that you will be receiving the prayer notices as before but now you have the option of joining with others in collective prayer. If you would like to be on the prayer list please email me at reaper4him@yahoo.com and I will gladly include you.

I want to thank you all so very much for your strength and commitment in prayer as we join together in this work to bring the Gospel to those who are learning and to those who have yet to hear. May God richly bless and keep you in all that you are doing for the Kingdom.

Together With You in the Harvest,

Sharon Malcolm

Three-Day Training, a Huge Success!

The three-day training that we just completed over a week ago was a glorious success! We had a total of 48 attendees including children who participated from six communities. Eight of the 48 people were there because they heard my radio announcement reminding the three villages that we work with when to meet so that they could be picked up and brought to the training. Oddly, I never mentioned the village of these eight people in my announcement because I've never met them before or knew of their village but praise God they took my announcement as an open invitation and joined us!

Our training included classes on the authority of the Bible, the authority of the believer, Scripture reading and comprehension, Bible storying (for those who couldn't read), literacy, discipleship and how to share their faith.  We had five sessions a day with an evening activity in Word where three of the students shared one night, we attended a service at my local church on the second night (some have never been to a church service before) and at the closing meeting on the last night we gave out gifts and certificates.

The reason that we are investing so much time, energy and money into these trainings is so that each person who attends will be adequately instructed in what they believe and why so that they can grow firm in their faith with clear understanding.  While the teachings were new to some of them everyone walked away with so much more understanding of who God is and what He did for them than what they came with.

These are the seeds that will cause growth and maturity for a life time of transformation in the Spirit and I want to thank all of you who stood in the gap for this very important event.  It is so important that our Shawi brothers and sisters get trained in the Word so that they can not only continue strong in their faith when we are not able to get to their villages but also so that they can share their faith to their people with clarity and understanding.

Besides the training classes once a quarter we will be resuming our radio broadcast of our Bible studies in the Shawi language as well.  The purpose is so that not only our villages can continue to learn but also a host of other Shawi villages within the listening range of the broadcast can partake of the Word of God and understand His incredible love for them and His purpose for their lives.

None of this could be done without each of us linking arms through our various callings to realize the will of God for these people.  We are seeing the fruit of our labor together and watching our "children" take their first steps of faith as they rise to their feet and begin to walk.  This is so exciting and I pray that you will be as encouraged and blessed as I am in being a part of what God is doing in this part of the world.  Thank you so very much for all that you have done and are continuing to do as the Lord leads you.  I pray you are richly and abundantly blessed in every area of your lives for your faithfulness.

Bringing in the Harvest Together,

Sharon Malcolm

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