Blake and Claire are continuing to serve alongside the church in Pretoria, South Africa, with their four kids. The ministry team has received new partners! Kerry and Vinson Sensenig joined a few months ago with their 3 kids. They will serve at the baby home as house parents, and will also work full-time for 1Hope, helping to fill in some much needed gaps for admin and practical needs.
God is answering prayers through sending Akani and his family after so much preparation! Being a part of helping families like them go to unreached areas is their reason for being there. When they wonder if the hardships are worth it, God encourages them through this family’s own willingness to give up the comforts and opportunities of the city for village life.
Josh and Julie are thankful for the Lord’s sustaining grace as they’ve now passed the one year mark of serving at Grace Church of Cochrane. It was a challenging year with some difficult counselling situations and a few people leaving. They have felt quite overwhelmed at times, especially since Josh is the only staff pastor. But praise God that there’s been a few new people visiting and for the ways people are serving.
Over the last year, they’ve seen 15 individuals become members. Grace Church also had the privilege of baptizing two young people this fall, as well as, starting up a Sunday School ministry for both kids and adults, which have been well attended thus far. They've also seen a growing fervency in believing prayer during their monthly prayer meeting. They give thanks to God that the church has now officially received their own charitable status.
Children need milk, but they must mature to solid food. Likewise, all Christians, including adults, ought to progress from the “basic principles” to become “skilled in the word of righteousness” (Heb. 5:12–14). Knowledge can puff up (1 Cor. 8:1), but the aim of teaching is love (1 Tim. 1:5) and to equip the saints for ministry (Eph. 4:12). Those who remain immature in the things of God are at risk of being tossed around by false and deceitful teachings (Eph. 4:12–14) and led astray from the faith (2 Cor. 11:3–4). Thus, the goal of Immanuel Adults is to present men and women mature in Christ (Col 1:28) who can stand firm and hold onto truth (2 Thess. 2:15).
Location:
Indonesia
Population:
1,000,000
Ev. Christian:
0%
Main Language:
Malay, Jambi
Spiritual Beliefs:
99.94% Islam
Bible in Heart Language:
Partial
The Jambi people primarily live in central Sumatra. Most of the area inhabited by the Jambi is a lowland basin of agricultural fields. Almost all of the Jambi are Muslim. Most villages have mosques or prayer houses.