Caring for the Children

Across the street from the entrance to W was an orphanage that was really just some poorly built shacks with electricity and water.

We visited the owner and spent several hours getting to know him and his story. He had been moving around from city to city looking for a place that would let him set up in and support him in. He was turned down help from most other orphanages and organizations like those because he took in everyone. Many of the orphanages here only help those that can at least help themselves, but he wanted to help everyone. That was apparently a problem for other organizations.

He has taken in and rescued children that cannot do anything for themselves. Currently there are 28 children and 4 workers.  He is barely able to provide for himself, but he still gives everything to care for the children there. 

Pray for this man and his passion for the children. 

Pray for the children and the people that are willing to help him take care of the children.

-Alex, Embrace the Beyond

Opportunities to share

This was our last stop before our midsummer meeting with the other team on our island and it was an incredible stay. We spent a lot of our time getting to know the teachers of the local school through hanging out and talking, but also through playing some soccer! The school had a small concrete field that we were able to play on and we spent a few hours having fun with them. It was a great opportunity to get to know them better, be sportsman-like, and share with the teacher we were staying with.

When we shared with our host, he really didn't seem like he understood much of anything that he'd read. He claimed to be Catholic and read his Bible some, but not regularly and not lead by the Holy Spirit. We spent time answering his questions and sharing with him, but those people need to be lifted up in prayer before the Father.

Please pray for our host... that his eyes will be opened to the truth of the Bible.

-Alex, Embrace the Beyond

Chance Meeting: Part 2

Maklon leaves for his home city shortly after we'll leave back for our "home city." He's basically joined our group while on this island. Josue made a fun comment that we're on our way to having 12.

He's joined us for every one of our Bible studies with the families around here and for each of our opportunities to share. He's been a part of those, so he's seen some of our ways of sharing and has been able to ask questions. He says he's a believer and certainly acts like it, but he seems like he's a fairly new believer. That's why we've asked him to follow us and be a part of our studies.

We've been praying for him and his walk with Christ. Pray that he will find his true identity in Christ and that he would be strong in the Lord, not discouraged by the evil around him. Pray that he would have a passion for the Lord and constantly be in the Word and in prayer.

-Alex, Josue, and Anderson (Embrace the Beyond)

Filled to Overflowing

...that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  Ephesians 3:19

Pray for team members to be filled with the fullness of God and that this would be evident as they minister in His name.

Team of the Day

Embrace the Beyond

Country of the Day

Southeast Asia

Visiting Encouragement

This family has been more than an encouragement to us. We island hopped to an island that is almost entirely Muslim, with a few Catholic churches here and there. This family is 1 of 5 families that we know of that know Jesus Christ as their savior and lord. They've been here a few years and they meet in a family's house every Sunday to share with each other and sing praises to the Father.

The other families are in the same situation. They only have each other, so we are spending our time here praying for them and sharing with them, encouraging them in their faith.

Pray for each of these 5 families that they would continue to keep the faith here. Pray for boldness and power for them to share the love of Jesus Christ with their communities.

-Alex, Josue, and Anderson (Embrace the Beyond)

Chance Meeting

We met Maklon yesterday who was actually a friend of our translator during his time at university. He doesn't live here, he's just visiting this island, so the odds of that happening are super slim. We were praying the night before for open doors, and Maklon is so curious about the Gospel.

We're planning to spend some time with him, just encouraging him and going through scripture with him. We're praying for his heart to break and be open to the Holy Spirit. Pray for him and for us as we talk with him and share with him. Pray for wisdom and guidance.

-Alex, Josue, and Anderson  (Embrace the Beyond)

Pak B again

After our time in Lewokluok, we came back to bapa B to rest up for a day or two before heading out again. The family welcomed us in again like family and it honestly felt kind of like coming home for us after working things out last time. Spending time with this family is something we all look forward to now.

We got the chance to share with bapa again, but this time it was because he had questions. He came from a Catholic background and still isn't completely convinced or sure of everything we and other Christians say. We encouraged him to ask all the questions he wanted to while we were here and we were able to answer them with scripture and personal experiences. He really believes that he needs a teacher to understand scripture, but we pointed him to Matthew 23 that says there is only one Father and one Teacher. We encouraged him to read the Word for himself, pray and let the Lord teach him.

As we continue to encourage him every time we stop here, pray for him and his family that the Lord would show them the truth through His living Word. Pray that the Holy Spirit would enter their lives and guide them.

-Alex, Josue, and Anderson (Embrace the Beyond)

Coconut before lunch

Pray for the Embrace the Beyond teams as they explore "the beyond"... looking for those who need the Good News.

Where do you pray?

We were given the opportunity to attend a small women's prayer meeting. We weren't really sure what to expect, but Josue prepared a small message to share with them. Our bemo (kind of like a taxi) stopped in front of a mechanic shop, and Blas had to go talk to a guy to get him to open a gate. We went through the gate, down an alley, took several turns walking past all sorts of trash, went down another alley and came to a small little courtyard behind a few tiny buildings. We went into one that had a round building about 5 feet wide and maybe 15 feet long. That's where the ladies have been meeting!

What's extraordinary is that even though they are meeting in a rundown building in the middle of nowhere, they are so on fire for the Lord. They had an old, beat up, and out of tune guitar that they played, and they sang at the top of their lungs to the Lord with it! We could feel the Holy Spirit in that place and feel their hearts.

A few testimonies were shared and Josue got to share his message. They loved hearing him speak and said they hadn't had anyone teach the Bible the way he did. Regardless of everything working against them in this place, they are on fire for the Lord! 

Give thanks for them and for the Lord working in there lives. Pray that their fires would not be put out, but strengthened and that they would spread throughout the city!

-Alex, Josue, and Anderson (Embrace the Beyond)

Bible Study with English Students

We have developed a friendship with a local university student, Aristo, who is studying English. We invited him to practice his English with us by having a Bible study, and he brought two other students with him! We read the story of Peter and Cornelius in Acts chapter 10 and discussed the gospel. 

Pray that we can continue to study with them, and that the Word would bring conviction and salvation for them!

-Embrace the Beyond Team C

God's Provision

L village has an annual post-harvest ceremony where they give thanks to the spirits and offer sacrifices as part of their tradition. We had been invited to attend, and we were going to attend just to experience the event and understand their culture more. Figuring out what to do during the ceremony became a problem for us though, because on the third day they eat the meat from the sacrifices to their spirits and we didn't want to be a part of that because of 1 Corinthians 8. We were in disagreement over when to leave and what to do so as to not offend anyone.

God provided this week as we prayed about it. Some stuff came up in another village and because of that the ceremony was postponed a few days. This gave us the opportunity to leave before it started and not offend the people and their culture, but also to avoid violating our own beliefs. We are thankful that we were able to avoid a bad situation like that.

Pray with us for the village and the family we stayed with, that they would be convicted and see the truth.

-Embrace the Beyond Team B

Honorary Sons

We made it to our first village on June 9th. We decided to visit the only village in this region that the NT team from 3 years ago visited. We found the family they stayed with and we've been staying with them. Bapa Frans has named us honorary sons and members of his tribe. This family has been so warm and welcoming to us and they don't even know us.  We've had one opportunity to share with him our beliefs and just have a Bible study with him. He's very convinced of Catholicism and animism both (they worship their ancestors/spirits here), but he was so open to listen and he enjoyed the time we spent with him.

Pray for this family. Thank God for their hospitatlity and openness to us, and pray that their hearts would be opened to the Gospel.

-Alex, Josue, and Anderson (Embrace the Beyond Team B)

Southeast Asian Soccer

Good grief, they can play...

We got invited to play with some guys today and when we got there we found out we were playing with a whole team, coach included! We spent several hours just playing with them and talking some. For us, this was a nice bit of exercise to loosen up our bodies from the travelling and ministering. We thank God for this opportunity and ask that more opportunities to get involved with the people are made available and that we are able to show God's love through those times.

-Alex, Josue, and Anderson (Embrace the Beyond Team B)

Sharing the Good News in Village N

This week we spent 3 days in the home village of a local taxi driver, Franciscus, that we have befriended. We got to share our testimonies with him, and other members of the village! We also received permission to show the C2C (Creation 2 Christ) film.... around 20 children and adults were there to watch it! 

Pray for Franciscus, and that we can develop a strong relationship with him, along with other connections we made in the village. 

-Embrace the Beyond Team C

God Provides!

We had our first "issue" with some local people this week already. A pastor in our town got the wrong idea of why we were here and gave B and his family that we've been staying with the wrong idea. Things got a little awkward because they thought we'd be staying in this house all summer and the pastor thought we wanted to rent it, meaning the family needed to move out. He had also told the family to give us their best and to not eat with us, and it took us a few days before R (our translator) was able to figure things out with the head of the household.

After we figured things out, we thought it'd be best to sit down and talk to bapa (father). We got to share some scripture with him (Luke 10:1-12) and his family in explaining our plans for the summer and he actually got excited for us! We told them how thankful we were that they had stayed in the house and helped take care of us, and he made an offer that any time we're back in this city/town, even if it's after we leave for the summer and come back, or if any friends of ours come to this town in later years, that this is our home. He said we'd always be welcome here and any friends of ours would be welcome here. How awesome is that?

-Embrace the Beyond Team B

Encouraging the believers

Greetings from the Embrace the Beyond team! This week we met with a local house fellowship. We all shared our testimonies and Brandon spoke on a passage from the Bible. Please lift up this local fellowship and pastor K who leads them!

Desiring Truth

Jesus answered, "I am the way and THE TRUTH and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  JOHN 14:6

Now this eternal life: that they may know you, the only TRUE God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.  JOHN 17:3

Pray for the unsaved peoples the teams will encounter to have an overwhelming desire to know the ONE, TRUE GOD! Pray that team members will effectively communicate Christ as the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE to the lost.

TEAM of the DAY

Embrace the Beyond

COUNTRY of the DAY 

Southeast Asia

How to pray for Embrace B

So what is Embrace the Beyond all about?

We're here as tourists, hoping to get immersed in the culture and village life. We're here to see the beyond.

In our surrounding area, we know of two churches we want to visit and there are several villages the 2013 team from this island remembered. Aside from that, there's countless things for foreigners to see and countless untouched villages to meet. This first week is a difficult one for us because we have no schedule or routine. Where we go when is all up in the air. 

Our plan this week is to get some maps from the tourist office and figure out where we are starting. We will spend some time in our city, getting acclimated to the climate and used to the food (which is delicious), before heading out into the beyond. Our goal is to be out of the city by midweek, wherever that might be.

How to pray this week:

• Pray that God would guide our decisions for where we go. With so many options, it will either be hard to choose or too easy. Let our time be focused on and guided by our good Father.
• Pray that we would be patient with each other and the local pastor. When we don't have a schedule and we know we're here for limited time, it's easy to get frustrated with the situation and lash out at teammates. We need to remember that He is in control and our plan is only plan B.
• Give thanks for the pastor of the church because he is allowing us to stay in their congregation house instead of paying for an expensive hotel while we figure out what we are going to do.
• Pray for each of us individually and as a team. I know for me (Alex) at least, homesickness is starting to set in. For me and whenever it hits the rest of the team, pray that we would come together as a team and lean on one another and not get reclusive.
• We have three native languages in our group of four, so pray that our communication through Mat (translator) is smooth and what He needs to say through us is heard through our translator.

God bless!

Meet the Team: Embrace the Beyond B

Hello from the Embrace the Beyond B team!

We're so excited to finally be set up on our island. Our team is three incredible people and a wonderful local believer!

Josue is from South America, so his native language is Spanish. He's a fun-loving, adventurer, and he takes his Nikon everywhere, so we'll get some great pictures! He is a seminary student studying in Texas.

Anderson is also from South America, so his native language is also Spanish . He's definitely the golden retriever of the group, making sure we all get along. He is also a seminary student studying in Texas. He and Josue are some of the strongest prayer warriors you'll ever meet.

Mat (his local name is longer) is from a different island southeast of here. He's almost done studying English and he loves the Lord dearly. He's all for everything we've got planned for the summer. He's also the same age as us, so he fits right in.

Alex (myself) is a southerner from the States, and I don't speak any Spanish, so our communication is always fun. I love trying new things and exploring, and God broke my heart for the people of Southeast Asia.

Between the three of us, we're fearless in trying new things and getting immersed in the culture. We're an unlikely group of friends with only one member being a native English speaker, but God works in wondrous ways. We will have to be focused on the little things to be able to remain a strong team and be effective in our communication. We're excited to see how He uses us this summer!

Be praying for safe travelling and welcoming homes where He has been preparing persons of peace.

-Alex

Meet the Team: Embrace the Beyond

Greetings from the Embrace the Beyond-Maumere team! We will be working with the Sikka people, a UUPG (unengaged unreached people group) on the island of Flores. 

Our team members are Dalton, Dillon, and Brandon. Dalton and Brandon are both from Jonesboro Arkansas and attend Arkansas State University. Brandon is from Atoka Oklahoma and attends Oklahoma State University.