UBC Mission Update - 2021, Issue 4
UBC Mission Update - 2021, Issue 4
Prayer Focus:
This month, our prayer focus is on the country of Argentina, and specifically for Pastor Fabian as he looks to engage the unreached, unengaged people group known as Quichua, Santiago del Estero. According to the group Finish The Task, there are 64,000 in this people group who remain tied to Ethnic Religion.
Argentina has been hard hit by COVID, and inflation has increased over 50% the past year as it reacts to the disease and political unrest. The country remains closed to visitors from other countries and inter-provincial travel within the country is restricted to only essential workers.
Pastor Fabian lives in Northern Argentina in the province of Santiago del Estero. Here are prayer needs:
First, in all things, that the Lord is glorified
For workers to go into the harvest (Luke 10:2); the needs are many but the workers are few
For open doors among the Quichua people group, so the gospel may be shared
For wisdom to discern God’s opportunities as the teams move to engage with the Quichua
For resources to support Bibles in Quichua language, to provide help for malnourished children, medicine and support for elderly
This map shows location of Quichua, Santiago del Estero.
Recent Highlight:
Lincoln and Jackson learned that UBC members Ethan O’Neel and Jim Corbin were going on international mission trips this summer, and that with a missions trip you have to raise support for all the associated costs. While not having a lot of money themselves, they still wanted to help Ethan and Jim raise support in a bigger way. All on their own, the boys came up with a plan to make potholders to sell. After a few days of thinking through the best “business plan” the boys asked their mom, Haley, to post something on social media so they could get the word out. They sold each potholder for $10 with $4 going to each Ethan and Jim and $2 back into supplies. Any donation was entirely split between Ethan and Jim. To their surprise, they received orders to make 40 potholders and received $110 in donations. Lincoln and Jackson were thrilled to be able to help Ethan and Jim go where God was sending them.
Spotlight: H20 update.
Josh Ortega, pastor at H2O Wright State and his wife, Kari, are excited to give UBC a glimpse into what God has been doing at Wright State this semester. Though they are still not having Sunday services on campus, they have been meeting weekly as House Churches and monthly as a whole at UBC Main. One House Church specifically, has continued a weekly outreach on campus.
In February, Kari was paired up with one of their student leaders, Tyler. They were walking in the tunnels at WSU praying and asking people if they needed prayer. They saw a girl and almost didn’t say anything but Kari ended up blurting out, “Hey there…we are praying for people on campus, we are Christians, is there anything you need prayer for?” This started a conversation that lasted about 45 minutes. It was a divine appointment! They found out later that Brooklyn, a freshman, never studied in the library but felt a prompting to go to the library that day. She then was walking back to her dorm from the library when we encountered her.
Kari and Tyler were able to share the Gospel with her and she leaned in the entire time. Even she recognized that this was no coincidence. She wasn’t ready to make Jesus the Lord of her life, but she began to come to our House Church right away. 3 weeks later, on a Sunday after House Church, Kari and another young woman began to ask her where she was at with her faith. They asked if she was ready to surrender her life to Jesus, she simply said, “Yeah I’m ready to do that.” On the Ortega’s living room couch, Brooklyn surrendered her life to Jesus! Hallelujah! We continue to meet people on campus and share the Gospel with them! It really is Good News!
H2O also held a baptism Sunday where they got to baptize two young men at UBC Main!
Josh and Kari are really seeing a deeper hunger, passion and commitment to God. God is answering so many prayers. “We are touched and encouraged! Stay tuned for our next prayer letter where we get to share a HUGE praise report that God has opened the door for on campus. We can’t wait to share it with you all!,” said Josh.
To learn more about H2O Wright State visit: http://h2owrightstate.com/
If you would like to be added to the Ortega’s Prayer Letter, email them at: ortega.internationals@gmail.com
Opportunity: Bridges of Hope
Simon Kenton Bridges of Hope is a faith-based, Christ-centered, non-profit organization dedicated to serving persons experiencing homelessness, poverty, and consequences of addictive behaviors. Bridges of Hope will address the needs of such persons by providing access to life-building and life-sustaining services, either through direct benevolence or in collaboration with private agencies, ministerial entities, and/or government agencies.
There are several ways you can get involved with Bridges Of Hope, one being their first fundraising event which will take place on June 12th: Walk With Hope 2021. You can sign up to participate and help raise money for this great organization. Information can be found on the Bridges of Hope Facebook page or you can register at http://skbridgesofhope.org.
Another way you can support Bridges of Hope is by donating supplies through their Amazon wish list where there is always need.