The M. and K. L. Family | Serving in Asia

The wintertime in our home is full of so many things! It’s full of extra kids during their break from school, full of playing and laughing, full of snacks and Sunday school activities, full of hoping for snow on the ground to go skiing and sledding down the main path, full of helping neighbors get things finished before the snow comes, full of sporadic electricity, full of homeschool, full of blood pressure checks, and this last week full of preparing to go on another mandatory visa run. The last few weeks our village has been full of dedication to worshiping their idol. Every year for about a month and a half our village and the surrounding villages allow their “gods” to go into meditation, and the people subject themselves to added limitations. During this time, because of all of the extra worship, it can feel like a very dark time. This year we have come up against a lot of different trials and challenges. During this time, we have had several things stolen from us, we have had to deal with several different situations of being cheated, our car was hit by a drunk driver while parked, and things around our house just randomly kept breaking. It has been a season of frustration and discouragement; at times, we were left wondering what was going on! We’ve had to pray very hard for wisdom and discernment in knowing how to address all of these separate issues. M. has been kept exceedingly busy fixing broken things and working on figuring out paperwork as well as how to best address the issues concerning our neighbors. However, through almost all of these situations, during the moment of confrontation and after, we have seen God work in amazing ways! Most of the interactions have produced a spirit of repentance and a deepening of relationships with us and our family! We did not want these issues to be a hinderance for the Gospel in any way! We know that during this time, the enemy has meant to discourage us and use whatever means possible against us. We are so thankful that what Satan meant for evil, God has used for good! Additionally, we are reminded in our own lives of when we are confronted with wrong, our own shortcomings, and mistakes to immediately go to Jesus for forgiveness! We’re so thankful for God’s grace and mercy and that we are able to extend that grace and mercy and show genuine forgiveness to those around us! God has been winning the battle and using these weeks to help us rely on him deeper and showing who he is through us!

Thank you for all you do!

The M. and K. L. Family

Praise God…

• God is working in the challenging circumstances that Satan has been trying to use for evil.
• For the health in our family, even when so many around us have not been healthy.

Por favor, oren...

• The government here continues to crack down on Christians in the country by denying many from reentering. We have heard of many different instances where immigration has canceled visas or denied entry or re-entry while either coming or going from the country. We ask that you pray for smooth transitions for us. We had our mandatory visa run (we have to leave every six months) in the middle of  February, and we ask that you pray with us that there will be no complications whatsoever.

Download this month’s prayer letter here…

The post March 2025 Prayer Letter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

The post Carta de Oración Febrero 2024 first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

   M. and K. L. | Serving in Asia

As we write this update to you, our village and surrounding villages are in a time of “quiet” and observation for their idol. They are not allowed to work the dirt or harvest any crop, make loud noises, or even play music or videos during this one-and-a-half-month-long period. It is a time for their god to go into meditation and then make predictions for the coming year. But for us, we see it for what it truly is—a way for the enemy to hold more people in bondage. During this time women are not allowed to work, and so they should be more energetic and encouraged; instead, year after year we have seen how weary and discouraged many people become during this time. Typically, there is more illness, and frequently deaths occur during this season. And, although we are not bound like our neighbors and we do not live in fear of doing the “wrong” thing, the darkness still affects us. The obvious way we are affected is by the mandate to follow all of the “rules” for this stretch of time. But the less obvious ways, and the much more challenging ways, include feeling the darkness all around us, watching our friends struggle, and having many more spiritual and physical attacks against our family. Despite all of the evil and the attacks, we rejoice because greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. We get the joy of knowing how the story ends. We are on the side of the light and the side of victory. And so, we keep fighting during the times of darkness and we keep shining our light in any way we can to those around us. We do this even when it feels pointless or challenging or just exhausting, so that, they too, may come to live in his light instead of living bound and in fear, they can live in the freedom of Christ.

A large part of shining our light includes opening our home to those around us. We pray that our home would be a place of peace and a place to feel loved for everyone, from the youngest to the oldest. Lately, we’ve shared our home for birthday parties, for local festivals, for game times, and for fun nights of making pizza or homemade chicken tenders for groups of friends. We are continually thankful for the opportunities to strengthen friendships, create new relationships, and share about Christ with those around us. We get to pray with and for friends whose little children are in the hospital and pray with friends who come over to share a meal with us. We try not to take these little moments for granted and trust God to use these sometimes seemingly insignificant interactions to fight the darkness around us and step-by-step, prayer-by-prayer win more ground for the light. We are honored to have you alongside us, encouraging and praying for us and for them, and we are so thankful to be with you as we all seek to further the kingdom and bring more people into his light.

In Christ,

M. and K. L.

Read the Full Prayer Letter Here...

The post February 2024 Prayer Letter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

M. and K. L. | Serving in Asia

This time of year is always so full! For each of us, the fullness looks different, and it looks different from year to year. Regardless of the events, people, or things that fill this season, it is such a wonderful time of the year to truly find joy in what Jesus did for us, is doing for us, and will do for us! For our family, we will be returning to the United States for deputation right after the Worldwide Gathering in Thailand. It’s hard to believe that we have been in Asia long enough for this to be our second deputation. And, while we are looking forward to all the joys of being around family and friends this season, we are also grieving being away from our home in Asia. Despite the chaos of a typical Christmas season in Asia, we love getting to share the true meaning of Christmas with our friends.

Before leaving we had the opportunity to meet with many of our friends either in their houses or ours, and we gave Christmas packages so they would even then have the reminder of Christmas and whom we celebrate. We know that despite us not being there physically, we can rejoice that God has not left our village or valley. He is still working in the hearts of those that we love and those we have yet to meet. God has been faithful to us through our many toils these last (almost) eight years, and he won’t stop working because we aren’t there right now. We need to trust God’s timing for his workings to come. Just like Mary and Joseph had to trust God in every detail of the circumstances leading up to the birth of the Son of God, we must trust God in all the details of our lives, even when things end up looking differently than we expected.

We had to leave Asia early before the Worldwide Gathering because some of our visas expired. So, we have had the opportunity of spending time together as a family in Thailand. And while we would have rather been in Asia, being with friends, and working on establishing our business legally, or in America working on setting up a new home and visiting family, we are trusting God and his details. While in Thailand, M. became quite sick with a bacterial infection called scrub typhus, and we are very thankful that we were able to get answers and medication quickly so that he could have a fast recovery. We have also recently suffered the loss of M.’s grandmother and grieved the loss of her life while being an ocean away. It has reminded us of the importance of a legacy of a life well-lived for Christ. So, in all the fullness of this season, we, too, are striving to faithfully serve and obediently follow Christ in a way that points all those that we encounter to Christ! May your Christmas season be filled with God’s goodness and love during this beautiful season!

Love,
M., K., N., A., H., L., A., and B.

Read the Full Prayer Letter Here…

The post December 2022 Prayer Letter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Thank you so much for praying for our Easter Evangelistic services. I know many of your prayed each day since I sent the prayer request.

Easter was not a holiday here, yet we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord with great joy and enthusiasm. We live today because of Jesus. It is an awesome thought.

Our churches celebrated Easter with evangelism in each of their areas- some showed movies about Jesus, some did public testimonies of baptism, some had rallies, some had great dancing and singing, and all of them had a big feast of rice and lentils.

The Holy Spirt moved in a powerful way in each of our 20 areas. When we gave the invitation in all our areas, 73 Hindus and one Buddhist accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. We could not hold our joy as we knew there was also great rejoicing in Heaven. We thank the Lord for continuing to pour out his Spirit in our areas.

Testimony of Bijay In the middle of the picture with the beard is Bijay. He was a big drunk. He used to get drunk and sleep under the bridge or sleep in the open fields at night. He was also proud that one of the Hindu goddesses lived inside of him. He was also against the Gospel. He had told three of his relatives not to accept Christ who were ready to accept the Lord. When he got drunk, he used to fight with anyone he was angry with and get in trouble. Since he didn’t work, he was getting more and more in debt. One day in the middle of winter he was drunk and was sleeping without his clothes on, naked, and one of our believers saw him, picked him up in his bike, and took him home. When he was sober our believer started sharing the Gospel with Bijay. Holy Spirit started to work in his heart and he started responding to the Gospel. Soon in a few months the goddesses were driven out of Bijay’s life and he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Here is the irony. He had threatened three of his relatives not to accept Christ but he himself came and accepted Christ and he has not told them yet. Looks like soon we are going to have 3 new relatives accepting Christ. I just heard yesterday that Bijay’s wife got a government job. Bijay is rejoicing.

Thank you to all of you who pray for us and support us. We are truly grateful in our hearts for you.

Blessings,
B. and D. A.

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The following story is shared by our Friends in Asia and shows how one relationship was changed from your support.

B* is a preacher. Before she was a preacher, she was married to a Sikh, which is sect of Hinduism. B* and her husband had been separated a while and she was with another man. It was at this time in her life that she heard the gospel and God touched her heart. She accepted Christ and became a Christian. After that, she was convicted and left the other man. She started growing in the Lord rapidly and the Lord called her into ministry.   Other preachers started training her to preach the gospel and evangelize. She started bringing many people to the Lord. During the Maoist rebel attacks, men were not allowed to go to villages to evangelize and hold services. But the Maoists would not stop women. B* used that opportunity in the midst of Maoist battles to go to many villages to encourage the churches and evangelize. The churches continued to grow under her and she discipled many people. She is a fantastic evangelist and disciple-maker. God used her in a mighty way to establish his kingdom in the midst of very difficult time.

If you would like to help make a difference in the lives of people like this young woman, here’s how:

The post A Story of Transformation from Asia first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  How was your Christmas? I pray you had a blessed time.

Thank you for your prayers and your support. We are very grateful in our hearts.

We intensified our preaching and discipling in the villages starting on December 1. We wanted to make sure the people who were going to accept Christ were ready in their hearts. As Christmas approached, our joy intensified. Our pastors and leaders when asked what gift they would like to give Jesus, always say, ‘We want to put new souls at Jesus’s feet.’ Because they know Jesus came to seek and to save the lost.

We had our evangelistic meetings in 22 different areas. Here is a picture of one of our open meetings. In one of our areas the police was informed. But when the police saw the crowd they just told us not to criticize other religions and we were allowed to continue.

When we gave the invitation for people to accept Christ, 70 Hindus, three Buddhists, and two Muslims accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. There was great joy among us. This time we had three separate areas where people accepted Jesus. One was our churches, the second was inside the jail, and the third was in India.

Testimony: Ex Muslim received Jesus and received her sight. 

She received Christ first and then she was prayed over, for her eyes to receive sight because she was blind. As the church service was going on, she got up from her seat on her own and walked to the front of the church and gave testimony that she was blind and now she could see. You should hear the loud cheer that resounded in the church.

Rejoice with us as the Holy Spirit continues to do incredible things.

Blessings,

B. and D. A.

The post An Amazing Christmas first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

The following story is shared by our Friends in Asia and shows how one relationship was changed from your support.

“Lakhinder was a 12 year-old-boy and goat herder when we first visited the village he lived in. He heard the gospel and accepted Christ when at 13. He stood for Christ even when his whole family was against him. This made him strong in the Lord. He started attending Sunday School that we were teaching. He was very interested in the word and learned all the stories. When he was 16, he started going out with us to the villages to preach the Gospel. Lakhinder was very interested in God’s call for his life. He did this for two years and followed me and learned how to preach to the Hindus and preach in church. He felt God’s call and joined the leader’s team when he was 19. He has been very faithful and consistent in his walk with the Lord. He went through many persecutions and still stood for the Lord. Now he is 32 years old and is one of our wonderful pastors and has planted four churches. Lakhinder has brought many Hindus to the Lord and has changed his whole society around him for Christ. “

If you would like to help make a difference in the lives of people like Lakhinder, here’s how:

The post A Story of Transformation from Asia first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

As we sit here writing this update, we are so filled with gratitude. God has been abundantly faithful, and we are so very thankful. The newest member of our family, Benjamin Henry, entered our lives on June 11^th, and we couldn’t be more thrilled. As we anticipated his birth, there were quite a few unknowns—we did not know if he was a boy or girl, how the rest of the family would respond to him, or when he would even come. But we looked ahead with joyful anticipation. And as soon as he was born, we were all so full of rejoicing (even our daughter who was set on having a little sister). When we came home from the hospital we were welcomed in with balloons and sidewalk chalk and the sweetest little five faces waiting to meet their newest brother. As a parent there cannot be much more that fills your heart than moments like this. Thank you for each of your prayers, we are so very thankful!

As we reflect on that time of waiting (sometimes not so patiently – especially for Mom as the due date came and went and went and went) it reminds us so much of the rest of life and ministry. There are so many unknowns, so many questions that we have yet to get answered. Those times of anticipation and waiting can be challenging and overwhelming, but even in the waiting, God is there. We do not have to have the answers or all the details. And we know that just like when Benjamin finally made his appearance, and we were all so filled with joy, God is so full of joy when we rest in him and trust him during the times of waiting. Now, we have a time of waiting on paperwork to return, and a time of waiting for those we serve to come to know Jesus. And just like with Benjamin, we know that there will be great rejoicing and we long for the day when our friends and neighbors will enter into the family of God.

The post July 2021 Prayer Letter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

The post April 2021 B. and D. A. Update first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.