July 21, 2021
Dear Praying Friends,
Thank you for your prayers for Laos and for the Lao Bible Institute. Though the country has been on tight restrictions and lockdowns due to Covid-19 and the Delta variant, God is not restricted or locked down, and continues to work. One of the ways the Lord is working is through your prayers, sacrifice and offerings for our Lao Building Project. We have received the funds through your gifts of...
July 21, 2021
Dear Praying Friends,
Thank you for your prayers for Laos and for the Lao Bible Institute. Though the country has been on tight restrictions and lockdowns due to Covid-19 and the Delta variant, God is not restricted or locked down, and continues to work. One of the ways the Lord is working is through your prayers, sacrifice and offerings for our Lao Building Project. We have received the funds through your gifts of grace, to pursue a purchase of a property in Vientiane. Praise the Lord! The purpose of this facility is to provide a home for a national pastor and his family, to provide a location for a home church to meet (35-50 people), and to hold sessions for LBI. We now earnestly seek your continued prayers. Pray with us for two things: 1) pray for wisdom, and direction from the Lord to the right property and location; and 2) pray for wisdom and protection in getting the funds safely to Laos for the purchase. Concerning the latter, there are ways to do this, but Covid has provided some potential obstacles.
We are also praying that we may return to Vientiane and with our national team there, to confirm the will of the Lord concerning an agreed property. At this point, it is not possible for us to visit Laos due to the Covid lockdown. Thailand is currently experiencing a large number of infections and deaths, as the Delta variant strikes there. This also is impacting our ability to hold a session of LBI, even by Zoom. We’ve held sessions in the past by Zoom, with me in Kyiv and students traveling to the capital city. However, currently if a person has not had a vaccine, they are banned from all public transportation within the country. This means many of our pastors, the majority who come by public transportation, would not be able to attend.
Almost weekly I receive texts and photos of souls coming to Christ in Laos through students, or our ministry team, for which we give the Lord praise. Though we praise the Lord for the times we’ve ministered in Laos through Zoom, we miss being there in person and the fellowship we always enjoy with the brethren. Sunday, as I ate lunch here in Kyiv, there was a taste of a green in my dish that immediately took me to Laos. As you pray for the Lord’s wisdom and direction in our building there, pray also for national laborers, who are faithfully sharing the gospel, despite government restrictions and the potential cost. Pray for Laotian peoples, for their hearts to be opened and receptive to the glories of Christ and to His gospel.
Yours for the glory of Christ in Laos,
Derek
