May 2016 Prayer Letter

May 2016 Prayer Letter

 

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May 2016

Give thanks to God for his Holy Son, Jesus Christ, for he has risen. Risen, indeed!

I was very excited to be invited to Lutheran Church of the Pines in Waveland, MS (pastor Brock Cain) on April 10, 2016. It was a very wonderful opportunity to share the Kuwaa Mission story with the Sunday morning Bible Study classes that consisted of all ages. They were very interested about the life and needs of the Kuwaa people in Liberia, West Africa.   The members were pleasantly surprised to learn that a member of their church, Rev. Dick Thompson, was one of the founders of the Kuwaa Mission seven years ago, and actually lived among the Kuwaa people for 10 years, translating the New Testament into their language.. After the presentation, the Sunday School was excited to learn what their church could do for the Kuwaa people.

We were invited to a wonderful dinner hosted by Dick & Shirley Holterman at their beautiful home, The discussion continued about what their church could do for the Kuwaa people. We talked about funding for clean water wells, education, health, roads, bridges and volunteers. But most of all the need for prayers and spiritual guidance for the Kuwaa Mission and the Kuwaa People. Thank you so much for the invitation to introduce the Kuwaa Mission to the Lutheran Church of the Pines. My husband Eddie and I thank you all for your Southern hospitality.  ?
I also had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Terry King, a representative of Thrivent Financial, who is eager to list the Kuwaa Mission with Choice Dollars, a Thrivent Financial charity site. If you are a Thrivent member and receive this newsletter, please ask your local rep. what you can do financially for the KM. If you are not a Thrivent member, please know that anyone can join Thrivent! Check out their website.
?I have personally served on the KM Board of Directors for several years now, and it is time for my term to end. I have served on the board as the Event Coordinator. I can truly say it has been a great journey serving the Lord and working with the generous and humble fellow board members. The Kuwaa Mission is looking for volunteers.
Please visit the Kuwaa website for more information on how you can serve.

May the Lord richly bless you all.

Lolitha Shepard

 Your contributions to The Kuwaa Mission are tax-deductible.  We are a 501c3 non-profit organization.  Our Tax ID number is 27-5458111

Donations can be given in two ways:

1.   Make out check to: The Kuwaa Mission  (send to Bethany Lutheran Church (see below))

2.   Go to the Kuwaa Mission Website at www.kuwaamission.org:  use PayPal to make a one time or automatic monthly donation

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The Kuwaa Mission:  c/o Bethany Lutheran Church,  1340 8th Street,  Slidell, LA 70458 www.bethanyslidell.org
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March Prayer Letter-2016

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March 2016

We greet each other in many ways, such as: The Lord be with you. And also with you. Good morning.

The typical Kuwaa greeting is: Mu wuhnee nu veh?  Kajeh Ngala deh.   

The translation is: How was your sleeping place? Thank God.

The greeting tells us a lot about the Kuwaa People.

They thank God that they woke up this morning. Sometimes, they’ll say, “Thank God for life.”

Last night, I slept on a pillow top mattress in a climate controlled room. I had to go to the bathroom in the night, and it was not uncomfortable. It was only a few steps from the bed, also climate controlled.  I sat restfully and after flushing, I won’t have to worry about that waste again. My cats sleep on the bed with me, in places of their choosing. They are well cared for -plenty to eat, clean water to drink, a clean bathroom of their own, and vaccines to keep them healthy.  I don’t have their teeth cleaned, as some pet-owners do, because they don’t enjoy traveling to the vet. I once even saw a dog with braces at the vet. His teeth were so crooked it was hard for him to eat. That’s a very special dog.  An American dog.  Oh, the opulent lives we live as Americans. And yet, we find things to complain about.

So, how was your sleeping place?  Did any rats run across your bed in the night? Did they eat your ground peas stored in the roof- the fruits of your hard labor that you planned to carry through the jungle for 2 days to the market?  Did the wind take your roof off?  Did the rain come through the roof? Did everyone in your household wake up alive?  If you woke up this morning, then you can thank God.

Sometimes people ask me what I learn from trips to the Kuwaa Chiefdom. There are many lessons.  First, I learn gratitude.  I thank God for waking me up this morning. I’m thankful for my cozy sleeping place.  I’m thankful for the health and safety of my family members.  I also learn that if I “Let go and let God”, things will work out better for me than if I try to control my life. I listen to God’s calling and try to do His will.  God provides what we need, if not everything that we want. I learn humility. Relationships are so much more valuable than things. I learn that with God, all things are possible.  I do not claim credit for the things God has done.  To God be the glory.  Our God is a mighty God!

My experiences in the Kuwaa Chiefdom also bring questions to mind.  Why is it that people who have so little in the way of material possessions put a high value on their relationship with God?  Why are they thankful for their very lives?  On the other hand, why do people with so much material wealth lack the spirituality that is much more valuable than all those burdensome things?

I can feel the presence of the Holy Spirit when worshiping with the Liberians, whether in a half hour daily Chapel service at the Lutheran Church in Liberia in Monrovia, a 3 hour New Year’s celebration at a beautiful church, or in a mud hut with a thatched roof.  For wherever two or more are gathered in My name, I am there. His presence is felt.

I believe that the Kuwaa people live closer to God than we do.  They say that America is the second heaven. And yet, they live much closer to God than we do.  They must listen to Him for their very survival. They live only by God’s grace. And still they are thankful. For life.

Go in peace, serve the Lord.

THANKS BE TO GOD!!!

 By Cindy Bye

 Your contributions to The Kuwaa Mission are tax-deductible.  We are a 501c3 non-profit organization.  Our Tax ID number is 27-5458111

Donations can be given in two ways:

1.   Make out check to: The Kuwaa Mission  (send to Bethany Lutheran Church (see below))

2.   Go to the Kuwaa Mission Website at www.kuwaamission.org:  use PayPal to make a one time or automatic monthly donation

PDF Version and MS Word versions of this letter

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The Kuwaa Mission:  c/o Bethany Lutheran Church,  1340 8th Street,  Slidell, LA 70458 www.bethanyslidell.org
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Jan-Feb 2016 Prayer Letter

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Happy New Year 2016

Happy New Year, on behalf of the Kuwaa people of Liberia, West Africa.  As we look forward to 2016 we ask for your continued prayers and financial support as our work continues in Liberia.  

Romans 12:4-5
“For as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.”  

At the end of January, Cindy Ellis Bye once again traveled to Liberia.  During her time there they hope to accomplish many things.  Repairs will be made to old wells in Kondesu, Goleta, Kalata and Kpaulazu, and a new well will be completed in Goleta.  We  ask for your continued prayers for her while she is there and for the people of Liberia, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ among the Kuwaa.

The Kuwaa Mission is a 501c3 charity, your donations are fully tax deductible and don’t forget  to ask your employer about matching donations.  Our Tax ID number is 27-5458111

Ways to become involved as individuals or with your congregation:

Mission Possible Club – Congregations or groups pledge to pray regularly for the Mission and financially support it.
 
Kids4Kuwaa – Children get involved in prayer and financial support for the Mission and the Kuwaa people.  They support  the Mission by school and Sunday School offerings and fund raisers.

$12 Klub 4 Kuwaa – A program to get 1,000 people to give at least $1 a month.

Coffee Clatch 4 Kuwaa – An opportunity for women and women’s groups to get involved.

 Your contributions to The Kuwaa Mission are tax-deductible.  We are a 501c3 non-profit organization.

Donations can be given in two ways:

1.   Make out check to: The Kuwaa Mission  (send to Bethany Lutheran Church (see below))

2.   Go to the Kuwaa Mission Website at www.kuwaamission.org:  use PayPal to make a one time or automatic monthly donation

PDF and MS Word versions

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The Kuwaa Mission:  c/o Bethany Lutheran Church,  1340 8th Street,  Slidell, LA 70458

www.bethanyslidell.org
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Merry Christmas 2015

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Christmas 2015

On behalf of the Kuwaa people of Liberia, West Africa, we wish you all a most Blessed Merry Christmas  2015  and  Happy New Year 2016.

The Kuwaa Christians celebrate Christmas much as we do. They observe Advent in their churches and many of their houses will have simple Christmas decorations. The women will dress up in their finest lappa garments. The children learn Christmas carols in school along with the Christmas story. There will be  church services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Often they will have a community feast on Christmas Day, sharing the food as we do with our church pot lucks.

Thank you so much  for your continued prayers and financial support of the Kuwaa Mission as we share the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, with our Kuwaa brothers and sisters in Christ. In 2016 we will be doing the following: digging a new well, conducting VBS classes, offering sanitation training, assisting local evangelists, supplying medications for the recently completed medical clinic in Kondesu, and building a number of bridges sorely needed for the access to the clinic and access between the villages. Please keep our busy 2016 work program in your thoughts and prayers throughout the year. We will be providing you with frequent up-dates as the work progresses.

Yours in Christ for the Kuwaa,

Ed and Diane Stelling, former missionaries to the Kuwaa with Lutheran Bible Translators, 1973-1979.

 Your contributions to The Kuwaa Mission are tax-deductible.  We are a 501c3 non-profit organization.

Donations can be given in two ways:

1.   Make out check to: The Kuwaa Mission  (send to Bethany Lutheran Church (see below))

2.   Go to the Kuwaa Mission Website at www.kuwaamission.org:  use PayPal to make a one time or automatic monthly donation

PDF Version and MS Word versions of this letter

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The Kuwaa Mission:  c/o Bethany Lutheran Church,  1340 8th Street,  Slidell, LA 70458 www.bethanyslidell.org
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Thanksgiving 2015

 

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November 2015

‘Tis the season to be thankful…

Dear friends of the Kuwaa Mission,

Always be joyful.  Never stop praying.  Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.                      

1 Thessalonians 5:16

At Thanksgiving this year it is time once again to pause and give thanks for the many blessings we’ve been given.  Even as we are aware of war, violence, injustice and suffering in many places around the world, we are also aware of the many ways we see God’ hand of healing at work.  In the midst of crises, God’s people reach out with hope, offering tangible acts of service and gifts of grace.

One of the places this is surely evident is in the work of the Kuwaa Mission.   From the dedication of our volunteers to the faithfulness of our donors and partners we have seen God’s hands at work to bring hope, healing and Good News to the people of the Kuwaa villages during 2015.

We wish to offer a particular word of thanks to the staff and volunteers of Samaritan’s Purse who have been willing and available to deliver equipment, provide much needed transportation services for our Mission volunteers, and distribute aid during the Ebola crisis.  We deeply appreciate their partnership with us and all that they do in our and surrounding regions of Liberia and around the globe.  May God grant you continued success in your ministry!

Thank you, too, to our volunteer missionaries, CEO Stan Olsen and former Board Chair Cindy Ellis Bye, who leave the comforts of home to travel to our partner villages delivering hope and encouragement along with their love of Jesus and the Kuwaa people, and their expertise in construction and engineering, furthering the work of the mission in so many ways.

We also wish to thank YOU, our many generous donors, who support the work of the Kuwaa Mission through your monthly pledges, Noisy Offerings, special events and promotions, and your prayers.  Your gifts in 2015 made it possible for us to provide training and materials for Children’s Bible school for over 240 children, to train 21 people from 5 different villages in how to maintain and service well pumps, provide a sanitation training in Belle Baloma, to install two new wells in Belle Baloma and Teiglei,  purchase medicines for the Kuwaa medical clinics and, with the help of Samaritan’s Purse, the Lutheran Church in Liberia, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Liberia, provide relief to families suffering from Ebola during the recent crisis.

We still have much to do.  In 2016 our focus will be on building bridges to make it possible for villagers to receive medical attention, supplies and food year-round.  This is a big undertaking and we are asking for your continued financial and prayer support.

We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.   Colossians 1:3

May God bless each of you and your families this Thanksgiving and all year through.

Rev. Carol George, Chair

Kuwaa Mission Board of Directors

 Your contributions to The Kuwaa Mission are tax-deductible.  We are a 501c3 non-profit organization.

Donations can be given in two ways:

1.   Make out check to: The Kuwaa Mission  (send to Bethany Lutheran Church (see below))

2.   Go to the Kuwaa Mission Website at www.kuwaamission.org:  use PayPal to make a one time or automatic monthly donation

PDF and MS Word versions

Unsubscribe – Edit your subscription

The Kuwaa Mission:  c/o Bethany Lutheran Church,  1340 8th Street,  Slidell, LA 70458 www.bethanyslidell.org
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