Greetings from the Madasus!
Dear prayer partner, greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are thankful for God's grace in our daily lives and His protection and provision.
The past few months were engaged months serving the Lord. We were making new friends, visiting Church members' houses for prayers and fellowships, and encouraging those who needed spiritual encouragement. There are a lot of souls that are desperately seeking God's help and comfort. We had and are having the opportunity to serve them.
"Through the ages Christians have looked upon the church as the company of the committed, the visible followers of Christ, members of His body in a broken world, pilgrims en route to New Jerusalem. The vast majority of believers consider the church to be God's conduit, the carrier of the faith from one generation to another." Jones Curtis, 66.
The Burden to Plant a Church
The burden to reach the Island's people with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is growing daily in our hearts. The more we pray, the more the Holy Spirit God is convicting us of the need to proclaim the message of our Savior. No matter where we look on the Island, we see lost people. Scripture tells us that God deeply cares about people, so He sent His only begotten Son to this world so that those who believe in Him would have eternal life.
Most of the people are Roman Catholics based on the history of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Both the Chamorros and the Carolinians are Roman Catholics. No religious organization surviving from pre-contact times competes for adherents with the Catholicism introduced into the Marianas by the Jesuits during the Spanish period. There is no marked division of the community into Christians and non-believers or into Catholics and Protestants. All are at least nominal Catholics; the great majority are active participants in the Church. (https://www.cnmilaw.org/pdf/spoehr/XIII.pdf)
We have been praying for a Church plant since God brought us to Saipan. In the past, we were unsure how things would go in Saipan and how God would use us. But now it is clear, and He is making it even more explicit.
It has already been one year and twenty-two days since we came here. We have been involved in various ministries. God has been using me in the Church ministry at Christian Bible Church, Saipan. I teach Sunday's school and fill in the pulpit when there is a need. I am also involved in Bible Teaching ministry at a Medical center, where we gather and study a Book of the Bible. At this time, we are studying the Book of James. Another outreach ministry is the Filipino ministry, where we reach the Filipino community on the Island and people in the Philippines with the help of a Filipino brother who translates for me.
I also teach in the Bible college to Asian students. What we do here is to train nationals of Asian countries and send them back for Church plant ministries. However, we believe God has a bigger plan and purpose for bringing us here. We want to do even more for the glory of God.
The estimation of various nationalities on the Island is as follows:
Asian 50% (includes Filipino 35.3%, Chinese 6.8%, Korean 4.2%, and other Asian 3.7%), Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander 34.9% (includes Chamorro 23.9%, Carolinian 4.6%, and other Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 6.4%), other 2.5%, two or more ethnicities or races 12.7% (2010 est.)
We are praying to start a Church in September. We need your prayers. We desire to witness to the local communities. We have learned that if we can lead one local person to the Lord, that person would share his testimony to other community members. But if we offend one person, that would also work similarly; their community would not be happy. In other words, the local communities here are very familial: if one is happy, everyone knows about it, and if one is sad, everyone would know about it too!
However, this is also good because if one person is saved, that community might be led to the Lord through that one person. And that person might bring their family members to the Church. Again, the familial relations are very strong on the Island.
So, we see that God is going to do great things. What we plan to do is plant the seed in the hearts of people and pray to the living Lord to take care of the rest. Please commit to pray for us regularly.
Thankful for God's provision
The Lord answered our prayers and has provided the Tin Roof for Pastor Israel's Church. Now they have a place to worship the Lord. We thank you all for praying. Pastor Israel had to go through several trials to get to the point of putting the Tin roof. The militants would not allow him to move on with the roof material first. In the middle of the night, they stopped him and his friends trying to help him take the Tin Roof material on an Autorickshaw (three-wheel automobile). He sent me a video where the militants flashed the flashlight. That is a sign for them to stop immediately. They checked the material with them and allowed them to move on. But then, there is another stop by the militants. They had to interrogate them to ensure they were not "informers."
As soon as I saw the video, we prayed to the Lord. I did not feel good about it. My wife and I prayed that night and the following days since we did not hear from him for days! We never know what would happen with these militants. They can shoot them if they get a hint of doubt. But thanks to the Lord, He protected them. The next time we heard anything about them was after Pastor Israel and the tribals put the Tin roof on the wooden poles and returned home. The community heads of this tribal region needed to agree with what they were doing, and Pastor Israel had to obey them and wait till all the people gathered for a discussion. Once the community leaders agreed, they permitted Pastor Israel.
It was undoubtedly a difficult task, but the Lord was with them and helped them to complete this task. We believe it is the will of the Lord for this Church to have a Tin roof. We are thankful for the Church and the Lord's people who provided for this need. Pastor Israel and the Church are grateful to the Lord and the Church for the provision.
About the Madasus Lives
We are thankful for God's grace and protection. Enoch is singing "Jesus Loves Me This I Know." He sings many other songs, but he likes this song the most. He turns off the lights and ACs in the Church after every Church service; I guess that was his ministry for now. We pray that God would save him and use him to proclaim the Name of Jesus. Please pray for Him. Stellah and I are doing well. Please pray that God will use us more in His service.
Prayer Requests
- Please continue to pray for my mother, Grace Joshua Madasu, and the family in India. My brother, Jonathan Madasu, is taking care of the ministry in India that my father started; please pray for God's wisdom and guidance in his life.
- Pray for three Church building projects and three water-well projects.
- Please pray for the Church plant ministry here on the Island.
- Please pray that God will use us for His glory and give us boldness, confidence, and clarity in presenting the Gospel message.
- Pray for the salvation of Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons who are flourishing on the Island.
- Please pray for our financial support. We are praying that God's people would come forward and pray for us, share our burden with others, and help us raise monthly support. We need the help of our brothers and sisters in Christ; we cannot do this alone.