Dear prayer partner,
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are thankful for your continuous prayers and support.
Over the past few months, the Lord has graciously provided for our needs and protected us. We are thankful for His love for us, the gift of salvation, and eternal life. This love of God for us compels us to share the good news with others. We ask you to pray so that God would save many souls on this island.
Since July 2022, I have been teaching the Book of Acts in adult Sunday school. The class is a mix of Chinese, Filipinos, and Americans. We are now in chapter 8, going through the Samaritans' conversion. It is a great study, learning about the Acts of the Holy Spirit through the apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ (more on that later).
God allowed me to preach three Sundays in the Christian Bible Church in December. It was an honor to share the Word with our brothers and sisters from different cultures and traditions. I do not know Mandarin, but a brother translated two services each Sunday.
Seeing how different cultures and traditions come together to worship the Lord under one roof is beautiful. It reminds me that God's love for us is immeasurable; it reminds me that God's Word doesn't have boundaries; nothing can restrict His Word from reaching out to different nationalities and nations. This is what is happening in Saipan. So many people on the island are from various nationalities. Therefore, there are many opportunities to share the Gospel!
Because of its location, Saipan is a strategic place to reach broader Asia. If some of these nationals on the island believe in Jesus, they can reach their communities. We desire to reach out and share this good news. Lord willing, we will start a Bible study soon with islanders.
Some people claim to be Christian, but that doesn't mean they are born-again believers. That may mean they are Roman Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses, or Mormons. Therefore, there is a great need to steer people away from these false religions to a right relationship with Jesus Christ.
During Wintertime (i,e, December), and Summertime, EUCON International School invites students from South Korea to learn English (ESL). This Winter, we met quite a few! They are loud or can be noisy, but fun, sometimes. I tutor a student named Allen. We talk during our class time, which is part of the tutoring. I ask him things about his place and make him speak in English so he can learn. I also ask him to read the Gospel of John. After he reads, I explain what the text means. While he was reading chapter one, I asked him, how much did you understand so far? Or have you understood anything at all? He looked at me and said, "What is Gospel?" I know he believed the Lord last year when he came for ESL. He now wants to learn what Gospel is. I explained. He said, "Ah. Interesting." I asked him, do you want to learn more about Gospel so you can share it with your friends when you head back home? He said, "Ah. Yeah. Sure." He will be a twelfth-grade student when he returns in a few days. But I enjoy teaching him the Bible. I took him to West Virginia with me. Yes! I asked him, Allen, do you want to go to West Virginia with me? I will show you the location I lived before. He said, "Ah, oh. I don't know. Is it expensive? How far is it?" I said, oh no, it is not expensive, it is free, and we can be there in less than a minute. Yes, of course, he was confused. But I opened up Google maps and took him there 🙂
I am sharing this because we have fun in our class. Allen is an interesting student. He is also an intelligent guy. He wants to become a soccer manager in the future. But we never know how God will use him. So I asked him to read the Bible every day and pray. Then, I told him he could write to me if he had any questions. Please pray for Allen and his parents. He is not sure if they believe in Jesus.
Stellah is doing what she likes - prayer ministry. She prays for her friends, talks to them, counsels them, prays with them, and of course, takes care of me and my son, Enoch. So many of the women she knew calls her for prayers. Some of her friends have deep theological questions, and some have emotional questions based on what they are going through in life. Please pray that God will use her in this ministry.
I am planning to restart my online/TV ministry. Over sixty million people watch that network every week. I am informed that many are waiting for me to start the program. It would be a great mistake to leave people to the wolfs, who are in the disguise of pastors and evangelists. But, in reality, they are money-minded, prosperity preachers who need "Jesus" to make money. Ministry has become a business these days. Sad, but a reality. It is not only the false teachers' fault but also the people's fault. They have to know the Scripture better to distinguish what is true and false, who is genuine and who is false; they have to know that they cannot be part of itchy-eared people. But how would they know if no one teaches them the truth from the Scripture? So, please pray that God will use me to help people understand the truth. I do not know if I will succeed in turning them away from false teachers, because a lot of "Christians" would like to "feel good" as opposed to hearing the truth from the Scripture. But, it is God who changes the hearts of people, so I will continue to do what I can.
Please continue to pray for my mother and my family in India. It has been over five months since my father went to be with the Lord. Even though it has been five months, it certainly feels like yesterday for all of my family members. We have lost a wonderful father, great leader, and a loving pastor, who shared the Gospel with tens and thousands (literally) of people, planted hundreds of churches, was persecuted for sharing Jesus, and took care of his family and the Church members as his own. For so long, my mother was silent, but a few weeks ago, she called me and said, "I wish he did not leave me that soon." No one understands that pain, none of my family, but only she knows that pain and feels that void. So, I humbly ask you, please remember my mother, Grace, in your prayers.
A special request for pastor Israel
Pastor Israel from Chikkulapadu, Andhra Pradesh state in India, has been ministering for fifteen years. He has a young family. He ministers in an agency area filled with Guirella's - anti-government militants. It is a challenging task. He needs to travel, by walking, for about 3-6 miles into the forest and share Jesus Christ with the communities. There are usually twenty to thirty families in each community. He cannot use the term "religion" or "conversion." That would mean death. Because the Guirellas do not like conversions, they are atheists and do not approve of anyone coming into their communities and converting people to another religion. Most of these mountain people worship mountain gods and goddesses. So you can understand how difficult this task is. Once you enter the community, the only way to come out of it is through God's Grace and protection.
This ministry is challenging, but I appreciate the concern of Pastor Israel to reach these tribals with the Gospel message. Someone must go and preach; someone must take the risk, and Pastor Israel is doing this. One of the other ways to get into these tribal regions is by taking some medicine or blankets. Pastor Israel drives a three-wheel auto-rickshaw during the weekdays. He makes very little money, enough to allow himself to go to the tribes with medicine or blankets. He won't be able to take a lot of them, but what he can afford, such as a blanket or two or some fever and cold medicine. Why would he do this? Because the Guirellas will allow these. I heard there are times when he cannot take the Bible too. But he would memorize Scripture and teach them God's Word quietly because even the trees have ears (informers).
Last year, as a project for Gospel Heritage Ministries, which we try to do every year, I tried to raise some funds ($750) for Pastor Israel so he could have a small Church in his town. The Lord has provided that need through a Pastor friend of mine. We thank the Lord for this provision, for the Pastor and his Church for making the Tin Roof available. When we receive the funds, we will send them to Pastor Israel.
Another challenging thing I have learned is he will need some men to carry the Tin Roof sheets for about 3 miles on foot through the forest. I ask that you please pray that God will give this Pastor and his family good health, courage, and boldness to share the life-changing Word of God with these tribal communities.
Prayer Requests
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Thank you for reading our prayer letter.
In Christ,
Dr. Joel Madasu