Myers Weekly Letter

-June 5th the Baptist Convention of Swaziland completed their election process. We praise the Lord for the commitment of the representatives who attended the meeting and the prayerful way in which the election process was conducted. We feel those elected will lead the Convention in the direction in which it should go. Pray for unity among the Swazi Baptist churches and the Baptist Convention of Swaziland.

We attended the Vuvulane Baptist Church yesterday and were blessed by the spirit of worship and those who came forward requesting prayer because of sin in their hearts. It was an uplifting service that ended with one asking for prayer to receive Jesus as her Savior. She is from Mozambique and did not quite understand the siSwati that asked those to come forward who wanted to accept Jesus into their hearts. So after the service she came to Wayne (through an interpreter) and said she wanted to receive Jesus as her Savior. AMEN!!
Pray the conviction of sin in the hearts of the Christians will continue and especially pray for this one who accepted Jesus as her Savior. Pray she will truly understand the commitment she made.

During the worship service at Vuvulane, a short older man came into the house in which we were meeting carrying His Bible prepared for worship. Afterwards, one of the members of the congregation was talking to the man and shared this story with us. The man was literally walking in the middle of nowhere (which is exactly where the Vuvulane Baptist Church meets) when he spotted a house with several pairs of shoes in the doorway. Swazis always take off their shoes when entering a house. This is done because most walk and the roads are not paved and their shoes are dirty. Also, the Zionist Church (African Traditional Religion and the religious background of many Swazis) also take their shoes off before entering a church because it is holy ground. So when the little guy saw all the shoes in front of the house, he went in to see if a church was meeting. He was not disappointed!! During his conversation with the man, Wayne learned he is the brother of the language teacher who tutored us when we first arrived in Swaziland. What a small world, but then Swaziland is a small country!!


-June 12th at the mission house in Mbabane the Swazi Baptist National Women’s Committee will meet to plan the Swazi Baptist Ladies’ Retreat in October. Please pray all representatives will attend and planning will go well.

-June 13th, baptism service will be conducted at the Maphungwane Baptist Church. 21 people are waiting to be baptized. In April 2009, 57 were baptized from this church. Pray those desiring to be baptized will understand their commitment to the Lord. Pray for the church as it continues to reach its community.


-Please remember the Gumbi family of the Maloma Baptist Church on the death of their aunt. Pray the Lord will wrap His loving arms around this family as they mourn the loss of their loved one.


UPCOMING EVENTS IN JUNE AND JULY:
-June 19th is the date set for meeting of pastors/leaders of the churches in the Sishelweni region . Plans will be made for a pastor/leader training on the 10th of July. Pray all the pastors will make a point to attend this meeting as ministry and training plans are made for the rest of 2010.
-June 28-July 1, June Mason, retired missionary will be in Swaziland leading Bible studies with the Swazi Baptist women of the Lubumbo and Shiselweni regions. It will be a time for the ladies to be refreshed, renewed and strengthened as they return to their homes and families who depend upon them for daily needs.
Schedule:
-Tuesday, 29th of June at Phuzmoya Baptist Church (South Lubumbo region);
-Wednesday, 30th of June at the Thunzini Baptist Church (Shiselweni region);
-Thursday, 1st of July at the Vuvulane Baptist Church (North Lubumbo region)
Pray this time of Bible study will be an encouragement. Pray for June as the Lord prepares her for this very special ministry.

***Do you know?
What was the Southern Baptist’s Convention’s first foreign mission field and who was the first foreign missionary?

SACRIFICE MADE BY SOUTHERN BAPTISTS…
The 2009 giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering show missions commitment among the Southern Baptists!!  In spite of the weakened economy and sluggish recovery, Southern Baptists gave $148.9 million (goal 170 million) to support international missionaries. It was the third-largest Lottie Moon offering in history. Thank You!! ”We are not disappointed as God proves His faithfulness through Southern Baptists, and giving through Lottie Moon reflects the heart of our churches and their Great Commission commitment,” said Jerry Rankin, IMB president. “Constituting more than half of the IMB’s annual budget, the Lottie Moon offering dramatically impacts our ability to take the Gospel to the lost world.”

Continue to remember Wayne’s sister Patsy suffering from COPD and on oxygen. -Pray also Wayne’s brother (Terry) who completed a two week course of chemo to protect the brain from the invasion of cancer. Pray his quarterly tests will continue to show his cancer is in remission. -Pray Barbara’s brother-in-law, Gary Rutledge will soon be able to move around unassisted (herniated disc surgery in November) and for Barbara’s nephew-in-law’s mother diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
***Answer!! 
China; S.C. Clopton, appointed to that country in 1845..

AIDS UPDATE:
Recently startling statistics indicated that Swaziland is well on its way to being the first nation to wipe out their existing population due to the devastating AIDS crisis. Pray the Swazi people will understand their lifestyles are causing premature deaths and by living as our Savior shows us we don’t have to die.


WORLD CUP IN SOUTH AFRICA
June 11-July 11, 2010
Each week I will be sharing prayer requests for one of the 32 countries participating in the World Cup (Soccer). This week’s Country Focus is HONDURAS:
-Violent crime waves perpetuated by youth gangs known as “maras” cause terror in poorer districts of towns and cities. Pray for the tens of thousands of youth caught up in these gangs, as well as for people who have been affected by crime.
-In 1998, Hurricane Mitch devastated the country, setting development back by decades. Pray for continued assistance to provide relief for those affected by the disaster, as long term help is still desperately needed.
-Praise God for the growth of a missions vision in Honduras. Pray for more national workers to reach out to tribal peoples, as well as missionaries from Honduras to reach out internationally. Pray for the new government of Honduras, that they would govern with Godly wisdom.
(Information from The Ultimate Goal (TUG) a project of SASCOL and is the outreach initiative taking place during June and July 2010. TUG is a network of local and international churches, para-church organizations and ministries all working together on one common goal: to bring hope and change to South Africa.)
Check out www.worldsoccerjourneys.com.

The World Cap begins on Friday, 11th of June. Pray for divine appointments between players and South African Christians. Pray this would be an opportunity for the Gospel to be taken back to many unevangelized countries.