The Gypsy team and I are nearing the end of a very intentional week of prayer and extended times meeting together, seeking the Lord for 2015. In doing so, part of our time together today was spent recalling what the Lord has done just over the past few months, which has left me in awe. Previously, the married couple leading our team had shared with me their experience from the first year and a half working with our Gypsy friends, which proved to be a discouraging and almost fruitless time. But, now as they come upon almost two years working with this specific people group, it is truly miraculous to see all that the Lord has done in these last few months. Individuals who were previously adamantly opposed to hearing anything about Jesus are now begging for us to come visit and sleepover (sleepovers are very popular here!), and the Lord is leading us to people who could become strong leaders in the near future proclaiming Jesus Christ. A small group of us have been meeting once a week to learn and study a new parable, trusting the Lord will give us an opportunity to share it with our Gypsy friends during our visit the following week. He has been so faithful in giving us many opportunities, which has enabled us to focus our attention on certain individuals whose hearts appear soft and the soil is rich. This coming Sunday morning, three of us are heading to the regular village we visit for a sleepover, for a variety of reasons. The village Mayor’s wife has been incredibly receptive to our stories, has even said she knows where to buy a bible, and has expressed interest in watching the Gospel of John story (dubbed into the local language). She also was attended the Christmas celebration we hosted where we shared the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke. She is also the first person who has communicated to use that she believes Jesus was born of a virgin and is therefore God’s Son. Also, during our two days in the village, there are a few medical issues with children that my team leader would like to follow-up with. We want to leave our usual Monday visits open to story telling, therefore, making it necessary for us to go another day to fulfill these medical obligations. Please be in prayer for our team as we hope that technology will cooperate and the movie (it is almost a word for word account of John’s Gospel…three hours long!) will be shown, that the veil would be lifted from their eyes, and that inadequate language wouldn’t be a hindrance to any understanding.

Also, when we were meeting as a team this week, we were taking a look at a map, which identified the location of 11,000+ unreached people groups, with a large concentration of those people groups currently in the central Asian region. The vision of reaching the Gypsy people group (and beyond!) in that region spans from Nepal all the way to the Caucasus – a seemingly impossible tasks for such a small team. However, we are praying that the migratory nature of our Gypsy friends, along with the connections/invites we currently have with some of these villages, will result in many coming to know Christ. If we are faithful in pouring into a few, teaching them, and supporting and interceding for them, it is our hope that the Gospel will spread exponentially as they travel to neighbouring villages spanning across all of Central Asia. Excitement! I look forward, with a great deal of anticipation and expectation, to how the Lord’s glorious plan will unfold.

The calendar is quickly filling up for the next few months with respect to our Gypsy friends, but that is just how I like it! We will most certainly be hosting an Easter dinner (in April) for the village leaders and their families to attend, as well as inviting them to celebrate one of our teammates birthdays in February. Similar to Christmas, we are setting aside some time to share the Easter story with them, which I would love if you could be in prayer for. Language learning is so challenging for me! Also, you may be interested in knowing that April 8 is International Gypsy Day, so we will be celebrating that day with them in the village…but first, we need to make them aware that such a day even exists which celebrates them! J   We also have two sleepovers scheduled in two other villages, one 1 hour away and the other 4 hours away, in March and April. We believe, in addition to focusing on the one main Monday village, that the Lord is also leading us to maintain/deepen our relationship with these two other communities.

Well, my friends, I trust you are as encouraged as I am with what the Lord is doing here, and please continue praying, as it is only the Lord who will make all these things come to pass. Please also know that we believe the harvest is certainly plentiful here, and therefore, we are praying for more labourers.