Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Earthquake Nepal

Pics: October, 2014, Nepali community at Los Arcos gathering for weekly home church meeting.

Join us in lifting up our Nepali brothers and sisters here in Houston and their families and communities back home.  Pray especially for Abraham and Omaya, married couple pastoring the church pictured above. Omaya's mother and sister are missing, and Abraham's aunt is struggling along with her entire community. We received this message from Abraham last night:

"Please please pray for my auntie village. I just got call from Nepal. Whole village is suffering now, no place to live, food. Due to the rain it has been terrible for them. I got a call hoping help from me but i can't help much. Their needs are much. Please lift up in prayer and if you could help. Please please help."

This week we are collecting an offering from among out disciples to give to the Nepali community here so that they may send it to their families. If you would like to contribute, please e-mail Katie for details.

katiekeystone@gmail.com

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Stepping up

Pics: young disciples from both Ranchester and Salem Oaks praying for each other listening to the word and at worship night

Pray for our first generation disciples as we begin calling them to a higher level of ownership and commitment in their relationship with Christ and the fulfillment of the vision (great commission) here. 

Two weeks ago we met separately for the first time in our weekly team meeting (Ranchester and Salem Oaks as separate teams). We invited our first generation disciples to join us, calling them to a deeper trust and sacrificial commitment to Christ and his mission to reach the nations. This week again we are doing the same.

Prayer Points

»» our team tends more toward sacrificial commitment and often forgets the relationship with Christ himself, pray that we grow deeper in this so that we call our disciples to a wholistic life with Christ that puts him first.

»» pray for us as we communicate with our first gen, most of whom are very young, that we are sensitive to the Spirit and that they may understand

»» pray that we may grow in favor with their parents and that as their children show growth and maturity in Christ they will realize his call on their lives as well

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

worship night

Pics: 
1. Serving food cooked by Karenni and Nepali women
2. Prayer in groups for each country/people represented
3. Meaningful worship in a packed house

Worship Night

Monday night we held a night of worship, gathering all of our disciples, as many as were able to come, to give them a greater sense of family/community and understanding the bigger movement of which they are a part. Los Arcos apartments allowed us to use one of the recently vacated homes, which, undoubtly by God's design, had previously been rented by a Hindu family that had refused the gospel. We recognized God's sovereignty in moving them out so that he might bring his people in to worship him! We had the oppotunity to call our disciples to a greater faith and immersion in the presence of the Lord and to recognize his choice and calling in their lives to bring his presence to their neighbors and even to their nations. While we sensed the Spirit moving in many hearts, we also came away realizing there is still room to grow in ushering our discipels into what the Spirit is doing in the moment outside of the plans we had made.  

>>> pray that our disciples will continue to seek the presence of God, realizing that they are a part of his greater work in Houston and the world

>>> pray that each one will embrace the calling to bring His presence, peace, life, healing, love, and joy in Christ to their families, community, and eventually to their own and many other peoples.

Closure!

PICS: inside former neighborhood brothel

Headline: Brothel shut down, cleansed from the inside out

How it happened:
Last Wednesday night the Ranchester team went prayerwalking together with disciples to overturn some of the lingering strongholds of the enemy in the area. Last year you laboured in prayer with us over the two brothels in our neighborhood, that God would either allow us to make disciples among them or remove them from the area so as not to be a hindrance to the gospel. In December we were told that the new land owner was not renewing leases for the two brothels and a few bars and gambling game rooms on the strip.  One of these brothels closed and vacated less than a month following this news. We requested your prayers that the land owner would grant us access to the property to finished the work, spiritually speaking, by praying through the building. That permission was never given. The other spa remained up and running longer than we had expected and was therefore on the list of strongholds still needing to be addressed during the prayer walk last week.  When the team arrived Wednesday night, however, they discovered that God had gone before them! Red light turned off, rooms emptied, doors open, workers inside repainting. Two team members were able to go inside and pray through the empty brothel, cleaning out the dark and bringing in the light and life of Christ. God granted access to us to finish his work! How great is our God! Amen and amen!

>>>Praise him with us!

>>>Pray that purity and devotion to Christ will be deeply rooted in our disciples so that they may be agents of change in the Ranchester community!

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

South Dakota Training

Pic: Training welcome session and worship

Houston team leader LJ Evers, Keystone Academy administrators, Joe and Keri Hutchinson, and several other new team members and connections from Houston are currently in Keystone, SD, along with over 60 international leaders from many different countries, for a month of visionary level discipleship training.

Pray that they will be diligent to seek understanding through the scriptures and from the Spirit as they receive several hours of training everyday.

Pray that they will be able to process all the meat they are receiving and break it down into the practical steps God is calling them to take to join his work.

Pray for peace, protection, and clear guidance for Richard Greene and LJ Evers as they lead most of the training - especially that they will be sensitive to the Spirit's leading if it is not what they would typically do or had planned.

Pray that God will stir up new things

Friday, April 10, 2015

Three men: Salem Oaks

1. Lachu:

Believer
Nepali
Son attends Keystone Academy

Lachu was planning to move his family to a cheaper apartment complex but changed his mind after seeing a vision of Jesus one day while he was on his way to sign the new lease. He was stopped at an intersection waiting for a green light when Jesus suddenly appeared, standing in the road in front of his car, dressed all in white, and saying, "Go back to the place where I put you." He tried to go a different way and Jesus stopped him again. Three times this happened, until Lachu finally decided to go back home.

»» pray for Lachu's eyes to be opened to see what God is calling him and his family to do at Los Arcos

2. Amanuel

Believer
Ethiopia/Eritrea
Daughter, Salina, is a second generation disciple of the team

Has been a believer most of his life, and has been hurting over brokenness in his marriage and family. Recently Amanuel has been encouraged, strengthened, and challenged by Christ through team members Alfred and Jacob. Just last night they went vision casting to Amanuel (calling him to play his part in fulfilling the great commission). Jacob writes,

"Thanks for the prayers! Amanuel responded well to the vision and was very excited to start doing it. He was tearing up as we prayed for him. This week he'll be praying for God to show him a disciple."

»» Pray for Jacob as he continues working with Amanuel.

»» Pray for Amanuel to know Christ more intimately, be naked and raised you as a leader of his community, and to find a disciple this week.

3. Moni

Not yet believer
Nepali
Wife, Reena, first generation disciple of the team, shows leadership potential

Moni allowed his wife to follow Jesus and be baptized but did not want to join her at the time. He has expressed a belief in one God, unusual coming from a pantheistic Buddhist background, but wasn't ready to believe that God was Jesus.

Today, right this moment, Moni is meeting with Shanmugam, Keystone international partner in India visiting the States for Spring training in South Dakota.

»» pray for God to give supernatural confirmation of the gospel and that Moni may join his wife in worshipping and working with the King of Kings.

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Growing boys!

Pics:
1. Boys practicing sharing their faith
2. San Jay, center, modeling for his small group

Last week after the evangelism training at Salem Oaks, several young boys decided to follow Christ. Some of these boys, after hearing the story from creation to Christ, immediately went out to share it with others who also believed.

Because there were too many to disciple individually, we decided to begin working with them in a group setting with a goal of identifying the most faithful and empowering them as leaders of their own community.

Last night team member Richie and his disciple San Jay met with the group and practiced sharing their faith.

»»Pray for these boys to grow strong in the Spirit, that the foundation may be laid now for them to become men of God who lead others to fulfill the great commission vision.

»»Pray also for Richie and San Jay as they lead them, that the Holy Spirit will show them how to empower these boys to answer God's call on their lives.