Greetings Praying and Supportive friends,
With summer now past, it’s time to jump back into ministry travels. Here are two brief reports and then our schedule ahead.
First, as our prayer and financial partners, we want you to have a sense of the caliber of leaders we have the privilege of working with in our DAI trainings and our Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership (MAOL) courses. The most recent DAI newsletter features the Uganda cohort that has currently graduated with their MAOL degree from Uganda Christian University. These leaders were in the “Culture, Ethnicity & Diversity” course that Paul facilitated back in early March 2019. What a privilege to invest in these lives! You can read this newsletter here.
Second, our last newsletter asked for prayer for Paul’s participation in the World Assembly of the International Fellowship of International Students (think Inter-Varsity around the world in over 160 countries). Paul’s participation in the writing seminars as well as the “Special Guest” track went well, and it was a thrill to meet leaders from places like Laos, Azerbaijan, Mauritius, and Georgia (as in Tbilisi, not Atlanta). But, the greatest privilege was being there for the “installation” of new member movements that we’ve been on-site with to encourage over the past few years – from Grenada, the Cayman Islands, and Myanmar. You can read more at www.ifesworld.org.
Now on to an intense Fall ahead:
September 6-12: CAIRO, EGYPT. Will Paul be at the pyramids? Not exactly (though the Giza pyramids, the ones with the Sphinx nearby) are often visible from the highway on the way to the place where Paul is going. Paul will fly September 6th & 7th Boston – London – Cairo and then join the “mobilization” conference of an Egyptian ministry called “Streams of Living Waters.” He’ll be partnering with Operation Mobilization founder George Verweron the speaker team to challenge attenders towards greater cross-cultural and global outreach. Paul will speak to the full audience three times and to the 150 or so youth once – plus seminars plus one-on-one meetings. In addition to the honor of being on the speaking team with George* – perhaps one of the greatest mobilizers of our times – the greater opportunity is challenging Christian leaders from what is arguably the most influential country in the Arabic-speaking world towards greater global involvement. Please pray for effectiveness. (*Sometimes people say “I can’t believe you can travel like you do at your ages” (now 65, 66); George passed age 80 several years ago – so we have a lofty example to emulate!)
September 19-October 2: POKHARA and KATHMANDU, NEPAL. Travel – from Boston to Doha (Qatar) to Kathmandu to Pokhara, Nepal – sounds exhausting even to think about it, but years ago we learned just to take a day at a time (we also learned to pray for upgrades!). The main purpose of this trip is to facilitate the “Culture, Ethnicity and Diversity” course as part of the 6th residency of the MAOL course (the residency is September 22-29). There will be twenty leaders from across Nepal, a country with 123 languages and an estimated 126 ethnic groups and castes. Needless to say, the topic of the course is both a challenge and a greater opportunity for the church to demonstrate unity-in-diversity. After the residency, Paul and the DAI leadership team will return to Kathmandu to host a shorter non-formal (as in non-academic) version of the same course for church and ministry leaders. Again, please pray for effectiveness communicating cross-culturally.
October 9-11 involves only local travel (to Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) to meet with David Ro and others leading movements of Christian workers in China. Pray for wisdom to contribute well to the discussions.
October 15-21: MOKOKCHUNG, NAGALAND, INDIA: Dr. and Lucy Pau are fellow DAI staff members, graduates of the MAOL program, and dynamic leaders in Northeast India, Myanmar and across SE Asia… and amongst the large number of people from the “Chin” or “Zomi Chin” people group now living in the USA and Canada. Every year they are part of a joint gathering of seminaries in NE India who come together for the “Ben Wati Lectures.” Dr. Pau honored Paul this year by inviting him to present the plenary address this year – based on the theme of “Culture, Ethnicity, & Diversity.” This will be a more scholarly type of lecture than Paul’s typical sermons or “talks,” so please pray for his diligence as he prepares.
November 1-3: Mission Conference at the Chinese Bible Church of Greater Boston (Lexington, MA). Please pray for excellent content and communication as Paul speaks to this dynamic and strategic church.
November 6-25: LIMA, CUSCO, PUCALLPA and NUEVA ITALIA, PERU: the focus of this trip is a visit with DAI Peru Country Director Ruth Hidalgo Robinson and her husband Dickand to learn more about their long-term work with the Shipibo, an indigenous people group in eastern Peru. The trip will begin with a little personal time for Paul & Christie (celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary) visiting Machu Picchu and then doing some bird watching. But then it will be flights and boat trips and overland travel to the Shipibo center called Nueva Italia. In addition to complementing the DAI training with Shipibo leaders during that visit, Dick and Ruth want to take us further inland to their expanded work with the Ashaninka, another indigenous people group in the Amazonas region of Peru. Pray for strength, great powers of observation, and the capacity to offer encouragement!
Your prayer partnership is welcome:
- For the requests cited above
- For minimal travel complications
- For good health and strength
- For good communication with each other when we are apart
- For ability to communicate clearly – through translation (Egypt and Peru), in the MAOL cohort (Nepal), as a platform speaker (Egypt, Nagaland, and preaching in Peru
Finally, a word about finances. Not every reader realizes that the funds raised through your generosity pays for our salaries (Paul, full-time, Christie, part-time), our health insurance, and almost all of the expenses related to the ministries and travels cited above. Summer is often a slow-down for giving so your generosity now is appreciated. If you are one of our donors, THANK YOU! Could you consider introducing us to someone else who might be interested? If you are not a donor, could you consider joining our team? Thanks for considering it.
Thanks for your prayers and interest.
Gratefully,
Paul and Christie
If you would like to join us in financial partnership you can give:
Online: Go to www.daintl.org. Hit donate & under designation hit staff, Borthwick, & complete the other information.
Or by mail: Tax-deductible contributions designated “Borthwick Support” can be made payable & sent to:
Development Associates International
13710 Struthers Road, Suite 120
Colorado Springs, CO 80921
