News & Prayer Items

Mary Dills, the mother of Gina Hannah, died Monday morning after a brief illness. The family is thankful she was surrounded by family members who were all able to arrive and talk with her before she passed away. 

Please pray that the Lord’s comfort and peace would be real for Gina and her family at this time.

 I do want to ask you to keep praying for Christians that they may not be discouraged, as since the over throw the former president every Sunday is disturbing possibilities to meet because those soldiers in town. May God help us to remain strong in our faith and be testimonies for those who are hurting us.

The school is postponed for a couple days to wait for safety. So pray for our students that they may not be very discouraged. Pray for health care for their children as many children are having fever because of stress and moving back and forth. Pray for our Bible schools also up country for God protection as he did before and safety for the students and teachers. Pray also for Mboi André whose son in law passed away Monday morning.

Please pray for Northstar’s outreach as "Golden Week" begins at the end of April as one of the best seasons to play around Norikura. Northstar is offering genuine spring backcountry skiing/snowboarding amidst amazing scenery. In the valley, the snow is gone and the trails are showing, so that one can enjoy mountain biking and trail running.   Also, it is the season for beautiful spring foliage, flowers, and the unique skunk cabbage.

Pray that many will come to enjoy the week-end.

Pray for good weather in the mountains

Pray for spiritual impact into the lives of those who come

Update: Visitation will be on Friday, April 19 betwen 5:00-8:00 p.m.  Funeral will follow on Saturday, April 20 at 10:00 a.m.

Remembering Marvin Goodman today as he is experiencing being in the presence of Jesus and with his beloved Dorothy again. What a testimony as Marvin cared for his wife in her latter years and the legacy he has left behind as a pioneer missionary to Africa (1945-1987)—especially the beginning of a gospel witness among the Pygmy people. A good legacy to be celebrated!

Yes, the roads have opened up from Bambari to Bangui and Marguerite and Kete Steve arrived in Bangui on Saturday.  They took a bush taxi from Bambari and she said they didn’t have any problems on the road.  Pastor Steve Taylor is scheduled to fly to Bangui on April 18th so the Mboi family is waiting to see him before returning to Bambari. Also their son-in-law is very sick with TB and in the hospital so their travel plans also will depend on how he is doing.

Praise God for this wonderful answer to prayer.

Amidst the military trucks and other traffic Janet Varner (Encompass staff Bangui) sees going by  her office window, "a young man was just pushing a two wheeled cart up the street loaded with logs at least 4 meters long to be chopped and sold for firewood.  There were really way more logs than I’d judge the cart could bear, but he was doing okay, pushing with all his might until he hit a big pot hole and was stopped dead.  A man walking down the other side of the road, dressed in nice clothes, just came across and started pushing with him till he got it going again and went on his way!  It didn’t seem like they even knew each other.  I’m glad I saw it because sometimes when so many mean things are happening it’s easy to forget the kindness that is just such a common part of people’s lives here.

Dr. Ngoumape writes of the song in his heart (Ps.103:2) as he and his family are learning to give thanks to God in all circumstances. He writes, “We were able to get back into our home yesterday! We had much hard work to clean the house from all of the ordeals.”  My son Moses mourned the loss of his desktop, Jenifer “even my dolls”; Cassandra said, “Oooh they took my keyboard” but Melissa, the youngest daughter, came in and said, “I thank God that we are able to be back, and to understand that material things are temporary and can disappear at any time.”

All public transportation in the Philippines shuts down on Good Friday -.no buses, no jeepneys, no light rail trains, and few taxis. Ted Ruiz (Encompass staff) was hoping that maybe one bus company might be running that night in Rey’s town of Batac as he returned from visiting Rey & Alma Paz and the believers of Nagbacalan GBC at Ilocos Norte on Good Friday, March 29th. He waited 1 ½ hours by the road in hopes of catching one going to Manila. When it came, Ted and 20 others rushed to jump on. It was standing room only for the next 3 hours, as he was jostled back and forth to the dismay of his aching back. Thankfully he was able to grab a seat for the remaining 7 hour return to Manila.

Hernani Bernardez, age 41, is an Elder at Sumulong Grace Brethren Church, Philippines. His wife is Bing, and they have four children, ages 1-9, named Heaven, Heart, Hope, Hannah.

Hernani has been working at Otto shoe factory for almost 20 years. Working there is literally like working in a sweat shop. Everyday Hernani lifts huge, heavy sheets of rubber or plastic which are then melted and molded to form shoe parts. The chemical pollution from the smoking, burning rubber and plastic is simply overwhelming. All employees in all departments complain of the aggravating stench.

Please be in prayer for Jean Vittum as she was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer and is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatments. Jean and her husband Dave served faithfully as Encompass (then GBIM) missionaries in the Philippines, CAR and France. Dave is currently pastoring a church in Seneca Falls, NY and still leads short term missions teams whenever they can. Dave asks for prayer that Jean would be able to sleep well (she hasn’t slept well since chemo treatments began) and that she would be kept free from infections as her immune system is especially vulnerable during the treatments. Please pray for God’s healing in Jean’s life and for comfort and strength for these dear servants. They invite you to follow her journey on Caring Bridge: www.caringbridge.org, account name Jean Vittum and you can contact them at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it