KINGFISHER INTERNATIONAL FAMILY NEWS
AUGUST 2021
ISSUE 17
Heroic church leaders and the high cost of leadership This International Newsletter is published just a few weeks after the International Day of Prayer 2021 and reports are already coming in of the impact that that Day has had. Individual lives impacted, churches feeling more connected to the International Family, believers in desperate situations encouraged to know they are being prayed for.
the insurgency) and were held captive for several days. They were thankfully released without harm, but are even now planning to return to Mozambique with more aid, more supplies and undiminished courage. In Macau, which is a Special Administrative Region of China, Pastor Edwin Alfaro continues to lead his church, to share the Gospel and to live out his Christian life in spite of the harsh penalties imposed by the Chinese authorities. The people of Macau look across the Bay at Hong Kong and see the PRC reprisals there, but choose to continue to live boldly for Christ.
Perhaps one of the more untold stories that this IDOP has brought into focus is the high cost that many around the world are willing to pay to be identified as followers of Jesus Christ. In particular, the high cost that many pastors are paying for this. In India, the government has passed a law that if anyone leads someone to Christ it is a crime, with Christian groups being told to stop meeting. One church leader reports that, for the past two months he has been getting threatening phone calls as he seeks to lead his church. He has chosen to take the dangerous path of continuing to lead his church despite the intimidation.
The calling to authentic Christian living and, in particular to authentic Christian leadership has always been challenging, but around the world, that cost is rising. As we continue to pray in the wake of the International Day of Prayer, we should remember the high cost of living the Christian life in areas like those mentioned above, and especially the high cost of leading the Church in those areas. These are the unsung heroes who deserve our prayers and our support, who inspire us to dare great things for the Kingdom of God. The International Day of Prayer is one particular day when our thoughts and prayers are focussed on what is going on around the world, but it is by no means the only day that we need to pray. Let us all commit to praying daily for our brothers and sisters who are suffering around the world for no other ‘crime’ than that they openly follow Jesus Christ. And let us be inspired by those heroic pastors who refuse to be silenced or to be beaten into submission, but who go on, day after day, following their calling to lead.
In Mozambique, with the upsurge of violence, many people have been displaced and are now hiding out in remote areas, fearful of their lives, and with only the clothes they are currently wearing. They are displaced from their homes, from their communities, from their churches. And yet, there are heroic pastors, such as Charles Mithowa, our National Director for Malawi who are willing to place their lives in God’s hands and travel over the boarder to Mozambique to bring aid and encouragement. Just recently Charles was returning from one such trip when he and his group were accosted by Islamists from Nigeria (who are behind
Dumagat Education Program update
More IDOP and an update on Mozambique
International Day of Prayer around the world
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KINGFISHER INTERNATIONAL FAMILY NEWS
The IDOP was celebrated around the world! Many of our Kingfisher churches around the world took part in the International Day of Prayer on July 25th. We created a video of some of our National Directors praying for each others countries, which was a powerful encouragement to all of our church members to get involved in praying for our brothers and sisters across the world.
We are expecting amazing things as a result of this day of prayer so watch this space to see what God has done through this day. Below are messages from some of our International leaders on how the day went in their churches: “The IDOP was a great blessing to us. We are such a small church that it was possible to meet up.
“Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Preparation: I downloaded the video before hand on to a pendrive as the venue we were at didn’t have reliable internet. I also listened to the video before hand and produced a handheld paper with a brief summary of the prayer which helped us to tune into the different accents in English. With the paper we were able to easily recognise the pastors name and country as well as who they were praying for. We also had a world map to consult!!
Although with Government Covid restrictions on Churches here in Malawi, that the church gathering should not exceed 30 people, on this month of July, as covid cases are keeping rising daily, we thank God that we managed to gather and pray, while our other fellow Kingfisher members were encouraged to pray with us in their homes, to pray for our kingfisher churches and their countries around the world. We had a wonderful time praying for all Kingfisher Churches around the world. With prayers from all Kingfisher churches here in Malawi and around the world, we believe the impossible things will be made possible by our God in Heaven, as we expect more new good things to happen in this year and years to come.
Before praying: We sang a few worship songs to recognise and remember who God is! and then took communion to cleanse our hands ready for prepare. Praying: We listened to each prayer and then paused the video and briefly commented on the situation and then we prayed as the HS led.
We are highly encouraged that our prayers shall bring High impact to our churches and Nations we are living in! Thanks and God bless!! Keep pressing on for God and His Kingdom building!
Results: We felt greatly blessed! Comments were “It is so good to feel we belong to something bigger” and so “varied”. We were humbled by the great trials so many churches are facing. It made us pray with more love and concern. We felt more connected to Kingfisher than we had felt before. We recognise the help Kingfisher has given to us and appreciate Kingfishers fatherly care. One member also acknowledged that it is good to have someone to whom we are accountable to. We were particularly moved and blessed by the prayer for Spain led Pastor Edwin Alfaro from Macao - we really felt his prayer was anointed.
Pastor Andrew Malawi”
“We had an excellent time of prayer for all the churches and nations represented by Kingfisher, the church responded well. Some who had been to some of the countries prayed for those nations.
Blessings, Christine and church in Salobreña”
It was also so good for the church to be outward focused and seeing that we are part of something a lot bigger.
“Thanks also for the prayers for us here in Macau. We celebrated our church anniversary on that IDOP. I thank Pastor James for all the support to us.
Praise God that He hears our prayers for the many needs around the world and may we see a revival that will see healing of the nations and great increase for Kingdom of God.
Pastor Edwin, Macau”
Blessings, Dave and Pam, Spain” Continued on page 3
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KINGFISHER INTERNATIONAL FAMILY NEWS
IDOP impact reaches further than you might think Leslie and Chris are a couple who launched FTK in Spain before moving to Northern Ireland three years ago to set up a prayer and ministry centre called Bethesda, focussing on healing and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. Bethesda is a part of the Kingfisher Family. Leslie writes:
“As a family we joined the IDOP at home and in that context we prayed for a miracle, but especially that he would genuinely come to know the Lord, and that his other sister (his principal carer) would be able to entrust him to the Lord. “The twelve hours came and went, turning into days and a week eventually. During that time his suffering was greatly alleviated and he died peacefully this weekend - his one sister now certain that he had gone to be with the Lord and his other sister able to release him.
“As you know, much of our involvement here at present is ministering to individuals or families. On the morning of IDOP we had a text from a Christian lady saying that her disabled (mature Downs Syndrome) brother had been given just 12 hours to live by doctors as he had a whole catalogue of illnesses, some needing surgical treatment (which he was too weak to survive).
“Blessings, Leslie”
An update from Mozambique The terrible situation continues to unfold in Mozambique, as Islamic militants have infiltrated from Nigeria and are currently killing, looting and displacing the people there. Our National Director for Malawi, Charles Mithowa, has just returned from Mozambique (at the beginning of July) after having himself been captures by Islamic militants on his way back, and writes:
displaced and suffering families. This night we will be sleeping at the Mulosa Border and tomorrow morning will be crossing the border into Mozambique. Thank you for your support. You have contributed greatly on this journey and wish you all the best.” Please continue to pray for the Lord to intervene and bring peace to that land, and to keep Charles and his team safe as they go back in to take more aid.
"We have just come back from Mozambique. We were serving our brothers and sisters who are displaced by the war which is occurring there. More brothers and sisters have left their homes and are staying in the forests. They are facing a terrible situation. They need food, clean water, blankets, and mosquito nets as they are spending nights without covering their bodies in the bushes. I went with more clothes and Bibles. The only clothes they had were the same which they put on when they were running away and escaping into the forests. So we have distributed more clothes, food and Bibles. “Right now, today I am organising more bags of Maize food so that I will turn again with more maize flour to support the suffering families with food. When I and my team were coming we met with the attackers who are the Muslims from Nigeria. So they detained us for some days until we were free to come back to Malawi. Thanks for your prayers.” Kingfisher Family responded with financial aid to help with the relief effort and a week later Charles and his team went back into Mozambique: “Now on the way return back to Mozambique. We have packed everything ready for serving the
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KINGFISHER INTERNATIONAL FAMILY NEWS
Update from the Dumagat Education Program Aileen (the teacher at Bulak school) and her husband Roldan recently drove up the mountain to the village on their ever reliable trike to hand out hot noodle soup and “pan de sal” (Spanish for salt bread) to the Dumagat community. The journey from Sibug, where Aileen and her family live, to the Dumagat village is around 4-5 hours by foot. This was funded by your donations as on some occasions (ie during hard times) we cut back a bit on the food parcels we give to DEP scholars so that we can feed the other children and their families in the Dumagat village who are not part of the DEP. So the impact of your giving is not just contained to the 36 DEP children and their families, but to their whole community.
Aramina Carpio, Monica de Guzman, Mary Grace Bote and Jessica de la Cruz are all graduating from Sibug Elementary school this month and will be attending Pagtalunan High School next school year. This High School, also in Sibug, was only built two or three years ago which was perfect timing for our DEP scholars, some of whom are already studying there.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Martan Ramo I want to be a forester or forest Head Teacher Thelma Caballero ranger
Monica de Guzma
Eyyan Dela Ros
Mark Nathan Villez
I want to be a teacher
I want to be a teacher
I want to be a pilot
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