Dear Friends September 2016
DCMi held an Evangelists’ Conference in Ethiopia last week. It has been several years since we started holding these conferences on a regular basis in Ethiopia. Most of these evangelists are witnessing about Jesus to the rapidly growing Muslim population. I will never forget the evangelist’s wife that attended our conference a few years ago. At the end of the conference she wailed and said, “My husband and I were going to leave the ministry once and for all after this conference because living as an evangelist has been too hard. The Lord, however, restored me through this conference and renewed our call.” I don’t have room in this newsletter to share all the Lord did to restore the Ethiopian evangelist through last week’s conference. You can see more at https://www.facebook.com/DavidChungMinistriesInternational
Full-scale persecution of the church has begun in Nepal. Over the summer, 8 Christians including 1 pastor and 2 teachers were arrested and interrogated for sharing the gospel. Although they have been released on bail, they will have to serve a 5-year prison term and pay a fine of 50,000 rupees if the court finds them “guilty.” Since last summer, the government began to control visas, making it difficult for missionaries to live in Nepal. A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from a Nepali pastor who asked me to pray for the following two things: 1) For God’s provision of funds to rebuild his church which was destroyed by the earthquake last year, 2) For God’s protection (as he was recently stung by a scorpion).
The prayer requests of that Nepali pastor seem to reflect the needs of all Nepali churches – to protect and build the church. As the scope of the challenges expands, so does the need for greater leadership in the Nepali church. DCMi will continue to develop church leaders in Nepal so that the churches will keep moving forward in spite of pain and suffering. Men and women of faith have always dreamed mighty dreams for God as they embraced pain. Joseph, Moses, Ruth, Paul and countless other biblical characters were no exception. Please pray with me that the churches of Nepal will dare to dream in the midst of suffering. We are holding our third Kathmandu Pastors’ Conference November 6-11. The pastors of Nepal eagerly desire to be developed as competent leaders and better Bible teachers. Through our partnership, we can make a meaningful dent in the history of the Nepali church.
Our hearts are slowly mending from the pain of losing Dad this summer. Thank you so much for your love displayed through the way you care for our family.
With gratitude and joy,
David David & Kay