Power of Prayer

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints" (Ephesians 6:18).

Dear friends,

I have been reminded lately of the magnitude of the power of prayer, as Nisae and I now settle back into life here in the States and as God gives us more opportunities to share with people and churches about what He is accomplishing in the lives of the Tobo people. Not being on the “front lines” has had me asking God what I can do here that is going to affect the lives of the Tobo people over there. I’m not physically there in Tobo and I’m not able to invest my time with the people, so how can I still have an impact?

I was teaching in the book of Ephesians this past Sunday about how the battle waging in Tobo is really a spiritual battle, and it truly is! Our eyes have been opened over these past years to the reality that Satan and his demons are actively at work for the souls of the Tobo people. To the Tobo people, spirits live right in their world and interact with them on a regular basis. I used to believe that these were simply stories passed down, but now I’m convinced that this is the work of demons tricking and deceiving the people and taking the focus away from Jesus and His death which defeated the power and grip of Satan.

Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Even though we aren’t there in Tobo right now, God has reminded us that there is still a battle going on. We are privileged as God’s children to have access to go before the throne of our Heavenly Father, One who has the ability to gain victory in the lives of the Tobo people! And we know we are not alone in our prayers- Many of you have been faithfully praying for the Tobo people over these past years and we are so thankful for you. Thank you!

So right now would you stand with us in prayer for some specific things? Here are some things going on right now back in Tobo that need our prayers:

• Many of you know of Welsin, one of the most faithful Tobo believers. We just heard from our co-workers, the Mankins, that Welsin recently became ill and was not getting better so he was taken up to the village where it was determined that people from another village had poisoned him through magic. The community washed him to symbolically try to remove the evil spirit. The next morning the sickness was supposedly gone. This was hard to hear, as we have been praying that the believers would have an opportunity to stand up to their culture and trust God. We know that God can use this situation to grow Welsin and the other believers so we ask that you would just pray for the Holy Spirit to help the believers to see the foolishness in trusting in the things of this world.

• Pray for our co-workers, Chad & Janeene Mankins, who are working alone. They just flew out of the tribe to get a medical check-up done in Australia and will be absent from the tribe for 6 weeks. Pray for their health and encouragement. Also pray for the church while the Mankins are gone, that they would stand strong and fully trust in Christ.