[Beens Prayer Partners] Zacharias

Dear friends,

 

Thanks so much for your prayers regarding Zacharias.  A few days ago he telephoned to another church leader here in town telling him not to worry, that he wasn't a baby in the faith and that he was not going to align with the missionary from Malawi in exchange for a salary, etc!!!  How wonderful that was to hear and we are so rejoicing in that!!!  Praise God that he has chosen to remain faithful to the Truth he knows.

 

We do ask that you continue to pray that the destructive teachings would be stopped.  We've had glimpses of hope here and there:  we've heard a minister from a province much closer to Malawi who'd already chosen to align himself with this missionary in exchange for a salary has recently repented of that and dis-aligned himself.  Many churches here in town held a conference and agreed that while those who've aligned themselves with that doctrine were welcome to come and fellowship, etc.  none of them would be allowed to teach within the churches.  Upon the verbal agreement of that, one of the ministers in town who'd already caused problems in trying to align with the missionary and implement some of those teachings then said 'I can't be left here alone - if no one else is going to teach these things then I won't either' and he was the 1st to sign a document stating so.  Finally we've received a petition to go and visit a group of churches in an adjoining province.  They had all accepted the teachings of this missionary but with study (sent by a teammate of ours) have repented of that, dis-aligned themselves from this teaching and are seeking encouragement and further instruction in the Truth. 

 

We know that with God all things are possible and we pray this missionary would be UNABLE to cause further division within the churches.

 

Thanks so much for your partnership and prayers!

 

Blessings,
Robin

[Beens Prayer Partners] Prayer for faithfulness

Dear friends,

 

If you remember, we have talked in a couple past prayer updates about a missionary from Malawi who was teaching on a very divisive issue and also trying to "buy" ministers who would teach his theology.  Well several weeks ago we heard that he'd traveled up to Natia, one of Dan's discipleship point areas.  Dan was a bit upset but not super concerned; Natia is an area which actually has some fairly strong churches and he didn't feel they'd be persuaded to change course and teachings.  In fact he has been up there to teach since that time and things went really well that day and many people showed up.

 

We have learned very recently however that this missionary has approached Zacharias (one of the strongest leaders there) and offered to build him a house, repair his church building and pay him a monthly salary of 2,500,000 meticais/month (a large salary here) if Zacharias will align himself with this missionary and change his teachings accordingly!

 

Zacharias is a strong church leader and while we would like to believe he couldn't be persuaded into this false teaching, we also realize that this has to be a huge temptation.  Please pray that he would remain faithful to Biblical Truth.  Pray that he will stand firm and not be "purchased."  Pray that somehow this missionary's destructive teachings would be stopped.

 

Thanks so much!

 

Blessings,

Robin & Dan

[Beens Prayer Partners] June's prayer letter

Dear friends,                                                                                                     June 2006

 

We trust each of you are well and are beginning to enjoy the warm days of summer.  Believe it or not, there may come some days where it’s hotter where you are than here in Nampula, since we are now in “winter.”  Our days are now usually quite pleasant and at night we get a bit chilly as the thermometer touches the upper 60s or low 70s! 

 

A couple things to note:  remember we’d like to receive pictures of each of you.  Having them mailed is our preference (Dan & Robin Been / CP 688 / Nampula, Mozambique / Africa), though IF you can shrink them in size to be around 500kb or less and e-mailing them is your only option then we do now have some printer ink (thanks to a gift) so that we could print things off.  Also – it’s not done yet, but we will be updating the pictures on our website soon, so in a couple weeks try and take a peek there (www.mozambiquemessages.com).

 

PLEASE PRAY:

 

MINISTRY: 

• Continue to pray for the weekend classes.  Pray the students would study and do their projects; that they would truly understand and grow in their knowledge of God’s Word.  Pray they would be diligent to complete what they have started – to prioritize and continue with the classes through this entire trimester.
• Pray for the men Dan disciples in a one-on-one basis – that God would help them to understand the Scriptures.
• Pray for the discipleship point in Natia - that it would continue to go well.  Dan will be traveling out there on the 14th & 28th of this month.
• June 22^nd and 23^rd are the days this month for the 2 day class in which men travel in from the bush to study here at the center.  Pray for their safety and for their studies – that they would grow in knowledge and wisdom.
• We have visitors arriving this month – on the 19th.  Dale Mason is an old friend of GNFA who comes every year to visit and help out where needed.  Coming with him this year is Doug Winters.  Doug’s wife, Beth, will arrive later in July – they’re here to explore Mozambique and see whether they feel the Lord is calling them to serve here full-time.  Pray for their visit, for their travels and for wisdom on Doug and Beth’s part as they try to discern the Lord’s will for them.
• Please pray for Domingos.  This man has been coming to study at the center for a while now & is also involved in the 2 day/month study program.  In May we managed to visit the small church he is leading about 30 minutes outside of town.  Currently the only believers in this congregation are he and his wife, however his desire to learn and teach the Gospel is strong.  Pray for him – that he would learn and grow and thus teach correctly the Truths of Christ.  Pray that Dan would be wise as he tries to find other ways to plug Domingos in for more teaching times (Dan’s thinking he may invite Domingos to join him during his trips to Natia bi-wkly).
• Pray we would be culturally sensitive as we deal with the various situations we find ourselves needing to handle.
• Pray for Dan and the other men in the Saturday accountability group.
• Pray for the Mustard Seed Association (this is the group our teammate started to oversee & help nationalize the work being done at the center in town) as they make plans to improve the center and seek how to become financially stable and more independent.
• Pray for safety in travel for Robin's mom.  She'll leave Nampula on Monday, June 5th and then fly from Johannesburg, S. Africa to the States on Tuesday/Wednesday, June 6th & 7th.
• Pray for God’s continual protection on our health and general well-being.

 

 

REJOICE!  GIVE THANKS!  PRAISE HIM!!!

• Dan’s quick trip back to the States to see his grandfather was a real blessing.  Grandpa ended up dying on the morning of Dan’s final day in the States so he was very glad he’d gone when he did; travel back to Nampula went well for Dan and we were excited to have him home.
• Robin’s parents & Grandmother arrived safely in S. Africa on May 9^th.  Robin’s travels down to S. Africa (9^th) also went well despite her arriving 3.5 hrs later than planned!   Everyone made it back to Nampula on the 12^th and then Robin’s Dad and Grandmother had safe flights back to Johannesburg and then the States on May 17^th & 18^th.
• We’re so thankful for the wonderful visit time we were able to have with Robin’s Dad and Grandmother & the longer visit we’ve had with her mom!!!
• Josiah’s eye appointment went very well.  As stated before, we’ll have to continue with partial patching until he’s 7, however it’s a big praise that partial patching is holding his vision steady and that we don’t have to return to full-time patching!  In fact the doctor was pleased b/c with his prescription, each eye is currently seeing at 100%.
• Rejoice that God is always in control.  As stated previously, Robin’s travel to S. Africa was safe but the entire trip was full of stress points (for more details visit our “blog” within our website  - www.mozambiquemessages.com.  – the story should be posted soon).
• We’re so thankful to have gone through an entire month without any major health incidents! 
• The weekend discipleship classes at the center are gotten off to a good start.  Dan has 8 students on Saturday and there are about 10 students in the classes on Sunday afternoons!
• Two Sundays ago we, Dan and Robin, managed to travel out to visit a church in the bush to help celebrate and welcome 20 new brothers and sisters to the family as they were baptized into Christ.  (This is the same church we told you about last December – one where several of our Mozambican friends have been traveling and training these people over the past many months.  It was on Christmas that the first group of about 30 people had been baptized).  How exciting it is to see this church growing.
• This past Wednesday’s meeting in Natia went wonderfully and there were 30 people there to study! 

 

Thanks so much for your prayers.  Thank you for your partnership!

 

Blessings,

Robin & Dan