The latest news can be found on the main page of our website. Click HERE to return to that page.

The most recent news items are listed first.
Scroll down to read additional news and updates.

It's not too late - register for Retreat !

Click HERE to download a Retreat Registration Form.

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ANSWERED PRAYERS!
THREE NEW AREA VICE-PRESIDENTS!
July 26, 2008

We have been praying for women willing to be Area Vice-Presidents in four areas. This past weekend God provided answers to our prayers in three of those areas!

Ladies, please meet our three new Area Vice President's:

Texas Area Vice-President:
Amy Pena

We are very excited about Amy joining us, as we have not had a representative from Texas for a number of years. Welcome, Amy!

South Central Area Vice-President:
Janice Fulbright

Yeah for Janice! She is heading up the South Central Area, which includes churches in Pratt, Haviland, Hutchinson, Dodge City and Macksville. We know there are lots of future Friends Women at Barclay College in Haviland and Janice will help spread the word about FWF.

North East Area Vice-President:
Shelda Cay Kearns

Yippee-ki-yay for Shelda Cay! She is taking over from Cathy Brandt as the North East Area Vice-President. Shelda Cay has grown in up in the Friends Church and brings lots of knowledge and know-how with her.

You can find contact info for all of our officers HERE.

Still needed -an Area Vice President for the Western Area. This includes churches in Bethel, Booker, Colorado, Fowler, Gate, Liberal, Lone Star, Plains, Springfield, Villas, and Walsh. If you're interested or would like more info, contact FWF Vice President Dalene Hutson at (316) 721-5364.

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MINISTRY CONFERENCE LUNCHEON UPDATE
July 25, 2008

We had a great time and a wonderful turn out for the FWF Ministry Conference Luncheon! Click HERE for more details and photos of the event.

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A NOTE FROM
YOUTH COORDINATOR,
SYLVIA HARVEY
July 20, 2008

Connie and Gary Young have provided us with a wonderful way to keep the Children's and Youth project fresh in our minds.  This is a make-it-yourself bank for your children's ministry to use however you can fit it in.  It will be a great reminder for our children to raise money for our projects.  It can be used by groups or individuals, young and old alike.  

Click here for the Youth page which contains the downloadable bank!

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CONTAINER UPDATE
Please pray!
July 15, 2008

We just received word a few days ago that our container for the Kibimba Hospital has been held up in Saudi Arabia. The port it is headed to, Dar Es Salaam, is too congested to receive new containers at this time.

Please pray for the traffic to clear up in Dar Es Salaam and our container to arrive in a timely manner. The Kellum's, Ferguson's and Dick Long are all headed to Kibimba to help unpack the crate and set up the medical supplies. It is important that the crate is available at the same time they are!

Pray that God will find a place for the ship in the port at Dar Es Salaam.

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EFM Announces Changes
at Rough Rock
July 11, 2008

From the EFM email update (abbreviated):

Praying Friends,

We recently announced the resignation of Joe Swan. Our office just received his official resignation letter that gives the reasons for his departure in his own words. Please pray for Joe and Tina, and their three girls, Ariana, Dorcas, and Mikayla as they return to Alaska. We hope that all who are supporting the Navajos around Rough Rock will continue to do so as we keep the search open for some time for a new missionary. In the meantime, expenses will continue for the facilities. We urge those who have been supporting the Swans' salary package to move their giving to another EFM missionary.

Here is the resignation letter from Joe Swan.

Hello Chuck,
We, the Swan family, are moving back to Alaska and are resigning as missionaries in Rough Rock,Arizona. The reason is that my girls didn't adjust well to the move. They have missed friends and family and it was hard on them. They would cry and it was just getting worse. I tried talking with them to try and stick it out, but they were just not so happy with no friends. So my wife I talked it over and we've been praying and seeking the Lord, and we decided that we would move back to Alaska. Sorry. It's not an easy decision to make, but thank you all for your prayers and support. We will leave Rough Rock,Az Monday the 14th of July and we'll be in Alaska on Wednesday the 16th of July.

Lord's blessings,
Joe Swan

Let me emphasize again that EFM remains open for new missionary applicants for the Navajos. Please pray for the Lord's direction, and his best for the Navajos.
Grace and peace,
Chuck Mylander

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Please remember the Swan's and the ministry at Rough Rock in your prayers during this time of transition.

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Carpenter's Travel Update
July 9, 2008

A Message From Brad:

Dear Prayer Partners,

Thank you so much for your prayers for us as we have been with the YCEW team from the Northwest Yearly Meeting. We have had a wonderful time with them.

Tomorrow night (July 10th) Michelle and I are leaving Rwanda for England for a few days. Please pray for me tomorrow as I am trying to finish up a few important issues. Pray for safety in travel and for Michelle and I that we will have a really fun time together as we will celebrate our 2 years together here in Rwanda. Also pray for good times as we discuss and debrief our experiences and what God has taught us over these years. We will arrive in Wichita on July 16th.

Please also continue to pray for Chelsea and I as we are preparing for our wedding and marriage.

Love,

Brad

A Message From Michelle:

Dear Prayer Partners,

The time has come for me to leave Rwanda. Brad and I fly out tomorrow night (Thursday). We'll spend a few days in London and get into Wichita the evening of the 16th. The past month has been a whirlwind of activities. I've had such a wonderful time here and tonight I'm really feeling sad about leaving! Please pray for Brad and myself as we wrap things up here tonight and tomorrow (Brad still has a lot to accomplish!). Please pray for me as I say goodbye to Chrissy, the Thomases and others. They have been my family for two years and it will be difficult to let them go. We appreciate your prayers at this time.

You should be receiving my final newsletter by mail in the next week or so. I will send a final email update when I get back to Wichita.

Thank you for your prayers.

His,
Michelle

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The Giron’s 5th Month of
Ministry in
Aguascalientes, Mexico.
July 2, 2008

Dear Friends,
Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. - II Thessalonians 1:2

Praising Him! Everyday God provides new opportunities for us to see the purpose of our calling to work among the people of Aguascalientes. We are happy and excited to see how God is preparing people to hear and learn about his truth and His promises and then He send us to find them and work to bring them hope, faith, and the good news of salvation. Every day is a wonderful experience in Him! And the following are the highlights of how God has showed us, during this month, our purpose of being here. And you, as part of it!

I. New Ministry in the local Prison. In the last month, Every Friday, Edwin is visiting the local prison to share the gospel with a group of prisoners. So far 4 of them have accepted Jesus Christ and 1 has decided to surrender his life to live for Christ again. Some of them have asked Edwin to visit their wife and children and so this has brought us wonderful opportunities to share about Him.

II. Pocitos. We continue doing the Kids Club Bible classes every two Saturdays. We are now visiting two families that had opened their home doors for us to talk about the word of God.

III. VBS. We are planning to have the second Vacation Bible School in Pocitos. Last year the team carried this event and around 200 kids attended to a three day VBS and learned about Jesus. This year we are doing it from July 29th to August 1st. Four days to teach them about salvation. We are doing a service on Friday where the parents are going to be invited.

IV. Red Cross. 4 months already have passed for Edwin taking the paramedic course and being able to relate and get to know his group mates better. One of them has invited us several times to his house and we had had the chance to talk to him and his wife (Oscar and Fernanda) about our faith. Others seem to be curious and they ask questions about our mission, and so that is when Edwin has opportunities to talk about having a relationship with God and how we obtain salvation through Jesus Christ.

V. Angelica becoming a Christian. Praise Him!! Two weeks ago Angelica came to understand that she needed to confess her sins to God and to accept salvation that only Jesus Christ gives. She has many questions and she is learning how to treat and love her neighbor better. She is also happy that her children are learning and wanting to behave and obey better everyday.

VI. Tere learning to follow Jesus’ steps. Every Friday night Tere comes to our house to learn how God wants her to live now that she has accepted to live a new life in Christ. During the last discipleship class she mentioned this: Every time I read and learn about the word of God is like more and more lights turn on to illuminate my life better.

VII. New contacts. We are currently talking to the new following people that we believe God has sent us to right now because they need to know what God has for their lives. Mar Carrera, a doctor’s wife that we meet at a Taco Stand. Rosario, a neighbor that came to our house and introduce herself, she wanted to see if her daughter could play with our children. She is going through a depression time. Josefina, a Lady that was standing outside our door listening to our songs and prayers when we had the last celebration service at our home. Edwin Isaac saw her and he told us that someone was standing right outside. She said that she heard beautiful songs and decided to stop a while to hear the singing and praying. Roberto & Claudia, this couple has a small restaurant and we are becoming good friends with them. They have a 10 year old daughter.

VIII. Group of unreached in San Luis Potosi. We are making trips to San Luis Potosi, a city at about 2 hours driving south from Aguascalientes, there are some relatives of Maria and friends that know we are missionaries that we are here to talk to people about God and they are interested in knowing about His word. And so we are taking time to visit them every month to talk to them individually to see how we can bring hope, with words from the bible, to the different hard situations each of them are going through. We are praying that soon we can have a group of new Evangelical Friends praising the lord together in San Luis Potosi.

Thank you and may our Lord reward you for the time you take to pray for those that need to know Him.

In Obedience,

Edwin, Maria, Favi, Edwin, Isaac
The Giron Family
Missionaries to Aguascalientes, Mexico
Evangelical Friends Mission

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Updates From the Howell's
(Missionaries To Ireland)
June 26, 2008

Dear Praying Friends,

This is always the fun part for anyone serving God and asking for prayer.  I get to share how awesome God is in answering those prayers.  I sent out a request on Tuesday specifying three needs.  

School:  We got a call Wednesday morning that the board of the Glebe National School met on Tuesday evening and reviewed our information and our situation and have decided to allow Jonathan and Moriah in as students starting in the fall.  We went today to get the information for new students and even went to purchase part of their school uniform.  Praise the Lord.

House:  We went and looked at two more houses yesterday and found one that we will be able to get  into on Monday and is a really nice house.  We went down today to sign our side of the letting agreement and now it will be up to the landlord to sign his.  We should be able to take possession on Monday, which is when our current temporary rental will be up.

And finally, the visa:  As we went into the Garda office, we waited about five minutes, which in Ireland life is nothing, before we got to speak with Seamus.  We had been praying for Seamus (our immigration official) and that our time with him would be great.  He was very understanding of who we were.   We walked in and he said, “you are missionaries then?”  Over the next twenty minutes, we had fun talking about life, church, and even took a break while he rushed out to deal with a serious crisis.  At the end of it, he told us that we needed to pay our fee at the Bank of Ireland and we can pick up our cards on Monday.  Praise the Lord.  We now have our year visa.

It’s hard to believe that we haven’t even been in country a week and we have seen how God is going before us in fun and amazing ways.  We are still getting settled and the next hurdle will be to try and find a car.  We will have to wait until early next week for the money to clear for us to purchase one.  Please pray for this process as well.

It is so exciting to see how God is moving.  Praise the Lord.  Thank you all for praying  so diligently for us.

Grace and Peace,

The Howell Clan

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Travel Update From
Doris Ferguson
June 20, 2008

Willard and I will be going to Burundi the 17th of July to help unpack the container.  Willard hopes to work with a few pastors to help set up a chaplaincy program for the hospital.  We will appreciate your prayers. 
Willard and I will have a week with our Sam and his wife, Dawn, in Goma, Congo. We're going with 6 others, and will return the 19th of July.  In time for the wedding of Brad Carpenter and Chelsey Roberts!

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Update From Candi Foster
June 16, 2008

Thank you for your prayers!

      Lately I've been contemplating the importance of health in correlation to ministry. Without health, one can not do ministry. I appreciate the many of you who have been faithfully praying for my health and ministry in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Let me take the time to give you a brief update on my health. As many of you know, I became ill again in April and had to go to the emergency room to be rehydrated. My mom was able to fly down to Mexico to be with me and after several of days of rest I was strong enough to ride the wheelchairs through the airports as my mom and I traveled back to Kansas to see doctors there.

      I have now been in Kansas about 2 months and am continuing to recover energy and stamina. For the many of you who have asked, I am being treated for gastritis and irritable bowel syndrome. My doctors here say that my doctor in Mexico was doing a great job of treating me (which was great to hear), but they are using some stronger medicines to treat the problems. In addition to medicine I am learning ways to better handle stress as that affects flare ups.

      Though the road to recovery has been longer than I have anticipated, I have been refreshed and encouraged by many of you through your prayers, e-mails, calls, cards, and meals. You have truly been the body of Christ encouraging and uplifting me and I am so grateful to each one of you. You have made the recovery process so much easier to bear and have helped to refresh my spirit.

      Are you wondering when I will get to go back to Mexico? Me too! I am anxious to get back, but I know I must be healthy and able to function there. I would love to go back as soon as possible, but I'm not exactly sure when that will be. I'm praying that I'm strong enough to go back by early July for Bible League trainings I am signed up to attend. Please pray with me that I will be able to discern when I am healthy enough and ready to dive back into the ministry going on in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

Ministry in Pocitos