Peace and joy of Christmas be with you! Along with Christians around the world, we celebrate God-with-us, the revelation in flesh of God’s amazing determination to be among us, to rescue and restore us and the whole world.

Amongst your Christmas and New Year celebrations and reflections, we welcome your prayers also for our workers and their poor neighbors and friends in Asia.

This monthly post gives a few prayer points from each of our teams in Asia, and major events and concerns for the Servants community. For a fuller list of points for prayer, you can subscribe to our monthly prayer letter by writing to Anne (info[at]servantsasia.org).

Kristin Jack

Kristin, our beloved former Servants worker and International Coordinator, died on 10th December after a long battle with cancer. Kristin had a huge impact on many people, and exemplified a ‘life well lived’! He will be both honored and sorely missed at our upcoming gatherings.

Praise: Kristin was able to complete his book Fire and Faith, and it was published just hours before his death.

Pray: for comfort for Kristin’s wife Susan, and children Kaleb and Emma.

Our previous Forum, January 2019
Forum & Orientation
  • Praise God: 11 participants are planning to attend Orientation (Jan 6-18), and more than 80 people are registered for the Servants Forum (Jan 19-23). Hooray!
  • pray for the organizers to balance busyness of preparing for Orientation, Forum and ILC (leadership meetings) with some kind of break over Christmas.
  • For all 11 participants at Orientation to have a good sense of God’s presence and wisdom on how to continue the journey with Servants.
  • For wisdom for Rachel, Rosey, Eunice, Myra, Rose and others as they organize Forum.
Philippines
  • For Patrick, January will mark 7 years with Servants Manila – for his Sabbatical he will visit with his aging parents, take time for solitude and reflection, and prepare for his own wedding
  • Thanks: Joshua, Rachel and others hosted an Alongsiders camp at Sakahang Lilok farm retreat, for kids who have lost one or both parents, and the teens who support them.
  • Mani and her husband were able to attend the Advent retreat at Sakahang Lilok.
  • We rejoice over the outcome of meeting with KULTURA (a big souvenir shop) for a possible partnership of Helping Bayong (baskets & weaving livelihood project). They are now our direct vendor (without middle people).
  • Please pray for Russel, 13 years, who was diagnosed with tuberculosis recently.
Indonesia
  • thanks: House of Hope (pre-school) celebrated its 11th birthday in November!
  • Thanks: our two interns are both doing well, investing in their host families and learning lots!
  • Dila* is home in her village for a month. Pray for safe travel back (involving a 3 day boat ride and a 12 hour train ride).
  • Most of the team will attend orientation in January. Pray for Rahma* and the boys as they remain in Jakarta for school, and then travel to Manila for Forum.
  • Please pray for all of our House of Hope students and their families, as well as the teaching team.
This woman’s makeshift home in north India provides little protection from the cold winter.
India
  • Thank God for the resilience and learning of our three interns over the past two months, that they have each adjusted very well, mainly stayed healthy, and felt strangely “at home” in our neighborhood.
  • Pray for the H family wrapping up life in India, figuring out the future with their “foster” daughter Chhaya and other relationships, and planning a trip across the US visiting intentional Christian communities.
    Thank God and ask grace for patients and friends:
  • Prem has started chemotherapy for throat cancer; he lives with his three boys in a small shack without electricity or proper protection in the rain. Pray the treatment will reduce the cancer.
  • Pray for God’s mercy and healing for Vinita who runs the safehouse for sexually abused girls – she has just had surgery for removing cancer that’s spread many places, and will soon undergo chemotherapy.
  • Pastor Sanjay Singh, husband of Priyanka (former safehouse girl now with two children) who has just been released from a year in prison for accusations of receiving money for converting people.
Cambodia
  • Eunice and Myra are grateful to connect with family and friends in the Philippines. Please continue to pray that they can maximize meaningfully their remaining time there.
  • Carol is thankful for Kathy Parker’s visit in the community and for a Cambodian volunteer who helped in communicating with her neighbors.
  • Pray for Niang’s patience and financial provision as she takes care of her mother who has cancer and has suffered a stroke.
  • Pray also for Carol’s patience and wisdom in interacting with the neighborhood children.

Thank You

Thank you for all your prayers to our amazing God!

Answered Prayers

Praise God for answers to some of the things we have been praying for in recent months:

  • India: thank God for a successful though very last minute partnership with the government facilitating a mobile bus testing for TB in our neighborhood and beyond.
  • Philippines: Last mail we mentioned Taki, recovering from TB. He is greatly improving now. But the treatment is drastic and will take many more months. We are so grateful he is where he is now.
  • Philippines: A great surprise happened with the neighbors of the Lilok Farm: They suddenly agreed to respect the boundary as written on papers and have started correcting their fence. Hallelujah! We can hardly believe it, after all the incredible fuss over it. The job isn’t finished yet, but our confidence is slowly growing that this may end smoothly and quietly. Please keep praying that it will indeed. This will be a huge burden off our chest. We are pretty traumatized.

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