Continue steadfastly in prayer.

Missionaries are always asking for prayer. We are no exception: we always ask the churches where we minister to pray for us. We have prayer cards, refrigerator magnets, wrist bands, a website and Facebook page, and this prayer letter to help believers remember to pray for us. And we are not just saying that: we need your prayers! But how should we pray for missionaries?

Pray according to God’s will.

We can pray with confidence when we ask according to God’s will (1 John 5:14–15), and when we pray scriptural prayers, we know we are praying according to God’s will. First, we ask you to pray that God will use every circumstance he ordains in our lives to make us more like Jesus. Romans 8:28–29 says that God works every thing in our lives for our good, and specifically, to conform us to the image of his Son. So our prayer request is that even more than raising support or traveling safely, we want God to change us to be more like Jesus Christ.

Second, we ask you to pray that God will use us to serve Jesus’ church. We often feel weak and inadequate, but we trust God to use our “watering” efforts to and make his church grow (1 Cor 3:6–7). We know that God delights to use weak vessels because then his power and glory are magnified (2 Cor 4:7).

Third, we ask you to pray that God will open our eyes and hearts to spiritual needs around us. We don’t just want to see the Water of Life flow to the deserts of northern Chile, but also to the thirsty souls around us (John 4:13–14). We want God to enable us to see the people we encounter and talk with as image bearers who need to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ (2 Cor 5:20–21).

Finally, we ask you to pray that God will provide churches and individuals to partner with us. We don’t just desire people or churches who will write checks—we hope they will see us as members of the same team. We want them to realize that what we desire to do in Chile is obeying the same commission that Jesus has given us here!

Please pray for us as we seek to serve these churches over the next month:

• May 1: Grace Bible Fellowship, Swanton, OH
• May 15: Washington Township Baptist Church, Zanesville, OH
• May 22: Bucyrus Bible Church, Bucyrus, OH

We are thankful for God’s provision of new teammates this past month, bringing our support total to 30%! We encourage you to follow our weekly travels on our Facebook page, “Perrys to Chile,” check out our website, perrys2chile.com, and continue to pray for us!

We are looking forward to visiting Antofagasta in two months with this group of five young ladies from Westerville Bible Church. Our goals are to be servants like Jesus and to see Jesus building his church.

 Thank God with us:

• for several partners who joined our support team this past month, bringing our support level to 30%!
• for safety as we traveled several thousand miles this past month.
• for many opportunities to serve the Body of Christ.

Pray to God with us:

• for God’s provision of teammates in prayer and finances.
• for God’s grace to minister to churches week by week.
• for God’s wisdom in leading a mission team from our church to Antofagasta June 2–14.

This is our April 2016 email update. You can sign up to receive our updates in your inbox here. You can download a printable PDF here.