Vicki Murdock

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Prayer Letter/Ministry Update

VICKI MURDOCK Prayer Update – Sept '09 - in CONGO

The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. –Rom. 13:12

Dear friends,
Rather than detail all the old news of the past several months, here is a quick résumé of what I’ve been up to, and then I'll get on to some more recent news!
 Annual Field Forum (May): Rev. Tim and Edie Owens, the District Superintendant from the Rocky Mt. C&MA District, blessed our Congo team with messages on Spirit-filled living and peacemaking. We shared this annual conference with colleagues from two sister missions.
 Orientation (May): I stayed on in Brazzaville after Field Forum for more orientation to Congo. Visited churches, pastors and wives. I then travelled to Ollombo with the Bills to discover the base site of our “Northern Congo Outreach.” (The Bills moved there in February, set up their home, and began ministry.)
 Visitors: We welcomed to our Pointe Noire guesthouse for four months a new missionary couple working with SIL (Wycliffe). Ruth Julian and daughter Hannah visited me for 3 weeks in May; then 3 weeks in June Anne Stephens was here with me. Ruth and Anne are both Congo missionaries, and teach with me at the Bible Institute. Which leads to the next point…
 IBAC (the Christian Alliance Bible Institute): I taught a three-week doctrine course on the Holy Spirit to our second year class in June. Shortly after that, twenty-seven of those students graduated from our two-year program, on June 27.
 National Election: God answered our prayers for peace as this country came through another election. The incumbent president was declared re-elected for another term.
 Vacation Time: This year I stayed home, periodically sharing a movie or a meal with friends (including MKs home for the summer), and I tried to get caught up on a number of projects. It was nice having a slower pace for awhile without classes to teach, and also wonderful cool, dry weather! (I’m still enjoying goosebumps—but not for long!)
Those are highlights of the past several months of my life. Now here are some more current things happening…..

Vicki’s work
I’m making some progress in Kituba language study, working on it in between other things. Thanks for your continued prayers!
I tried using a bit of Kituba in the village of Mboukou (1-1/2 drive away from Pointe Noire) on Aug. 22-23. A Congolese, Mama Honorine, looks after the church there and also the annexes in two other villages. It was nice to be back in a village setting again, though I wasn’t impressed with the taxi travel! Coming back we packed 24 people and all their baggage into a van designed for about 18 people! But it was encouraging to meet the believers at Mboukou, to see people respond to God’s Word as the Holy Spirit helped me to preach, and to witness first-hand the sacrificial love and work of Mama Honorine. What a woman of God!

Currently I’m trying to get the Theological Education by Extension (TEE) program rolling here in Pointe Noire. In June we “launched” it with a refresher-seminar for a handful of people who had previously taken the training to be leaders. Then the pastors began to set up courses (small group study groups) in their local churches. Two pastors have nearly finished their first 10-week course; a couple of others expect to start soon. This fall (Oct) we will offer two TEE courses at the Center (I will teach one). This has been a great tool in Brazzaville and in many other countries, so I am pleased to be a part of this work---especially since people here are so eager to learn God’s Word and grow in their Christian life.
I continue to share the Good News of Jesus with most of the taxi drivers I ride with. One Sunday morning I had a definite “divine encounter”. The other transportation I had arranged to get to church fell through at the last minute, so I was obliged to walk out to the road to flag down a taxi. The taximan that stopped for me told me later that he normally works the route outside the city; but that day his plans had changed. And the person he had stopped for before me decided not to ride with him. As I spoke with him about spiritual matters, he asked questions which I answered—apparently satisfactorily. When we reached my church, he continued asking questions, and seemed genuinely touched by my challenge to him to receive Christ. I invited him in to the service (which I entered a half hour late, thanks to this discussion!); but he said he had another obligation. So I gave him the pastor’s contact information. A Christian brother walking by even paid for my taxi ride! Pray for salvation for John (“the Baptist”), the taximan.

Sept. 9-11 I repeated my Mutuality seminar in a 3-day women’s conference in a (non-Alliance) church here in Pte. Noire. The seminar is a study of some of the New Testament “one anothers”. I hope to reproduce the old Mutuality TEE book for use here in Congo. I also need to start preparing again my courses for the Bible Institute, which will start up in early October. I will teach the same ones I taught last year, so this year will be easier. A home Bible study (Experiencing God) we started last year should resume again soon, when the others are ready. And recently I preached in one of our city churches. I have lots of work to keep me busy!

Other news
There are many exciting things happening here in Congo; for instance, new work underway in north/central Congo (Bills in Ollombo); outreach to pregnant teens and women with AIDS (Barb Sorensen in Brazzaville); TEE and other new programs being offered this year at the Center in Pointe Noire (Bellamys and myself), nationalization of the School of Prayer movement, the radio ministry moving ahead, and much more. I feel so privileged to be a part of the work here! I am so grateful to the Lord and to you for your continued prayers and support, mindful that many of you now give even more sacrificially than before, given the economic downturn in the USA. THANK YOU FOR YOUR FAITHFULNESS AND FOR SHARING GOD’S HEART FOR THE WORLD! Together we are making an important impact on Congo for the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Prayer Requests/Answers to Prayer

1) We thank God for good meetings in mid-Sept. with U.S. and Canadian C&MA mission leaders to evaluate and plan for our work here in Congo. Pray that we will continue to be led by the Holy Spirit in all we do.

2) Pray for salvation for the taximan, Jean (“John the Baptist”).

3) Pambu is a 30-year old single Congolese man who loves the Lord and serves Him faithfully as a deacon in one of our Pointe Noire churches. For years he took medicine to prevent seizures. He has not been able to buy medicine for several months, but has had fewer and less powerful attacks than he used to. But he also recently has developed a severe eye problem. The doctor tells him that if he doesn’t have his eyes operated on soon he will become blind. Please pray for Pambu, who needs God’s healing touch in his body.

4) Pray for discernment and divine enabling for those of us who teach here in Congo. Our students at the Bible school/Centers for Christian Studies come from many types of church backgrounds, sometimes with wrong teaching. They are hungry to know God and His truth. We have a tremendous opportunity, with a huge responsibility.

5) Pray that I will know the mind of the Lord with regards to the possible purchase of a vehicle for my work here. I am very grateful to all who have contributed to my vehicle account so far. (Meanwhile, I will continue to witness to taxi drivers, and sometimes ride with my colleagues, the Bellamys.)

Living the call to Congo together with YOU!
Vicki Murdock

If you would like to financially participate in what God is doing here in Congo, please give online on this Alliance website, or through your local Alliance church, or send your gift to: The Christian &Missionary Alliance, PO Box 35000, Colorado Springs, CO 80935-3500. Please indicate what your gift is for: MURDOCK-CONGO-SUPPORT (or WORK, or VEHICLE); or if you would like to contribute to the Center/Bible school, indicate: CONGO-CHRISTIAN LEARNING CENTER- PNR.

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