Prayer Calendar for Missions Trips to Zimbabwe

May 22, 2017


Dear LTLA Friends,

We covet your prayers over the next month as the ISU Navigators team and my family serve here in Zimbabwe. God really blessed the efforts of Thomas & Tara Gilbert as well as Shane Thomas from the Life to Life Ministry at the Univ of Central Florida, and the ISU Navigators team has made good initial contacts with Navigators students at the University of Zimbabwe. Today, they travel with me to serve with Life to Life Africa in Chinhoyi for the next two weeks before they return to serve for two weeks in Harare with The Navigators. My wife, Julie, and daughters, Johanna (11) & Micaela (8), join me here in Zimbabwe on June 6.

As you can see it is a busy time in ministry, so we are in need of your prayers. Below is a prayer calendar to guide you. The ISU Navigators team is reading Isaiah 40-66 for their quiet times with the Lord during their trip, so I have highlighted verses from these chapters to guide us in prayer. 


Gratefully,
Mike Sulc




PRAYER CALENDAR 


Mon, May 22 - Is 40:28-31; As the ISU Nav Team and Mike Sulc travel to Chinhoyi, may they and the LTLA team be strengthened by the Lord as they place their hope in Him.


Tues, May 23 - Is 41:10; As the ISU Nav Team participates in team meetings and leads a Chosen Generation (young adult) Bible study, may all involved rest in God’s strength and not fear in relating to one another.


Wed, May 24 - Is 42:1; As the ISU Nav Team continues interacting with the LTLA team and with people in the Chinhoyi community, may they remember that it is Jesus who brings justice in unjust circumstances.


Thurs, May 25 - Is 43:10; As the ISU Nav Team interacts with Chinhoyi University of Technology students, may they come to know and trust God more.


Fri, May 26 - Is 44:1-4; May it be observed how God has poured out His Spirit among spiritual generations in Chinhoyi and may it continue in the years ahead.


Sat, May 27 - Is 45:5-6; ISU Nav Team shares at Youth Bible studies as well as with the Men & Women of Hope meetings. May all come to know there is no other God but Him alone.


Sun, May 28 - Is 46:8-10; As ISU Nav Team worships God with Zimbabweans, may all see He is worthy and there is none like Him.


Mon, May 29 - Is 47:15; Like everywhere else, the majority of people in Zimbabwe are seeking salvation in everything but Christ. May eyes be opened to the futility of these pursuits and may hearts be opened to our only Savior.


Tues, May 30 - Is 48:17; For the LTLA and ISU Nav Team members, may each one trust that God will lead them in the best way to go in life.


Wed, May 31 - Is 49:6; May the LTLA and ISU Nav Teams rejoice that God is making them a light in the world to proclaim His salvation to the ends of the earth.


Thurs, June 1 - Is 50:6; May the LTLA and ISU Nav Teams experience how the Lord sustains and instructs them through His word morning by morning.


Fri, June 2 - Is 51:12-13; As young LTLA staff members and the ISU Nav Team travel to Harare for a Discipleship Retreat with Univ of Zimbabwe Navigators, may any who struggle with the fear of man be comforted and reminded they can rest secure in their trust in God.


Sat, June 3 - Is 52:7; May all involved in the Discipleship Retreat find encouragement that God delights in those who take the good news of His peace and salvation into the world.


Sun, June 4 - Is 53:4-6; May all involved in the Discipleship Retreat worship Christ with full hearts of thanksgiving, for He was pierced for our transgressions and He heals us by his wounds.


Mon, June 5 - Is 54:10; As Julie, Johanna & Micaela Sulc begin their trip to Zimbabwe to join Mike, may their trust be in God’s unfailing love.


Tues, June 6 - Is 55:10-11; May the ISU NavTeam along with the Univ of Zimbabwe Nav students experience the power of God’s word as they meditate on it during the Week in the Word program. 


Wed, June 7 - Is 56:6-8; May Johanna and Micaela Sulc see God’s love for all people and how he is drawing them to Himself as they begin their first day outside of the United States.


Thurs, June 8 - Is 57:15; May we all be in awe that God makes his dwelling with those who are contrite and lowly in spirit, causing us to release pride as we interact with people who are different yet very much the same as fellow image bearers of God. Sulc family travels to Chinhoyi to be with the LTLA team.


Fri, June 9 - Is 58:6-7; May the Lord open our hearts to see his desire that we seek to end injustice and share compassionately.


Sat, June 10 - Is 58:9-12; May we develop convictions to seek justice and trust God to sustain us to see restoration take place in communities around the world. ISU Nav Team travels from Harare for a day with Navigators outreach at Bindura University.


Sun, June 11 - Is 59:15-16; May we worship God that he has intervened in this unjust world and worked salvation by his own arm.


Mon, June 12 - Is 60:20-22; May we all see the display of God’s splendor as he grows His kingdom through humble beginnings. ISU Nav Team begins a week of connecting with University of Zimbabwe students at their homes after they have completed their semester. Sulc family continues serving with the LTLA ministry in Chinhoyi.


Tues, June 13 - Is 61:1-6; As Jesus declared when reading from this passage, He fulfilled all the ministry depicted in it. May we see its fulfillment in Chinhoyi and in all communities around the world.


Wed, June 14 - Is 61:8-9; May spiritual descendants be multiplied among God’s family in Chinhoyi and in all communities around the world. The Sulc and Nhau families (Arthur & Mildred lead the LTLA ministry in Chinhoyi) will spend time away for several days in Victoria Falls.


Thurs, June 15 - Is 62:11-12; May we rejoice with our Zimbabwean brothers and sisters that we will be “called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord.”


Fri, June 16 - Is 63:7; May we declare all the good things that the Lord has done because of his compassion and kindness.


Sat, June 17 - Is 64:4; May we be humbled by serving God who acts on behalf of those who trust Him.


Sun, June 18 - Is 65:1; May we praise the Lord that He revealed Himself to us and to many in Zimbabwe.


Mon, June 19 - Is 65:17-19; May we rejoice in what God will create in a new heavens and earth as He delights in us, His people. The Sulc family will begin their journey home to the US as we celebrate Micaela’s birthday.


Tues, June 20 - Is 66:1-2; From this mission trip experience may the Lord find us to be humble servants who tremble and treasure His word.


Wed, June 21 - Is 66:19-20; As the ISU Nav Team travels back to the US, may they see how the Lord desires to send them out to proclaim his glory and fame.

Missions Teams in Zim

May 17, 2017


Dear Friends, Your prayers are needed as one missions team is finishing their time in Chinhoyi this week and another arrives today in Zimbabwe. The LTLA team is staying busy hosting "murungus" (white people) who are visiting from Florida, Iowa and Michigan.

University of Central Florida Team

Tara & Thomas Gilbert with Shane Thomas arrived in Zimbabwe May 4.

Thomas & Tara Gilbert, who direct the Life to Life Ministry at University of Central Florida (UCF), have enjoyed serving with the LTLA team for a couple of weeks alongside Shane Thomas, a student leader from their ministry in Orlando. Thomas is a favorite of the team as he has ministered in Chinhoyi many times. He is introducing Tara & Shane on their first visit with their African teammates in disciple-making ministry. I am looking forward to being with them for the last few days of their trip: I arrive in Zim today!

The LTLA & UCF Teams outfitted with Life to Life Ministry shirts on the Chinhoyi University of Technology campus.

Iowa State University Team

The ISU team (Abby Rubsam, Rebecca Lyons, Ezra Iliff, Monica Thornton, Cameron Naglak, Emily Robison, Emily Jonas, Parker Robison & Abbey Lingenfelter) launched from Chicago on May 15 and arrive in Zimbabwe on May 17.

The Navigators ministry at Iowa State has sent another team to serve God's kingdom work in Zimbabwe. Parker & Emily Robison are leading this team. The team will spend their first two weeks in Chinhoyi with the LTLA ministry, experiencing the different aspects of the work. The first weekend of June they will participate in a discipleship retreat, hosted by the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) Navigators. Some LTLA laborers will join with them in that retreat, continuing their relational time together. At the beginning of June, the ISU team will join a Week in the Word program with UZ students for mutual spiritual encouragement, as well as serving together at the Hands of Hope farm. I am excited for this continued partnership with the ISU & Zimbabwe Navigators! God is at work in the midst of our ministries and it is a joy to co-labor together.

Hopevale Team Member & Internships

Kait prepared and served this millet porridge meal for our Critical Care Center orphans last year. 

Kait Rethman is returning to Chinhoyi for her third time as a representative of Hopevale Church for a two and a half month internship. We are very excited to have her with us, for her heart for ministry, and for her experience and expertise. She will be conducting a nutrition study with a professor at Chinhoyi University of Technology, which also will fulfill requirements for her dietetics program. Two of the ISU students, Abby & Monica, will stay for a month after their Nav trip to help her in this study; they are also dietetics students. Another ISU student, Emily, will also remain an additional month to serve at a partnering organization, Foundations for Farming. It encourages me that we can help these students in gaining internship experiences that stimulate their educational and spiritual development. I am eager to hear what they learn through the experience, and to share it with you. 


Would you pray that these teams allow God to work in and through them for His pleasure and glory? (Philippians 2;13; 1 Peter 4;11)


Gratefully in Him,

Mike Sulc
Life to Life Africa

In Arthur's Words

April 28, 2017


Greetings LTLA friends,

Arthur Nhau, Director of Life to Life Africa in Chinhoyi, just sent the following update:

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Below is a brief summary of what God is doing through our efforts in the various ministries under Life to Life Africa: 


Food Distribution/Foundations for Farming 
This season we have had good rains and the families we serve are expecting a bumper harvest in the corn plots they were trained to plant in our Foundations for Farming efforts. Most dams, rivers and lakes have been filled to capacity with water (Zechariah 10:1). We are so grateful to God for we once received this kind of good rains decades ago and we pray that this will draw our nation even more closely to God.

Families collect corn meal, beans & a cabbage twice per month.

Critical Care Center 
This program cares for the malnourished children in our community. We are always encouraged as some come in critical condition but after a while they begin to regain their health. We pray that these young ones will continue to grow as Christ in "wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men." (Luke 2:52)

Critical Care Center children holding clothes and shoes they received from LTLA.

Ambassadors

Our LTLA team serve as ambassadors for Christ in the community as we wrestle in prayer and teach the families in our program how to walk with God spiritually and how to sustain themselves practically through income generating projects like farming, sewing, selling dried fish and other entrepreneurial endeavors. (Colossians 1:9-13) 

Discipleship 
This year God provided internships in Chinhoyi for Simba and Zviko, two university students we are discipling. I am really encouraged that these men have caught the vision to reproduce and multiply as each weekend they are going on campus to do evangelism and discipleship on their own. Pray that they will become a thousand and a mighty nation. (Isaiah 60:22) Also pray that students will encounter Christ as they dig into the scriptures together during our weekly Bible study group.

Simba, Tatenda, and Zviko.

Men of Hope 
This is a group of men that meet every other Saturday. Many of them are elderly and attend faithfully since they see this gathering as their “church." Most of them cannot read or write so we read out load for them or use the Proclaimer. (A device that plays a recording of the Bible in the Shona language. It was a gift from Pleasant Ridge Church in Glidden, IA.) We are always amazed at how they grasp the Word and reflect on it. Pray for Lunga (who is leading the group) that God will fill him with knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding and that these men like Caleb will take on giants with God's help, even in old age. (Joshua 14:10-12)

Men of Hope listening to the Bible in their native tongue via the Proclaimer.
(A gift from Pleasant Ridge Church in Glidden, IA.)

Women of Hope 
The women in our ministry gather after the men and are also passionate about meeting together. Most of these elderly women can memorize scripture which really challenges the younger generation. Pray that Gogo Mildred, who leads this group, will continue to renew her strength in the Lord and that out of this group God will raise up “Lydias" and "Samaritan women." (Acts 16:13-15; John 4) 

Women of Hope meeting at the LTLA Life Dicipleship Center.

 

Primary & High School Ministry 

For over six years Anna hosted in her home our weekly Bible study group for primary and high school orphans. In February, she got married to Clarence, a pastor in a town 2 hours away. We pray that He who began a good work in her will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6) Pray for our team as we carry on the discipleship efforts Anna pioneered among the next generation. 

Anna and Clarence.

We always thank God every time we remember you. In all our prayers for all of you, we pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel. We are thankful that even as we draw closer to presidential elections in our country next year, the political environment has been quiet and we pray that God will give us God fearing leaders. 

-Arthur Nhau 

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Thank you for reading this update from Arthur!

Mike Sulc
Life to Life Africa