Equip Disciples 

*Please pray for God to build up and prepare our teams going to Kenya and Rwanda this summer.

*Pray for our partners: Alfred, Bishop Lewa; Martin, Mbusa, Dieudonne, Joe Entwi, and Timothy.

*Pray for the strengthening of the churches in Africa.

Visit our Website EquipDisciples.org

*New resources under Resources

*Spanish edition of the Quick Reference Worldview Discipleship Teaching Manual.

*Revision of the English edition of the Quick Reference Worldview Discipleship Teaching Manual.

*Cabécar edition of  Worldview Discipleship Pictures book.

*New KinRwandan Worldview Discipleship materials too be added soon.

Pray for the Costa Rica
Mission this Month

March 16-24

• Pray for our team members: Joe and Tammie Friberg; Joel, Michael, and Jessica Friberg; Nathan Benke; and Paul Dawkins.
• Pray for God to give us insight as we prepare to teach indigenous Cabécar church leaders discipleship materials for use in their churches.
• Pray for our ministry partners, Timothy Jones and his family, who will also serve translators.
• Pray for safety and good health as we will be traveling in Costa Rica and hiking/camping in the rain-forest mountains.
• Pray that God will strengthen the church through this Biblical study in the coming months, and bring down the spiritual strongholds of false religion and false teachings throughout the Indian reservation.
• Pray for the Jones as they work to finish the Cabécar Translation of the New Testament.

Overview of the trip:

Perhaps the best networking of churches we have ever seen is in the rainforest mountains of Costa Rica. Families live scattered across miles of treacherous rivers, steep mountains, beautiful thick rainforests, and exotic volcanoes, yet about once a month church leaders from indigenous churches travel many mountain miles to meet for Bible study and encouragement. Bible Translators, Timothy Jones, Philip Jones, and David Jones teach them from newly translated Scriptures in the Cabécar language. Then these indigenous leaders take the teachings back to their congregations. Some of these pastors were once in training to be witchdoctors.  Today, they are feeding the body of Christ as born again believers!

Our ministry team has the privilege of working together with our brothers and sisters in this equipping ministry. On Thursday we will be hiking into the mountains down to the village of Ñari for the conference, then on Monday we will be hiking out. We will be teaching the Worldview Discipleship Series. A Bible study on the book of John will also be taught by the Joneses.  We may also be leading children's Bible Study and activities, and distributing the newly published book of John as well as the most recent draft of the New Testament.

BikeRunWalk4Bibles

Saturday, May 2, 2009, 10 am or 12 noon
Starting and Finish Line: Elm Grove Pavilion at
River Legacy Parks, Arlington, TX

Equip Disciples is sponsoring a BikeRunWalk to raise money for Bibles for Africa. Participants will choose to bike, run, or walk either a 3, 7, or 14 mile course beginning at 10 am or 12 noon. The Money raised through registration and sponsorship will be used to purchase Bibles for war torn and impoverished areas in Africa, where both pastors and congregations have few or no Bibles. The cost to enter the event is $15. A family may enter for $25 total. In addition, Participants are encouraged to enlist sponsors to provide funds for additional Bibles starting at $5 for 1/2 a Bible. The top 3 individuals and the top 3 families raising funds for the most Bibles will win a prize.  You may register at the event (no t-shirt included for late registrations). Go to the Equip Disciples website to register.

Click for complete details
Download Registration form now

See you at the Park!

Pray for the Refugees in DR Congo.

Directly across the world from Costa Rica, almost in line with the equator, Congolese churches have come together to minister to people who have fled their homes because of rebel attacks over the past 6 months.  Many refugees have lost their families, suffered rape, and their faces testify to unspeakable trauma. From recent reports within Congo, many of the rebel movements are now in the process of being dismantled. The situation seems to be moving in a very positive direction. We praise the Lord for this news and pray for continued peace and healing. God is answering the prayers of many.  Let's keep on praying....

Thanks to some special gifts to our ministry for hunger relief, Equip Disciples has joined with Congolese Baptists, Beyond the Bridge Ministries, and Discipleship and Counseling Ministries to provide kitchen supplies, plastic dishes, potatoes, beans and flour, clothes for women, soap, and salt. These have been distributed through ministering churches to families, pregnant and nursing mothers, and marginalized tribes (pygmies), all who have fled rebel fighting in North Kivu, DR Congo. Some of the funds have also been used to enable some families to return to their villages far away. Every person who has been helped physically has also been taught from the Word of God as evangelism and discipleship opportunities have emerged. In all, around 300 families were helped through your gifts.

• Pray for the peace in Congo.
• Pray for our brothers and sisters there who are ministering and who are among the victims. 
• Pray for healing that only Jesus can bring.
• Please pray for our partner ministries there as they share with the refugees in their midst.  There are many discipleship and evangelistic opportunities in the midst of crises.
• Pray for many to come into God's Kingdom.
• Pray for the refugees to be able to return to their homes safely.

Pray for the Former Child Soldiers Who Made Decision For Christ Last Summer.

Last summer we had the privilege of ministering to 41 ex-child soldiers in DR Congo. These 41 youths gave their lives over to the Lord Jesus during our time there.  Since that time, a few of them were returned to their homes. Sadly, a couple were captured again by rebel troops. But 12 of the youth are being supported through Equip Disciples in partnership with Beyond the Bridge Ministries. These youth had no where to go. With your gifts, we have been able to provide shelter for them, food, education, clothing, and vocational training. These youth have been baptized, and attend church each week. They are also being discipled and cared for by our partner ministry there in Goma, Beyond the Bridge Ministries. There is still a need for monthly support for these boys to help with their basic needs and education.

Here are the names, ages, and training these youth are going through right now. Please remember to pray for each of these youth by name.

Bosco Mapendo - 17 years old.  Training in electricity.
Akili Basesa Antoine - 17 years old.
Haba Bitegetse Steve - 17 years old.  Training in masonry.
Muipenzi Bahati Bejamin - 16 years old. Training in Masonry.
Djimmy Muhindo - 18 years old.
Fadhili Kazira Augustin - 17 years old.
Habimana Bwiruke - 16 years old.
Baraka John - 16 years old.
Sadiki Nshimiye Pascal - 18 years old. Training in woodwork.
Hakizi Destin.
Kizungu.
Dudu Emmanuel - 16 years old.

Upcoming 2009 Missions

Team dinner
Kilifi, Kenya 2008

Next Trip Meeting: Sunday April 5 at 6 pm
1010 Loch Lomond Dr., Arlington, TX 76012. You can also contact Tammie Friberg.

Church Leadership Conferences this year:

• Kenya, East Africa- Adult Training Conference (July 16-27, 2009) [NEED: Stewardship Teacher; Discipleship Teachers; Computer PowerPoint and Bible Software E-Sword Teacher]
• Rwanda, East Africa-Adult and Youth Conferences (July 26-Aug.4, 2009) [NEED: Youth workers; Sports Coach; Bible Study Teachers; Stewardship Teacher]
• DR Congo, Central Africa- Visit Former Child Soldiers (July 2009)
• Ghana, West Africa- Adult Training Conference (Oct./Nov., 2009)

Personnel needed: Seasoned Bible teachers; HIV/AIDS awareness teachers; computer PowerPoint & Bible Software teachers (in Kenya); other special topic teachers; Youth workers (in Rwanda--including sports coaches, Bible study leaders).
Requirements: immunizations; preparation meetings; travel insurance; Passport.
Volunteer Cost: estimated at $3,000
Basic Information: Conferences last from 8 to 5 each day, and in the evenings we pray and share together from the Word of God and the days experiences. We typically stay in a hotel or guest house in a large city. We pay careful attention to security issues in each country. Volunteers must be active in their local church and have gifts in the area of service where they want to serve.

The Wide-Open Spaces
of the Freedom of God

by Joe Friberg

“To be delivered into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Rom 8.21)

“He has sent Me to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” (Luke 4.18-19)

“It’s for freedom that Christ set us free.” (Gal 5.1)

“Don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love.” (Gal 5.13)

“Don’t use your freedom as a way to conceal evil.” (1 Pet 2.16)

What a powerful concept Christian freedom is! At once it both liberates us and calls us to responsible service. We are set free from sin and death—and set free for God. You can’t have the one without the other, for a life lived in sinful corruption is not lived in freedom at all. And a life lived solely for one’s self hasn’t found true meaning in living.

The love that sets us free must remain unencumbered so as to engender in us the very attitude of service that brought Jesus to this earth and took him all the way to the cross (Phil 2.5-8). This is the love that conquers death and sin and hell and brings us freedom indeed!

A few years ago when working with the Holman Old Testament translation, in our committee discussions I came to a new understanding of a certain Hebrew metaphor for freedom built on the root that simply means “wide” or “broad”.¹ In Psalm 18.19 the King James translates simply: “He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me,” while the New American Standard uses “a broad place,” either of which leaves the concept pretty obscure.

The Holman committee settled on “He brought me out to a wide-open place.” You can almost hear echoes of that poignant cowboy song, “Let me ride through the wide open country that I love, Don't fence me in.” While the cowboy free-spirit doesn’t exactly mirror the yearning of the Psalmist, it at least gives us a peg to hang our thoughts on.

More specifically, the Psalmist has in mind a contrast between mortal danger and serene safety. You can picture a path running through a narrow, rocky canyon. There are a hiding places for robbers at every turn—the sort of route from Jerusalem down to Jericho where robbers jumped the man whom the Good Samaritan later helped. There are overhanging crags and boulders that could make for a fearful assault from an enemy. A lion could be lurking just up ahead. Even the footing at every step is treacherous.

You might relate to this picture with times in your own life where you’ve felt hemmed in on every side—oppressed with the stresses of everyday life or unexpected attacks—or where weighty concerns and predicaments leave you feeling like you’re between a rock and a hard place.

Then suddenly the constricted way opens out into a broad valley. There’s a verdant meadow and a bubbling stream with broad cool pools of clear water. What a place to build a house and cultivate a farm! It could be the place the Good Shepherd brings his sheep to water. It’s the kind of place one could lead a quiet life in service to God and family and community beyond.

“Indeed, He lured you from the jaws of distress to a spacious and unconfined place. Your table was spread with choice food.” (Job 36.16)

This last year, Equip Disciples has been just such a place—a place to live out God’s calling to serve him through discipleship missions. It's a place to serve God, strengthening churches through teaching, promoting Bible translation work. A place to put one’s gifts to use to further God’s kingship in the lives of people. I pray that each of you find yourselves in such a place just now, or that you will very soon. For this is God’s design for freedom.

I especially pray that our friends in Congo will find this place of rest. I pray for stability and peace in the countryside so that they may till the ground—both physical and spiritual—and bring forth the fruit of their labor. That their churches will have a chance to grow strong and minister to the community. And that their churches will keep growing and become a grand mission sending base to regions beyond. Pray with me, for they need the opportunity—the broad, spacious valley of deliverance and freedom to be able to cultivate and grow into all that God has for them.

¹ The root is RHB and is found in several forms such as rahab (Job 36.16), marhab (Ps 18.19), and Rehoboth (Gen 26.22).