Our daily prayer calendar for May 2024

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May 1 Pray for Todd leading tonight’s Bible study through Revelation for men’s group at our church

May 2 Pray for improved health for Pam’s mom, Barbie Hughes, after her recent hospitalization

May 3 Pray for Ariela acting in the musical, “Newsies Jr.”, tonight & tomorrow afternoon to bring honor to God

May 4 Pray for Daniel running the sound for “Newsies Jr.”, to develop skills to use for the kingdom

May 5 Pray for the remaining funds needed to cover the cost to send us & 4 from our church to Croatia for summer outreach

May 6 Pray for good learning for Todd & Daniel reading a book on prayer together

May 7 Pray for wisdom for Todd & the other elders of our church to lead & serve God’s flock (meeting this evening)

May 8 Pray for Todd & the Gurbet Bible translators for wisdom as they translate Ephesians & Philippians in Gurbet

May 9 Pray for successful physical therapy & healing for Todd’s shoulder

May 10 Pray for an edifying father/son event at our home church tonight

May 11 Pray for edifying Bible study for Ariela with girls from our church tonight

May 12 Pray we will be a blessing to our moms as we spend time with them for Mother’s Day (Pam in KC, Todd in OKC)

May 13 Pray for Todd as he checks Ephesians, Philippians & Colossians. in Arli, Chergash & Gurbet

May 14 Pray for Todd & the Arli Bible translators for wisdom as they translate Ephesians, Philippians & Colossians in Arli

May 15 Pray that many Roma will read & listen to the Scriptures we have translated into their various languages

May 16 Pray for Todd & the Chergash Bible translators for wisdom as they translate Ephesians & Philippians in Chergash

May 17 Pray for a fruitful retreat for Todd & the other elders of our church today & tomorrow

May 18 Pray for a special time with one of Pam’s nieces visiting from Texas to see Pam’s mom whose health is fragile

May 19 Pray God will use Pam to help the youth Sunday school girls to understand & apply 1 Pet. 2:13-17 as she teaches today

May 20 Pray for Pam & her sister, Kim, as they work together to help their mom with her growing health needs

May 21 Pray Ariela’s final American Heritage Girls meeting for this school year will be a fun & beneficial learning time

May 22 Today is the last day for this school year at Mighty Roots Academy. Praise God for a good school year

May 23 Pray for $3,600 more in gifts to cover the cost to send our family on our Croatia mission trips this summer

May 24 Pray for good planning & practicing meeting with the summer teamers for Croatian VBS

May 25 Pray for effective reading & study time for Todd preparing for Bible translation consulting, teaching & writing

May 26 Pray for rest & spiritual refreshment, for a light yoke, for the joy of the Lord & for his presence to be very real in us

May 27 Today is our 35th wedding anniversary! Praise for our great joy in God’s gift of love through each other

May 28 Pray for salvation, spiritual growth & faithful service for Christ in each of our children

May 29 Pray for God’s guidance for our planning as we help our aging mothers

May 30 Pray God will prepare hearts of the youth & kids in Croatia for hearing & receiving God’s Word this summer

May 31 Pray for more good practice as we act out the Bible stories as a summer team

Ask the Lord of the harvest (Luke 10:2)

“And [Jesus] said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’

‌When we translate the Bible for Roma, we try to make sure that the translations are accurate and clear. One of the issues we had to think through when we translated Luke 10:2 was the use of “And” at the beginning of the verse. When it says in v. 1 that Jesus “sent them on ahead of him” and then in v. 2 says, “And he said to them,” we need to be careful and realize that this is not strictly sequential or chronological. He would not send them away and then after they had left, tell them something. “And” here is not sequential, but rather is simply adding information to inform us that he not only chose them and sent them, but he also gave them instructions.

In English translation, it may be more natural to use a pluperfect verb, such as “Now he had told them…” The Roma languages we are translating into do not have a pluperfect verb form. We cannot indicate that one event had already taken place before another event happened just by the choice of the verb form; we can’t say, like in English, “He had told them.”

‌So, we had to be more creative in the translations we did in the Roma languages. In the Arli language, we translated it as “Before they went, Jesus said to them”; in the Chergash language, we translated it as “Before he sent them, he said to them”; in the Ludari language, we said, “When they prepared to go, he told them.”

‌‌Now, what had he told him? He had told them a very important point that we can also apply to modern-day missions. He said, “Pray…” Specifically, he instructed them to pray for more missionaries to go. This was true when Jesus said this around 30 AD, and it is true today, almost 2000 years later. There is still much work to do to bring in the spiritual harvest. For example, around 1.4 billion people, speaking about 5,000 languages still need some sort of Bible translation. These languages either have nothing and need the whole Bible translated, or they have some of the Bible but still lack parts that have not yet been translated.

‌That is a lot! The harvest is great! And there is a need for more workers. So, we are told to pray that the Lord will send more laborers into his harvest. Is this type of missionary prayer a typical part of your prayer life? If not, can it become so? Can you join us, please, and pray for the harvest among the Roma in former Yugoslavia and specifically for God to empower and utilize our current efforts to translate the Bible for them?

And notice one more thing. The ones he commanded to pray for more workers in the harvest, were themselves sent by him into the harvest. So, watch out, and be willing to be an answer to your own prayers.

(This is part of a sermon I preached at CrossWay Bible Church on April 7, 2024. This place in the sermon is at the 46:00 mark. You can watch at the following link.)

Sharing in the Harvest: A Sermon from Luke 10:1-7

Sermon begins at 25:21

On Sunday, I had the privilege of preaching at our home church, CrossWay Bible Church, on Luke 10:1-7. (Click on the image above if you would like to hear the sermon.)

One of my sermon points was that there is a place for short-term missions teams to assist on-field workers to advance the Gospel with extra manpower for large projects. This is especially applicable for our church now since this summer, we are sending a team to Sisak, Croatia, to put on a vacation Bible school and teen day camp for Roma.

To help raise awareness and funds, we held a brunch with Croatian food. Pam, the ladies of the church, and our missions committee put out quite a spread, and everyone enjoyed it. Some were even brave enough to try the Turkish coffee!

The central idea of my sermon is that all believers in Christ have the privilege and responsibility of sharing in the work of bringing in the Lord’s spiritual harvest, by giving, going and praying.

Luke 10:1 (ESV) says: “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.” 

Jesus appointed 72 (or some Greek manuscripts say 70) “others.” We presume that “others” means other than the twelve apostles. The apostles were Jesus’ long-term missionaries, whom he had commissioned to spend the rest of their lives spreading His message. But here in our text, he sends out others on a short-term trip. 

But why did he send 70 or 72? Why that number? One interesting theory is that 70 (or 72) was the number used to describe all the various nations of the world that had descended from Noah after the flood. There were 70 of them listed in the Hebrew text (72 listed in the Greek translation of the OT, called the Septuagint).  

In his Gospel, Luke makes it clear that the Gospel is not just for the Jews. The Good News is for all nations (Luke 24:46-47). Perhaps the choice of 70 or 72 short-term missionaries indicates that there need to be enough missionaries sent out to reach all the nations. These messengers probably went into Perea, an area east of the Jordan River, where Jesus had not spent as much time compared to the amount of time He had spent in Galilee or Judea. It was a Jewish area, but there was also a fairly large Gentile population.  

The main point is that Jesus needed a lot of workers. The time was short before He needed to be in Jerusalem to be crucified at the Passover. He only had a matter of months before he would be killed, so to cover that many cities and villages, He needed 35 or 36 pairs to go ahead of Him and start the work of spreading the Gospel. 

Here, we can see the importance of short-term missions trips. Since Jesus could only be in one place at a time if He were going to visit the most strategic towns and villages while on a deadline to get to Jerusalem, He would not have much time to spend in each locale. He would want the people to be as prepared as possible, with hearts eager to hear, so He could go to the places that had shown acceptance to his missionaries and were willing to hear more. 

Now, the most effective way to do pioneer missionary work is to have Christian workers living among the target people. They should be there long-term, learning the language and the culture. But on-field missionaries cannot do everything. Short-term teams can provide the manpower for larger-scale outreach, both in the places where the long-term missionaries live and in hard, out-of-the-way places where the long-term workers don’t live. 

Jesus recruited shorter-term workers. 72 others, besides the apostles, went short-term and played a crucial role in preparing the way for Jesus’ work. Will you follow their example and do the same? 

Our daily prayer calendar for April 2024

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April 1 Pray for Daniel taking his driver’s license test soon, to pass

April 2 Pray for wisdom for Todd & the other elders of our church to lead & serve God’s flock (meeting this evening)

April 3 Pray for Todd & the Gurbet Bible translators for wisdom as they translate Galatians & Ephesians in Gurbet

April 4 Pray for Pam’s mom’s (Barbie Hughes) pacemaker to be set right & for no further problems

April 5 Pray for Daniel, Ariela & others of our youth attending Young Christians’ Weekend at Silver Dollar City through Sunday

April 6 Pray for all the funding needed for four young adults from our church coming to Croatia this summer

April 7 Pray for Todd teaching on missions & preaching at CrossWay Bible Church this morning & Pam serving a Croatian brunch

April 8 Pray for improved health for Goran (Gurbet Bible translator) from kidney & pancreatic troubles

April 9 Pray for Todd as he prepares to teach Revelation weekly at our church’s Wednesday night men’s group

April 10 Pray for Pam preparing her talk on prayer that she will give at our church’s women’s conference on the 27th

April 11 Pray for Todd & the Chergash Bible translators for wisdom as they translate Galatians & Ephesians in Chergash

April 12 Pray for salvation for our family members who need Christ & for growth in faith & regular church attendance for those who believe

April 13 Pray for Todd’s visit to his mom, Geri Price, in Oklahoma City this weekend

April 14 Pray the weekly sing time Pam & Ariela have with the preschoolers & toddlers will lead them to worship & obey

April 15 Pray for healing for Todd’s adhesive capsulitis (“frozen shoulder”) & for successful physical therapy

April 16 Pray for Pam teaching 7th and 8th grade American Heritage Girls tonight on inward & outward beauty

April 17 Pray for Todd leading weekly Bible study through Revelation to men’s group at our church

April 18 Pray for protection & provision for Croatian teammates Sergej & Željka as they prepare & teach Roma kids, teens & adults

April 19 Pray that both Andy & Lim’s health will be good as they serve, especially on weekends which are very busy with ministry

April 20 Pray for open hearts for Roma in Slavonski Brod, Croatia, to come to Christ; pray for fruitful weekly Bible clubs & studies there

April 21 Pray for Todd teaching adult Equip Hour at our church this morning on being instruments of God’s comfort

April 22 Pray for Daniel as he runs sound for Mighty Roots Academy play (rehearsal today & performances in early May)

April 23 Pray for Todd & the Arli Bible translators for wisdom as they translate Ephesians, Philippians & Colossians in Arli

April 24 Pray that many Roma will read & listen to the Scriptures we have translated into their various languages

April 25 Pray for $5,600 more in gifts to cover the cost to send our family on our Croatia mission trips this summer

April 26 Pray for Ariela’s dress rehearsal for Mighty Roots Academy play as she develops acting skills

April 27 Pray for Pam speaking on prayer at CrossWay Bible Church’s women’s conference today

April 28 Pray for Pam teaching our church’s youth Sunday school girls on 1 Peter

April 29 Pray for Todd as he checks Ephesians, Philippians & Col. in Arli, Chergash & Gurbet

April 30 Pray God will fill us daily with the fruit of His Spirit & 1 Corinthians 13 love

30 years ago today, we left for Croatia…

On this day in 1994, we boarded a plane with our two little ones and moved to Croatia. For the last 30 years, you all have faithfully prayed for us and supported us in our missionary work in Croatia, Bosnia, Hungary, and now in the US, working remotely. God has been so good to us; we praise Him for His faithful love and kindness. Enjoy the pictures below of our prayer cards through the years. And here’s to 30 more years (or whatever our wise Father gives us)!

Thank you for your love and support! Soli Deo gloria!

Todd & Pamala

1992

1995

1996

1999

2002

2005

2007

2010

2012

2015

2017

2020

2023

2023

Big news regarding the summer team!

Pictures from last year’s Vacation Bible School in the same Roma village

From Pamala:

Big news regarding the summer team: All four summer teamers, young adults from our church, have wisely purchased their plane tickets while the price was right so that we’ll all be on the same three flights heading to Croatia on June 19, and most of them will be returning together on the same flights to the States on June 29. Please pray for the funds they will each need to cover these tickets and the cost of their outreach in Croatia.

If you would like to donate to help cover the remaining $5,600 cost for our family (Todd, Pamala, Daniel, and Ariela) to go to Croatia this summer, you can donate using the information at the bottom of the page or online. (This is in addition to our regular monthly support needs, so please specify that it is for project #151420 CROATIA SUMMER MISSION PROJECT.) Thank you!

Our church is having a fundraiser brunch on April 6 for the team, and I’ll be working on some of the Croatian food preparation. I’m excited about the Bible stories we will act out from Luke chapters 3, 4, and 5, stories of Jesus starting his earthly ministry. Since Luke is the only printed book of the Bible they have so far, we will challenge them to reread those passages at home in their mother tongue of Ludari, which is available online and was distributed to them a previous year.

This summer, we’ll teach them the song, “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus,” in Croatian, which will be perfect for the story of Jesus calling his first disciples! We will also sing the songs we’ve sung in previous years, including the last song of each club day, “God is so Good,” in Croatian (which they learn in school) and in Ludari (which they speak at home).

This month, I’m writing out the scripts of the Bible stories so our Croatian teammates will have time to translate them, and then we, as a summer team, will practice together this summer before we leave for Croatia.

Please be praying for God even now to prepare the hearts of the children and any others who will attend to receive the Word of truth with faith that will endure!

It was a delightful experience to spend a Sunday in my hometown, Albia, Iowa, in January and then at the end of February at a supporting church in Oklahoma City. In both places, I spoke to interested youth about joining us for a future summer ministry, planting the seed of the opportunity they will have. I was also privileged to share that weekend in OKC at a ladies’ Saturday morning coffee (pictured above). The more we minister, the more we realize how dependent we are on God to work through us. Thank you for partnering with us in prayer and giving for His Kingdom.

Rejoicing in the Lord of the Harvest,
Pamala (for Todd, Daniel & Ariela)

Our daily prayer calendar for March 2024

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March 1 Today is Elizabeth’s 29th birthday! Pray for God to minister to her & through her as she counsels

March 2 Today is Pamala’s birthday! She praises God for a loving husband, family, church & neighbors

March 3 Pray for a good meeting with the youth Sunday school teachers Pam is attending today, discussing the book Show Them Jesus

March 4 Pray that Todd & Daniel & the other men at tonight’s monthly book study will be edified through our discussion time

March 5 Pray for wisdom for Todd & the other elders of our church as we meet this evening

March 6 Pray for Todd & the Gurbet Bible translators for wisdom as they translate Revelation & Galatians in the Gurbet language

March 7 Pray for Todd & the Chergash Bible translators for wisdom as they translate Revelation & Galatians in the Chergash language

March 8 Pray for salvation for our family members who need Christ & for growth in faith & regular church attendance for those who believe

March 9 Pray for healing for Bible translator, Goran, battling pancreatic & kidney health problems & pain

March 10 Pray for Pam on worship team today & teaching songs to preschoolers along with Ariela

March 11 Pray for healing for Todd’s adhesive capsulitis (“frozen shoulder”); thank God for our chiropractor’s therapy

March 12 Pray for Todd & the Arli Bible translators for wisdom as they translate Revelation & Galatians in the Arli language

March 13 Pray for Todd leading weekly Bible study through Revelation to men’s group at our church

March 14 Pray for Daniel to represent Christ well on a 3-day camping trip with friends & their dads

March 15 Praise God that 30 years ago today we moved overseas to Croatia for the first time

March 16 Pray for Todd’s trip to Oklahoma City to visit his mom in the nursing home

March 17 Pray for Pam leading kids singing practice preparing for Palm Sunday

March 18 Pray for Pam & Ariela’s American Heritage Girls 7-8th grade class leading Easter story & song devotional tomorrow night

March 19 Today is Jonathan’s 32nd birthday. Pray he will see God active in his life & true to His word & the source of true joy

March 20 Today is Daniel’s 16th birthday. Pray for a continuing love for God & spiritual growth as he keeps learning & serving

March 21 Pray for $5,600 more in gifts to cover the cost to send our family on our Croatia mission trips this summer

March 22 Pray that many Roma will read & listen to the Scriptures we have translated into their various languages

March 23 Pray for Pam leading worship rehearsal today & worship tomorrow for first time (leader’s wife has new baby)

March 24 Pray that Pam & the children’s singing at church will help others worship today

March 25 Pray for Todd as he checks Galatians & Ephesians in Arli, Chergash & Gurbet

March 26 Pray God will fill us daily with the fruit of His Spirit & 1 Corinthians 13 love

March 27 Pray for passports to come in time for summer teamers who are waiting for them

March 28 Pray for the funds needed to send our summer teamers to Croatia

March 29 Praise God for sending the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Happy Good Friday.

March 30 Pray for plenty of work hours for Timothy & for insurance benefits at work

March 31 Happy Easter! He is risen indeed! Pray for many more Roma to embrace Christ in His death & resurrection

Family activities

Thank you for praying for us as a family. We so appreciate your love and support. Here are a few pictures of activities over the last several weeks.

Ariela made the best of an unexpected snowstorm!

Kirsten, born on Valentine’s Day, turned 20!

Valentine’s roses

Valentine’s doughnuts!

Daddy-Daughter FROG ball (Fathers, Relatives & Other Guys)

Visiting Todd’s Mom, Geri, in Oklahoma City

Pamala speaking to the women of Heritage Baptist Church, Oklahoma City, OK

Heading to Croatia this summer

Last summer’s Vacation Bible School outreach in Croatia

From Pamala: Great news, everybody! Four young adults from our home church in Kansas City have committed to going to Croatia with us this June for ministry to the Roma!

For ten days, they will accompany us (Todd, Pamala, Daniel, and Ariela) to the same Roma village in Sisak, Croatia, where we’ve done ministry in other years. Along with practicing here in the States, we will have orientation and training in Croatia, conduct a three-day Vacation Bible School (and possibly in a second village for another day), and host a two-day event for Roma teens!

A few more summer teamers might join us, but now, before we risk plane ticket costs increasing, we’ll go ahead and buy our tickets. For the flights and all the costs in Croatia, we need $3,000 per person for Todd, Pamala, Daniel, and Ariela each. We already have $4,600 of the $12,000 needed for our family (leftover from last year), so we currently need $7,400 more. If you want to give towards this, see how to give at the bottom of this page or online. (This is in addition to our regular monthly support needs, so please specify that it is for project #151420 CROATIA SUMMER MISSION PROJECT.) Thank you!

Ariela and other summer teamers doing VBS crafts with the kids

I (Pamala) am currently writing the curriculum, synthesizing the different themes for each day with a Bible story from Luke, which we will act out, games to help the kids memorize the daily Bible verse, crafts, songs, and active games.

Join us in prayer for each step of this process! It must be understandable to the Roma mind and doable outside in an open field with 50-75 kids.

Thank you for praying for us and the team as the Lord of the harvest sends us forth.

Pamala (for Todd, Daniel and Ariela)

Ariela helping with games at VBS

Our daily prayer calendar for February 2024

To get this prayer list formatted as a calendar for printing out, click “download” below:

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February 1 Praise God for providing 100% of the monthly pledges we need for our missionary support!

February 2 Pray for Todd as he prepares each week to teach Revelation Wednesday nights at our church

February 3 Pray Todd will be a blessing to his mom, Geri, visiting her this weekend & for God’s grace to her as she ages

February 4 Pray for the girls youth Sunday school class Pam team teaches to be helpful to the girls (Ariela’s class)

February 5 Pray for encouragement & spiritual growth through tonight’s book study that Todd & Daniel are attending

February 6 Pray for Pam leading Ariela’s American Heritage Girls group to make a godly impact on the girls

February 7 Pray for Todd teaching Revelation & the men attending this study Wednesday at our church, for good attendance

February 8 Pray for Todd & the Chergash Bible translators for wisdom as they translate Revelation in the Chergash language

February 9 Pray for each of our children to follow Jesus closely every day & to fill their minds with God’s Word

February 10 Pray for healing for Bible translator, Goran, battling kidney stones & cyst, for safety & good health

February 11 Pray the songs Pam & Ariela lead the preschoolers in weekly will teach them & help them worship

February 12 Pray for Daniel’s jiu-jitsu class to be helpful to him as he grows & develops, to learn self-discipline

February 13 Pray for Todd & the Arli Bible translators for wisdom as they translate Revelation in the Arli language

February 14 Today is Kirsten’s 20th birthday! Pray for God to captivate her heart with his gracious love through Christ

February 15 Pray for Todd as he studies & checks the translations of Revelation in Arli, Chergash & Gurbet

February 16 Pray for Elizabeth & Stephen settling into their new home, to be able to minister to their neighbors

February 17 Pray for a memorable time for Todd & Ariela at tonight’s father/daughter ball at American Heritage Girls

February 18 Praise God for the generosity of the extra financial gifts for our missionary support at the end of 2023

February 19 Pray that many Roma will read & listen to the Scriptures we have translated into their various languages

February 20 Pray for Todd & the other elders of our church for wisdom (meeting this evening)

February 21 Pray for Todd & the Gurbet Bible translators for wisdom as they translate Revelation in the Gurbet language

February 22 Pray God will provide one-time financial gifts of $10,000 to send our family on our Croatia mission trips this summer

February 23 Pray for Pam to have wisdom to know which memory verses, games & crafts to do this summer in our Croatia VBS

February 24 Pray for safety traveling to Oklahoma City this weekend & to be a blessing to our supporters there

February 25 Pray for us speaking at Heritage Baptist Church, Oklahoma City, this morning

February 26 Praise God for two young men who have committed so far to go to Croatia with us this summer

February 27 Pray God will provide volunteers to go with us to Croatia this summer to run VBS for Roma kids & teens

February 28 Pray God will fill us daily with the fruit of His Spirit & 1 Corinthians 13 love

February 29 Pray for teammates, Andy & Lim, Stateside 1 month to be refreshed & energized as they speak