Dear Pastors and Mission Leaders,

Greetings in Christ.  In October, I had three opportunities to listen to nationals from various places in the world talking about their ministries and their desire to have local churches in the USA partner with them in prayer, in giving, and in sending short-term teams.  This month I want to highlight these three areas, giving special attention to our partner in Cuba with ReachGlobal.

MENA:  Middle East North Africa.  This area is in great need of the gospel.  The Evangelical Free Church of Lebanon is working in the Middle East.  There are a lot of Syrian refugees in Lebanon and in Jordan.  Syrians are starting to return back home to Syria.  Some of them are believers.  Finances are needed to help build ministry work in Syria.  Short-term teams are needed in Jordan.  These teams would visit M. families.  There is a need for evangelism and discipleship with these families.  A short-term team would be there for 10 days.  Interested?  Please contact craig.mcclun@efca.org for more information about giving and going.  There is low hanging fruit there that is ready for picking.

South Asia:  Due to sensitivity in this region, I am not naming the country.  Our city-team leader is requesting churches to come and partner with local villages and help support the GlobalFingerprints program in these villages.  They are looking for 150 children to be sponsored in each village.  These villages would also have church planters, who would visit the children and reach out into the villages.  There are open doors here with great ministry opportunities and the potential for much spiritual fruit.  Interested? Please contact me or else write to gus.peters@efca.org.

Cuba:  God is continuing to do amazing work in Cuba.  Our partner, The New Pines denomination, is 90 years old.  They have a vision for reaching Cuba.  In the past few months they have distributed 8,000 Bibles.  They told us that they could use one million Bibles to give out.  They want to focus now on the central part of Cuba.  They want to build a new facility in Santa Domingo.  Construction teams will be needed.  They are also looking for small teams to go and teach ESL to both Christians and non-Christians.  They are looking for churches who would like to partner with them and then send teams.  At the Cuba consortium, I met a Cuban couple, Jonatan & Alina Hernandez, who are new ReachGlobal missionaries.  They live in Florida. They are also in need of financial support.  So far they have few contacts in the States.  If you and your church are interested in Cuba, this could be one way to begin a partnership.  Contact Jonatan Hernandez.  His email is  jonatanhr@efca.org.

Finally, one more thing.  Kathy and I are hosting a Cuba cruise, October 25-November 2, 2019.  This cruise will only stop at Cuban ports and they are planning on visiting some of the churches in Cuba connected with The New Pines denomination.  Contact us for more information or for a brochure.
Blessings,
Steve Austvold