Kep & Debbie May 2025 Prayer Requests

* Praise for the 45 Italian pastors we took through the ESI Facilitator Training in Florence in March. They have now begun 2 ESI groups, and many report how their study of Romans is helping them to grow in grace and gospel transformation.

* Pray for Boris and Marco as they lead 3 ESI groups of Spanish speaking pastors in Virginia and Florida. Pray for Jose who leads ESI groups of Spanish speaking pastors in Los Angeles and throughout Central America. Pray that each ESI participant will grow in their understanding of the gospel and their love for Jesus, that they will live true to the gospel, and that they will teach and preach God’s Word faithfully in their local churches.

* Pray for the 4 groups of African pastors meeting weekly in ESI groups in London, and for the 5 ESI groups meeting in Paris.

* Pray for the 3000 ESI participants in 250 groups in 37 countries, as these men and women grow in their love for God as they study His Scriptures weekly. Pray that they will experience gospel transformation in their lives, relationships and local churches.

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Kep & Debbie April 2025 Update

Download the James April 2025 Update with photos.

Thank you for your faithful prayers for us and the ESI (Equipping Servants) ministry. In this Update, we share how God has been at work through the recent ESI Trainings in Italy and Pakistan, as well as how God is using Sebastian in Colombia.

We are deeply grateful for you and the vital role you play in prayer to advance the gospel.
Kep & Debbie James

Kep & Debbie March 2025 Update

Download Kep and Debbie's March 2025 Update.

Thank you for praying for the work of Equipping Servants (ESI). This month, hear the history of ESI, what we hope to do, and where we are working. We VALUE your prayer! Please pray for us next week leading an ESI Facilitator Training with 50 pastors and church leaders in northern Italy. We know that God is answering your prayers!

Thankful for your partnership in the gospel with us,

Kep and Debbie James

Kep & Debbie February 2025 Prayer Requests

* Pray for the African missionaries we will be training in March and April with the Egyptian based ministry “Streams of Living Water” in 3 Training Centers in Senegal, Burundi and Rwanda. Pray for these committed men and women as they prepare to go out and plant churches in Muslim communities. Pray that the Lord will use them to see a rich harvest for the gospel as many gospel-churches are planted.

* Pray for the Italian pastors we will be training in Florence in early March to become ESI Facilitators. Pray this month as they prepare for this training by doing Bible studies in Romans 1-3. Pray that the Lord will use the 4 days together to challenge and encourage each one to experience deep gospel transformation in their lives.

* Pray for Boris and Marco as they lead ESI groups of Spanish speaking pastors in Virginia and South Florida. Pray also for Jose leading ESI groups of Spanish speaking pastors in Los Angeles. Pray that each participant will grow in their understanding of the gospel and their love for Jesus, that they will live true to the gospel, and that they will teach and preach God’s Word faithfully in their local churches.

* Pray for the 3 groups of African pastors meeting weekly in ESI groups in London, also for 3 new ESI groups meeting in Paris. Pray for the ESI groups planning to start in Holland in July.

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New Year's Greeting from Kep & Debbie

Staying on Track with Jesus’ Purpose

 As we bid farewell to 2024 and step into 2025, our prayer for you—and for ourselves—is that the Lord will renew in us the urgency to fulfill His call: “Go and make disciples.”

Being Disciples

Before we can make disciples, we must first be disciples. That’s why committing ourselves to the study of God’s Word is so vital as we move forward. To “rightly handle the Word of Truth” means to correctly understand and live by it. Walking in Christ is a life full of the Bible, where the Holy Spirit shapes us by God’s Word to be more like Jesus (John 8:31–32). May 2025 be a year where we delight to draw closer to Him! Making Disciples In a world that often pressures us to conform, sharing the good news of Jesus can be daunting. Yet, understanding the distinction between our role and God’s role brings clarity. Evangelism isn’t about coercion or results—it’s about faithfully declaring the truth of Christ. The results are God’s alone. Our calling is to share His message with love and truth, trusting Him to convict hearts and draw people to Himself. This reliance on God reminds us not to depend on human strategies but on His power alone (1 Cor 2:5).

God’s Part; Our Part

Evangelist Rico Tice captures this beautifully in Honest Evangelism:

“The problem with our evangelism is that we cannot produce results! No one can bring another person to Christ—that is not our calling. Our task is to proclaim the truth about Jesus and His gospel. God takes His Word and uses it to convict, convince, and draw people to Himself. When we grasp this, it is incredibly freeing. It reminds us to rely on the Creator of life—who spoke the world into existence and continues to create spiritual life today.” (paraphrase)

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Our responsibility is to share the gospel and pray fervently for God to work the miracle of salvation.

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Christmas Greeting from Kep & Debbie

Merry Christmas 2024 from our family to yours!

“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love … that He sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” (I John 4:9-14 ESV)

Our heartfelt prayer for you this Christmas is that you are filled with the deep joy and peace that comes from trusting in our loving and gracious Father. May we embrace the gift of His Son, Jesus, who came into the world to save us from our sin, reign in our hearts, and help us live for His glory – that we might experience each day His unfailing love through the transforming power of His gospel and share His truth with the world that so desperately needs Him.

We are thankful that all our whole family will be together with us in Cleveland this Christmas!

With much love,

Kep and Debbie

Kep & Debbie January 2025 Prayer Requests

• Pray for the African missionaries we work with in the Egyptian based ministry. Pray for these committed men and women as they plant churches in very difficult and resistant communities across North Africa. Pray that the Lord will use them to see a rich harvest for the gospel, and that many gospel-churches will be planted across this entire region that needs Jesus.

• Pray for the Liberian pastors we worked with in Monrovia as they plan to begin ESI (Equipping Servants/ Disciples Making Disciples) groups. Pray that each one to experience deep gospel transformation in their study through Romans.

• Pray for Boris and Marco as they lead ESI groups of Spanish speaking pastors in Virginia and South Florida. Pray also for Jose leading ESI groups of Spanish speaking pastors in Los Angeles. Pray that each participant will grow in their understanding of the gospel and their love for Jesus, that they will live true to the gospel, and that they will teach and preach God’s Word faithfully in their local churches.

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Kep & Debbie December 2024 Update

Greetings from Cleveland!

We are deeply grateful for your committed prayers as we train and encourage pastors and church leaders in Africa, Latin America and Europe. Please continue praying that the Lord will help many of these men and women to honor Christ by being serious students of His Word, to understand it clearly, to live it truly, and to teach and preach it faithfully in their local churches and outreach.

Through your prayers, we have witnessed the lives of individuals changed, and local churches built up as He works to transform lives through the power of His gospel. Your partnership in prayer is so important -- thank you for walking with us.

With a grateful heart,

Kep and Debbie James

Kep & Debbie Mid-Trip Report 2

Thank you for praying for our time in Brazil two weeks ago with the ESI leaders in 7 Brazilian states. Then this week we met in Colombia with 20 South America Spanish speaking ESI leaders. We thank God for the committed people He has given us to work with. We heard many reports of how the Lord is using the study of His Word to move pastors and church leaders to experience deep gospel transformation in their own lives, and how this is impacting others leading local churches.

Please pray for the flight tomorrow to Liberia to work with Paulo training 100 pastors and church leaders in Monrovia. We VALUE your prayers that each one will experience gospel transformation as they commit to study God's Word,

Kep and Debbie

Kep & Debbie Mid-Trip Report

Thank you for praying for us during the past 2 weeks.

Debbie and I have been in Brazil for the past 2 weeks visiting ESI (Equipping Servants International/ Disciples Making Disciples) groups in Rio and Sao Paulo. We helped with pastors conferences that Billy King (Christianity Explored) led on the topic of Evangelism. We are deeply encouraged seeing the impact that the study of God's Word is having on so many pastors and church leaders in Brazil. Please keep praying as they study Romans in this 3-year ESI process! ESI is currently in 7 of the 27 States of Brazil.

Our next stop is Colombia. Debbie and I will be there with 20 of our Latin America ESI Country leaders for a week (October 22-26) of meetings to plan and pray and evaluate how to better help local churches and church leaders to honor Christ by being true to His Scriptures and to experience deep gospel transformation in their lives.

Please also pray for our trip over to Liberia, West Africa after that. We'll be with Paulo October 28- November 1 in Monrovia taking 100 Liberian pastors through further training that we have designed to help teach how to effectively study the Bible to understand it more clearly, to live it, and to teach and preach it more effectively in their local churches.

We sincerely value your prayers for this work to impact lives for Jesus. When you pray, you are there with us! Its an amazing truth!! Colossians 4:2-4

Love to each of you,

Kep and Debbie