Kep & Debbie July 2022 Prayer Requests

* Pray for Kep and Debbie wrapping up their ministry in Bolivia from June through October so they can refocus their ministry attention toward Africa. Pray for Kep’s trip to Cairo August 25-September 4 to train leaders who are responsible for training young men and women to start churches in North Africa. Pray for these leaders that they will help students grow in their commitment to study God’s Word, to grow in their love for Jesus, and to experience gospel transformation in their daily lives.

* Pray for the 1,825 ESI (Equipping Servants – Disciples Making Disciples) participants in 168 groups meeting in 14 countries, with 2,730 total graduates since beginning in 2002. Pray that these men and women will grow in their love for God and commitment to honor Christ by being true to His Scriptures with Jesus and His Gospel at the center.

Kep & Debbie June 2022 Update

Greetings from Bolivia!

We arrived back in La Paz last Friday, after weeks away in Africa and Cleveland. Please continue to pray with us through this transition year -- which means that we are planning to leave Bolivia to return to Cleveland, so that we can refocus our ministry toward North Africa. Parkside Church has asked us to work with an Egyptian based ministry. This ministry trains local church planters and mobilizes them all across North and West Africa and the Middle East. It is a joy for us to be a part of this, and we DO VALUE YOUR PRAYERS as we move forward!

- Please pray for us as we close up our house here in La Paz with plans to leave Bolivia in October.

- Please pray for the week I will spend in Cairo in August to train the training center leaders.

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An Update from Kep James - May 2022

What God Has Done

Aren’t you amazed at the way God works? Often it seems to me that life is like a giant jigsaw puzzle, with God putting each piece in the perfect place of his choice, at the perfect time of his choosing. I think about the Bible stories of Joseph and Moses, and they clearly testify to God working in the lives of his children, bringing them into a relationship with himself and a place of usefulness in his hands. We can thank him that he still works in our lives today. God is constantly working to accomplish his purposes, directing every one of our steps for his glory and for our good.

A Heart For Missions & Help From Near and Distant Places

Debbie and I met at Wheaton College in 1979, both believers from our teen years, and were married in 1981, the same year that Parkside Church (then The Chapel) invited me to come on staff as the youth pastor. I had always felt a call to missions, but it was when Alistair and I went to the Urbana missions conference in the mid-eighties that I sensed that God was moving us to finally go.

Kep & Debbie June 2022 Prayer Requests

* Pray for us as we return to Bolivia on June 9 to wrap up our work, pack, and prepare to return to Cleveland in October. Our purpose relocating to Cleveland is so that we can dedicate more of our attention to help the a missionary training ministry in Africa, and also to encourage pastors and church leaders around Africa to honor Christ by being true to His Scriptures – which means studying the Bible to understand it, to live it, and to teach it faithfully. Pray that we will be able to encourage God’s people to be faithful in their study of God’s Word, and to grow in their love for Jesus, and to experience gospel transformation in their daily lives.

* Pray for the 1,825 ESI (Equipping Servants – Disciples Making Disciples) participants in 168 groups meeting in 14 countries, with 2730 total graduates since we began in 2002. Pray that these men and women will grow in their love for God and their commitment to honor Christ by being true to His Scriptures with Jesus and His Gospel at the center.

* Pray for follow up after the ESI training retreat we held in Tanzania in April. Pray that the Lord will guide us as we interact with local church pastors to start ESI Bible study groups in English speaking Africa. One pastor in Zambia recently wrote, “I did not know before what I was supposed to be doing leading my church, but I now understand that my main task is to rightly teach and preach God’s Word so that believers are built up as committed followers of Jesus, and the church is mobilized to make Him known”.

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James Update May 2022

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Greetings from Ohio!

Debbie and I are back in Cleveland after 4 weeks in Africa and Turkey training church planters. This May Update explains what God is doing there -- the fruit of your prayers.

We are thankful to God for your partnership with us in the gospel,

Kep and Debbie

Kep & Debbie May 2022 Prayer Requests

* Praise for the time Kep and Debbie were able to spend in Africa in the month of April. They taught students at 3 ministry training centers in Senegal, Chad, and Turkey. Pease pray for these 60 students as they plan to go out and plant churches across North and West Africa and the Middle East in the next months. Pray that they will grow as students of God’s Word in their love for Jesus to experience gospel transformation in their daily lives.

* Pray for the 1,825 ESI (Equipping Servants–Disciples Making Disciples) participants in 168 groups meeting in 14 countries, with 2,730 total graduates since we began in 2002. Pray that these men and women will grow in their love for God and commitment to honor Christ by being true to His Scriptures, with Jesus and His Gospel at the center.

* Pray for the 120 pastors and church leaders from 14 African countries that Kep and Debbie met with in Tanzania April 20-23. Pray for some who are considering starting ESI in their African countries of origin.

* Praise God for ESI expansion in Latin America in 2022. ESI Peru is taking ESI into British Guyana; ESI Ecuador is taking ESI into Central America, and ESI Columbia continues to oversee ESI expansion into Venezuela and just started 3 new groups in La Coruña, Spain. One pastor in La Coruña made this comment: "This is what I have been looking for all my Christian life-how good it is to be studying Romans, seeing Jesus and experiencing gospel transformation in mutual discipleship together with other church leaders in our region."

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Senegal Update April 2022

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Hello from Dakar.

I have attached a quick report about what Debbie and I are doing in Senegal this week teaching the Bible to Mauritanian church planters.

Thank you for praying with us for gospel impact in their lives,

Kep and Debbie

Kep & Debbie Update April 2022

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Hello from Cleveland.

Attached is our April 2022 Ministry Update. Debbie and I leave Cleveland this Saturday morning for Dakar to support an Egyptian based church planting ministry. We value your prayer for the 4 weeks we will be away in Senegal, Chad, Tanzania and Turkey.

When you pray, you are there with us!

Partnering with you in ministry,

Kep and Debbie James

Kep & Debbie April 2022 Prayer Requests

* Pray for Kep and Debbie as they spend the month of April in Senegal, Chad and Turkey helping to train church planters with a ministry there. Please pray for students in the 15 training centers preparing to plant churches across North and West Africa and the Middle East. Pray as they study God’s Word that they will grow in their love for Jesus and experience gospel transformation as they prepare to plant churches in this spiritually challenging area of the world. (2 Timothy 4:1-5).

* Pray for the 1,825 ESI (Equipping Servants – Disciples Making Disciples) participants in 168 groups meeting in 14 countries, with 2730 total graduates sin we began in 2002. Pray that these men and women will grow in their love for God and commitment to honor Christ by being true to His Scriptures with Jesus and His Gospel at the center.

* Pray for 120 pastors and church leaders from Tanzania, Nigeria, Liberia, Rwanda, Kenya, Burundi, Zambia, Uganda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Botswana, Egypt, and South Sudan who will participate in our first ESI Facilitator Training Retreat in Tanzania April 20-23; and start ESI in Africa.

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Kep & Debbie Update March 2022

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Thank you for praying for us and the ministry across Latin America. Please pray for our trip tomorrow from Bolivia to Cleveland, and preparations for ministry in Africa the month of April -- and especially as we start ESI (Equipping Servants) in East Africa April 20-23, which I describe in the attached March Update.

Also, let us know how we can be praying for you,

Kep and Debbie