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Oct 22, 2006
The Pryors Are Expanding
Dear Praying Friends,
Thank you for your faithful partnership with the Pryor Family through
your prayers & financial support. We are especially thankful for
those of you who have been in personal contact with us since we have
been back in the States on furlough from the Lord's work in Paraguay.
You have been a special encouragement to us.
To be honest, we have had a number of disappointments &
discouragements since our return to the States. These have primarily
involved the timing of our return to the mission field. But, our Lord
is faithful, and we are seeing His plan come together for our return to
His work in Paraguay.
In the meantime, we are seeing God expand both our family & our ministry!
OUR EXPANDING FAMILY
The Pryor Family is growing. No, we are not expecting another child. Instead, the Pryor Family is growing through marriage!
Autumn,
our oldest daughter (soon to be 20), began attending New Tribes Bible
Institute in Waukesha, Wisconsin last year. During her first semester
there she met a fine, Christian young man who is a missionary kid (MK)
himself. After a short courtship & engagement, Autumn & Justin
Bartron were married on June 10, 2006. As the old saying goes, we did
not lose a daughter, but gained a son!
Cameron, our oldest son (23), began attending New Tribes Bible
Institute this August. He had been working to get all his required
ratings to be a missionary pilot with New Tribes, but felt now was the
time to attend Bible school. This also corresponded with when the young
lady he has been friends with for several years now started attending
the Institute. She is an MK of a fine family who work with New Tribes
in Paraguay and became good friends of ours during our time there. Now,
Cameron and Katy Crane are engaged & are planning on being married
December 30th of this year. So, we are about to gain a new daughter!
Needless to say, this has been an exciting year of physical expansion
for the Pryor Family. But, we are experiencing an expansion in our
family´s ministry, as well.
OUR EXPANDING FURLOUGH MINISTRY
One of our primary goals for our time back in the States has been to
find a new home/sending church since our original one ceased to exist
while we were on the field.
Soon after arriving in Texas we were encouraged to be invited to be a
part of a new church that was started by friends & supporters from
our old church. We spent nearly a year believing this church was going
to make good on their verbal promise to be our sending church. However,
we learned otherwise as it came time to move ahead in the direction we
believed the Lord was leading us concerning our family´s continued
ministry in Paraguay. Instead of agreeing to send us out, the church
leadership told us they wanted us to wait an additional year &
fulfill a 24-point plan they developed, all without once consulting us
or asking us to pray with them about it. In addition, they would not
even assure us that they would send us out after fulfilling their plan.
That plan contained requirements that we were convinced after prayer
were unnecessary & unjustified, and not what the Lord had for us.
But, it did reveal the Reformed/Calvinist doctrinal beliefs held by the
church leadership of which we were previously unaware. As a result, we
had to part ways & begin searching anew for a home church.
But,
soon after that disappointment, we delivered a case of Bibles for
Sherri's father to a man who had moved out from North Carolina as a
missionary pastor to a small town here in west Texas. After we shared
our history as missionaries & our recent trouble with our "almost"
home church, he suggested we pray about their young church (less than a
year old) being our home/sending church! God is always faithful! After
a month of visiting with them each Sunday & discussing many things
(especially their doctrinal stand!), we felt led to move the 100 miles
to Fort Stockton, Texas. North Side Baptist Church is now officially
our home AND sending church!
We've been at our new church almost 2 months now & Sherri has been
asked to lead the Ladies' Ministry & I am teaching the Adult Sunday
School class. In addition, the church has recently decided to start a
Bible college & it appears I may have an advisory role in it due to
my past experience in Christian education & as a Christian college
administrator. All in all, it is a tremendous blessing to be involved
with a church where people are being saved & added to the church
almost every meeting!
But this represents just a temporary expansion of our family´s ministry
for the time we are in the States. What is more important is the
direction we feel the Lord is leading us into for our ongoing ministry
in Paraguay.
OUR EXPANDING MINISTRY IN PARAGUAY
Even before returning to the States last year, we were praying about
joining New Tribes Mission (NTM). After three years of getting to know
all the New Tribes missionaries in Paraguay, we felt the Lord leading
us to work with them. Not long before we discovered the doctrinal
differences we had with the first church we joined upon our return to
Texas, we became convinced it is the Lord´s will for us to join New
Tribes Mission.
As
of now, we have been accepted as candidate missionaries with New Tribes
Mission. Next August, 2007, we will move to Camdenton, Missouri and
begin our training at NTM´s Missionary Training Center. After 9 months
there, we will go to Chihuahua City, Mexico to improve our Spanish
language proficiency. Then we will return to Paraguay as NTM
missionaries.
So, how is that an expansion of our family´s ministry in Paraguay?
Quite simply, instead of being a single missionary family working
alone, we will be part of a 35 family team working to reach the
unreached Indian tribes of Paraguay with the Good News of Jesus Christ.
New Tribes Mission has been working among 6 of the 17 tribal groups in
Paraguay for 60 years. They are now poised to begin works in an
additional 8 tribes which have yet to hear a clear presentation of the
Gospel.
Our desire is to be a part of New Tribe´s mobilization efforts among
the Paraguayan churches. We will help present the importance of tribal
mission work in general & the work of New Tribes in Paraguay in
specific to local churches in Paraguay. The goal is to see Paraguayan
nationals raised up as missionaries to their own tribal people.
PRAYER REQUESTS
Justin & Autumn (Pryor) Bartron – That they would stay
sensitive to the Holy Spirit´s leading as they near the end of the
first phase of their studies and seek the Lord´s direction & timing
for additional training and future service. God´s blessings on their
marriage.
Cameron Pryor & Katy Crane – Grace to balance studies, work,
and planning a wedding. Provision for all the expenses of the wedding.
God´s blessings on their upcoming marriage.
David, Sherri, Bethany & Matthew Pryor – That God would use
our family during this year as we build relationships with our new
church family & help with the church´s ministries. Grace to balance
our time between work, ministry & raising additional support.
Local Ministry – There are many opportunities for outreach in
the community we are in here in Texas. Fort Stockton has a very large
Spanish-speaking population which is predominately Catholic. This is a
tremendous opportunity for ministry much like what we had while living
in Paraguay´s capital. Pray for wisdom & opportunity to pursue the
most effective outreaches while we are here in the States.
Additional Support – Once we start our training with New Tribes
next August, I will no longer be able to work as all our time will be
taken up with studies. Then, we will move to Mexico to increase our
language proficiency. Finally, we will return to Paraguay to work with
New Tribes Mission. All of this takes faithful prayer & financial
support on the part of those who desire to be an integral part of the
Pryor family´s ministry. Please pray with us that the Lord will provide
additional individuals & churches to partner with our family &
share the financial burden of carrying out the Lord´s work in Paraguay.
Yours in Christ,
David Pryor
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