July 2003
Erseke, Kolonje, Albania

Dear Friends,

Our email until August 26 is MRAlbanians@aol.com. Our email after August 26 is fred_stock@kastanet.org.

Praise items

• Praise that George McBane was able to join us for five weeks to encourage Meghwal believers and help get literacy workers trained and started in their new classes. Praise that progress has been made toward their return. Pray for their visas.
• Praise for an encouraging retreat for Saraiki-speaking Meghwals (one girl and 14 young men) who were preparing to publicly declare their faith. The girl, Saimu, is a mature 12-year-old already married to our youngest evangelist, Kevel. She is still living at home but will come to live with him in another year or so, the usual pattern for marriages in this tribe! Her family was strongly opposed to the gospel, but now two of her older brothers, including Mangala who is married to Kevel’s sister Ruth, are also believers.
• Paru, a young man with serious TB, came that morning for his regular doctor's appointment and decided to stay for the meetings. He was amazed and fascinated as he heard the gospel for the first time. Being very weak he had to rest frequently, but listened with great interest and learned a couple of memory verses. Pray the word will bear fruit and he will grow strong both physically and spiritually.
• Praise for several Saraikis who publicly declared their faith on June 13. One group lived in one of Amir’s literacy centers. The people had seemed hard and unresponsive all year. Then a young man named Sona took some Bible courses. He and his wife decided to become disciples, but his parents opposed it. His mother became ill. A local doctor told her that she had a tumor. We sent her to the mission hospital in Multan to get checked out. No tumor was found and her health has improved dramatically. The loving way she was treated at the hospital opened the door to their hearts and they witnessed the ceremony with interest.
• One Hindu religious leader from the village came to Amir and said, "We cooked a special dinner for the poor as spiritual merit to celebrate the closing of your mission work and the going away of the McBanes.” Amir replied, "We prayed that God would bring them back. See, George is here! Which is stronger, your work of merit or our God who answers prayer? Prayer is more effective and didn’t cost us any money.”
• Praise that Mangu, the brother of the literacy teacher Daniel whose wife died last December, is keen to become a disciple. His wife had been terrified by nightmares until Daniel's wife appeared to her in a dream and said, "Listen to the word of God and your fears will go away." She wanted to join him in his step of faith. However her parents took her home to prevent her from openly becoming a Christian. Mangu went two days in a row to try to bring her back, but her parents wouldn't allow it. Mangu decided to wait so they could take the step together. Pray that their faith will grow during this interval in spite of opposition.
• To our surprise Teebu, Daniel's old grandmother, suddenly begged to be baptized. She was afraid her son, Lachman, Daniel's father, would resist her taking this step. Lachman has been opposed in the past but the witness given when Daniel's wife died had a deep effect on him. Since he was away from home that morning, Teebu boldly lined up with the others. Just as the service started Lachman returned. Praise that Teebu stuck to her commitment and Lachman didn’t object but listened thoughtfully to the whole ceremony. Pray that he too will come to faith as he is a key person in this whole extended family.
• Praise that we can share some in the ministry of Ruth and Mark Stoscher in Erseke, Albania, during July and August. Fred is giving messages each Sunday and Margie is leading the women’s Bible studies in July. Praise that Lois and Kyle Scott will be joining the work here in mid-August for two years. Pray for their adjustment to the culture, their language learning, and that this will prove a fruitful ministry for them. `

Prayer items

• Pray for George and Gail McBane as they finalize arrangements to return under another mission and for them to raise the necessary financial support for themselves and the Meghwal Project. Pray as they participate in the New Wilmington Missionary Conference that stimulates concern for missions worldwide, July 25 to August 2.
• Pray for the following programs planned for this summer, that there will be lasting fruit from them:
  • July 7-14 – Haima and Kevel attended an intensive Open Theological Seminary course in Murree.
  • July 17-19 – Group 1 on the Prodigal Son. It was well attended mostly by inquirers and new believers.
  • July 28-30 – Workers' Meeting for evangelists and literacy teachers for fellowship and planning.
  • August 21-23 – Group 1 with teaching on the unforgiving servant. Pray folk with
    prepared hearts will come.
  • September 1-3 – Workers' Meeting to be held right after we return to RYK, to plan for programs in September.
• Pray for the camps being held here in Erseke. Each week a group of at least 130 young people plus 50 staff and counsellors participate in a great variety of activities and are challenged to deeper commitment. The following camps are still to take place. Pray for true transformation of lives through these camps.
  • July 20-26
  • August 3-9 for junior high students.
  • August 10-16
  • August 17-23 for high school students
  • July 31-August 2 for women, with Ruth in charge.
  • August 24-30 for college students.
• Pray for Paul and Pat Stock as they take a family vacation in Thailand July 23-August 15 after which they leave Elisha, 13, in boarding school in Chiang Mai. Pray for his happy adjustment there.
• Pray for Sara and David Treece as they seek government approval for reconstruction projects to help earthquake victims in their part of Central Asia. Pray also for work visas to be granted.

Thanks for the special prayers of many of you for all of our family and especially for Nicky, Esther, and Luke as we passed through the painful anniversary of Dale's death last July 13. We have heard of many whose lives have been touched and faith deepened by both his life and his death. Praise that Nicky's mother, aunt, and brother are coming to visit them in Erie, Pennsylvania for three weeks in August.

Your prayers and notes are such a source of encouragement to us. Many thanks!

Margie and Fred Stock

The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 162