prayer updates

prayer updates
tom and nancy
(1) Continue mentoring our Mongolian staff and our teammates Chris and Chun;
(2) Finalize plans and strategies for the next 4 years; and
(3) Transfer our responsibilities smoothly to our staff team.
other concerns:
1. NEW STAFF HIRES. After a long application process and interviews, we have decided to hire two new Mongolian staff, Chimka and Shagai. Shagai begins immediately this week, and will be the first MALE Mongolian staff! Chimka will begin this coming July. Please pray for their preparations, including their fundraising, which will be challenging due to the small churches which they attend.
2. OTHER PERSONNEL CHANGES. Please pray for Joon Kim, a young Korean InterVarsity graduate who we've hired for a 2-year term. He moved to Mongolia last week, and will spend the next few months learning the language. Also, pray for Ariunaa, our new full-time FCS admin assistant. She will have the tough task of shoring up all our accounting systems and handling government relations.
3. NATIONAL STAFF MEETINGS (WEEKLY). National Staff Team Meetings (weekly). Because Mongolia is small, all of our 16 staff gather together on Mondays for a time of Bible Study, business discussion, and fellowship. Tom is responsible for this team time, and it is one of his most critical venues of influence. Please pray for stronger relationships to be built between team members.
4. STAFF TRAINING CAMP, APRIL 8-10. We've invited Annette Arulrajah, General Secretary of Malaysian Fellowship of Christian Students, to come to Mongolia and train our staff team in the area of spiritual formation. Pray for Annette, as she will speak cross-culturally to a primarily Mongolian audience. Pray for our Mongolian staff, who will listen and learn via a translator.

Bird Flu _
* Pray that it will be curbed, that people will be able to co-operate in doing so.
* Pray for Indonesia especially because it's one of the places most affected by the bird flu.
* Pray for China because it seems to be still spreading there.
Other teams _
* Pray for the stability of political situation in Philippines (Arroyo just declared a state of emergency last week)
* Pray for political situation in Thailand too (as regards to people protesting against Thaksin: pray that violence will not break out)
* China: as above, and it's pretty serious because bird flu is breaking out mainly in Guangzhou