June Prayer requests for Tibet

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Here are some important prayer requests for Tibet:

1. This past week, the Chinese government announced that it was closing off 1/2 of the Tibetan Plateau  to all foreigners. This is a huge area that is nearly twice the size of Texas. For the past 18 months, there have been over 38 self-immolations across the Tibetan Plateau, including 2 recently in the capital city of Lhasa. These 2 most recent immolations are the reason for the current closure. Read the link below for more details:

Tibet Closed to Foreign Travelers

The region of Tibet that is currently closed normally only allows foreigners (local Chinese can enter without any restrictions) to enter on a guided tour that involves having a government appointed tour guide by your side each day. It is impossible to live in this area long-term and is basically impossible to stay in the area for more than 2 weeks at a time due to the high costs of the organized tour, which costs about $150/day/person. With the closure now, not even people on an organized tour can go to the region. Pray with us that this area opens again, at least for tourism, so that short-term teams can again go to this area to minister.

Psalm 83:18: Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD, that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.

2. There are actually a fair amount of foreign Chr.stian workers who are focused on the Tibetan people. The problem though is that government restrictions make it pretty much impossible to live in Tibet. Except for just a small (literal) handful of people, all of the Chr.stian workers focused on Tibetans have to live in a Chinese city that is usually quite far from their target areas. These cities are often between 600 and 1500 miles away from their specific target region. Though other regions of the Tibetan Plateau remain open to tourism, it is basically impossible to get permission to live in these areas long-term (that is why it was such HUGE news when we were granted permission to move to Yushu prefecture in March 2010). Foreign Chr.stians focused on these “open” areas normally can only spend 2 to 6 weeks in the area per year. Pray with us that these “open” regions of the Tibetan Plateau will allow foreigners to live within them long term. 

Romans 10:14: How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

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Tibetans on pilgrimage in snow and freezing temps in order to earn their salvation

3. The Gospel has been spreading rapidly among Han Chinese people, the majority people group in China, for the past several decades. Estimates now put the number of Chr.stians in China between 85 million and 125 million, with over 98% of these being Han Chinese. Less than 2% of these Chr.stians in China come from the 55 recognized minority groups within China, which Tibetans are one of. Most of these minorities, who together number nearly 115,000,000, remain completely unreached by the Gospel. Thousands of foreign Chr.stian workers have been taking the Gospel to the Chinese people since before the great Hudson Taylor, who preached the Gospel in China for than than 50 years starting in the mid-19th century. Pray with us that these tens of millions of Chinese Chr.stians will take the Gospel to the minorities who live within China.

Very, very few Chinese believers are working to take the Gospel to the minority groups within their country. With the heavy restrictions on foreigners living in Tibet and most other minority areas, it is now up to the large, growing Chinese Ch.rch to take the Gospel to these people. Chinese Chr.stians are not under the same restrictions that foreigners have and can easily relocate and minister among these people. However, so far very few Chinese believers have chosen to do this. Despite more than 100 years of foreigners taking the Gospel to the Chinese, with many of them being killed or dying to see the Chinese reached, few Chinese are reaching out to those within their country who look different than them, wear different clothes than them and speak a different language than them. Minorities in China are often looked down upon and looked at as second-class-citizens. Pray with us that more Chinese Chr.stians will be broken hearted for the lost take the Great Commission to the lost minorities within their own country. 

Matthew 28:19: Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

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Pray with us that more Chinese believers will be willing to live in the remote nomadic areas of Tibet such as this

4. The past couple of months we have heard numerous stories of hardships among the foreign Chr.stians ministering among Tibetans. These hardships include demonic spiritual attack, severe sicknesses, strange injuries, weird problems with friendships and, as said earlier, government restrictions. Pray for the spiritual and physical protection of those ministering among the Tibetan people.

5. Our family will be returning to the Tibetan Plateau in late December. We will not be able to return to Yushu prefecture as it is still being rebuilt so we will be basing ourselves in the city while ministering to our many Tibetan friends who live there. Pray that the door will open again for us to return to Yushu!

6. Tyler is home from the hospital! Tyler had emergency surgery for a blocked intestine and spent 9 days in the hospital in Seattle. He has another surgery appointment next month for his birthmark. Pray that Tyler continues to heal and that his surgery next month goes well!

7. Currently, our monthly financial support is at about 90%, which is quite good considering we have not done any fund raising for monthly support in over 4 years! Please consider supporting our ministry among the Tibetan people on a monthly basis and pray that we will raise the additional support we need. Email us if you are interested in supporting our ministry.

We hope you all are doing well! For those of you in the Pac NW, we want to see you!! We have now entered the second half of our time in the US. During this time we will be focusing more on getting together with friends and supporters. Please feel free to contact us to have us over anytime starting in July. We look forward to seeing you!

Blessings,

Jamin, Tamara, Josiah and Tyler

We leave you with pictures of us among the people we love….

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