Spotlight on Micronesia

When my parents arrived from the states, they brought along one of those little bulletin inserts that your church may have distributed as well. This one came from Tyndale House and was called "Church Around the World." The featured area of the world that week was Micronesia! What it says about this part of the world hits the nail on the head, so I thought I would reproduce it for you at the beginning of a new year to give you another snapshot of where we're working.

Micronesia-made up of 2,000 islands in the Caroline, Marshall, and Mariana archipelagos-occupies more than 4.3 million miles of the North Pacific. Only 100 islands are inhabited. The islands were a strategic global pawn for centuries and are now administered by the United States as a U.N. Trust Territory. During Spanish rule in the 18th and 19th centuries, Christianity was forced onto most of the islanders, but the underlying pre-Christian customs and animistic religion remain influential among the 200,000 inhabitants. Christianity is often simply a veneer covering an animistic worldview. so pray for authentic faith to break through in Micronesia. Also, the lack of Scripture in the country's minor languages limits Bible reading, and many misunderstand basic Bible truths. This lack of understanding leaves many open to the influence of Western cults. Pray for the ministries working on Bible translations for the many languages spoken in Micronesia.

There you have it! In a nutshell, that's where we're at, and those are the needs that we here at PIBC are attempting to address. Thanks to so many of you for partnering with us in helping this important ministry continue. If you're interested in joining the team as we enter into this new year, just follow the instructions on the right section of our blog. We would love to welcome some new partners!