What is a Missionary?

Someone has attempted to define a missionary.

Somewhere between saintliness and foolishness we find a curious creature called a missionary. Christians love them, governments tolerate them, parents miss them, and Christ protects them. A missionary has the patience of a fisherman, the audacity of a tightrope walker, the carefulness of a bookkeeper, the vision of a dreamer, the strength of a builder, the intelligence of a teacher, the wit of a humorist, the irresponsibility of a child, and when he attempts something, he is all prayer.

He likes letters from home, children, plain preaching, mission recruits, faith promise conferences, tracts, printing presses, radio stations, translators, E-mail messages, cameras, airplanes, maps, Bible studies, cities, peanut butter, correspondence courses, and book shops. He is not much for high pressure promotion, red tape, devaluation of the dollar, lukewarm faith, hypocrisy and discrimination.

A missionary is an unusual creature. You can send him to a far-off country, but you had better not forget him. You can get him out of your hair, but you cannot get him out of your heart. He is your servant, your right hand, your dependent; a Bible-preaching, God-fearing, self-sharing ambassador for Christ. When you come to church with that smug feeling that you are a fairly decent Christian, he can shatter that idea with the simple words, "Come over and help us."

Missionaries are not born. They are made. They are made out of the ordinary run of individuals. The basic qualification is not intellectualism, but a yielded spirit, a devotion to the will of God, and a deep sense of a divine call.

Not every Christian should be a missionary, but every Christian should be willing to be one.

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Letter From Richard Grout



18 February 2004

Dear Brant,

Greetings from the snowy shores of NW Russia in the amazing Love of our wonderful Lord and all-sufficient Savoir Jesus Christ.

Enclosed are two photos of one of the distributions of your BIMI New Testaments in the southern Siberian city of Biisk, in the Altaiskiy Region. One of the major rivers in Siberia is the mighty Ob. As do all major rivers in Siberia, it flows into the Arctic. If you follow the Ob upstream from the Arctic, it will take you through or by major Siberian cities of Khanti-Mansiysk, Serguyt, Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Barnaul, and finally, wher the Biya River and the Katun' River come together to form the Ob, in the Altai highlands, is situated the city of Biisk. These pictures are from a prison colony, where a local pastor made distributions.

Altogether, 800 of your BIMI New Testaments have gone to this part of Siberia. The Biya River's headwaters are near Mongolia, and the headwaters fo the Katun' River are near the Northwest corner of China, so the Altai region can be considered "Central Asia". Here is another fulfillment of Psalm 22:27 and Matthew 24:14. Isn't it thrilling to realize that BIMI has had a vital part in fulfilling these wonderful prophecies of our Lord Jesus Christ!





Siberian prisoners with BIMI Bibles. Bound inside each Bible is Ford Porter's "GOD'S SIMPLE PLAN OF SALVATION."



Russian warehouse for BIMI Bibles

Love gifts for the Bible Fund can be sent to Brant Holladay at BIMI:
P.O. Box 9215, Chattanooga, TN 37412.

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Ed and Carole Hembree, missionaries to Romania.

A pastor called to the mission field in his own mission's conference???

That is exactly what happened to Ed and Carole Hembree, BIMI missionaries to Romania.

"At a mission conference in 1991 in Macedonia Baptist church in Mesquite,Texas, the Lord called us to leave the pastorate and go to Romania as missionaries. From the beginning, our focus has been the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the establishment of New Testament Baptist churches. We believe that the local Baptist church is God's vehicle for world evangelism and must always be preeminent in our strategy."

For almost eleven years, Hembrees have worked faithfully and enthusiastically for the Lord in Romania. In return, God has used them in diverse ways as they have responded to the opportunities He has given to them.

Church planting: God has allowed them to establish Maranatha Independent Baptist Church, which is now virtually self-supporting. Their outreach includes $140 per month Faith Promise Missions, VBS, camping, music training for orchestra and voice, and Sunday School plus other ministries. Two other local churches have been established as well as several other churches in Romania helped by the Hembrees. The people at Maranatha praise God for the average of 34 baptisms per year!



Bible Institute, training leaders: Since Ed's focus was to establish New Testament Baptist churches, he saw another need:
"Soon after our arrival here, we saw that to effectively plant churches there was a need for training pastors, leaders and workers. During our second year here in Romania, we began the Maranatha Baptist Bible Institute. We just finished our ninth year, graduating our 75th man! The curricula which has been developed and translated for our institute is now being used by at least five other Romanian Bible Institutes."



Children's home: In Romania, many children are either true orphans or abandoned by their parents. After much prayer and planning, property was purchased and a children's home was built by the Hembrees and their church people. Currently nine children from one and one-half years to seventeen years old have a beautiful "home environment (with real birthday parties!)" in which to grow. These children are coming to know the Lord and are active in the church orchestra, choirs and other areas.





Independent Baptist Bible College of Romania: A four-year Bible college, providing a first-class training, that can be used by all independent Baptist missionaries in Romania - what a dream Ed had! By working together with Dr. Ron White, former BIMI missionary to Japan for 30 years, and Tri-City Baptist Church in Kansas City, Missouri, and their financial help, Hembrees have been able to see this dream fulfilled. Dr. Carl Herbster, pastor of Tri-City and president of the American Association of Christian Schools, serves as president of the college. Dr. White is Vice President and Ed serves as Director. This ministry can train a whole generation of servants of the Lord who can literally change the future of their nation by establishing churches throughout Romania.

Organizations to help missions and missionaries: Registration of a work in a foreign land is vital to longevity. It also facilitates obtaining visas as well as starting churches and educational ministries. After more than three years of hard work, the Lord gave a great victory with the registration of BIMI. Besides his work on registration of BIMI, Ed also opened another organization, "Bratele Care Ajuta," to help good independent Baptist missionaries not with BIMI. Through these organizations, Hembrees have currently been able to provide visas and technical help to fourteen missionary families.



Through all their work for the Lord in Romania, Brother Ed Hembree and his wife Carole have had an "eye to the future." Through God's help, they have laid a good foundation for future missionaries and ministries by faithfully working to provide the kind of quality that our Lord's work deserves.

PRAY FOR THE HEMBREES AND THE PEOPLE OF ROMANIA.

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By Maylou Holladay

Missionary wives come in all sorts of "packages." They come from all different backgrounds and training, with many varied talents and abilities. But one thing for sure, they come with dedicated hearts - hearts that want to serve the Lord.

What are some of the challenges these ladies face?
How can God's people pray more effectively for them?

Before she even gets to the foreign field, the missionary wife is a very important part of the deputation process, which might take between two and three years. She must realize that deputation IS their ministry at this point. Sometimes the church will judge a man's whole ministry on what they perceive his wife to be. The missionary couple and their children have to be "cleaned up and nice" for weeks on end. Homeschooling their children on the road will take a special self-discipline for her and her family. Not all churches they visit will vote to support the family. Our missionary wife has to learn to trust the Lord and at the same time learn to encourage her husband and family.

Packing up, getting the proper documents, selling a home, perhaps leaving a life's work with her husband as pastor or businessman is always challenging. Saying goodbye to family and getting on the plane will be one of the most difficult times in her life. My husband Brant said that as they left new York on their first journey by ship to England in 1964, he took a whole roll of pictures of the Statue of Liberty. Leaving is very difficult no matter how excited the missionary family is.

On arrival in their new land, the first barrier the missionaries face will be stepping off the plane and getting through customs. They may be delayed by demanding customs officials. Sometimes there is no one to greet them. Or perhaps they will be staying with another missionary family for a few weeks. The visiting wife is SO important here. The host missionary wife may not clean the sinks or cook the pasta as our missionary wife likes it. She has to remind herself that the situation is temporary. As someone has aptly said:

To live above with saints we love,
Oh, that will be glory.
To live below with those we know,
Well, that's another story!

NOW she "has arrived" and is eager to get going in "their ministry." THERE IS SO MUCH TO DO!

HOME must be the missionary's haven in a foreign land just as it should be in the States. The home may have only two bedrooms for a family of six or seven. It is very possible her home is an apartment on the 13th floor in a huge building with an elevator and hall lights that may or may not work! This may mean walking up and down a dark stairwell with her children and her purchases she has made at the local market.

Shopping....another interesting adventure for our missionary wife: buying fresh meat, vegetables, bread - at first not sure of the items, the currency needed, or even the necessity of bringing one's own bags and boxes to carry the items in! We found markets in Western Europe where the merchant insisted on choosing the tomatoes for us; another place we had to wear plastic gloves to pick up the produce. So much to learn so as not to offend the people our missionaries want to reach!

Everyday conveniences are lacking in many parts of Europe. It is not unusual to go without water or electricity for an extended period of time. Spasmodic availability of electricity not only affects our missionary wife's household chores but also her ability to have contact by e-mail with family and friends in America. If she has a washer, our wife may not have a dryer and so the family walks through a maze of drying laundry!

One wife told me that during the hours they had hot water, she lined her five little children up in the bathtub. With the help of her husband, she sprayed them with the shower, soaped all and rinsed at once! Of course, the children loved it!

"There is no better investment than learning the language when you really want to reach the people. It is very sad to see the husband fluent while the poor wife cannot speak at all." This is a very important observation by one of our veteran missionary wives. THIS SHOWS THE LOCALS THAT YOU MEAN TO STAY. Language study must be the early ministry of the missionaries. Just another discipline to add to our busy missionary wife's schedule!

Choosing schools for their children - the local school? Homeschooling? Which is best? The missionary wife may have this major part of training the children while her husband is focused on finding a building, visiting people, getting a vehicle that runs, finding parts for that vehicle.

Driving? Oh, yes, she needs to get her license! She might even drive on the wrong side of the road! A driver's license is a mark of permanency to the local people. It can also be a means of independence when her husband is very busy. She also must become familiar with "public transport," such as subways, buses and trains - common modes of European travel.

Ah, the weather in Europe! Our missionaries in Scotland, for example, know that darkness comes rather quickly in January. The sun rises around 8:30 AM and sets at 4 PM...when the sun comes up. Most winter months are continually cold and damp outside, and some missionaries don't have much warmth inside their homes.

Our missionary wife may have concerns about medical care. BIMI on occasion has had to have our very ill missionaries air-lifted out of difficult places. She must do all she can to keep her family healthy and safe.

Many times before the missionaries have their own church, our missionary wife longs for a place to worship where she can understand the message. Perhaps her family has to attend a service where the local dialect is spoken and she can hardly understand a word! She must be a woman dedicated to maintaining her own spiritual growth.

Are these obstacles or opportunities for our missionary wives?
- She has the OPPORTUNITY to enjoy beautiful work of local artisans such as lace curtains in Hungary and Germany; pottery in Poland and Romania; and, of course, china from England.
- She has the OPPORTUNITY to broaden her children's perspective of the world through interaction with another culture and its museums, handicrafts, music, language, sports and much more. Sometimes enrolling them in the local schools helps them with the language and also opens a door of ministry.
- She has the OPPORTUNITY to help her husband to establish a ministry through teaching God's truths to the women of the church as well as to the children.
- She has the OPPORTUNITY to use hospitality to minister to her church and neighbors.
- She has the OPPORTUNITY to see God work in answer to prayer through His protection and provision for her in ways that would never affect her in America.
- She may even see God provide a foreign "Bunica" or "Babushka" or Grandma for her children when they miss their grandparents.

SHE NOW HAS THE UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO MEET HER BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST WHO WERE UNKNOWN TO HER! We visited a Russian church whose members (our brothers and sisters in Christ) had collectively spent 5,000 years in prison for their faith. Could they ever sing praises to God!

Most of all, she and her family can take the gospel to people who will never get to attend a gospel preaching church in America. She can see men, women and children accept the Lord Jesus Christ.

WHAT A PRIVILEGE TO BE A MISSIONARY WIFE! WHAT A RESPONSIBILITY! WE ALL MUST PRAY FOR WOMEN WHO ARE WILLING TO SERVE THE LORD.

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LEEK AND BACON SPAGHETTI
(From England)
Serves 3-4

8 oz. Canadian or English or regular bacon
2 medium sized leeks (washed well and cut into pieces)
8 oz. cream cheese (fat-free is very good)
1/2 pt. Half-and-Half or cream
8 oz. cooked spaghetti

Cut in pieces and cook bacon. Remove from skillet. Add leeks to drippings and cook for 10 minutes. Add in cooked bacon, cream cheese and half-and-half. Blend this until cheese melts and turn off skillet. If sauce is too thick, add a bit of milk. Serve with cooked spaghetti.

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Kyle and Jodi Charters and their family, St. Petersburg, Russia

HOW WELL KYLE AND JODI CHARTERS KNOW THAT TO BE TRUE! They came as missionaries to St. Petersburg, Russia, in October of 1997. The Open Bible Baptist Church has just celebrated their 4th anniversary with 58 in attendance. the result of God's blessings and teamwork. The TEAM, at first, was Kyle and his wife Jodi:

"October 16, 1999, we held the first service in our apartment with eleven in attendance. We met in our home for the first few months, and then we were able to rent a room in a nearby public school (before getting our present facility). Two families who attended our first service are still faithful in attendance." Then God led Adam and Angela Young, as well as Andrew and Sarah Bunnell, to work with the Charters. God has used these three couples with their gifts of preaching, teaching, hospitality and music to reach the lost. Recently, God led the Bunnells to start a new Russian ministry north of the city. How has God raised up a Gospel preaching church in this beautiful, historic Russian city with a thriving population of more than four million? The Charters have used some very resourceful methods to reach out to the people of St. Petersburg. Kyle and his workers use a survey on visitation, on the streets and in parks. The term "survey" seems inoffensive to most people and is a tool to turn their thoughts to the Lord:

"We use clipboards to record their responses of several probing spiritual questions, which leads to a discussion about salvation. Many people have received Christ as a result of the survey. We have also seen several visitors attend our services because of our survey or visitation."

Another successful outreach has been a series of Bible lessons taught in English, as English lessons. These students are not only learning English but are also being transformed by the Gospel as they learn about God and His gift of salvation.

The ladies of Open Bible Baptist Church and their guests are delighted and encouraged by the ladies' ministry. Jodi Charters, Angela Young and Sarah Bunnell have used their innovative, well-organized ideas to bring many ladies to Christ through these fellowships.

The Russian people thrive on good music! God has used the well-trained choir of Open Bible Baptist Church to draw visitors in for regular services or special concerts. Their Christmas concert had a record-breaking attendance of 120 people. Such a blessing to hear Gospel hymns in the Russian language fill the rooms where they meet in a beautiful library operated by the British council. The building was built to be a mansion for a French aristocratic family during the Imperialist years of the Eighteenth Century. Now an average of sixty people on Sundays and thirty-seven on Wednesdays come to this mansion to hear the Gospel.

Not every foreign ministry has the advantage of an experienced printer. Kyle states:

"Adam Young is a gifted graphics designer. He has taken our church to new levels with quality printing for our church calendars, banners, Gospel tracts and invitations. We have noticed a much greater response from the public when using quality printing and advertising." A Russian prison ministry, under the direction of a Russian missionary, is also supported by the church. Missionary Vova is required to bring soap and toothpaste to the prison so he can have access to the prisoners. The church also helps provide New Testaments for this outreach.

The Charters and their team have full days with all these responsibilities as well as the teen ministries, the Indian Bible studies, Sunday School and "Daily in the Word" discipleship on Wednesdays. Praise God for giving His light through the Open Bible Baptist Church to those in St. Petersburg, Russia, who have walked in darkness all their lives.

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Reaching Medical Students in Russia

by Adam Young

I NEVER would have expected to be doing what I am doing now!



Family devotions with Alex

Even though I didn't grow up in Russia nor had I visited it, my major was Russian at the University of California, Davis. Near to the university, there was a Russian community where I taught English as a second language. The testimonies of these Russian Baptists, who were saved because someone many years ago had taken the gospel to Russia, touched my heart and I accepted Christ. When God called me to preach, I knew right away that He wanted me to serve in Russia. When Angela and I arrived in St. Petersburg, we began working with Kyle and Jodi Charters, helping with the youth and teaching an English Bible study. As a result of the English Bible study, sometimes we have had people from all over the world attend our services. Then came the unexpected part. Here in St. Petersburg, there is a medical university that specializes in teaching medicine only in English to foreign students. People from many impoverished countries come to this school to become doctors, determined to practice medicine in their own countries. Raj, aged 23, and his fiancee Deleni are two of these medical students who began to attend our church faithfully in August, 2003. While having dinner with them, I asked how we could talk to their friends about the Lord. The concept of our leading a Bible study among Indian medical students in Russia was born.

We began teaching a Sunday night Bible study in October, 2003. I will never forget my first time teaching in one of the dormitory rooms. Indian students pay more than the Russian students, but they live in some of the worst housing I have ever seen. During the winter, garbage is piled up in the balconies along the staircases. Cats run in the hallways. The plumbing has left deep brown rust stains in all of the sinks, showers and toilets. After one Bible study, I had to discreetly knock a cockroach out of my shoe before putting it back on. However, none of these things can stop God from working in hearts. Right away I could sense among many of the students a desire to know the Lord.

In our first study we had nine people, then we grew quickly to an average of fifteen. In November, we decided to prepare a Christmas musical as an outreach. With God's help, the administration allowed us to use a classroom on campus. We handed out 200 free tickets and, with the assistance of Bro. Kyle Charters, started our practices. After each practice, I preached a message and we could tell that the Lord was going to do something great. When the night finally came, after three months of having Bible Study, we saw a total of 124 people come to our little musical! Our Bible study group had gone to great financial sacrifice to decorate the auditorium and to feed anyone who came. Bro. Charters led our choir, Mrs. Charters played the piano, and the students and I sang our hearts out. Then I preached a message about finding the real peace through Jesus Christ. At the invitation, twenty people responded to accept Christ. I was not expecting any of this in St. Petersburg, Russia, but I am very glad to be a part of it. Within a month after our musical, Raj, Deleni, and Raj's roommate George all accepted Christ. My wife and I spent time explaining something they could not understand at first - that salvation is a free gift. They received that gift. The Bible study for Indian medical students here in St. Petersburg will continue. Please pray for this unexpected outreach God has entrusted to us.

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THE CHRISTIAN EVANGELISTIC BAPTIST CHURCH OF KOZMOLOVO, RUSSIA, IS BORN!

BIMI missionaries Andrew and Sarah Bunnell had served with the Charters and the Youngs in St. Petersburg for over a year. God has opened up a new ministry for them north of the city. On their first Sunday, they met with ten believers who had requested help in starting a church in Kozmolovo. Since their first Sunday, January 11, 2004, they have averaged twenty in attendance with a high of twenty-four.



Andrew and Sarah Bunnell

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ALBANIA - Mike McCombie Family. Recently Komi and I were able to lead Dilaver and Hasan to the Lord. They have given their testimonies to the church and have been baptized. We also had 27 folks at a banquet with eight who had never been in a church of any kind before visiting ours.

CZECH REPUBLIC - David Ostenson Family. My son Daniel and I were expecting our usual group of three children for Sunday School. Praise the Lord, a total of thirteen children and four adults were here! One of the mothers from the apartments where we visit came for the first time. Our Bible correspondence course is going well with people from 86 cities in this part of the Czech Republic responding.

ENGLAND - Ford Baker Family. We had a very special soul-winning day in Leicester city center last month. Several preachers and over 30 other people came to help us share the gospel by street preaching and passing out thousands of Gospel tracts.

Mark Bell Family. Praise the Lord for saving our neighbor, Mr. Frank Jordan. Over 2 1/2 years, He has become a very dear friend. We have always invited him to church but he politely declined. Finally he began attending and came for several months, still unsaved, until he asked question's about the Lord's Supper. After I explained the plan of salvation to him, he asked the Lord to save him.

John Jones Family. Anne, one of our ladies, has been praying for her family for over a year. Her entire family attended a service recently. Afterwards, her son-in-law Ben said he had never heard anything like that before. He has been attending faithfully and we are praying for his salvation. Also Anne's husband Joe rededicated his life to the Lord.

Glenn Palmer Family. There has been an increase in the Englishmen who are participating in the open-air town center meetings and attending the School of Evangelism on Saturdays. Over 60 people attended our annual church dinner and 46 came to a special choir concert.

Glenn Pizor Family. Since the baptism of Theresa and Maureen, some of their relatives continue to attend our church. Please pray for Denise. I was invited to speak at a local public school assembly to 500 seventh and eighth graders. Most young people listened attentively.

Tommy Pointer Family. We have had several new couples join in the past couple of months, three baptized and two saved and awaiting baptism. Kym was able to lead a 16-year-old girl to the Lord and I a 30-year-old man. What a blessing!

Jim Reynolds Family. The Lord has made it possible for us to rent a building here in Hoddesdon. We will be having meetings on Thursday and Sunday evenings, while our main service for Sunday morning will continue to be held in Enfield.

Ben Wharton Family (recently became missionaries to the UK). In a recent time out with the Lifegate School of Evangelism in Corby, I was able to preach for the first time in the open air. I have been amazed at the response and the opportunities that we have had to share the gospel with people while on the streets.

FRANCE - Carey Abbett Family. We just returned from winter camp in the Vosges Mountains in eastern France. There were about 50 adults and young people at the retreat. The Lord clearly blessed the teaching and preaching.

Bob Huffman Family. We praise the Lord for a record Sunday with 150 in attendance. Four candidates gave their testimonies and their desire to follow the Lord in obedience. We have less than 9,000 Bibles to give out from the 29,000 Bibles provided through love gifts.

GERMANY - Dan Dubbe Family. "Stretching our faith and building relationships" is our goal for 2004. With God's help, we will use our teen outreach, a concentrated discipleship training program, missions conference and other programs to accomplish this.

Michael Fields Family. Cheri and I are progressing in our language studies. We have been able to speak completely in German in the children's ministries of our church. We have also been able to share the Gospel with a few people both in German and English.

Walter Hornung Family. We had a baptism with one German lady and an Iranian lady following the Lord's command. The German lady has been saved a number of years and is regularly attending the church services.

Rodney Kidd Family. The goal of our church is to work toward starting a daughter church in a section of northern Mannheim where there is no real significant gospel witness. We have three families attending our church who are willing to be a part of that endeavor.

HUNGARY - Marc Patton Family. Our average Sunday attendance over the past couple of months has been 90-95 with 40-45 on Thursday evening. We recently had 106 on Sunday morning. We are now supporting four Hungarian church planters every month. It was exciting to see the salvation of two men recently.

LATVIA - Jonathan Thompson Family. We are still rejoicing in the salvation of Rudita and the baptism of her and her grandson. Also, we were finally able to obtain a four year visa. This is a gift from God.

NORTHERN IRELAND - Ed Bissett Family. Our youngest daughter, Heather, has been taking riding lessons from a lady named Valerie Dennison. Valerie came to church at Heather's invitation and my wife Joan was able to lead her to the Lord.

POLAND - Darrell Johnson Family. Piotr (Peter), a man who has been saved before coming, has recently been visiting our church. Also we praise God for the faithfulness of the Kowalczky Family.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND - Bob Zemeski Family. Raji is from a Hindu background, newly married and works for IBM. She has made a profession of faith in Christ. Please pray for her.

ROMANIA - Tom Gentry Family. Hope for the Future School of Missions is now off and running with 21 students. They recently helped me in evangelist meetings in a nearby city and seven people came to the Lord that night.

Ed Hembree Family. The children's home continues to be a source of much joy and challenge. We are so pleased to see progress emotionally, intellectually, academically and especially spiritually with each child.

Keith Herndon Family. Metro explained to me that "house sanctifying" was done by the Orthodox priest with "holy water." It is to keep the unclean spirits away. I showed Metro from the Bible to keep them away he needed to invite Jesus into his heart. He prayed with his own words to receive Christ.

Brian Nibbe Family. We praise the Lord for removing obstacles and we now have official ownership of our land so we can build. We now have about 20 people going soul winning each week. I just led a 32-year-old man to the Lord.

Tim Tyler Family. Our church hosted a quarterly youth rally with over 50 young people from 4 communities. Our family is working together to acquire the Romanian language as quickly as possible. Many nights, we have up to ten teens playing basketball in our courtyard. We are trying to use this interaction not only to learn the language but also to build relationships.

RUSSIA - Andrew Bunnell Family. Sasha and I had played basketball together for several months. He is an orphan and had lived in a state home. Recently I led him to Christ. For the first time since the death of his parents, he felt the love of a Father.

Kyle Charters Family. Dema is a former drug addict who was imprisoned for robbery. He received Christ as his Savior while being treated in a special prison mental health hospital. His sentence was reduced as a result of the dramatic change in his life. Soon after his release, he began attending our church. Please pray for the salvation of his wife Marina and his son Dennis.

Robert Fuller (deaf missionary to the deaf). We started a new Bible Study for deaf students from Technicum in Pavlovsk. The results were four students got saved. All four have expressed their desire of following the Lord's commandment of baptism.

Duane Hearron Family. A note from thirteen-year-old Julia Skakun, a Christian teen in Hearron's church: "I prayed for my mother to be saved for over one year. Not long ago she was saved."

Don Ossewaarde Family. We have been visiting several village around the region within 100 miles of where we live. We give out Gospel tracts and talk to the people door-to-door. A few people have responded by writing back.

Adam Young Family. Tatiana and her husband were very friendly and invited me in while I was out door knocking. I gave them our survey that we use. Tatiana prayed to accept Christ. Please pray for Alexander her husband.

SCOTLAND - Doug Cameron Family. Our driving teacher, Phil, and I met a few evenings a week and I gave him tracts and booklets to read. One Friday evening, sitting in his living room, he received Christ and a new life. Praise the Lord! He has been attending church since then.

Arvin Devers Family. We can only squeeze 45 chairs into our meeting place but had 41 in attendance. Decision cards were filled out with "undecided" by some who had completely rejected the Gospel in the past. This new openness is a positive step forward in our ministry.

Graham Forbes Family. Our new four-page magazine called THE GLENBURN BEACON is one of the best outreaches we have done. Because of this magazine, we have had visitors and our teenage puppet ministry was invited to a nursing home. Now we are starting a ministry in that nursing home.

Mickey Schrimshire Family. We are presently assisting Graham and Melinda Forbes at Glenburn Baptist Church. After a message I preached on soul winning, one of the men approached me. He said if soul winning is something that can be learned, then he wanted to learn.

Dennis Snelson Family. We have had the privilege to lead a lady, Jane, to the Lord. She was eager to learn the lessons we teach in our discipleship course. Through Jane, I have also had the opportunity to witness to a military officer named Ben. Please pray for his salvation.

SLOVAKIA - Ellis Johnston Family. We have four new students for our English course. We pray that this can be used as a way to win souls for Christ.

SPAIN - Clayton Livengood Family. God has blessed in our mission giving. We currently support eleven missionaries at 50 Euros per month. We are presently doubling the space of our auditorium.

SWITZERLAND - Tim Carnicle Family. I was witnessing to a man named Bruno, who was very receptive to the gospel. He seemed very perplexed about what he heard and told me he was never taught to read the Bible for himself. Please pray for his salvation.

UKRAINE - Tony Hess Family. Era is a teen girl in our class who has been coming with Lena. We have been praying for her salvation. One evening after the service, Tony and Joshua took the girls home. Before they got out of the van, Era said, "I am ready to make a decision. I want to walk the Jesus walk." Praise the Lord.

Matthew Hudson Family. A lady in our church brought her unsaved coworker Larissa to a service. Larissa didn't respond to the invitation, but after the service she told me that she had been wanting to receive Christ. It was a blessing to watch her bow her head and trust Jesus to save her.

Dan Irvin Family. Over a year ago, I tried to get into a prison to preach but was denied. But God has opened the door. Praise the Lord, we have been averaging about 15 in our prison meetings.

Bob Van Sant Family. The ministry at the Children's Orphanage has been going very well with three young teens recently accepting Christ as their Savior. Our auditorium is practically full for our services with 90 in the hearing service and 60 in the deaf.

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Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.

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Monday, March 15, 2010

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

KEITH & MARLA HERNDON -  MOLDOVA
ANTHONY R & DAWN HESS -  UKRAINE
KEVIN & MARY BETH HICKOK -  BRAZIL