Victory Missionaries

News from Mexico

2010-09-30T06:32:00.000-07:00

South O' Border
DR. & MRS LONNIE C. SMITH Sr.
Missionaries to Mexico
__________________________________________________________________

October 2010

Dear Friends In Christ:

The Canton (Calvario) Baptist Temple of Col. Mexico in the city of Reynosa, Tam., Mexico celebrated another anniversary during September with a meeting of the Border BBF fellowship. There were over twenty pastors from churches along the Mexico-Texas border from Matamoros to Piedras Negras across from Eagle Pass, Texas.

The Canton church was started as a mission from the first BBC of Reynosa where Dr. Angel Zapata is founder and pastor. The first pastor at Canton was Elias Lopez who is not pastor of Berean BC in Saltillo. In 1992 Eliseo and Elvia Delgado came to Reynosa to begin their work at the church. Both were saved in our Monterrey work. After Bible College they worked with Lonnie Jr. in Guadalajara for several years. With their three children they have been a real blessing to the overall work in Mexico. Since they came to work in Reynosa they have put together all the hymnals and books that we have published for all Spanish-speaking churches in Mexico and other countries. Their labor of love has made it possible for our printing ministry to supply this need.

As you know schools have started all over the world. In Mexico there are a number of Bible Colleges that have seen a real increase this year due to the results of Youth Camps. The Institute in Cd. Mante had 28 new students this year bringing the enrollment of 69 students. Larry and Sharon Lilly are overseeing this school with help from Dick Redding and others.

The BBC in Monterrey under the direction of the Mexican pastors had an increase in attendance, as did the college under Rick Biven in Allende. Other Bible Schools in Juarez, Chihuahua, Queretaro, Chiapas began a new year. There were EIGHT young people for Lonnie Jar’s church in Guadalajara that enrolled in Bible College there.

PRAISE GOD! This month after several new test the Oncologist told us that there was no sign of cancer left in Margie’s body. He has scheduled further test in THREE months to be sure but we praise God for this good news. We also believe it is a direct result of your prayers.

Yours for souls in Mexico,

Lonnie & Margie

News From Turkey

2010-09-27T08:22:00.000-07:00

Gateway/EPIC Newsletter:
September 25, 2010

Dear Supporters and fellow partners with us in the ministry,

According to the apostle John in his third epistle you are sending the laborers of the Gospel to the unreached and in doing so you are partnering with us!

“Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.” (3 Jn. 1:5-8)

Equipping the Church in Turkey: One of our tasks is to disciple and equip the church. “…equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,…” (Eph. 4:12). Our style of discipleship is life on life. Those in our church go with us when we share the Gospel and learn by example. Those see how we serve and learn to serve. Those see how we keep each other accountable and likewise do the same with them. They see our hearts, they are with us when we pray, when we sing to the Lord, and when we discuss the Scriptures and how they apply to the situations we are in. They also know we are not perfect and see us in our failures as well. We also will begin within one week intensive Bible, Practical Theology and Biblical/Systematic studies at Beytel church. This has been requested by many at our church and we ask that you pray for J. and E. as they prepare these lessons to teach them together.

Equipping the Church by Writing: Many may remember the book J. wrote in Turkish, “Aman Nazar Degmesin!”. (May the Evil Eye Have No Effect!). Our first printing was 2,000 and now we are down to the last few dozen. The second edition will have 3 new sections and many testimonies of how Christians here in Turkey, through Jesus Christ have been saved from demons, curses, the Evil Eye and have overcome temptations to revert back to old Folk Islamic practices.

A recent testimony (last week) concerning this is one man “A.” in our church that we are training for leadership. “A.” for weeks has been feeling conflicted in his heart because he had a Hodja (Muslim Shaman) make him a muska (talisman) for the purpose of when he speaks with people concerning the Gospel that the people would believe his words so that they would become a Christian! (Because of the talisman that he made would cause them to believe.)

He read “Aman Nazar Degmesin!” and was afraid to tell “E.” or “J.” because of their stance on such subjects. He was trying to decide whether or not he should continue to wear the talisman or not, and finally confessed what he did to “E.”, he was afraid to tell “J.” as he thought “J.” would be mad because he was the writer of the book that condemns such behavior as blasphemy against God. “E.” immediately had him take out the talisman, and in front of “A.” “E.” ripped piece by piece. Then he told “A.” that he must reject all practices (even if it seems like it is for a good cause) and spit on this talisman as a sign of his rejection. He also said he must get on his knees right then, confess and repent. At first “A.” was afraid to spit on the talisman as he believed it still had some magical powers, “E.” then spit on it, then after seeing “E.’s” courage “A.” spit on it three times, he then knelt down confessed and repented of his sin. A similar story from the books of Acts 19:18-19:

“Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver.”

The second printing of this book will be within a couple of months and we look forward to continuing sharing God’s truths on these subjects that so entangle the believers and keep folk Muslims in fear.

Urgent prayer need now: J., E, Kenan, A. now in the East and need prayer for safety in their travels and unity among each other. Pray the Lord would lead them to share with the lost sheep in their travels.

Prayer for L.: L. requests prayer that she may have many opportunities to share the Gospel with parents of students that she is working with and that she would have the same opportunities at the school she has been working with special needs children.

God bless and thanks for your prayers.

J. from Istanbul

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Thai Surge

2010-09-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

Thai-Surge
Over the past year, our Global Surge missionary team has been working on a partnership with some Thai Christian Businessmen! Through a variety of circumstances, God has brought a Filipino-based team and a Thai team to move the bar forward for the Great Commission!

A Passion For God...Blessed in Business!
On a layover from Cambodia, Global Surge Team Missionaries Roger Akers and Greg Lyons, had breakfast with a young businessman in Bangkok. As we shared what God is doing through our ministry in Metro Manila and other countries, the businessman said, "Would you bring all of your ministries to Thailand? We need your help!"

Many factors contribute to the low number of Christians in Thailand. The culturalization of the Buddhist religion, the strong family ties that resist changing faiths and the few existing believers, are among a few of the reasons there are only 0.4% of the population numbered as Christians.

Recent unrest has provided a window of opportunity! The political and social unrest has caused many Thai people to question their values and faith. The businessmen we are partnering with are convinced that now is the time to share the Gospel in Bangkok! With their help, we will implement some ministry systems that have been effective in other Asian megacities.

Thai-Surge - Invest in Reaching This Great Nation!
Would you partner with us in helping send a Filipino Team to Bangkok? We need 10 plane tickets - $385 each. Our Thai partners are covering the ministry costs in Bangkok, we just need help getting ten of our Filipino Team Members to Bangkok!

For the same cost of flying two Americans to Asia, we can send a team to implement ministry and train Thai Christian brothers to be more effective in reaching their own people.

Please CLICK HERE to partner with this tremendous opportunity! You will receive instructions on how to partner.

Let's Change The World!

Sincerely, Greg & LuAnn Lyons
Global Surge
Missionary Team

Asians Reaching Asians
Make a Difference Where It Counts!
Join this unique opportunity to empower a Filipino Asian Team to train a Thai Asian Team! Help complete the "Full Circle" of missions through helping Asians Reach Asians!
Click Here to Partner!

News From Botswana

2010-09-23T06:46:00.000-07:00

Dear Loved Ones,

We are back in Botswana after our trip to Johannesburg for my heart procedure. Last Tuesday morning, they prepared me for the cryo-ablation at 7AM. We spent the day waiting and at 5 PM they finally took me back. About three hours into the procedure they saw what they thought was an air bubble somewhere around my heart. When they investigated further they realized that one of the instruments had made a small tear in my heart and the blood was filling the membrane around the heart. They decided to stop the procedure at that point. I spent the next two days in the CCU and thankfully, no further complications developed. The doctor thinks the tear will heal itself. I am to continue on medication and wait and see. Since they were able to complete a portion of the procedure there is a chance it was enough. We are not sure when we will know. I was able to leave the hospital Saturday afternoon and we returned to Botswana Monday. My doctor here has requested that I rest this week and I will have another echocardiogram on Saturday.

Thank you so much for your prayers. We have experienced the Lord’s mercy and comfort many times in the past week.

While we were away, the church hosted a camp reunion. They had 68 come out for it. We are thankful for that.

Thank you again for your prayers. I am disappointed they were not able to finish the procedure but am sure God was in that room and His will was accomplished.

Reaching the Unreached,

Steve, Pam, Amanda, Derek and Devin

Newsletter from Turkey

2010-09-21T05:54:00.000-07:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Thank you for your prayers and support they keep us going to share the Gospel with the unreached and disciple the body of Christ here in the Middle East.

Evangelizing Muslims
One of our major tasks here in the Middle East is to clearly present the Gospel to Muslims. Here in Turkey the population is around 99.6% Muslim. We have developed a very effective and Biblical approach to sharing the Gospel. God honors our zeal to be Ambassadors for Him and sends many our way. Just in the last seven days we have shared the Gospel with several Muslims; it was the first time they ever met a Christian or heard the Truth. Here are a few stories from this week:

1. Hasan: Hasan is Kurdish and “M.” whom we work with made first contact with him and introduced him to us. Yesterday “E.” and I spent 5 hours with him explaining the differences between Islam/Christianity and the Qur’an and the Bible, and the truth of the Christian faith, along with our testimonies and answering his questions. Hasan said to us, “I have never heard any of this before, I now have to search out for myself by reading the Bible and the Qur’an to see if what you say is true or not.” He did not want us to leave him that night and wanted to spend even more time speaking about such subjects. We will be meeting him again next week. Pray for Hasan he is young, married and has a child. E. and I brought him to a point that he must choose Christ and reject Islam. In this society it is very difficult to make such clear cut commitments and many pastors even have wavered between being a Muslim or Christian because of societal and family pressures. Pray that the world and or Satan will not choke out the seed that has been planted in young Hasan.

2. Suleyman: Suleyman also Kurdish, befriended “E.” on a bus yesterday and for 1.5 hours. “E.” clearly presented the Gospel and the differences between Christianity/Islam the Qur’an and the Bible. This young man was also shocked to hear this for the first time in his life and was in disbelief. Like Hasan, he wanted to bring his own Qur’an and begin to read the Bible concerning what “E.” challenged him on. “E.” shook Suleyman’s world-view and beliefs at the core by sharing that Jesus is the Christ that was prophesied to come and not Muhammad. Pray that the Lord would enlighten the heart of Suleyman.

3. Barish: Barish also Kurdish, is friends of another in our church (Beytel). From 10 P.M. until 4 A.M. Kenan, “E.”, “Ah.” and a new member of our church “Bh.” Shared their testimonies and the details of the Christian faith. They also challenged him on the differences between Islam/Christianity, Bible/Qur’an. This man was so happy about what he was hearing that when he left them in the morning he said, “May the Lord bless you all!”. Please pray for Barish as we stay in continual contact with him.

Church life at Beytel: One of the most difficult issues that Christians from a Muslim background deal with is loneliness. Their families, friends and society as a whole reject them and all they have is the church. The local churches here are usually made up of 10-30 believers. Within many of the churches there is much back-biting, division, gossip, slander, jealousy and pride. Many are disillusioned with what they have seen. One believer I know has been a Christian now for 3 years and has already seen two church splits in two different churches! Our fellowship is now being known as “The 10th Village”. There is a proverb in Turkish: “The one that tells the truth is thrown out of 9 villages, long live the 10th village!”. We are considered now by many as the “10th village” which tells and accepts the truth. Everyone that has visited us has said the same thing, “We have never seen a church act like a real family, you guys really love each other and no one is out to see what they can “get” out of someone else”. Another person said, “When I saw that you guys were trying to do everything according to the Bible I became afraid of the accountability, because I have never seen anyone do this before”. Another person has said, “This is exactly the type of church that we need as an example for this country.” One man said after a worship service, “I have been in churches for 4 years and I will never forget this night, I have never worshipped God or seen the Spirit like this present in a church in my life”. This is not because our worship is so great, or our sermons are the best, but it is because of the love and care that we show one another. “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another”. (1 Jn. 4:11) We also pour out our hearts before God and ask Him to create a revival in us that would be shown to the world. Continual confessing of sins and coming back to the blood of Christ keeping our focus on His word alone is our heart.

Pray that God would: Create a full and continual revival in the hearts of those at Beytel Church. Pray that God would cleanse us, protect us and grow us spiritually/numerically.

Urgent need: We never made it to the East last week, 2.5 hours into the drive our vehicle “blew up”. The engine is gone and needs to be re-worked. We have decided to retire the vehicle and just use it for local trips and now purchase a new vehicle for longer Zacchaeus trips to the East. The repairs for the car are upwards of $3,000. To purchase a used vehicle in good condition we need around $8,000 more. If anyone can help with any part of this, you will be helping put the legs on the Ambassadors of our King to take the message of the Gospel to unreached villages. Thanks for your help and prayers.

For the King,
J. from Istanbul.

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Greg Lyons: Church Plant Report

2010-09-15T07:28:00.001-07:00

Community Baptist Church Cavite 1st Anniversary

Urban Church Planting Report
Non-Facility Dependent Church Planting Strategy

Thanks for partnering with us! God continues to bless our church planting efforts in Metro Manila and in other areas of Southeast Asia. Your prayer and financial support is a critical component in the continued growth of the ministry!

Sincerely,
Greg & LuAnn Lyons
Global Surge
Missionary Team

1st Year Anniversary Reaches over 400
Community Baptist Church - Cavite
Pastor Lito Lipata

The service was full! People were excited to see what God has done through this new church in just one year! God was present as this new congregation celebrated one year of God's blessings!

Pastor Lito Lipata, BBCAsia graduate, moved his family to this part of Metro Manila to establish a new congregation. Cavite City is one of several fast growing areas around this megacity!

Laying a foundation with over 20 small groups in the area, CBC Cavite launched public services in 2009 with over 800. They have been averaging around 240 since their launching service. The church celebrated their first anniversary with an attendance of 463! Adults and young people numbered 358 and 105 children were present for the event. God blessed with 91 salvation decisions!

Implementing our Urban Church Planting Strategy has been a catalyst for the growth of this new church. Synergizing several key elements without burdening the new congregation with high rental costs, has allowed the focus to remain on reaching and ministering to people. This Non-Facility Dependent Strategy enables resources and energy to be directed to what really grows a church!

Megacity Ministries/Global Surge

Megacity Ministries is becoming Global Surge! As we team up with many new partners in the USA and around the world, we have established a team name reflecting our Global Vision of Church Planting and Evangelism!

To Partner...

Please send funds to:

Greg & LuAnn Lyons
BBFI
PO Box 191
Springfield, MO 65801

or

Greg & LuAnn Lyons
CMC
P.O. Box 219228
Houston, TX 77218-9228

All Donations are
Tax Deductible

News From Botswana

2010-09-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

Dear Loved Ones,

What a privilege it is to know that people have notated September 14th as a day to pray for us. The cryo-ablation is still planned for that day. Please pray specifically that there will be no clots. If they find a clot they will not do the procedure. The last few weeks have really shown us that I need this done in order to fully function with energy.

After the team was here for the youth camp, we participated in Camp Hope for children living with HIV/AIDS. Our people staffed the cooking, arts/crafts and I taught the character classes. We love being a part of this each year. The Saturday following Camp Hope, we also participated in Teen Club. This is a club designed for the patients that are now teens. It is a very high risk group, because of the physiological changes and also the chance of more risky behavior from teens. Teens that participated in Lift camps this year were given the opportunity to buy watches for these kids to use to remember to take their medications on time. We gave out nearly 100 watches that day. We appreciate all who participated in giving so we could share the watches with them. You can read about teen club at botswanateenclub.wordpress.com

After Camp Hope, we went straight back to the office and began the plans for our last term this year. Since we have added camps during the school holidays it is non-stop activity around here. School is just finishing the first week of the term and is off to a good start with new students coming in even at the end of the year. The boys who were saved during the camps are walking around campus with brand new attitude. What a joy to see that.

Next Saturday is a camp reunion. We invite the kids back that participated in camp and have a day of fun. Pray that this one will be well attended. Steve and I will be away so our designated team will be working together to make this a good time. It is the first time they are trying it n their own. We considered rescheduled but thought it would be good to let them see what can be done! We are hoping this outreach will grow and make disciples.

We are so blessed by your prayers and your sacrificial giving.

Reaching the Unreached,
Steve, Pam, Amanda, Derek and Devin

News From Turkey

2010-09-09T05:57:00.000-07:00

Gateway/EPIC Newsletter
September 9, 2010

Dear prayer partners and supporters,

I cannot express the joy that I have in telling you what the Lord has been doing since we have been back in Turkey. There are many prayer requests and news regarding the ministry here.

Update on E.’s health: Within about one week we will know for certain but it appears that E. just has dysentery not cancer! He has been taking medicine for this and already feels like a new person. Continue to pray for his health as he has one more doctors appointment.

Update on Beytel West: We have been focusing on discipleship of our guys at Beytel and have seen fruit from this already. We are praising God for “C.” from Scotland that has now has joined in our leadership of Beytel. We are greatly blessed by his giftings and experience. Our focus this year is in the area of intense discipleship with Beytel Church. Pray for the spiritual growth at Beytel.

Need for ESL teachers: We will be continuing our ESL program in Istanbul and need committed teachers to help with this. We will partnering with another ministry here and use their facilities as it is in a very central location. Pray the Lord would send the right teachers and that it would be His timing.

Update on Beytel East: E. will be moving back to Istanbul to help with the establishing of Beytel West and the Kurdish church. J. and E. will continue to take trips to the location of Beytel East in Sodom to do follow up and other Eastern provinces that they have open doors to. We will be sending a full team back to Beytel East to establish the base there. Pray that the Lord would send the laborers that would be called to go there. J. and E. leave next week to say goodbye to all those we have been working with and pack E. up and move him back to Istanbul. Pray for safety in their travels and that they may use this time in Sodom to again clearly share the Gospel.

Update on the Kurdish Worship service: We will be meeting once a month to worship in the Kurmanji language. Pray that there would be no fear in meeting to worship. Pray that the Lord would raise up national leaders for this work.

Update from L.: L. has been researching for her dissertation but is having trouble narrowing down a topic. Pray for the Lord’s guiding in this. Also she is now tutoring many children and one with Autism. Pray that she would have a great impact and testimony in their lives.

Short Testimony from J.: Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139: 23-24).

I have been praying for quite some time that our King would show me the wickedness in my heart and refine me so I would be a more useful vessel. I asked Him to complete in me that which is lacking and remove the evil. I asked Him specifically for an intense cleansing. This summer our Lord granted my request. During this intense period of a month straight I did not understand that this is what I was going through and I was in despair because of the state of my sin and heart. I felt like I did when I first came to understand the mercy of God and came to Christ. At that time (18 years old) I wept bitterly over my sin but rejoiced in the unexplainable grace.

During this month period this summer almost every day I mourned and wept uncontrollably over the state of my heart. The Lord showed my sins and patterns in my heart and life that I did not know existed. I confessed and repented to our King and then realized that I was nothing more than a worm or a piece of dangling flesh. There is and was nothing good in me, anything that is or was good is only by the work of the Holy Spirit. He is the only one worthy to receive glory, honor and praise. It is because of Him and His work that we do anything good. I then asked the Lord to please hold back on sanctifying me to that intensity, as I could not take it anymore. I thought to myself, if I am this bad now at 31 how much more cleansing will I go through when I am 61, and what else is evil in my heart? The thought scared me. The grace of God is too much.

I praise our King for answering my prayer, even though it was the most difficult month in my entire life. It has lead to a revival in my heart and I pray that this revival leads to a revival in our church in Turkey and an awakening in the many unreached Muslims here. I encourage you all to ask the King to do a similar work in your heart. You will find out that you are worse than you think you are, but at the same time you will experience amazing grace. This at one time was a normal practice in the Christian life, taught and encouraged especially by the Puritans.

“In the spiritual world also I am dependent entirely on thee. Give me grace to know more of my need of grace; Show me my sinfulness that I may willingly confess it; Reveal to me my weakness that I may know my strength in thee… My sins are black and deep, and rise from a stony, proud, self-righteous heart; Help me to confess them with mourning, regret, self-loathing, with no pretence to merit or excuse;…”

[1]-Puritan prayer

God bless you all and thanks for your prayers.

J. from Istanbul

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News from Mexico

2010-08-31T07:01:00.000-07:00

South O' Border
DR. & MRS LONNIE C. SMITH Sr.
Missionaries to Mexico
Hebrews 6:10
__________________________________________________________________

September 2010
Dear Friends In Christ:

Four more churches in Mexico now have a piano for their worship services. Al Williams a piano tuner and repairman has donated and delivered over 40 pianos to the churches of Mexico. His wife Jodie came with him to deliver these last four. Bro. Angel Zapata pastor of our First BB Church in Reynosa came with help and carried the four pianos into Mexico the day after they were delivered. Pastors from Chihuahua, Veracruz, Queretaro and Cd. Victoria in Tamaulipas will pick them up soon.

Bedford Baptist Temple, Texas pastor Ray Johns and Mission representative Randy Loyd have taken the oversight of Matamoros Baptist Mission. Eli Zapata, our grandson in the ministry is pastor of this Mission. The Baptist Temple is making plans to finish the building that will include housing for Eli and his family. The work is growing and there are over 50,000 people within walking distance of the church.

Reports for over seventy VBS show that God is still in the saving business. Because of the unrest in Mexico the attendance was smaller this year that in pasted years. However over many boys and girls were reached with the gospel. One church reported over 60 professions of faith. Others showed smaller numbers, but in all VBS there were souls saved. The Mexican Baptist church of Brownsville, Texas received help from Bedford Baptist Tempe in the form of school supplies and backpacks for all those attending. This work had three VBS this year. In one 16 were saved. In another over 25 were saved and in another ten were saved. Joel Olazaran is the pastor and director of these works. There was an average of about 30 souls were saved in each of these VBS. Praise God for those who have helped with prayer and financies.

Beloved we are so thankful for your continued prayer and financial help for our ministry. God continues to bless with souls and continued growth in attendance. Our youth camps were blessed this year and many young people surrendered their life to full time service.

Yours for souls in Mexico,

Lonnie & Margie

News from Turkey

2010-08-30T05:53:00.000-07:00

Gateway/EPIC Newsletter August 28, 2010

Highlights of the Summer:
1. J. of Istanbul successfully completed three seminary courses along with having many speaking engagements and meetings pertinent to the ministry in Turkey. J. and L. have had safety in all seven thousand miles of driving this summer!

2. L. successfully completed her comprehensive doctoral examinations and is in the process of writing her dissertation in the subject area of Special Education.

3. E. has hosted many groups and individuals this summer in both Istanbul and in Beytel East in Sodom. He and Kenan have shared the gospel with scores of individuals and continue to be a light to those around them.

4. M. and his family have faithfully discipled and been a light in the area of Y.B. (new church plant area). They have hosted many groups and individuals all summer.

5. Meetings with EPIC in Northwest Arkansas. J., L. and the folks at EPIC had several encouraging meetings in Northwest Arkansas with ministry partners this summer and we are praying for fruit to be born from the meetings.

Urgent Prayer Request for E.: E. has been ill for several months and recently went to the hospital. He had four biopsies taken from his intestines and after the results came back he has had three different doctors give him three different diagnoses. The first said it was cancer, the second said it was ulcers and inflammation, and the third said it was none of the above and he needed to be re-tested but in the meantime take antibiotics as that may clear it up. Please pray for E. that he would be healed, pray for wisdom in the diagnosis of the illness and treatment.

Prayer Request for Beytel East and West: Today (Saturday) and for the next several days we will be having meetings with the leadership of our churches to deal with issues in the church (church discipline) and strategies for church-planting and evangelism outreach this year. Please pray with us that those that have strayed off the path would have a contrite and repentant heart and be remorseful and restored to fellowship. Pray with us that the Lord would guide us to do His will in Istanbul and in the East of Turkey.

Prayer Request for L.: Please pray for L. as she works with special needs children this year along with teaching in private tutoring. She will have many opportunities to share with these children and their parents. Pray for open hearts to the Gospel and open doors for her to share clearly with those she has influence with. Pray also that the Lord would guide her in her doctoral dissertation writing, specifically that it would be glorify Him and be used for the Kingdom. (Below L. has a special request for you all.) Thank you for being faithful to pray and support the ministry here to reach the unreached. We love you and pray that the Lord would continue to guide and use you where you are at and here in the Middle East!

J. from Istanbul

(Letter from L.)
Dear Supporters and Fellow Laborers,

As many of you may know God has been directing me into the field of special education over the last few years. As I continue to work in the schools systems in Turkey I am even more convinced that God is leading me to work with children with disabilities and their families. The picture is much bigger than Turkey and I am seeing more and more the need throughout the Middle East for the education of parents and teachers in the area of disabilities and special education. As I talked with my department head at Regent, Dr. Mark P. Mostert, God has impressed upon me the need to get involved in discussing these issues and educating people on disabilities and the ethical treatment of people with disabilities. Dr. Mostert started a wonderful forum out of Regent University called the Institute for the Study of Disability and Bioethics http://www.regent.edu/acad/schedu/isdb/ .

I am interested in getting Christian doctors or anyone with knowledge in this area to help write short opinion pieces and blog spots related to the disabilities and bioethics. If you are a doctor or someone with knowledge in bioethics or know someone who would be interested please e-mail me. With new technology in medicine, the health care reform bill and issues in bioethics and the ethical treatment of individuals with disabilities it is essential that we as Christian respond and share what God’s word has to say on these matters. All over the world people with disabilities are suffering and subjected to poverty, humiliation, and death.

Educating the public on these issues can help us begin to reconcile these men and woman made in God’s image to their society and their God. Pray with me as God leads me to the forum and contacts that will help bring about this reconciliation.

Possible topics for the website are:
1. Their experiences dealing with these issues.

2. How they handle the issues as Christians and how they counsel patients.

3. How they deal with insurance companies.

4. Suggestions for people in their dealings with doctors, insurance companies and illnesses.

Please email me your articles and suggestions at gatewayeducationalservices@hotmail.com

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News from Botswana

2010-08-27T08:16:00.000-07:00

Dear Loved Ones,

Fifty-one saved! That was the result of the camp last week. We had a wonderful team of students from all over America and one from Austria! They really did a great job connecting the kids in Botswana. The camp was for students aged 13-19. We started on Tuesday and ended on Friday. It was really great to see our people serve and be involved as well. We were excited to have several of our men come to be a part of this week. They had a great time and were also touched by the sermons brought by Todd Spain.

It was thrilling to see several students from our school accept Christ and nine of them surrender their lives to the Lord last week. We had been praying for and witnessing to them individually as we had opportunity but the messaged God had for them at camp brought the harvest! One of the boys was saved at our camp and surrendered his life to live for Jesus at this camp! Please pray for these kids. It will be hard for them to live for Jesus in this culture. Pray for us as we teach and disciple them.

Sunday morning, many of the campers returned and brought their parents with them. We had a good service and were thankful for the opportunity to meet parents and reach into homes.

Even as the team was leaving, we were beginning our outreach into Camp Hope. Camp Hope is the camp we volunteer at every year. The children who attended are living with HIV/AIDS and if they are invited to the camp, it means they are struggling with adherence to their medications or something else going on in their lives. We love being a part of this. This year, we have provided the Hope dolls for the kids to decorate and take home, and provided the makings for the cookies that are made during one of the classes. One of our young ladies is doing the cooking part this year. Each year, I teach the children character lessons. It is just a meaningful time for many in our church.

Next week, we are back in the school office in preparation for our third term of school, which begins on September 6th.

My heart procedure is scheduled for September 14th. Thank you for your continued prayers.

Reaching the Unreached,
Steve, Pam, Amanda, Derek, and Devin

News from Mexico

2010-08-27T07:44:00.000-07:00

Dear Faithful Pastor and Friends,

We begin this letter with a happy note. We have been serving our Lord here in Old Mexico since May of 1974. We thank God for your faithful support. You have enabled us to be here and you share in the results we report to you.

Our Timothys and fellow laborers:
1. Uriel Hernandez: This 26 year old young man has preached twice at church since we last wrote you and has done so very good. One person was saved and baptized through him.

2. Josue & Sory Suazo: This couple is from the Dominican Republic. Josue's dad led Sory's dad to the Lord three days before he died in their homeland. At the funeral, six others trusted the Lord as Savior.

3. Lupita Mora: This special lady has formed a team to visit the hospital on Sunday afternoons. They have led eight people to the Lord.

4. Jorge Alejandro Montes: This young university student reports four professions of faith in personal soul winning and another three professions of faith in youth meetings.

5. Hector Manuel Padilla and Jorge Alejandro Montes made a trip to visit our national missionary in Tlaxcala, Mexico. They gave out hundreds of gospel tracts and led five people to the Lord while they were there. They were also an encouragement to the missionary and his family.

6. Helga Guiterrez has led five of her relatives to the Lord and three of them are now faithful in church.

7. There have been eight professions of faith here at Living Word Baptist and I baptized thirteen people in July and August.

Our Youth: A total of 42 went to camp this summer. Seven young men and women surrendered their lives to full time service and are planning to enroll in Bible college in September.

Missions: Living Word Baptist has expanded its missionary outreach to support a young Mexican couple preparing to go to Pakistan. Bro. Jorge Luis Gomez and his wife, Irma, are trying to work through all the red tape to get their visas. Please pray for them.

Praise Report: Nineteen year old, Eric Rosales, finally received a kidney transplant in July. The doctors marvel at his recuperation. We praise the Lord!

'Til Jesus Comes,
Lonnie C. Smith, Jr.

The Ukraine Report

2010-08-27T06:15:00.000-07:00

THE UKRAINE REPORT for AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2010

Dear Pastor Burress and friends at Victory Baptist Church,

After visiting some churches, we took and finished an intensive two-month Russian Language course on July 30, 2010. It was a challenge to say the least. Nancy and I both passed. This will really help in our Ukraine ministry.

On August 1, we formally started our furlough and have been in several great missions conferences. Now we are reporting what God has done in Ukraine.

- We now have 25 pastors who are taking our classes.
- We now have classes in seven Ukraine cites - three main regions.
- Our goal of 100 total students was surpassed - we have had over 500.

We sent Tanya K, our translator, to the Philippines to work with missionaries Dennis and Gloria Ebert for four months. She is studying English, the Bible, and theology there. It was quite a change from Ukraine to the tropics.

In September our fall 2010 classes start up in Ukraine. With a lot of planning and help, we are able to keep all our scheduled courses going while we are on furlough.

Please pray for:
- all our helpers in Ukraine to do well
- all the Bible college students and teachers
- traveling mercies and health for us during the days ahead

We really appreciate you folks at Victory Baptist helping us win Ukrainians for Christ. Thanks for partnering with us.

Ron and Nancy

www.ron.minton.name

News From Botswana

2010-08-10T07:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Loved Ones,

Thank you for praying for the Camp Reunion. It was well planned and executed but not so many kids. We need to reevaluate and change it up some. We held it in the afternoon, we think we will try morning next time. We will plan to begin sooner after the next camp, etc. We are having several kids at church almost every Sunday. Today three came without being brought by the lady that usually brings them. She moved from their neighborhood, so we were very excited to see them how up this morning. We look forward to a whole new set of visitors soon because everywhere this lady moves, she influences others for Jesus Christ. Many are in our church because she reached out to her neighbors.

We finished our second school term this past Friday. It is unbelievable what God is doing there, the school enrollment has more than doubled since we took it. He enables us each day to share with others the good news. So tomorrow morning, no early morning rising, but a nice day at home working on things we rarely get to work on. I hope to finish the distance learning project I am working on and Steve will be working on preparations for the team that will arrive on Saturday.

This team is connected with Lift Student Ministries. They arrive on Saturday, will minister in the services Sunday, and lead the camp starting on Tuesday. Todd Spain will be preaching, please remember him in prayer. The camp will finish on Friday the 20th and we begin our camp where we partner with Botswana-Baylor Children's Centre of Excellence for a camp for children with HIV/AIDS on Sunday afternoon the 22nd. We finish that on the 26th and need to be back in the office for teacher training on the 30th. SO we will appreciate your prayers!

Please pray for a couple in our church K and S. They are both living with AIDS as well as their son. The mom is very ill right now. Pray that she will be able to get stronger.

We are so grateful for you--we know many of you pray for us daily. This is such a blessing and because of those prayers, God is supplying our needs in Botswana.

Reaching the Unreached,

Steve, Pam, Amanda, Derek and Devin

News From Botswana

2010-08-09T08:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Loved Ones,

It's been a busy couple of weeks--sorry we have not kept you updated on all that is happening with us.

We continue to have good services and are seeing growth in individual lives. Our Tuesday evening prayer meeting has become such a sweet time. There are only a few of us there, but the time of prayer and Bible study is rich. On Tuesdays, we have been going in depth into the sermon material from Sunday. We are so encouraged at how people are opening up and putting into practice what they are learning. It is great to see them comfortably sharing their struggles and growth with each other.

We have recently heard from our pastor in Kenya, Isaka. He continues to reach out in his community, training and encouraging. To our amazement, they are hoping to put electricity in the church building so they can have night meetings. Just incredible to watch his vision and excitement for what God is doing in Kabuchai.

This week we had a letter that left us speechless. We have written before regarding a young man in our ministry who is an orphan. One of our supporting churches sent money to help him begin his college career. He is now taking classes to be a lawyer. He wrote us today and said, "thank you for giving me something even my relatives never gave me--the opportunity to be loved." Wow--what a gift of a letter. He is so faithful to bring his friends to church. It has been a blessing to us to see him grow.

Last weekend, Steve and I celebrated 35 years of marriage! We were able to steal away for a couple days and enjoyed the time to be together and reflected on all God has done for us.

We came back to a full schedule for August. Friday is our last day of the second term of school. Saturday is a camp reunion. Saturday, the 14th we welcome another group form the US for another camp to be held beginning the 17th. That group leaves on the 23rd. On the 22nd, we begin our classes at Camp Hope for children with HIV-AIDS. Staff returns on the 31st and we're off again with school.

Specific Prayer Requests:

End of term responsibilities
Saturdays' Camp reunion to be well attended and feed into the next camp
People staffing the upcoming camp to come with open hearts to learn about the culture and ways to effectively communicate God's love here
I'm in charge of many of the activities at Camp Hope--pray I can find staff to fit each activity

Reaching the Unreached,
Steve, Pam, Amanda, Derek, Devin

Prayer Letter From the Letts

2010-08-09T06:29:00.000-07:00

July 30, 2010

Dear Pastor and Church

Greetings once again in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Since our last letter we have had 8 new churches pick us up which brings us from 68% to 73%. We have had others say that they are going to, as well, so we are greatly encouraged. I was preaching in a Church in New York and during the invitation two young ladies received Jesus Christ as their Savior and many more had come to the altar to pray. So things are happening along the way to which we praise the Lord. Sometimes we get the idea that deputation is all about raising money to get to the field……..no!……it is ,that, but much more…I praise the Lord for every soul that comes to Christ as a result of His word being preached.

We have seen people come forward and receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and several come for prayer but the most exciting ones are those of your own family. Our granddaughter prayed with me to receive Jesus into her heart. She is a beautiful young 15 year old girl that needs your prayers as she grows in Christ…this past week she went to camp which is a great time for growth and change. Then to top it off our 8 year old granddaughter followed the Lord in believers baptism.

Our schedule takes us from home base in Ohio to North Carolina, back to Ohio, to Virginia, back to North Carolina, to Kentucky, to Ohio, back to Virginia. So the month of August is once again a busy schedule. I like it best when we are busy because the more we can share our ministry the closer we come to getting back to the “white unto harvest” field of Australia. I was talking to one missionary that shared with me that he had been on deputation for 2 ½ years and hopes he will hit 50% sometime in August. I can understand that………..but don’t wish that time schedule on any missionary. We still hope to leave the first of the year, and we couldn’t have it in better hands then our Lord…trusting Him is the best way to live. We certainly thank you for your sacrificial partnership with us to do the work in the field of Australia. May the Lord continue to bless and give you fruit for your labor.

Ron & Vicki Letts
Your Missionaries “Down Under”

Dan & Val Waugh

2010-08-09T06:26:00.000-07:00

July 30, 2010

Dear Friends and Fellow Servants of Christ,

We trust this letter finds you and yours doing well and encompassed by God’s most wonderful blessings. We thank God for each of you and how each of you has been so interwoven into the fabric of our lives. As God has caused our paths to cross, and we have affected one another for God’s glory, our lives have been enriched.

Well, God is at it again. There is a small congregation in Summerville, PA that needs a pastor to lead and care for them; just as God brought each of us together so that we might meet each other’s specific needs. He is taking Valerie and I there. Summerville is 1½ hours east of Pittsburgh, PA and is a town of approximately 500. There are several towns that connect, and will bring ministry opportunities as well. Though the congregation is small, these are people whom Jesus loves, and who love Him, and they are highly prized of God. They are praying for the best pastor in the world, however they will settle for me (LOL). We will be leaving Rochester, NY on August 26th. We have 27 days to finish our packing, and then we will load the truck.

Thank you very much for your help in getting us this far. There are several needs that are upon us now, and we appreciate your continued help, Here are several ways you can help us:

1. Pray for the people of Summerville, and us, as we take up our calling amongst them. We are ready to “Preach the Word, and love the people”.

2. Pray for our relocation.

3. If you feel lead of God to help with our move we are in need of additional finances. You may give a special offering to help with the move.

We want you to know how special you are to us, and how important you are in the ministry to which God has called us. May the Lord and His wonderful grace keep you in the center of His will, where His greatest blessings will ever be yours.

Serving our gracious Lord together,

Daniel and Valerie Waugh

Auglst '10

2010-08-09T06:25:00.000-07:00

South O' Border
DR. & MRS LONNIE C. SMITH Sr.
Missionaries to Mexico
Hebrews 6:10 P.O.Box 720245 August 2010

Dear Friends in Christ,

July was another busy month in the work here in Mexico. Since the Mexican schools do not get their vacations until July the VBS have to be conducted in this month and part of August. The reports are good from those whom we have received word. Others will be sending the results soon. Please continue to pray for souls saved during this time of harvest. We also wish to thank each of you who have made it possible for us to reach over 10,000 boys and girls with the gospel.

The different BBM Fellowships conducted their youth camps also this month. Monterrey and Reynosa conducted their camp just south of Monterrey. There were over 150 young people who attended and many dedicated their life to the Lord. Several made a decision to enter full time service and study in a Bible College next September. Many other sections of Mexico conducted their camp. The results will be forthcoming.

The First Bible Baptist Church (Filedelfia) of Reynosa celebrated their 30th anniversary this month with a weekend revival. Missionary pastor Martin Castillo was the featured speaker.

The North Mexico BBM also attended the celebration on Friday 30th. Dr. Angel Zapata is the pastor of the church. He is also on the board of directors of the National BBM as Mission Director. This church has been responsible for establishing over 14 other churches and missions in the area.

Beloved we are ever so grateful for your faithfulness in prayer and financial help toward our ministry for so many years. During this difficult financial time we know that many are making the sacrifice to continue this support. Our prayers are that God would continue to bless you in your effort to reach the lost around the world.

Yours for souls in Mexico,

Lonnie & Margie

Ministry Report from Greg & LuAnn Lyons

2010-07-22T06:41:00.000-07:00

IMPACT WORLD CAMP REPORT 2010

As God continues to open doors, we follow His will and move forward!

This year has brought an incredible opportunity to share the Gospel with thousands of inner city young people in Metro Manila.

Greg & LuAnn Lyons
Megacity Ministries

Watch Camp 2010 Video Report!

Camp By The Numbers:
Total Camps: 90
Total Campers: 109,507
Total Salvation Decisions: 52,651
Total Baptism Decisions: 7,697 Averages per Camp
Campers: 1,217
Saved: 585
Baptism: 86
Note: More have been baptized since camp!
Baptist Bible College Asia New Student Applications: 2,005

Special Thanks
Rawlings Foundation

Ohio Serenity Baptist Church

Colorado Calvary Baptist Church

Parkhill Baptist Church

Missouri Park Crest Baptist Church

Impact Baptist Church

Texas Family Fellowship

Metropolitan Baptist Church

From Jail To The Gospel!
Danilo came to camp after being released from jail. Knowing the life path he was on, was going no where! Hearing the Gospel, Danilo prayed to be saved! Immediately followed the Lord in baptism. To date, Danilo has brought over a dozen of his friends to church since camp!

THANKS FOR PARTNERING!

LETS CHANGE THE WORLD!

News From Botswana

2010-07-20T07:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Loved Ones:

Rejoice with us! Last December, we buried a lady named Pinkie. Since then, her husband, Boniface, has been faithfully coming to church and bringing their children and sitting right on the front row. Today as Steve preached on the indwelling Holy Spirit, the same Spirit, convicted Boniface of sin and convinced him to give his life to Jesus. We are thanking the Lord for this salvation and others as well today.

We had a wonderful service today, the Lord’s surprise to us because it is a long weekend here. We thought most people would be out of town, but they did not take a holiday from the Lord’s house! We have a family who has been visiting in our services recently trying to decide whether or not this is the place the Lord wants them. They are godly people with a heart to serve. Pray that the Lord will show them exactly what His will is for them.

We will spend our long weekend connecting with people. Tomorrow we will have some guests for a morning tea and also for dinner, then on Tuesday afternoon, all our ladies are invited over for tea. It will be nice to get together and just share our lives. We are looking forward to this.

Some of you may have heard of the gas tanker explosion in the Congo on July 3rd. One of the refugees that attends our church lost six family members (brothers and sisters) in that explosion. Please remember to pray for Daniel.

We are preparing for our second camp. It will begin on August 17th. Our people are praying and planning days off work to be able to participate in this. Pray especially for Todd Spain as he is the one who will bring the messages during that week. Pray that God’s word will resonate in hearts and true life change made possible only by the spirit of the Lord will happen.

Reaching the Unreached,
Steve, Pam, Amanda, Derek and Devin

Luke & Kelly Lyons

2010-07-20T06:02:00.000-07:00

Impacing Asia: Luke & Kelly Lyons
July 2010

We have hit the ground running! God blessed us this month with the opportunity to be involved in so many ministries, it has been amazing! Our focus in ministry is the development of leaders and teams to establish new church plants throughout Metro Manila. Each church plant begins with a team that develops small groups and from this foundation builds a new church. Luke has taken on the challenge of training new small group leaders as well as encouraging and equipping existing leaders to reach their communities and multiply their groups. He was able to hold a training in which 91 were able to attend to learn how to be a small group leader.

We were also able to participate in the launching of three new church plants! Pastor Jermaine Nacion in Antipolo, click here to watch a video on the launch, Pastor Marlon in Mandaluyong and Pastor Falier in TayTay. Each launch had several hundred in attendance and God blessed each one with salvation decisions. Please continue to pray for these new churches as they start holding regular services and work to reach their communities for Christ!

Our Transistion
Thank you for your prayers as we transition to Metro Manila, Philippines. We appreciate all your prayers for Scott and his sickness days before we left to come. He has recovered fully and is acclimating well to the hot weather and humid days. This summer we have rented a home from a fellow missionary while they are away but soon we will need to find a more permanent location and we ask for your prayers as we begin our search. We are also continuing to save our funds for our startup costs and ask that you pray that we would be able to purchase all of the items needed for our home.

Thank you,

Luke and Kelly Lyons

Stay Connected With Our Ministry
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South O' Border

2010-07-07T08:39:00.000-07:00

South O' Border
tribunainternacional.com/himnariodelCBBM.aspx

Dear Friends in Christ,

The DVBS results for 2010 have begun. The Spanish Baptist Church (Jerusalem) of Brownsville, Texas conducted their VBS in June. There was an average of over 100 children who attended. We praise God that FIFTEEN boys and girls accepted Christ as their personal Savior. The pastor of this church is JOEL OLAZARAN who is one of our "preacher boys" from Monterrey.

During July and August there will be seventy VBS conducted in Mexico by the pastors and full time workers. Material has been delivered to the pastors and also to the missionaries of the CBBM in several indigenous tribes and areas where American missionaries have not been able to reach. We will give a complete report after the summer. We do wish to thank each of you who have given to and prayed for this project. You have made it possible to reach over 10,000 boys and girls in Mexico. Please continue to pray for the workers as they teach in these VBS.

Our thanks to go Yvonne Biblbrey for her work on the music for our Spanish Hymnal. The hymnal has been posted on the Web link of the CBBM, which is available to the pastors and workers of Spanish speaking countries. The link is listed above for your use. We ask you to pray for Yvonne's husband, Ray Bilbrey who had cancer surgery during June.

Thanks to you who remembered our birthday during April and June. It is good to be reminded that you are praying for us and care for your missionaries. Margie and I will celebrate our anniversary July 14. God has given us 61 years together in His service here in Mexico. Praise to His name that our two sons are serving Him also in Mexico. We praise Him for our continued health and strength to be in His service.

We are so grateful to you our faithful supporters. During this bad economic time you have been so good to remember us with your prayers and financial support. God has supplied our every need.

Yours for souls in Mexico,
Lonnie and Margie

News From Botswana

2010-07-07T06:03:00.001-07:00

Dear Loved Ones:

Happy 4th of July! We had the opportunity this week to celebrate at the home of America’s ambassador to Botswana. We enjoyed meeting with other Americans. America has done a lot here in Botswana to help with the HIV/AIDS research and care.

As you know you, we partner with the Botswana-Baylor Children’s Centre which works with children living with HIV/AIDS, this week they had a soccer related fund raiser that our young adults were able to attend in support of the Teen Club. This club is the result of the success of the treatment the kids are undergoing. When we first started working with Baylor, there were only a few teenagers, now there are more than 120 in Gaborone alone! We love every time we get to be around these kids.

Steve and I went to Johannesburg this week for the doctor to check my heart. It continues in sinus rhythm which is good. He has scheduled me for a cryo-ablation on the 14th of September. Will keep you posted.

It was great being in Johannesburg during World Cup fever. Flags are everywhere. It was like a city-wide missions conference! We even got to see the ESPN guys do a broadcast.

We came back early and because we had asked someone else to preach, Steve thought he would do something different. He showed up a bit late and wore a sign that said, “I am not your pastor today, I am a visitor, how will you treat me?” He said he learned a lot trying to think and observe like a visitor to our church.

Please continue to pray with us for Dumisang, a young man who has professed Christ but is having a tough time choosing to live for him. He has been involved in drug related activities for some time and is finding it hard to break away. GOD CAN DO THESE THINGS! Let’s ask Him!

Reaching the Unreached,

Steve, Pam, Amanda, Derek and Devin

Luke & Kelly Lyons

2010-06-28T05:46:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Manila!

The thermometer outside says the temperature is in the 90's but the 'feels like' temperature is in the 100's, with 80-90% percent humidity! We have arrived in muggy Manila Philippines and are excited to be here, temperature aside. We have only been here a short while and already we are jumping in with a full schedule and exciting things lined up. Here are a few things that have already recently happened and are upcoming:

Camp Victory Day
Last June 4th, we celebrated with over 300 people who volunteered at camp this year. 300 volunteers who have committed from 1-2 days all the way to several months on end to serve at camp. We had several people tell stories of how previous camps have drastically changed their life. One young man was saved at our camp back in 2001, he now is a pastor at one of our church plants and a speaker at our camps.

Our Summer interns are here, we will have 5 interns this summer, each of whom will be exposed to life as a missionary and our ministry. These young men and women are already involved in many aspects of our ministry.

June 19th we had our NFD (Non Facility Dependant) Church rally. This is where we invite anyone and everyone who is interested in a new up and coming church plant to hear our vision, goals, and where the next 3 church plants will begin this year.

We have several mission trip groups set to arrive over the next several weeks. One group, -Clear Vision Drama- arrived late Saturday night and already performed in 3 services before Sunday was through. They are a blessing to us and work great alongside our Drama teams here on the ground.

Luke has already had meetings with leaders to continue to build our network of small groups. Growing that through strengthening existing groups and starting new ones.

Scott has been adjusting nicely. Although he has been very clear that it is hotter and more humid than we as parents let on. Overall he is doing great.

Thank you for your prayers and support as we transition and move to the Philippines!

Luke, Kelly & Scott Lyons

News from Africa

2010-06-22T06:56:00.000-07:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters and Prayer Warriors,

Greetings in the wonderful name of the Lord. Thank you all so much for all the prayers that have reached Heavens gates and came down and wrapped us in His Peace and Grace. Becky sends her love and appreciation as well.

Well here goes: the surgery that was scheduled for June 7th was moved up because I went into congestive heart failure. They put me in with a different doctor who specializes in valve replacements. What a coincidence! They replaced my valve and one of the arteries that had most of my stents. After surgery, I was bleeding and almost had to go in again, but the prayers of God's people made a difference. When I came out of surgery, they found a huge sport on one of my kidneys. I told the doctor it was from a bout of Black Water Fever I had in 2000. He said he had never heard of such a thing and wanted more tests. After more tests came back and said it was scar tissue from something that happened long ago, and once again I told him about Africa, this time he listened. He said I should keep close watch on it in the future. Then he said I needed a pace maker put in so that was done as well. When they released me to go home, they had my left arm in a sling and my elbow swelled up twice its size. I went in for a weekly checkup and mentioned it and they did an ultrasound and found blood clots in my arm, so I was back in the hospital again. I am now at home giving myself shots everyday to get my blood regulated.

This time it may take just a bit longer for rehab, but I already feel better, my breathing is just wonderful now and hopefully when I am stronger this can help me prolong the ministry God has called me to. God is so good. Some lessons learned: Going through something like this without the Lord has got to be just miserable. I felt as if I was in the arms of Jesus the whole time. Even though there is pain, there is still peace. God's grace is sufficient. All the opportunities for witnessing was a blessing. One of the men took home a tract I gave him and led his son to the Lord. There are so many other stories as well.

The work in Africa is going well. A 40ft. container will be shipped any day full of supplies. Thank you for all your support in helping in this effort. Remember we have our annual Bible Conference in the "bush" this August. We need help to feed all the people. Just $1 can feed someone for 7 days. We are expecting around 1500 ids for VBS and over 5000 adults. We have a team of doctors coming over led by Dr. Jim Elias. They will bring in so many more people as they set up the clinic right next to the tabernacle. Please pray about helping with this.

Once again and as always, thank you for all your prayers and support. To God be the glory. We love each of you.

In Jesus Name,
Bobby and Becky Bonner

News from Botswana

2010-06-16T07:05:00.000-07:00

Dear Loved Ones,

Another week has begun. We are excited to have started it with a great worship service this morning. Thankful for God who will strengthen us for the week ahead.

We are thankful to report that one of our students was saved this week. She had been talking to me about her relationship with her mother and some things in her past. I asked her on Wednesday about her relationship with God. She told me she didn't know about it, so I began to talk with her about having Christ as her best friend. Thursday, she asked to see me after school. She said, "I've been thinking about what you said yesterday and I really want to be saved." So I was able to take the Scriptures and show her what it means to be born again.

Later that evening, I read her Facebook status... "I've been reborn and it's all thanks to Mrs. Workman, thank you ma'am." I, of course, reminded her that it is all thanks to what Jesus did. Saturday, she had another interesting post. "The weirdest thing just happened, my mother did something that usually makes me so mad, but it didn't bother me at all, after I gave my life to God it feels like the load on my back was taken away because usually it feels like I carry the world on my back and now I don't. So once again, thank you, Mrs. Workman."

That was exciting! We are so blessed to be able to teach and preach the Word daily and thankful that God brings the harvest.

Thank you for your part in God's work here.

Reaching the Unreached,
Steve, Pam, Amanda, Derek, and Devin

European Update

2010-06-10T06:55:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends and Supporters,

God has recently encouraged my heart with 2 Corinthians 4:7 "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." It is so easy for us to take the glory for what we have accomplished, but as I read this verse I am again reminded that we are just earthen vessels (Crackpots, or pots with cracks) easily broken and very fragile. But God has chosen to place the gospel treasure in people like us in order that He will get all the glory for anything that we have done and are doing. God delights in manifesting His great POWER through these jars of clay. One great Bible Teacher of our time points out that when God wanted to communicate His message, He didn't go to the elite of Egypt, Greece, Rome, or even to the elite of Israel. Where did He go? He went to the shores of Galilee and found a bunch of fishermen.

This Bible teacher continues by saying: "He passed by Herodotus the historian, Socrates and Plato the philosophers, Hippocrates the father of medicine, Euclid the mathematician, Archimedes the father of mechanics, Hipparchus the astronomer, Cicero the orator and Virgil the poet. He chose a little hunchback Jew (Paul) with a deformed face without great oratorical abilities. He put in that little clay pot the priceless treasure and is still doing it today."

I just finished reading a book written by one of our dear friends from our time at Briercrest Bible Collage, Murray Carter. Just a farm boy from Western Canada, but God used him to start one of the great church movements in India and then moved him to Italy in his latter years. God is still using earthen vessels today. How do I know that? He is still using us and we are so thankful for the privilege of being used by God.

January and February were very busy months for us. Gregor Breier, our German Concert Pianist, was here again in March. We were so thankful for the response of the people even in the midst of this financial crisis here in USA. We are now planning our next tours with Gregor as well as meetings that we will be having in Pennsylvania and Connecticut during July and August. The tour with Gregor in October will take us through the New England states as well as northern New York State.

We are still battling this cancerous tumor in Betts' chest area and would ask for special prayer on May 25th by her next examination. If her tumor markings have not gone down through the heavy medicine, we will have to do something else. We are not sure what our doctor will suggest this time. As you probably have concluded, we are just earthen vessels with all kinds of cracks. In the midst of this all, we have such a deep desire that God will use us for His Glory. Thank you for your prayers. I trust that you will be blessed as you read the reports of our leaders in Europe. We are especially happy for the work in Hungary which will be celebrating their 20th anniversary on the 14 and 15th of this month. Looking back to the beginnings of this great work, I still marvel at the way God was able to use this vessel of clay even before the wall, dividing Eastern and Western Europe, came down. To God be all the glory!

Italy also celebrated their 25th anniversary the beginning of this year with meetings all over that great country with Dr. Joe Jordan and our director Marion Portillo. They are in the process of buying a camp property right now and have a matching fund of $150,000. If we can help them in any way right now, we can double our money.

Thank you again for your faithful support and prayers for all of our leaders and their staff in Europe and Africa.

Our love and prayers,

Bob & Betts Parschauer

Word of Life European Representative

European Update

Austria

Herwig and Claudia Lamb are holding meetings all over Austria in churches, ministering in song and Word. Herwig will hold seminars at the large Youth Conference, May 21-24th weekend. About 500 youth will be present. Dr. Klaus Eickhoff will be invited for two homiletics seminars to be held at our center in Villach the first weekend in June. This is for pastors in their area. Willy and Tania have planned 4 weekend camps and are praying for young people and children from the village area to attend. Herwig will be traveling to Berlin in June to teach the book of Revelation to our students at the Esra Training school. Please pray for our team in Austria.

-Andy Wenzel

Bulgaria

The Bible Club Ministry continues to grow and it is such a blessing to bless the churches with our Bible Club programs. We will be in Ukraine from May 14-16th for the annual missionary conference with some of our youth from Bulgaria. Pray for decisions that will be eternal during that time. Our summer children and teenager camps are planned for July 18-August 1. Pray especially for preparation of the counselors.

-Sergii and Tania Tyshchenko

Czech Republic

We praise God for what He has done in our three winter camps this year. Many got saved and some are now coming to our Bible Club in Brno. We have linked up with a Baptist church in that city and have seen great growth, in numbers as well as spirituality. We began a few months ago with 7 teens coming and it has now grown to 7. These teens are on fire for God and are witnessing in their school as well as memorizing Bible verses and doing their quiet time. God is at work1

-Rich and Alissa Hood

France

On May 24th, a missions reality group of BI students are coming from Quebec Canada, to work with our French team. We will be holding our 3rd Superbowl event just before they come on Saturday, May 22nd. Our family day at the camp grounds will happen on June 27th. The Ecouen (Paris) Center has been open since mid-January and is a huge blessing, functioning as a Word of Life Christian Retreat Center. Our camp season from July 4th to August 7th will host 5 sessions of teenagers. We need your prayers. We have also started an important expansion phase at the Camp Property and will need teams of workers this fall to help us build.

-Rob Stetson

Germany

While this report is being written, our team, along with students from Bibelschule Brake, is on the road with the musical, "The Revelation." They will be in halls and city auditoriums all over the country again this year. During the last 20 years, 150,000 people have experienced "The Revelation" just in German Speaking Europe. Hundreds have received Christ. Larry and Joy Locken will be doing a tour throughout Germany from September 22 until October 10th with our second and third generation music teams and leaders in Germany. Pray that this will again be used to lead many to Christ and that our German staff will be greatly encouraged. The youth camps are already almost all booked out for the coming summer. Pray for a great harvest of souls. Pray for the Bible Institute in Berlin, the Children's' camps and musicals (the "Christmas Joy" tour with Alex Lombardi was a great success), the brass concerts, the music seminars, the family camps, and the many other daily activities.

-Amy and Esther Wenzel

Kenya

This past December was one of the greatest camp months that we have ever experienced with over 2000 campers in attendance just in that month in Nairobi, Mombasa and seven additional locations in Kenya. What a joy to see many come to Christ in these satellite camps. We were in Western Kenya in Oyugis; Northern Kenya Marsabit; Eastern Kanya in Kitui, Machakos and Mwea as well as the slums outside of Nairobi. Since December, we have been very involved with our 21 Bible School Students. What a joy to see them develop as they minister in schools and churches on the weekends. Our new hall is finally finished for which we praise the Lord! Thank you to all of you who have helped us financially with this great project. We just had a very bad wind storm in Kenya a couple days ago and three of our buildings in Mombasa lost their roofs.

Uganda

Thomas Obunde, a young man who was led to Christ through our work in Kenya, went to WOLBI in USA and is now leading this great work in Uganda. God gave us a wonderful property in Kampala that is being used to win literally hundreds of young people to Christ. David Baguma has been given the responsibility to coordinate the University ministries in this country. He took a group of University students recently to Mombasa in Kenya where he was able to really impact their lives. He has asked us to pray that God will raise up future leaders from these students. You will hear more about this work in the future. They are not only holding camps in Kampala, but also in the war torn Northern region of Uganda

-Bob Parschauer

Hungary

As is happening all over Word of Life in Europe a new generation of leadership is being trained. One of those leaders is Gabor Csikos. He was raised in a Godly Hungarian home and attended our camp for the first time in 1991. He dedicated his life to the Lord at a Word of Life Euro Youth conference in Germany in 1994, went to our Bible Institute and after graduation joined our staff. Pray for Gabor and his wife Tunde as they take on more and more leadership rolls in Hungary. In February this year we had great winter camps in Hungary and Poland. The Born Again to a Living Hope Drama tour in April took us to many schools and churches in Hungary, Transylvania and Romania. Several great Bible teachers were guest professors at our Bible Institute this year. Dr. Jimmy DeYoung taught prophesy, Dr. Kalman Meszaros taught Church History, and Dr. Michael Glenhorn taught Apologetics.

We also had 30 2nd year BI students from USA doing a missions reality course in Hungary in March this year

-Alex and Pam Konya

Serbia

Preparations are being made for our camps in this country again. Please be in prayer for our leaders there and especially for the counselors, some who will come from our Bible Institute in Hungary

-Alex

Italy

We celebrated the last 25 years of ministry with activities all over Italy with our Director Joe Jordan. We began March 4th in Mirano in the province of Venice and from there to the Island of Sardina, then to the city of Alghero, on to Rome and teh city of Vasto where the camp property is that we are looking to the Lord to give to us. We again celebrated in Fano on March 20-21 and also in Lagnano March 26-28. What a wonderful month of celebrations we had. Thank you for all your prayers and support over the years. Many came to Christ during these celebrations. Praise the Lord.

-Mario and Norma Portillo

Lithuania

God has given us a new addition to our family and little Sophia has been a real door opener for us to talk to the doctor's and nurses about what we are doing and relate to them that we are here to tell the people of the Baltic countries about Christ. That spring we organized evangelistic seminars to teach personal evangelism. We now have a small team of about 10 youth from our local Bible club who are going with us onto the streets to do personal evangelism. These young people are between the ages of 17 and 23 years of age. It is just incredible to see the change in the spiritual life of a young person when he goes out to share his or her faith in this way. We see some great leaders for the future developing before our eyes. Ana Laura's ladies Bible study had also become a real hit. The girls are growing every week. We are now advertising for the summer camps and have already rented a camp property for these summer camps. Thank you for your prayers.

-Michai and Ana Laura Bucur

Poland

Our biggest conference ever! Some were turned away from our Winter Camp and conference for lack of room. A wonderful group of Bible School students from our Hungarian BI were here to assist us in this great conference on prayer. Four young people accepted Christ and all were truly blessed. Our living room was over crowded again with 49 people at our leaders weekend. These are Bible Club leaders learning new ways to reach the youth of Poland with the Gospel. We are also praying that the dollar keep rising in value towards the Euro so that we will have funds to renovate our new property when we move in, possibly in August.

-Tim and Virginia Good

Portugal

On May 1st, we had a great Sports Marathon on our property with many decisions for Christ. Our yearly Bible Club Leadership Training Conference with Mike Calhoun happened on May 14-15th. What a joy to see the response of our club leaders. The annual Family Day is coming up with Joe and Melva Jordan on June 3. Just a few more weeks and our July and August camps will begin. Thank you for your prayers for all of these activities. God has been so good to us.

-David and Pat West

Romania

We are so thankful for the great ministry of the last few weeks. Our team just returned from an evangelistic outreach. Over 1700 youth were reached in schools and jails. Many have been saved and are requesting Bible Courses and New Testaments. During our sports marathon with 16 teams participating, 18 youth made a decision to receive Christ into their lives. Please be in prayer for those new Christians. We are now in the process of preparing for the summer camps. We will have camps in Romania, Greece, and Turkey. Please continue to pray for the support of our team leaders in Turkey and Greece, that they will soon have their full support. Our leader from Greece will be traveling with Bob Parschauer and Gregor Breier on a tour throughout New England, New York State, and Pennsylvania in October this year.

-Juan and Kim Silas

Spain

We are so happy that God had at last sent us a new family to join our staff in Spain. Sergio and Noemi Martinez have moved to Spain to work into a leadership position in this country. Sergio is a great spiritual leader who has been working in Portugal the last few years. Sergio will jump right into the ministry here because he already knows the language. Would you pray for this family as they transition to this country? Pray also for their much needed support. Thank you for praying for our work here with the church, Bible clubs and camps.

-Beto and Crystal Tarasiuk

Ukraine

This year has been very busy. We ended 2009 and started 2010 with a Christmas tour that literally went to every part of Ukraine. We started in Central Ukraine, from there to the Eastern part and then to Crimea in the south and the tour ended in Western Ukraine in the Carpathian Mts. Many came to Christ! In March, our missionaries, Matias and Sergei, went to Kazakhstan for a tour with the Baptist Union there. They travelled 4700 Km and preached 20 times in two evangelistic campaigns. The doors are open in Kazakhstan and they are begging us to come and start Word of Life there full time. Meanwhile, with our BI students, every Friday and Monday, we present the born again to a living hope in high schools and every Saturday and Sunday we are on the streets of Kiev, doing open air evangelism. Many, many are coming to Christ every week. In April, we hosted the missions reality students from WOLBI in New York. Please pray for the preparations of the summer camps which will be held in Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan this year.

-Jorge and Laura Radziwiluk

United Kingdom

Cherri and I returned home after a week of intense ministry in Northern Ireland to find out that our neighbor had an extra ticket to a football game and I went. The next morning, a couple walked into our church service, the woman a Christian, the man unsaved. He seldom came to church, that this Sunday he did. He was also at the game the night before and saw me there. When he found out that we were cheering for the same team he said he would listen to my message. That morning, he got saved. What a joy it is for Cherri and me to see our associate staff at work all over this country. God is using them in personal witness, in our discipleship program, in our camps, in the public school ministries, and in their home churches.

-Dave and Cheri Kelso

Prayer Requests

Pray for the youth of Austria
For the young people of Bulgaria who went to the Missionary Conf. in Ukraine
For the Bible Club ministry in Brno, Czech-Republic
For the "Revelation Tour" that many would come to know Christ.
Pray for the young people taking evangelistic seminars in Lithuania
For the Bible Institute students in Kenya and funds for storm repairs
For Gabor and Tunde Csikos in Hungary for wisdom and spiritual insight
Pray for the dollar to raise towards the Euro in Poland
Pray for the Annual Family Day coming up in France on June 3rd
Pray for the many new believers in Romania, to be established in the faith
Pray for support for our new teams in Turkey and Greece
Pray for Sergio and Nancy Martinez as they move to Spain
Pray for the associated staff in the United Kingdom

News from Botswana

2010-06-08T06:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Loved Ones,

We are thankful tonight to have water coming into our house! We had been without it most of the week because our pump broke. For a couple days, they pumped water from the neighbors house, but then their pump broke! Thankfully, we have a great landlord and he worked hard to get it back in for us. It's so much easier to be without electricity that water. Now to catch up with the housework and laundry.

Today, we had the fun privilege of meeting Morero Khatse. He is the 6 month old son of Boniface and Pinki Khatse. If you remember, Pinki died while giving birth to little Morero back in December. He is SO cute! In Botswana, the babies are kept at home for 3 months after birth. We waited a bit longer because of the circumstances and so it was a great pleasure to meet him, and spend time with his Grandmother who is helping to raise him and Boniface, his dad. Boniface and the other children have been coming faithfully since Pinki died. He told us today that being in the church had brought such comfort to him. Pray for this family and their future.

In the Southern Africa region, all the talk is of World Cup soccer. The first official game is this coming Friday. We will plan to have some fellowships centered around the games of course, some activities at school. Pray for safety at the venues.

This week we will take time to do some planning for upcoming activities and the Lift camp we will host in August. Pray for God's direction as we plan.

Reaching the Unreached,
Steve, Pam, Amanda, Derek and Devin

News from Botswana

2010-06-03T07:34:00.000-07:00

Dear Loved Ones,

Good news on the medical front. Friday, my local doctor checked and we are happy to report that my heart is back in sinus rhythm. I will still need to have a procedure in July, but at least my heart is more at rest and not getting any weaker. So thankful for your prayers.

We had a great weekend. Our ladies and men's meeting were well attended. Twenty men! They were encouraged in the Word and many of them returned to hear Dr. Lovett speak on Sunday morning. We were thankful for two more saved. They have both attended our services for some time. We are so thankful for God's power to change lives.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about a young man named Mpoki who was saved after the service. Thursday, he dropped in my office to tell me he is moving to Tanzania! We so hate to see him go, but we know some good missionaries there and we pray he will settle close to some of them, so he can continue to grow in the Lord.

As always, we want to say that we treasure your prayers for this ministry. We are so grateful for all of you who care and sacrifice and our behalf.

Reaching the Unreached,

Steve, Pam, Amanda, Derek, and Devin

Village Missions

2010-05-28T08:09:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

We are happy to communicate with you to share the news– we are going to be posted in rural Pennsylvania. While it’s not written in stone, this is the latest news we have. We will be replacing a retiring Village Missions missionary. We should arrive on the field by early to mid-August. There are several things we would like you to pray about:

1.) Raising additional funds for this first move. (As you may recall, Village Missions will pay for all our subsequent moves, if necessary),

2.) We need to have our partners (friends) to assist us in the expense of our move. If you can please send whatever monetary assistance you can to Village Missions, specified for the Waugh’s moving expenses.

3.) Pray for the physical portion of our move. It is an exhausting job to pack and relocate.

It is great to see God’s hand at work. He brought Village Missions into our lives, then he brought each of you onto our team to pray and support us, and now He has given us a place. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

By way of other news: Valerie and I have reached our 37th wedding anniversary. What a testimony to her endurance and perseverance.

Again, we want to thank all of you for prayers and support. We have come to feel that you are more than on our team; you are family. God bless and keep you.

In His service,

Dan and Val Waugh

News from Mexico

2010-05-28T06:55:00.000-07:00

South O' Border
DR. & MRS LONNIE C. SMITH Sr.
Missionaries to Mexico
Hebrews 6:10
__________________________________________________________________
June 2010

Dear Friends in Christ:May was a very busy month for us here in the work.

We rejoice in the continued blessings of our Lord.Thanks to you we have reached our needs for the finances of all the DVBS material to supply over 10,000 boys and girls with the needed material to learn more about our Lord. Over 70 different churches and missions will conduct Bible clubs during July and August this year.

Last year over 3,000 accepted Christ as personal Savior. Our family continues to be blessed of the Lord. Our son Ronnie, who has served as a missionary in Mexico for over 30 years, received a PhD from Louisiana Baptist University this month. God has used him to establish over 15 churches in Monterrey and is working with two more at present. He has been active in family counseling also.

We have taken another step into the future with technology concerning the Spanish Fellowship Hymnal. A few years ago Margie and Yvonne B. recorded piano music for all 245 songs in our Spanish hymnal. Due to advance technology and some talented young people we now have the hymnal online. The Web site is: http://tribunainternacional.com/HimnariodelCBBM.aspx

This will give access for this hymnal to all Spanish pastors and churches. Also the title of each hymn is in English and Spanish. The music is the same in all languages. I have a list of the titles of each song in English. If you would need a copy of this list. Let me know and I can send it to you.

Beloved we thank you for your faithfulness in prayer and support for our ministry. God has been so good to us. He has supplied our every need. May He continue to bless you and yours.

Yours for souls in Mexico,
Lonnie & Margie

News from Botswana

2010-05-27T06:23:00.000-07:00

Dear Loved Ones,

We were in Johannesburg over the weekend and are just now settling in to give you an update on the week. Last Monday evening, I (Pam) woke up with a noticeable rapid heart rate. After visiting my doctor's office, it was decided we should go ahead down to South Africa, in case we needed a hospital. Thursday, I had an appointment with a cardiologist there who diagnosed me with atrial fibrillation. There are indications that it has been going on for a while. He put me on medication and I will be checked again in about 6 weeks.

It was fun to be in South Africa just ahead of the World Cup contest. Flags of all the World Cup participants are sold on every street corner along with other fun paraphernalia. We are thankful for the safety the Lord gave us while there and traveling.

Last Sunday at Desert Streams, they were on their own for the first time. One of our men, Dube, preached and we've heard it was a good message, especially because they got out earlier than usual! A couple of our youth helped with the sound and music. It seemed like it was a well attended service and everyone enjoyed. We are so thankful.

This coming weekend, we will host Mr. Herb Rawlings representing the Rawlings Foundation and two of his friends, Dr. and Mrs. Danny Lovett. We have meetings scheduled Saturday afternoon, special services on Sunday and will have Dr. Lovett speak to our students on Monday. Pray that the ministry here will be encouraged by the messages God lays on his heart.

Our school now has 430 students. Can you remember with us when we had 189? Unbelievable what God has done. We thank Him for the opportunity to teach the Scriptures daily to over 20 nationalities. We also thank Him for your love and care for us. We appreciated so much all that you do for us.

Reaching the Unreached,
Steve, Pam, Amanda, Derek and Devin

News from Mexico

2010-05-25T05:58:00.000-07:00

Dear Pastors and Friends,

Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus. Since the last time we wrote you, a lot of things have happened here.

My Timothys: These men have been active and productive preaching, visiting, and winning souls. They really bring joy to my heart and ministry. In a special Children's Day Sunday, they put together a play for the entire church with a great message. Three weeks later, people are still talking about it! Please keep these young men in your prayers. Their names are: Jorge Alejandro Montes Ramos, Uriel Hernandez Mojica, Jose Angel Castillo Avila, Enrique Rubio Ortega, and Hector Manuel Padilla Vega.

Death takes on holidays: One of our men who worked in a steel mill died in a work related accident. He was 47 years old. Because an inherited physical problem, he never married or had children. He lived with his mother, who is a charter member of Living Word Baptist. I preached to a full house at the funeral. Most of those present were non-believers and had never set foot in a Christian church before. There were several decisions for the Lord and one famiyl has come to church now on 4 occasions.

Visible Results: In the past 3 months, there have been 17 professions of faith, 2 have followed the Lord in baptism, and 16 new families have been coming to church. When we had the Lord's Supper recently, 72 were able to participate. We also have 32,200 dollars in our land fund!

Something Special: I was privileged to meet one of the professional soccer players from the Guadalajara Chivas team. We hit it off really well, and I have purchased a Bible with his name engraved on it to give him in our next visit.

We praise the Lord for what He is doing here and we THANK YOU for your participation in this ministry.

'Til Jesus Comes,
Lonnie C. Smith, Jr.

News from the Bonners

2010-05-19T05:48:00.000-07:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Greetings in the name of the Lord. Hoping and praying this letter finds all of you in God's perfect will. I would like to apologize for not writing in a while. Please forgive me. Becky sends her greetings as well and we both feel all of you need to know the latest updates on my health, so here goes.

Ever since last September when I suffered a heart attach, I have never fully recovered from it. My heart has been what they call A-Fib, which means it is indeed out of sync. Because of this the last few months have been just up and down. No strength or stamina, shortness of breath. I also had a streak where I was bleeding internally. After several tests, it was found that one of the valves in my heart has been leaking for some time. Every time my heart beets, the valve does not open and shut normally and so my heart is leaking blood.

I saw a heart surgeon who strongly suggested we go in for a valve replacement along with two by-passes. One of my arteries is clogged again. He is not sure of the extent of the damage but my heart is getting weaker and weaker. When I asked the doctor what if I do not have surgery, he said my heart would continue to weaken at a faster pace and I would not last very long, so really there is no other option that surgery. They are going in to my chest next week with a camera to check the valve to see if it can be repaired or replaced. My heart surgery is on the 7th of June. The doctor said, my heart is not strong, and it is not weak, it is sort of right in the middle. He would rather operate on a stronger heart, but my heart will continue to weaken the longer I wait for surgery. If I wait too long, then the risk will be much higher. The doctor said as of right now the success rate on a surgery like mine, in the condition the heart is in, will be around 90%. I will take those odds any day.

So there you have it. I know many of you have tried to call but my cell phone is kaput. I dropped it in the toilet and it is finished. I am not going to get another cell unless all is successful. No sense in getting a new two year contract if I am with Jesus. PLEASE, PRAY for Becky. She is taking this hard. She weeps and worries over me. Please pray God would give her His grace to go through this.

I will not be able to go to Africa summer, so please continue to pray for IAM Ministries. We have around $12,000 raised for container, and just need $4,000 more. Please pray about this need. Thank you all of yo for the cards and letters, support and especially the prayers. God bless each of you.

In Jesus Name,
Bobby and Becky Bonner
IAM Ministries

Ron & Vicki Letts

2010-05-19T05:30:00.000-07:00

Dear Pastor and Church Family,

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, today is a great spring day which makes you glad you're alive...it also means you have to get jobs done around the house as a result of the long winter. We are trying to get our house ready to rent while we are on the field. Years ago we were able to buy a small ranch home for about nine thousand dollars. It wasn't something you could live in until we did a make over. It was a one bedroom NO bath house...now it is a 4 bedroom, two full bath house...we sub-contracted and did all that work while on deputation the first time. When we finished it we moved to Australia...so the renters enjoy our finished work. Because we rent it out when we go back to the field, it means extra maintenance when we return. So we are in that process right now...but I'm sure you know what that all in tales...Painting, shingles, gutters so on and so on making sure you (meaning me) get as much done as possible to eliminate extra expenses by hiring someone to do the job while you're away.

Well...we are at 68% and have a pretty good schedule a head of us. I sure hope the churches that have promised support can come through before the end of the year. We also have to raise enough to equip us to do the work in Australia once we get there...like 3 months rent in advance, a car, travel expenses, shipping and so forth. So...if that wasn't a hint, I don't know what to call it.

Just recently, we have had the privilege of sharing our ministry in two churches in Kentucky and both has taken us on. Now, we are going back to two more this week...it would be great to continue that pattern. I know I don't have to remind you of the situation our country is in, and yet God's people are stepping out by faith and trusting Him to provide by partnering with us missionaries around the world. Thank you for showing your faith in our all sufficient God.

Serving Christ Together,

Ron and Vicki Letts
Missionaries to Australia

News from Botswana

2010-05-18T06:10:00.000-07:00

Dear Loved Ones,

We are sitting at our lunch table at one of our local malls--couldn't wait to give you an update on what is happening. So neat to have Wi-Fi in Gaborone!

Today, I was gathering the materials used during Sunday School and moving them to the storage area when one of our young men came in and asked if he could talk to me for a minute. As I sat down with him, I thought, MAYBE he wants to be saved. I have been praying for him for some time and the last time I asked he said, "not yet." He said, "Miss Pam, I know you have been praying for me, and I just want you to know, I was saved this morning. I just finished talking the Pastor. I know you've been praying and I want to thank you for that." HALLELUJAH! What a great morning! Mpooki has been attending nearly every Sunday for over a year now. He is a university student.

More than a year ago, we had a young Botswana couple saved in our service one morning. They were engaged but soon afterwards they broke up and both of them stopped coming to church. We kept trying to reach them, but they stopped answering our calls and eventually we just gave the situation to the Lord. This morning the man walked into the service. Somehow during the week, he had talked with one of our new teachers and she talked about the church. He said, HEY! I used to go there. This morning he walked in and told Steve--I'm back! And I'll be back again next week :) Amazing. Only God can do things like this.

Yesterday, we had a camp reunion. We invited all the young people who filled decision cards during our recent camp, back for a day of "first steps." We had music, games, and teaching. It will take a lot of work to assimilate them, but we are working hard to do that. Yesterday, we had 90 of them for the afternoon. We have another day planned for next month. We will keep working and pray that we ca maintain connections with more and more of those that were at camp. Pray for those that came and those that did not come. The young man we wrote about recently whose parents have commented that has life has changed so much, did come, but when his group of friends didn't come, he did not stay. Pray that he will continue to hunger and thirst for the Lord and God will give him courage to come no matter what.

This next Sunday, one of our men will preach for the first time. Steve and I leave Wednesday afternoon for Johannesburg, Lord willing. Thursday, I have an appointment with a cardiac specialist who works with arrhythmias. Friday morning, I am scheduled for an electrophysiological test. It is a test performed to analyze electrical activity of the heart. I should spend the day at the hospital, but Lord willing, will be released by early evening. Please pray that the doctors will have wisdom to know what to do with the information they learn on this test. I've been told that I might have energy again....! That'd be more wonderful. Please pray for Dube that God will give him wisdom as he studies and courage as he brings the Word!

We thank you so much for the gift of your prayers and financial support.

News From Turkey

2010-05-17T05:57:00.000-07:00

Gateway Update and Prayer Requests from Turkey: May 15, 2010

ESL Program expanding: Three new ESL teachers from Northwest Arkansas arrived in Turkey today! They are now on the plane out to Sodom[1] to work with E. and meet up with “G.” our other ESL teacher from NW Arkansas! “G.” and these three are all from the same fellowship and we are grateful to them and to their answering God’s call to go and serve in an unreached land! They had a brief layover in Istanbul before heading to Sodom and they brought bags for Zacchaeus projects with them as well. Pray as we are considering sending them out in teams to “Crazy Man” province and “Thousand Lakes” province to start ESL programs and to shine as Ambassadors for Jesus Christ there. Pray for their safety, cultural adjustment, health and for a spirit of boldness and unity. I will begin to refer to this NW Arkansas ESL group as the Arkies.

Historical Kurdish meeting in May: E., K. S. and J. will be heading to another province to join with Kurdish brothers from all over the country. The goal is to see a network of Kurmanji churches started all over the country! Right now we are working on the first Kurmanji praise book and we are looking forward to meeting other like-minded Kurdish speaking brothers. Please pray for the safety of our travels, for God’s Spirit to guide us during this time, pray also for protection against forces and groups that do not want to see this take place.
Update from a small village in Syria: A Gateway Country J. has shared the Gospel in and that we plan on sending national workers to.

Recent Honor Killing in Syria: A woman’s life is worth 6 months in prison. Today I had a very saddening conversation with a Kurdish Syrian friend of mine. He told me the recent news of the latest honor killing in his village. A village where I have visited and shared the Gospel and have been praying now for over 6 years. Some question the work of missionaries and are even belligerent against those who are called to carry the message of Christ to other cultures. Some say, “they already have a religion and culture why would you want to change their way of life”. Let me explain just one example that you won’t hear on your local news about what goes on in these areas. Just this year in this small Kurdish village in Syria, a woman was caught by her husband in the very act of adultery. After much yelling and fighting he told the situation to her family. They took her outside of the village and executed her. This was done by her own family; the murderer will only serve 5-6 months as the Syrian laws look at honor killings as a necessary evil. Thus a woman’s life is worth 5-6 months jail time. On the other hand the man that was with the woman during the act of adultery is free and no one touched him. Why? Because if he would have been killed or harmed in any way that would have triggered a war between his tribe and the tribe that harmed or killed him. The woman was the scape-goat, the one that “dirtied” the family and to “cleanse” their honor she had to be eliminated. Unfortunately the majority of the village agreed with this decision.
Please pray for this village called “Tree” in Syria and that the Lord would send His laborers here.
J. from Istanbul

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New Donations can be made online by going to:
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EPIC International
115 Woodland Way, Suite 120Canton, GA 30114

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[1] For those of you that are interested in why we call Sodom, Sodom J. has written a cultural article on Sodom and the depravity of the area. Respond back to this email requesting the article and he will send it.

Update From Turkey

2010-05-12T06:02:00.000-07:00

Gateway/EPIC Newsletter
May 11, 2010

Gateway/EPIC breaks ground in an unreached Kurdish Eastern Province: It is a privilege to be a (lower-cased) apostle for the Lord Jesus Christ here in these lands. It is also an honor to be able to bring good news concerning the battle front of spreading the message of salvation to those whom have never met a Christian, seen a Bible or know anything about sin, righteousness and the coming judgment.

We set out for Beytel East located in Sodom May 1st and with a total of 9 made up of both foreigners and nationals. We drove to an unreached province (4 hours away) called Thousand Lakes. In a very large municipality called Snowy Plain we met with the mayor and city council, along with other prominent members/business owners of the community. We traveled to another Eastern province and stopped and prayed for each village and worshipped the Lord along the way. Another municipality Seven Waters asked us to visit them in Thousand Lakes province but we did not have enough time. At Snowy Plain we introduced ourselves and made plans with the approval of the local government to begin to send English teachers as a service to their community. Also J. with Erd taught a self-defense clinic for Kurdish school girls. This was well received and the girls cannot wait for the next lessons! Other authorities that were not so keen on our presence there frightened the mayor of the Snowy Plain province. We understood that we needed to leave immediately so as not to cause him problems. However the next day not only the mayor but the other municipality called us asking for us to come and begin the programs. J. told the mayor of Snowy Plain that he and other Christians would be praying for him and his town. Please join in prayer with J. for not only Snowy Plain, but also for Seven Waters along with the whole province of Thousand Lakes.

The area is very complex made up of three different languages Zazaki, Kurmanji and Turkish along with two different religions, Alevism and Sunni Islam. The majority of Snowy Plain live under a Feudal system and Islamic Sharia law. The mayor and the educated/those we met with want to change this. Pray for us as we plan to send the first teacher to this area. Pray the Lord would give us wisdom in this and that the doors would stay open in these areas so that we may proclaim the Gospel boldly and clearly.

See the pictures here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/gatewayeducationalservices?ref=profile

Sharing the Gospel in Sodom: “What are you doing to prepare for Judgment day”? Was the question I asked those at the barber shop near E.’s house. They looked at me and said, “Pray five times a day”. I replied, “Do you really do that”? They answered, “well no”. I replied, “well how do you repent of your sins”? They answered, “we pray.” I said, “So you just say to God I am sorry and then your sin is completely gone, you say you pray 5 times a day for forgiveness but then you admit you really do not do that either! Why do you expect that God will let you go free without paying a penalty when here on earth when you steal, kill, lie, cheat, slander you must go before a judge in court and when condemned you must pay a penalty. When you stand before God one day, there will be a judgment and a penalty to be paid”. They asked me, “Well how do you as a Christian repent”? I explained from the sacrificial system from Adam and Eve, to Abraham and Isaac all the way to the final, perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon the cross. “He paid the penalty on the cross, by His shed blood; He paid for your and my sins”. “We confess our sins to God, but our sins our forgiven because of Christ.” The conversation continued about what true Christianity is compared to what they see on the TV and what a True Christian is compared to one that is just a Christian by name. Many other subjects were discussed concerning the Faith. I challenged them to read the Old and New Testament as they need to know the truth. It just so happens that two of those whom I shared with were originally from Dagestan (Near Chechnya) an area I have been praying for now since December. Their families immigrated to Sodom long ago but they still hold on to their roots. Please pray for Masum, Murat and Ferat. Also pray for the others who overheard our conversation at the barber shop. E. will be following up on these.

Announcements:
1. Beytel West has moved: As of April 22 Beytel West located in Istanbul has moved to a new location. We were sad to move from the place where we ministered for 4 years however it was time for a fresh start in a new area. There have been many issues regarding the secret police, the Muslim owner, along with some incidents over the last year that drove the many of the members of Beytel away. After much prayer and fasting concerning all of this since March of 2009 the Lord answered our prayer. We praise God for His leading in this and believe that He will continue to cleanse and protect His church from attacks from without and wolves that try to destroy from within. Prayer Requests: Pray that God would continue to protect His church from dissension, rivalry, jealousy and that there would be a spirit of unity, love and humbleness. Pray that the Lord would grow our church here, specifically that they would always walk in the Spirit, in all holiness and love, clinging close to the Lord and His word.

2. Dr. Mujdeci also known as Dr. K. that we had worked with for many years and in October of 2009 separated from because of some theological issues, has since then spoken with J. and E. concerning these on several occasions. Dr. K. has recanted of any former theological views that made us uncomfortable. Pray for this brother as he continues to works to see the Kingdom grow in T. province. Any work in this country is hard and is full of battles, the spiritual forces on the losing side are trying to keep their ground please pray for the work here.

Academic Summer for J. and L.: As of the first week of June J. will be heading to New York and Pennsylvania then has 3 seminary classes. One in Washington D.C. June 07-11th. One in Orlando FL. June 21-26 and one in Charlotte NC. June 28-July 1. L. will be finishing her last classes and taking her comps for her Ed.D. in Educational Psychology/Special Education July 5th-18th in West Virginia. Needs: A vehicle to use from June 4th through August 4th. If anyone knows of an extra vehicle that they can use that could be picked up in Pennsylvania or New York please let us know. Or if anyone knows a cheap way to rent a car for 2 months please reply to this email. Also J. would like to know if there is a place that he could stay while in Washington D.C., Orlando and Charlotte while taking his classes?

Thank you for partnering with the ministry here in the Middle East and for your financial support and prayers as they are what keep us going here to reach the unreached.

J. from Istanbul

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Check out the EPIC’s Website: www.epicinternational.org

New Donation Instructions and new giving address for Gateway Supporters:

New Donations can be made online by going to: http://www.epicinternational.org/designated_donation.html Please make sure you designate your giving to Jacob Pursley (Gateway)

Or send checks snail-mail to: EPIC International 115 Woodland Way, Suite 120
Canton, GA 30114

Please note or indicate on the check in the memo: PURSLEY or GATEWAY.

2010-05-04T08:04:00.000-07:00

THE UKRAINE REPORT

MAY - JUNE 2010

Dear Pastor Burress and friends at Victory Baptist Church,

Here it is almost summer, and it seems like we were just celebrating Christmas not long ago. We have three Bible college classes in process now: one in western Ukraine on Biblical Counseling, one in eastern Ukraine on Cross-Cultural Ministries, and one in our city on OT Survey, all taught by American professors.

We wish we were able to attend each of them .Soon we will be in the USA to attend more Russian language school and visit some churches. We are looking forward to seeing many of you. Nancy is busy trying to pack for all of the classes, school, and furlough at the same time.

The Lord has been blessing the Bible college; here couple of testimonies.

Sergey Konovalenko - 2010 I thank Ron and his wife Nancy for their ministry and for this seminar which we had in our church. You do so much for us! You teach us truth and we find out a lot of new things about God, the Bible and doctrines. Thank you for a book which I could get on this seminar. I'd been looking for it for several months. Thank you for everything. May God bless you and your mission! If you have some more Christian Literature bring it and I will use it.

Alexandra Miroshnikova - 2010 I want to thank Ron and Nancy and also Taniusha for their labor. I believe the Lord will render you for your time and strength and patience. This class was a big blessing for me.... I found out lots of new things about our God: his attributes, Holiness, and also, how His wonderful Word came to us through copying manuscripts and I don’t stop wondering how omnipotent and beautiful our Lord is. I will pray for you that you will be able to tell about Him to many people and they will be able to get the same blessing as I did. With love in Christ, Alexandra M. (the best student of the class :)

We really appreciate you folks at Victory Baptist helping us win Ukrainians for Christ. Thanks for partnering with us.

Ron and Nancy
-- Grace be with you

South O' Border

2010-05-04T07:39:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends in Christ,

The History of the Spanish Fellowship Hymnal

When Margie and I arrived in Mexico to begin our ministry the only Hymnal available was "Himnarion Popular" -- Popular Songbook with around 400 songs and cost $3 each. At that time the daily wage for the common wage was $.50 cents per day. Not many could afford one. Only the pianist and director had one. The first thing Margie and I did (with her playing) was to add the English title to each song.

Harold DeVilbiss compiled a small hymnal without music of 96 songs and chorused (some that he had translated. In 1965, with his permission we began to publish these in large quantities at $.25. In the late 70's the publishers decided to discontinue the popular hymnal and began publishing the "Baptist Hymnal" consisting of over 800 songs and costing $12. Few could afford this price.

At that time we began to write, translate, and publish over 65 booklets for SS and other doctrinal material, using obsolete equipment. The masters cost $5 each. We began to publish these books and our monthly bulletin "South O' Border" from 1962 to 1989.

Again with permission we extended the Fellowship Hymnal to 249 songs and choruses. (Margie and I have translated over 50 hymnals; some were included in this addition). At first we only did the words of the songs, which fit on 30 sheets, printed on both sides. We used a blue cardboard cover and saddle stitched the book. The cost was about $.75. Later that year we realized the need for the music. The guitar chords were added by Abel Delgado with the English titles. Sixty pages are needed. The binding was with a plastic spiral. Cost was $1.50.

In 1999 after much frustration with old equipment, the Lord gave us a new FR 2950 Risagraph printer from Japan. The masters cost only $.25 and could print over 5,000 copies if necessary. Praise God it is still in use today. Over 4 million copies have been done with this equipment to date.

It is now small talk to produce 1000 hymnals (the press holds 1000 at a time). First the master copy of the book is make (later Marvin Hooge prepared new master which we still use). The covers have to be prepared apart in lots of 4500 each and cost about $.15. There is a need of 30,000 sheets of paper for each 1000 books.

To print books with music 60,000 sheets are needed printed on both sides. Then they have to be folded for the saddle stitch, which is an old heavy-duty foot-operated machine.

Eliseo Delgado, pastor of Canton Baptist Temple in Reynosa Mexico, and hi family have put together or collated and stapled all the books we have printed, including all the hymnals. After being prepared they are saddle stitched and bound with spiral by Eliseo.

They are then transported back to our place where we use an electric guillotine paper cutter to trim the edges. Since it only cuts one edge at a time, this makes three cuts for each hymnal. Then they are placed in the original boxes and are ready to be distributed to the churches and missions where they are needed.

Another very important part of this process is pastor Angel Zapata of our First Bible Baptist Church in Reynosa Mexico. He is in charge of distribution. This is only achieved mainly two times a year when the BBF of Mexico meet for the national Fellowship meetings.

There are many others who have a part in this process. One year Dr. Billy McClain at Shining Light Ministries printed 10,000 hymnals with words only. These were distributed to other Spanish speaking countries.

We feel that all this has made a difference in the worship services in the churches and missions of Mexico and other Spanish speaking countries. We believe that over 30,000 of the 96-song book were printed. Of the hymnals without music over 150,000 have been printed and distributed. There have been over 5,000 hymnals with music printed and distributed. This week we just finished another 1000 without music.

Remember, this is just a sideline for us. While doing this, with the help of our two sons we have built over 130 churches and missions in Mexico, complete with buildings and a Mexican pastor. We have built and directed a youth camp. Directed two Bible Institutes and have an online Theological Seminary for missionaries and Spanish speaking pastors.

You have made this possible with your prayers and financial help. Some may think we are bragging.Well we are; not in what we have done but in what God has done in, through and sometimes in spite of us.

Yours for souls in Mexico,
Lonnie and Margie

News from Botswana

2010-04-26T06:09:00.000-07:00

Dear Loved Ones,

What a different Sunday! First of all, it is the first "cold" spell along with rain...we got all ready for the service and the electricity went off. Not a problem in the village, but the capital city...well, it mattered. It would flicker every now and again and each time it did, the fire alarm went off! We took time to just sing a few songs, testimonies and prayer requests and then Steve preached the Great Commission. We need to disciple the students that were saved at camp and so he gave that challenge this morning. We ended up with three saved!

We heard a great story this week about a man who attended camp. His mother is meeting with a friend of ours for an investigative Bible study. No one in the family is a believer. The boy attends a local high school and has been in a lot of trouble at school and at home for fighting, etc. This week the mother related to our friend, "I don't know what when on at that camp, but my son is a totally different person. He has been reading his Bible, his behavior is different and even my husband is now reading the Bible." We pray this is being repeated in many homes across the city. We can't wait to start the follow-up. This week we have a "reunion" planned for Friday. We will invite all the students who filed out response cards during camp. The idea is to get them in and get them interested in a life lived for Jesus Christ. Please remember this in prayer.

Tomorrow our staff comes back for Term two preparation and classes begin next Monday. Pray with us as God directs us for activities for this term. Pray that we might reach families for Christ. We would love to have some new ideas. If you know of a fun activity for school, perhaps something from your child's school, let us know.

We are thankful for all who are continuing to give sacrificially to this ministry. We know many are struggling with the economy and we want you to know we are ever so grateful for how God blesses the money that you send each month.

Just to remind you that we live in Africa...today the young man who stays on the property on Sunday for protection, brought us one of our chickens - dead - and a mongoose - also dead because he killed the chicken. Interesting...

Reaching the Unreached,
Steve, Pam, Amanda, Derek and Devin

Update from L. in Turkey

2010-04-26T06:03:00.000-07:00

Update from: L. April 25, 2010

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This week one of my seven year old students was suspended for the day for throwing a rock at another child’s forehead and sending him to the hospital. This same child tried to hit me with a chair and stab me with a pencil a few weeks ago. We have been concerned about his behavior and feel that he needs professional help, yet I am not allowed to talk to the parents about these issues or recommend him for testing. He displays signs of Emotional/Behavioral Disorder and would benefit from special education interventions. Pray that God would show our academic coordinator the need for these children.

I want to thank you all for your prayers and thoughts for what God is doing in Turkey. It is exciting to be in a country where special education is so new and the opportunities and possibilities are numerous. It is also a frustrating and difficult time to enter the field of special education here. Most Turks do not understand what is meant by special education or what it involves for children with special needs. Most Turks also do not see a need for special education or recognize that a child may be in need of special services. There are few specialists in the field and few schools for students to receive special education. However, more universities are beginning to specialize in teaching special education and encouraging teachers to enter the field.
In August I will finish classes in my doctoral program and in July I will be taking my comprehensive exams. The next step in the Fall will be to begin my dissertation and research.
I would like to ask you all to pray for me for several things. Please pray that

1. I am able to do well on these exams.
2. That God gives me the topic that He wants me to research and the correct method of research.
3. God would provide the finances I need to continue the program as I am having to take next year off work to complete the research part of my program.
4. That God would begin to show me the long term plans he has for me here in Turkey in the field of special education.
5. Please pray for my two teaching colleagues that I have been sharing with S and H and a parent that I am developing a relationship with named F.

Thank you all so much for your support and prayers. The children here in need of special education suffer and fall into the cracks of society and education. As part of God’s cultural mandate they must be helped and incorporated into society and be given opportunities to learn and grow like everyone else. I pray that God allows me to be a part of working on behalf of these children.

Please join my Facebook group ASET: Advancing Special Education in Turkey: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=241526049239

The Proctors in Sydney

2010-04-21T06:35:00.000-07:00

G'day to each of you, from "down under"!

About Time
It has been quite some time since we've reported to each of you our faithful prayer and financial supporters! For you we remain extremely grateful--as many of you have confirmed your commitment to pray for us and this remains a great necessity. You who are sacrificing with your personal financial giving, as well, continue to minister encouragement to our souls!

Support Levels
As I've mentioned in our previous report to you, our support from the States has been hit by natural attrition over the last several years. However, we have gained back minimal support from some individual supporters. Thankfully, the group of churches we are working with here in Australia is providing a degree of financial support as well.

What's Happening?
I promised in our last report that once we'd finalized the details of our new ministry position we'd share the details with you so that you might gain a better understanding of how to pray for us. We arrived back in Australia in January, this year. Please know that we've been keeping ourselves busy with an innumerable variety of ministry opportunities. It is, however, a great blessing to now have a more specific understanding of our longer and shorter term goals and to have a clearer sense of what is expected of us by the oversight Committee of the large church organization to whom we have been accountable to called "Christian Community Churches of Australia"! Up to this point Kim and I have been serving in our new church home, Norwest Community Church. We have been involved with speaking engagements, prayer meetings, visitation, mentoring, counseling etc.

We've had several opportunities to help out in other churches both in the capacity of filling the pulpit and in some mentoring of other pastors and church leaders, which is basically what I'll be doing in this new position.

In regards to the details of our new ministry responsibilities, I'll try to summarize here:

First, locally, and eventually on a broader, more national level, we'll be traveling and spending time with the leaders of this growing group of churches.
We'll be preaching / teaching in the churches, as well, when requested.
We'll consult strategically with churches that would like to help in ascertaining where they currently are and where they are heading, or would like to head in reaching their community with the Gospel.
We'll be encouraging new church plants.
We'll encourage a stronger sense of world-wide needs in the area of Missions.
We'll also encourage stronger leadership and training in various essential areas of ministry by presenting the opportunities that exist to further personal education through several accredited, solid Bible institutions that exist here in Australia.
We'll endeavor to be an ear, as well as, a source of prayer support for those who need encouragement or who desire advice in regards to various issues that may arise (many pastors and leaders are struggling with various personal or church trials and others are dealing with pastoral-related emotional stress).
We'll seek to encourage a stronger and more unified bond between the churches so as to be a greater witness and effective force in the face of the growing hostility and secularization of this very "western" society that is, sadly, becoming increasingly more in a state of apathy and indifference towards the things of God.
Ultimately, we'll have far greater opportunities to minster to churches in Australia that we've ever had before. The 22 years experience we've had in church planting and being a pastor is of great benefit to our being able to make a contribution to the multiple facets of church growth and provides, as well, a great level of credibility with fellow Australians.

Project Mobility

Due to the changes in ministry, as we've explained above, I'll be traveling a great deal more than in the past. Also due to increasing fuel prices and other travel expenses, I'm planning to purchase a motorcycle to help ease some of the travel and schedule conflicts for Kim and me. We do have a Mitsubishi sedan which we both are able to use. The 1994 Mazda that Kim has been using for many years had pretty much "bit the dust"!

The motorcycle will be very useful for most, but not all of my personal travel needs, yet a great blessing in many ways. I'll need so spend abotu $5,000(US) for a proper used motorbike. (In Australia, by the way, motorbikes are almost twice what they cost in the U.S.!) If you can help towards this project, above your regular financial support, in any way, we would be so gratful.

Positive in Prayer

We are very excited about the prospect of how we can serve in these new ways here in Australia!! Please be much in prayer for us that we can truly be a blessing to both many individuals and churches. Please pray for wisdom and organizational skills, and that we would gain deeper insight as to how we can make a difference and have a greater impact in Australia for the Glory of our great King!

News from Turkey

2010-04-20T07:29:00.000-07:00

Gateway/EPIC Newsletter: April 19, 2010

God is answering the prayers that you have offered up for us:

1. That God would open doors to preach the Gospel and that we may be able to preach it clearly and boldly.

2. That the Word of God would speed ahead and be honored as it goes.

3. That God would send more laborers into the harvest, as there are few true workers though the work is great. Thank you all for continuing to keep us in your prayers during this very busy month.

Here is just a glimpse of what has been happening, and how God is answering your prayers:

Preaching at a Mosque in Sodom: We had the opportunity in this dark and lost city to preach the Gospel boldly and answer questions concerning Christianity at the front of a very famous mosque. This mosque is famous for Folk Muslims to come to make vows, sacrifices and pray at the tombs of the dead Muslim saints. An older woman that J. knew from the mosque when speaking there before recognized J. and began to speak to him, remembering their previous conversation about Christianity. The woman asked J. about the Qur’an, Muhammad and his opinion concerning them. J. replied that “Jesus was above all prophets and even according to the Qur’an Jesus is higher and more exalted than Muhammad. As Jesus was the only sinless prophet, born of a virgin, and one that raised the dead and healed the sick and made the blind see. He is also the only prophet that is not lying in a grave like those entombed in the mosque and Muhammad is even in his tomb.” This caused quite a stir and soon J. had a large crowd of young and old, children, men and women gathered around to hear this new news. Many of the people had questions concerning the reliability of the Bible and about the person of Jesus and why Christians believe He was the last prophet. This gave J. the opportunity to share in detail the story of God’s plan for salvation starting with Adam and Eve ending with Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins. J. said, “The promise of God is that the one who believes in Jesus Christ will have eternal life, and this is the hope, and only in Christianity can one know 100% that they will be in heaven with God”. The local Qur’anic teacher came up with her students and asked many questions and argued over points concerning the person of Jesus. Later the Imam of the mosque came and asked if J. would come inside that they may discuss further these matters. Two hours had passed at the steps of the mosque. Right before J. left one very old and frail woman came up to J., but did not speak Turkish only Kurmanji, she asked if J. would pray for her son that was in jail for something he didn’t do. J. prayed there for the elderly woman and for those who listened in. J. challenged all there to read the Bible, for even the Qur’an admonishes Muslims to read it.

Prayer points: Pray that these seeds would grow in the hearts of those who heard and that many would come out of the darkness and into the marvelous light.

Preaching the Gospel and teaching the Bible to ESL students in Sodom: Since we began an ESL program in Sodom the Lord has opened the doors to preach the Gospel clearly to the students. Our intern Zurafa helped begin this ministry and now it is continued by “G.” who came from Northwest Arkansas to help. E. has the opportunity to share with the students, before class, during breaks and after class. Sometimes the whole class time is taken up answering questions concerning what Christians believe, what the Bible is, why Christians do not accept the Qur’an or Muhammad etc… Recently the students were able to hear clearly the Gospel from Adam and Eve through the advent of Christ. They asked, “Why do you not believe Muhammad is the last prophet or accept him.” This opened the door to explain God’s plan for salvation and how all prophets only speak of Jesus as the one to come to save His people. Either all the prophets are liars or they are telling the truth. The students were challenged to believe in Christ. They asked to see what a Christian prayer is like, and were able to see us Christians at Beytel East pray before the Lord on behalf of the students and their families. They were touched to see such prayer as none like it exists in Islam. After this one of the students wanted to speak with E. privately about the faith!

To see pics from the ESL class go here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/gatewayeducationalservices?ref=profile

Prayer Points: Please pray for these ongoing lessons at Beytel East (Sodom) 5 days a week. Pray for G. who is away from his home country and familiar surroundings in a very dark place. Pray for his encouragement and perseverance. Pray that these students would come to faith in the Messiah, Jesus and give their lives to Him. We are waiting for the Lord to bring the harvest in.

Trip to Northern Iraq: This trip taken by E., K. two guests and supporters from Arkansas, and many from the EPIC team. Their trip was blessed as they were able to encourage many national Kurdish believers in Iraq and also many Iranian believers that came over from the border. They made many good contacts and shared with many eager to hear the truth along the way! Many former Kurdish terrorists are now believers in the Prince of Peace and left their life on the mountain and are now serving the King that brings true Hope! We praise God for our brothers and sisters in Northern Iraq and are privileged now to partner with them!

Personal Evangelism Update: Please pray for Zafer, Zehra, Metin, Adnan, Kadir, Zuhal, Deniz, Mustafa, Sibel and Orhan, whom we have been sharing the Gospel with since our last newsletter. We have given them the Bible, and or other materials on Christianity, some we have watched the Jesus Film with and we continue to pray and water, waiting for their hearts to be opened to the Truth. Please pray with us concerning them as well!

Requests from E. in Sodom: We need English teachers (ESL) to come, live and teach in Sodom, preferably a young couple. We have another opportunity to use English to share the Gospel to 25 more students in a province just south of here in Sodom. They asked us today to send a teacher to them to come and spend at least 2 days a week to teach! Please pray and ask God if He would like for you to come and help in Sodom and in this Southern province. We need a building/place that we own to have a permanent place to give ESL lessons, a base in the East to store Zacchaeus projects goods, evangelistic materials, and house the weekly guests that come in and have Bible studies with seekers. Please ask God if He would have you help in this way. -Please keep us in our prayers concerning the requests that we made in the last newsletter as much more is happening this month! Thank you and we love you all!

J. from Istanbul

Join us on Facebook: Gateway Educational

Website: www.gatewayeducation.org

Check out the EPIC’s Website: www.epicinternational.org

New Donation Instructions and new giving address for Gateway Supporters: New Donations can be made online by going to: http://www.epicinternational.org/designated_donation.html

Please make sure you designate your giving to Jacob Pursley (Gateway)

Or send checks snail-mail to: EPIC International 115 Woodland Way, Suite 120
Canton, GA 30114

Please note or indicate on the check in the memo: PURSLEY or GATEWAY.

News from Botswana

2010-04-08T07:16:00.000-07:00

Dear Loved Ones,

Our hearts are full and rejoicing for all God has done in the past couple of weeks here. We have had 13 saved and 5 baptizes! One lady was saved tonight as we prepared for the camp will will be having next week! She and her boyfriend visited Easter Sunday and came last night to a gathering we had at a local restaurant, came tonight for camp preparations and was challenged that you can't give what you don't have. She did not have Jesus Christ in her life when she came, but when she left she did! How great is that!?!!?

Pleas pray as we work to assimilate these new believers into our church family. Steve baptized three men this month! One was Chuck who has been saved for some time, but spends a lot of time traveling for funerals for his extended family as he is the oldest living son. Steve spends a lot of time with him ans we were so excited to see him baptized. His wife says she just can't believe it. Another man is living with AIDS--he and his wife were saved after the service on Palm Sunday and he was baptized this past week. Another was one of our school teachers.

Thabo was saved after her friend died. She was baptized, brought another friend who was saved and then baptized on Palm Sunday. She also invited the lady who was saved tonight! She is so excited and it is so much fun to see her bring her friends to the Master.

We are working on a holiday camp for youth in Gaborone this coming Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday. Our people are so excited but they don't really get what is happening! They've never done anything like this before. Pray as they begin to work together to see this happen. Pray the rains will stop and the ground will begin to dry. Pray that this barren spiritual land will begin to come to life. Pray that the Word of God may have free course and that we will be able to follow-up all who come to Him in this next week. We believe God is able--we are willing to work and we believe the harvest will come.

Please remember also to pray for our physical stamina. I, Pam, had some tests done and was diagnosed with ventricular tachycardia. We are waiting to get into a doctor in South Africa for further tests. Our cardiologist says this is what is causing my excessive fatigue so I'm hoping to get some help and gain some energy.

We believe God is answering prayers--thank you for praying with us and sacrificing so we can be a part of the harvest here.

We love to be
Reaching the Unreached,

Steve, Pam, Amanda, Derek, and Devin

News from Turkey

2010-04-05T05:48:00.000-07:00

Gateway/EPIC Newsletter from Turkey: April 4, 2010

The Lord is Risen! Rab Dirildi! (Turkish) Xudan Vejîya! (Kurmanji)

Dear partners in the ministry,

The Risen Lord is moving here in this country and in the ministry that we have been given. We have been blessed more than ever and at the same time we have been given more work from the King. Please we need you to take the burden off of us by partnering in prayer with us for the major events taking place in April and May. They are so important and need to be bathed in prayer. Pray as you read over these and then please try to set aside a time of prayer and fasting for each. I am burdened for all of this beyond explanation.

1. EPIC/Gateway to go to a neighboring country next week:

Pray as we travel next week (April 7-12) to the East and then on to a neighboring country. Pray that many good contacts would be made, that the Lord would speak through and use “Jn.” “E.” and “M.” in a mighty way in the lives of the people whom they will speak to. Pray for safe passage to and from the country. This will be Kenan’s first ministry trip outside of Turkey and we are excited to see him grow and to be used of the Lord.

2. Short-term Evangelistic Trip to several Eastern provinces:

From April 20-28th “C.” a brother from Scotland, E. K., J. and a new national in training with Gateway/EPIC to reach the Kurds named “A.” will be heading out to villages in the East in search of the King’s lost sheep.

As we go we need much prayer:

1. For our unity.

2. For our protection from road hazards, terrorists, evil men who oppose the Gospel.

3. For our health.

4. For open doors in new unreached villages and that the Word of the Lord would be accepted as we preach, and that we would preach boldly as we ought to.

5. That the Word would speed ahead and that it would honored.

6. For the Holy Spirit to give us a sensitivity to His leading as we speak, as we travel and what villages to go to and how long to stay at each place.

6. Pray for “A.” as this will be his first experience to do something like this, pray that he would be encouraged and God would lead him to be a strong leader. Please pray and fast for this.

Remember when we do these trips we are usually the first Ambassadors for the King that people in these areas have ever meet, and Satan hates what we are doing.

3. Zacchaeus Projects goes to the East (English and Martial Arts):

The first week of May we will be in 2 villages in the Kurdish region of Turkey. We will be offering English lessons and sports/martial arts programs at the schools in villages. “G.,” our ESL teacher now in Sodom with E., will be helping lead the English part of the program. Many national believers will be heading to these areas with us as well to be ambassadors for the King. Pray as it will be the first time that these children and villagers will have ever met with Christians. Pray that we would show the Love of the King to all we meet both in our words and actions. Pray that many open doors and hearts would be waiting for us and the message that we bring. Pray for the health of our team (maybe 10) and that all would be organized well. Pray for safety as traveling can be dangerous out there and there are many that oppose this work.

4. Kurmanji Worship service Update:

On Thursday, April 01, 2010 at 7 pm the Kurdish believers were able to worship the King in their native tongue for the 2nd time in the history of the country. This time we had a special guest who plays an instrument native to the region (Saz). He has written several praise songs in Kurmanji and we were able to learn them that night. Many of them said that their hearts burned when they heard these new praise songs in their language! J.’s sermon that night was entitled: “The Kurds have no friends but the mountains?”,which was taken from a very famous proverb in their language. The Kurds in general believe that because no one has come to their defense, because no one has come to their aide, and because no one’s heart burned when they have been killed, that the only place they can have refuge and receive help is from the mountains. They run to the mountains for protection and to hide. The passage that J. preached from was Psalm 121:1-2 which he believes to be the Kurdish Psalm. (Kurmanji readers may read the sermon below.)

Prayer requests: Praise God we have been able to do this twice with little incident. There were however, two Kurdish believers who were too afraid to come. They believe there will be a raid on what we are doing and are afraid to be a part of it. Pray that this spirit of fear would be turned into a spirit of peace in their hearts. Pray that the Lord would continue to send us leaders to help with this service. Pray that the Spirit would lead us as we prepare for the next service to be held in May.

5. Beytel West:

The Lord has led us to start a new church plant in Y.B. in the city and we have been meeting there now for over a month. Pray for the growth of the new church in a part of the city that has never had a church before! Pray that “Z.”, a girl whom we are sharing with, would come to faith. “Z.” came to worship for the first time this Easter Sunday!

6. Beytel East/Sodom Update:

The Lord has provided finances for Kenan to buy a taxi! He purchased the taxi last week and it should be on the road within another week! We praise the Lord for using brothers and sisters to help with this! “G.” our ESL teacher from N.W. Arkansas has taught a full week of classes and the Lord has already allowed for the Gospel to be shared in full to all the students! E. has been taking full advantage of “G.” being with him there. Pray for two new men that seem very close to faith. Pray that the Lord would open their hearts. Pray also that those in the ESL class would open their hearts to the message and give their lives to the King. Please pray for the protection of E., K., and G. as there are many in that city that oppose the Gospel and the enemy hates what they are doing.

Thank you for your prayers and support,

Join us on Facebook: Gateway Educational Website: www.gatewayeducation.org

Check out the EPIC’s Website: www.epicinternational.org

New Donation Instructions and new giving address for Gateway Supporters:

New Donations can be made online by going to: http://www.epicinternational.org/designated_donation.html

Please make sure you designate your giving to Jacob Pursley (Gateway)

Or send checks snail-mail to: EPIC International 115 Woodland Way, Suite 120
Canton, GA 30114

Please note or indicate on the check in the memo: PURSLEY or GATEWAY.

(Kurdish Sermon given by J. on April 1st 2010)

Waaz: Zebûr 121:1-2: Bê Çiyayan hevalên Kurdan tuneye? Xêştirin çiyayan hevalên Kurdan qet tuneye. Çend salan borî, yanî dema ez zimanê Kurdî hîn bûm min xwend: “bê çiyayan hevalên kurdan tuneye” û Ev hefte li ser vî yekî min peyvekî xwend. Û ev peyv min teşwîqê fikrandinê kir. Peyv ev e: Ji gotina “bê çiyayan hevalên kurdan tuneye” mirov dikare gelek înformasyonên girîng û fireh derîne.
A yekê; di Kurdîstanê da çiya hene.
Hevalên kurdan tuneye.
Li hember dijminan tu kes li wan pişt derneketiye.
Tu kesî heqê wan neparastiye.
Tu kesî dilê xwe bi wan neşewitandiye. Bi serpêhatî û tecrubeyên xwe fam kirine ku çiyayên wan herî hevalên wan yên saxlem û mezbût in.
Çiyayên wan, di rojên teng da ew star kirine, ew parastine.
Ew ji kuştin û mirinê hemet kirine.
Gotina “bê çiyayan hevalên kurdan tuneye”, tenêmayî û bêxwedîbûyina[1][1] kurdan jî îfade dike. Ji ber ku; ji heval û hogiran ra îhtiyacekê wan ê mezin heye. Loma kurd her tim li heval û hogiran digerin û hesreta wan dikşînin. Kurd difikrin kû bê çiyayan hevalên wan nîne, tu kese kî heqê wan neparastiye[2][2], tu kese kî dilê xwe bi wan neşewitandiye. Di rojên zor de çavên xwe ra dikin çiyayan. Lê gotina “bê çiyayan hevalên Kurdan tuneye” ne rast e. Ev gotin pir şaş e. Belki borî wusa hîsê me hebû lê li gora Peyva Xwedê gotina cuda/ferq heye. Peyxamber Davut ji dijminê wî revîya û ji kî alîkariya wî hat. Em li Zebûr sed û bîst û yek, yek û didu binerin: (vebikin) Zebûr 121:1-2 1. “Ez çavên xwe ra dikim çiyayan, Wê alîkarî ji ku derê were?” 2. Alîkariya min, ji Xudanê ku erd û ezman afirandiye ve were!” Di dîrokê[3][3] de her gav û her çax mirovan reviyan[4][4] çiyayan û xwe veşartin[5][5]. Û mirov difikirin ku çiyayan yê wan biparasin[6][6]. Beklî em naçin çiyayekî, lê em ji pirskirêkên xwe reviyan çûn cîhekî. Her tim ji bo me ew cîh, dive kû Xwedê ye. Ji ber ku Xwedê ji we hez dike û Ew qenc e. Tenê Ew dikare alîkariya me bike. Ne çiya, ne jî heval, ne sileh, ne jî dadgeh, ne welat, ne jî malbat nikare alîkariya me bike. Divê em bi Xwedê ewle bibin.[7][7] Û divê em bi Îsa Mesîh bawer bikin. Em her gav çavên xwe ra bikin Îsa Mesîh. Ji ber ku ji Îsa Mesîh xilas kirina me tê. Û alîkarina me ji Îsa Mesîh tê. Yûhenna 3:14-15 14. Çawa ku Mûsa di çolê de mar bilind kir, divê Kurê Mirov jî ûsa bilindî jor bibe; 15. Da ku, her kesê bawerî bi wî bîne[8][8], bila helaq nebe; lê jiyana wî ya ebedî hebe. Min “ji heval û hogiran[9][9] re îhtiyacekê[10][10] wan ê mezin heye. Loma kurd her tim li heval û hogiran digerin û hesreta wan dikşînin.” Xwend. Edî li hevalekî negerin, edî vî hesretê nekşînin. Ji ber ku Hevalê we heye. Ew heval Îsa Mesîh e. Wî got: “Ez herdem bi we re me.” Û ji bo we û gunehên we li ser xaçê mir û sê roj paşê ji mirinê sax bû. Sê roj paşê ji nav mirinê rabû. Sê roj paşe vejîya[11][11]? Kesê ku bi Îsa Mesîh bawer nake. Niha bila bi Îsa Mesîh bawer bike! Neçin çiya ya. Nerevin çiya ya. Jibo me çiya qet tiştek nîne. Çavên xwe bilind bikin Îsa Mesîh çimkî alîkariya we ji Îsa Mesîh tê. Çavên xwe bilind bikin xaçê. Ji xaça Îsa Mesîh xilas kirina we tê.
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[1][1] Tenêmayî: yalnızlık bêxwedîbûn: sahipsizlik. [2][2] Parastin di zimanê Turkî de savunmak e. [3][3] Dîrok di zimanê Turkî de tarih e. [4][4] Revîn di zimanê Turkî de kaçmak e. [5][5] Veşartin di zimanê Turkî de saklamak e. [6][6] Parastin di zimanê Turkî de savunmak e. [7][7] Ewle bûn di zimanê Turkî de güvenmek e. [8][8] Anîn: getirmek. To bring faith in him. [9][9] Hogiran di zimanê İngilizi de companion e. [10][10] Îhtiyaç Arabî ye di zimanê Kurdî de hewce ye. [11][11] Vejandin, Vejîn, Vejiyan, Vejiyîn. ? rabûn. Vejîn: diriliş, Vejandin: diriltmek. Vejiyan: dirilmek.

South O' Border

2010-04-01T07:48:00.000-07:00

South O' Border
DR. & MRS LONNIE C. SMITH Sr.
Missionaries to

April 2010

Dear Friends in Christ,

This month we ordered and received all the material for 70 DVBS. This material has been separated into packets for the churches and missions. Thanks to you who have prayed and help finance this project the material can now be carried on the chartered busses that go to our annual pastor retreat the week after Easter. We can still use some financial help as only half the needed funds have come in. For just $50.00 you can sponsor a VBS that will reach over 200 boys and girls with the gospel.

Fruit from the passed: Edna Alatorre de Vargas, wife of Manuel Vargas, head of BBF of Mexico’s mission office and treasurer of the BBFM were in an evangelistic meeting with the First Bible Baptist Church of Reynosa where Angel Zapata is pastor. Sara Alatorre, Edna’s mother was saved in the Tampico church where we served our first four years. She was the most faithful member and worker. Edna was saved and surrendered her life to full time service there. After graduation she and Manuel were married and have served our Lord faithfully many years. The meeting had great success with souls saved and members dedicating their life to a greater effort to win the lost.

Thank each of you who have been praying for Margie and her health. After several new test including CT and PET the Oncologist told us that there has been no change in her condition and that NO CHEMOTHERAPT is needed at this time. Please continue to pray for Margie and me as we serve our Lord.

Beloved as you have no doubt heard, there is shooting war in most of the cities along the Texas-Mexican border. Reynosa has not escaped this violence. Several have died near our works in Reynosa. The pastors report that no harm has come to any of our people, but the violence in always near. Thank you for your faithfulness.

Yours for souls in Mexico,
Lonnie & Margie

2010-03-29T08:24:00.000-07:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Greetings in the wonderful name of the Lord. Hoping this letter finds all well with you and you trusiting Him more and more as the days to by. He is worthy, amen.

The days are going by fast. In the last three weeks I've been to Puerto Rico, Temperance, Michigan, Milan, Tennessee, Gulfport, Mississippi, and Bogalusa Louisiana. Seeing the Lord work has been to say, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus. Over 130 peoplehave come to know the Lord as their Savior in our meetings. God has been good, no doubt. Hoping and praying the churches are being strengthend and edified along the way. Thank you for your continued prayers for our travels, meetings, and my health. God is good.

We have a need coming up very shortly. As you know, this is Spring time in the USA, and the time we load and ship a 40ft. container full of supplies to help our churches in Africa. We are getting Bibles from BEAMS. Pastor Jerry Rockwell is getting us some study Bibles for our pastors (what a blessing). Pastor Mark Smith is helping us with NT's and many others are helping us with Sunday School supplies, etc. However, our greatest need is that of the shipping cost. It cost around $16,000 to ship a container from door to door to Zambia, Africa. If each of our supporting churches could chip in an extra $400, this need could be met, right now. We are hoping to ship the supplies out the first week of May. Can you help??? Can you pray??? We sure need this to happen. A couple churches in Puerto Rico have helped with a $1000 each for the shipping cost. What say ye??? Ourpeople need the relief items we are sending. Acts 11 says the church at Antioch sent relief to the churches back in Judea and sent it by the hands of two missionaries. We're praying we can do the same. Remember this is an annual need. Churches are being planted every year with new works starting in different countries. There are souls being saved on a daily basis, and Bible training going on to train new Pastors. They need these supplies. They are not asking for physical food. They are begging for BIBLES, tracts, New Testaments, John and Romans, and Sunday School material. Please pray about this need. God bless you.

As always Becky and I thank each of you for your prayers and support. We count it an honor to represent you for the cause of Christ both here and around the world. May the Lord bless you and keep you in His perfect will. To God be the glory.

Bobby and Becky Boner
IAM Ministries

Epic International Update

2010-03-23T06:04:00.001-07:00

Kansas City Church Publishes 52,000 Farsi New Testaments

When Guttenberg invented the movable type printing press in the 14th Century, the church, for the most part, delegated the responsibility of "publishing" the Word of God to the business world. Many believers today are convinced that this was not what God intended when we gave His Word to His church.

In Old Testament and Medieval times, scribes would meticulously pen copies of the sacred manuscripts. It was a hallowed responsibility. Worshippers considered the copying process to be of the highest honor to God Almighty. Through the years, this has been lost.

Kansas City Baptist Temple in Kansas City, Missouri feels that much of this hallowed responsibility still rests upon the church. Annually, during the week-long Bible conference, their church members are engaged in "publishing" Bibles and Scripture portions. They collate, bind, trim, and finish Bibles. They then box and ship them around the world. For thirty years this process has grown to be one of the most exciting weeks in the church.

This year, KCBT's project was the Farsi New Testament and a partnership with EPIC. Farsi is the language of the Persian speaking world in modern-day Iran. The strategy was to print pages for 52,000 New Testaments, ship them to the church and, during the week of the conference, finish the binding process and ship them to EPIC for distribution in Iran and other Muslim countries.

Hundreds of church members participated in the 24-hour daily process by coming to the church to work. The amount of 52,000 was the largest ever attempted by the church in one week. But they reached their goal before the week was over and more than one-half of these books are on their way to various staging areas of the world and will soon be in the hands of Muslims seeking the truth.

Dr. Jeff Adams, the pastor of KCBT, stated, "this years' project is by far the largest we have ever attempted and seemed to challenge our people more than in earlier years. It was exciting to see it come together and it was obviously a God ordained project. We are now in regular prayer as a church for those who will be receiving these New Testaments."

Hope Missions: Steve & Sandy Nichols

2010-03-22T07:30:00.000-07:00

Magic By Design
2009 was an exciting year for Magic By Design. Approximately 2,407 people attended 31 shows throughout New York State. There were 185 adults, teens and children who raised their hands for salvation. Many received counseling after the shows and were given Bibles, tracts, and encouragement.

We are thankful for our supporters who continue to pray and support this ministry financially. We have been able to cover the many expenses including Bibles, literature, office supplies, postage, travel expenses, magic tricks, costumes, lighting, sound, etc. We are also thankful for our family and friends who have faithfully done the hard work to make these shows happen.

Our family dog, Morgan, has now joined our team as a TDI Registered Therapy Dog. She will be visiting nursing homes, hospitals, and schools.

Xcelerate
In February of this year, we began an outreach to inner city teens and young adults who do not have Christian families. We share a meal together every Friday evening in our home and then study the Bible together.

Our first study is a DVD series entitled, "I Really Want to Change...So Help Me God." We are very excited to learn about God's desire to transform us into His image and the power that is available to us through the Holy Spirit.

Once a month, we take everyone to a fun activity. In March, we went bowling. We all had a great time! Most of these kids never have a chance to do an activity like this.

Our hope is to model family life to these kids and build a desire in their hearts to become men and women who follow God and build their own Godly families.

Our Vision for the Future...
By the Grace of God, we would like to see the expansion of Xcelerate. We are looking for other families to join us in reaching more and more of these young people.

We will invite them to join us in sharing Jesus with others through the Gospel magic ministry as well as other types of community outreach.