Monday, October 3, 2016

Ministry Updates


The Gospel is Shared:  In the far northwest corner of our island, about 5 hours away from where I live, a cluster of 4 Southern Baptist churches meet every other month for fellowship and encouragement.  On the last Saturday of July, we trained about 30 church members on Simply the Word, a very simple way to do Bible study that even the illiterate can participate in. 

Two months later, on the last Saturday of September, we returned to hear of their progress.  Several gave reports of new Bible studies started.  A few had made professions of faith and were ready to be baptized.  Most exciting for us was that some of the Bible studies and gospel sharing were done by church members.  After our follow-up training, the participants left with renewed confidence and enthusiasm to tell others about Jesus.

The Needy are Helped:  “These kids are the poorest of the poor,” explained the elementary school principal.  “We are the only school whose students don’t wear uniforms because the kids just can’t afford one.”  The principal had invited Pastor Ronald and his staff at the computer school to share Bible stories to the 100+ students every Friday morning.  In addition, Ronald and staff provide a simple breakfast for them. 

Bibles given to the students
 
Grateful for a simple breakfast
Ronald shared, “We met one 6th grade girl who was taking care of her two younger sisters because their parents had abandoned them nearly a year ago.  She begs for food and does whatever work she can find just to keep herself and sisters in the elementary school.”  In the midst of hardships, hunger, and hopelessness, the kids are learning about God’s love.  Please pray for the desperate needs (physical, emotional, and spiritual) of these children. 

Seventeen are Baptized:  They lined up on the beach at the water’s edge.  For the past 2 weeks, our 17 BOOST students had been learning the Gospel message and all of them decided to give their lives to Christ.  One by one they entered the ocean water to publicly confess that they were dying to their old way of life and being raised to a new life in Christ.  Please pray that by the end of their training in December, they will be ready to return to their home places and share the same life-saving message.

1 comment:

Janet C Nash said...

Always a thrill to read your blogs and to know that people are accepting the Lord- how sad for the children who live in such difficult circumstances. We rejoice with you that the Gospel is being shared and pray for you to have wisdom in knowing how, when, and where to share. You mentioned that one of your daughters might be getting married. Any update on that?