Thank You

Thanksgiving is over, or at least the holiday has passed.  Last Thursday I and another ‘Cano (as Americans are often called) along with his wife drove 4 hours to the home of still another ‘Cano and good friend TJ who lives with his wife in a neighboring province.  They prepared a feast of delicious foods appropriate for the holiday season.  

But the practice of thanksgiving is never over.  As I look back on 2017 there is much to be thankful for.  The 23 churches I work with, plus our outreach points, saw about 120 baptisms this year.  We estimate that the gospel was clearly presented to at least 2000 people.  My team and I conducted 16 trainings that focused on evangelism and discipleship.  We saw 28 people graduate from our BOOST program.

According to my blog statistics, the blog with the most ‘hits’ was in March when I asked for prayer support concerning our April Pastors Retreat.  Over 200 church leaders gathered for 3 days of training, encouragement, fellowship, and refreshment.  The success of that event has been seen in several of our churches as they experience renewed enthusiasm in doing the work of God’s kingdom.  THANK YOU to those who prayed.

But numbers and names can’t put a face to the many changed lives I’ve been blessed to see this year.  Archie graduated from our BOOST training last year, returned to his home place, started a church, and is now enrolled in a Bible school for further training.  Janice gave her life to the Lord a year ago.  She has grown rapidly in her walk with the Lord and today, still a senior in high school, she leads the youth in her church.  Just about every Sunday I’m speaking in one of our churches.  The new faces I see each time remind me that God is still mightily at work.

If you have a couple of minutes, click here to see a short inspirational message from our IMB president, David Platt.  Because of your partnership, 87,000 people from around the world have professed faith in Christ this past year, along with 4,000+ new churches.  Because of your generous giving and prayer support, God’s kingdom is growing.  From the mountains of Nepal to the deserts of central Africa, from the progressive urban cities of Europe to the tropical jungle villages of Indonesia, God is at work.