The Miracle

Clay Hilton- Canada church plant update

2009-08-14T10:16:00.000-05:00

2500 miles away from home Tracy, Phil, Kevin, Kent, Michael, Stephanie, and Alana came up from Knoxville and helped us conduct two backyard Bible clubs, plant over 100 evangelistic seeds, volunteer over 100 hours at a community festival, pass out pizza in a park right before an outdoor church service, watched our 4 kids, fixed stuff around our house, and even did our laundry. Thank you Sevier Heights Baptist Church for helping us reach Fort Mac for Christ.

Robert and Mary Jo Foster

2009-08-07T11:00:00.002-05:00

Family, Friends & Supporters,

Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." (Matthew 9:37-38)

Greetings from São Paulo!Our most recent Workshop saw just over 400 people trained to present the Gospel. Thank you for continuing to pray for these Workshops!!This afternoon and tomorrow we will have some important meetings as we continue to develop a new infrastructure for EE-Brazil. Three new staff members will be installed into their positions and a fourth will be assuming a new responsibility. There will be a transition from a part-time to a full-time national coordinator. This implies a new staff member, and the person selected is very excited to accept the position and to see what the Lord is doing in his life, as are those of us putting together the new Team. Please pray for these important meetings, as they are crucial for our continued growth.Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel!!

Blessings,

Robert & Mary Jo
EE-Brazil

Career Solutions Update

2009-07-30T11:46:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends,

Here’s a quick news update. I just love to share good news, particularly when it glorifies God for what He as done. God has answered our prayers concerning our CareerSolutions radio program. And He has done it in a most compelling way.

Just last month when I was informed about KVTT being sold to KERA and that all programming would need to find another home, my first response was to ask God if He was using this closed door to tell me he wanted me off the radio altogether. I refrained from rushing out and contacting other radio stations for several weeks, waiting for God to disclose His intentions first.

I prayed, “If YOU want me to devote my efforts to expanding our workshops while stepping out of radio, I am perfectly happy to do so. Please show me by closing all doors to radio.”

Within a few more weeks I was contacted by one station and then another. And my assistant, Glen, contacted a few others just to see if they had any interest. Within the next 2-3 weeks I was offered a spot for CareerSolutions radio on 4 different stations here in the DFW area (three were FM stations and one was a new AM station; three were Christian stations and one was secular). But that isn’t all the good news. Three of the stations offered us 5 days per week, Monday thru Friday.

After much prayer, I selected KDKR, 91.3 fm – we will be on the air beginning August 10 at 3pm each weekday. Praise the Lord! You may also podcast our shows by registering on our web site. You may also listen on the internet at www.kdkr.org as we’ll be streaming live each weekday. We will also still be broadcasting from our current station thru August, so for a short while, six days per week. And I sense the Lord is not yet done with us on this!

God opens and closes doors as He desires each of us to move closer to Him. And prayer works miracles. Thank you for your prayer support for our ministry. You are the BEST!

David Rawles
Founder & President
CAREERSOLUTIONS

Robert and Mary Jo Foster Update

2009-06-05T14:52:00.002-05:00

Family, Friends and Supporters,Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!God is using your prayers and financial gifts to sustain our ministry in this struggling economy, and we want to express our deepest gratitude for your faithfulness in prayer and our financial support!! Without question, the realities of today's economy are affecting us all, making 2009 one of the most challenging years ever. Know that the Fosters are grateful and are praying for you, even as you pray for us!!Robert's recent time in Brazil was busy and fruitful, and the follow-up since his return has been intense. We had asked you to pray about the following and were pleased to see the results that the Lord provided as a result of your prayers:

On May 2nd, we will be training some new Workshop leaders on sight at a Workshop in Sao Paulo. We were able to train 3 new Workshop leaders that will help us "gear-up" for the increased demand for this new training.

On May 3rd, we will be at the Brooklyn Baptist Church in Sao Paulo to recognize 25 years of exemplary EE training and ministry. This was a special time of recognition. The Lord blessed the worship service, and we believe that the church is committed to many more years of EE training, as a result.

On May 9th, I will be leading a Workshop at a Baptist church in the city of Rio de Janeiro. This Workshop was well-attended with 148 present, bringing to more than 2,100 the number of people trianed in our new Workshop since November 2008.

On May 10th, we will be in a couple of different churches in Rio to promote evangelism training. These visits, which included the participation of two of our VPs from the US as featured, guest speakers, were good opportunities and should help to grow and strengthen the ministry in the large city of Rio de Janeiro.

And, in between these events we'll be working on projects and making contacts. Along with the visiting VPs and members of our National Council, we discussed in detail and began to plan for two projects that require the addition of new staff in Brazil. This is far-reaching planning for the future growth of our training throughout Brazil.

During all of this time, please pray for Mary Jo, too...safety and no mechanical problems with cars, appliances, etc. Mary Jo was safe and did not have any additional mechanical problems while Robert was in Brazil. (Note: the air conditioner on our car had quit cooling before I even wrote the request, and in part, prompted the request.)So, THANK YOU for the prayer support...and please don't let-up! Please pray for us as we determine who to invite to be members of our EE-Brazil Team, as well as for their responses to our invitations. Pray, too, for a major denomination that is considering our Workshop training as a part of their 2010 year of evangelism emphasis.

Blessings,

Robert & Mary Jo
EE-Brazil

Mid Cities Pregnancy Center Update

2009-05-28T13:15:00.000-05:00

After much time and years of prayer, we opened the doors to the beautiful Mid Cities Pregnancy Center, Irving office, March 26. In addition, we had a successful Open House for pastors, Irving ISD staff, physicians, and other city leaders May 22nd.

Since opening, we have performed 31 pregnancy tests, with 23 of them being positive. Of those 23 positive tests, 17 of those clients represented were abortion-vulnerable. After counseling, 19 of the 23 chose to carry and parent, with 2 undecided as to whether to parent or place for adoption. The remaining 2 are unknown as to their decision. Follow-up is continuing.

The gospel was presented 23 times and 3 clients accepted the gift of eternal life. Two clients rededicated their lives to Christ. Many others made significant decisions regarding the direction of their lives.

Heartfelt appreciation is expressed to all those who gave to the Miracle Offering, helping to birth and equip MCPC, Irving! Your sacrificial gifts, prayers, and partnership mean so much to us! Thank you!

Friendship Evangelism: Canada church plant update

2009-05-27T09:35:00.001-05:00

I believe that Jesus is God. Raja Abid believes that Jesus is one of God's prophets. However, Raja Abid and I are friends. He loves to hang out at our house, eat my lamb chops, talk about the ladies, and read the Bible with me. He is far away, in my opinion from making a decision for Christ, but I feel the Lord leading me to be his friend and share Christ with him through that friendship. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would touch my new friend. Please also pray that the many Urdu speaking people in Fort McMurray could see a church planted here for them.

Justin is another new believer in Christ, and he is not out of the woods yet as far as his struggles due to living his life without Jesus for so many years. However, he is growing in his faith. We meet at least three times a week for Bible study and prayer. He is a great guy and has many friends and family that he wants to see come to Christ.

This last week Justin's mom, who has not asked Jesus to rule her life, commented to me that something has changed in Justin. She said with tears in her eyes "This last week, he actually carried on a conversation with me for the first time in a year. He even asked about me. Something is different about him." I was able to share with her the difference that Jesus makes in someone's life and she was open to finding out more about Justin's new Lord and Saviour.Please double your efforts in praying for Justin and his family and friends. My desire is for him to grow in his faith and see many of those in his life yield their life to Christ.Thank you for partnering with us to reach Justin for Christ.

-Clay Hilton

Hays Community Church Update

2009-05-26T11:20:00.002-05:00

God continues to do awesome things. We are seeing Him continue to bring unchurched people to us who do not have a relationship with Him. We are thrilled to help these folks on their journey with Jesus. In May God has allowed to baptize three more people. One of those was our son. That was truly a special day. The other two that we were able to baptize were Richard & Kathy. You might recall that Richard & Kathy are Heather’s parents, & Heather is the first gal who came to know the Lord in our church. She professed Christ over a year ago. It was an incredible privilege to watch her parents come to know Jesus & to watch them declare their allegiance to Him through baptism. Praise the Lord!!!

Prayer Requests:

As always, we are so thankful for your prayers. Please continue to pray that our family would abide in Christ & His love & that we would reflect that love to those in our church & to those a part of our community. Pray protection over our family & church. God is enabling us to fight the forces of darkness when they come after our marriage. Praise His name for this! Pray that those in our church who have yet to profess Christ would have their eyes enlightened. We are doing an outreach for kids in June. Pray God would draw unchurched families to bring their kids to this & that it would draw the families to Christ & our church. Finally, we are hoping to start a fourth house church in the fall. Pray that God would raise up the right leader to lead this next house church. To God be the glory for what He has done and will do!!!

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

Thank you so much for being partners with us in the advancement of the gospel!!!

Hays Community Church Update

2009-04-24T09:24:00.001-05:00

Our church family is now made up of about 70 people. That is 2 ½ times what it was this time one year ago. The best part about this is that 65% of our church is made up of pre-believers and new believers, and 85% of our church is made up of folks who had no church home prior to HCC. Like we shared over a year ago, the Lord is allowing us to reach the without hope (Ezekiel 37) and build His church little by little (Deuteronomy 7). Praise the Name of the Lord Most High!!! Over Easter we had two Egg Hunts for the community. Including our church volunteers, we had about 150 people total at both hunts. To the right are some of the pics from these hunts. It was a great way to reach out and serve the community. The last two weeks, we have averaged over 60 at all three house churches, and again, the best part of all this is that God is allowing us to reach the unchurched and those cut off from Christ. God is doing so much inside of us. He is teaching our entire family what it means to receive the love of Christ and then share that sacrificial love with others with no strings attached.

Prayer Requests:

We appreciate your prayers over this past month. Our Easter Egg Hunt Outreach, and our Easter Celebration Service went great. As you read earlier, God is continuing to draw more folks to Himself and is using HCC to do so. Please continue to pray this way, and we ask that you would continue to pray for the many in our church that have yet to commit their lives to Christ.

We also thank you for your prayers for Caroline’s health. She has not had any sickness since our last letter. Praise the Lord!!! We always ask you to pray this, but we continue to ask. Please pray we would abide in Jesus (John 15). Only when we abide in Him will fruit come. We want fruit to come in ourselves, our marriage, our family and our church. This comes when we are connected to the Vine. We ask that you would again pray protection (Psalm 91) for our family. We especially feel our marriage is under attack. Most importantly, just praise the Lord for the things He is doing in and through us.

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

We are so thankful for your faithful prayers and your faithfulness in giving. Like we told you guys at the dinner at the beginning of this month, you are our partners in the advancement of Christ’s gospel, and we are so appreciative. We thank the Lord for you.

Robert and Mary Jo Foster Update

2009-04-24T09:18:00.003-05:00

Family, Friends & Supporters,

Mary Jo and I want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your prayers in recent months! My health has improved significantly following the two surgeries. My doctor told me earlier this month that he'd see me in October. I am feeling much better and resuming most physical activity, just in time for spring and summer yard work.It has nevertheless been a busy couple of months since my second surgery both here and in Brazil. I have continued to work on ministry projects.

A new worldwide project for implementation field workers (IFWs) is being developed, and EE-Brazil plans to participate. Too, there is a new plan for developing Kids' EE, using IFWs and partnering with another ministry.In Brazil, five The Gospel In Your Hand Workshops have been held this year. Just this past Saturday more than 400 people were trained in a Workshop held in the interior city of Volta Redonda in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Several more Workshops are scheduled, in addition to 4 training clinics.

In a couple of days, I will be leaving for Sao Paulo. Many things have been planned for while I am there...perhaps too many things, but I am sure it will all work out. We will be counting on your prayers! Please pray specifically for the following requests:

On May 2nd, we will be training some Workshop leaders on site in a workshop in Sao Paulo.
On May 3rd, we will be at the Brooklyn Baptist Church in Sao Paulo to recognize 25 years of exemplary EE training and ministry.
On May 9th, I will be leading a Workshop at a Baptist church in the city of Rio de Janeiro.
On May 10th, we will be in a couple of different churches in Rio to promote evangelism training.
And, in between these events we'll be working on projects and making contacts.

During all of this time, please pray for Mary Jo, too...safety and no mechanical problems with cars, appliances, etc.Thank you for your faithfulness in praying and financially supporting our family and ministry! Feel free to share prayer requests with us, as we'd consider it a privilege to pray for your specific needs, as well!

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful."

-Hebrews 10:23

Blessings,

Robert & Mary Jo
EE-Brazil

Hays Community Church Update

2009-04-14T13:47:00.001-05:00

Here are some testimonies of Josh Proctor's church plant in Kyle, TX, Hays Community Church.

http://www.edenroad.com/cgi-bin/kingdomtools/ktpublic.rb?utility=Page&ministry_id=1&page_title=1234377151

The video can be found at the bottom of the page.

The church's website is:

http://www.hayscommunitychurch.org/

We're Trashy!: Canada church plant update

2009-04-01T11:03:00.001-05:00

With four kids and feeding half of Fort McMurray, we accumulate allot of trash.

Normally this is a stinky problem, on Monday it proved to be an effective ministry tool when I was dumping our trash at the city landfill.I had a divine appointment with a heavy hauler driver/guitar player named Mike at the dump.

I met Mike around Christmas when I was at the local mall wrapping gifts for a fundraiser at my daughters' school. Mike hated wrapping gifts and let me wrap all 32 gifts that he had bought. I am slow at wrapping gifts, and really not that good at it. So around gift number 14 Mike started asking me questions about why I came to Fort McMurray. He was blown over by the fact that I was the only person that he had met that did not come to the Fort to try to make more money. We really connected and laughed a great deal from gift number 14 to 32.

Since then Mike and I have been working on building a relationship. I have seen Mike play guitar and sing with his band and had a few other conversations with him, but something spiritual happened the other day at the dump.

Mike just had a baby with his girlfriend nine days ago, and now realizes that he needs to change some things in his life. He asked if I would give him some advice on how to be a family man. I said that I would be glad to help him become the man that God wants him to be. It was then that we went over to his truck and prayed for his girlfriend and new baby girl at the dump.

Please pray that Mike will continue to seek out God's plan for his life and that I will get a chance to see Mike and his girlfriend, Colleen come to faith in Christ.

Justin Comes To Christ!: Canada church plant update

2009-04-01T11:01:00.000-05:00

At 11:43PM (Mountain Time) on March 22nd Justin Somers gave his life to Christ while on the phone with me.

I met Justin when I came up a month before moving to Fort McMurray while a part of a mission team from Sevier Heights Baptist Church in Knoxville. Justin was drunk/high when Mike Newman and I met him last July and offered him some free coffee. He took the coffee and got to hear that Christ died for him and had a plan for his life. He didn't say much that day, but enjoyed the coffee.

I met him the next day while we were painting over graffiti at a city park. Graffiti that he now admits to having a hand at creating. I reiterated the Good News that I shared with him the day before and told him that I would be praying for him. I then left Fort McMurray to get ready to move up from Texas. The day after I arrived in Texas he called me and left a message, with no phone number to call him back.

I hoped and prayed that I would run into him after moving here, but after a few months of living here could not locate him. I saw him a month ago while serving him food at the soup kitchen. I again shared with him God's plan for his life. He listened but did not respond. After hurting a friend deeply one night, he called me on the phone and asked me if I knew of a way that he could deal with his anger and change his life. It was then that I shared with him again the saving grace of Jesus Christ. This time he responded to Christ.

Please double your efforts in praying for Justin. My desire is for him to grow in his faith and win many of his friends to Christ.Thank you for partnering with us to reach Justin for Christ.

Off The Clock: Canada church plant update

2009-03-17T09:42:00.002-05:00

I like lunch time when I am teaching at the college.

Sure, I am always a big fan of lunch, but I love it when I am able to let my hair down, so to speak, and be off the clock to answer spiritual questions for my students.

I do not hide at all my reason for coming to Fort McMurray when I am instructing at Keyano College. However, my boss would not appreciate nor tolerate me sharing the plan of salvation in the workshops that I teach. But lunchtime is my time, and I always have someone to share my lunchtime with. Many students lag behind in the classroom and ask me to help them out with some spiritual concept or idea or simply want me to share some insight with them on life, discouragement, love, parenting, or marriage.

Dale, a big, hairy, grown man who drives the biggest truck in the world for a living is one of these guys that lagged behind last week during lunch. Dale was crying about his loveless marriage and his many years of drunkenness. I got to share God's plan with Dale and he said that he would truly think about what I said.

Please pray that Dale does more than think about Christ's love and forgiveness. Also please pray for more "off the clock" lunchtime conversations.

The Everyday, Every Tuesday, Every Other Saturday Routine

Routines can be bad, but they can also be very good. We think that our routine for daily prayer with another believer here in Fort Mac is good.

We think our weekly Bible Study on Tuesday is a good routine.

We also know that our bi-monthly get together to play games, eat, share/evangelize, and build relationships with the Kavanaugh, Williams, and Paquette families that is also a good routine.

I need you to please pray specifically for each of these routines. In regards to our everyday routine of praying with another believer here in Fort Mac, please pray that our prayer partners, Mike and Kristin Frazier, will continue to sense God's call to partner with us to see Fort Mac won for Christ.
As for our weekly Bible Study, please pray that Roland, Ernie, and Dorothy would come to faith in Christ. Also pray that more people would want to belong to our Tuesday night group.
Our every other Saturday routine of having people over to eat, play games, and talk about life, love, God, faith, parenting, and relationships needs to be covered in prayer so that the enemy will not win the souls of those sharing a meal and life with us.

Hays Community Church Update:

2009-03-16T11:55:00.003-05:00

In January we encountered some tough waters. We had four families leave our church for various reasons. All of this happened after we launched the 2nd house church. However, God has brought more folks to our church. We are now 17 families (53 people). 2/3 go to one house church and 1/3 goes to the other. This photo is a pic of about 65% of our church at a recent picnic. We have had some miraculous things happen the past 3 weeks. One couple in their fifties trusted Christ. It looks like they will be baptized soon along with a couple others. That would make 15 baptisms since HCC started. Praise the Lord! Also, we saw God rescue another marriage. On Sunday, March 1st, the husband packed his bags and left, and by Thursday, March 5th, he was back at home. Again, praise the Lord!

Prayer Requests:
We went back and read the letter we sent out in March of 2008. At that time we had 5 families (24 people). We again just praise God for His faithfulness. As you pray for us, we again ask you to praise Him for His faithfulness on our behalf. Please pray for our Easter Outreach on April 11th and pray for our Easter Sunday time on April 12th. Pray the Lord would draw new folks to us so that they would praise His name (Psalm 67). We still have many folks who come who have not trusted Christ yet. Pray God’s kindness would draw them to repentance. Like we said, please pray for Caroline’s health, and we ask you to pray for our entire family (Psalm 91). Finally, we ask you to pray that we would stay connected to Jesus (John 15).

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

We feel like we always run out of words to show appreciation to you guys, but there are not enough words. There will never be enough words. Our hearts overflow with gratitude towards you. You truly are our partners in the advancement of His gospel.

Robert and Mary Jo Foster Update

2009-02-19T09:27:00.002-06:00

Family, Friends & Supporters,

Have you seen the Nationwide Insurance television commercial that says: "Life comes at you fast!" Well, it is true! On February 1st, I had to go to the emergency room in severe pain and the next day I had another surgery, made necessary by a lone artery that began bleeding in the region where I had surgery on December 30th. The artery had to be cauterized. The next day I went home.

So, my recuperation from surgery has continued with what I hope will prove to be only a minor setback. I appreciate your prayers and any help** that you can provide with the mounting medical expenses.

Exciting things are happening in Rio! At the end of 2008, I received a very encouraging report from a lay evangelist who is the leader of EE training at his local church. He also is an EE volunteer representative in the large, beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro. Below is the English translation of that report. Rejoice with us as you read of how the EE ministry is resulting in New testament multiplication in his local church and beyond.

Another year is coming to an end, and the Lord gave us so many victories! I am sure that, if you look back retrospectively at your life in 2008, you will remember tremendous blessings from God, right? However, it is possible that your year was not as good as you expected: intense battles, unexpected losses, unpleasant surprises... But, if you are reading this email now, it is because the Lord has supported you up to this point. I am certain that, if this was a year of testing in your life, it is because God wants to give you greater responsibilities. In order to present ourselves to God as workers approved, we have to experience testing! There is no other way! At the end of this year, even if you don't feel like you have many reasons to be happy, celebrate God for the harvest that will come because if you go out weeping, carrying your bag of seed, you will come home singing, carrying your bundles of grain! (see Psalm 126:6)

For those of us in EVANGELISM EXPLOSION at New Life Christian Church in Vista Alegre (Rio de Janeiro), reasons to celebrate are not in short supply! Just this year in our local church training:

• We trained 32 members of our church to share the Gospel, contributing to their spiritual and personal growth.

• We held 2 EE leadership training clinics, one for child evangelism/children's leaders and the other for adult evangelism/pastors, as well as 2 informational seminars about EE.
As a result of these opportunities, we had the privilege of cooperating in the spiritual growth of approximately 50 pastors and leaders from 22 churches and 10 evangelical denominations. It was truly a “festa” (celebrative party) for the kingdom of God!

• However, the most important aspect of all of these activities is that adding up the results of all of on-the-job training visits of 2008, about 380 people were evangelized! In other words, 380 people heard the message of the cross shared in a respectful, but at the same time, a confronting way, leading them to make a decision to repent of their sins and receive Christ as their only sufficient Lord and Savior.

• It is important, too, to emphasize that of these 380 people that heard the message of the cross in a logical and comprehensive way, less than 10% demonstrated a negative attitude! And we can affirm that without a doubt hundreds of people this year will celebrate Christmas with a different perspective because Christians who were trained and equipped obeyed the Great Commission and did their part in the salvation of the lost!

To everyone who now reads this email, and especially those who participated in our training, those of us in EE at New Life Christian Church of Vista Alegre (Rio de Janeiro) desire for you that the year 2009 is full of the Lord’s blessings! Take advantage of this time of the year to share with your friends and relatives the only present that can transform their lives, the PRESENT OF ETERNAL LIFE! And, those of you who were trained to be a trainer of soul winners don’t allow the battles and difficulties of this life make you give up in moving forward in the purposes of God in your life. Train the believers in your local church and do your part so that next year and in subsequent years we can celebrate not just hundreds, but thousands and thousands of lost people reached by the message of the cross!

Together for a Changed World,

Evangelist João Luís Amaral
ICNV – Vista Alegre
Now, that is encouraging! Thank you for being a part of this multiplying ministry through your prayers and financial support!!

Blessings,

Robert & Mary Jo
EE-Brazil

The German and I

2009-02-17T11:57:00.000-06:00

I met Roland, my new German friend, when I came up here this Summer before moving to Fort McMurray with a mission team from Sevier Heights Baptist Church in Knoxville.

Roland has come to the last three Tuesday night Bible Studies and has tons of questions about God, the Bible, Christ followers, eternity, evil, and purpose. We hang out regularly and he says that he is glad that he met me and asks each week if he can come back to Bible study the following week.

Roland has been in Canada for 20 years and speaks and reads English fluently, however he was so excited to read the Bible in his heart language.

Please pray for Roland to come to Christ soon.

-Clay Hilton

Guitarist friend very excited to have new fan

2009-02-05T10:07:00.001-06:00

I met Mike when I was volunteering for my daughters' school over Christmas break. I went down to the mall here for Christmas and wrapped Christmas gifts for school donations.

Mike hates to wrap gifts, so he was happy to have me wrap his gifts.

He had 22 gifts for me to wrap, so I spent a good 45 minutes wrapping them. During that 45 minutes a few days before Christmas, I was able to share Christ with Mike. Mike said that he would think about what I said and get back in touch with me in 2009.

He did last week. Mike emailed me and invited me to hear him play at a local Newfoundlander's pub.

Mike and I talked a good bit during the breaks during his 4 hour classic rock and Newfie rock set.

He emailed the next day to thank me for coming. Please pray that Mike and I will continue to connect and that he would respond to Christ.

-Clay Hilton

Diaper run at -20 Degress

2009-01-27T09:20:00.000-06:00

Cinnamon was working all night and had our car. I was at home with all four kids for the night while Cinnamon was working 7PM to 7AM. Baby Clay had a stinky, and I was out of diapers.

It was then that I realized that we would have to make the 1 mile trek to Sobey's Grocery in
-20F on foot.

I put baby Clay in his carrier and put Anna on my shoulders. Had Grace and Ivy start walking and we went on our way to fetch the diapers.

They did not enjoy the cold. Grace is old enough now to realize that Daddy is an idiot sometimes. She, however, was sweet and didn't say what she felt.

We made it to the Sobey's and the kids were freezing. We bought the diapers and a snack and I decided to call a cab for our return trip. Grace smiled.

Ali was the cab driver. I had seen Ali before but could not remember where. Ali takes us home and I tell him about why we are in Fort Mac.

He is friendly, but quiet as I talk. He then sees where we live and perks up. He said, "You live here?" "Your the man who lives here?" "I know you, you helped me. I was cold on my first morning here, and you helped me. You scraped my windows when I didn't have a scrapper."

It was then that I realized that I had scraped this man's windows one day as I left my house walking to the bus stop. I stopped and scraped his windows with my newly bought scraper and then walked off. Ali said "We know you. We don't know your name. But we know where you live and we have heard how nice you are. We like you." By we, Ali was referring to the large population of African Muslim cab drivers in Fort McMurray.

Please pray that I would continue to shine the light of Christ in small, impactful, ways. Please pray that Ali and his friends would experience freedom and hope in Yahweh and that the Father would send workers for the African Muslim cab driver field.

Supper Time

2009-01-20T09:13:00.001-06:00

19 People over for supper, stay 6 hours, connect with us and each other.

Laughs all around, food for an army, connecting with each other, talking about kids, life, love, God, and making plans to meet again.

A month or so ago we had a family with three kids over that I met on the mymcmurray.com website. Brad and Katy came over again last Saturday and really connected with everyone else.

The Kavanaugh's, who we had come over last week individually, came over as well. They had a good time and really enjoyed talking with everyone else.

Nick, the former youth minister (who has been ministering with us for a few months), came over with his cousin and really did a good job of connecting with everyone.

The Frazier's, a couple that have been ministering with us for a few months, also came over and helped connect people.

All 6 of our family, and the 19 other people from 4 other families connected really well. They stayed about 6 hours and left saying things like "Wow, it is so good to have friends again, we haven't made any friends in Fort Mac until now." Cinnamon and I and the kids had connected with everyone individually, but this was the first time that everyone else got to connect with each other.

Please pray that these people will continue to form up relationships with each other as we share Christ's gift of eternal life and abundant living with them.

Small Things, Big Difference

2009-01-19T09:15:00.004-06:00

The warmth of a Christmas café ministers to the Chairman of the bank, encourages him
as he shares about Christ with our guests.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~

I was recently asked for more detail about what I do and as I was writing the response, I thought it would be a good thing to share with you as well.

As Executive Assistant for Krysha it comes to me to help take care of a lot of the behind the scene details of the ministry. My job description likens my ministry to that of Barnabas, whose ministry "more often than not was to encourage those who were around him. He did not draw attention to himself. But it is quite possible that if Barnabas was not around the ministries of such great men of faith as Apostle Paul or Gospel writer Mark would not be the same." Many of the things I do in ministry may appear like very simple tasks, but without someone doing the multitude of small, simple tasks- the ministry would not be as effective.

For example, we recently held a Christmas Cafe. Eighty people came to hear and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas- the good news that entered this world with the birth of Jesus Christ!

For many, this was the first time they celebrated Christmas or even considered for a moment the significance of it. We worked for close to a month in preparing for this Café. I worked to secure the space for the café, worked with our volunteer leaders to make sure we were getting invitations out, and made sure that all the little details were ready by the time the Cafe came around. Our leadership team works together to plan any event we have, as well as to divide up responsibilities among the all the leaders, but as it is my job to "oversee the operations and communications of the movement," I work to continually fill in the cracks and keep the ball rolling.

At the Christmas Cafe, we were to have three people from the ministry to share about Christmas and Christ, one of them was Sergei Alekseivich Brovkin. Sergei Alekseivich is Chairman of the Board of Mercedes Benz Bank in Russia and DeputyChairman of Gelnic-M Investment Company and is actively involved in one of our small group Bible studies. Needless to say amidst the economic crisis, this is a man who spent a lot of time in his office these last few months. He juggles many responsibilities and it amazes me that despite it all this, he still finds the time to come to one of our small group Bible Studies.

That particular night though after getting stuck in traffic and then getting lost trying to find the Christian Center in the cold, he arrived for the Cafe a bit late and worn out. Despite having such a hard day and time getting there, he told us that once he arrived - his mood immediately lifted as he found himself surrounded by the warm glow of Christmas lights, the enveloping sound of Christmas worship and the open embrace of fellowship. When we thanked him for taking the time to come and share he kept saying: “You have no idea how much you ministered to me that night.” There is a myriad of details that had to be taken care of in order for Sergei Alekseivich to be ministered to and then in turn minister to others as he spoke to the group. It was my joy to ensure that all of those details behind the scenes are taken care of to help make this happen.

Among the large group in attendance was Vanya. Vanya is a young man who does not know Christ, but who attends one of our small group Bible studies regularly. He is studying to be an architect and like many students in Russia already finds himself working in the market place, earning invaluable experience in his profession that will ensure him getting a better job once he graduates in a year. I was excited to not only see Vanya there, but to see he had invited a friend from the university! It was a great opportunity for this young man and his friend to hear the Gospel! Vanya's friend really enjoyed the evening and I am praying that she will begin coming to small group with Vanya to learn more about Christ.

The Krysha ministry consists of two full-time staff who work to challenge and equip volunteers in our ministry to share the Gospel with everyone in their sphere of influence. For Sergei Alekseivich, that would directly include 300 people working in Russia's top banking and investment circles and indirectly heads of major businesses and government leaders- people I would never have the opportunity to develop a relationship and share the Gospel with. For Vanya, his sphere of influence reaches into his university classrooms and social circle of friends- and even with Vanya not knowing Christ himself, he has already shown how he can share the positive influence of Christ by bringing his friend to the Christmas Cafe. So while renting venues for our ministry events, working with our volunteer leaders, baking and decorating 12 dozen Christmas cookies, and making sure all the coffee pots are full and the tea kettles hot may not sound like the most exciting aspect of ministry to many- it is an essential part and one for which God has gifted me wonderfully! Even more importantly, without those little details our events like the Christmas Café would not have the same depth and warmth that breaks the barriers for many who hear the Gospel for the first time.

I hope this gives you a small glimpse of what it is I do. Please feel free to ask me any questions.

Serving Christ,
Angela

Froze our buns off, pray for God's guidance!

2009-01-12T11:22:00.001-06:00

We just got through with a bad idea for the winter up here: giving away free hot dogs in -35F weather.

The buns actually froze before I could give them to people. Believe it or not people do not want to stop and eat a frozen hot dog served up by a big bald headed Texan with two of his elementary aged girls yelling "Daddy. I'm cold. Dadddddy I'm sooo cooold. I'm uh..uh..uh (sounds of weeping) cooold." So we are back to the drawing board on ideas to connect with new people during the winter months. Please pray for God's guidance. The Spirit truly wants to see many come to Him. Please pray that we would discern His strategy for reaching this fast growing city.

Prayer List

We have connected with so many people these last five months. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would draw these ones we have connected with and that they will bow their heart to our Saviour soon.

Hays Community Church Update:

2009-01-08T10:54:00.002-06:00

We have had some really cool things happen this past month. HCC now has 16 families (52 people), and for the month of December we averaged 39 in attendance on Sundays. On one of those Sundays we had 59 people, and they were all in one house. It was crazy, but it was crazy good. The last Sunday of December we were able to baptize 3. We hope you enjoy the pics of the baptism. It was a great night of celebration. As we look back on 2008 we just rejoice in the Lord and praise His Name. 70% of the people who make up our church had no church home before HCC, and 60% have had virtually no church background. We have had 11 this past year publicly declare their allegiance to Christ by being baptized. We are very excited as we start the new year. Where there was no life, the Holy Spirit has breathed life. On January 11th, we will go from one house church to two. We ask that you pray for this transition, and we ask that you pray that God would continue to bring folks to us who are without hope so they may find the true Hope which is Jesus Christ.

Prayer Requests:
We are so excited about all that God is doing here in Kyle. As you pray for us, we ask you to praise the Lord for His faithfulness to our family and to HCC. Like we mentioned in the letter, please be in prayer for our transition to two house churches on Sunday, January 11th. The forces of darkness have already been at work to come against us as we multiply, but we take heart because we know that God is more powerful than our enemy. Like always, we ask you to pray that we would abide in Jesus. We cannot do anything without Him. Thanks so much for praying.

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

Galatians 6:9 has really been on our heart recently. It says:

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

We thank you for your faithfulness in giving to our church plant and in praying for us. Through God’s strength and your support, we have not given up, and God is allowing us to reap a harvest. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Robert Foster Update

2008-12-29T11:13:00.001-06:00

Family, Friends & Supporters,

First of all, we pray that you have enjoyed a blessed Christmas!! We spent yesterday with kids and grandchildren and are grateful that we were in a position to do so!

Second, we wanted to let you know that Robert's upcoming surgery is scheduled for next Tuesday, Dec. 30th, at 12:15 PM (EST). This is the minor surgery that will hopefully make it possible for him to avoid a major surgery. We will appreciate your prayers for this delicate laser procedure and for the recovery. Please pray that Dr. Roper will have all of the skill and precision necessary to do exactly what needs to be done and that the problems that Robert has been experiencing since Nov. 4th will be resolved.

We pray that 2009 begins in a very special way for you, bringing you God's peace and spiritual prosperity!

Thank you for praying,

Robert & Mary Jo
EE-Brazil

Clay Hilton Update

2008-12-17T09:07:00.000-06:00

Please pray that our Tuesday night Bible Study would grow.

We have had two BibleStudies so far on Tuesay nights. The first time we had four people show up and the second due to illness we had just one other guy show up. Please pray that our bible study would grow. This next Tuesday we are inviting a good number of people over to sing carols, eat snacks, read the Christmas story, and talk about Christ's reason for coming at Christmas. I am asking you to pray that 8 new people will show up to this next bible study.

Robert and Mary Jo Foster Update

2008-12-09T12:10:00.000-06:00

Family, Friends & Supporters,

I want to give you a quick 3-point update, since we are in perhaps the busiest month of the year for all of us.

1. EE-Brazil ministry: On November 29th, we held our second The Gospel in Your Hand Workshop at a church in Salvador, Brazil. I'm still waiting for confirmation of the exact number of participants, but it is believed to have been more than before and in the neighborhood of 650. That means that in November we trained, in how to use one's hand to share the Gospel, about 1200 leaders in two seven-hour Workshops at this church! And the church has at least another 800 leaders they want us to train early next year!!

We are grateful to see this fruit from a two year project to get these new Portuguese materials translated, published and field tested in Brazil. As in the first Workshop in Salvador, one of the participants felt sufficiently equipped to share with a lost couple there at the church, and both husband and wife accepted Christ! How Great is Our God!!!

2. Regarding my health: My urologist called last Thursday, suggesting that he refer me to Emory Hospital/Healthcare to be evaluated by someone in their Urology Department. (For those who may not be familiar with Emory, it is a well-respected hospital in Atlanta and is in U.S. News & World Report's list of top hospitals in the US.) While waiting for this to be scheduled, I am able to continue working at my computer, meaning that ministry projects are still moving forward. We'll appreciate your prayers that the doctors will be better able to understand what is going on, in order to recommend a good long-term resolution.

Hays Community Church Update

2008-12-05T09:18:00.003-06:00

The Halloween Outreach went great. We hope you enjoy the pics of the kids in their costumes. It was a great way for us to serve our community. We had about 100 to 200 people come to the two Halloween parties that we did. Thank you so much for praying. The Lord continues to add to our church family. We are now about 14 or 15 families strong, and we average about 30 every Sunday night. Again, we are mostly thankful that it is unchurched people that we are reaching. We are excitedly looking forward to starting our second house church in Kyle in January. The weekend before Thanksgiving, we participated in the Missions’ Conference at First Baptist Euless. We felt so encouraged by the folks at that church. While there, Josh was ordained as a minister of the gospel. To the right is a pic of the men who were a part of Josh’s ordination process. This was a very affirming experience for Josh. We have one awesome story to share. We had a girl in our church pray to receive Christ last week. Praise the Lord!!! Her family had no church home. She got plugged into the after school club we do at Kyle Elementary School, and eventually, her family came to our church. This family lives across the street from us. We feel so privileged to be used by God to make disciples, build His church and expand His Kingdom. Your partnership with us makes that a reality. Thank you.

Prayer Requests:

We want to give you an update on Gracie. We found from the testing that they did that she is no longer severely dyslexic, but she is moderately dyslexic. This is a huge praise. What this means is that all of the intervention we have done with her is working. It is a slow process, but it is working. Praise be to the Lord Most High!!! Thanks so much for praying. Continue to be in prayer about our second house church that will be starting at the first of the year. We also ask you to pray that we would continue to abide in Christ. Only Jesus can bear the fruit. We must abide in Him. Finally, we would ask you to pray that we would trust God to be our provider. He has been so faithful to always provide what we need for our physical, emotional and spiritual needs. In these uncertain economic times, pray that we would praise Him for His faithfulness and trust Him for future provision.

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

Philippians 1:3 says, “I thank my God every time I remember you.” This verse really sums up how we feel about you.

Internet Evangelism

2008-12-02T14:08:00.000-06:00

We have all heard of Internet dating, but what about Internet evangelism?

Well, this last week Brad and his wife Katy came over due to a little Internet evangelism that I did last month.

The story is pretty simple. It goes like this:
There is a website here in Fort McMurray that is used as a community classified ad and also a community event page. The website is called mymcmurray.com

One of the sections on this site has a long, long list of parents looking for child-care. Their are very few day care centres here, and none of them take drop ins. Many parents here have a live-in Philipino nanny to take care of the kids. Cinnamon and I took a quick look at our bank account and a long look at our kids and decided that their would be no such caretaker for our babies.

Katy was no live-in nanny fan either. Katy's post intrigued me when I read it a few weeks back. Katy indicated that she had moved to Fort McMurray from British Columbia and could not find child-care/babysitting for her kids so that her and her husband could go out on a date. It had been almost three years since they had gone on a date alone.

I thought and prayed about that, and wondered what could be done to help Katy and her husband.

I then decided to email Katy and tell her that my wife and I were new missionaries in town and had done a little babysitting co-op back in Texas with some good friends. I typed her an email and suggested that her and her family should come over for supper and we would get to know each other and maybe some time in the future we would watch their kids for them.

4 minutes after I sent the email, certain I would not get a response since I had made it really clear that I was a baptist missionary, Katy wrote back. Katy and Brad did want to come over and would love to eat and meet us. Last Friday they came over, with three kids and one on the way, and a dessert.

5 hours later they left. They enjoyed hearing why we left Texas, they enjoyed our hospitality, and most importantly they enjoyed seeing Jesus in us. She has never gone to church, and he is a self-confessed "former Mormon turned hellraiser", but they admitted that they did since a "missing piece/peace" within themselves.

Please pray that they will keep their promise and come back over again, maybe for the Christmas Bible story time in a couple of weeks. Brad said that he might bring his guitar and play some Christmas carols. We will see, but for now pray that the Spirit would convict them and draw them.

Clay Hilton- Church Plant update

2008-11-03T09:55:00.001-06:00

There is no Johnny's Pizza in Fort Mac like there is in North Louisiana. There is no Calhoun's restaurant in Fort Mac like there is in Knoxville, There is no Dreamland BBQ lin Fort Mac like there is in Tuscaloosa. There is no Catfish Junction in Fort Mac like there is in Leesville, and unfortunatly there is no Simply Burger like there is in Euless. However, we do have my house, and I seem to be doing a lot of cooking around here.

Why? Well the restaurants here are way understaffed due to the fact that no one wants to work at a restaurant making $14 an hour when they can work in the oil or construction industry and make a minimum of $25 an hour. So the service in the restaurants is poor, the food is undercooked, and the prices are high. Think $11 for a burger and fries. So when you get invited over to somebody's home to eat, people tend to be more apt to accpet the offer. Last Sunday, these four guys accepted my free food offer. I made homeade pita bread, greek salad, corn, hummus, chicken, beef, and cookies. They devoured it and enjoyed getting to know each other.

Before they left I got a chance to pray for each of these four guys out loud.

If there is one thing that being in Fort Mac has reminded me it is that prayer works and is crucial to survival here in the spiritually dark Fort Mac. So I am asking that you please pray for these four men this week. Pray that Terry would come to Christ. Pray that Nick would be comforted by God. Pray that Dan would put God first in his life. Pray that Michael would find his significance in Christ. Also please pray for more meals like this one where people come together and share their hurts, struggles, and victories and allow the Holy Spirit to work on them.

CLay Hilton- Church Plant Update

2008-10-27T10:11:00.000-05:00

Free Cookie Lady Needs Jesus, Please Pray for Her!

Mary is such a sweet lady, pun intended. She is the free cookie lady at the Safeway here in Fort Mac. The girls love her and give her hugs She gves them cookies. The kids and I have gotten a chance to really connect with Mary. She is way overworked due to a shortage in staff in the store bakery and has been at the point of tears two times while I was there. I have shared with her why I am in Fort Mac and told her that I am praying for her. Please pray that she will give me the open door to share with her about Jesus. Please pray right now, really right now for Mary's openness to the gospel and for her salvation. Open doors are crucial to evangelism here in Canada. Please pray right now, that God would continue to open doors of evangelism for me.

The Church at Sun Valley

2008-10-21T12:50:00.004-05:00

The Church at Sun Valley was recently written about in the state convention's magazine. To read the article click the pitures below:

Angela Baker Update

2008-10-17T11:14:00.004-05:00

Here are a few excerpts from Angela Baker's newsletter:

The Big Small Group
September kicked off the return of our small groups. The first month of my small group has seen and average of 20 people each Friday night! We have put people on every square inch of anything that even resembled a seat– exercise benches and balls included! It is very exciting to see such explosive growth and we are now working towards a plan on how to best divide the one group into three! We are working to maintain the warm, caring and informal environment in each of ours small group to allow us to delve deeper into God’s word and further develop our
relationships with one another.

Wednesday Night Small Group
Our Wednesday night group, which consists primarily of non-believers has also seen a good amount of growth with 10-15 people averaging attendance. The group is currently studying Ecclesiastes, which always proves to stimulate very interactive discussion among Russians– particularly non-believers. One of the exciting things with the Wednesday night small group is the excitement and initiative the participants themselves are taking. It thrills us to get phone call and emails from participants who were eager for small group to start back up and who do “homework”- that is what some of the none believers have taken to calling our application portion of the study.

Life on the Edge Seminar
At the end of this month we are bringing a small group of American businessmen and pastors over to participate in our Business Seminar "Life on the Edge: 5 Steps Away from Abyss" The theme of the breakfast is to share how prioritizing according to God’s principles can enable even the busiest professional or executive to achieve overall balance in life and work. Our keynote speakers will be Bob Forseman, Deputy Chairman of Renaissance Capital Investment and Mike Mellace, President Mellace Family Brands, Inc.

I have been very busy making all of the arrangements for this trip and for the seminar. It has been full of new and challenging experiences for me. The night before I left I was at a travel agency buying 18 train tickets. I booked the venue for the seminar, communicating solely in Russian and on my own! I will handle basically all of the details for the group once they arrives and until they leave a week later. In addition to my regular duties, this has kept me very busy, but it a great experience and I am very excited to see how God will use the seminar to impact the lives of those who attend! We are planning for 100 people to attend and appreciate your
prayers.

Chili Cookoff- Miracle Moment
Krysha will hold it’s Annual Chili Cook-Off next month. The Chili Cook-Off serves as one of our Momentum Building events, which provide us with a great opportunity to invite and develop relationships with non-Christians. Last year, while I didn’t win first place for my chili, I had the privilege of getting to know a young Frenchman who had come with his girlfriend, who is a Christian. She was a bit nervous to invite him, as he was an unabashed atheist, who had no patience for her “religious” stuff. Through the time he spent at the Cook-off and the time he spent in particular with a amazing Christian couple– his perception of Christians and “religion” was changed. We are praying that even more people will attend this year and that God will
again use it to draw people to Him.

New Roommate and Apartment
I moved into a new apartment three days after returning to Moscow in August. My new roommate, Aida, and the apartment have both been a great blessing. Aida is a volunteer with
Krysha and a good friend of mine. We have both enjoyed being able to use our apartment and our love of cooking to have a hospitality ministry by having people over for dinner about once a week.

A Miracle Moment in Colombia

2008-10-15T09:46:00.002-05:00

As our team from FBC Euless, TX prepared to head back home, we stood in the airport and joked about who might look "suspicious" enough to be asked to go through the "special" check-point. As in most airports these days, there are several security check-points one must go through before finally boarding their plane. Although we joke about how time consuming they can be, I have really learned to appreciate the added security that it brings!

As our team filed through the first check-point, we missionaries were standing behind the security gates, watching to make sure the Spanish-to-English exchange between them & the security officer was being understood. Of course, in a big group like theirs, the officer decided to check at least one of their bags. You'd imagine that when a group says they've been doing "mission" work, that the officers would think you were the most innocent people in the world. In our country, many so called "missionaries" are actually drug traffickers...sad, but true.

Decked out in his new traditional, hand-crafted Colombian hat, our fearless team leader Keith was chosen out of the bunch. He walked over, smiling like he'd one a prize, and watched as his old fashioned, hard cover suitcase was inspected. As the officer inspected his suitcase he founds something interesting...a box. As he opened it, Keith began to explain to him what it was. It was an Evanacube. Keith took the cube, and using his basic Spanish began to explain each picture, opening the cube, showing man's sin, Jesus' death, burial & resurrection, the choice we have to accept his free gift of forgiveness....and the officer stood there staring, listening to every word he said.

We missionaries stood there watching. Keith offered to give the officer the cube...and the Spanish-English New Testament that was also sitting on top of his luggage. (What divine placement of those two items!) After Keith had moved to join the rest of his team members, waiting to check in at the airline desk, we kept an eye on the officer. Immediately he took the cube and showed it to the other 3 officers who were also checking luggage. Serious & stern faces turned to smiles as he opened the cube and began to repeat what he had heard! He then took the cube to show more officers down at the next check point. We all stood there in utter amazement! What might the Lord have in store for this man!?

More than 30 minutes later, we saw the officer, walking down the airport, Bible & cube in hand...I think this was a gift he intended to keep.

Thank you Lord, for preparing Keith's luggage in just the right manner, for giving Keith boldness to use the little Spanish he knew to be obedient and share your Truth. Thank you for opening the heart of the security officer. For giving him the desire to share this new Truth with others around him. Give him the desire to learn more about you, to read Your Word and to come to know you personally.

What we thought was a routine security check-point, might have been the check-point that officer needed to find everlasting security in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have..."

-1 Peter 3:15a

Clay Hilton- Canada Church Plant Update

2008-10-13T14:57:00.002-05:00

"Don't you go all religious on me" exclaim Terry's friends "Aw don't worry about that I have a really cool pub-crawling preacher that I really like." That is what Terry, the guy that I met while drinking a diet pepsi at Brewbaker's Pub, is telling his friends.

God is working on Terry. He called this week when I was out and left this message on my phone "Hey Clay this is Terry. I was reading this book that you gave me and had some questions about it. Let's get together and talk about it. Okay talk to ya' soon."

We had some coffee today as we talked about life, love, God, and the kind of life that Jesus wants for Terry.

This is as great of a picture as you get up here. 2 Tim Horton's empty cups of coffee and an open Bible. Terry, a rough edged, blue collar, molson drinking, ladies man teared up as I shared with him John 10:10 and other verses. He is still checkling out Jesus, but wants to come over reguarly to learn more about Him. God has Terry's number please continue to pray for him.

Hope and Help Update

2008-10-07T15:52:00.004-05:00

A new Timothy Leadership Institute is just now underway in West Bengal India. The class of 27 men is made up of pastors, evangelists and church planters who are actively involved in ministry but have had no training. These students come from the Indian states of West Bengal and Manipur, as well as the countries of Bhutan and Nepal. The teachers for this TLI are HHI Director Larry Malone and Robin Webb, pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas. They are teaching Bible Doctrines and Bible Study Methods. The TLI provides a good solid foundation for Christian teaching so that these church leaders will be able to explain why they believe what they are preaching and teaching. The study methods course teaches the men
the proper ways to study a passage so that they will be able to understand the truth of God’s Word. May we ask you to pray for this TLI? Here are a few specifi c prayer requests:

● pray for Larry and Robin as they teach each day

● pray for Rupak who is the local coordinator of the TLI and will do most of the translation work

● pray for the students

● pray for Reuben, Rupak’s brother, who is assisting with the TLI

● pray for the families of the students who are left alone during the TLI class time

● ask God to give Larry and Robin the exact words they need to say in order to make the material clear and understandable

● pray for safety in travel and for good health for the students and the teachers

● as Larry and Robin go into the villages to preach on Sunday, please pray that God will give them opportunities to clearly present the Gospel to anyone who is still in spiritual darkness and to encourage believers

Clay Hilton Update

2008-10-06T14:59:00.001-05:00

Here in Fort McMurray there is a really bad sinful side to the city. Few places in the city are as bad as the Boomtown Casino.

Drug deals, prostitution, assaults, and gambling happen all the time at the Boomtown. On Wednesday, October 1st one other thing happened outside the ol' Boomtown Casino- Jesus was shared with a hopeless group of people.

With the sweet, stale, nauseating smell of marijuana in the air Michael and I shared real hope to the people outside the Boomtown.

Michael, a guy that is partnering with me to reach Fort Mac, and I had a really good visit with a guy named Chad. Chad went to a baptist high school in British Columbia and knew he was not living for God. We prayed with him and gave him our contact info. Please pray that Chad and others will bend their hearts to the Lord in this cold sin city.

Clay Hilton- Canadian Missionary

2008-10-06T14:17:00.003-05:00

I met Terry a few weeks back when I sat down at a bar, ordered a diet pepsi and then prayed God would send somebody for me to talk with. He sent Terry to sit down beside me at the Brewbaker's Pub.

As you might recall, Terry said that he was interested in "being my first church member". We hit it off and Terry said he wanted to talk again at another time.

Last Sunday, was that other time. I invited Terry over to our home to enjoy some chili (made from chili mix sent up from the Bridger Sunday School class in Alabama). He loved the good ol' southern cooking and had never had chili with cornbread.

We then went downstairs and talked for two hours about life, love, God, and the Bible. As a matter of fact. I gave him his very first Bible. He had never seen the inside of a Bible ever before.

Terry was a little perplexed by all the little numbers and big numbers and different names at the top of each page. I explained to Terry how and where to read in his new Bible and most importantly I shared with Terry how to start a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Terry was not uninterested about a relationship with Jesus, but wanted to think about that decision a bit more. Terry said he would read his new Bible and talk more with me later.

We plan on getting together soon. Pray that the Holy Spirit would continue to touch Terry's life and call him to repentance.

Robert and MaryJo Foster- EE Brazil Update

2008-09-29T11:15:00.000-05:00

Well, how about a few minutes of breaking, good news? Last month from Brazil, I asked you to pray for our activities there. A lot happened as a result. For example, we were able to advance the project of the videos that need to be filmed, by talking with the young university student who had offered to help. The scripts were finished and a schedule was established. There were many meetings with EE leaders about current projects.

Much of my time in Sao Paulo was spent making various contacts. Here are three highlights:
We visited with pastors and EE leaders of a church that has hosted past clinics about an idea of mine as to how that church could partner with us in a new way, holding what we call a "missionary clinic" in another state/region where we do not currently have a church using EE training. A missionary clinic is not for missionaries. Rather, it operates as a short term missions project.

One Sunday, I visited one of the larger Baptist churches in the capital in order to meet the pastor and to learn a little about the church. This resulted in a meeting with the pastor later in the week. He has been at the church about 9 months and told us: "I want EE in my church!" From there we discussed/shared how to bring this about.
One day while working in the EE office, we received a call from a pastor in the city of Salvador. He asked if he and an associate pastor could meet with us in Sao Paulo the next day. So, the next day we listened to him tell of his desire to train his churchʼs 2,000 cell group leaders by November of this year, in order to reach a large group of people by year's end. He told us that his church's total weekend attendance in five services is now 8,000 and that he is dreaming of having 10,000. Needless to say, he got our attention!
Here is some background on that last contact: In 1999, we held a leadership training clinic in a Brazilian church in Pompano Beach, FL. Both the pastor and his associate from Salvador were clinicians that week, as they were living and pastoring in the area at that time. As we visited and discovered this, it was an important "it's a small world" moment.

Recently, as the pastor began to have a vision for training his cell group leaders, he remembered the training he received in 1999. For this reason, he traveled to Sao Paulo to talk with us. We listened, assured him of our desire to work with him and the church and mentioned our new Workshop.

The next day we talked with other members of our team and were urged to travel to Salvador and work out the details of the Workshop. A few days later we found ourselves riding to the church in the car of the associate pastor, as he pointed to a large favela (shantytown) there in Salvador. He told us, "We have 400 cell groups in that favela."

We learned that the church is 126 years old, making it the oldest Baptist church in Brazil. And, in the next 24 hours, we worked through most of the details of holding the training at their church. To be able to train 2,000 leaders of the church is obviously an incredible opportunity AND challenge for EE-Brazil.

Well, we are still working on a date for the Workshop, as the initial suggestion for October was met with some conflicts in calendars. We are now trying to nail down dates in November.

THANK YOU FOR PRAYING so fervently for this trip! As you have just read, the Lord heard and answered. Now, I ask you to pray for the follow-up on these opportunities, especially for this training in Salvador.

One closing bit of news about our family: We spent this past weekend with Brian and Taunya who are expecting their first child in January. They are expecting a boy, our first grandson. Needless to say, we are very excited for them. Please pray for the remaining months of Taunya's pregnancy and all of their preparations.

Thank you for holding us up in prayer! Finances, both personal and ministry funds, continue to be a serious matter for prayer. We remain very grateful to those who support us in this way and welcome others to become financial partners with us, too.**

And, let's pray fervently for our country at this momentous time in history and for displaced Galveston and Houston residents!

Blessings,

Robert & Mary Jo
EE-Brazil

Beach Clubs Kickoff

2008-09-22T11:32:00.001-05:00

I wanted to give you our first Beach Club Report this year! It was a great week!

We kicked off 10 clubs!

Clubs: 10
Kids: 446
Leaders: 38 (actual is almost 80)
Total: 484
Professions of Faith: 5

Talk about Miracle Moments!!! I can’t wait to see what God does this week as we kick off our 11th club, Bear Creek!

Privileged to serve,

Tammy Terrell

Chinese Bibles Unpdate- Mandarin Gospel of John at Summer Olympics

2008-09-09T14:25:00.003-05:00

Copies of the Gospel of John, using the new Mandarin Chinese Standard Bible (CSB) translation, were given out as gifts at the summer Olympics in Beijing. The CSB New Testament is the most accurate translation of God's Word in everyday language and will be a true source of encouragement for those who have struggled to understand outdated Chinese translations. The CSB translation of the Gospel of John has already won critical acclaim by Chinese Christians all over the world.

Hope and Help International- Ministry Report

2008-09-04T15:09:00.004-05:00

BLESSINGS AMID BURDENS

Everyone loves blessings but human nature tends to shun burdens. However, it is often out of
burdensome situations that the greatest blessings arise. This is the case with our partners in
India.

Kukil is one of Hope and Help’s Timothy Leadership Institute students from the state of Assam. Sadly just two weeks after he had finished the second year of his TLI studies in May, 2008 his
precious wife died of breast cancer, leaving him with two young children to raise and his wife’s ailing mother to take care of. In spite of the challenges he his facing right now, he is still faithful
in God’s service.

Kukil just returned from visiting an isolated village for the first time. During his seven day stay he was able to share the Gospel with many people and four of them trusted Christ as Savior. Praise the Lord! Since the village is so isolated and poor, Kukil did not have good food or water
and he became very ill as he traveled back home. When he finally arrived home he found out that both of his children had contracted viral fever. Please be in prayer for this father and minister of the Gospel.

Since Kukil is too sick to return right now, our partner Avinash has spent the last week in this village doing follow-up work. In a report sent to us just today, this is what he says:

“The village has a major problem of alcoholism. All of the men work in farming in which they get only about $1 a day. Children and the women have a problem of malnutrition. We have a great great opportunity to serve them. Because they lack money they push their children in a very young age to work; they have no future. The government has help for them but on the way to those who need it, it is taken by the people in authority. We can be the hands and feet of our LORD to them in the mission of God. When we were there our eyes were opened and we wished we could have some more equipment to help them to know our Lord. I have now a laptop computer in which I showed them The Jesus Film and Passion of the Christ but very few of them could see the screen. I wish I had a projector; you know a big crowed turned out to see the films. All of them are hindus, but soon many of them will follow our LORD!”

Please pray for this village and for Avinash and Kukil as they continue to minister. The village
is open to the message of the Gospel. What a great encouragement to Kukul to have a hand in
taking the Good News to this unevangelized village during a year that has been such a challenge
and filled with sadness.

Hope and Help International Update

2008-08-21T11:43:00.002-05:00

We are sometimes asked why so few people are baptized in relation to the number of people who have trusted Christ as Savior. In answering this question we will include a letter we recently received from one of our partners who was planning a baptism for 37 new believers. Albert writes:

“We had a baptism service and it was very hard but our God and your prayers allowed us to overcome. Some people from the area came over and made a big problem. I was only able to baptize 5 new believers before they stopped us by force. So please continue to pray for us.”

Because salvation is free to us we tend to forget that it came at a great price - the life of Jesus Christ. And even for those who are involved in the spread of the Good News of salvation today, many times there is a price to be paid. As you give to and pray for these missionaries, you are partnering with men who are worthy to suffer shame for His name.

As a follow-up to Albert’s report about their baptism being forcefully stopped, we wanted to thank you for praying. In an email from Albert today he states:

“Yesterday we held another baptism and were able to baptize 15 more without any problem.”

On another issue, Albert shared that he has another 25 pastors praying and asking that we begin another 1st year Timothy Leadership Institute for them sometime in 2009. HHI held its first Timothy Leadership Institute with Albert as our coordinator in Karnataka and this past July we were privileged to see these students graduate having completed all three years of study.

Hays Community Church Update

2008-08-20T15:13:00.004-05:00

We now have nine families coming to HCC that make up 33 total people. Of the eight families we have reached, seven did not have a church home prior to HCC. This past week we did another week long Kids’ Beach Club. It was very exciting because our old church, Eden Road Community Church, sent seven students and two adults down from Arlington to help with Beach Club. They did an outstanding job. We had 17 children participate. Four of those kids were from unchurched families, three of the four had never come to any event that HCC had put on and one of the four had never been to any church function ever. Last week he heard a Bible story for the first time. He now owns his own Bible, and he will be playing on Jacob’s soccer team. God is so good how he connects us with people.

We also wanted to tell you a story of a woman named Les. We met Les at an event we did last Christmas. She was unchurched. We found out in May that she needed a fence built for her backyard. We felt the Lord leading HCC to build this for her, and Les agreed to let us do this. Josh and three other men from our church built this fence for her. Josh was definitely the unskilled labor. She was so touched by this that she started coming to our church. A couple of weeks ago she committed her life to Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord! We are experiencing the kingdom of God coming to Kyle, Tx at HCC.

Prayer Requests:
Praise the Lord for Les’ salvation.
Praise the Lord that He has added more families since our last letter.
Praise the Lord for the friendships he has given our family.
Please pray for the unchurched families we connected with at Beach Club.
Please pray Psalm 91 for our church.
Pray for Kelly for this new school year.
Most importantly, pray that we would have sweet times with Jesus, that we would continue to stay connected as a couple, that we would invest in our children well, that we would continue to sow seed and that we would effectively disciple those God has entrusted to us.

Missionary Update- Robert and Mary Jo Foster

2008-08-18T13:06:00.002-05:00

PRAYER REQUESTS:

Please pray as I continue to adapt/translate Youth EE materials for Brazil. There are other projects, too, awaiting completion of this one. So, please pray for good time management.
Pray for the filming of three short videos this month and next to be used in conjunction with our new Workshop.
Please pray for important meetings/discussions here in Sao Paulo during the next 2 weeks.
Please pray for good attendance at our remaining 2008 training clinics.

PRAISE:

Praise the Lord for Kids’ EE training clinic held in Araçatuba, Sao Paulo, last month.
Praise for a Kids’ EE workshop held this past weekend to equip hospital chaplains and volunteers who visit hospitalized children with terminal illnesses.

ANSWERED PRAYER (update on previous requests):

The first unit of Youth EE has been translated/adapted for Brazil.
EE Brazil’s new website is up and running.
Material sales have been up…a positive sign in many respects!

Pregnancy Center Update

2008-08-13T10:00:00.003-05:00

On July 18th , First Euless hosted our MCPC benefit concert “An Evening with Steven Curtis Chapman”. Steven and his family are strong advocates for women in unplanned pregnancy, adoption, and the unborn. He presented an inspiring evening of worship and we all enjoyed the outstanding talent God gave Steven to write and perform his music. We were able to highlight the pregnancy center ministry as we shared about our client Meagan, who came to the center as a frightened, confused 17 year old girl. She was facing a dilemma-- to have an abortion or give birth to her child. She met with our volunteer counselor, Linda Bussey. She talked with Meagan about her options and about how God had a special plan for her child. Meagan chose to sacrificially place her little boy, Tyler, into the loving care of Melissa and Jeff, now Tyler’s parents. She went on to graduate high school, and recently college. Jeff and Melissa have a great relationship with Meagan, and she visits with Tyler often. We were so happy that Meagan, Tyler, Jeff, and Melissa were willing to share their story-- a story of how God took a difficult situation and made something beautiful.

It was such a wonderful evening. When we received the news about our ministry offering, we were amazed that God had blessed us with almost EXACTLY what we had budgeted for the start-up costs for the new Irving office! We hope to finalize soon a contract for an office location that is strategically located where we should see many women who desperately need options other than abortion. We are so grateful for God’s provision through "The Miracle” and for the generous caring people who gave so that we can begin to reach the city of Irving. Please continue to pray for us as we move forward, and that many lives will be saved for now, and forever, through this ministry.

COUNTED WORTHY TO SUFFER SHAME FOR HIS NAME

2008-08-05T14:30:00.001-05:00

In Acts 5 we read that after the Apostles were arrested they were beaten and commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and then they were let go. And we are told they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.

In the western world today it is hard to believe that such persecution still happens. However, we can assure you that it does happen throughout India as well as in many other countries of the world. We know firsthand of instances that have happened to pastors and church planters that we are working with. Some have been beaten, others tied up and doused with gasoline only to be saved by sympathetic villagers before the match was lit, others have had their churches burned to the ground.

Hope and Help International recently received statistical information from the national missionaries that we are sponsoring as well as information from all of the pastors and church planters that are being trained in the Timothy Leadership Institute. We were thrilled to see what they have accomplished with few resources. In the first six months of 2008 these men report visiting 494 villages, making 993 new contacts, seeing 998 people trust Christ as their personal Savior, and baptizing 258. This is even more amazing when we realize that all of this has been accomplished by 55 pastors and church planters.

We are sometimes asked why so few people are baptized in relation to the number of people who have trusted Christ as Savior. In answering this question we will include a letter we recently received from one of our partners who was planning a baptism for 37 new believers.

“We had a baptism service and it was very hard but our God and your prayers allowed us to overcome. Some people from the area came over and made a big problem. I was only able to baptize 5 new believers before they stopped us by force. So please continue to pray for us.”

Because salvation is free to us we tend to forget that it came at a great price - the life of Jesus Christ. And even for those who are involved in the spread of the Good News of salvation today, many times there is a price to be paid. As you give to and pray for these missionaries, you are partnering with men who are worthy to suffer shame for His name.

Next WorldWide Update

2008-07-28T13:27:00.000-05:00

THANK YOU FOR NOT TAKING US ON A MISSION TRIP. These were the words of one of the pastors that went with us last week to Mexico. He then went on to clarify his statement. He said, “Most mission organizations make the “trip” the center of what they do. At Next you provide students an experience that puts them in an environment where God can radically change their lives. For most North Americans the mission trip is more about “them” as opposed to the mission.”

It has greatly concerned me since day one, that we might someday lose the real focus of our ministry. We do not exist to simply give light skinned children a place to take pictures of dark skinned children so that they have pictures for their album. But rather to introduce students to a Missional God who is as passionate about missional living in their Jerusalem as He is in the uttermost parts of the world.

This past week, Sherry, Laura and I were in Xalapa, Mexico. We had the privilege of taking 13 people from our church as well as students and adults from two other churches. Over half of the students that we took had never led someone to Christ before. Before the end of the week, all of them had led multiple people to faith in Christ. We had 188 professions of faith and were able to plant one new church.

As much as I love seeing students share their faith, that in and of it self is not what drives me. What motivates me is seeing students realize that the end of the trip is not the “end” but the “beginning.” That what God does “to” students on the field is simply to prepare them for what He wants to do “through” them at home.

We truly had a miraculous week. I regret my inability to truly reveal all that God did during our campaign. As one mom said, “I have watched people return from the mission field for years. Time and time again I have heard the frustration in their voices as they tried to reveal what God had done. For the first time I truly understand what they were feeling.”

Thank you again from the bottom of my heart for helping send Sherry and me to the field. On several occasions last week, Sherry and I talked about you. We know the sacrifices that you make to be able to send us out. No one has a more generous support team than we do. You truly humble us.

On a personal note, I wanted you to know that I was scheduled to be in Ecuador at the end of August. Because of an old football injury ( heavy emphasis on “old”) I have had to find someone to take my place because I am having knee surgery in early August. Please be in prayer for Sherry. She and I both know that I am not a good patient. We would really appreciate your prayers. We dearly love you.

Because He Lives,
Warren Samuels

Tanzania Update

2008-07-16T11:14:00.001-05:00

Paul Buhwahwa, the E3 mission leader in Tanzania, just returned from Magu and Musoma to meet with the pastors of the churches we will be working with on the campaign to Tanzania in September. Last October we conducted two day church planting conferences in Magu and Musoma and challenged the churches to plant 10 new churches in each city (20 total churches).

Instead of 20 new churches they are ready to plant 60 new churches on the campaign.

That's 60 villages/communities where there is currently no evangelical church.

There is such an incredible hunger for the gospel. It is hard to describe.

Jesus said, "Look at the fields; they are ripe for harvest. Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest field."

In Christ,
Mike Talley

Hope and Help Update

2008-07-11T11:04:00.003-05:00

Below are a few pictures from the lates Hope and Help Leadership Conference, held in Chickabalapur, India.

So far in 2008, there have been 996 salvations, 256 baptisms, and28 new churches started through the work of Hope and Help International.

Hope and Help International

2008-06-26T16:27:00.001-05:00

Dear Friends and Ministry Partners,

Below is a short email from Lori in regards to the Timothy Leadership Institute being held in Chickabalapur, Karnataka, India with our coordinator Albert Jayaraju during the next two weeks. This is the 3rd and final year for these 30 students. Please be in prayer for God’s continued blessing and strength as the teachers share and encourage these Faithful Men.

"After a missed flight we arrived in Bangalore a day later than planned. The TLI was scheduled to start on Wednesday, June 25 and it did, but because we were late getting in the night before, we began in the afternoon rather than the morning.

All the students had arrived on time so they spent the morning in prayer for the training. They were much more relaxed about the delay than we uptight Americans were!

Albert, our coordinator, had been in the hospital just a few weeks ago. He had severe headaches and high fever. He is somewhat better but it's obvious that he is not completely well. The doctors still don't know what caused his problems. We are praying that he will be OK throughout the TLI.

Ed began the TLI by teaching on evangelism, with a focus on the biblical elements of the true Gospel. He encouraged the men to develop their testimony, giving a brief background of their life before Christ, but with the main emphasis on what Christ has done for them.

Mike is teaching on developing biblical messages. He emphasized the need to understand the context, to interpret the passage correctly and to always include an application.

The students are eager to learn and are participating in the classroom discussions and answering questions in a way that makes it apparent that they are understanding the material. We pray that the rest of the TLI goes as well as the first two days."

Blessings,

Larry Malone
Hope and Help International

FBCE Missionaries- Robert and Mary Jo Foster

2008-06-24T15:40:00.003-05:00

The following is an update from FBCE Missionaries Robert and Mary Jo Foster, who are working with Evangelism Explosion in Brazil:

Friends & Supporters,

The other day the latest edition of SouthwesternNews arrived in the mail. On page 64, seminary professor, Dr. David Mills, starts his article by saying: "One could say that it is nearly impossible to exaggerate when speaking of the importance of personal evangelism."

His statement causes me to reflect on the "tagline" for EE-Brazil's new Workshop training for personal evangelism: "Easy to learn...fun to share...and hard to forget!" In the Workshop that I taught in São Paulo on April 26th, the participants found this to be true. Since personal evangelism IS so important, how cool is it that EE-Brazil can offer training for a Gospel presentation that is easy to learn, fun to share and hard to forget? God is certainly good!

I just spent 26 days in São Paulo. It was the latest in my string of marathons! Much of the time was spent on finalizing the Portuguese materials for our Workshop. PTL this phase of the project is completed, as the materials are at the publishing house! God is really good!

Upon returning, I remember saying to one Brazilian in São Paulo in an online conversation that "so many good things are happening within EE-Brazil that I can't keep up!" Truth is that when good things are happening, it generates additional work, too. I confess to being a little overwhelmed right now by all the opportunities and resultant new tasks! But, God is good, and "His Word is a lamp to our feet and a light for our path." (Psalm 119:105) We'll appreciate your prayers during these busy days!

Here are a few Praises:

Praise the Lord for the excellent contacts made among pastors while in São Paulo.
A Kids’ EE clinic was held in Rio de Janeiro in April.
We met with the director of a hospital chaplaincy ministry and discussed how we could work together in training chaplains and hospital volunteers, using our new Workshop and Kids' EE.
A Share Your Faith Workshop was held April 26th in an English-speaking church in São Paulo , as part of EE-Brazil’s intercultural ministry to other language groups in Brazil.
Praise for the Lord leading us to a Brazilian pastor who is well-connected in the Korean

community in São Paulo . He speaks Korean and will be able to help us discover key contacts
among the Korean churches there. We want to offer our training in Korean to these
pastors/churches.
Continued praise to the Lord for the churches, Christian businesses, friends and family that pray
for us and give faithfully to our support!

...and, a few Prayer Requests:

Please pray for my next major project, as I begin to adapt/translate Youth EE materials into
Portuguese for Brazil. There are other projects in line, too, awaiting the completion of this one.
So, please pray for good time management.
Please continue to pray for EE-Brazil’s need for a greater number of clinic teachers for both
Adult and Kids´ EE.
Plans for a Chinese clinic in São Paulo have been shifted to 2009. Please pray for these plans to
mature and for a possible Workshop in April 2009 to promote a training clinic later in the year.
Pray for the launching of the Kids' EE EvangeCube in Brazil. I am working now on details of how
EE-Brazil will become the exclusive distributor for this witnessing tool in Brazil. This should
generate training opportunities and needed income for EE-Brazil.
Pray for the development of a new website for EE-Brazil. Work began last week.
Pray for the filming of two short videos to be used in conjunction with our new Workshop.
Pray for training material sales in Brazil to continue to increase in order that adequate funds for
the ministry will be available.
Our family must find economical health insurance without sacrificing too much more on
coverage. Pray that we can find a solution to this constant financial burden.
And, perhaps the most urgent at the moment: Please pray for adequate family support and that
eventually we can raise sufficient funds in order to return to full financial support.

Chinese Bible Translation Update

2008-06-19T10:30:00.003-05:00

The goal of this project is to enable Chinese scholars to create an easy-to-read and easy-to-understand contemporary Chinese Mandarin Bible that also is theologically accurate. Recently the CSB New Testament was completed, which is especially timely due to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Holman Bible Outreach has a distribution strategy in place, and initially will give away 200,000 copies of the New Testament to Chinese people around the world.

"Most of the brothers and sisters agree that this new translation is making better sense, and is easier to understand. Beijing church is surprised and excited to receive the newest translation from U.S. church; they appreciate it greatly," writes Lu, a Chinese house church member.

The Old Testament translation work continues to progress, with a target date of 2011 for completion.

Hope and Help International Update

2008-06-04T11:05:00.002-05:00

Hope and Help sent this update from their latest project in Assam, India.

258 Salvations
201 Baptisms
142 Villages Visited
15 New Churches

Miracle Freestone Update

2008-05-27T10:51:00.002-05:00

The following is an update from Scott Sheppard on the Miracle Freestone Project:

Greetings!

God has been so good, working out the details and saving us money so we can do more!

In chance meeting at lunch, when we were just about at the end of our Heat and Air rope, Gary Phillips and I ran into a member who is in that business commercially who said he’d like to help!
Low and behold, where we thought we were going to spend $4500, we received a totally new Heat and Air System, all new ducts, removed, and replaced for $1100!

That’s God for you…in His timing.

Our Tape Bed and Texture bids were all in the $2500-$3000, and we found a contractor who is starting today, for $1400. Wow! That’s $4500 to $5000 in savings right there that will allow us to do additional projects with the City of Euless.

Here are the next two steps:

Paint:
We are scheduling a painting party for Saturday, May 31st. 9 AM.
Our Tape Bed and Texture work should be finished by mid week, with enough drying time to begin painting the walls, ceiling and trim next weekend.
If you are interested, available, and pretty handy with a roller or brush, please contact Beth Harris or Scott Sheppard so we can schedule the work, and have enough tools/supplies.

Siding:
We need a couple of things to happen this week, and we may start our siding project next Saturday as well. We are waiting for a crew that will come in and grind down the stumps that are against the foundation and have grown up over the siding. Ff you are interested in helping with the vinyl siding, please contact the church as well.

“Lederrick”

2008-05-27T10:43:00.003-05:00

Reaching Out Ministries sent the following Miracle Story:

Lederrick came to the DFW area as a teenager to visit a sick relative. He got involved with the wrong group of people and ended up running away, living on the streets. His aunt left message after message on the streets for him to come home but he did not return. His mother died when he was a toddler and nobody knew for sure who his father might be. His grandmother had been raising him, but still without that parental involvement, he felt unloved and unwanted.

Lederrick heard on the streets that the “Star house”, a house of God, could help, so he came by just asking for prayer. He was searching for safety and guidance as he attempted to get home. He received a meal, clean clothing and a bus ticket home to Texarkana.

Lederrick’s grandmother had been praying for two years for his safe return and freedom from drugs. Lederrick had been dabbling in soft drugs in Texarkana, and got involved with much worse in the DFW area. He returned drug free.

Another miracle is the impact this story has had on another person. Floyd was asked to encourage and support Lederrick during his 5 hour wait at the Dallas bus station before his bus would leave. The bus station is a very bad area and the station itself is filled with drug dealers who are on the prowl. Lederrick would have been a target. Floyd became personally involved in this boy’s welfare and trials. Floyd is the person who received the phone call from his grandmother and heard her tears of graditude and joy in response to her answered prayers with the return of her child.

Although Floyd is a believer, it is not always easy to see the Lord’s work in your own life. It is so much easier to take the credit for yourself. To see answered prayer in the lives of two other persons has radically affected Floyd’s life and his perspective on the mercy of God and personal prayer life. Sometimes the answer is immediate, other times we must wait and be patient.

"Shorty"

2008-05-27T10:33:00.003-05:00

Reaching Out Ministries sent the following Miracle story about a man who attended their recent Hootenanny in the Hood:

A gentleman named Shorty came to give his testimony May 5th, 2008 at the annual Reaching Out Hootenanny.

He knew about Reaching Out Ministries through the “girls” he had working the streets. Shorty was a pimp, drug dealer and “ran” a group of under aged boys to deliver his drugs and steal computer equipment and automobliue equipment.

Shorty attended a “Hootenanny” in 2003. A couple of months later he came to the house in the early morning/late night hours, depending on your perspective, and asked for help to get off the streets. He was placed in a rehab center and went through their program.

He was angry with Orlin for preaching to him as he had grown up in the church and believed he knew all there was to know about Jesus. After his anger cooled a little bit he admitted he did smoke crack, snort cocaine, and shoot heroin at every opportunity. Orlin’s pill was bitter to swallow.

Shorty said it was the first time he could see the plank in his own eye instead of the splinter in others.

He was use to being able to look down upon the people he used. He didn’t like seeing himself as others saw him.

Shorty has now been “clean” for four years and has an active, healthy life in society. He is also part of the leadership in the church he regularly attends. He just wanted to say “Thank You”. The “seeds” planted with the prostitutes and teens that came to Reaching Out Ministries were spread to Shorty. Shorty is now bearing fruit and spreading seeds of his own.

God is good. All the time.

Hays Community Church Update

2008-05-27T10:26:00.005-05:00

Josh Proctor, Pastor of Hays Community Church, sent us this follw up to his last update:

Thank you so much for praying for Heather's parents. They came to church this past weekend. Praise the Lord!!! Also, this past weekend the Lord allowed us to baptize six people. We thought you would enjoy the pics.

Thanks for partnering with us.

-Josh and Kelly Proctor and family

Pregnancy Center Update

2008-05-23T09:39:00.004-05:00

Most of the clients we see at Mid Cities Pregnancy Center are single. Not often do we see married clients in crisis, but when we do, we admire their courage. That is the case with this client. She already had two children and she and her husband felt like they couldn’t afford another baby. They felt like abortion was their only choice, so she scheduled an appointment. We did a sonogram for her and after seeing her baby, she cancelled her abortion appointment. She and her husband decided to choose life and place the baby for adoption. To say it was a difficult decision would hardly touch the meaning of the words. She recently delivered and placed her baby with a lovely Christian couple. Please pray for her as she continues to heal from this decision.

The Texas Department of Health Services reports that 79,041 women obtained abortions in Texas in 2006. Of those abortions, 11,479 were performed in Dallas County, of which Irving is a major city. Statistics indicate that having a life affirming Christ-centered ministry outreach to Irving could help to significantly reduce those numbers. We are excited that we are getting closer and closer!

Please pray for the family of Steven Curtis Chapman and the loss of their adopted daughter, Maria. Maria was one of Steven and Mary Beth’s six children, and the youngest of the three that were adopted from China. They are strong advocates for adoption and established a ministry called Shaohannah’s Hope that provides information and financial grants to families who adopt. Steven Curtis Chapman is scheduled to come to First Euless on July 18th for a benefit concert for the pregnancy center.

Hays Community Church

2008-05-22T11:37:00.001-05:00

Josh Proctor, pastor of Hays Community Church in Kyle, TX, sent us this update:

I wanted to share a cool story with you. Scott and Heather prayed to receive Christ in December and were baptized in January. Scott had to go on temporary disability this spring due to some health problems. This has been very hard on he and his wife. We have been trying to teach them to trust the Lord and just surrender this whole thing to Jesus. Scott had surgery last week, and it seems that it was successful. We challenged Scott and Heather to fast before the surgery as an act of dependence on the Lord. They both did a one day fast. This is way cool. Here is the really cool thing though. Heather told one of her coworkers about the fast, and this coworker and her husband know the Lord and decided to fast with Scott and Heather. Check this out. Heather told her mom and dad, who don't know the Lord, about this fast, and her parents fasted with them and prayed. Heather's parents have indicated that they would be there this Sunday for church. God is good. Praise be to His name. Pray that Scott and Heather would continue to grow in being dependent on the Lord, and pray that Heather's parents would come this weekend.

Hope and Help International

2008-05-22T11:20:00.004-05:00

Hope and Help International sent us this update about their latest leadership conference:

The Timothy Leadership Institute in Assam, a northeastern state of India, is at the halfway point, so we wanted to give you an update. Avinash just sent us photos and we will share those with you.

The teachers in this TLI are Trevor Overcash and Carl Forney and it is coordinated by HHI partner, Avinash Sarki. This is the second year of a three-year program. The TLI began last Monday, May 5 and will conclude on Thursday, May 15. The classes begin at about 8:30 each morning and end at about 4:30 in the afternoon with a lunch break and, of course, tea breaks.
The classes have gone well. The students are willing to share and ask questions and participate when they are asked to do so. Many have stated that the training they received last year has had a big impact on their ministries and that they are much bolder to share the Gospel since they are bet-ter able to explain and defend it. They were excited to get started with this year’s courses. Trevor and Carl speak at church Traditional welcome ceremony Trevor teaching; Avinash translating Each session begins with worship Carl gets the students involved Trevor emphasizes a point.

The big challenge is the heat. The lecture hall where the classes are held has fans, and the hotel room where Trevor and Carl are staying has air conditioning, but the power is off much of the time. Trevor and Carl are both trying to include inter-active assignments in their lessons, just so the students can move around a bit and stay alert.

One evening Avinash showed the movie “The End of the Spear” which is about the 5 missionaries who were martyred in Ecuador in 1956. As Trevor and Avinash were walking back to the hotel afterward, a guy on a motorcycle drove past them and shouted something; then he turned around and drove by shouting again. This happened a few times and Avinash simply commented that the guy must be drunk. The next day, Avinash said that the man said “White man, why don’t you take your religion and leave us alone!” This was just a reminder that not everyone is happy with the message that we bring and that we must be vigilant and wise.

This weekend, Carl and Trevor will be able to visit some of the villages where the TLI students minster. They will have Sunday services in a village church. Then on Monday, it’s back to the TLI. Before returning home, they will spend Thursday in a village conducting a Gospel Crusade.
Join us in thanking God for the great experiences so far and asking Him to bless the rest of the trip.

John and Rebekah Miller

2008-05-09T11:46:00.002-05:00

Here is an update for John and Rebekah Miller, who are working with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Papua New Guinea.

Dear friends and family,

We just got back to Ukarumpa from our first 8 weeks in the village, Kakimar. It was kinda like camping with a bunch of people who have huge gardens nearby. So we ate lots of soup full of "bush food." It is usually some combination of cabbage (or other greens), kaukau or taro (like potatoes), and onions. We usually supplied some type of tinned meat (tuna or chicken-unless someone had butchered a pig nearby, then we had pork) salt and pepper and any seasonings. This is all cooked in coconut milk and often served with rice. It is good and filling; however due to the heat and lots of walking, John lost 37 lbs. (We're not sure how that compares to the Subway diet.) However after 8 weeks of bush food at least 5 times a week, we are looking forward to western style meals.

We had a great time and are so excited that our first village stay as a family in our program was a success. In the middle of our stay there were some issues that surfaced that we thought might lead to us having to leave, but thanks to God and your prayers everything became peaceful again. We went through some times of sickness, and a bit of "unrest" in the village that lead to someone almost being arrested (but that's another story.) Through the few struggles we faced, we sincerely believe there to be spiritual opposition to our presence. Also we became convinced that the people we lived amongst need an understanding of the Gospel, and THEY NEED THE BIBLE in their heart language. With God's help we will help them get it.

We learned a little of the local language, and recorded some language data that will hopefully be helpful while we are in school back in the States. Abi can say a ton of things in the local language (Gora) but she doesn't always know what she is saying. Talitha will jump in her Johnny Jump up when we say "Solak, solak, yawa" (which means "jump").

Anyways, I (Rebekah) guess that I'm getting ready mentally for furlough. Almost every night in the village I "spent time" with friends from back home in my dreams. It was a nice treat. It was weird waking up in the village and thinking, "OK where am I? Oh yea, PNG in a house made of bamboo, in the village."

The best part about being back into "Western-style living" (besides hot showers) is having light at all hours of the day or night!!!

Thanks for praying for us!!

Blessings,

Rebekah (for John, Abi and Talitha)

A Place for You

2008-05-08T15:34:00.002-05:00

Since her beginning, The Church at Sun Valley has had the privilege of serving Festival Ranch with positive results. In November of 2007, we hosted our first block party with a tremendous response of 90% of the neighborhood in attendance. On New Years Day, again, most of the families in Foothills attended our BBQ and family activities. Then, in January, Saturday morning Basketball began.

February was the advent of the ever popular Family Movie Night at the park as well as the Thursday play group for kids and moms.

March proved to be a busy and productive time with our Spring Break Sports Camp followed by the great Easter Egg hunt at Foothills Park. Our Easter service also formally launched our new church with a Grand Opening of 175 people in attendance! All the excitement continues through April with the newest activity for the community: 4-4 Flag Football. Each Sunday evening, many families come and play with their neighbors in this well organized league. It continues to prove to be a good time for visiting old friends and making new ones.

The Church at Sun Valley is a church Family doing our part to love God and love our neighbor. The fruit of our love is remarkable and compelling. Smiles and kindness continue to be our billboard. Because of this, it is not surprising when new families and neighbors, many who have not been to church in a while, make the decision to come to our church. It's good to know that we have never asked for money for any activity or event and people notice that. Rather, we consider ourselves part of a larger family, your other family, and we are here for you. May the Lord continue to grant us favor as we serve Him and each other.

Angela Baker Update

2008-05-08T15:13:00.005-05:00

Hello Everyone,I hope this email finds you all well. I am doing well. Freezing at the moment, but well. Spring came to Moscow and decided to leave again- it is supposed to get down to 34'F tonight and has been windy and cold all day. This weekend will be the big holiday for May 9th. I will write more about it and post pictures on my site this weekend if you are interested.

It is unbelievable how time flies. I have been in Russia six months as of the end of April and it has just flown by. Things have really begun to pick up here and I have been busy with a several different areas of ministry.For one- I am now working with a ministry to street children called Metro. We go out on "patrols" weekly to meet with kids, build relationship, give them food and any assistance possible and to share Christ with them. With the Spring and Summer months arriving it is harder to find the kids.

Tonight we went out and were successful in being able to meet with Olessia- who has lived on at the train station with her mom since she was a little girl. Olessia agreed to meet us on the 11th to go into a city government shelter. She told us she is expecting her second child. We were unable to find some of the other kids we were looking for, but we did have a great success when we found Zhenya. We found Zhenya squatting down next to a trash can near a little store outside of the metro station. She seemed so tiny sitting there it was hard to believe she was 22. We sat and talked with her for a while. It was really pretty cold outside- about 45'F and windy. We were finally able to convince Zhenya that going to the shelter was better than staying the night out on the street and she agreed to go. Zhenya was in need of medical attention- which she will get at the shelter in addition to hopefully- the extra help she needs to move towards life off of the street. We will maintain contact with Zhenya, but as Metro does not have it's own facilities- getting kids to a city center is the best we can hope for at this time.

I have also been very excited about a new possibility we have learned to work in city day centers for children at risk. The government has many centers throughout the city which are to serve the needs of children at risk. The problem is that they have no one to actually work with the children. We have learned that certain centers are open to Christian groups coming in and working with the children if they are able to present a quality program. I have been talking with the mission Youth for Christ, who is already working in one center, about getting churches involved in other centers throughout the city. This is a wonderful opportunity for churches not only to minister to children at risk, but to their families as well. The children at these centers will be from very poor families, multi-children families, families where their is alcohol or drug addiction or where one parent or the child himself suffers from a disability.

I have also been talking with several other people about the problem of human trafficking in Russia. I have pulled together several key individuals and this month we will have our first meeting to begin to talk and pray through what God would have us do concerning this area. It is exciting to see God bringing His people together to share their hearts and burdens for this area of need that is still virtually unknown to the vast majority of Christians. I look forward to sharing with you what God will bring out of this meeting.

One of the exciting things that has been happening too is the CoMission newsletter. I know, it may sound strange to say that working on a newsletter has some exciting elements, but it does. I put together and send out the CoMission newsletter twice a month and send it to over 700 partners. It is really exciting when we get response from people that were able to find a book or resource they had been looking for or found out about a training or conference through the newsletter. We are helping people get the training and materials they need to better serve children at risk and that is exciting!

We are also busy planning conferences and seminars for the Fall. We are hoping to have one in St. Petersburg which will focus on Foster Care and Adoption by Russian Christian families. We are also hoping to have an "Encouragement Conference" this Fall for those ministering to children at risk in Moscow. In talking with people from various missions and churches- I realized that they were often struggling with the problem of burnout and discouragement. We are hoping that through the encouragement conference we will be able to bring people together to encourage one another.

I am also working on a video presentation to be used as an element in our Children at Risk Awareness campaign for churches. We are hoping to be able to share the needs of children at risk, challenge the church to act, and provide tangible ways to do so. I recently was able to speak at the Russian American Christian University in Moscow about orphans and street children in Russia. These Russians students were completely unaware of the degree of the problem in Russia. It was exciting to be able to share the need, help them realize that we- the church, are supposed to be acting and then challenge them to act.

One young man came up to me afterwards with ideas of how to use his musical ability to help orphans. That was wonderfully fulfilling and I look forward to be able to have have a full presentation available to be used in churches soon.

So as you can see- there are a lot of exciting things going on right now! I would appreciate your prayers in all of these areas. They are greatly needed. There is one additional prayer request I'd like to share before I go. The visa situation in Russia is still unclear. It is now looking as though the government is indeed going to be applying the 90 day out of 180 days restriction to religious affairs visas after saying they would not. Campus Crusade for Christ was granted permission to issue worker's visas (the only visas not affected by this restriction) but the Baptist Union was denied permission. Ultimately, I will need to obtain a worker's visa. Please pray for wisdom and understanding as far as the best option for me to pursue in terms of visas.

I hope you all have a blessed day. Thank you again so much for your support- without your financial and prayer support none of this would be possible. Together, God is using us to make a difference!

Serving Christ,

Angela

How God Builds a Great Church

2008-05-08T15:07:00.003-05:00

Last Sunday was amazing! Nearly 100% of those who attended our service signed up to be a part of at least one ministry! I have never heard of such a high degree of participation in any church...ever! I am absolutly convinced that the Lord has placed a desire in each of our hearts to work together as a family to help grow our great church and wonderful community. The fact that God is enlarging the foundation of our church with so many doing their part can only mean one thing...He is about to enlarge our church family! Just as a family prepares room for a new family member, we too are preparing room for our growing church family. In the mean time, keep praying for the family members to come!

Hays Community Church

2008-04-15T14:45:00.003-05:00

Dear First Euless,

There are not enough words to say thank you to you guys. You guys have faithfully supported our church plant financially these last several months, and recently the church sent a team down to help us canvas the area. The team that came down worked really hard. Because of their hard work, about 850 homes received invitations for our easter egg hunt.
Because of their diligence and perseverance, we were able to get contact info on about 40 prospects. We have followed up with them once and are following up with them again. Wow!!! Praise be to the Lord Most High.
First Euless has been a tremendous blessing to us. Since starting the church in our home in mid-november, many things have happened. We have named the church Hays Community Church. You can check us out on the web at www.hayscommunitychurch.org. We now have six families coming in addition to our family. Four of the six families coming were unchurched prior to coming to our church. Right before Christmas, one couple prayed to receive Christ and were baptized in January. We have a baptism planned in May where we will baptize one couple and two of their children. We have done multiple outreach events, and on April 2nd, we started a Kids' Beach Club at Kyle Elementary School. We have had about 30 to 35 kids come the last two weeks, and 15 to 20 of those kids are unchurched. God is doing great things here in Kyle, TX. Please know that we are partners in the work of building Christ's Church for the expansion of His kingdom.
Also, know that our labor is not in vain, and that in the proper time we will reap a harvest for His Kingdom. We thank God for you guys.

-Josh and Kelly Proctor and Family

Easter Weekend Reflections

2008-04-15T14:16:00.006-05:00

Ray Strauss, Pastor of the Church at Sun Valley, sent us this update:

Joe, one of our greeters at church, said to me on Easter morning, "You look like a kid on Christmas." Well, I felt like a kid on Christmas! First of all, our mission team from Grace Place Baptist Church in Oklahoma did a great job with our children's sports camp all week. Then they canvassed nearly our entire neighborhood with door-hangers to invite as many people as they could to church on Easter. It reminded me of Jesus' parable about the Wedding Feast, "Go to the highways and byways and invite everyone...for there is still room!"
As if that was not impressive enough, the second course of the best week was our Saturday morning Easter Egg Hunt. Our wonderful friends at Grand Community Baptist Church filled 2000 eggs with Candy! When over 200 people showed up for the hunt, the WOW factor was in full effect. With four fields marked for each age group, every child had a basket full of eggs! Parents and Grand parents could not take enough pictures as the little ones scampered and raced toward the ripe harvest awaiting. We cannot thank GCBC enough for all they did to collect, organize and fill the 2000 eggs!
Some other note worthy moments were visiting with new families and hearing their stories. One family from Minnesota was stuck in our perfect weather until the snow could be cleared from the airport back home. Thanks God for the sunny and 78!
Now for the dessert. Easter has been the day set long ago as our church plant's official launch. It was our 10th week to meet in our school and up until this day, we have been more focused on discipling our small group to prepare for what we expected the Lord to do.
Then it happened. 9:30am, they started showing up. A few at first, but then they kept coming. Up until Easter, our highest attendance was 75. To be honest, I expected God to do something cool, amazing, HUGE. That is His style. To break 100 would be acceptable for our launch. Somehow, with the previous week’s activities, one would have to be blind to not see His fingerprints all over our church and community. He was up to something and it was going to be big!
I knew this for another reason. The spiritual warfare I was enduring that weekend was intense! God prevailed and that morning revealed why. At 10am, we had to add row upon row of chairs. I mean, the people kept coming! When we ran out of available seating, we needed inside the storage room to get more chairs, but it was locked! Pastor Daniel ran down the hall to get a teacher to unlock the room. When Daniel showed up with her, she could not have uttered more apt words as they walked into the gym. "Oh my!" Needless to say, she stayed for the service.
Alan, our incredible Worship Leader, and his buddy lead us in a great lineup. As people kept coming, a sense of spiritual community was building. The atmosphere was alluring. Usually, it is easy to spot the Easter only church goers. They are the fidgety ones. While they were still present, I could see them relax and become engaged as the service progressed.
Soon after the welcome and into the second song, it happened. The singing crowd softened and heads began to turn. First to the right, then down, and finally back. Junior had arrived! No, he’s not the rebel rouser finally coming to Jesus. Junior is a neighbor's Dachshund. Apparently The Church at Sun Valley is so "happening" that even our canine friends are showing up! The only thing more humorous than a weenie-dog sneaking in the door and running around the Easter service is the Senior Pastor chasing him down during the Easter service!
After Junior was excommunicated, the worship service continued with amazement. It was inspiring to watch the Lord bring 175 people to church that day. The gospel message was clearly shared and many hearts were committed to Jesus that day. To God be the glory! Easter was a great day!

If My People Pray

2008-03-11T10:09:00.006-05:00

Paula Odom, Director of the MidCities Pregnancy Center, sent us this update:

Recently we had a 24 hour Prayer Vigil at the pregnancy center. The following week we saw God do many great things, especially confirming how He is going before us into Irving.

Two pastors from Irving churches came to tour the center. One of pastors asked us to come to his church to do a ministry presentation in April. He grew up in Irving and was excited that we were going to start a satellite office there. He said that he wanted to connect us with other churches in Irving as well. I asked him if there was a ministerial alliance there for pastors, and he said, “Funny you would ask that, I am putting one together right now.” He invited me to come and do a presentation about the new Irving center when they began meeting.

The other pastor brought in his wife to tour the center, and he brought baby bottles with donations from his church! He encouraged us in our plans for Irving because he noticed there was no center there and the need is great.

God did something else wonderful, through one of our staff members, Paulette Huff. Here is her story:

I went to see my doctor for my annual exam, and while I was there I made small talk with the medical technician, telling her about the work I did at the pregnancy center. While talking, I learned that the young lady had made one appointment to an abortion clinic and cancelled it, only to make another appointment. She saw abortion as her only solution. She and her boyfriend already had a year-old baby boy and he didn’t particularly want another baby. Money was very tight. As the conversation went on, I shared what I might have shared with her in a counseling room. The Lord was very present. A heart was softened and tears flowed easily. Two total strangers hugged.
A life was saved.

My last words to her were, "God sure does love you a lot to answer your prayers. You asked Him to tell you what to do and He sent me to you."

This story is not complete without mentioning a few more details. First, there was a nurse in the same practice who told this young lady that God had a purpose for her and her baby, and that she and her friends would be praying for her. Second, this young lady cancelled her second abortion appointment and never made another one. Finally, this doctor’s office is in Irving! God is confirming our move there, little by little. We may not have a pregnancy center in Irving yet, but we’ve got our first client—and she’s chosen life!

Needless to say, we have all been reminded of the importance of prayer as we serve the Lord, and we are planning to have a prayer vigil one day each month. We are so grateful to be part of the “Miracle” and for the first tiny life saved!

The Harvest is Coming

2008-03-06T11:37:00.016-06:00

Ray Strauss, pastor of The Church at Sun Valley in Arizona, sent this update:

It was just several weeks ago when we began meeting in a home.

Then, on January 13th, 2008 the Lord blessed us with a school for our meeting place.

The next week, the Lord gathered more people together.

And He continued to add weekly those who were coming and being saved.

They brought their children.

And their friends.

And their friends brought their own children.

God was up to something!

We pray for people and do our best to be faithful.

We know that God is doing His part.

God has grown His family in an amazing way, in just eight weeks!

AMG International: Hope for India Conventions

2008-02-28T09:36:00.010-06:00

Here is an update from AMG International, a missions organization supported by the Miracle:

Dear Brother in Christ,

Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Once again we thank God for the opportunity He has given to us to conduct Hope For India Conventions- 2008 at Bheemili, Bommuru and Chilakaluripet. God used servants of God mightily for the extension of His kingdom. Men of God delivered heart touching and soul stirring sermons. Many non-believers accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior, believers strengthened in the Word of God, and national workers took a decision to reach the un-reached people with new vision and motivation.

Hope For India Conventions Numbers:

Hope For India Conventions at Chilakaluripet :

900 salvations
6,000 trained and equipped
10,000 attendees

Hope For India Conventions at Bhimili :

600 salvations
2,500 trained and equipped
6,000 attendees

Hope For India Conventions at Bommuru :

500 salvations
2,000 trained and equipped
5,000 attendees

Please pray for these people so that they can be a witness for many perishing souls and they may shine for Jesus in the society. Thank you for all your support and prayers for the spreading of Good News and giving Hope to India.

Thanking you,
Yours in His Glorious Service

ARUN KUMAR KANTI MOHANTY

Seminary Ministry

2008-02-27T11:27:00.003-06:00

Here are some encouraging words from those that were blessed by the Seminary Shopping Spree:

"It really means a lot to everyone that you guys care so much. When I watched the DVD It was very moving emotionally to hear your pastor's message. You see we have made many sacrifices to follow God's path for our lives, and to see that someone else cared so deeply about that really means a lot. I was very encouraged by the event and cannot thank you enough for having it."
In Christ's Service,
Jonathan Sharp

"I am ecstatic! What a wonderful and sacrificial investment of the caring congregation at FBC Euless! What vision and commitment to meeting needs! Words just don’t say thank you enough from me!"
-Dorothy Patterson

"I wanted to say thank you for all the time y'all put into making Saturday such a blessing. I am thankful for the coffee table I was able to bring home to my apartment! I hope that this event was a blessing to everyone who gave time and items to make it successful! Thank you again!"
-Kelly Jones

"I wanted to take a few minutes and just thank you for the way you brought God's glory Saturday morning. We have witnessed first hand accounts of God working in so many ways that we would have otherwise missed. And I'm telling you, brother, one of those accounts took place Saturday. When we decided to attend the event at Euless, we really didn't know what to expect. God revealed Himself to her in a huge way!! I talked to Ralph, the guy who won the basket of goodies. When we first met him, He had just moved here from Germany, didn't have a car at the time, and seemed to really be having a hard time. When I talked him on the way out Saturday, he was just beaming with excitement over having won something. And finally, talking to a guy in my class who told me about a student whose washing machine just went on the blink last week... the student was there and he now has a washing machine! I can tell you personally that we all came away with a heightened awareness of the importance of showing love."
In Christ alone,
Steve Lasiter

"I wanted to thank the church for all of the donations given at the Seminary giveaway this past Saturday and everyone who was involved with it. We are very appreciative of your thoughts, prayers, and support as we study here at Southwestern. The donations were a large blessing to us! Thank you!"
Love in Christ,
Mandy Alexander

"We are in our first term at Southwestern and are seeing day by day God's faithfulness to provide for our family. We have two children in college and a high schooler at home and are trying to go to school fulltime. So it was a great gift to us to receive a much-needed bookcase and get some of our books off the floor and out of boxes! We are so grateful that your church has a heart to encourage seminary students. Some of our friends were able to take home a bedframe, mattress and boxsprings so they now can have their parents visit! We were so impressed that First Euliss had thought of so many of the extra details to be helpful: the beds came with new sheets, pillows, even mattress pads, the new minivan had had the taxes prepaid on them, laundry and cleaning supplies were provided--all the stuff of everyday life that can be quite burdensome to families on a small income. Please thank your members for surrendering their time, their possessions, their hearts for God to use them to build up families like ours. We thank God for you and ask His blessing on your church and the community in which you minister."
In His love,
Hubert and Shawndee Edenfield

Church Plants- Arizona

2008-02-25T11:28:00.004-06:00

Ray Strauss, pastor of The Church at Sun Valley in Arizona, sent this update:

We certainly have an exciting report to share this week! As for the attendance, here is what the Lord has done:
January 13... 35
January 20... 40
January 27... 52
February 3... 48
February 10... 56
February 17... 61
February 24... 75
What these numbers do not show are the people who have been saved, called into ministry, redeemed out of troubled marriages, healed from a variety of problems, and a dozen lined up for baptism.

Again, we are so grateful for our FBCE family! Your prayers and support make all the difference! We simply could not do this without you all!

Prayer requests are:
1. We need the Lord to raise up some more teachers for children’s classes. These last two weeks have shown we are at capacity and need to start 1-2 more children’s classes to maintain momentum and a healthy ministry.

2. We are having a movie night this Friday night at 6:00 pm at the Festival Foothills park. Free hotdogs, popcorn and drinks will be offered as we reach out to more in our community. We hope to generate more awareness of the Church at Sun Valley and get to know many of the new families moving in.

3. Pray for the staff to have wisdom as we lead and make decisions. We are looking to have a ministry fair where we share areas of service and opportunities within our church that will help us grow, maintain health, share the ministry, and give our folks a place to serve.

4. Most of all, thanks to God who inspires and leads us in the wonderful work of His!

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory! -Psalm 115:1

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ray and the Church at Sun Valley

Missionary- Angela Baker

2008-01-31T15:39:00.003-06:00

Angela Baker, a First Euless missionary supported by the Miracle, sent us this update:

Hello Everyone!

It was 3 months ago today that I arrived in Moscow! I realized that as I was working today. It is hard to believe it has only been 3 months! It feels as though I have been here much longer than that. I don't know if that is due to my familiarity with my surroundings or whether it is because everything here just takes so much more time and goes so much slower, but it is a positive feeling regardless.

I spent December working to gain an understanding of the situation here in Moscow and trying to make contacts. January has been spent working on a ministry plan. When I was expressing my frustration at how slow things seem to be taken recently, a good friend reminded me of two things:

1) Laying the foundation is the most important part in beginning a new ministry. Just as with building a house, the foundation work might not look to the outside world as progress but it is the most important aspect and worth taking the time to do right. That illustration really resonated with me and challenged me not to be hasty as I start a new ministry from the ground up.

2) I am in Russia.
This fact seems at first glance, to be quite simple and even comical. Of course, I am in Russia! I am aware of this every minute of every day, but that statement has much more to do with understanding expectations than geographical location. Being in Russia means- every thing goes much, much slower. This is not a culture that operates on the same time and productivity expectations we have in the US. It means that the government actually does declare 10 consecutive days state holidays and so no one other than gas stations, groceries stores, and entertainment outlets do anything. For ten days at the end of December and the beginning of January- nothing gets done! This is normal and I am the odd one for still hoping to have meetings during the "holidays." Crazy American that I am! :) Being in Russia means that everything happens through relationships and relationships take time. It was a good reminder because even with having lived in Moscow before, I forgot to what extent things are slower and more about relationships here.

So with those two things I look back on the past two months and see productivity and I am excited to share with you what I hope will be happening in the next two weeks. Relationships have been made, a foundation laid and I have great hope of being able to build on top of the two and begin a orphan ministry outreach from Moscow Bible Church this next month. Please pray specifically, as I approach the director of Boarding School #54 in Moscow. I have great hopes of the director being open to our involvement because of past relationships with the school. I have had so many people from Moscow Bible express their interest in helping in this type of ministry- the only component now missing is the place. So please join me in prayer for God to lead me to the right orphanage and to move the directors heart to allow us to become involved. School 54 is my first school- the one with which I have the greatest relationship base, but I have a list of 41 other orphanages or children's hospitals that I can contact if the director of 54 doesn't want our help. I apologize that my December update didn't come (having your internet stop working during the 10 day black hole of the Russian holidays set me back a bit on work.) My update letters will continue to come once a month barring any unusual circumstances. I look to start updating my website more frequently as well. I am attaching a picture of me and some children from an orphanage about an hour and a half outside of Moscow. The kids were very excited to have their pictures taken with us. The orphanage has a group come over a couple times a year from the US to help them with some of the physical needs, but I am hoping to be able to connect their orphanage with a local church for ongoing ministry.

Thank you all for your prayers and support! I hope you all have a blessed day!

Serving Christ,

Angela

China Bible Translation

2008-01-28T10:41:00.000-06:00

Dr. Jimmy Draper sent us this update

The Chinese translation of the New Testament is complete and the first printing is in progress. We will have 200,000 of the New Testaments ready for distribution to Chinese tourists in Thailand by the 1st of April. We expect to see all of them distributed within a few months. Other sources of distribution are also being planned. The Old Testament translation is in progress and will still be completed by 2011. The excitement is high among all involved. I’ll be going to Japan and Thailand in April to meet with the leaders there and may have more information.

Church Plants - Austin

2008-01-24T12:06:00.000-06:00

Josh Proctor, Pastor of Austin area church plant, sent us this update:

Our journey continues to be very challenging, but we continue to learn what it means to trust the Lord to build His church little by little.

Since our last letter we did a Christmas brunch for neighborhood ladies, and three ladies came, had a great time and heard the gospel. Josh has continued to go door to door in Kyle. He has probably gone to about 500 homes now, where he has had about 100 conversations with people about the church we are starting. In December he went back to about 50 of the houses in our neighborhood and delivered invitations to our church along with homemade cookies that Kelly had baked from scratch. We now have three families coming to our house for church on Sunday nights. Prior to coming to our house for church, these three couples were unchurched.

We told you about the first couple that has been coming in our last letter. This was also the couple that I shared about at the Miracle Banquet in November. The wife of this couple was one of the women who came to the Christmas brunch. Right before Christmas this couple decided to follow Jesus, and the goal is for them to be baptized this month. Praise the Lord!!! Two other couples are now coming to our church as well. Both wives of these two couples know the Lord, but the husbands do not. They both acknowledge that they are searching, but they are not ready to surrender control of their life to Christ. We are praying that both men would surrender their life to Christ. One of these couples recently had their second child, and we have enjoyed getting to care for them as a church family. Our family, along with the other two families, have brought them meals during this time, and we have brought them diapers as well.

We are so thankful for what the Lord is doing in us and through us as He grows His church. We are currently studying the Gospel of Mark on Sunday nights, and we have many things on the horizon as well. Josh will continue to go door to door, and we are attempting to do three outreach events by Easter. We continue to attend the School of Church Planting at Hope in the City Church, and we had a big training conference in Waco this past weekend. We are praising the Lord for what He is doing in Kyle, TX!

Apartment Life

2008-01-21T10:20:00.001-06:00

Missy Linkletter, Apartment Life Area Director/Partner with FBCE, sent this update:

First Baptist Euless currently has 3 CARES Teams serving:
Matt & Ana Dowling @ Camden Lakeview
David and Jeannie Ware @ Ash Lane
Matthew and Amy Timberlake @ Post Oak Place.

One of my favorite stories this month so far comes from David and Jeannie Ware:

“We took some food we had in our pantry to Lakeesha because she called us needing something to feed her 19 month-old baby. The baby had been sick with ear infections and was now on antibiotics, but had diarrhea and vomiting. Lakeesha had spent all her money on doctors and prescriptions, so we took her some broth and other clear liquids suitable for babies. We told her we would be praying for them all. We will check back on them tomorrow. She called because of our number on the calendar that says 'call if you need anything.'”

The Wares’ experience is what it’s all about. Being a CARES team is about building relationships with people, meeting them where they’re at, and earning the right to be heard. It’s as easy as bringing clear liquids for a sick baby, visiting with someone when they are going through difficult circumstances, throwing a Christmas party in the clubhouse, or giving out breakfast treats in the morning. The results are amazing!

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
-2 Corinthians 4:6

MidCities Pregnancy Center

2008-01-18T14:44:00.000-06:00

Paula Odom, Director of the MidCities Pregnancy Center, sent us this update:

A young woman recently came to the Center with her two-year old. She received a positive pregnancy test result and told us that she planned to get an abortion. When asked why she would consider abortion, she said, “It’s not a good time.” However, she did consent to having a sonogram. She saw her baby, but she still left the center without changing her mind. In the days that followed we prayed for her and phoned, but there was no reply. A couple of weeks later she reappeared at the center asking for financial help. We referred her to agencies that could help her with medical care. We also told her about our Hope program (coupons used to buy baby/maternity items). Her eyes lit up when she saw the clothing/supply room that held all the items available to her. This time she left the center saying, “I’m going to have a baby in May.”

A life was saved.

We know that this was the power of God working through the prayers of His people. He is the One who changed her heart. This is just one of over 37,000 women who have come through the Mid Cities Pregnancy Center. We continue to pray that God will prepare the way to Irving. We are praying for His choice for the office location, that He will bring the needed resources, and for volunteers (especially bilingual) to begin training for the Irving opening.

“With God all things are possible.” Mark 9:23.

We feel stronger than ever that the Lord is leading us into Irving, where hopefully, we will see twice as many women touched by the love of God!

Church Plants - Arizona

2008-01-15T10:07:00.000-06:00

Ray Strauss, pastor of The Church at Sun Valley in Arizona, sent this update:

Friends,

Thank you so much for your prayers! It is with awesome privilege that I joyfully report to you that Sunday we had our “dress rehearsal” in preparation for our community launch this coming Sunday. Last Sunday we met with our core families and neighbors and had 35 people, most whom are not believers. Out of the 35, the decision cards were marked as follows:

4 recommitments: ( I personally believe these were professions of faith and will learn more after follow-up)

8 desiring to attend our new members class and become members of the church

6 interested in child dedication (there are a lot of babies!)

1 feeling called into the ministry (specifically youth, we need one of those!) *He is also the community coordinator for the developer and as the official coordinator, he inquired if the church is willing to partner together on community projects and activities, i.e., they provide the funding and the church provides the, direction, activities, and people. God is up to something there!

7 desiring to serve in any capacity

3 desiring discipleship to grow in their commitment and relationship with Christ!

We are so humbled and excited at what God is doing here. FBCE family, we thank you so much for your prayers and support! Lives are being changed and a genuine sense of excitement and expectancy is building in the community around the church and what God is doing. The church is becoming the “community hub and go-to place” for people to learn what is going on and what there is to do.

With the birth of the community, God is teaching people how to be caring neighbors, good friends, and kingdom citizens. We have fastened our seat belts because the Lord is doing something so powerful in our midst. One day people will say, "What is it about Festival Ranch that is drawing people there?" The answer is simple: “When Christ is lifted up, all people will be drawn to Him!”

Lastly, I heard that you all prayed for us in the middle of your service Sunday! Thank you!!! The unity and kindred, sweet spirit that permeated our service was no doubt helped by your prayers! Pray for us this week as we hand out door hangers inviting every family and resident in our community to church this Sunday! We fully and confidently expect great and mighty things from our awesome God this Sunday!

Grace and peace,
Your missionaries,

Ray Strauss and Daniel Scott
The Church at Sun Valley - Your other family!

Church Plants - New York

2008-01-14T10:24:00.000-06:00

JR Vassar, pastor of Apostles' Church in New York, sent this update:

By the grace of God, Apostles Church is healthy and growing. We have two growing congregations, one in the Upper East Side of Manhattan and the other near the East Village in Manhattan. Our East Village venue is an amazing cathedral with a rich history and beautiful architecture that has helped create a reverent atmosphere for our worship gatherings. We have experienced a flood of new people with 33 people signed up for January membership class. We have also experienced a flood of generosity from our people. In addition, Advent was a great time for our people to reflect on the generosity of God and extend that same generosity to others. On December 16 we handed out $10 bills to everyone in the congregation and told them to use it to bless someone in need during the Christmas season. We created a blog to let people share their stories. They have been amazing testimonies to God’s presence in the City through His people. You can read the stories at www.mytendollarbill.blogspot.com.

MidCities Pregnancy Center

2007-12-18T14:37:00.001-06:00

Paula Odom, Director of the MidCities Pregnancy Center, sent us this update:

The Mid Cities Pregnancy Center has seen a steady increase in numbers of clients over the last six months. Many agencies, schools, and past clients are now referring women to the center. While we see God doing exciting things at MCPC, we are concerned about the women in Irving. Irving is a city where the housing statistics indicate that 44% of the residents are single. It has a population of over 193,000 people, with 7 middle schools, 4 high schools, 4 colleges. They also have an abortion providing organization in close and convenient proximity. What they don’t have is a life affirming, Christ centered pregnancy center!

With the help of the Miracle, we will soon be helping women like Jennifer (name changed for confidentiality), who came to the center wanting abortion information, pressured by family members who wanted her to abort. She decided to carry her child, at the cost of having to leave her family’s home. We ministered to her and referred her to a local adoption agency where she placed her child in a loving, Christian home. She gave her beautiful little girl the gift of life, and a family a child to love. We ask that you join with us in prayer that the Irving Center will soon be opened to help girls like Jennifer.

Church Plants - Austin

2007-12-12T14:15:00.001-06:00

Josh Proctor, Pastor of Austin area church plant, sent us this update:

These last few weeks have been very challenging. On October 31st we had a Halloween outreach at our house and we had 70 to 80 people come. We started the group in our house on November 11th, and we have had one family come three weeks in a row. It has been hard only having had one family come thus far but this family who is coming is unchurched and does not know Jesus. It is exciting for us to share the truth of Jesus with this family. At our outreach event in November we had a different couple attend. This was also hard but the couple that came is unchurched and does not know Jesus either. Kelly is doing outreach for the ladies of the neighborhood on December 9th, and the wife of this couple has indicated that she is going to come. We are excited about what God is doing. We wanted to share some insights the Lord has given us. Josh had a professor in seminary who described being a Christian leader like this:

“You must do what you cannot do with what you do not have, but God will do what He can do with what you do have through you.” – Bill Lawrence

This pretty much describes how we feel right now. We cannot do this task to whcih God has called us- but we know that He can do it through us. We know that God promised the Israelites that they would inherit the Promised Land and that they would go in and drive out the nations who were in the land. In Deuteronomy 7:21-22, Moses says this to the Israelites about those nations they will drive out:

“Do not be terrified by them, for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God. The LORD your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once.”

We believe God is telling us that He will launch this church in Kyle through us and that He will do it little by little. The pastor of Hope in the City has told us that he believes we are doing a great job and are ahead of where he thought we would be at this point. Like Galatians 6 tells us, we do not want to grow weary in doing good, and we believe that the harvest will come in the proper time, His time.

Church Plants - New York

2007-12-10T10:25:00.000-06:00

JR Vassar, pastor of Apostles' Church in New York, sent this update in September:

Growth
We continue to see a steady stream of people come as the summer winds down. We have almost 15 people signed up this month for Prologue, a coffee and dessert night that is an introduction to Apostles Church. Many of the folks that attend Prologue sign up for our next membership class. God is bringing some really sharp couples to our church that have great potential to influence the culture here. We baptized three more people in August.

Giving
Our people are still ahead on their giving. We are on pace to give nearly $300,000 in general offerings this year, putting us on pace with our self-sustainability plan.