England Day: 1
Brazil Day: 2, 27
South Africa Day: 3
Italy Day: 4
Panama Day: 5
Albania Day: 6
Zambia Day: 7, 9
Scotland Day: 8, 11
Namibia Day: 9
Mexico Day: 10, 13,18, 26
Angola Day: 12
Grenada Day: 14
Venezuela Day: 15
Botswana Day: 16
Canada Day: 17, 30
Wales Day: 19
India Day: 19
N Ireland Day: 20, 25
Tanzania Day: 20, 24
Ireland Day: 21, 25
Costa Rico Day: 22
St Lucia Day: 23
Ukraine Day: 25
Lebanon Day: 28
Dem. Rep. of Congo Day: 29
USA Day: 30
Kenya Day: 31
It has been ten years since we first started using the WW1 presentation on the life of my great grandad, William Coltman, as a Gospel tool. Over the years we have had the privilege of travelling all over the UK showing the presentation in Gospel halls and also to many groups that meet socially in the villages and towns around us.
Groups, such as the Women’s Institute, Probus, U3A groups and historical societies, to name but a few, meet together and have a speaker. I have used this opportunity to speak to these groups and not only show them the WW1 presentation, but also share the good news of the Gospel. Those that we speak to each take away three tracts that I have written based on the story of William’s life with a clear Gospel message.
I have also had the opportunity to go into several schools locally to take their assemblies and to run a week-long lunchtime Bible club. Some schools we go into once a half term and others we visit every month. There are also senior schools that we go into every year in November to take their Remembrance assemblies and very often this means speaking to thousands of children in a very short space of time.
Work on social media has also increased since Covid, where we can reach a lot of people with a short Gospel message. I am also starting a new Instagram account called “Living Hope” which will be live imminently.
I have also just had confirmation that I can have a regular article in a magazine called “Local Links” which is delivered into over 15,000 homes in the area. This will also be under the banner of Living Hope and a great opportunity to get the
Gospel into the homes in the town and surrounding area.
Opportunities in the ministry of the Word and preaching the Gospel continue and we trust the Lord will give help as we seek to serve, not only in our own assembly, but also be a help to other assemblies.
Over a number of years now we have felt the Lord calling us to full time service, and He has made it very clear to us that we should take that step. As a result, we left full time employment on 31st May 2024, and our commendation meeting was on 1st June 2024.
We would appreciate the prayers of the saints as we step out in faith, to continue and endeavour to increase the work that He would have us involved in.
2024
2/6/24
Isa 45-49
Please pray for the effectiveness of the literature being distributed. We have just finished sending off parcels of the latest ‘Glory’ book (The glory of the Messianic Psalms) and we expect another issue of our free magazine ‘O Caminho’ to arrive from the printers in a few days. Work continues on the Old Testament commentaries — 12 volumes have been completed, seven remain.
We value your prayers for the nine assemblies in the region around Pirassununga, and for weekly gospel meetings in three other localities close at hand. These towns are between 20 and 140 kilometres from Pirassununga.
Next month DV, we hope to baptise a teenager here in Pirassununga. His parents and grandparents are in the assembly. He professed to be saved a couple of years ago and has given a good testimony since then.
A young man named José and his wife, along with a young lady, Jaqueline, have recently shown a renewed desire to hear the Gospel and have been coming to the Gospel meeting for a few Lord’s day evenings in Pirassununga. None of them are strangers to the Gospel, but are still not saved.
Remember also the short daily meditations sent through WhatsApp since March of 2020. The number of believers receiving these meditations is now 650 – pray for wisdom in preparing these little messages.
C. 1998 WILLIAM & ELEN WATTERSON 6/6/24
A week ago, one of the Indian assemblies in Durban, about 90 km north of us, arranged a conference for assembly workers in our province of Kwa-Zulu Natal. The object of the conference was threefold: to foster fellowship between our assemblies; to hear reports of how the Lord’s work is progressing, for our mutual encouragement; and to minister the Word of God. It was my great privilege to present the Word of God and several brethren expressed appreciation for the help given. The reports were both informative and challenging. It was interesting to hear how almost all the assemblies are facing the same difficulties, particularly regarding the challenge of getting the saints to return to the levels of attendance that we had prior to Covid.
One Indian brother has been working amongst Muslim people for many years. His report was most challenging. We were astonished to hear that it is estimated that, world-wide, on average 16,000 Muslims turn to Christ every day. Even if one tenth of that number is accurate, it is still an amazing statistic. The brother has wonderful opportunities to present the gospel to these dear people who have been so deceived.
We value your prayers on our behalf; the enemy is so busy, yet we are not ignorant of his devices 2 Corinthians 2:11.
C. 1968 PAUL & DOROTHY GRIEVE
13/5/24
Sunday 4th
Yesterday, we had quite a shake-up. We live on a caldera and recently there have been a lot of earth tremors. Yesterday was the strongest in the past 40 years! Folks understandably are quite concerned that things may be getting worse. I was reading that morning in Psalm 114:7-8 “Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turns the rock into a pool of water”. It certainly felt like the house was floating, like a boat on water! What a reminder that our lives are in His hands, and that the “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”!
We do value your continued prayerful interest for the believers here, and for us as we are involved in teaching, preaching, one-on-one pastoral care, to the purpose that people’s lives will be turned towards this awesome God who has shown, with such grace and mercy, His love towards us in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This coming weekend we will be going to an assembly on the east coast where I am due to start a series on a monthly basis for the next six months, with the assembly there at Termoli. This will involve preaching, teaching, dealing with pastoral issues and help encourage and develop the local elders. The assembly here in Bacoli is doing well, for which we thank the Lord. A number of baptisms in the sea are planned in June, God willing, which is another reason to be joyful.
C. 1987/88
One of the baptisms at Bacoli with Vesuvius in the background, more baptisms due 9th June
ROD & DEBBIE JONES 22/5/24
Our presidential election was on May 5th and the man who won seems to be thinking with a much more honest and sensible mindset. We are praying that this government will make decisions with a fear of God and reestablish a moral standard again within the country after ten years of very rapid decline. The country has been crippled with high inflation, high cost of living, high unemployment, high immorality, high violence and crime rates, very poor educational and medical/healthcare systems.
Thankfully amid this problematic environment some still show an interest in the gospel. A few neighbours from around the new hall attend. One neighbour has brought along his 25-year-old grandson to the Gospel meeting a couple of times and they both listened well. They first visited us when we had a Sunday evening hymn sing with refreshments, which we do the last Sunday of each month after the evening Gospel meeting.
We just finished a week of VBS and were encouraged by the attendance of not only a good number of children and teenagers, but also of mothers as well. Two mothers especially showed a keen interest in the messages, and we are praying for either salvation or restoration. They are now sending their teenage children to the Friday evening Bible class.
The Home School group that Lois helps administer has about 70 families in it. This has resulted in several of their teenage children attending the Friday night bible class, where now regularly 25-30 teenagers are in attendance. At least five of the mothers who bring their children stay and Lois has started a Bible class with them as well at the same time. A couple of the mothers are saved, so this is an excellent opportunity to open the scriptures with them, share the gospel and basic teaching for Christian living. The new building is serving us well, as we have some of the Home School classes there and this has opened doors for conversations.
The assembly is looking forward to receiving a couple into fellowship at the end of June. They
have consistently attended for the past three years. The wife came to us saved and baptised, but the husband was saved and baptised during their time with us. They came to us looking for “truth” as they were tired of all the worldly entertainment, demands to give money and very limited emphasis on the scriptures that they witnessed in other places.
Weekly bible classes for children, teens and adults continue at the Orphanage as well as in the central park in a village called Potrero Grande.
Grande
Just recently Lois and I finally received our Panamanian citizenship after applying nearly five years ago. With this citizenship, Lois can now start the process to become registered as a medical doctor in Panama and gain the full capacity to practice with a view to further outreach. This will require much prayer and patience, as most things do in this country, so your prayerful support would be much appreciated.
C. 2006
BYRNE & LOIS FORESHEW
19/6/24
Jer 1-3
The Assembly
We are once again indebted to the Lord for His faithfulness, guidance and blessing as new opportunities are given to reach others with the Gospel. Following the gospel meetings on the student campus in Tirana in December, one young interested lady started to attend regularly on Sundays and just a few weeks ago phoned to say that she had been wondrously saved! We have commenced weekly systematic Bible studies with her and will continue online during the summer when she returns to her hometown. Also, a gentleman who professed faith in Christ last year has requested baptism.
On 1st June we had our Sunday school outing. This year, a few new children have joined, including one with special needs. Despite the perceived challenges she is extremely enthusiastic in attending, resulting in her parents having to cancel any other Sunday afternoon activity to accompany her. During the lesson they mingle with other believers over coffee downstairs. This creates a wonderful opportunity to build bridges and share the Gospel with them too.
We continue to distribute tracts regularly on the streets of Tirana. Passersby often stop to ask who we are and about the content of our materials. Unfortunately, due to the presence of a variety of cults there is a lot of confusion regarding eternal matters compounded by a general apathy and lack of time to ponder important life issues.
However, we rest assured that His Word will not return void. Meanwhile, we regularly meet with a few earnest seekers to discuss the main questions in life. Visits with the small assembly in Librazhd carry on as many Sunday evenings as possible. Migration remains a huge challenge for us, with yet another family from the assembly intent on leaving for Germany this year. It is heart-breaking to see people go, especially after investing so much time in them and witnessing their active involvement in the local assembly.
Publishing
We are continuing work on the translation of “The Legacy of the Three Heroes”, dealing with the life journeys of Wycliffe, Huss, and Tyndale. Their determination to make the Scriptures accessible was exemplary, and the high price they paid reminds us of the cost involved in reaching others with the Gospel. “The New Birth” by our dear brother Peter Hedley is with the printers. It emphasizes the vital necessity of being born again and its evidence in a person’s life. At times this work is so labour intensive we question its validity, but just as the thought comes, we receive feedback from a believer who has been encouraged in their spiritual walk with the Lord or of an unbeliever being blessed in salvation. The Lord is gracious.
Web materials and other teaching
I am kept fairly busy preparing new lessons for the future by translating materials or writing new articles about various Bible books or topics. I don’t think those in the English-speaking world fully appreciate the vast wealth of Bible literature that is so easily available to them!
ABC Christian Clinic
Sylvia continues to be actively involved with the clinic and met with a visiting medical team from the UK at Easter. They connected with local Christian medics helping to encourage them as they share Christ through healthcare. It has been my privilege on several occasions to lecture on the reliability of the Gospel manuscripts at the informal weekly Christian medical student case discussions. As many non-Christian peers attend, they take the opportunity to witness by including a Bible subject. It is always a joy to present the Gospel to young students, who so often challenge us with their questions.
There are currently 15 children at the home. One of the boys who was set to join his adoptive family at the end 2023 was unable to settle, so decided to return home to Gjirokaster. Please pray for him, as it has been a challenging and stressful phase. Adoption during the adolescent years has proven extremely difficult. For this reason, I am visiting the home more frequently to spend time with the older boys, who lack a father figure and need guidance.
Luke and Benjamin are studying for their A level and GCSE exams respectively while Esther is finishing Year 9. As Luke heads to University in September DV, we entrust him to the Lord for the next steps of his life, that he will be guided by the greatest of Masters and seek out His will for his life.
Thank you for your continued prayerful and practical support. “For we are labourers together with God!” (1 Cor. 3:9).
C. 2008 ENRIS & SYLVIA NASE 1/6/24
7th
The hospital is undergoing a huge renovation and so we have had to cut back a lot on routine services. In the aerial picture of the hospital, the new addition is the large block to the left of the buildings in the upper part of the picture. It consists of a clinc, a ward unit and an emergency department and a pharmacy. It is very difficult running the hospital while all the work is ongoing. The theatre floors are all being done in terrazzo which will be nice when completed, but there are huge dust clouds while the work is in progress. The airstrip is to the right of the picture.
This picture shows the inside of our newly renovated main operating theatre. The new terrazzo floor is very good and it will make keeping the theatre clean a much easier task.
Our brother Rodney Strahan and his wife Margaret have arrived from Australia and have installed a new X-ray unit at the hospital. He has also installed similar units at Chavuma and Loloma and we thank God for these developments. The X-rays are quickly displayed on our phones and are sent for reporting to Rodney when he is in Australia and also to Simon Porter in Banbridge. Their reports are quickly relayed back to us, making suitable treatment of the patient very fast.
Each Tuesday and Thursday morning we have some singing and a bible reading with an emphasis on the gospel with all the hospital staff. The picture on the next page shows the meeting currently being held outside because of the building work going on at the hospital. Today Mr Hanna spoke on the ten lepers who were cured, but only one came
back to give thanks. He pointed out that it was his faith that saved him. Mr Hanna also related an encouraging story of how recently he met a man in Lusaka who told him that he had come to Chitokoloki many years ago and had found help and healing. More importantly, however, he had also found the Lord while in the hospital.
After the ward round this morning, we found a healthy young man who greeted us cheerfully and we remembered how he had been almost dead two years ago with TB but had been restored to health. Such encounters are always an encouragement and at times we feel much in need of these as we are always surrounded by overwhelming need.
Dr Chibwe did a wonderful work in our absence and has continued to preach the gospel in the wards each morning. He is a lovely brother. He is just back from a 1600km round trip to Sakeji School where two of his children are being educated. He lost a total of four tyres on this very difficult journey.
Keith Bailey has continued to organise an English-speaking gospel meeting on Sunday afternoons and there has been a good interest, especially among some of the children in attendance.
Shawn Markle has recommenced the gospel message in English on Sunday evenings. A variety of people from the community and the hospital are gathered in. The picture shows some of the patients being brought by wheelchair with sister Julie Rachel arranging the transport.
A message from Chitokoloki a few days ago told how a young woman with cervical cancer trusted the Lord shortly before she died through the personal witness of sister Rhoda. Rhoda herself was saved many years ago through the witness of sister Wilma Geddes who has now retired to Faith House. Rhoda is very faithful at personal witness on the wards. Another brother Kenneth has been doing some preaching on the wards while on night duty.
The hospital has been so successful that the government are now upgrading us to a level 2 hospital. I am not certain this is a good thing, as it will likely bring an increased workload and responsibility. Pray that we might have wisdom as to how we deal with this. Thank you again for all your love and care to us and the work here at Chitokoloki.
C. 1991 DAVID & LORRAINE McADAM 12/6/24
I have recently purchased a new trailer for use in our soup kitchen outreaches as the one we’d used for the past 7 years was 30 years old and starting to show some serious signs of deterioration! It was encouraging to see many people reading the Bible verses on the trailer as we brought it up to Scotland from Manchester. In addition to the soup kitchen work, in the past we’ve also used the trailer at community events, for outreach in Perth city centre, and to run a youth café in our local park. Through it we’ve reached thousands of souls, so we hope the new trailer will help us reach many more in the future!
Our Sunday evening outreach in the village of Scone continues with 12-15 locals attending most weeks. I’m currently preaching through the book of Acts. We had about 200 people along to an Easter Family Fun Day and have recently distributed a Gospel magazine around the village and carried out a little bit of door-to-door work. We had some encouragement a few weeks ago when a man in his 80s told us he had trusted in the Lord. He explained that he had been a church-goer all his life, but had never personally accepted Christ as his Saviour! Please continue to pray for several others who attend each week who are not yet saved.
Between soup kitchens on Mondays and Wednesdays, our men’s football outreach on Fridays, and the meeting in Scone on Sundays we have opportunity to share the Gospel with a good number of non-believers each week – we pray for a response!
Thanks to our ladies’ missionary group I have a large collection of clothes to pass on to the asylum seekers currently staying in a couple of hotels in Perth. The items will include a little card with contact details and John 3:16 in English and Arabic. I hope to visit the hotels with these items and hand them out personally.
Over the summer months, God willing, I hope to engage in more literature distribution around Perthshire and will lead a small team for a week of Gospel outreach in St Andrews at the end of July.
C. 2015 GARETH & GILLIAN EDWARDS 24/6/24
Friday 9th
The past three months have been very busy with us being engaged in various gospel outreach activities. In the early part of April, a group of us had the privilege of going north to Kamapanda. There was an old mission station there started in the early 1900’s by the late Mr. Cunningham. We are told the last time missionaries lived in the area was some time in the 1950s. It is located very near the Angolan border and an eight-hour drive north of Loloma. The Kashinakazhi road, which we use, is a terrible and neglected road with huge ruts and almost impassable terrain. The time spent with those in Kamapanda, although short, was quite encouraging. We had a wonderful time with the people there. We originally planned to do gospel work village to village but were told by the elders that since most had left for their fields, this was not practical. However, we had a good number of people who came and gathered with us directly in order to be taught. Most of these people were associated with the local assembly. We decided to do a Bible study in Romans looking at the doctrine of salvation. After the three-hour morning session, the elders confessed that they have not been preaching the true gospel! Sadly, good works, baptism and church membership had been coupled with salvation in their preaching. There was a time of prayer where they took the opportunity to apologise and confess publicly to the Lord. The second part of the impromptu conference was answering questions and teaching eternal security, which most didn’t believe could be true. We have a desire to go back soon to teach and be a help in that area. Please pray that God will continue to work in this part of Zambia.
Our family and Joel left for Namibia at the end of April and were joined by Josh and Keri Kaye (DR Congo) as well as three brethren from Richmond, British Columbia (Canada). We were wanting to have a gospel series in the refugee town of Osire for a week. The Kayes were especially hoping to be able to help in that particular area, since most residents there are French speaking Congolese people. When we arrived at the school on the first day, we were happily received by the staff and invited to visit each classroom to share a brief message. As soon as we left the school building the authorities were waiting for us and promptly had us leave the area not to return again as it is restricted, and visits there require a permit.
Although this was discouraging, we set our sights to Otjiwarango and were able to distribute lots of texts in the shanty town. We found great interest from the locals and used a Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) building for gospel meetings for our last two nights. The meetings were well attended and many young adults came, which was very encouraging. It is an area we hope to visit again and have some weeks of gospel meetings.
Once again, we were able to set up two canopies near Ericsson and Selma’s house for a gospel series. Those who were with us for the outreach in Otjiwarango continued with us in Swakopmund for nearly a week. We were also joined by Rodney Brown (South Africa) during our time there. Rodney was a great help with open-air and street work. Some people that made it to the gospel meetings in October of last year came again this year, for which we were thankful. The area is in the grip of false prophets and people that call themselves apostles. These workers of Satan have a firm hold on the population. Their lives are controlled by these so called “pastors” that must sign off on every step these people take. This presents a challenge for those interested in salvation.
We learned while we were in Namibia that our visa applications for Namibia were rejected. We have since moved to resubmit our paperwork with a different company. It has been discouraging but we understand that we need to wait God’s timing. We do ask for your continued prayer about our visas so that we would be able to move in a fulltime capacity into Namibia. Remember please Ericsson and his wife Selma, who have been shunned by the community at large and feel very isolated without close Christian friendship.
C.2021 (USA) STEVEN & STEPHANIE ANDERSON 24/6/24
Saturday 10th
About a year ago, we met a couple named Adan and Nadia who were “pastors” of a small congregation. After them expressing interest, we began studying the Bible with them on a weekly basis in our home. They recognised many truths from Scripture, and on their own decided to renounce their positions as pastors and attend meeting with us. As a plus, their congregation decided to come along to meetings with them. This made the space in our small hall quite tight. So, we began to look for a larger building and the Lord was gracious to provide a spacious rental hall in a central location. On April 21, we inaugurated the hall in the town of Los Arcos with a series of gospel meetings.
During the third week of the series, both Adan and Nadia, the former pastors, came to the realisation that they were hell-deserving sinners and needed to be born again. It was on May 14, while on his lunch break at work, Adan said he decided to take out his “religious chip” and read John chapter 3 anew. He was impressed by the fact that the Lord Jesus responds to Nicodemus by first saying that “man must be born again” and later goes on to ask Nicodemus, “Are you a teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?” This hit Adan hard because he had preached on that chapter himself many times and yet realised that he had always missed the point: he needed to be born again and that it was faith alone in the complete work of the Lord Jesus Christ that saves.
On that same day, Nadia also professed to be saved while at the school where she works as a teacher, reading Ephesians 2 on her lunch break. The truth of who she was as a sinner became clear and Nadia realised that Christ’s work was complete without any of her religious works, service or prayers. Then she read in Philippians 3:7-9 which confirmed to her an example of her life and what she had experienced: “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him.”
We thank God for the clarity of biblical salvation in these two souls. During the 5-week series, we enjoyed help from fellow workers: Timothy and Jenna Stevenson, David and Sally Cadenas, and for the last three weeks, Shad and Deborah Kember.
Prayer Request: Wisdom as we continue to share the gospel with this new group of contacts, that the Lord would open their eyes, most of whom are blinded by their own religiosity and good works.
20/6/24
Jer 18-22
I was recently asked to conduct the funeral of a lady that I have visited in recent years. I had the privilege of reading the scriptures in her home on many occasions, which she told me had brought back memories of former years of Sunday School and church attendance. During my last visit with her I read Psalm 23, which she told me she had often sung in the church choir. I was able to remind her of the Good Shepherd who had given His life so that she might become one of His sheep and therefore have eternal life and eternal security. We trust that in the mercy of God we will meet her again around the throne. We pray for the family and friends who attended the service, that the Word of God will be a blessing to their souls.
In June I had the privilege of sharing with Stephen Baker and Phil Raggett in gospel meetings in a tent in Liverpool. These were held in conjunction with the assembly in David Street. Prior to the commencement of the meetings thousands of invitations had been distributed in the homes in the vicinity of the tent location and it was good to see one or two who came along as a result. In the afternoons we were on the street at various locations in the area around where the tent was pitched, handing out invitations. We were encouraged to engage in some conversations and to see some of these folks making their way along to hear the gospel in the evening. Over the three weeks there were many from the area who came and heard the gospel. Some of these were invited in as they were walking past the tent. There were a few who came along several times, for which we also give thanks. On the Saturday afternoons, the saints from the assembly also had a time with teenagers and children, this was also well attended. We continue to pray for the good Seed that has been sown beside many waters.
On my return home I was preparing for having the literature stand at our local Highland Games. Although the weather was a bit mixed, we were encouraged to see a few folks stopping to read the texts on display. There were others who stood at a “safe distance” or walked by slowly to read the Word of God, some of these turned and walked slowly past again to read a bit more. We did have some conversation and were delighted to see a few tracts and texts being taken. We continue to water the Seed with our prayers, looking to God for His rich blessing in the souls of those to whom He has been speaking. It was also good to meet believers from various parts of the country as well as some from overseas.
We thank you once again for your continued remembrance of us in prayer.
Monday 12th
Just to bring you up to date with recent events out here in Angola.
In April we commenced with 2 local lads in the assembly to start lifting off the roofing sheets above one room at a time (which were very old and causing lots of rain leaking into the house) and clearing out the bat dung (the weight of which is bringing down the ceilings and proving to be a significant health issue), and replacing the roofing sheets with tarpaulin (as it was still the rainy season), while Jonathan prepared scaffolding around the house.
For the month of May, we have had the incredible practical help and support of Phil Kennedy (Brass Tacks) who, along with Jonathan, fabricated the trusses and purlins and no rain. This meant the roof was off, and the ruined mud block walls repaired and topped with a concrete & steel rod ring beam (left hand side of house). Then, along with supporting pillars on the corner, another few rows of concrete blocks were laid to bring all the walls up to the same height, and some of the internal ones too. A second concrete & steel rod ring beam was put all around. The new roofing sheets were then put on this week.
The left-hand side of the house has not had the gable end blocked up to height yet nor the last two roofing sheets fixed on, as this is the access inside the roof space to finish off the necessary work inside.
We can only thank our Lord, and the prayers of the saints, for the preservation and safety of the men working on our roof. The scaffolding wasn’t available as it is being used on the gospel hall, so Jonathan had to improvise, and we are so grateful to the Lord for His help.
Around our home inside two weeks Jonathan had killed two snakes, a helper a third and the herdsman a very large boa constrictor just outside our fence. As soon as the rains stopped, the locals started burning the land, so the snakes had to find somewhere else to hide!
Ruth was in our kitchen one evening next to the cooker, and took the brunt of a gas explosion, from which she has now recovered. The preserving hand of God is evident in so much of our lives, as well as all the unknowns He has faithfully prevented.
Every Sunday for 31/2 hours we have 20+ young brethren & sisters from the assembly for a time of singing, Bible reading, quizzes and memory verse learning (and Chorizo pasta supper with cakes after). The youth just seem to love coming (originally started as a 2-hour group) and this has also been a very enjoyable and encouraging time for us. Within the first week, 21 of them had learnt Exodus 20 v 1-17 as they requested that we read the book of Exodus together each week (2-3 chapters at a time). Also, last week we asked them to recite Philippians 2v5-11 which we taught them a year ago and were amazed and encouraged that 12 could do it straightaway. How wonderful to know that the passages of scripture we teach them take root and stay with them even during our absences.
Today the Saturday girls’ sewing groups started. Two groups of 18+ years will be sewing and then looking at the book of James. A new younger group will start on Wednesday afternoons, though Ruth is still to meet the girls this weekend and establish with their Sunday School teacher (who has given her the list of names) if any of them have made professions. This would mean a total of 25+ girls sewing over the 3 groups. These will continue weekly until we leave, God willing, for a short break back to the UK in August to pick up more medication etc. for Jonathan. After this we plan, God willing, to return to Angola, to the Cavungo area to put ceilings into our Angolan National full-time worker sister Irene Cardoso’s home.
• Request that everything done and said will be to the honour and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• Thanks for past & present health, safety and preservation and prayer for continued blessings.
• Thanks for the willingness of Brass Tacks to send us the practical help of Phil Kennedy.
• Request that the young people we mix with & teach in the home, will all progress in their walk with the Lord, and bring glory to God.
• Request that our present visas will be renewed for another year, and ongoing enquiries for 5-year visas will be made clear in the will of the Lord.
• Request for continued safety for the men doing the rest of the roof and plastering both inside and out of all walls affected, and then painting.
• Request for wisdom in helping with the spiritual needs, health needs and poverty requests of all those Angolans whom we seek to reach with the gospel and help in their walk with the Lord.
As we close, we thank all those who have prayed for us and thank those who have supplied us with so much to give away as prizes for use for the youth, sewing girls, the Sunday School children and poor elderly/lepers & babies.
1/6/24
Jer 26-29
For those who are unaware, after my husband’s passing, and seeking the guidance of the Lord as to what we should do, I decided that we would stay in Merida so that we could continue with the children’s meeting in the town of Vicente Guerrero, Progreso, Yucatan. This Bible Class is attended by around 45 children. My own children, Timothy (13) and Ximena (8), are with me here and by the grace of God they both have already professed to be saved.
On Tuesday mornings I help local children with their reading and writing, since the majority of children who attend have difficulty with both.
Last year during the months of October to December I began to prepare the children for a Bible Class presentation. The topic was ‘The attributes of Jesus in the boat’. I took advantage of the visit of brother Harry Rodriguez, who arrived with his family during the first week of January this year. After 4 months of preparation, on 2nd February the children had their first Bible Class presentation. All the children turned up that evening and many parents also attended this meeting. We are grateful to the Lord as we reflect on how God is working in the lives of the children and families of this town.
We have been able to move forward little by little, both personally and also in relation to the work of the Lord in this area of Mexico. We pray that the Lord would send workers in due time to the city of Merida or the state of Yucatan – the fields are white to harvest. Many times, when I think about this, the vision of the man from Macedonia comes to mind ‘Come over….and help us (Acts 16:9)’. God willing, we look forward with great joy and anticipation to the day when our prayer is answered.
In April, the children, my niece Jocabeth who lives with us, and I went to the conference in Pachuca, a drive of almost 2,700km (We are very remote in the southernmost part of Mexico). It was very nice to be able to meet the believers and some of the workers who attended to help in the Gospel preaching and Bible teaching. The fellowship was precious and a real encouragement.
Your continued prayers for us here and the work of the Lord is really valued.
C. 2014
14th
God is good all the time and all the time God is good.
Earlier this year, in the month of February, we embarked on a series of open-air Gospel meetings. However, we had to place the outreach meetings on hold when the loudspeaker that has served us so well for twenty-one years stopped working. We are grateful that a Christian brother came to our aid and purchased a rechargeable speaker that can be used indoors and outdoors. Obtaining a suitable rechargeable outdoor speaker will reduce our dependence on the local shops for electricity as they engage in their regular business duties.
Another challenge presented itself with the changing of the season from dry to wet. Our meetings could not resume as we had no means of protecting ourselves from the sudden outburst of rain from time to time. A family member of my wife purchased and shipped a tent that can be used to protect us from the elements. This should arrive soon and help in our outdoor preaching of the Word of God.
We are delighted to have commenced our Sunday School programme, which occurs on the first Sunday of each month. We are praying that increasing numbers will attend and respond positively to the message of the Gospel.
Last week we encountered some issues with public transportation that gave us a scare. Our elderly bus driver was unwell and showed signs of sickness while driving his minibus. He has since been hospitalized and is receiving treatment. As a result, it is very difficult to get to and from work and school in a timely manner. While there are other buses, only one makes a trip very early and the other is not reliable.
Prayer points
• Believers in Grenada will continue to have a godly testimony in this evil world.
• As we sow the Good Seed, people will be saved.
• For the salvation of our eldest children.
• Our youngest child has a growing interest in the Scriptures and becomes a strong believer.
• Our safety to and from school and our workplaces.
LINUS & JENNIFER LOUIS 18/6/24
Thursday 15th
We express our thanks to the Lord’s people for their continued prayers for the Lord’s Work in this country. God continues to work, and we desire to be in His will as we follow different avenues of service.
Believers from the Palo Negro Assembly at the opening of their
The new Gospel Hall in Palo Negro was opened on the 18th of May. It was a time of rejoicing as the believers gathered to give thanks onto the Lord for His goodness and to hear the ministry of the Word of God. Our brother Stephen Redpath and I started a series
of gospel meetings which continued for four weeks. We were encouraged with the good number of unsaved who attended and a sense of the Lord’s presence with us. We didn’t hear of anyone getting saved, but we know that the Word of God will continue to work in the souls of those who heard.
It was our privilege to attend the conference in Moron last weekend. A large number of the Lord’s people gathered to hear the ministry of the Word of God over three days. The Lord ministered to the needs of our hearts and the Lord’s people were encouraged. The gospel was also preached every night with a large number of unsaved attending, and we pray that there will be eternal results for the glory of God.
This week we are in an Outreach Hall, in the city of Maracay, having Bible Readings in the first epistle to Timothy. There is a nice number of believers who live in that area of the city, and we trust that the Lord will continue to work, and in His time another Lampstand will be planted in that area of the city.
It pleased the Lord to call home another valued full-time worker at the end of May. Our dear brother Bernardo Chirinos was diagnosed with cancer at the end of last year. Though he was able to give valued help at the Easter Conference, his health declined rapidly at the end, and he was called home on the 29th of May at 63 years of age. He was an able minister of the Word of God and a faithful preacher of the gospel, with a shepherd heart. He will be sorely missed, and we pray that the Lord will raise up others to enter into the great harvest field in this country.
Presidential elections will be held at the end of July, Lord willing, so we ask you to pray that there will be peace and that the outcome will result in the furtherance of the gospel.
C. 1999
SAMUEL & SHARON USSHER
27/6/24
After teaching the Word of God on a weekly basis in the International Primary School here in Palapye for 26 years, the head teacher decided to terminate the arrangement without consulting his staff. The children, many parents and staff at the school all expressed their surprise and sadness that we were told not to visit the school anymore. We had our last lesson on 13th February, however, that same week, we began 1-hour Bible lessons in Setswana at another Palapye Primary School each Monday and Wednesday afternoon. We also began preaching to all the children at that school on Tuesdays once a month from 7.30 – 8.00 am. As one door for the gospel closed, another opened.
That then led to contact with another Primary School in the centre of Palapye and on the 13th June we began preaching there to all the children in the school. They rearranged their day for a school assembly just to fit in with our existing schedule of taking assemblies at the 3 Palapye Junior Secondary Schools. It now means that far more children are hearing the gospel regularly than they were before February.
We had a 3-week series of gospel meetings here in Palapye at the Gospel Hall in April and were encouraged to see precious souls attending night by night – some came that we haven’t seen for years. Then Seabenyane Dichabeng (from the Serowe Assembly) and I had a series of meetings in May in the Gorra-Leina Hall in Serowe. We’ve been having series of meetings in that hall on an annual basis in recent years.
On Lord’s Day 2nd June a brother in the Serowe Assembly called Rakole Orakanye went to be with the Lord, so we started a week of ‘merapelo’ meetings in the family yard in the village of Mabuo. Because we have had series of tent meetings in that yard for each of the last 3 years, many of the people who came to the meetings from 4.30 – 5.15 pm each day, had heard the gospel over recent years, but more particularly, had witnessed the transformation in the life of Mr. Orakanye. I had the privilege of preaching to many precious souls each evening in the week leading up to the funeral. Then on the Saturday,
when the funeral was held at 6.30 am (after what they call ‘the showing of the body 5.30 – 6.30 am) there was a big crowd of people who heard the gospel very clearly presented by Donald from the Gaborone Assembly and Rra KB from Francistown who preached at the graveside. Saints from the Serowe Assembly have taught the children in Mabuo the Word of God and the village chief requested publicly that the work continue in the village so that children might hear the Word of God. One of Rakole’s brothers publicly thanked the crowd at the funeral for the help given by the Christians – it is Seabenyane Dichabeng, in particular, who has helped the family in many different ways.
Prayer would be valued for -
• Mr. Rakole Orakanye’s wife – she got saved last year and is now in assembly fellowship – as she continues to witness to her family.
• Rakole’s family – they have all witnessed first-hand what the grace of God can do when there is genuine conversion.
• A group of women from the nearby village of Sehunou who attended these meetings in Mabuo and previous series.
• The Seed of the Word of God being sown in the lives of many children and young people in Palapye through the work in the schools, the Sunday School and the Bible Class.
C. 1991 COLIN & CHRISTINE RAGGETT 24/6/24
It has been 43 years since we left our beloved homeland of Scotland, commended to serve the Lord in full-time service in Canada. Our first year was in Newfoundland then in London, Ottawa and Port Colborne in Ontario. We committed our lives to look to the Lord alone to meet all our needs and He has not failed us once in all those years. What wonderful doors He opened up for us to preach the Gospel and teach the Word of God in many assemblies in Canada and in the Eastern States of the USA.
It has been an honour and privilege to be involved in New Life Prison Ministries, Galilee Bible Camp for many summers, and work as a volunteer with the on-call chaplaincy team at Ottawa Civic Hospital and Welland Hospital here in the Niagara area. While not actively involved now we keep a prayerful and supportive interest in those ministries.
One of my greatest joys has been in extensive door to door visitation with the Gospel. One of my favourite verses has been ‘He who wins souls is wise (Proverbs 11:30)’ and it has been my joy to see many trust the Saviour. At the end of the year an elderly man (Bill) came out to the Gospel meeting and showed good interest. After I preached at our home assembly he asked if I could speak to him. He had attended different churches but realised he was not saved so he made it sure in his heart. What a change in his life and this is always the proof of the reality of Salvation.
Elizabeth has been involved in helping ladies by means of personal Bible studies, ministering to young mothers, elderly saints, children’s outreaches, hospitality and Jer 37-40
many other activities in association with our various home Assemblies. She is first a devoted loving wife, mother and grandmother.
The Lord has blessed us in so many other activities of service among the Lord’s people.
This year with advancing age and health issues we are not travelling much. We are excited at what is happening at our Assembly with some good younger men moving forward in strong leadership. In the month of July, we are having a number of baptisms and praying for those who will be attending not saved. We still enjoy a monthly service at our local Retirement Home! A good number attend and some are very religious but not saved. We keep a love for the Gospel and the local assembly in our hearts and prayers!
C. 1981
JIM & ELIZABETH PAUL
“Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.” Ps.127:1
20/6/24
Jer 41-44
Cancun
In the time of Nehemiah, those who built the wall, did so with one hand, but were prepared to defend it with the other (Neh.4:17). Each person fulfilled their given task, with the desire to see the wall finished. There were enemies who mocked, thinking that their hands would weaken. However, they depended on God, who helped them finish the wall in just 52 days. What this Psalm tells us in a vital exhortation: God is indispensable in building the house, otherwise everything would be in vain.
At the end of May we had an evangelical outreach, with the brothers of the assembly helping distribute invitations to a series of gospel meetings every night for two weeks. We were encouraged by the attendance of several unconverted people and had the joy of listening to the profession of faith of two people.
We also had the privilege of witnessing the baptisms of the Maqueus family (brother (Dr.) Daniel, his wife Alondra and their twin daughters Daniela and Alondra). As they read their Bible in the first letter of John, they were able to understand that the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin. His wife and daughters were saved first and a year later Dr. Daniel was saved. On Sunday 30th June we will have the joy of receiving them into assembly fellowship.
On June 24th we began a series of daily Bible studies for the first time in the assembly; We have commenced looking at the first letter to Timothy. It is a great joy to see the new believers who have been added to the fellowship asking questions and making comments.
We appreciate your prayers for the Cancún assembly and the work of the Lord in the rest of Mexico.
May the Lord open new doors for the preaching of the gospel.
DAVID & SALY CADENAS
Your542Day Prayer Request
27/6/24
A few months ago, our brother Naveen (India) asked if we had our messages on a memory stick. As a result David produced a prototype and it has now developed into the finished product with 31 titled Daily Messages with Meaning and an hour long, yet to be broadcast, programme called God’s Love on the Radio.
We have sent 30 memory sticks to Naveen for the specific use of Bethel Ministries. The same content is available FREE OF CHARGE in the UK in a specially designed sleeve. Positive responses have been received by those who have trialled this new product.
All 31 messages and the hour long programme have been downloaded onto our website as a series named “God is The Answer,” all the messages are now available for everyone to listen to and/or download in the UK and everywhere in the world. The details of the link are posted below.
Please pray for this new venture with a month’s supply of messages that they may be widely used in the same way that the FREE GIFT CDs were in Agricultural Shows, street markets, personal work and residential homes etc.
To place an order contact Peter on 07903347621 or by email to your542day@gmail.com. https://your542day.com/series/the-answer/ Note on the website that there are two pages - use the ‘older posts’.
DAVID LISCOMBE & PETER FRANCIS
10/7/24
Over the past school year, we have had the privilege of visiting 14 schools to take assemblies. The frequency of these can vary from once a term to an assembly every month. In one school we had two assembles every month, as they divided into Key Stage one and two. In each case the assembly hall was full. In Northern Ireland, there is still a good Christian ethos in most schools, and we are at liberty to present a biblical worldview. It was also a wonderful answer to prayer when the Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal ruled that exclusively Christian-focused religious education and worship at primary schools in Northern Ireland does not breach human rights. However those with the intent of removing Christianity completely from schools are possibly going to appeal the case to the Supreme Court, so we pray on.
Already the calendar is filling for school assemblies for the next academic year, but sadly two schools have closed down. Both have been in existence for over 180 years and in each Robert took the last ever weekly school assembly.
In conjunction with fellow trustees of the Origin Bible Exhibition there have been a number of venues where the exhibition has been displayed and local schools visited. These included a market yard in Larne, a hall in Newcastle, a shop in a shopping mall in Antrim and a disused car showroom in Killyleagh. We were also able to bring the exhibition directly into a number of the schools, the most recent one was Antrim Grammar School, last month.
Dar-es-Salaam
We have not visited Tanzania since the Covid Pandemic, but we were able to give teaching each week by internet to the assembly that meets in the Keko area of the city. We have now stopped that for a period as we felt they were getting too “missionary dependant” and there was a need for them to develop their own gifts. However, we do keep in touch frequently and it is encouraging to see them continue on in the things they have learnt and able to teach others also (2 Tim 2:2). That is not to say they don’t have problems, so we answer questions and give advice and guidance when asked. Emmanel Kasembe is a gifted brother, with a shepherd heart for the saints, but keen that others will be involved as well. Please remember him and his wife Anne in prayer.
It was especially wonderful to hear that they had 5 baptisms last month and to see short video clips of the events. It was appropriate that after each one came up out of the water, they sang a verse from “I have decided to follow Jesus” (in Swahili of course!).
They still meet in the home of one of the believers for the breaking of bread, but because they live in different districts of the city and transport is not easy, they came up with the idea of connecting by the internet for a weekly prayer meeting.
Last Saturday, a gospel meeting was held in a house in another area at the invitation of a believer who lives there. Five believers from the assembly went to find six waiting in the home. After a message on “what is a Christian?” they had a meal together with food brought by one young brother. Emmanuel says they would like to continue this each week, but he is aware that sometimes invitations like this are not purely for the gospel. Knowing the brother who extended the invitation, we also feel the same, but encouraged them to continue with the gospel as long as they can.
C.1996 ROBERT & RUTH ARMSTRONG 9/7/24
Wednesday 21st
The prizegiving season was even more fast paced than usual due to the early occurrence of Easter. From the last week of January through to the end of February there was very little time for anything other than packing boxes and travelling to events. Even though the whole season seemed like a bit of a whirlwind, it was a great experience again to visit over 2500 students and their families. We were able to share the word of God and to encourage them in the value of building the biblical story into the lives of the young. We were sad when the largest school in the region decided to stop using the lessons due to curriculum pressures. In other cases, however we were glad to see that despite leadership changes in the last year, the new staff are positive about the use of the material. Please continue to pray for an open door for the lessons in the existing schools and even for the extension of that opportunity through the digital channels we are working on. As well as the work among the schools, the resource continues to be an encouragement to small Sunday School groups and families. It is joy to be able to bring these folk together and to encourage them in the gospel and Christian fellowship.
This year’s prize season marked 20 years of service for Ann Bradley. We were very glad to be able to acknowledge this in a small way by a presentation at the Cavan prizegiving. This year we have been a little shorter staffed in the office. While Nischal has been largely devoted to the digital project it has fallen to Margaret and Annie to carry on the daily routine of the administration
and distribution. Annie’s consistent availability has been a huge help to the ministry now for all these 20 years. We do look to the Lord for additional help in the next school year with so many tasks to be done, but we thank God that in each year the Lord has measured the supply for the need and that for so long Annie has been a part of that.
After Easter, one key priority was to begin making plans for summer camp. We pray that in God’s grace He will stir up young people to attend with a readiness to listen to God’s word and respond. Please pray for this work, which commenced on 13th July. A group of over 100 will travel to Wicklow for that week of camp.
The biggest single project besides the routine work over these past 2 years has been the pursuit of a means to allow students to use digital devices to complete lessons and learn Bible stories. We are very glad that part way through that journey we discovered that we had a synergy with the folks developing at Sunscool. They have already been on this journey for at least a decade. Despite our contribution being a minor one, we were very glad to be able to provide a canvas on which to test the use of their technology in schools for the first time. Our hope is that by September we will be able to release the opportunity for digital lessons to all our students and that we will have an operational online system for managing the mix of paper and online resources. While Nischal seeks to continue to manage the development of the digital work, we pray for him and his wife Debby as they look forward to the arrival of a baby in August.
As always, the months ahead look busy, but we face them with the knowledge of the help of God and encouraged by the support of His people. We look to Him more than anything else for His daily speaking into our hearts as we seek to navigate the circumstances of life and care for those who have not yet learnt the need of their own souls. We look to Him for His blessing in the wonderful works that He has begun.
C. 2018 GARETH & MARGARET McMEEKIN
9/7/24
As we have been focusing on building up and strengthening the local assembly in San Juan over the last few years, we have been encouraged by the believer’s response to a very concerted effort to focus on hospitality and generosity. The marriage retreat in January focused on using what we have as married couples to help one another, and consecutive bible teaching a number of Sundays on hospitality and generosity proved fruitful, as the Lord was able to use His word to convict a number of believers. A young couple that has been married a few years had their first meal at their home, hosting some believers for dinner. It was encouraging to see and to hear the conviction, as one sister would say “I was focused too long on what I didn’t have or what I couldn’t do instead of using what the Lord has given to me”. What a challenge for us all, as many believers don’t have large homes or can’t serve a three-course meal with two different desserts. However, we can use what the Lord has entrusted them with to obey biblical principles of hospitality and generosity. A good temperature gauge of how a local assembly is doing, is perhaps noting how much time believers spend with one another outside the meetings. We should take heed if the majority of a local assembly is happy just to head home as quick as possible once a meeting is done so that they can get on with their week and life.
Conference March 2024
The week of Easter (Semana Santa) has always been a time to focus on fellowship amongst believers as many enjoy the Thursday and Friday of the week off from work. Once again, there was a camp held for three days with the focus on fellowship amongst believers, a time to refresh, and some spiritual food as well. There is no substitute for helping build up a healthy assembly than a local church who enjoys spending time with one another. This camp has always been focused on encouraging this. The topic of Stewardship was covered over a number of different messages throughout the three days and was applicable to all age groups.
Specific Prayer
• Continued preservation and growth in the assembly in San Juan de Dios in San Jose where we live. It has experienced growth and blessing over the last few years by God’s grace.
• Continued development of all the believers in the assembly, especially for the 10 believers added to the assembly fellowship over the last two years.
C. 2017 (Can)
Believers spending time eating lunch under mango tree
A young woman who was saved about 18 months ago, asked recently to be baptised. We are very thankful to see her desire to identify herself with her Lord in this way. You can pray for Megan as although her mother is not really opposed to her being baptised, she also wants her to be confirmed into the Roman Catholic church. So Megan had a choice to make as we sought to guide her into the truths of Scripture. She was at our home in May for the weekly Bible study and we were very thankful to hear that she did want to be baptised and didn’t want to delay any further. I believe her words were, “I am overdue to get baptised”. On the first Sunday of June, Megan was baptised in the ocean, and the Lord gave us a break in the rainy day for some drier weather. Believers from four different assemblies joined, which was encouraging as none of Megan’s friends or family attended, besides her sister who is in fellowship in the Ciceron assembly. We pray for her continued rejoicing and testimony.
With the passing of Hurricane Beryl earlier this week, we are thankful that damage was not very extensive in St. Lucia. In looking at some initial coverage from other islands like Grenada and St. Vincent, it would appear that there was extensive destruction to many buildings and also reports of those who have lost their lives. With communications still down, it has been difficult to reach any of the believers that we know from those places. There is much to pray for.
Once again, we are thankful for your prayerful support of the Lord’s work in St. Lucia. C.2017(Can) PHIL & TRENA GOULD 3/7/24
We returned to the UK from Tanzania last week to begin our 4-month furlough of report meetings, catching up with friends and spending time with family, resting and recharging.
Every believer has a story to tell, a message to share, of the great things that the Lord has done - and no more so than Mama Ivan, a 29-year-old mother of two children (Ivan and Ivana) and wife of Baba Ivan. We recently had the joy of witnessing the baptism of Mama and Baba Ivan on Easter Sunday. It was a special occasion, but one which highlighted her heart failure. She struggled, taking 15 minutes to get from the baptistry at the bottom of the WWT nursery plot back up to the meeting as she was so breathless. Over the next month she became weaker, her body filling with fluid from the feet up, her heart working overtime to little effect, and she was house bound. The medication that she had been taking was no longer sufficient. We suggested Baba Ivan broach the subject of her having an operation, something she had refused before for fear of dying on the operating table. To our joy, she replied that she would have the surgery as now that she was saved and baptised, she no longer feared death, the Lord was with her, and He would see her through. This was a massive statement of faith in her Saviour, as the risks associated with such surgery here in Tanzania were high, however good the hospital. She was admitted to hospital two days later and had a 6.8 cm clot removed from her right atrium and her mitral valve replaced. It was a long 9-hour operation. We praise the Lord that she came through, the smile on Mama Ivan’s face being testimony to her gratitude to the Lord. After two weeks in hospital, she is now home and reunited with her two children who she hadn’t seen for a month. All four of them live in one small room filled with all their worldly goods, but we also discovered they all sleep on the same mattress on the floor. Before she came home, we delivered a double bed and bunkbeds for the children, squeezed them into the room, and left them to squeeze all their belongings back inside! The Lord has done great things for her, which she has already shared with her Muslim friends who visited her this week. Give thanks with them for the gracious hand of God being at work, but also please pray for her continued
recovery, the healing of her wound (an incision from her throat to her navel) and Mama Ivan resuming being a mother, wife and member of the local assembly.
The children at WWT have made good progress in their learning. Their attendance has been so high this year despite awful weather and high reported incidents of malaria. The children put on this term’s assembly for parents in May rather than July, so it could be done before we left. They told the story in words, singing and actions, of the brazen serpent in the wilderness, recited John 3:14-21, and their parents clearly heard the gospel message. Tea and donuts were enjoyed afterwards giving us a chance to interact with the parents.
We took the month of April to move house while hosting the Coleman family from our commending assembly (on their first visit) and then John and Joana Hoare, from N Ireland. There was so much to have fixed, built or installed at the new house, which the landlords hadn’t done, but we managed to get most things sorted before leaving for the UK. We have moved to ‘higher ground’ with a view of the sea which makes the house so much cooler. We are also thankful that our annual rent, paid in advance, has reduced considerably. The Lord is good.
We hope to see some of you as we give reports in various parts of the UK, from now to September. Due to Covid and various other circumstances, we have not had an ‘official furlough’ since 2018, so we are excited to be catching up with prayer partners and those who support the Lord’s work in Tanzania.
C. 2002
STEPHEN & GILL DAVIES 7/6/24
Ezek 5-9
UKRAINE Writing
/IRELAND/N IRELAND from N Ireland
As the war passes 28 months with not even a ‘chink of light’ of hope or peace, the situation looks very grim! In May, a new law was passed requiring every male between 25-60 to register on a database so they can be ‘called up’ pushing many into hiding. Those who don’t want to hide, illegally leave the country on foot at a considerable cost in US dollars to escape to neighbouring countries like Romania, Moldova and Hungary. Conscription squads have a fearsome reputation for hunting them at bus stations, or on the street, hoping to enlist the men for military service.
In Lviv, the dear believers continue to remember the Lord Jesus Christ every Lord’s Day and for prayer mid-week several times a month. It has been encouraging over the last 6 months to send funds to Ruslan so that he can continue the children’s meeting at Sosnivska once a month, visit the homeless shelter once a month, and visit 5 or 6 orphanages with the aim to preach the Gospel and teach the Word of God. Also, he reports of many visits to the Carpathian Mountains with second-hand clothes, food and of course sharing the Gospel in the open-air.
The year commenced with a week in Poland, meeting Ukrainian refugees, sharing literature and preaching the Gospel. I also visited 5 assemblies for ministry and enjoyed one children’s meeting with the gypsy children connected to the assembly at Zabrze.
Agnes and I continue to visit and connect with many Ukrainian refugees on the island of Ireland. The latest government figures for refugees from all different parts of Ukraine has passed 100,000. For such a small island, this is staggering but all in the purposes and providential dealings of God. Although we don’t understand, we firmly believe that God has a plan, and we have a responsibility to do what we can in the short time that remains before the return of Christ.
Belfast – We keep close contact with Adil, Marina, and their two daughters, Carolina and Arina, from Kharkiv. They met in Ukraine while studying at the University and were married 15 years when the war commenced. They told us they waited as long as they could after the Russian troops occupied their town and food became scarce and because of fear for their children they decided to flee, first to Poland and then onward to NI. We try to visit Martha and her two children and her sister Olessa every month to encourage and support. Martha has plans to go back to Ukraine in July to visit her husband and parents with the children.
In February we travelled to Arklow, Bray, Wicklow and Dublin to revisit different families and the Ukrainian hubs in each town and city. We were distributing 2 new Gospel tracts in the Ukrainian language which we received from the Polish assemblies. It is a great joy to share the ‘WORD’ with these dear souls and leave the results with God.
March brought another visit to Letterkenny, Co Donegal, Malin and Ballyliffin. The assembly was most helpful in hosting a Gospel meeting for Ukrainians and Irish folk. I spoke and Luba from Kiev translated for me, and we pray that the glorious message of Gods redeeming grace will be believed and souls saved. Luba presently is back in Ukraine, to bring her husband, who is recovering from heart surgery to live in Ireland together with their son Arthur (10).
In April we were back in Mullingar, Longford, Mohill and Lanesborough in the Midlands of Ireland. We had the joy of distributing hygiene packs kindly gifted to us from the sisters in Cookstown assembly for the refugees. We added Gospel literature, and all were received with thanks and brought a smile from each recipient. In the town of Tullamore, the Irish government had built 64 small prefab bungalows. It was really thrilling to knock each door and greet the women and children in their ‘own language’ and welcome them to Ireland. The surprised faces touched our hearts and then we gave out tracts and literature which again was received gladly.
May took us to Edinburgh, Scotland for a short visit and a report meeting in the Glencraig assembly, which was well attended. Before the meeting we had dinner with Alina and her son Ivan from Kiev. Alina was baptised last year and had a lovely testimony. Her
husband is sadly on the front line. On the Friday evening, we attended the Gospel meetings in Gorgie assembly where the preacher was fellow Irishman Joel Hawthorne, recently commended to the Lord’s work in Edinburgh.
In June, we received a phone call from Ig…. who had arrived in Dublin from Ukraine. Ig…. is from Ivano Frankivsk where over the past 10 years had been regularly translating at the Gospel meetings on Tuesday and Sunday evenings. When we were in Ukraine, we travelled from Lviv to Ivano every Tuesday evening to help brother Dan Perez in the Gospel. Ig…. was always there, willing to translate but was not a believer. Through time he began to understand the message he was interpreting was actually for him as well, and trusted Christ for salvation in 2018. We soon made arrangements to go to Dublin and have met up with Ig… several times to support him and have fellowship together. He will soon be moving to Carlow, south of Dublin, so we hope to visit him in his new accommodation in July, God willing.
We value and appreciate very much the fellowship of the Lord’s people and especially their prayerful interest over the last months and years.
‘If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Rom 8:31,32)’
C. 2010
Ezek 10-13
We continue in Xalapa with the usual weekly meetings – breaking of bread, gospel meeting, children’s meeting, prayer meeting and Bible reading. The assembly is small, and with few to contribute, much time is taken up preparing for the various meetings. We also continue to visit Coscomatepec every other Tuesday for a gospel meeting, and although numbers are small, we are encouraged that those who do come attend faithfully. Our prayer is that they will learn their need of a Saviour and trust Christ.
On Saturday we attended the bi-monthly ministry meeting near Cuautla in the state of Morelos. Duncan and Anna Beckett, who labour in this area, recently acquired a new hall and this was the first time the day of ministry was held in the new location. We enjoyed the rich teaching given by brother Shawn St Clair (Canada). The believers there were recently encouraged with blessing in salvation during a gospel series.
I have been asked to write an article for Via, a gospel magazine which is distributed widely throughout the Spanish-speaking world. With more than 300,000 copies of the previous edition being distributed, I feel the weight of the responsibility to communicate the gospel clearly through the written word. Please pray that the magazine will be used greatly in the salvation of precious souls.
Your continued prayerful interest in the work of the Lord in Mexico is highly valued.
C.2022
SAMUEL & RUTH CHESNEY 4/6/24
Tuesday 27th
We would appreciate prayer for a dear brother in our assembly, Ernani. His wife is not saved and is very much against the Gospel. Her family is also very religious and devout Catholics. She has told him that if he tries to take any of their 3 children (girl 12, boy 10 and girl 3) to the meetings she will file for divorce. Pray he may have wisdom in dealing with this situation and that he may win his family for the Lord.
We have had to cancel plans for a series of Gospel meetings twice this year due to health issues. This year has been difficult health wise, and now Marco has pneumonia. We trust that in the right time we will be able to have this series of Gospel meetings.
We would also mention Jefferson, a young man that professed to be saved a couple of years ago. He was extremely interested and showed signs of spiritual growth but the fact that his fiancée is not interested in the Gospel has hindered his growth. He is torn between his loyalty to the Lord and his interest in her. We would appreciate prayer for this young man. We have visited him regularly and tried to help him but this is a decision he must make on his own.
The son of one of the sisters, Lucas (early 20’s) has been facing some health issues. He has some problem in his heart and needs surgery. He was in hospital two weeks ago and after they did lots of tests, he was sent home with some medication to take for some time before his surgery. We have visited him and send him Gospel messages every week. He showed some interest in the Gospel at first, but the world and his friends seem more attractive at the minute.
C. 1998 (Brazil) MARCO & JANICE GEBARA 1/7/24
The school year for students has come to an end. There is only one more event to take place (KG Graduation) then the focus will be on preparation for the next academic year. Children, families, and teachers are tired and longing for peace. We pray that they will have the opportunity this summer to be refreshed and ready to start again in September. This is the time when decisions about staffing are made for the next academic year. Decisions are also taken by families who will leave or move to LEST. Please pray for all involved in these decisions.
This has been a very challenging year, as part of 5 years where Lebanon has had to contend with the revolution of 2019, Covid-19 and the Beirut Explosion, followed by the economic and political crisis plus war in South Lebanon. The situation in the South has continued to fluctuate between periods of relative calm and sudden escalation. We frequently have jets breaking the sound barrier overhead and can often hear explosions in the distance. Despite this, life continues as normal on the surface and the beaches are busy with people trying to get some sun! Many people are still displaced from villages in the border area including families from the Christian villages. Over 93,000 people are displaced, and this number has been increasing. In response to the situation, I have been spending weekends just above Beirut where most people are not even aware of how things are in the South. It is such a blessing to have these times of calm and meet up with other believers. One of our teachers has her children outside of Lebanon as she does not have a place here other than in a southern village. It is a very hard time for people like her to be apart from her children, but hoping they can soon return. Another generation of children here have been exposed to the trauma and fear of war, so we continue to pray for peace and mercy.
• Pray for peace - an end to the war and suffering of so many in South Lebanon and beyond.
• Pray for people to know the Prince of Peace - that they might have peace in their hearts, even in the midst of trouble.
• Pray for the eternal seeds planted in the hearts and minds of our students and students over many years.
• Pray for decisions about staffing and students for the next academic year. We are still in a very severe economic situation, and many are struggling to pay school fees.
• Pray for the many displaced from border villages.
• Pray for wisdom for me to know when to be in the South or in Beirut.
Thank you to everyone who supports Lebanon in prayer.
ANDREA SMITH
12/6/24
Thursday 29th
Since November 2023 we have been living in Lubumbashi and amongst other things, Josh has been kept busy with various preaching and teaching engagements. From invitations to preach on a Sunday at gospel services, to teaching at seminars lasting several days, he has had a variety of opportunities to open God’s word with different groups of people. We give God thanks for each one and look to Him to bless the teaching and preaching of His word.
In addition to the structured teaching opportunities Josh has had, as a couple, we have had the privilege of discipling two young men who came with us to Lubumbashi from Katoka. Those of you who receive our prayer updates will be familiar with their names, Freddy and Roger.
We have been trying to support their development on a practical level (for Roger this has meant funding an informal apprenticeship here in Lubumbashi and for Freddy, his participation in an online University course) as well as discipling their walk with the Lord. Throughout their time with us they have both been a source of real encouragement.
Their desire to draw closer to the Lord and serve Him with their lives has steadily grown as they have regular bible studies with Josh (once or twice a week) and accompany him to most of his teaching and preaching engagements. They seem to enjoy nothing better than chatting to Josh for hours afterwards, questioning and delving deeper into whatever his subject was that day.
More recently they have both shown a desire to take opportunities to preach the gospel or share a word at the breaking of bread service, and when they have, it has been lovely for us to hear them put together in their own words the biblical truths which they have gleaned from their studies in our home and elsewhere.
Lubumbashi
Roger giving a word at a breaking of bread service. He is on the right. He is speaking in French and the man on the left is translating into Swahili
This is a photo of Freddy (he is on the right) translating the message at a breaking of bread service from Swahili to French.
Please pray for them both, that in the coming months we might be able to help them find permanent employment opportunities but more importantly that they continue to grow in their walk with and knowledge of the Lord.
C. 2016 JOSH & KERI KAYE 10/7/24
We have just returned (end June) from a three month visit to the N W of Canada, and Washington state, USA. The only exception on our planned journey was, sadly, Fort McMurray in the far north of Alberta. A previous invitation had been postponed due to the major fire in 2016, and while en-route this time, another lesser fire developed, but still sufficient to cause evacuation of Wood Buffalo, the suburb where the Gospel Hall is. We were requested to reschedule in the time remaining, but it wasn’t possible. Pray for this assembly. It is reduced in size and quite isolated (as many in the northern regions are).
We had a profitable week of meetings with the assembly in Kamloops, B.C. before beginning our travelling. The younger believers had worked hard in visiting the surrounding area, and new visitors came to every meeting. Some of the visitors were impressed with the ‘zeal’ of the assembly: They admitted that, since covid, they only ‘opened on Sunday, but we noted that at the Gospel Hall you are having meetings every night’. This attracted quite a few first-time visitors and many good conversations were held after each meeting. Pray for the potential that is presently there.
Okanogan assembly (and visitors) in Okanagan, Washington, USA
We travelled into eastern Washington for arranged ‘End Times’ meetings with the Okanogan assembly. Again, the believers had invited neighbours, and though those ‘breaking bread’ are in single figures over twenty attended some nights with a time of questions and answers after. Pray for assembly members children and grandchildren –who attend well – but are not saved, also a younger Mexican couple who are showing keen interest.
We also visited Arlington, and met again with an older preaching partner, Bryon Meyers
and his wife Joni. They are limited in travelling now, but still have a zeal for the gospel locally. From Arlington to Terrace was a long journey (over 2,000k one way). The Terrace assembly is very isolated (close to the Alaskan border) and has no other assembly within 800-1,000k. There are now only five in fellowship, and they need our prayers, though visitors and unsaved were present at all the meetings.
Our visit to Grande Prairie, A.L., was new territory for us and a wonderful ten days of fellowship. David Swan (a fulltime brother from Newfoundland) was visiting family and the assembly – just over twelve breaking bread – convened ‘all day meetings’ on the Lord’s Day. Also, on the next week when we should have been at Fort McMurray – which was postponed – the saints rented a community hall in a village 50k west, in Hythe, close to where some of the assembly believers travel in from. We had visitors attend the gospel every night. Pray for Hal, an elderly local man of 97. He has just recently been widowed and he accepted an invite. He came twice and confessed he had never heard the gospel before. How amazing the grace of God!
Paradise Valley was the smallest assembly visited, in a village on the Saskatchewan border. Even there, we had visitors attending and the local believers are faithful in maintaining a testimony over many generations. We had a very encouraging time also in Edmonton, just prior to the believers moving out of their Hall for demolition and rebuilding, with encouragement on the “laid foundation …”. Also, a profitable time with the assembly in Calgary and very enjoyable fellowship, then eastwards to Saskatoon in Saskatchewan. We were very encouraged with the numbers of visitors attending and questions asked about assembly truth. It is a deep joy to see an appetite, especially in places where overall numbers are not large. Pray for many of these small assemblies. Typically, are under twenty in size, and in many cases 500 – 800km from the next nearest assembly. Distances are vast and they depend on the Lord alone to strengthen them (Eph. 6:10).
C.2004 DAVID & HELEN McKILLEN 10/7/24
We are glad to report that our Lord has been very merciful and gracious to us all for the last 71 years that Emmaus has been in operation in Kenya; and we are experiencing the same this year 2024. We held Emmaus 70th anniversary last year. We are grateful to all the brothers and sisters, who have been praying and supporting us.
Thank you all for standing and partnering with us in this wonderful ministry of ‘Taking the Word’ to the world. Last year 2023 we had the opportunity of distributing a total of 88,701 courses and correcting 32,673 courses. We had 2,332 students deciding to accept the Lord as their personal Saviour as they studied through the courses. We also issued 1,288 certificates to students who completed the first 12 courses and 1,071 diplomas to those who completed 24 courses and above.
Last year (2023) we had the opportunity to hold 5 graduation ceremonies at Ruiru Farm Prison, Mlolongo Bible Centre, Ruiru Bible Cntre, Nakuru Main Prison, and Kinangop (Flyover) Bible centre. We have a few more graduations planned God willing before the end of this year. These graduation ceremonies have been very encouraging for the students and their relatives who attend.
There is a great need for English and Swahili Bibles for distribution in prisons. We made over 60 prison visits in 2023. We witnessed one of the prison chaplains at Kamiti Medium Prison praying with the 3 gentlemen who accepted Christ as their Saviour after we shared the Gospel with the inmates.
We also receive and distribute Bible Educational Services (BES) children lessons in Kenya. We find this a privilege and it complements with Emmaus adult courses. This work has been going on since 2009. It is very encouraging to see so many children in Kenya learning the Word of God each week in Sunday schools, primary and high schools and Bible clubs.
LAZARUS & JANE KISAU
26/6/24
C=Date of Commendation
Published by:
LORD’S WORK TRUST 42 Beansburn, Kilmarnock KA3 1RL
Tel. 01563 521098 E.Mail: lwtrust@lwtrust.co.uk www.lordsworktrust-kilmarnock.co.uk
Charity No. SC008740
Alistair Buchan (Aberdeen) Stephen Trimble (Ballykeel) David Grant (Kilmarnock) Raymond McNair (Glengormley)
Andrew Grieve (Belfast) Alastair Sinclair (Crosshouse)
Kevin Oh (London) Gordon Stewart (Wallingford)
Secretary: Leonard Currie (Kinross)
Total gifts received during June 2024. Total: £640,040.00