(Update received April 18, 2023)
We returned after successfully carrying out “Steps of Love", the 2nd relief ministry for the earthquake area. Thank you to all the supporters who cooperated with prayers and finance.
Dates: 3/29-4/2 (5 days, 4 nights)
Participants: 10 people
Details of ministry: moving the relief warehouse, cleaning the relief center building, children's ministry, etc.
This time, ten people participated, especially Pastor X (my father-in-law), who was visiting from X, PERSON, the eldest daughter, and PERSON, a victim of the earthquake.
The area visited this time is X. It is close to the Syrian border and is one of the hardest-hit areas but has minor relief support.
X, the port from which Paul and Barnabas embarked on their first historic missionary journey.
“Two men were sent by the Holy Spirit to go down to Siluceia, and from there they got into a boat and went to Cyprus.” Acts 13:4
In X, churches had not yet been established, but a small house gathering was recently started, but everyone scattered after the earthquake hit. There are several churches in the X area, but most members are scattered. However, it is said that they are coming back slowly, one family at a time, so I pray that the gatherings of believers and churches will recover again as soon as possible.
The main relief activity was to help move the warehouse of the relief center established by the church association in southeastern X to another location. Still, we also helped with other relief activities. For three days straight, we worked on organizing the warehouse, moving goods, cleaning the restaurant building/house allowed to be used by the city, and laying the groundwork for the container buildings.
Among them, the highlight of this trip was, by far, the three children's ministries. The cotton candy/popcorn machine we brought was a huge hit. There seemed to be no better gift than this to comfort the tired mind of children and adults alike. We were thrilled to see smiles blooming on the children's faces. How long have you been smiling like this? We spent time playing various games and face painting, but we couldn't move well because of the requests to come again tomorrow. It won't be tomorrow, but we promised to return.
Please continue to pray for the people, who are in significant need.
In addition to relief for earthquake victims, the X ministry is also actively carried out. On the evening of Tuesday, April 4th, we held the Bible Study meeting to commemorate Easter and invited believers to preach the Easter gospel clearly. We shared the joy of Easter by making Easter eggs together. One new receptionist came in last week Hallelujah! Please pray for Brother X to stand on his faith. On Easter Sunday, he brought his friend and worshiped together. Meetings with seekers who are interested in the gospel are actively continuing. Please pray that God will open their hearts as we share the gospel.
US/Canada Visit
From 4/20-5/20, my family will visit the East Coast/Toronto/LA. Since it was a short visit, I would like to let you know that we cannot visit everyone. In particular, please pray for the health checkup schedule of X suffering from fatigue, and intercede for a safe and fruitful schedule.
God bless you ALL!
(Update received May 1, 2023)
We would like to start our May newsletter by informing you that there are 3 new students that have come to faith. X, X, and X that you have been praying for have all come to faith. Praise be to God for all the wonderful things that He is doing in X. We are overjoyed that He is using us and our team. The month of April was very exciting and full. We had our Easter celebration at our Deep Life meeting. Despite it being the month of Ramadan, we had 80 people come. 39 people came for the first time and heard the gospel. Last month, we also went to the earthquake zone for a short trip. We visited many of our students’ families and delivered needed supplies to them. We delivered a battery powered wheelchair to a 12-year-old named X that has been in desperate of this. He lost both of his parents and lost both of his legs because of the earthquake. X was very happy and excited, but I was also very sad. He is the exact same age as our son, but cannot go to school. My heart is broken that this child will not be able to walk again for the rest of his life. We are trying to think about how we can help him more. We can possibly help him get into a technical school so that he can develop a skill or do something that will give him the ability to take care of himself. We are continuing our discipleship lessons with our students. I started the 6-step study with X and we have done 3 of them. I have started baptism lessons with X. I have wanted to finish baptism lessons with X, but it has not been able to happen yet. His mother has been ill with a heart issue, and he has had to continually help her go to the hospital. X finished baptism lessons with X. We are hoping to baptize X, X, and X in June. We had a short retreat with some of our students outside of X. We talked about thanksgiving and worship with them. We are also continuing our Bible studies on Tuesday nights. We are trying to train and disciple 7 students to give them opportunities share and teach what they have learned from us. We are continuing the preparation work for the Kyrgyzstan summer project. We have started again the online X course last month. We will go to Kyrgyzstan the first week of July to meet with these students and share the good news with them. We thank God for His goodness and grace. We are releasing our ministry in May to the Lord.
X's STORY:
X is 23 years old and is a final year student at X University in the Department of Veterinary Medicine. We first met X at church about 6 months ago. His family lives in a different city and he lives in a student dormitory. Because his family is a very religious, X has been praying, fasting, and going to the mosque since his childhood and even during his middle and high school years. But despite all these things, he has never felt peace in his heart. Last July, while browsing the internet, he saw an advertisement titled "would you like to read the Bible?” He ordered a New Testament online. When his mother opened the package, she saw that it was a Bible and told his father. His parents were very angry at him for quite a long time, but he continued to read it. One semester, when he returned to X, he came to visit our church. I invited him to our Deeper Life meetings and Bible studies for spiritual seeking students. X started attending all our meetings and started coming to our church almost every week. He loves to read and learn. He loves to ask questions. About two months ago, I took X to our Bible study and afterwards we had a long discussion about all his questions. After our conversation I asked him if he wanted to believe in Jesus, and he responded with the desire to believe as he has been greatly moved through the love that he has felt at church and through Jesus’s example of loving people and giving his life away to others. I thank you for your prayers. X's school will end in about 6 weeks. Please pray that he can find a job in X. Pray that he will continue to grow in the Lord.
Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel,
(Update received January 23, 2023)
Waiting for next update.
