October 2005

by Dr. Chris

Our New Life team has returned from our outreach in Northern Asia and we were blessed by what God accomplished while we were there. It is truly a joy to be in a place where God is working and to see people transformed by His Spirit and their new relationship with Him.

Once we arrived we spent our first few days with our New Life workers. We prayer walked a local Temple and Pastor Sam held an afternoon seminar on the "Father Heart of God". Thirty-five members of the local fellowship attended the seminar and as Sam shared his own personal struggles and testimony with his own stepfather, many members were moved to tears as they could relate to his experiences. Many people received ministry and a new concept of who God is --- a loving, caring Father who loves us just the way we are and has created us a for a specific purpose and destiny. On Sunday Pastor Sam shared a final teaching on this subject and at the end of the service two people who attended received Jesus as their personal Savior. PTL!

We traveled by train (12 hour ride) to a city in the middle of the desert. As we left, we could see green fields with tall grass and flowers scattered with cattle, horses and sheep. Majestic mountains surrounded the city with evergreen timber at their summits. Gradually the landscape changed to rolling hills and then to flatter lands. The trees and green grasses gradually disappeared into a sandy desert by the time we arrived. In fact we arrived in a sandstorm and I don't know if I ever have been in a more desolate place. But there lived in this city 18,000 people who needed to hear the Good News and we had come to bring this city and its people "new life".

                                 

 Prior to our team arriving there were two previous outreaches, so there already was a small nucleus of new believers meeting in two small groups. Our local worker had rented an apartment here and spent a large part of the summer following up and meeting with these new believers along with 2 others. Over the next three days we held a medical clinic at the hospital where we were able to serve 155 people.

 

We conducted children's ministry in the afternoons and youth meetings in the evenings at a local gym. Pastor Sam went house to house sharing, ministering and praying for many people. We held new believer and seeker meetings in a local theatre that were attended by 25-30 people each evening.

The people were very open to the Good News and many were even hungry for it. It was so good to share the Gospel with so many --- frequently one-on-one. During our time in this city 38 people prayed with us to put their faith in Jesus as their personal Savior. A church was birthed and planted with regular attendance of about 20-25 adults along with additional youth and children. A couple will come from a previously established ministry to pastor and oversee this new church. The husband has just finished a 2 year Bible school and he does have a pastor’s heart. Please pray for them and all these new believers!

 

On our final day in this city, we made an excursion to visit a couple of families who recently had joined the family of God and needed medical attention. We also had the opportunity to ride a camel and to taste goat cooked over an open fire. Each of us had very rich experiences. Many of the townspeople will never be the same and neither will we.

My wife and I had one last Sunday with the existing ministry before we returned. I had the privilege of sharing and at the end of the service 2 women gave their hearts to Jesus and professed their faith in Him.

 

The orphanage that two of our workers have established now houses 30 abandoned children. They are all looking healthy and happy. Several possible adoptions are pending but they are still trying to work through some "red tape" for international adoptions.

 

Please pray for:

• The children, their health and that each one would be adopted into loving Christian homes.
• Our workers, their health and financial provision
• Spirit led wisdom and direction in their ministry
• The established fellowships to continue to grow and be Antioch apostolic centers for the people of this country
• The new believers and the new church, and their continued spiritual growth and development of their own leadership