Many Praises To Be Thankful For

And this just in…!

Dear Praying Friends,

Thank you for praying! I was all ready to send a prayer update at the end of September, but things changed in a hurry!

First of all, Stefan and Naomi were blessed with the arrival of Elsie Grace on September 27!  Elsie came 3 weeks early but at 7 pounds and 19 inches, nobody was too concerned! OK, we will be honest, we have spent more time than usual looking at photos of Elsie. Elsie is such a precious blessing to our family and we are so thankful!

The next day we got a phone call from the couple that was getting a divorce. But this phone call was to announce that they had decided to not go through with their divorce! When we talked to them individually 10 days before, both were convinced of what they were doing. However, now, 10 days later, they are doing well considering where they were. They are not yet together physically, but things are going the right direction. Please praise the Lord with us for this miracle! There will no doubt be a fantastic testimony in time, but right now, please continue to pray for this young couple. 

So that this letter does not get too long, here is a summary of what we were going to say at the end of September…!

We had a very good time of raising support during our time in America. There were several people who committed to financially support this ministry as well as two churches! Please praise God with us for His wonderful provision. We have a video of our ministry. If you would like to see it, please send a note!

Two days after we got back, there was a funeral for another neighbor who died from cancer. I had been visiting them regularly for several months. Two months ago, I shared the gospel and how to have assurance of salvation through Jesus Christ by sharing from Psalm 23. I explained that Jesus is the good shepherd and he was the one to trust. Ultimately, he decided to have a Roman Catholic funeral and he never did make of a confession of his faith except to say that he already understood what I was saying. Sonya had given them a reprint of the old painting of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. He was buried with two items in the casket; one of them was the picture that Sonya gave them! Somewhere along line, the picture became meaningful to him and we think he wanted to make a spiritual statement to his family.

The funeral service was a typical Catholic service. Towards the end of the mass, the priest seemed to “break protocol”, leaving his notes, and began to speak to the family directly. He encouraged them to put their hope and trust in Jesus, that He was their rock, and they would be able to construct their lives on Him. He said that Jesus is the Good Shepherd and He would take care of them. Please pray for our neighbor’s widow; she has indicated that she would like to come to church now. 

Another blessing is that this year, two of our own youth, now college students, have taken up the responsibilities for the Keys Club!  T. is doing a fine job of preparing studies that make the youth think through why they believe what they believe.  J. has also joined in to take care of the English game time before the study. This is a very big blessing as it frees up a bit of time for us.

Sonya is just finishing the huge task of writing the Christmas play. This year it is heavily based on Isaiah 9 and John 1.   S. volunteered to help and has had brilliant ideas to fill in the holes!  It will soon be in the reviewing process. Then Sonya needs to write several songs that go along with the play. This is a time intensive project and while it is a lot of work, there are always many blessings.  Please pray for everyone involved as we work on the details of putting this together.

I am still coaching basketball. I am very thankful in my new role in the club because I intervene only for basketball practices. I am not responsible for a team so I do not have to coach a game on weekends. The challenge is adapting to a wide range of age groups and talent levels. Please pray especially for my practices at a middle school as the students are not always motivated. In all things, my goal is that God be glorified through the tools He has given me.

There are so many other blessings to share, but I will get to those in a couple of weeks when I write again! Thank you so much for standing with us in prayer. Thank you so much for standing with us in your financial contributions. We are so grateful for each and everyone of you.

May God richly bless you,
Kent – for Sonya too