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This song is about how Fred Potter got saved, written by Danny Minton. |
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It is our privilege to welcome you to the Charity Baptist Mission web page. We hope this will be a testament of what the Lord is doing in America and throughout the world. In 1973 the Lord laid upon my heart to start Charity Baptist Mission Inc., here in Bristol, Tennessee. We started it because we were opening a children’s home in Mexico. From there the Lord continued to bless and increased the areas to other countries by which we could share the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour. It has been truly a blessing to see how the Lord has used missionaries to reach the lost and see them saved. We believe in the Authorized King James 1611 version of the Word of God. It has stood the test of time and we believe this is the only true Bible. To God be the Glory!
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updated 7-10-24 |
Watch Brookside Baptist Church live streams at:
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Missions Updates
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June 2024
Dear Brothers Sisters in Christ,
We hope this finds you all enjoying the blessings of our Lord and Savior. This
month marks one year since our ministry drastically changed with the departure
of some of our workers. It happened quickly and we were forced to make decisions
we otherwise wouldn’t have considered. We ended up moving to our church in
Calarasi and within a couple of months we fixed up two rooms for my family and I
to live in. This ended up being the best decision for our ministry.
We’ve seen the Lord bless our church, sending in people who would never have
come if we weren’t there. Our family has found so much joy and contentment here
and we feel the Lord is blessing our efforts. It encourages and refreshes us
when we see the Lord working in these people’s lives and seeing new believers
born again into the family of God.
One lady who recently started coming to our morning prayer meetings is named Ati.
She’s a lady to whom our workers owed a large amount of money. I reimbursed her
the money and asked her to come to our services and she promised she would. She
started coming shortly thereafter and we saw the Lord begin to work in her
heart. One week Jacob had a meeting at his church in Pecineagra and I took some
of our believers from Calarasi to the service and Ati came with us. We had a
powerful service where the Lord blessed in a mighty way. The people were crying
and shouting and praising the Lord for all His goodness. On the way home, Ati
said she felt the Lord so strong in the service she started crying and wanted to
shout. Please help us pray that the Lord saves her. She has a lot of influence
in this village and her testimony could reach a lot of people who are Muslims
and want nothing to do with us.
As the weather has warmed up, we’ve begun having our morning prayer meetings
outside again and just as the Lord continues to bless the devil continues to
fight. Last week during one of our services, as we were singing, someone outside
the gate began throwing rocks over the fence at us. One rock almost hit Teresa
in the head while other rocks hit Brother Marchel. He and I ran out the gate to
try and catch whoever it was, but they were gone. Brother Marchel decided he’d
sit outside the gate in the middle of the road to guard us as we continued the
service. Before this happened, I wanted to put up a shed roof over the area
where we meet outside to shade us from the sun, but I’ve been so busy, I haven’t
had time to add the roof yet. After this happened, I knew I could wait no longer
and had to get it done. Last year, some gave money for our bell tower and the
shed roof and this week we’ve finally been able to pour cement and add the shed
roof. We now have a very nice place for our people to come and worship, shaded
from the sun, rain and protected from any future rocks being thrown at us.
We appreciate all of you, your prayers, and your support for our ministry, and
we pray for each of you, that as the days grow darker and the evil waxes worse
and worse, that your light for the Lord will shine brighter, and your hearts
will be more and more encouraged as we see the day approaching. Please continue
to pray for our other seven meetings and our daily travels back and forth. May
God richly bless you, is our prayer.
From Calarasi, Romania
Nathan, Teresa and Nate Reed
A printable PDF
version is available here
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June 2024
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I hope this letter finds you well and in His nurturing grace. I’m thankful for
how God is working in the meetings this summer. It’s become very hot these past
few weeks with the temperatures reaching into the high nineties. The heat can be
very oppressive, but it doesn’t stop our believers from coming to our services
and we are thankful for that.
On Sundays, I am in three meetings. We meet at the Children’s Home for our
English service, then afterwards my dad and I, with some Turkish believers, go
to two other meetings in the village about an hour from where I live in
Constanta. At the first meeting in the village there is a man whose house we
meet at that gathers up all the children in his area for the service. His name
is Cerkez and he’s a blessing to us all. One day when we arrived, I said to him,
“It sure is hot today.” He replied, “Well it’s hotter in hell, thank God we
aren’t there and thank God for this beautiful weather.” Talk about putting
things into perspective, this humbled me to my very soul. I’ve found that it’s
easy to complain when we should simply give thanks every day for how good God
has been to us. The children have learned the hymns and sing passionately and
some of their parents have begun to come to the services.
In my last prayer letter, I spoke of a man who comes faithfully to our meeting
in the village of Medgidia. His name is Yildiz and he’s handicapped in both of
his feet and walks with a cane. He also cannot speak clearly but we have learned
to understand his speech. Last week, without anyone telling him to, he started
sweeping outside the church. He simply wanted to help clean up even though he
had to use a cane. Both of his feet were burned as a child, and he also damaged
his tongue and vocal cords so badly that it’s hard to understand what he says.
But after a few years we’ve learned to understand him and I’ve learned it isn’t
the great or the learned, it’s the humble that get blessed. Let that be a lesson
to all of us.
“But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and
God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are
mighty;” 1 Corinthians 1:27
With the help of several churches, I have been able to build a church in the
town of Pecineaga, where my wife’s parents live, and the Lord has blessed
tremendously. Every Thursday, we have people from different areas around the
village, along with my dad bringing believers from Calarasi, to meet for a
service and a meal afterwards. My wife and I have many nieces and nephews who
attend these meetings, and we are praying for their salvation as well as others
who are now coming. Even though we have adversaries who live across the street
from us, who don’t like that we have a church, we are still excited to see what
the Lord has in store for us. Please help us pray the Lord will touch their
hearts and they too will come to our church services and be saved. Thank you all
once again for all you do.
From Constanta, Romania
Jacob Reed and Family
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April – May 2024
Dear Praying Friends and Family,
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The months of April and May were
busy with meetings in OH, KY, IN, MI, and NC. During my last visit to Ukraine, I
saw that the Ukrainian language is replacing Russian in regions that previously
only communicated in Russian. I decided that it is time to begin language study
once again, this time in Ukrainian. My family and I are taking lessons twice a
week via Zoom from my long-time friend Oleg, aka “Captain Translator.” The month
of May was also eventful for Naomi and I as we celebrated our 31st wedding
anniversary.
During my last visit to Ukraine, I was able to gather some vital information
ahead of our return to the field. It will be unavoidable for us to return to our
home because of our residency permits. We are, of course, trying to understand
if it is safe to do so. “The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but
safety is of the LORD (Prov. 21:31).” I spoke with several men “in the know” who
explained the situation in Transnistria, a country where a Russian army is
located and whose border is only a ten-minute drive from my house. I now feel
much better about returning. However, the situation in Ukraine makes day to day
life very difficult. We recently received the official schedule from the
electric company in our town. We will have only five hours of electricity in a
twenty-four-hour period, divvied up an hour or two at a time. In addition, there
are water shortages. I will have to make at least one more trip to prepare our
home before the arrival of my family. It would be almost senseless to return to
a house with no water, no power, and no heat during winter! Solar panels for
power and a deep well for water would be ideal and keep us independent of the
utility system which was bad even before the war.
After discussing future plans with Alexei we decided to submit our paperwork for
visas after Michael turns sixteen in July. Ukraine places young people in a
category all their own between the ages of 16 and 18. To avoid a lot of extra
problems and paperwork, which would require us to exit the country, we decided
that this is the safest option. We’ve also discussed the nature of the ministry
for the time being. We plan to continue to take the Gospel and aid to Eastern
regions of Ukraine into the formerly occupied territories. They are humbled,
hungry, and listening now.
Possible New Recruits! Even during wartime there are still young people praying
about going to the mission field! My son, Samuel, and his wife, Susanna, are
praying about coming over to help us in Ukraine. He wants to accompany me on my
next trip while praying about the Lord’s will for their lives after he graduates
Bible Institute. What a blessing! Not to mention my daughter, Miriam, is
committed to returning with us as well. She is a certified bookkeeper and is
working hard to get her online business to the point that she can be
self-supporting on the field. I praise God for the blessing of having a family
that is now producing second generation missionaries that grew up on the field!
Please pray for the men in our church who are carrying a heavy burden during
wartime. Pastor Alexei is doing a fine job overseeing the church. He is under a
lot of pressure from many sides and needs prayer. On the one hand there are
constant threats of missile strikes in Odessa. On the other stands the sobering
possibility that he, or the other needed helpers in the church, could be
conscripted. They also get constant updates from church members and their
families who are fighting now and say that Kharkiv is very hot and that they may
be going soon. In addition to these pressures, the changes that are fast coming
to Ukraine from the West are very discouraging. The Parliament of Ukraine has
already presented a bill that would take the first steps to the legalization of
gay marriage. What a disgrace! The men are between a rock and a hard place. If
Russia wins the war, then our liberty to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ will
almost disappear. If Ukraine wins, then the new form of “Western Civilization”
(the Hollywood kind) which has replaced the old will come in and make Ukraine a
new colony of the USA and Europe. These new “western values” and immigration
will change Ukraine forever. Time is short. Even so, Come Lord Jesus.
On a positive note, I spoke with one of our church members who is serving in the
Ukrainian army. He emphatically wanted me to know one thing. He said, “Pastor, I
just want you to know that I give to missions as much as I can.” He gives to the
Lord’s work from his small soldier’s salary. He listed the several national
pastors and missionaries we’ve supported over the years. I thought of the past
trials and temptations we encountered while discipling him and his mother. I was
reminded that it is all worth it! It is the “fruit” that the Lord described
which does indeed “remain” (see John 15:16).
Another blessing from our last trip was seeing the hand of God at work in those
that were recently saved during our first trip. I was concerned about these new
believers and felt an obligation to help them grow (Matthew 7:6).
We met a man named Sergei during our last trip, who said that he relocated to
the area to help disciple the new converts that we led to Christ last year. I
saw the fruit firsthand when we arrived in a town where we had previously
preached. There were two women in particular who recently received Christ and
who sang a special hymn for me during my first visit. They were happy to see
that I returned to visit them again and then they asked, “Did you bring our
pastor with you?” I did not know that they had one so quickly, then it was
explained to me that their new pastor was the same Sergei with whom we had been
working! What a blessing to see the Lord provide men where they are needed.
A Ukrainian pastor in eastern Ukraine was present when I preached the Gospel to
a town north of Mykolaiv. He has invited me to return to preach a weeklong
revival in his church in Nova Odesa. Please pray for these meetings.
We need prayer! A lot of prayer! Please continue to pray for the following
requests: 1) the Lord’s continued guidance and protection on our next trip to
Ukraine; 2) God’s provision for plane tickets, solar panels, and deep water
well; 3) our paperwork; 4) God’s will for Samuel and Susanna; 5) God’s comfort,
wisdom, safety, and strength for our men in Ukraine; 6) the growth of those
recently saved; 7) our study of the Ukrainian language; and 8) our upcoming
meetings.
My family and I would like to thank you all for your friendship, fellowship,
prayers, and support of us in this work that God has given us. May the Lord
Jesus bless you as you continue to serve Him.
That Ukraine May Know Him,
Christopher Rue
A printable PDF
version is available here
https://www.facebook.com/p/Rue-Family-Missionaries-to-Ukraine-100068352738533/
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The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it. Psalm 68:11
June 2024
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
We trust this letter finds you continuing steadfast in the faith and looking for the coming of our Lord. Our heavenly father has been good to us in answering our prayers. In Avren the work on the church buildings continues.
This past Sunday we were able to hold services there in the upper room. Below there is a room for the Turkish church to meet; there will also be a kitchen and bathrooms. It's been about two years ago that we first began to pray for the funds to do this work. Now, the work is almost complete.
The Turkish Bible translation work is nearly complete. This was a work started by missionary Ralph Cheatwood back in 1980. He spent over thirty years of his life working on this so that the Turkish people might have a reliable translation of the scriptures. For several years now the preachers in Bulgaria and Romania have been using his New Testament translation. We have produced these paperback New Testaments here in Bulgaria. Back during the Covid epidemic we began to pray about making an audio recording of the Bible so that those believers who never learned to read could at least listen to the word of God. The Lord has answered this prayer in part. The New Testament has been professionally recorded and is now available for listening on a website, also it can be heard on the internet radio in Turkey. The internet radio station plays the Bible being read eighteen hours a day. As soon as possible we would like to begin recording the Old Testament as well. This project will cost around twenty-five thousand dollars. We will need half of this by August in order to begin. Those of you who know the Lord, ask him to send it to us.
Thank you all for your continued prayer and financial support.
In Christ, Zachary LeFevre A printable PDF version is available here
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March - April 2024
"...one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon." Nehemiah 4:17
Dear Pastors, Churches and Fellow Servants.
Greetings from the believers in the Lord Jesus Christ that are with us. We have been extremely busy while renovating a Church building in Avrin, Bulgaria. From the demolition of the old structure to rebuilding the new one, it has taken a considerable amount of labor and strength. With God being in the center of it all it has been a blessing and a joy. Sometimes after we were finished with construction for the day we would go and hold our weekly meeting in Ynak. We literally had a trowel in one hand and a few minutes later we had a Bible, "the sword of the spirit", in the other.
I can't express the gratitude we have for all the help and prayers that many of you have had a part in with this project. We could not have done it without you all. May all the praise be to God who has made this happen. May this building always be to his glory and honor.
God has been good to us in letting us see him work amongst us.
All because of Calvary,
Matthew and Jane Welch
(A printable PDF version is available here)
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Dear Churches, Pastors, and
Friends, March-April 2024
Greetings to All!
Thanks to all of you who prayed for me during my recovery from surgery. I am
doing great! Three trips were planned during this time: two to Cuba and one to
the Amazon. They were well covered while I was recuperating. The trip to the
Amazon was a first-time training session. About 200 people attended, and it was
very productive. One humorous story, there is not any beef or pork available,
there are no roads into that jungle area; and fish is the main staple food
source. After two days the American pastors asked for hot sauce. Hot sauce is
not normal for this area, but a sister went to her house and brought back a
bottle. After enjoying the sauce for a couple of days, the pastors asked how she
made it. She showed them the bottle and it was full of "fire ants" and also had
a tarantula inside! Oh well, you have to ask what kind of food you are eating
and even then, sometimes you do not know!
In April I made a trip to Cuba with a group. I was sick the whole week, but we
were able to go to all of the services while some of our team did the preaching.
Economically things are a lot worse - as if they weren't already having enough
problems! Cuba's main export is sugar cane and now "they" have decided that the
farmers will not be permitted to grow sugar cane!!! It just doesn't make sense!!
Cubans now only have 4-6 hours of power a day and thousands have fled the
island. It has been speculated that a million people may have fled over the last
year!
For 23 years we have supported these preachers and their families. This allows
them to live and work in their ministry. Pray for them as they struggle to
survive. They remain encouraged and believe the Lord will supply their needs. We
were able to buy several bicycles and Bibles on the last trip. Also, through the
help of several churches, we were able to provide funds for several church
buildings.
Please continue to pray for my wife. She is struggling with taking a
preventative cancer medicine due to its many bad side effects.
Joyfully Yours,
Farren Caeble 1 Sam 12:24 A printable PDF version is available here
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May 2024
And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is
become
the head of the corner: This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Mark 12:10, 11
I pray that this letter finds each of you doing
well. We are doing fine here in Bulgaria and are enjoying the beautiful spring
weather. It has been borderline summer-like at times, with brief moments of
really cool weather, but altogether very nice.
We’ve had a few busy months since my last letter, and I’ll do my best to fill
you in with the details. The village meetings are going well. We enjoy the
well-attended monthly meetings in Dabravino as well as the monthly meetings with
our pastors and faithful men, young and old. These meetings have been a blessing
to encourage and strengthen us all. We have also seen tremendous progress in the
construction project in the village of Avren.
This is very exciting for all of us, and we are encouraged by how it has
progressed. I can’t say enough about the appreciation I have for Brother Matt
Welch and his work on this project. It is his expertise and patience with folks
like me who have little construction knowledge that’s getting things done. God
bless you Brother Matt!
The Lord has greatly provided and we are very thankful for everyone who has
contributed. It will cost about $10,000 to finish the building and we fully
believe that God will provide.
Upon completion, we will have a building which will have two large rooms for two
separate church services, one English the other Turkish. It will have a kitchen
with a bathroom and a room for storage. This building will adjoin our current
building where we have church services, the printing room, and a large room
reserved for Coats for Kids storage. When it is completed, we will be able to
have many large meetings here and weekly English and Turkish services. It will
be a beacon of light on the hill in the village of Avren. Please make it a
matter of prayer about what you may do to help with this important project.
Our family is doing well, and we have several things to share. Our son Zack and
his wife Haylie are expecting their second baby in September. We are excited
about this and look forward to this new little one. Please remember them in
prayer. Kylie is doing really well in school, and we are excited to see what God
has in store for her. She just completed a course in phlebotomy and will be
practicing that while she pursues a degree in nursing. Pray for her, as she’ll
be moving to Blairsville, Georgia to live with Zackary while going to school
there. They are all excited about this move. Also, Zack and Haylie along with
McKynlee and Kylie will be visiting us in June. We are beyond excited about
this. Please pray for them as they travel.
We’ve also had some trying times with the health of my brother-in-law Greg
Garrison. In March he had a heart attack. He is alone in the states so, Tracy
flew back to be with him. She was there for about a month until he stabilized,
then she returned here. Within a couple weeks he fell and broke the femur bone
in several places and now is waiting to go into rehab. Keep him in your prayers;
he is having a very difficult time right now, physically, mentally and
spiritually.
Brother Duane Moore with “Preachin’ Time Ministries” will be coming to visit for
a couple of weeks in October, and we look forward to his time here. Please make
his visit a matter of prayer, that it may be fruitful.
God bless you all,
Brother Keith Blalock
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Dear Praying Pastors, Brothers and Sisters, Ukrainian Crisis Letter Spring of 2024
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February – March 2024
Dear Praying Friends and Family,
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray these brief highlights of our most recent trip to Ukraine will be a blessing to you. The Lord graciously provided for another missionary journey into Ukraine during the month of March. I invited several men to go with me, but only one was able to make the trip. Brother Matthew Wallace from Friendship Baptist Church accompanied me and was a needed extra pair of hands. We traveled through Moldova relying on Brother Hamilton’s men and Brother McCurdy to help us with logistics. I was detained at the airport for a while after they scanned my suitcases. I packed 2,000 Chick Tracts which the customs agents insisted were contraband. I was being accused of being a “contrabandist” and was threatened with all kinds of stuff. I stayed calm and told them to explain to me in detail, step by step, what they were going to do. They called the top supervisor who looked in my suitcase and saw the US Army toiletry bag I bought in Germany over 30 years ago and thought that I was military. He immediately lost interest and let me go!
Upon our arrival in Ukraine we spent two days in Odesa dealing with logistical matters for the refugee work and transportation. The Lord graciously provided half the funds needed for a vehicle enabling me to secure one for the future. There was some concern about going into the city of Odesa because of the news we received a few days before our departure. Russia, for the first time since the start of the war, did a “double tap” missile strike killing over twenty people in Odesa. Thankfully things were quiet while we were in the city.
We spent the next two days with the church in Rozdilna. First, in a men’s meeting where we enjoyed fellowship while grilling “shashlik” over an open fire. Two of our men serving in Ukraine’s armed forces were able to get a few days off and visited with us. I gave the men what the Lord gave me from the Scriptures, telling them how the Lord has been leading, giving light to take one step at a time, into His will. They were very encouraged to hear of the Lord’s guidance for us for the future. The Sunday church services were a great time of reunion and fellowship with dinner on the church grounds and several preachers preaching.
There were nearly two months of logistical and administrative preparation before our trip. We had 1,200 prepared care packages, over 5,000 packages of rice with dehydrated meat and veggies, 800 loaves of freshly baked bread, and many cases of literature. We spent three days in the Mykolaiv region just north of Kherson, about 15 miles from Russian occupied territory. We found out from the people who survived the occupation, where the worst hit towns were located. We visited seven towns in three days having only a 2008 Volkswagen passenger van to move over eight tons of food and literature. We worked with the local authorities asking them to gather people in advance to save time. In every town, the local authorities were women. Their men had either been killed or were fighting to protect their homeland.
Our first town was Malozhenivka and was not easy to get to. We had to travel through many miles of dirt roads around farm fields. Thankfully, the Lord held off the promised rain for that day.
I doubt we could have returned home over those roads with our van had it rained. Around sixty to seventy people were waiting for us, fifty of which gathered in close to hear the preaching. Since I only speak Russian, and not knowing if this would offend them, we had Brother Sasha open things up in the Ukrainian language, then he would turn it over to me. After preaching the Gospel, seven people responded to the invitation and I took them off separately to deal with them. They all bowed their heads asking the Lord to save them!
Travel time and logistics only allowed for one meeting that day. It rained the next day. We drove to Liublyne, which was previously occupied by the Russians who pillaged and killed all their livestock. We hung a tarp over a grape arbor for protection from the rain and a small group gathered. We followed the same format preaching the Gospel and seven more people responded to the invitation. I dealt with them separately and they too called on the name of the Lord for salvation! After visiting with these dear people, we piled into our van to go to the next town but it broke down. We tried several things to no avail. Then I said, “Let’s pray!” Duh! We should have done that first! After finishing with an “Amen,’ we lifted our heads and saw a car coming down the dirt road with a trailer! Before I could even consider what was going on, Sasha had already decided that that car was God’s answer to our prayer and was out the door running down the street to catch it. The driver agreed to help us and, thankfully, we were back in business!
After these delays we arrived in the larger town of Novopetrivka. We met with the local magistrate who politely asked if we could speak in Ukrainian. I apologized saying that I only spoke Russian which was not a big deal to her. She humbly replied, “It has cost us something to speak our language.” Then we learned how the Russians captured her husband along with around twenty other men in their town. They were tortured to death. Somewhere around 300 people showed up in the bullet-ridden meeting place. Around 50 people responded to the invitation! How many were saved? I can’t say. All I know is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was preached, and a clear invitation was given. Then I dealt with them as a group separately asking whosoever will to pray to receive Christ as their Savior. Dealing with that many people, at one time, was a first for me.
Thankfully, we were able to commission two more cars with trailers who helped us transport the literature and aid to Partyzans’ke, Afanasiivka, and Yurivka. In each town the Lord gave us souls for our labor, with around 15 responding to the invitations. We preached in the dark in Yurivka while the war thundered on the horizon lighting up the night sky. We went back to Yurivka again the next morning and preached to a larger crowd before finishing up in Blahodatne. The destruction there is indescribable. The war raged in their town for eight months. Almost every house is destroyed, making it hard to believe that people still live there. We preached to a small crowd of about thirty people with five responding to the Gospel message. The local magistrate gave us some tea after the meeting. While visiting with them, an elderly couple told how their home was destroyed and the magistrate allowed them to sleep in her bed while the magistrate and her husband slept on the floor. She said that they are farmers and that the fields have to be plowed and planted. I asked if the authorities cleared their fields of land mines. She said, “No. We did it ourselves by hand.”
I will write more in our next letter. We look forward to our next trip, while making preparations to return with our family for another term. Please pray for the Lord’s provisions and guidance as we prepare to go. We want to thank each one of you for your concern for our safety and prayerful support of our ministry. Please continue to pray that this war will quickly come to an end. Better yet, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
That Ukraine May Know Him,
Christopher Rue
Philippians 3:10
(A printable PDF version is available here)https://www.facebook.com/p/Rue-Family-Missionaries-to-Ukraine-100068352738533/
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Halito!
Hello!
Spring 2024
Spring is here and we are thanking God for seeing us through the winter months.
I say “seeing us through” because we’ve had quite a bit of sickness this winter
and early spring, but are finally on the rebound. We are now preparing for the
months ahead and the road before us.
Imagine how it would be living in the USA in 2024 and the Bible you are holding
is printed in French. You couldn’t read it. It wouldn’t have passages marked by
your father or grandfather unless they were of French heritage. Many Americans
have an English Bible that’s been handed down and it’s marked with precious
notes from a relative or mentor in the faith. For most of us reading this
newsletter, the ability to read the Word of God has changed our lives. In April,
we were able to attend the Native American Camp Meeting in Great Bend, Kansas.
It’s a meeting for Native missionaries, or missionaries working with Natives, to
come and share their work and burden.
One of the blessings that has been coming to fruition in the last couple of
years is the ability to get the Bible, or parts of the Bible, printed/reprinted
in several tribal languages. Most tribes have NO BIBLE in their language. This
is most likely because the government sent the children to boarding schools and
wanted them to assimilate English. God gave a language to each tribe and they
are now realizing what has been taken from them. These Bibles are being printed
as parallel Bibles, for instance, Ojibwe and English, side by side. They can be
used by the tribe to teach the language. The missionaries that labored in the
1800s translating and printing Bibles for the five civilized tribes, (Choctaw,
Cherokee, Chickasaw, Seminole, and Creek) gave the tribes a great light! These
five are considered the most Christian of the 574 federally recognized tribes in
the US. When we first went to the Choctaw reservation in Mississippi years ago,
I remember seeing the grandmothers bringing their Choctaw Bibles to church and
reading from them. These copies didn’t even contain the entire 66 books! How
different the reservations would be if this light had been available all across
North America. We’ve given thousands of ENGLISH John and Romans, but giving a
Native American a parallel John and Romans, in their language, is received more
quickly.
Maybe the time has come for this light to shine to more than the five civilized
tribes. Please pray for those involved in the translating and printing. This is
an expensive endeavor. For some people or churches in America there is no
shortage of money, but unfortunately there is a shortage of time. Thy word is a
lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105)
We have meetings coming up in May and then start the summer work. We look
forward to seeing you as we go to your area of the country. We just realized we
have been in our field of service for 40 years!! Wow! Thank you Lord, for Your
Grace and love that has enabled us to sew the seed of the Gospel for 40 years.
Thank you, co-laborers, for your love, prayer, and support these many years.
In HIM, The Higginbothams, Mrs. Shirley, Elena, and Daniel
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January - February 2024
“And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our
brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how
they do.” Acts 15:36
Dear Pastors, Churches and Fellow Servants,
We send greetings from all the saints that are with us.
Paul and Barnabas had a desire to go again and visit their brethren where they
had preached the word of the Lord and see how they do. The Bible says “As
newborn babies desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby” 1
Peter 2:2
While in Bulgaria, we follow a schedule for visiting the churches. The apostles
went out two by two, Paul with Barnabas and then with Silas. I myself go with
national pastor Demir. Paul's program did not change; they prayed, they sang
praises to God and spake the word of the Lord. Acts 16:25,32
It's a real privilege to visit the churches and see how they are doing. In
Acts16:4 “…they delivered the decrees for to keep…” Acts 15:28-31, and through
the preaching of God's word “…so were the churches established in the faith, and
increased in number daily.” Acts 16:5
It's a real joy to visit the churches every week that are in: Sadovo, Venilin,
Kamindell, Dolgapol, Kamarvo, Bliskovo, Gradenarovo, Provadia, Markov and Snezna.
While there we sing praises to God, pray and preach God's word. We are thankful
for these people, and pray for them, Philippians 1:3,4, while enjoying our
fellowship in the gospel from the beginning to now. To see God working in them
and us makes us long to see each other every week. “For God is my record, how
greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:8
Through this we are encouraged to stay on the battlefield by God's grace.
All because of Calvary,
Matthew and Jane Welch
(A printable PDF
version is available here)
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“O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years,
in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.”
Habakkuk 3:2
Dear Brethren, February 2024
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I pray this letter finds you in His nurturing grace.
As we come into a new year I am wonderfully reminded of how good and loving and patient our God is and how he continues to strive with man in His creation. The meetings in Valen and Lespez are going well and continue to grow. When we first started these meetings, it was mostly children, but now in both meetings many adults and young people are starting to come. The Christmas packets were enjoyed more by these two villages because most of these children are so poor, they’ve never even celebrated their own birthdays, let alone Christmas. We’re very grateful for everyone who helped us make these children’s lives a little brighter because of our Savior’s birth.
Last week I was able to take two of my children to the meetings in Medgedia and Castelul. They got in the car after school and most of the car ride was quiet. Fifteen minutes before our first meeting Uriah asked me a question,” Dad, why do you get up and go to these meetings?” I remembered asking my father the same question when I was younger, and my response was the same. I told him, “Well son, I know where God is going to be today, and I don't want to miss Him.” He then asked me again,” Why would God meet with poor people?” I responded by telling him, “That is what he did 2,000 years ago when he walked this earth. His message hasn't changed and is still the same.” The verse comes to my mind “For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth;”
Psalms 102:19
For the past few months in the town of Pecineagra, the Lord, through the support from the churches and brethren in America, we have been able to build a building to have church and feed afterwards. We meet once a week and pray and in time we want to have morning prayer meetings there also. Many of my wife's family lives in the village and it is an opportunity to reach people who are further away from our weekly meetings. My own nephews and nieces are coming to know the love of Christ and I would be ashamed not to take this opportunity from the Lord. Please be much in prayer for this meeting and us.
I thank all the brothers and sisters in Christ who have contributed and prayed for the work here in Romania. We love you dearly and covet your prayers. “Finally brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.” 2
Corinthians 13:11
From Constanta, Romania,
Jacob Reed and Family jakereedfamily1994@yahoo.com
(A printable PDF version is available here)
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