Thanks so much for your support this summer. I’m now going
into my last week here, and it has been a truly incredible summer. Many of you
know the difficult time I had preparing for this summer, and you know the
uncertainty of every step that I took along the way. I can say with confidence
that this summer has been blessed by Dad & His powerful hand has been upon
us this summer. So, to many of you, I want to say a special thank you for
encouraging me to persevere through dark & difficult circumstances all along
the way. The Fruit we have seen is the consequence of our obedience to endure
the difficult things and stay the course.
This week has been filled with mixed emotions: eagerness to
return to Family & friends is mixed with a pain to leave new family &
friends here. We’ve had so many opportunities to meet with friends this week,
continue sharing the Truth, and see eyes & hearts opened to the True Light.
To the right is a picture of D’s English club that he invited us to come join
for a day. This was an opportunity for us to share the Store with over 30
people as D translated for us the Story of our Brother and how to return to our
Father. It was truly incredible to see his boldness and willingness to share
with his friends how his life has been changed. I believe we will see a lot of
fruit from this small group of students.
Also, we were able to meet these students again for a party
to help out with festivities and follow up with a couple of students. D says
that as he has been talking about Him, he is starting to find people that are
interested and he will continue to share with them. Right now he really needs
some Brothers to be beside him, and this is a key goal for us this week. We
want to connect him and the other interested friends with those who can
continue the work after we leave. This is really important for us, so please
lift this up.
This weekend we were able to travel to the countryside with
one of our friends, L. We got to visit him in his home & spend a lot of
time with him and his friend. We went fishing, swimming, snail-catching, crazy
food eating, and badmitton-ing, and we really had a blast. It was nice to get
away from the city for a couple days, and it was an awesome opportunity to live
out the things we’ve been sharing with this guy for a few weeks. We got to
share the Story with him and his friend, and it seems as though his heart is
being opened to the Truth. He seems more receptive, but “needs more time to
think about it.” For many of our friends, they’ve never even heard of this Guy
before, so making a decision takes time as they consider the Truth and the cost
of following. It’s hard to leave when our friends seem so close like this. We
are trusting that Dad will complete the work He’s begun here, and we must
simply be faithful to be obedient to do our part here.
This last week we will be meeting almost all of our contacts
for a final goodbye and last words before traveling home. We will connect our
new Family and those interested with Friends who can continue speaking &
teaching what they need to hear.
Join
us this week and Lift Up:
1.
Final meetings with friends. Last opportunities to share the Truth
2.
D-, continued Growth and Maturity. Ask for a mentor for him.
3.
Opened eyes and hearts to receive the Truth
4.
Peace for us as we deal with leaving this place that has become our home for
the past 2 months
“Don’t fish with a hook, fish with a net.”
grace & peace,
M & Ernest