September 1998
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
"These things command and teach."
I Timothy 4:11
The big step this month for the Marlborough Bible Baptist Church of Blenheim
was to add a Sunday school into the equation! On the first Sunday of
September we began four Sunday school classes in addition to our nursery.
The blessings have been thick and fast in coming. Obviously Debby and I can
only be in one place at a time, so our new Sunday school format has forced
several people in the church to take on the responsibility of teaching -
which has been a blessing to watch!
I have taken on our teen class and introduced a daily devotional journal
along with a contest that has reaped immediate results. Our teens have
enthusiastically jumped into daily devotions, taking sermon notes,
memorising verses and bringing unsaved friends already. Our teen group is
the future of this mission church should the Lord tarry and it has been neat
to see them launch out for the Lord.
One prayer request with regard to our Sunday school (that I have mentioned
in an earlier letter) concerns our lack of space. We only have three rooms
in the building we hire with one of our classes meeting in a back hallway
and the teen class meeting outside (so far no rainy Sundays). Please pray
that God would provide a desperately needed, more suitable facility.
The REST of the News:
- God has blessed this month with several visitors. A South Korean fellow
named "Young" has come for several services. Although he speaks virtually
no English, God blessed us with being able to find some Korean gospel
literature - we are very much dependent upon the Lord in this case for the
seed to take root in Young's heart as we can't communicate with him.
Please pray for another fellow named Stuart who has been coming along. He
is a Charismatic burnout who has recently been separated from his wife.
Stuart is probably saved, but has a heavy load of bad doctrine and baggage
to shed.
Another fellow named Dave came along last week - a professing Christian
with a full complement of tattoos, a nose stud and a "Christian rock"
T-shirt. I just happened to be in the middle of a preaching series out of
the book of Psalms on music - the morning Dave came along I was dealing with
godly music versus ungodly music! The word of God definitely worked this
fellow over and he seemed really excited to find a church that preached it
straight. Pray for the Lord to work in Dave's life and to bring him back.
- We have asked you on a number of occasions to pray for a man named Peter
- the lost husband of one of our ladies. The situation is rapidly
approaching full boil with this man giving his wife ultimatiums about
choosing between him or God. Sister Donna has stood her ground for the
Lord and is suffering some very genuine persecution because of it. This
matter really is very critical and I would most appreciate you praying for
Donna and Peter. It is turning out to be quite a test of faith not only for
Donna, but for all of the believers here in this young church who have been
earnestly praying for her.
- We mentioned last month that our landlord had put our house up for sale.
By way of update, there has been a steady stream of prospective buyers
through our place, but we are still here. We continue to appreciate your
prayers for this need.
- The daughter of one of the most prominent Charismatic ministers here in
Blenheim committed suicide this month. She was an adult with a three year
old son and this tragedy has sent shockwaves through our town. Many of the
folks in our church knew this lady because of their own Charismatic
backgrounds. Charismatics of course reject eternal security and the
circumstances of this death have resulted in a major clash of false
doctrine, emotionalism and rationalisation as to the eternal whereabouts of
this young lady. The blessing in it all is that it has opened major doors
for many of the people in our church to open the scriptures with their
friends and family (some who have visited our church in the past). Please
pray for the Lord to bear fruit as our people bear witness to the truth of
our complete salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Tracts still make a difference! We got a letter some time back from a
lady on the North Island who found one of our tracts. She wanted to know
what we were about and if we recommended a good church in her city. We sent
her a heap of literature and told her regretfully that there was no place we
could recommend in her area - the closest church we could recommend was an
hour away. We just found out this month that Diane and her family since
then have gotten straitened out on a number of doctrinal issues and have
started faithfully attending the independent Baptist church we recommended,
despite the drive!
- We were very saddened to hear that the wife of one of our supporting
pastors went home to be with the Lord as the result of a car accident this
month. Please pray for Bro. Dave Rowley and his two teenage daughters, Anna
and Amy. Nancy's homegoing was quite the shock to all of us and we know
that the family would certainly appreciate your prayers at this time.
On the homefront, we have had three birthdays in the Williams' household
this month. Beth has taken her first steps and Grace looks as though she
might actually succeed at potty training! Debby's health continues to
steadily improve - she is probably averaging no more than one bad day a week
at this point. Although she still gets really wrung out at times, the
prayers, vitamins, herbs and exercise seem to be helping immensely. Thanks
again for your prayers, support and the many kind notes and e-mails of
encouragement. We appreciate you folks and all that you do for the
Williams' family.
Only Because of His Grace,
Jeff, Debby, Caleb, Luke, Grace & Beth
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