Pastor N’s Story
I was born into a Christian home, and in fifth grade, my older brother, in high school, passed away. This loss was hard and hurt us a lot, but at the same time, the Lord opened my parent’s hearts, and they became believers. I was far from the Lord, but I went to a church meeting, and at that time, I came to Christ. My faith began in that church, and then I started going to Sunday school, and I learned more.
When the Lord called me to ministry, it was clear that He desired me to leave my job and devote full time to studying at the Seminary. My wife and I prayed together, and we saw the Lord’s hand in this decision. I also consulted with my family, two of my brothers and strong believers, and they supported me. The Lord granted me grace and success in my studies.
My target area has a high percentage of cultural Christians. I started my ministry in this target area seventeen years ago, and we have sent out many servants of the Lord. Just four years ago, I began working with the refugees as well. Many of them have been sent out to serve the Lord; the majority of these are young men whose families are still in their home country. They have come here for work, and a large percentage of them are from the same village as me.
Recent Ministry – Family Visits
My wife and I were visiting another family consisting of a husband, wife, and their two children. The wife shared with us about God’s work in their lives, how they love attending church meetings regularly, and how God has dealt with them even though the wife is of Orthodox origin from our home country. The wife feels God’s work in her life and her husband’s life, and she shared with us how she is encouraged by her husband’s prayers at home and hearing her 5-year-old daughter tell her everything learned in Sunday school class She also shared with us about a sister who was attending the meeting with us and was of Orthodox origin. This visit was very encouraging for us as we witnessed God’s work in their lives and those who attended them.
My wife and I also made another family visit, and when we arrived, we learned that the wife had undergone surgery on her hand. We did not know that before we went to visit them. The doctors also took a blood sample from her and sent it to the lab, and she felt the Lord had sent us to encourage and pray with her. We did so, and after a few days, she sent me a message thanking God that the tests had come out well and that there were no problems. I thank God from the bottom of my heart because He can do everything as Job said, “I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” Job 42:2
The Lord has placed it on our hearts to have monthly meetings with families to help them understand and learn about the Christian home, their children, the impact of society around them, and the impact of the Internet and technology on them. We thank God for the wonderful response. We pray that the Lord will protect our homes and our children so that they may be children of the Lord and servants of Him.
Writing competition in the Gospel of John.
The competition question was about the personal encounters that the Lord had with individuals, how these encounters had an impact, the miracles that the beloved John recorded, and the practical application of the miracles. Also, the Lord said “I am” seven times, so I asked to write them down and a verse from each chapter. The primary purpose of the competition is to examine and know the Word of God. The Word of God enlightens the mind and guides, “The opening of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” Psalm 119:130 The Bereans were praised in the Bible for their careful examination of God’s Word, “These were nobler than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 I thank God, for I have seen through their writings that the Lord is doing great things with them, and the Holy Spirit is giving new light to the Word of God. I am happy with what God is doing with them.
Kingdom Workers Conference
I thank God from the bottom of my heart that He has arranged for us to meet young migrant workers with guests coming from their home country for this service. They are burdened with the desire to reach their fellow citizens with the gospel. The conference was a joint meeting between us and another team of evangelists reaching migrant workers in our country. The conference hosted approximately 79 people.
The topics presented were very important and very useful; we studied Preaching, Forgiveness, our position in Christ, Using the Internet in the (biblical morality) correct way, the Christian home, and the worker in contrast to the scavenger. After the meetings ended, I listened a lot to the reactions of the young people who were with us at the conference, and they shared many wonderful things. The Lord spoke to the attendees with a clear voice.
The Lord encouraged us greatly with what He did with us, and our prayer is that the Lord will complete what He began and that we will see the increasing fruit of what God has done and will do through faith with us,
Being confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6
We also pray that the Lord will bless the beloved ones who came from our home country for this conference.
Writing competition
This competition was in the Gospel of Luke, and it was about seven houses that Christ visited in this Gospel. The requirement was to write about the visit and then share practical ideas that we could put into practice in our ministry. Our goal was to help each church member gain the meaning the personal benefit from observing what Jesus did on his visits. We are trying to apply biblical truth into our daily lives.
For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
One of the encouraging things is that there is a group of brothers and sisters participating in this competition, and the Holy Spirit is making new enlightenment with them to understand the word of God. But I would like to share with you a message that a sister sent me expressing her gratitude to the Lord for the new understanding He has given her.
The text of the message is as follows: “Dear Pastor, Good evening. I hope you are well. I really thank you for your encouragement in writing down our study and understanding of the word of God in the competition, especially the idea of finding practical applications for my life. The competition, for me, has a spiritual depth. I have often read many parables, but digging in and determining how the parable provides some application in my life is spiritual work. The parable is not just a story; I needed to search and read more deeply so I could interpret each parable and put it into practice.
This member’s message encouraged me from the Lord. The main goal is to examine and read the word of God with a new depth.”
Prayers of Thanks
I had shared with you in previous times about the need for our church to have a van/bus to help people move and be present in the church to attend the meetings. We are constantly facing difficulty in this matter, and we prayed a lot about this need, but thanks to the Lord, the Lord answered us according to His good will, and we were able to buy a bus for the service. Our hearts are grateful to the Lord for what He has done with us, and our prayer is that the Lord will use this bus for the glory of His name and the expansion of His kingdom. Thank you to everyone who joined us in prayer.
Ongoing Ministry for your prayers:
Migrant Workers Conference
By the grace of the Lord, we will have a conference called “Workers of the Kingdom.” This conference targets workers from our home country who live in our city and the capital city. We will have speakers from our home country who are servants with a wonderful heart for this forgotten group in our society, the “workers.” Why I came to this country: my calling is to serve the workers from my home country. The main goal is for migrant workers to realize they are “workers in the Kingdom of God” and become evangelistic workers who desire to serve the Lord. This matter is fundamental, and we ask you to join us in praying for it.
Pray for us as a family to be fruitful in our service. Pray for the ministry here in our local city to expand in and through us. Pray for a van to serve the Lord and transport people to church. Pray for our upcoming spiritual days and the worker’s conference.
Morning ministry team visits
“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he considered me faithful, when he appointed me for service” (1 Timothy 1:12). Thank you to the Lord for this call and also for the help and strength that the Holy Spirit sends us to serve the Lord.
One of the most challenging visits was to a refugee family. The wife had adopted unbiblical teaching, and we had a long discussion with her. Unfortunately, it was a sad visit because what she learned was from inside a church, but it was a different teaching. It causes us sadness and pain and makes us think about many people led astray by strange teachings. We need the Lord to help us be faithful to Biblical Christian teachings.
We visited a sister of Orthodox origins. She began attending church meetings with us, and we felt the work of God’s Spirit in her life. During the visit, she was sick but showed thankfulness and praise to the Lord. We see a distinctive spiritual maturity in her.
Another sister, a widow with three children, joined us in the church and the ministry, and we thank God for her and her children. We see their spiritual growth and God’s dealings with their lives.
We had a wonderful visit with another of the refugee families. This sister told us that she was waiting for us to pray for her sick sister in a nearby country.” She trusts the prayers of believers. “The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up” (James 5:15).
During this period, we and some elders visited local church families. These visits aim to pray for and encourage these families, and we thank God that we saw this make a difference in the homes visited.
Evening visits to migrant workers
In the evening, my wife and I visit migrant worker families, encouraging and praying with them. These visits aim to encourage and nurture them. We also visit the homes of young migrant workers in our city, pray with and for them, and encourage them to attend church.
As an Evangelical Baptist church, we face challenges from our city’s liturgical churches and the traditional church. There is a migrant worker traditional priest who met another migrant worker young man who was praying with us and asked him why he went to the Evangelical Church when he is traditional. This young man shared with us what happened to him. Unfortunately, this happens often and in different forms. We need your prayers for the Lord to work and assure souls.
Church meetings
We thank God for Sunday and youth school services as we see growth and multiplication in them, and we thank God for the leaders whom God has appointed for this work as they serve the Lord with all their energy, effort, and love. The Lord honors us in the ministry of worship and praise in the church, with the team and outside, and in the ministry of education. I believe that education is an essential part of the life of believers for them to mature (1 Timothy 4:16). “Give attention to yourself and to the teaching and continue therein, for if you do this, you will save yourself and those who hear you also.” The Lord helps us to be consistent in the Word and always to make the Word of God have the highest authority over life.
A prayer of thanks to the Lord for the local driving license I obtained; the grace of the Lord accomplished this matter. Pray for my family; we are in constant need of your prayers. We need your prayers for us as a family, and we want the Lord to use us for the glory of His name and the extension of His kingdom. Pray for a car to help us travel for the ministry. Currently, we travel by foot or by taxi. Pray for the ministry here in our city; we constantly need your prayers.
A story from a visit:
We visited a non-evangelical Christian local family. They welcomed us but also had questions about the intercessory role of St. Mary. We presented them with the Biblical truth clearly and with love, as we want to know the truth, and the truth will set us free.
“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
1 John 2:1
“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”
1 Timothy 2:5
The Bible Study Ministry:
We thank God for this continuous and encouraging ministry. We are studying God’s attributes and their application. I pray that the Lord will use this time of the week for our growth as believers and for the extension of God’s kingdom in and through us.
Youth Service and Sunday School:
We thank God for His work among this generation. We pray and believe that this generation will belong to the Lord. We have been encouraged by God’s work among this group of teens. We had a preacher who visited us and presented the message of salvation. At the end of the meeting, the youth were praying and seeking the Lord. We had a great time of fellowship.
An Impressive Phone Call:
I was contacted by a young man from my country who was working here and previously serving with us. He has returned to settle with his family and he talked to me about what God was doing in his life through what he learned during the Bible studies. He told me about what he had learned here concerning the church in his country. He also asked me to share what we were teaching in our Bible study lessons with him so he could teach others. This phone call was encouraging for me. I pray that the Lord will give us growth in His knowledge and that we will be a channel of blessings.
“and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”
2 Timothy 2:2
- I thank God for His work in His church everywhere and I pray that the Lord preserves His work and extends His kingdom within our city and beyond.
- We, as a family, constantly need your prayers in all aspects of our lives. Especially for schools and exams for our children. We still request your prayers for a new home for us, and for the annual residency permit.
- For the church service, we need a van or bus to help transport people to attend the church as my countrymen here do not have cars.
